Let Me Just Say This (3 page)

“Four days I think, Thursday through Sunday.” She said as she pulled the phone away from her ear to see who was calling. She hit the ignore button and continued listening to Dee.

“Oh, oh. Party time.”

“Naw, not for me, I won't have a babysitter for the kids.”
Cheryl said.

“Girl, no you didn't just play the kid card. Donnell is what, 16, 17 years old and little Miss Kayla is 12 years old. They aren't babies anymore. I am sure they can be without mommy for a couple of hours. We are gonna live it up this weekend.”

“I don't want to leave them…” Cheryl continued.

“Snap out of it. We are gonna have some nice clean fun.” Dee said as she pulled the door open and saw her date standing there decked out in all black with his diamond stud sparkling like the sun off the ocean. She smiled and winked as she stepped aside.

“If it involves you, it can't be considered clean.” Cheryl said.

“Ha Ha. Don't get slapped hussy.” Dee said as she slid herself behind him and ran her free hand over his smooth bald head.

“Yeah Yeah.”

“Don't make me hang up this phone.” Dee said with fake attitude.

“You wouldn't hang up on me.”

“You wanna bet? My ride just got here and I need to board that train.” she said as he turned around and pressed himself against her naked body and began nibbling at her neck. “ooohhh.”

“Get a room,” Cheryl said as she heard the tone in Dee's voice change.

“Ok.” She said as she moved her head to the side to give him a little more access to her spot.

“Really? Cause I still hear you.” Cheryl laughed. She heard the dial tone.

Cheryl hugged the pillow a little tighter and smiled to herself. She didn't know what she would do without her best friend. After the last few minutes, she suddenly felt tired, so she turned over on her side and decided to get a few minutes of sleep before dinner.

“Hey sleepy head. Go get dressed,” Kevin said as he nudged her awake.

“I really don't feel like going anywhere tonight.” Cheryl answered as she turned over.

“Aw, come on. We will have fun.” He said to her back. “That's ok. Besides, I have a headache anyway.”

“See that's a good reason to get out of the house. You are always saying I don't take you anywhere, and then see what happens when I try. You don't want to go,” Kevin said while standing upright, “I'm not going to beg your ass.” He said as he walked towards the bathroom.

“Ok, dang, I will go.” She said as she turned over and caught a glimpse of him before he shut the door.

“Well, don't be so damn happy about it.” He said from behind the door. He came out of the bathroom and saw her standing at her closet and wished he could withdraw the invite but he had already made a big deal out of it, so he went to his office while he waited for her to be ready.

Kevin was in his office talking to Black.

“She acts like this is the end of the world,” he said into the phone. “That would be cool if it were true. Every time I go out of town she acts this way. You would think she would know by now to just stop asking me. Anyway, I didn't call you to talk about this. I'm calling your late ass, so you
know to be on time at the airport.” his laughter filled the room like an echo in the Grand Canyon.

“Whateva, Nigga, you always the last one to board. Don't get left. This meeting is too important for you not to be there. When this deal happens, K & B Alliance will be on the map. Look I'll talk to you later. I'm going to take her out so I can keep her damn mouth closed until I get back.” Kevin hung up the phone and took a swig from his glass and leaned back in his leather chair and closed his eyes. He had worked on building up this company and now it was paying off.

“Cheryl! Damn, you ain't ready yet?” Kevin yelled in the bathroom.

“Do I look ready?” she asked low enough that it wouldn't cause her a problem.

“No…but you do look mighty sexy standing there.” he said as he walked behind her and kissed her neck.

“Baby, you feel so good,” he said as his hands untied her robe and found her breasts. “Turn around,” he whispered. His hands ran down her body and back up to her small breasts.

“Oh Cheryl.” he groaned. “You know what I want.” he said as he put his hands on her shoulders and guided her to her knees.

“Oh damn, girl. Don't go so quick.”

He pulled her up to him and kissed her roughly and fell to his knees. He began kissing her thighs and licking up to her opening. He could feel the heat from her and slid his tongue further up, brushing against her fine hair. He heard her gasp from above him and he let his hands slide down her round ass and back up to where his tongue left a wet trail upwards.

“Baby, I need to be inside of you,” he moaned. Standing, he pressed himself into her, his hips pumping and grinding fast.

“Oh, baby. Give it to me,” he said as he grabbed a handful of hair and yanked her head back.

His rhythm picked up and he felt her begin to respond to his body. She began meeting his every stroke.

“Oh, baby. Yes, just like that.” His hands fell from her hair and tightened around her waist as he pulled her hips into his. He slammed his body into her. After he released he continued grinding into her. He slipped out of her and kissed her neck.

“Let me go and get cleaned up and get dressed,” she said as she stepped away from him.

“Damn, that was good. Sometimes you can be sexy, when you want to be.”

She continued towards the bathroom and turned the water on and stepped into the shower. Kevin walked in behind her.

“Goddamn, it's hot in here, why you insist on having the water that hot. I am surprised you haven't burned yourself yet. Shit, I can't shave in here with the mirrors all fogged up. You are so damn selfish. You knew I needed to shave. Shit! I'll be in the guest bathroom.”

He slammed the door behind him and then opened it back, “Don't be too damn long. I have already wasted enough time,” he said as he closed the door again.

She felt like she could have her marriage back and have her husband back. She just needed to be a bit more patient and it would work out. She climbed into the shower with a new outlook on her life.

Cheryl only heard part of Mr. Angelo's question.

“Umm, I'm sorry. I didn't hear you.”

“Cheryl, do you feel alright, you don't look so good.”

“No, can I please go to the nurse?” He wrote her out a pass and she left class. She walked into the nurse's office, knowing full well her dad would never leave work to pick her up.

“Mrs. Dickens, can I lay down for a little while? I don't feel well.”

“Let's check your temperature first.”

“I know I don't have a fever, my stomach just hurts.”

“Ok, but by the next period you will have to go to class.”

Cheryl stretched out and all she could hear was Shaun's accusing tone. The bell sounded way too soon, so she got her books and headed to her next class.

“Cheryl, Wait up girl.” Cheryl never broke stride.

“Where you been, I went to your last class and someone told me you were sick or something.” Dee said as she finally caught up to her.

“Just needed to lay down for a minute, that's all.”

“Why you let dat ho get you all upset? I would have just kicked her ass and been done with it.”

“It ain't even worth it,” she replied.

“Just don't let her get to you. Ignore her.” Dee said just as Shaun walked by and grabbed her hand.

“Don't,” she snapped at him and snatched her hand
away. She walked off in a fog.

All afternoon, Cheryl heard people whispering about how Brenda was gonna get her. She walked to her bus alone, wishing that Shaun was there. She waited before getting on, hoping to see Shaun to apologize, but he never came. She rode home near tears the entire ride. She couldn't get off the bus soon enough, walking to her house with tears streaming down her face and went straight to bed.

“Cheryl. Cheryl.” She glanced at her clock and it read 5:30 pm.

“Ugh.” She tried to clear her head but it felt like she had marshmallows for brains.

“Cheryl. Telephone.”

She was finally able to comprehend that she wasn't dreaming. “Who is it?”

“Shaun.”

“Can you take a message? I'm sleeping,” She said as she laid her head back on the pillow.

“If you were sleeping you wouldn't be talking to me, now get up and get this phone.” her mom yelled again.

She stomped into the kitchen and yanked the phone up off of the table.

“What.” She grumbled into the phone.

“Hey, boo.”

“Oh, so now I'm your boo? Could have sworn I was a stranger, since you never walked me to my bus or I didn't' see you anymore during the day.”

“I didn't say that.” Shaun said with a little attitude.

“Sure you did,” she said with much more anger.

“Look, I'm sorry. I was wondering…”

She cut him off, “I gotta go.”

She hung up the phone and felt like she had lost her best friend. She didn't know what a broken heart felt like but she was sure this was it. Her head started to hurt again, she went back to lie down and felt miserable. For the next week, she flunked two tests, barely spoke to Dee and didn't acknowledge Shaun. She was in her own
personal hell, and to top it off, her mom and dad were leaving for the weekend. They gave her and her sister, Angel, the usual speech. No company, no going out and no talking on the phone after 11PM. That meant just the opposite to her sister. Before the driveway could get wet from the falling rain, Dewayne pulled up in his brown hooptie. Angel let him in and they headed to the basement to watch television. The phone rang just as she was heading back to her room.

“Cheryl, wait, don't hang up. Just listen. I'm sorry. You know me better than that. It's just that a lot of stuff is going on and I got a lot on my mind.”

“I thought I did, but I'm not so sure anymore.”

“Come on C, you know me…c'mon babe” Shaun said with a laugh “Baby, I'm really sorry. I promise it won't happen again. I miss you babe.”

“I miss you too,” she replied, and at that moment, she knew what she needed to do. “Shaun, you want to come over?”

“For how long?”

“Until tomorrow.”

“Yeah, right. Now you know your mom would never go for that.”

“They ain't home. They will be gone all weekend.”

“Word?”

“Word.”

“I'll be there in an hour,” he said and hung up.

She hung up and had a huge smile on her face. Tonight was the night. Well at least she thought it would be.

But now that she had a chance to think, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. She was in no hurry to give up the goods; hell, they had been dating two years and he ain't never pressured her about it.

She heard the basement door open and Angel and Dewayne came upstairs.

“You want something to eat?” her sister asked her.

“Naw.”

“Why don't you tell Shaun to come over?”

“Already did.”

“Ooo, it's about time.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter.”

Angel rolled her eyes, “What, I'm just saying, bout time you give that boy some.”

“Ain't nobody say he was getting any.”

“Well, you better, because if you don't then somebody will,” Angel said as she threw her hand up and pushed past Cheryl.

“Whatever. We have something more than him just wanting to sex me up.”

Angel sucked her teeth and headed out the door.

There stood Shaun. He was all sweaty and had blood on his shirt. When she looked at his face, there was a golf ball where his eye should have been.

“Oh my god,” she yelled while pulling him inside the door. She led him to the kitchen and pulled out the chair for him and grabbed the kitchen towel from the counter and snatched open the freezer. She put a handful of ice in it and handed it to Shaun. Before she could ask a question, Shaun was already talking.

“That Nigga ain't my father. He is dead to me. He ain't had no right putting his hands on my moms again. I bet he wished he hadn't.”

She stroked his hand as she kneeled in front of him, “What do you mean, he wish he hadn't?”

“I kicked his ass. I treated him like a pickpocket who stole my wallet. I told him before to keep his hands off of my moms and he must have thought I was kidding. I tried to put my hand down his throat.”

“Is your mom ok? What did he hit her for? Why didn't you just call the police? What did your grandma do?”

“If you shut the fuck up for a minute, I'll tell you,” he yelled as she pushed him away and stood up and walked to the sink to wring out the towel.

He continued talking. “After we hung up, I jumped in the
shower and could hear them arguing again. She was telling him she was sick of hearing how he was screwing everything in the building and he was saying some crap about how he is tired of her bitching about stupid shit. My moms told him she wanted him to leave and he told her some shit about paying all the bills and he wasn't going anywhere. Like he has a damn job. He ain't work nowhere for as long as I can remember. My mom told him he could roll out and that she was tired of all of his bullshit and him being lazy and he went the hell off. He started throwing crap around the apartment and she yelled at him to get out or she would call the cops and he went after her. I heard him hit her and heard her tell him to let her go, so I jumped out of the shower and threw on some pants. By the time I ran into their room, he was beating her like a man. She had blood everywhere on her face and all I knew was he wouldn't hit her again. I yelled at him to get off of her and he turned and told me to leave if I didn't want the same thing to happen to me. So I went after him and we fought like two crack fiends after the last hit of the pipe. I heard my mother and grandma yelling for us to stop, but I couldn't. For all the times I would hear my mom getting her ass kicked by him, I hit him harder. For every time I heard her telling him to stop, I punched his ass harder. Then I heard my grandma calling my name. That's when I stopped.”