To Love and Obey (16 page)

****

Zerrin should’ve known something was peculiar when she saw all that Saran wrap in the playroom closet. She hadn’t thought much of it at the time, other than it was one of Nick’s little quirks. As she calmly lay on the bed, completely immobile from being wrapped in Saran wrap from shoulders to ankles, she wondered what other little
quirks
her Dom boyfriend had.

The room was softly lit and she could tell, despite the blindfold covering her eyes. It was completely quiet and room temperature. It felt like solitary confinement and she was being punished for something she wasn’t entirely sure yet. How did a quiet evening turn into Zerrin satisfying a mummy fantasy of her Dom’s?

“You think too much,” Nick spoke quietly as he watched her. “I see your lips moving and you’re making faces. You need to be still and keep calm.”

I need to be still? I need to be still? Where in the hell am I going to go, fool?
“Yes, Master,” Zerrin replied.

“This is to help you meditate and focus. It’s not a punishment.” Nick’s tone was soothing. “I need all of your energy and attention on me. Use this time to think about where you have been and where you want to go. I’ll be back in a short while.” He then turned off the light and left the room.

There Zerrin was—alone with her thoughts. She briefly heard some faint shuffling – Nick wasn’t too far from her. But she couldn’t rely on him. There was going to be a time when Nick wasn’t going to be around and she needed to handle things on her own as if she were in charge. He already gave her the reins in the classroom. Maybe he was testing her patience and mental strength at home.

Almost a half-hour later, Zerrin felt Nick’s presence again. She softly yawned and briefly wondered how long she had been asleep; the
mummification
had relaxed her that much. Her Master clearly knew what was best for her before she did; she felt more at peace and calm.

A straw was placed to her lips and Zerrin took a sip. Ice-cold water. She felt the water trickle down her throat, rejuvenating her senses. She then felt her blindfold removed from her eyes. She slowly opened them up and was graced with Nick’s smile.

“Relaxed?” He asked.

“I am, Master.” She smiled.

“You were running on all cylinders the moment I came home and didn’t stop to slow down. I had to cool you down before you burnt yourself out.”

Nick seemed to know what Zerrin needed before she did. “Thank you, Master.”

“You’re welcome.” Nick took out a pair of scissors and began to cut through the plastic wrap, releasing Zerrin’s limbs one by one. “I have one more activity I want us to engage in tonight before we end our play session.”

“Oh?” Zerrin asked.

Nick finished cutting up the plastic wrap and removed it from Zerrin’s body. He helped her sit up in bed and sat beside her. “It’s completely up to you if you want to do this. You don’t have to.”

Reverse psychology. Maybe Nick wasn’t using it intentionally on Zerrin but whatever he was going to suggest to her, she was eager to do. “I’m listening, Master.”

“Remember my portfolio?”

“Yes?”

“I want you to be the last and final picture in it.”

Fourteen

“
Yo, I didn’t like how that sounded,” Jake Campbell spoke back into the microphone at the recording studio, “let’s do that take over.”

Jake Campbell knew he wanted to be a hip-hop star when he was younger. He could remember watching
Yo! MTV Raps
and seeing the latest music videos from his idols, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Run DMC, and Ice Cube. He would listen to mix tapes over and over, studying the delivery and flow of the greatest rappers. He would critique the rapping style of the worst rappers.

Most importantly, he knew he wanted to be one.

He was lucky enough to sign a deal with a major record label when he was seventeen and spent most of the time helping other artists, writing and producing them. When it was his time to shine, the label wanted Jake to parlay his parents’ notoriety into his music so they could capitalize off it. It was an idea Jake seriously pondered at first. He heard stories about how ruthless his father was, threatening to kill a drug runner’s entire family—grandma included—if he shorted him again. He heard plenty about his mother’s role in the organization—the brains behind it all and the reason why he and his sister weren’t strapped for cash. What better way for a rapper to build street cred than to have the son of the most infamous drug dealer spitting his tale?

But that wasn’t Jake, and he knew it.

He cared more about the things that weren’t popular in hip-hop: respecting women, saving money for retirement, and going on vacation on some tropical island. He didn’t see a problem with driving the same five-year-old BMW instead of upgrading to a Bentley as most rappers seemed to do. He didn’t brag about what he could afford or what champagne he was drinking; no one cared about that other than him, anyway. He was more into designer labels and not how many bitches he could bang in one night or making it rain at some nightclub. Why in the hell would he willingly toss his hard-earned money at strippers? He still had a mortgage to pay.

Furthermore, Jake didn’t look like the average rapper. He had a few tattoos, but he wasn’t covered in them. He didn’t wear a ton of jewelry and kept his fade clean every couple of weeks. He was strikingly handsome with a muscular build, trimmed goatee, and chiseled jaw. He could always have a second career in modeling or acting, should he ever tire of music.

Whatever career path Jake chose, however, he definitely did not want to follow the footsteps of his parents. He could remember how lonely he had been at school when the other parents refused to let their kids play with him and his sister, afraid they could somehow influence their children to start drug dealing. Jake could remember his grandmother often quoting the Bible whenever he told her what happened at school that day. He swore he would never subject his children to same thing.

All he had was his sister and vice-versa. No matter what sibling bickering they had or how long it had been since they’ve seen one another, they always came together.

He knew about the clean rappers, the ones that were never taken seriously. He knew about the extreme rappers, the ones who rapped about rape, cop-killing, and incest. He decided to find a nice middle. He spoke about his struggles growing up, having fun with his friends, and spoiling the woman of his dreams. Every song he rapped about told a story—silly or serious—and every hip-hop head from Brooklyn to Houston to Los Angeles could relate in some form. He gave himself a name, Dolce Gabbana, after the brand and because it was his mother’s favorite and he wanted to pay homage to her.

Jake’s formula worked. His debut album,
Almost Famous
, debuted at the top of the charts and his sophomore effort,
Infamous
, was already considered a classic hip-hop album, selling over a million copies in its debut week. He was currently working on his latest album,
Notorious
, set to be released soon.

“How did that sound?” he asked the studio engineer. “Better than the last take?”

“Jake, all of the takes you’ve done have been amazing, man,” the engineer replied back into the microphone. “I don’t know what you’re hearing, but I’m hearing greatness.”

“It needs to be better than great.” Jake took a sip of water. “It can’t sound like that other bullshit that’s being played.”

“I promise you it doesn’t,” the engineer yawned. “Now can I go home and get some sleep?”

“Go home,” Jake nodded. “Thanks for everything, dude. I’ll catch you tomorrow.”

Just as the engineer was leaving the studio, Zerrin entered. “Can you tell your brother to sleep? It’s good for the soul,” he yawned as he left.

“I’ll try,” Zerrin shrugged. She took her coat off and sat it down. She saw her brother was strumming on a guitar and he beckoned her to join him in the booth. “What brings this visit?” He got up to give her a hug.

Zerrin pulled up a stool and sat next to her older brother. “I was in the neighborhood and I decided to stop by.”

Jake began to strum on the guitar again. He was working on a rap acoustic piece. “You were just in the neighborhood and you decided to stop by, huh?” He asked.

“Yep,” Zerrin smiled. She loved listening to her brother when he was deep in the creative process. “What are you working on?”

“A new song,” Jake smiled, “It’s called ‘Why Is My Sister Bullshitting Me?’”

“Jake…”

“Tell me why, why, why is my sis bullshitting me?” he sang to the guitar melody. “She damn well know Manhattan ain’t in the neighborhood when she lives in New Jersey…”

“Jake…”

“Tell me why, why, why is my sis bullshitting…” He furiously strummed the guitar and ended up on an intentionally off-key note. “…me.”

“Oh, wow,” Zerrin cringed, “I hope that was the Biz Markie version.”

Jake set his guitar down and led his sister into the mixing booth, where Chinese takeout awaited them. “So what’s going on? I get a text from you saying you needed to talk to me about something and you just randomly pop in? Is everything okay?”

Zerrin fixed herself a plate and grabbed a soda. She sat down at the table and waited for her brother. They both said grace and began eating. “Everything’s great. Grad school is a challenge but it’s to be expected. My TA position has been phenomenal and I’m getting the hang of teaching.”

“So what’s the hesitation?” Jake poured himself a beer. “You sounded urgent in your message.”

“I wanted you to meet someone.” Zerrin swallowed her moo shu pork. “Technically speaking, he’s my boss.”

“But reality speaking, he’s been giving you a bit more extra credit, hasn’t he?” Jake smiled.

Zerrin tried to hide the smile from her face. Nick was everything he had promised her the first weekend they spent together: her lover, best friend, provider, and leader. “His name is Nick. His mother is Nicola D’Amato of Madre’s .”

“Oh yeah, I know about Madre’s,” Jake scooped up some sweet and sour chicken, “I love their stuff. So this Nick guy is a professor, too?”

“Yep, at NYU. He teaches English,” a light bulb went on in Zerrin’s head. “Say, would you be able to do a favor for me?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“The students are doing Shakespearian raps—rapping about an act or passage in Shakespeare to a hip-hop beat. I was wondering if you would be able to come in and give them some tips? I could give them some pointers and I’m sure Nick could as well, but let’s face it—you’re the one with the millions of records sold and we aren’t. Plus, I think it’ll be a cool surprise for the students to see someone of your stature come in.”

“Hey, I’m just a rapper, not Jesus,” Jake agreed, “But sure, not a problem. When did you want me to come in?”

“Next week. Let’s say next Thursday?”

“Got it.” Jake smiled, “So tell me more about this Nick guy. Does he know about mom and dad?”

“He knows all about mom and dad and what they did.” She added, “He’s not threatened or intimidated by them.”

“So what’s wrong, then?” Jake asked. “He seems like a nice guy.”

“I have this feeling about him, about us that I can’t shake,” Zerrin took a sip of her soda, “like it’s too good to be true.”

“You think he’s hiding something like a wife and family?”

“Oh no, no, no, no…” Zerrin shook her head. “It just feels surreal, like is this really happening?”

“Maybe because it’s the first time you’ve been in love for a while,” Jake suggested.

More like ever
. Zerrin knew the truth but she couldn’t admit that to her brother. It was bad enough she admitted to herself. She’d had boyfriends and various flings, but she couldn’t honestly say she had been head over heels in love with any of them. “I just don’t know if I’m doing too much, too soon.”

“Sis, if it feels good, go for it. If it feels wrong, leave. It really isn’t that hard,” Jake shrugged.

“Mom and Dad were together forever until the very end,” Zerrin reasoned, “Granted the circumstances they went through weren’t anything to brag about, but they stayed together. I kinda want that.”

“Then go for it,” Jake encouraged. “Just leave the drug dealing and prostituting out of it, please?”

“Whatever!” Zerrin laughed. “So what about you? Any honey dip capturing your eye?”

“There’s somebody,” Jake slowly nodded, “somebody special.”

A long silence passed between the siblings before Zerrin spoke again. “You want to fill me in or do I have to read about it on the gossip blogs?”

“Her name is Alexis. I call her Lexi because I think she’s sexy,” Jake grinned to which Zerrin rolled her eyes. “She’s special to me. Look here’s a picture of her.” He handed her his cell phone.

Before Zerrin was a stunning beautiful Black woman with short hair, cropped in a pixie cut. She was thin and had a megawatt smile. “Beautiful. She’s not on the pole, is she?”

“Oh, no, oh, no. She’s a schoolteacher. Good, Christian woman.” Jake’s eyes lit up, “I wrote ‘Hot Coffee’ about her. I think she knows, but she doesn’t want to guess. She’s kinda shy about that.”