Authors: Skyy
Choices (20 page)
Chapter 26
Denise looked over her bags to make sure she had everything she needed. A knock on the door broke her concentration.
“Sweetie, are you in there?” the person on the other side yelled out.
Denise quickly threw on a shirt and opened the door. There stood the middle-aged version of Lena. Denise didn't see any designer labels, but she could tell the outfit she was wearing was expensive. “Isn't this Lena Jamerson's room?”
“Yes, ma'am,” Denise said, making sure to sound as proper as possible.
“Hello, Mrs. Jamerson. I am Denise, her roommate. Boy, you and Lena look just alike.” Denise smiled, hoping she was making a good impression.
The woman looked Denise up and down. “That is correct. I am Karen Jamerson.” There was something about Denise that wasn't sitting right with Karen. “Are you going to let me in?” Karen said, eyeballing the room.
“Oh, I'm so sorry,” Denise said, opening the door.
Karen walked in, immediately looking around the room.
Denise quickly picked up her phone, sending a text to Lena.
“I was planning on surprising my daughter, but I can see she isn't here. Does she always leave her clothes out like this?” Karen said, picking up some of Lena's clothes off of her bed.
“No, ma'am, she has been really busy lately. Usually she's straighter than me.”
Karen looked over at Denise's closet that was open. “You certainly have a lot of tennis shoes. Do you always have your hair braided?”
Denise felt herself becoming nervous. “Um, yes, I like tennis shoes. No, I braided it since I am leaving for a tournament today. It's easy to maintain.”
“Um,” Karen said. She didn't care why her hair was braided; she didn't like it. “Where are your dress shoes, sandals?”
“Um . . .”
“And I don't see a single dress,” Karen said, moving her hand along Denise's clothes.
“Uh . . .” Denise caught herself before making a strange look. She couldn't remember the last time she wore a dress.
“Mother!” Lena said, walking into the room. She rushed right over from Brandon's when she got Denise's text. “What are you doing here?” she said, hugging her mother.
“I had a meeting about Alumni Weekend and decided to come visit my sweetheart. I was just talking to Denise here about her wardrobe.”
“Mother, leave Denise and her clothes alone. Sorry, Denise,” Lena said noticing the stressed look on Denise's face. “Oh, well, um, don't you want to go get something to eat or something?”
“I don't really have the time, dear, but walk me to the car,” Karen said, walking toward the door. “Nice to meet you, Denise.” Lena walked past Denise; she mouthed, “Sorry” as she walked out.
“Lena, your roommateâ”
“Denise. Yes isn't she great.”
“She isâ”
“A basketball player. She's the best on the team,” Lena said, hoping her mother didn't ask questions she wasn't prepared to answer.
“She dresses in all hip-hop clothes. So unattractive for a woman to wear those type of clothes.”
“Well, she spends most of her time in class or gym.”
“That is no excuse to never be feminine. People will get the wrong impression. Those braids are so ghetto. She looks like aâ”
“Mother, her life is basketball, training, class and more training. She dresses in what is comfortable for her to do what she has to do. It's not like she's attending teas or brunches or anything.”
“Well, I am just saying, all women should dress up sometimes.”
“Well, I don't think that Denise has many places to dress up to.”
“Lena,” Karen said looking at her daughter. “Is there anything you are not telling me about Denise?”
Lena felt her palms sweating. “No, Mother. There's nothing to tell. I have told you everything.”
“Does Denise have a boyfriend, dear? I think she might like Missy Perkins' son. He plays football.”
“Mother, she has someone that she is dating. Don't go around trying to hook her up.”
“Well, it doesn't hurt to keep her options open. Is she going to pledge?”
“Mother, that is not her thing,”
“Pledging is not her thing? How is it not her thing?”
“It's expensive, for one.”
“I would be willing to help her. She obviously needs a little etiquette training, maybe some other women to be around besides teammates. Why haven't you rubbed off on her?”
“Mom, we are barely around each other. She is always at games and practice, and I have been spending so much time studying for Chi Theta.”
Lena hoped throwing Chi Theta in would change the subject. It worked; her mother began to discuss how excited she would be when Lena crossed.
Lena said her final good-byes to her mother and headed back to her room. Denise closed her duffle bag.
“I am so sorry about that. I had no idea she was coming.”
“I know. She said she wanted it to be a surprise. Lena, does your mother know that I am gay?”
“Um, yeah I told them a long time ago.”
“And they are cool with it? Your mom looked sorta strange.”
“She always looks like that. No, she just wanted to ask about Chi Theta,” Lena said knowing she was telling a lie.
“Oh, okay. Well, give me a hug. It will be a while till I see you again,” Denise said.
“Have a great trip,” Lena said, holding Denise. She noticed how warm she felt.
Denise smiled and walked out of the room.
Lena was alone, no Brandon or Denise. She sat on her bed. She wondered how her parents would really feel. She didn't want to take the time to find out.
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Carmen looked down at the letter again. Tears rolled down her eyes. “I can't believe they got off.”
Nic placed her arms around her. “I am sorry. If you want, I'll go find them and kick their asses.”
The two girls who drugged her were only given fifty hours community service. She read the letter again, which informed her of the sentence. “They drugged me, and all they got was some fucking community service. How could I be so stupid?”
“You can't beat yourself up for this. Some women are just weak as hell.”
“Including myself.” Carmen stood up, causing Nic's hand to fall off of her.
“Carmen . . .”
“I think I want to be alone right now.” Carmen walked out of Nic's room.
Nic decided to let her go.
Carmen walked around the campus for hours. All her insecurities began to arise. She wondered why someone as sexy as Nic wanted to be with her. Maybe she was cheating on her like Tameka did. She wondered when Nic was going to hurt her like all the rest.
“What's up, shawty?”
Carmen knew the voice instantly. “What do you want, Tameka?”
“Besides you?”
Carmen began to walk off. “I don't have time for yo' shit today.”
“All right, a'ight,” Tameka said, rushing to grab Carmen's arm. “Damn, my bad. I just want to know how you're doing.”
“I'm fine.”
“You don't look fine. What did Rico Suave do to you?”
“Her name is Nic, and she hasn't done anything. Why are you so worried about me and my gal?”
“A nigga can't worry about you? Damn, C. I always worry about you. Plus, I don't trust that pretty boi.”
“You don't trust her, or you are jealous of her?” Carmen said.
“A little bit of both, I guess.” Tameka rubbed the back of Carmen's hand. “C, just hear me out. I know I fucked up last year, but damn, I miss you. I think about you all the time. I miss your touch, smell, smile. Can't we just try to make it work?”
Carmen felt butterflies in her stomach. “I, I . . .”
“I know you miss me some. You gotta miss me a little.” Tameka gazed into Carmen's eyes.
“You were my first love. Of course, I miss you.”
“So, what's the problem?”
“I am with Nic. And you hurt me too bad. I can't forget that.”
“You think Nic is perfect, huh. Well, guess what, she isn't. Neither am I. But the difference is, I know what I fucked up on and I know not to do it again. I would never hurt you again, Carmen. How do you know ya boi is better?”
“I have to go.” Carmen let go of Tameka's hand and walked off.
For the rest of the night she couldn't shake Tameka's words. How would she know if Nic was going to hurt her?
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“I'm so glad I decided to give you a chance.”
There stood Misha, wearing a red corset and a black and red thong. She looked like she belonged in the Lady Marmalade video. She definitely had a better body than Mya, Christina or Pink.
“You damn right, baby. Now come over here and get on top of me,” Cooley said as she lay back on the bed.
Misha walked slowly to the bed and climbed on top of Cooley. The sound of Maxwell's “Till the Cops Come Knocking” was coming out of the speakers. Misha grinded her hips on top of Cooley as she bent down and gave Cooley a passionate kiss.
“This was the best idea I ever had. I don't know why I made you wait in the first place.” She slowly started to unhook the buttons on her corset.
Cooley became instantly aroused.
Misha had her hand on the last button, teasing Cooley before unbuttoning it. “Close your eyes.”
Cooley closed her eyes. She suddenly heard a knock on the door. “Who the fuck is it!” she yelled. She had no intentions of opening her eyes or the door.
The knocks became louder.
“I said, who is it?”
“The muthafucking cops, nigga!”
She opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by police.
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Cooley jumped up out her nightmare. She took a deep breath, relieved that it was just a dream.
She suddenly heard a real knock on the door. She got up and headed to the door. She planned to curse whoever it was.
“Somebody better be dead!” she yelled as she opened the door.
“Sorry, no one is dead that I know of, but if you watch the news, I'm sure someone died today.”
Cooley looked up to see Misha standing at her door.
“Great. Now I am having one of those dreams inside another dream. Well, I'm going back to sleep to try to wake up.” She headed to close the door.
Misha pinched her on her arm.
“It's not a dream, it's me in the flesh.” Misha smiled.
Cooley's eyes widened when she realized it really wasn't a dream.
“So, um, to what do I owe this pleasure?” Cooley said as she opened the door to let Misha in. She quickly tried to straighten herself up.
“Well, I just left the library and decided to come and see Carmen and Lena. You know we went to the Chi Theta meeting a while ago, I wondered if they heard anything.”
“Naw, I don't think so; Carmen would have told me.” Cooley sat on her bed.
Misha looked around the room. She noticed a picture of Carmen, Cooley and Denise.
“So, you all are really close, I see.”
“Yeah, they're my fam,” Cooley said.
“That's wonderful. My family is fucked up; hell, you met my sister. I don't have friends like that.” Misha smirked.
“Yeah, my dad raised me. He was an old-time pimp; I guess that's where I get it from. I don't think he was ever with the same girl for more than a few months. Hell, one of his girls was my first.”
Cooley thought about her father. Beautiful women had always surrounded her as a child. When Cooley was sixteen, one of her father's women came on to her. They began to have a relationship behind her father's back.
She remembered her father walking in on her giving his woman oral sex. He laughed and said, “Like father like daughter,” and walked out the room. They became even closer after that.
Her father always told her that women come and go, but to never let them too far into your soul or they would squeeze the life out of you.
Cooley never let a girl get too close to her after that. When her father passed, he left everything to her, which was enough to pay for school and enough to live without having to get a job while she was there.
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