The Coldest Winter Ever (32 page)

Next thing I know the same dude was asking us to take our shoes off. A lot of girls didn’t like that and they were complaining and suckin’ their teeth. I wasn’t affected, I had pretty feet. I even did my pedicure over especially for tonight. Dude started pointing out girls, “Hammertime sit down, Hammertime sit down, Hammertime sit down. Goddamn, sit down!” There was only like forty girls left.

“Alright ladies, this is a big one. Everyone with a weave sit your bald asses down.” Twenty-five girls were out on that one call. My shit was straight and real.

With fifteen girls left, I was planning on winning. Then the next security guy got up and said, “Pull up your shirts. I’m checking for them nasty worms.” Everybody was confused. We just stood there asking him and each other, “What? What worms?”

“Stretch marks. A lot of you slick bitches got nice figures and ugly stretch marks. You know you got four kids. Your ass shouldn’t even be here. GS do not wanna be your baby’s daddy!” All the guards started laughing. Five girls with worms were eliminated.

The security guard called over to the DJ, “Throw on some Biggie Smalls. Let me see you hoes dance. You gotta have rhythm. If you can’t dance, you probably can’t fuck. Sit down, you off beat. Sit down, you’re whack. Sit down, your butt fell off.” Seven girls left. Everybody was like alright, OK, alright already, just pick one. “OK, one of y’all step up, the other six sit down.” Everybody stepped up. “OK now we gon’ see who got some sense upstairs in the head. If you give the wrong answer to the television trivia question sit down.

“Contestant number one: Who shot J.J. Evans?”

“Who?”

“J.J. Evans, in
Good Times.”

“I don’t know.”

“Sit down. It was Mad Dog. Contestant number two: What was Janet Jackson’s name on
Good Times?”

“I know, it was Penny,” the contestant answered.

“You’re right. Contestant number three: What was Alice’s, the maid in
The Brady Bunch,
boyfriend’s name, and what job did he do?”

“Oh, I don’t know.”

The security guards was laughing so hard they was bent over. The one who fell on the floor yelled, “You’re out, it’s Sam, the Butcher.”

“Contestant number four: What was Fred Sanford’s favorite drink?”

“Come on, that one’s too hard. Hers was easy,” she said, pointing to number two.

“Sit down. Fred drank Ripple. Contestant number five: What was Samantha Stevens’s mother’s name on
Bewitched?”

“Umm, um, Sabrina.”

“No, it was Endora.”

“How was I supposed to know, I didn’t watch that shit. I don’t have cable.”

“Sit down. Contestant number six (that was me): “What was the name of the dog on
The Jetsons,
the dog on
The Flintstones,
and the dog on
The Brady Bunch?”

“Astro, Dino, and Tiger,” I said swiftly.

“Ah shit. That’s right, that’s right.”

Security laughed. The buffed one was like, “Yo, that bitch is smart.” Contestant number seven was disqualified ’cause she didn’t know who beat Rerun in the dance contest on
What’s Happening.
But I saw that episode at least ten times; it was Danny Disco Dynamite.

“Now we’re down to two contestants. Who’s it gonna be? Let me see.” Then one of them security guards jumped up and said, “What size is your bra?”

The girl said “36D.”

I said “34D.”

“Pretty close,” he said. “But who has on clean panties with no holes and no loose strings? Open your legs.” He got down on all fours and looked under her skirt. Then he crawled over and looked under my dress. When he saw my nicely trimmed, bare, hairy pussy he said, “That’s it! You’re the winner!” All I could think was,
Thank God I didn’t wear no panties.

It seemed like we would never make it up to the top of the wide, steep, and curvaceous staircase. Every step closer I got to the bedroom on the west wing of the mansion, the more excited I became. I wish I could have a Polaroid snapshot of the look on GS’s face when I walk into the room.

As we got closer to the door the fat security guard who escorted me said, “Me and you could dip into any one of these rooms right now. If it’s me you really want just give me the word.” I wouldn’t even respond to him. A few steps before the entrance to GS’s bedroom the fat guy turned around and walked away.

I could hear the music in the room pumping real loud. Standing outside of the door I checked my clothes and touched my hair with my fingers. I turned the knob to let myself in. Surprisingly, the room was dark. The only light was coming from the television where the image from the PlayStation street fighter game was stuck on pause.

I ran my hands along the wall trying to guide myself to the light switch. Accidentally I tripped over what I guessed was a Timberland
boot tossed on the floor. Now I was glad the lights were off. I didn’t want GS to see me in an uncool position. When I stood up I walked a couple of steps before feeling the night table with my fingers. As my hands were extended in front of me to keep from crashing into anything else, I almost toppled over a Cristal bottle. I knew that’s what it was from the shape of it as I held it in my hands. It was empty. Oh shit. I knew GS was wasted, probably crashed out on the bed. It was either that or he’s a sexy motherfucker who likes to play games in the dark. I could get with that. With a few more steps I found my feet tangled in his pants that were tossed on the floor. Now I was getting real excited.

Finally, I found the sound system, but I couldn’t read the buttons so I just started turning and pushing them one by one. There was static, then shit just started going crazy for a minute. I pushed the buttons faster until, luckily, one shut the sound off.

“GS,” I called out softly, not really knowing why I was whispering now that it was so absolutely quiet. I heard him groan a few times and moved into the direction his voice was coming from. Soon as I bumped into the bed I started undressing.

“Who that?” he asked, sounding disoriented.

“It’s me, Sasha. I came to give you what we both been waiting for.” He laughed slow and sexy. Butt naked, I slid my silky legs in, then the rest of my body. Taking total control, I threw my legs over him, then mounted him like I was the jockey and he was the thoroughbred. I was determined I was gonna revive the million-dollar star. I was gonna make love to him so he would remember my name and come back sniffin’ round my door tomorrow. Laying my titties on his chest and my hairs against his now erect, big thick thank God dick, I began to suck his neck, lick his shoulder blades, and suck his chin.

Only seconds passed before his lips came alive and gave way to my sweet passion. We was tonguing. His strong arms grabbed my hips and lifted me up slightly, positioning to penetrate. I pulled myself to the side, resisting him, so I could suck it first to keep it hard longer. As it went into my mouth and halfway down my throat, I moved my lips slowly back and forth. GS let out a groan that let me know I had him in the palm of my hands. Tonight it would be all about him. Once I turned him out, it would be all about me.

When I felt the pressure mount in him I withdrew my tongue and lips. He grabbed my head wanting me to keep going. Instead, I
mounted him then, pushed him inside of me. I put everything I had on him, double-jointed hips, and my flexible body moves. He wouldn’t never call me a lazy lover. As my pussy muscles held him in a lobster grip, I vibrated all over him. I heard him scream in ecstasy like he was my bitch. The sound of his surrender caused me to lose my head and my orgasm caused my whole body to shake uncontrollably. He responded by busting a nut, a big fucking walnut, inside of me. We both collapsed into sleep. I don’t know about him but I went out with a smile.

In the morning, I tidied up after our houseguests. I was dressed in GS’s shirt. Downstairs I tried to bring together some breakfast for us; I had music playing at a low volume. The sun was filling up the entire house the way it does in classy neighborhoods where architects design houses with the position of the sun, moon, and water in mind. As I walked up the long wide staircase, I felt a pain in my side …

“Excuse me, sweetie. Hey, hey. You got to get up and get out of here. I don’t know what you’re doing in here. But don’t respond. I’m afraid of the answer.” Everything was a blur. I attempted to focus. My head was pulsating the way it does after a night of a wild mixture of drinks.

The harmless-looking thirty-something woman was poking me in the side with a long black antenna, on which I assume was a walkie-talkie. When I sat up my eyes confirmed the images that were jetting through my mind. I was in GS’s mansion. It was not a dream. The untidy room of last night was now spotless except for my naked body. Like a zoom lens, my eyes scanned the floor for my clothes, which I recalled dropping on the floor on my side of the bed. I spotted them laid neatly across a chair.

I grabbed my neck with my hands. My diamond necklace and my bracelet were still on so I could rule out robbery from this bizarre situation. As I collected myself and began dressing, the woman watched me as if I was acting in a scene she was directing. Clutching my bag, I asked her, “Where’s GS?”

“He’s not due on the set until two this afternoon. It’s 9 A.M. right now. But you will have to go.”

“Think about it, lady. If I’m here in his room I must be a welcomed guest in GS’s home.”

“Oh really,” she said, doubtfully. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if
his girl
waited downstairs for him.”

“This house is big enough for everybody.”

“Listen, sweetie. I’m sure you’re GS’s girl. However, this is not GS’s house. Now, we have it rented for a video shoot until twelve midnight. I’ve got to get every shot finished by then. So I’ll have to ask you to leave in the interest of GS’s
money.
Overtime is an ass-kicker in this neighborhood.” She tossed my clothes at me.

I flung the door open, turned left, then right to figure which direction to head in. As I moved down the marble staircase I suddenly noted how beautiful, yet empty, the house seemed. I was mad at the sarcastic woman upstairs. But I wasn’t worried. I was certain that what I put on GS last night would stick. I wouldn’t have to go looking for him, he would find me.

When I exited from the multithousand-dollar crafted doors, it reminded me of my old house on Long Island. Just acres of perfect landscape and trimmed trees. Finding the bus stop would be like looking for a lost contact lens. Once I walked past the evergreens, I saw the black trucks that we all rode over here in.

The huge security guys who were the phantom comedians of last night were now looking very sober and serious about guarding this house. As soon as one of them spotted me, he called out, “Where you headed, lovely?” Slowly walking toward him I weighed my options.

“I’m tryna get back to the city.”

“You can ride with me if you can wait until eleven. That’s when I get off.”

“Were you here last night?” I asked him. “I don’t remember your face.”

“Why would you?” he said casually.

We putt-putted in his Datsun. The deteriorating jalopy was so slow it added forty minutes onto what should have been a quick trip. Maybe it was because his speedometer wouldn’t break forty-five miles per hour. As I crawled out of his car, I ask, “So were the black trucks rented just like the house?”

“Yep. Just for the video shoot,” he said nonchalantly. “Listen, I’ll see you around,” he said, while looking like he wondered if he had a chance with me.

I muttered back, “No you won’t see me,” and I slammed the door.

Souljah was aggravated when I got upstairs in the house. As she munched on some barbecue chips, more out of habit than hunger, she asked, “Have you seen Lauren?”

“Not since last night,” I responded, walking straight back to my bedroom. Hmmm. She knew better than to try to get in my business. As I relaxed on the comfortable bed I thought about everything. My only regret was not getting a photograph, autograph, or a piece of GS’s personal belongings. Nobody would ever believe me if I told them me and him got down together. But I soothed myself with the idea that there was still time. As the minutes slipped away, sixty seconds at a time, I waited patiently for Lauren. Hell, she was there last night. She was a witness. Me and her would have one up on Souljah. While she strutted around all proud, Lauren and I would know that she didn’t really have it all as tight as she thought she did. After all, she let me slide that ace right out of her hand.

Stuffing envelopes and answering phones was not my line of work. But Lauren didn’t come home in two days. She didn’t even call. Souljah was more worried than anything. Somewhere along the line I guess she decided to substitute me for her sister ’cause here I was doing all the goddamn work. I wanted Lauren to come back just as much as she did. It was as if I was left alone in the apartment with a set of gigantic eyes watching me. Souljah had a way of looking at people that I didn’t like. She was very slick about using every minute that she’s around a person to ask certain questions which led her to knowing more than she needed to know or more than a person wanted to give up.

“I never heard you mention your father. Is he alive?” she would ask in an innocent voice, as if she didn’t know that it’s disrespectful to ask niggas about they daddy.

“Yeah, he’s alive,” I answered, with the mind-your-fucking-business tone.

Each time the phone rang I was hoping that it was Midnight. Above everything else, I always pictured him as the man who could rescue me. I wondered what kind of game Souljah was playing. Or if she even really knew him at all. If she knew him well, why didn’t she have his phone number or address? A lot of people don’t have phones, but everybody got an address.

While filling in for Lauren I got to watch Souljah more closely. Every now and then she would ask me to file some papers away in the file cabinets in her bedroom. She had everything neatly arranged in alphabetical order. I checked under my name just to be sure she wasn’t piling up no file on me. I even checked under “M” for Midnight to see
if she was holding out information I needed to have in my hands. No luck. No file on me or him.