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Authors: Brenda Hampton

Tags: #Fiction, #General, #African American, #Urban

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BOOK: Naughty by Nature
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She looked up and gasped. “Is that true?”
“I . . . I wouldn't lie to you,” I said. “I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but it's the truth.”
Seeming a bit shaken, Scorpio took a sip from her drink. She placed the glass on the table and cleared her throat. “I knew he always loved her.”
“Yeah, but he loved you, too. As a matter of fact, he loved you just as much.”
“I guess I really blew it when I had sex with Stephon, huh?”
“Honestly, I can't say it really mattered either way. If I can voice my opinion about the situation, I think Jaylin would have married Nokea someday either way you look at it.”
Her voice rose. “And, I disagree. I think my betrayal is what drove him to Nokea. We would have stayed together forever . . .”
I kept quiet because I wasn't in the mood to debate the issue. Instead, I picked up my drink, admired Scorpio's sexy lips and listened to her vent.
“So,” Scorpio said. “When is the last time you've seen him?”
“I visit him from time to time. He and Nokea have a beachfront home and I go there to get away some times. The last time I visited was about three months ago. He had a surprise birthday party for Nokea and invited me to come.”
“I see,” Scorpio said. Even though she said my words wouldn't hurt, hurt was written all over her face. When her eyes watered, she excused herself from the table and headed for the restroom.
By the time Scorpio had gotten back, our dinner had been served. I had already cut into my steak and was on my second piece. I placed my fork next to my plate and stood up to pull her chair back. I couldn't tell if she'd been crying, but if she had been, she covered it up pretty well.
I went back to my seat and dabbed my mouth with the napkin. Scorpio looked at her salad and twirled her fork in her hand.
“Shane, does Jaylin ever come back to St. Louis?”
“Yeah, sometimes. He'll be in St. Louis on Friday to introduce Felicia and I to some possible new clients.”
“On this Friday?”
“Yes.”
“If you don't mind me asking . . . what's the plan for that day?”
“Plan? What do you mean by plan?”
“I mean, what time will he be here? Where is he staying and for how long? I guess the big question is . . . is Nokea going to be with him?”
I wasn't sure how Jaylin would feel about me telling Scorpio about “his plans” so I hesitated. I guessed it wouldn't do no harm, so I went ahead and told her. “His plane arrives at 9:00
A.M.
, our meeting starts at 2:00
P.M.
Most likely we'll have dinner that evening, and by morning he should be heading back home. That's if—”
“If what?”
“If I can persuade him to stay Saturday night for a li'l get together I'm having for my cousin Trey. He's turning twenty-one and I invited a couple of his friends to Davenports for drinks and a li'l entertainment.”
Scorpio slightly tooted her lips. “Yeah, right. Your cousin is turning twenty-one and all y'all having are drinks and a little entertainment? Shane, please. I know better.”
I smiled because she'd definitely seen through my bullshit. “Okay. There might be a little more entertainment, but not much. I have a woman and she would kill me if she found out about anything raunchy going down.”
“What's the stripper's name?”
“There ain't gon' be no—”
“Shane, don't lie. If I know you like I think I do, you're the one who's making all of the arrangements.”
I laughed and reached into my back pocket. I pulled out my wallet and searched for the stripper's business card. “Her name is Lady Ice. Now, what's it to you?”
“Curious. I just wanted to know.”
Scorpio picked at her salad and hadn't taken one bite. I could tell something was still on her mind.
“On Friday,” she said. “Do you mind if I stop by Davenports to see Jaylin?”
“Scorpio, feel free to do whatever you like, but I don't think that's a good idea. I don't know how Jaylin is going to react and Nokea and I have become very good friends. I don't want to be responsible for—”
“Look, all I want to do is see him. Nothing more and nothing less. All I need is five minutes of his time. I promise you that I will not interfere with him and Nokea's marriage.”
“I know you wouldn't. But, please don't come dressed as you are today. I don't know of any man who can keep their hands off you, being dressed like that.”
“You seem to be doing a pretty good job of it.”
I displayed my dimples and gave her a wink. “If, pretty lady, I was not in a committed relationship with a somewhat decent woman, and if you were not previously engaged to my boy, this shit would be on. I'm telling you now, and I do not lie, we would be leaving here right now and indulging into some hot and heavy sex.”
Scorpio pulled her head back and smirked. She seemed stunned by my words, but sat quietly. I wasn't sure if she was thinking about my previous licks between her legs or not, but being speechless implied that something was on her mind.
“Let's wrap this up so I can get out of here,” she said. “Your offer sounds tempting, and I'm glad that you have a
somewhat decent
woman at home. If I learned one thing from my mistakes with Jaylin, that is to never get involved with a man who is with someone else—if I can help it. In this case, I'm not sure if I can.”
I wanted a piece of Scorpio so bad, but because of her past relationship with Jaylin, I changed the subject. After we finished yakking about old times, she headed her way and I headed mine. She told me she'd see me on Friday, and whether Jaylin liked it or not, his marriage to Nokea was about to be tested. I had faith in my boy, but as fine as Scorpio was, I wasn't sure if he'd survive seeing her again.
SCORPIO
3
H
aving dinner with Shane was very enlightening. More than anything, it was my final wake-up call. Jaylin and Nokea had tied the knot and the hopes I had of us someday getting back together had finally washed down the drain. A part of me really wished that maybe our time would come again, but then there was something inside of me that knew it was over for good. I guess I really didn't need Shane to validate anything for me, when I knew deep down Jaylin had moved on.
If I really knew that, then why was I still so willing to see him on Friday? Getting my feelings hurt again wasn't on my agenda, but I wanted to see him and wish him well. In addition to that, I wanted him to know Mackenzie and I were doing fine. There was no way he hadn't thought about us from time to time. I didn't care how happy he was, I was positive that we occasionally crossed his mind.
On Thursday, Jay's was jam-packed. Brian McKnight was coming to town, and everybody was dying to see him. Every last stylists' chair was full, about ten people were waiting, and Yasing couldn't handle all the pedicures she had lined up. I could have helped, but my job was to run the business not handle the business. I wanted to make sure everything flowed smoothly, and if things got out of order, I had to step in. We were way behind schedule, so I ordered one of my masseuses from the back to help out. She didn't mind because she was a jack-of-all-trades.
Things started to slow down, so I grabbed a
Black Hair
magazine and took a seat on the leather sofa near Bernie's station. She was working on one of her customer's hair and had it laid out.
“Girl, you know you can do some hair,” I said.
“Can't she,” Bernie's customer replied, as she looked in the mirror with approval.
“That ain't all she can do,” said Jamaica, another stylist. “From what I heard, she's damn good at giving a blow job, too.”
Everybody laughed except for Bernie. She cut her eyes at Jamaica and pointed her comb in her direction.
Her voice dragged as she spoke. “You bony, ugly, nappyhead rooster. The next time you talk about your mama giving blow jobs in here, I'm gonna call and tell her. From what I hear, though, you are the queen of all queens when it comes to that. Darious just happened to mention that the other day, and even though he said you bit him, he truly understood you couldn't help it because of your big beaver teeth.”
“Y'all need to stop,” I said, laughing hard. Everybody else continued to laugh, but they were use to Bernie and Jamaica going at it—all in good fun.
Just before Jamaica started in on Bernie again, the bell on the door chimed and in came Spencer. The place got quiet and everybody shifted their eyes to me. I'd eased the magazine up over my face so he wouldn't see me. That didn't work and I could see him coming my way.
“Hi,” he said, standing in front of me.
I lowered the magazine and put on a fake smile. “Hey, baby. I haven't seen you in a few days. Have you been sick or something?” I asked.
“Naw, I took a few days off. Why haven't you been returning any of my phone calls?”
I stood up so we could go to my office and talk. The last thing I needed was for the women in here to know
all
of my business. Spencer followed behind me, and after I closed the door, we took a seat on the sofa.
He took my hand and placed it in his. “So, why haven't you called me?”
“I've been busy, Spencer. You can see for yourself how busy Jay's is.”
“Yeah, but it ain't stopped you from calling me before.”
“Well, it's getting close to the weekend. I was going to call you, but there's been one thing after another.” I stood up and walked over to my desk, pretending to be occupied with a piece of paper on it. I didn't want to hurt Spencer's feelings anymore than I'd already done.
He stood up and placed his bag full of mail up on his shoulder. “I get the feeling that you don't want to be bothered. If so, just tell me. I'm not the kind of man who hangs on to a woman who doesn't want me.”
“It's not that Spencer, but . . . but you and I just . . . we didn't click.”
“Didn't click?” he shouted. “We clicked like a motherfucker the other night. Unless I was dreaming or something, that night was off the chain.”
“With who? Me or Yvette?”
He gave me a blank stare. “What are you talking about?”
“I'm talking about you calling her name in your sleep. If I was that good to you, then why are you dreaming about somebody else?”
“I don't even know no damn Yvette.” He snapped. “If this is your way of calling this off, then fine. But don't go making up no lame ass excuse about me calling another woman's name in my sleep.”
I broke him down easy. “Look, let's just chalk up this one as a loss. If you just make sure to deliver my mail, honestly, I'm cool with that.”
He walked over to the door. “No problem. Women come and go in my circle, baby, and it definitely ain't no loss here.”
I shrugged my shoulders and followed behind Spencer on his way out. By the time we reached the work area, the women got silent again. Some held their pinky fingers in the air and I hadn't a clue what was up, neither did Spencer. He passed the mail to Bernie and closed the door on his way out. After he left, everybody burst into laughter.
“What is so funny?” I asked, as they still had their pinky fingers in the air.
“It's a sista thing. This means short-dick-nigga alert,” Jamaica said. “Every time we see one, it's a warning for the other sistas to stay the hell away.”
I looked at Bernie because I knew she had spilt the beans about me and Spencer. I couldn't help but laugh myself.
Thursday night didn't come to a close until almost 2:00
A.M.
And even though I wasn't “hands on” I was still exhausted from all the fires that had to be put out.
As usual, Jamaica's boyfriend came in clowning, another one of my stylist's customers was upset about her hair, Yasing wasn't moving fast enough for some customers, and when two women got into it over some money being owed—all hell broke loose.
There was only one stylist left, so I headed back to my office and kicked off my shoes. I unbuttoned my tight jeans and undid a few buttons on my silk blouse so my breasts could breathe. Before soaking my feet, I reached for the phone to call Mackenzie. My sister, Leslie, and her kids had been living with me for three months. My condo sometimes didn't feel like home and I hated to go there. She was never a good housekeeper and all the yelling and screaming at her kids drove me crazy. When she asked if she could live with me, I really didn't want her to. Then, I'd thought about all the times I'd run to her when Jaylin and me had our problems. There was no way for me to tell her no. Since I had a tenant soon moving out of one of my apartments on the Southside, I told Leslie she could move there rent free. It seemed as if time wasn't moving fast enough, but I had to bear with it.
I called home and Leslie said that everyone was asleep. She sounded down for the count too, so I told her I'd be home soon and ended the call.
Finally, the last customer was out, so I locked the door and changed into my white and black swimming suit. I put my hair in a ponytail and turned on the water jets to the Jacuzzi in one of my rooms. I dimmed the lights and sunk deep down into the water. I tightly closed my eyes and leaned my head back on the contoured headrest. With it already being Friday, seeing Jaylin was heavy on my mind. I didn't know what I was going to say, how I would say it, or why I wanted to say anything. I recited my words over and over but they never seemed to come out right. I'd even skimmed over some notes I'd taken earlier, but I realized that they hadn't made much sense. My stomach was tied in a knot, but I knew once I saw him that I'd soon be able to breathe.
“I love you,” he said, standing over me.
“I love you, too,” I responded back. “But, why'd you stay gone for so long.”
“Because I needed time to get myself together, baby.” He touched the side of my face, as he sat on the edge of the Jacuzzi. “Now that I've thought about things, I'm ready for us to do this. I want you to be my wife.”
 
 
Before I could respond, the sound of my cell phone ringing awakened me. I'd fallen asleep in the Jacuzzi and quickly reached for my phone.
“Hello,” I snapped.
“Can we talk about how you played me?”
It was Spencer.
“Spencer, I didn't play you. Like I said, I didn't think we clicked. That's all.”
“After I sucked your pussy the way I did, and now, you don't think we clicked? That shit doesn't sound right to me.”
“Well, I didn't ask you to suck my pussy. You took that upon yourself. Besides, don't be mad, I returned the favor, didn't I?”
He was silent, and then calmed his tone. “Just give me another chance. Let me take you out tomorrow night.”
“I don't think that's a good idea.”
“And why not?”
“Because I don't want you getting the wrong idea about us. Besides, I'm seeing somebody else right now.” I lied.
The phone went dead, and I had a feeling that Spencer was going to be a problem for me. What was it that he didn't understand? I said no, and as a matter of fact, I'd been saying no to a relationship with every man who'd come my way since my breakup with Jaylin. I guess I was kind of making them pay for what had gone down between us. Maybe I wasn't feeling anybody else because my heart wouldn't allow me to. Hell, I didn't know, but it did make sense.
I glanced at the clock on the wall and it showed 6:45
A.M.
Being in the Jacuzzi felt so relaxing and I couldn't help but fall asleep. And then, to dream about Jaylin really made me feel good. I hadn't dreamed about him in awhile, but since he was heavy on my mind, I couldn't help myself.
I was so anxious to see him that I hurried home to find something to wear. The sun was up and the streets were nearly empty. I drove nearly thirty miles to my condominium in Lake St. Louis and was furious when I pulled into the driveway. The kids had all kinds of toys and stuff in the yard. Before Leslie had moved in, my place had remained pretty tidy and clean. Mackenzie would have her toys in the yard from time to time, but nothing like this.
I opened the door and headed upstairs to my room. Leslie and her kids slept in the basement, so I was quiet enough not to wake anyone. Mackenzie had her own room, but always wanting to be close to me, she was laid across my bed with her dog, Barbie, lying beside her. Jaylin had gotten her Barbie as a Christmas present, and she was very attached to her.
I figured I'd go to Davenports around 11:00
A.M.
That would give Jaylin time to get settled and it left a little time before his 2:00
P.M.
meeting. I had a few hours to take a nap, but before I did, I went into my closet, filled to capacity with clothes and shoes, and searched for something to wear. If I hadn't worn my canary yellow dress that had Shane drooling, I probably would have opted for that. Instead, I pulled out three more seductive little numbers then decided against those as well. Realizing that I looked good in just about anything I wore, I decided on a simple pair of Apple Bottom jeans and a red fitted shirt that left my back bare. Two strings tied it together in the back, and since my bra could be seen, I was forced to go without one. My shoes weren't a problem, so I reached for my red strapped shoes that had a three-inch heel.
Once I decided what to wear, I changed into my pajamas and climbed into bed with Mackenzie. She woke up just long enough to wrap her arms around my neck and had fallen right back to sleep.
The kids downstairs arguing and Barbie's barking was what awakened me. I pounded my fist into the pillow and screamed. Sleep in this place was a thing of the past and I was damn mad about it. Mackenzie was already out of bed, so I yanked the covers back and screamed again. Nobody heard me; as the noise downstairs was enough to drown me out. Instead of going downstairs to kick some butt, I hopped out of bed, noticing it was already a few minutes after 9:00
A.M.
I showered, changed into my outfit for the day and looked at my gorgeous body in the mirror.
Eat your heart out, Beyoncé
, I thought.
You my girl, but I can work it just as good as you do.
I headed downstairs and the kids were still in the kitchen making much noise. Leslie was cooking pancakes and had totally tuned them out.
“Please,” I yelled, while reaching for the orange juice. “Can a sista ever get some sleep around here?”
They laughed and the noise came to a halt. I gave Mackenzie a kiss on her forehead. “Hi, baby. Did you sleep well last night?”
“Yes, Mommy. I tried to wait for you, but you took too long.”
BOOK: Naughty by Nature
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