Love Delayed (25 page)

“So because I’m not affiliated with sport
s I can’t call you that?”

“Exactly.”

“But I’m a red-blooded American. Of course, I know basketball!”

Stenton’s head c
ame up and he regarded me dubiously. “What team did I play for before the ‘6’ers?”

“Oh, please! That’s easy. The Cardinals!”

His incredulous regard made me laugh hard. I couldn’t stop.

“That’s it. Bedtime for you.” Stenton took the mug from me and placed it on top of the tray before turning down the lamp.

“Yeah, because I have to get up early.”

I felt Stenton steel behind me. When I turned
, I saw his deathly glower.

“You’re not going back to that shitty job and that’s final,
Zoey. I don’t care what I have to do to make it happen. I’ll sabotage it if I have to. You shouldn’t expend energy needed for your studies just for minimum wage.”

After doing a stare
down for barely sixty seconds, I caved. “Fine! I didn’t like working with kids anyway. You may take care of the current malfunction, but now I go back to worrying about the next one that I’ll have to figure out how to pay for.” I snatched a pillow beneath me and slammed my head into it.

“Again, we’ll address that later. Right now we sleep. You have to cook for me tomorrow.”

I jumped, turning my neck completely around to face him. “Where’s your chef?”

“I told him to pick up a few things from the market and take the next three days off. I knew you’d be coming.”

“You didn’t know I’d stay!” I noted, taken by his audacity.

“Like hell I did
n’t.” He tackled me back down to the mattress, planting himself on top of my back. “All I had to do was swing my magic wand.” He thrust into me enticingly.

His hard body pressed into
mine made me delirious.
So crazy
, I moaned. Stenton chuckled as he rolled off of me.

“I hate you,” I gritted.

“No, you don’t, Zo. Goodnight, sweetheart.”

~
Zoey
~

The next morning I arose early. Stenton was behind me, still fast asleep. When I learned it was just after six, I realized he was sleeping in. I paced into his bathroom to wash up, seeing a toothbrush and fresh towels awaiting me.

Downstairs in the kitchen, I found my instructions, loud and clear. There were fresh whiting and catfish waiting neatly for me. I also easily found grits and the ingredients needed for biscuits. By the time I was pulling the biscuits out of the oven, Stenton sauntered into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes adorably and looking heavenly masculine in his morning state, so unlike the predator he was last night. I quickly returned to the eggs that were frying to finish up on them.

“Morning,” he mumbled as he
greeted me from behind, wrapping his arms around my waist and giving my breasts a squeeze. “Nice gear.”

I
glimpsed down at my clothes. “Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly come last night, planning to stay over. I had to steal your stuff.”

He
took a seat at the island. “You look good; your boobs do, at least.”

I shook my head as I went for two plates from the
mahogany cabinet. While plating our food, I heard footsteps coming up the hall.

“
Mmmm! Smells good as fuck!” I knew that voice.

“I’m starving.” That croak I didn’t.

I peered up seconds later when I could sense them entering the open kitchen and saw Tynisha following behind Alton.

“What do we have here, Mascot?” Tynisha asked as she went for the refrigerator with natural ease.

Did they stay over? How often are they here?

“
Uhhh…fried whiting and catfish—” 

“I hope you put cheese in them grits,” Alton interrupted me. “If not, put some on my plate. Damn! Are those homemade biscuits?”

“I only want cheese in my eggs, please.”

I paused from spooning grits into Stenton’s and my plates. I was debating on how cold my response would be before Stenton spoke up.

“Y’all done lost y’all
muthafuckin’ minds if you think she here to serve you.”

“Wait! Hang on
, big boy. We just tryna’ eat. You can’t be going Hulk on us this early in the fucking morning, bro!” Alton’s words were bold, but his tone was pleading as he raised his palms in a defensive manner.

“It won’t hurt her to show a little hospitality when she’s been invited to stay overnight at a
n MVP’s place. She should be grateful,” Tynisha grated. “She don’t want to get cut from
this
team. We winning.”

My neck shot over to her. Again, Stenton stepped in.

“Don’t start your shit, Ty!” he cautioned her.

Seething, I
carried our plates over to the island and took a seat next to Stenton.

“In case you didn’t get the memo, you’re more than welcome to what I’ve cooked, but it won’t be served.”

Alton sucked his teeth. “Man, Ty, get me some food. That shit smell good as hell and look it, too.”

“You can ask nicer, boy,” Tynisha hissed as she walked to the cabinet for
plates.

I could see Stenton’s jaw tighten as he chewed. He was livid. We ate in silence while Tynisha filled their plates. I didn’t know how I would handle these two, but I knew that I would. I had to. I also knew that their animosity originated from Alton’s affair with my cousin, Angela, last summer.

As I brooded, I felt Stenton’s big hand cup my right thigh. I looked to my right and saw him wink, I understood, offering me comfort. I wasn’t afraid, but I knew I wouldn’t be happy until this was addressed.

Tynisha
arrived at the island and sat with us. As soon as Alton’s plate arrived in front of him, he dug in. The moans he belted in satisfaction were bordering on sensual. Tynisha issued him a warning glare, to which he paid no attention as he feasted.

“
Yo, Zo, man, I knew you was smart, but I ain’t know you could lay it down in the kitchen like this until we was up in Alpine back in January. Remember that, StentRo? That chicken was the fuckin’ bomb, bro!”

Tynisha’s neck
snapped over to him. Stenton’s forehead wrinkled in disbelief of that reference, I’d guessed. I could honestly understand Tynisha’s thinking as a woman. Her man just brought up a fond memory with a woman that reminded her of a disgraceful era in her relationship. Anything associated with me would bring my cousin to mind. She didn’t like that, and I couldn’t blame her. Alton was such a tool. Maybe because of her pride, or simple better judgment, Tynisha didn’t respond to Alton’s stroll down memory lane. She went a different route.

“What was up with all that moaning and screaming I heard up there
last night?”

My eyes shot over to Stenton
, who glanced up from his plate and glared at Tynisha.

I reached for the hot sauce as I quickly
and audibly murmured, “Funny, I was going to ask what was up with the silence I heard from downstairs.” When I was planted on my seat I squared eyes with Tynisha’s. “After three kids the thrill is gone I see. Lost that elasticity, I guess.”

Alton
sputtered his orange juice and Stenton choked on his food.

I had to play it cool. I knew how to deal effectively with bullies. I’d always been a target as a kid, between being the devout church girl and highest achiever in school.

“Now, wait on here a minute, little girl!” Tynisha’s Jamaican accent was rearing.

“No! You wait. I understand why you would be skeptical of me, but I am not my cousin.”

“Thank god hoe-ism ain’t in the blood,” Alton mumbled.

“And praise Jesus that teams aren’t chosen by dick sizes or else you wouldn’t wear the same uniform as your boy, StentRo here.” This time Tynisha
snorted a laugh and Stenton went for my thigh underneath the table again. “Listen, I get it. I have to prove myself, especially after my cousin...
and
Alton’s indiscretions, but I’m no doormat. I will not be the butt of your jokes or your maid.” I peered pointedly over to Tynisha. “...or
your
pledgee to haze. If you think otherwise, there will be eventful crossings every time we meet.”

I made sure to look them both in the eye
s. I was prepared for war. I issued warning shots and now I had to be prepared to annihilate. My pulse raced, mouth had gone dry long before, and my palms were painfully gripping the edge of the island top. I was ready. All they had to do was bring it on.

“Okay. Cool. She’s in,” Tynisha quickly shot over to Stenton before returning to her plate.

“Yup! She good with me, bro. Pour me another glass of juice, Ty?” Alton swiftly announced his instant change of heart, too.

I was completely mystified by the change in the atmosphere in just seconds. Was this a game to them? Or were they simply putting up guards they felt
were needed for snakes trying to gain access to their hut? Whatever it was, Stenton still wore his scowl as he ate. I could tell he didn’t have a change of heart.

A few hours later, Paul arrived with several shopping bags filled with clothes. Some fit and others
, not so much. My size four frame was hard to call. I was so tiny in all places with the exception of my boobs. Stenton swore I had a butt, though no one had ever corroborated that claim. I was able to put together a few outfits to get me through the next few days.

Tynisha and Alton left for home after the first morning. I learned that Alton and sometimes Tynisha, too, stayed in Philly at Stenton’s apartment. The reason was because after so many affairs, Tynisha made Alton sell his apartment and commute back and forth from Wells Fargo Center in Philly to Upper Saddle River, NJ as punishment. She eventually let up and allowed him to stay with Stenton to relieve him of the long drive. It really had to be exhausting trying to keep a grown man faithful.

That afternoon, Stenton took me to meet his mother. It was a weird experience he didn’t actually prepare me for it. We drove up to West Milford to a fancy group home where she had an apartment-like facility. Stenton clearly treated her well. He introduced me as Niña to his mother who spoke English well, but was insistent on speaking Spanish to him. It was obvious to me that she wanted to exclude me from their exchange. What shocked me was Stenton’s ability to return her conversation fluently in the same language.

Stenton hardly resembled his mother.
She looked fairly healthy, though I could tell she led a hard life. I couldn’t understand why she lived in an assistant living facility. Other than the curly hair and the thick eyebrows he had in common with her, I could assume Stenton was his deceased dad’s twin. Call me saccharine, but my heart toiled at the vision of Stenton as a child with no stable parents.

We didn’t stay long; their talk was brief, but what I could tell was this woman loved her son. She didn’t smile much and
I didn’t need that for me to discern her affinity for him. It was the way she looked at him absorbedly and the tone used for her responses to him that told it all.

On our way back to Philly
, Stenton answered my unspoken question about his mother’s condition. He said someone had slipped her something back in the late ‘90s when she was at the height of her dope addiction. She’d been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He said he didn’t know if the occurrences were related or mutually exclusive, but it had been a challenge caring for a mother who battled drug addiction and mental disorders concurrently. When he ended his sharing, I didn’t push for more. I had loads of questions including about his father who he’d shared a few months back was deceased. Other than saying his parents had a long history with drug abuse, he didn’t give much else. I rubbed his long muscular thigh as we coasted the turnpike in peace…and rock.

The next two days went
by in a blur. Stenton and I made love, cuddled, talked, ate and made out to our hearts’ delight. It amazed me how, when isolated, you got to know small facts about a person: how often they used the bathroom, small grunts they made unconsciously, the way their lips parted when they slept, the slant their eyes form when they’re giving their undivided attention to another one of your pointless stories, the expressions made as they succumb to orgasms, and their facial expressions when they’re simply contented. This was closeness at its best. It was discovery of intimacy. It was love.

When it was time to leave, Stenton began to act strange. He was less talkative and developed abbreviated communications.
It was hugely reminiscent of his taciturn behavior our last day together in Alpine. On our ride down to the parking garage I couldn’t help the need to address it.

“You know,” I sang lightheartedly
. “If this is the way you behave when it’s time to say goodbye, maybe I won’t visit you anymore.”

I couldn’t hide my smile. Stenton made me giddy. We’d woken up, rolling all over the bed making love that I didn’t know could be so charged first thing in the morning. We even had a quickie after a long nap on his sofa. And from there, Stenton turned sourpuss.

“That’s not even funny, Zo,” he growled, regarding me square in the eye.

That tore at my patience.

“Then what is it when you walk around like a toddler whose Spiderman was stolen?” I grated before walking out of the elevator.

“This way,
Zo!” his tone was short.

I specifically recall
ed making a left to the elevators, but it had been a long three days, so I didn’t argue. Well, not about where I had parked anyway.

“You can be so arbitrary, you know that?” I continued to follow him
while giving him a piece of my mind. “Just like when you didn’t let Alton give me alcohol in Alpine, but you let Tynisha give it to me here. Now you go into piss-boy mode with your snappy attitude.”

“This is why,” he said a bit stiffly.

“What is why? Why you let me drink the other day?”

“No. This,” he tossed his
tatted chin, “…is why I’ve been so fucking pensive.”

It wasn’t until that moment that I realized we’d stopped walking. “Now you’re speaking in code, Stenton. What is why?”

Stenton took me by the shoulders and physically turned my body to face a sleek black compact car. I was lost.

“Any minute now, Stenton!” I had to get on the road.

“Look at the fucking car, Zo.”

That’s when I noticed the bow.

“I won’t be here for your birthday tomorrow. I wanted to give you your gift before I leave.”

“What is this, Stenton?” I whispered.

“It’s a small 2008 BMW. Nothing too flashy, but definitely reliable.”

“Stenton…
a 2008? It’s 2007!” Then I shrieked, “My parents!”

“...don’t have to know. And it’s nothing grand
, just a baby Beamer. Very understated,” he spoke with a searing gaze. “Just don’t drive it home or to church. Take the clunker.”

I started looking around. “Where is old Bessie anyway?”

“At school. I had Paul drive her the night you arrived.”