Naughty 2: My Way or the Highway (18 page)

 

I spent the entire night at Scorpio's place, hoping she would come to her senses, and come home. By Friday morning I was sick to my stomach. If she took Mackenzie from me again, I thought, I would kill her ass. Take the pussy, that's replaceable, but a child I've grown to love is not.

Since I'd told Nokea I wanted to keep LJ for the weekend, I hurried home to see him, and tried to figure out what to do about Mackenzie. This time, I didn't give a shit who got hurt. In my mind, I was willing to go to the extreme to get Mackenzie back.

I pulled in the driveway and saw Nokea's car. We talked about LJ spending the night early on in the week, so I didn't understand why she was there. I opened the door and that's when she came rushing out like she was upset about something. I called her name several times, but she ignored me. Nanny B said that she had no idea what upset her, so I called Nokea's cell phone to make sure everything went cool with her and Pat.

Since she wouldn't answer her phone, I left her at peace and went upstairs to my room. I noticed the TV buzzing, so I turned it off. A tape ejected from the VCR. The tape Mr. McDaniels had left.

Nokea was angry because she saw the fucking tape.
Why in the hell would she go through my things any damn way?
I thought. I threw the tape on the floor and sat on my chaise.

“Jaylin,” Nanny B said, coming into my room. “What was that loud noise?”

“Nothing. I just dropped something.”

“Well, be careful. I was a little worried when you didn't come home last night.”

“Sorry about that, I didn't mean to worry you. I needed some time alone to clear my head.”

“I know how that is, and if you're hungry, I cooked a pot roast for you.” She picked up LJ. “I'm going to lay him down for the night. He's had a busy day.”

“Bring him here and let me hold him.” Nanny B put LJ down on the floor and he stepped his way over to me. I smiled and applauded how well he walked. I laid him against my chest and kissed his forehead. “Let him chill with me tonight. I'll put him to bed a little later, okay?”

“That's fine. He's your son, you know? I know sometimes I get too attached, but I can't help myself. I love him like my own.”

“I know you do. And trust me, I appreciate everything you do for us. Anyway, who can help themselves from getting so attached to him?”

She smiled, reached into her pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper. “Here. Scorpio's sister, Leslie, called about an hour ago. I told her you would be here shortly, so call her when you get a chance. She sounded like it was important.”

“Has Scorpio called?”

“No, she hasn't.”

Nanny B gave me the paper and left the room. Before calling Leslie back, I tried Nokea on her phone again. I left a message and told her I knew she had seen the tape and we needed to talk. Wasn't no telling when she would want to discuss it, but I knew it was time to put closure to our half-assed relationship.

I called Leslie's house, and some silly asshole asked who I was, put the phone down, and left me hanging on for about five minutes. Leslie finally picked up.

“Jaylin?”

“Yeah, it's me.”

“Listen, I called you earlier to tell you that Mackenzie is with me. I know you and Scorpio had a dispute, but she asked me to make sure Mackenzie spends some time with you.”

“So, Mackenzie's there with you?”

“Yes but—”

“I'm on my way. Tell her I'm on my way to get her.”

“Jaylin, wait a minute. I understand how anxious you are about seeing her, but Scorpio said she only—”

“Fuck what Scorpio said! She took off, left her child behind, so fuck her! I'm on my way to get Mackenzie, now!”

“Hey! I'm not going to argue with you about this. I'm just trying to do what my sister asked me to do. And for your information, she was extremely upset when she left. She needs time to get her life back in order. I offered to watch Mackenzie, and out of her love for you, she asked that I made sure Mackenzie got a chance to see you. So, watch what you say about her. She's a better woman than you think she is.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . whatever. Look, just pack Mackenzie's things and tell her I'm on my way.”

“Not right now. I'm on my way to the laundromat and she has chores to do. I'll drop her off when I'm finished.”

“Chores? Fuck your chores. She doesn't live there, and you're responsible for cleaning your own house. Can't you drop her off before you go to the laundromat?”

“You'd better watch it, fool, or you won't see her at all. I have seven kids and they're all going to help, including Mackenzie. I'm not making any special trips to your place just because you want me to. And the only reason I'm bringing her over there to stay is because she won't stop bugging me about you. So, be patient and I'll be there when I get there.”

I gave Leslie directions to my house and told her in so many words to hurry the hell up with Mackenzie. It wasn't like she didn't know where I lived, because the last time she brought her ass over here, she took Mackenzie from me. Just the thought of Mackenzie helping her with her dirty-ass clothes upset me, but wasn't shit I could do.

LJ and I were lying in bed playing on my laptop, waiting for Mackenzie to come. Finally he'd fallen asleep, and at one-thirty in the morning, Leslie decided to show up. I heard the doorbell and rushed downstairs to answer it. When I opened the door, Leslie stood on the porch with Mackenzie standing next to her. Mackenzie held out her arms for me to pick her up.

“Girl, you're getting too big for me to be picking you up.” I tickled her and picked her up anyway. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. “Thanks for bringing her by, Leslie. And if you talk to Scorpio, tell her to call me.”

“I'll tell her, but she won't call. And I'll be back to pick up Mackenzie on Sunday night.”

I looked at the station wagon parked in front of my house with her seven kids jumping around in it acting like fools. “Leslie, please just let her stay. It looks like you already got your hands full, so let her stay with me until Scorpio comes back. If Scorpio calls for her, tell her to call me. Tell her I won't question her about her whereabouts; I'll just pass the phone to Mackenzie.”

“I don't know, Jaylin. Let me talk to Scorpio first. I'll call you Sunday and let you know then.”

She kissed Mackenzie and left.

I didn't care what she or anybody else said; Mackenzie was not going back to Leslie's house to save her soul.

I carried Mackenzie up the steps on my back. She laughed loudly, so I told her LJ was sleeping, and asked her to be quiet. She changed into her nightgown and climbed into bed with us. In less than five minutes, she was out like a light.

I couldn't sleep a wink. I had been downstairs about fifty times nibbling on the pot roast Nanny B had cooked earlier, and cutting slices of her pineapple upside-down cake. When I passed her in the hallway, we laughed. I bent down and picked up some crumbs I had dropped on the floor.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” she whispered. “Is there any left for me?”

“Yeah, there's plenty. But save some for tomorrow, all right?”

“Please. If it's not enough, I'll make another one. Now, get your greedy butt back in bed before the children wake up.”

In my room, LJ was lying on his stomach with his thumb in his mouth and his butt in the air. Mackenzie was lying on her back, her long, curly black hair spread out on my pillows, looking beautiful like Scorpio. I kissed both of them and tried to take LJ's thumb out of his mouth. When he squirmed, I left him alone.

I grabbed a pillow off my bed and laid it on the floor. Then I slid Mr. McDaniels' tape into the VCR. I propped my head with the pillow and started to watch it.

About five minutes into it, I had a smile on my face. It was straight-up wild. No wonder her husband wanted me to disappear. And Heather, she was all into it, and looked as if she was enjoying every inch of my thang inside of her.

I continued to watch the tape and my dick started to climb. Having no woman in sight, I paused it and stared at the ceiling. Nokea had to have been devastated after seeing something like that. I knew it wasn't in my best interest to lie to her again, so I hoped she'd call back tomorrow. If not, I was determined to see her and make things right between us. As for Scorpio, I wasn't sure how I was going to deal with her. I was already missing her, but was fighting every ounce of feeling I had for her. If time away was what she needed, then that's what I was going to give her. Eventually, she'd realize what she's missing, and come back begging for forgiveness.

I slowly cracked my eyes, and saw LJ and Mackenzie hanging off the edge of the bed, staring at me on the floor. I knew LJ wasn't going to keep his balance for long, so I hurried to grab him. Morning had come that fast. I made my way to the bathroom with LJ, Mackenzie tagging close behind.

“Mackenzie, can your daddy have some privacy? Take LJ to Nanny B's room to see if she's awake yet.”

She took LJ by the hand. “Come on, LJ. Let's go downstairs. I think Nanna's in the kitchen.”

“Be careful, baby. He's not good with steps yet, okay? Ask Nanny B to help you.”

“Okay,” she said, walking slowly with LJ and holding his hand. Nanny B must have heard me, because just then she came down the hallway. I looked at all of them and realized just how blessed I was. All my tedious problems on the outside couldn't overtake the love I had always dreamed of having in my home.

I was on my way out of the shower when the phone rang. I wrapped a towel around my waist. It was Nokea.

“Hey, where are you?” I asked.

“I'm at the Sheraton,” she said, dryly. “We need to talk.”

“Yes, we do. How long are you going to be there?”

“I'm on my way home. Meet me there in about an hour. And don't bring LJ with you.”

“Okay. An hour it is. But, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am—”

“Jaylin, no need to apologize. Meet me in an hour.” She hung up.

I slid into a pair of jeans and a thick brown cashmere sweater. Since I'd planned to spend the entire weekend with my kids, I told Nanny B I'd be right back.

Nokea was already at home when I got there. After I knocked, I rubbed my hands together and tried to keep them warm. She opened the door to let me in, but immediately turned away. I followed her to her bedroom. She was wrapping up a call with her mother.

As I waited, I took a seat in a chair that was caddy-corner to her bed. She told her mother that she loved her, and hung up, sitting across from me.

“Aren't you going to take off your coat and hat?” she said. “I do have heat, you know.”

I edged up from the chair and removed my coat. I left my hat on because I didn't plan on staying long. “I know you saw the tape yesterday,” I said. “Question is, why must you go through my things all the time, Nokea?”

“Jaylin, I didn't go through your things. Your briefcase fell open and the tape came out. I put it in the VCR, wondering why the words son of a bitch was on it.”

“Curiosity killed the cat. So now you know that I screw white women too. What's the big deal?”

“Who said it's a big deal? It doesn't matter to me if the women in your life are African American, Caucasian, Italian, Puerto Rican, Irish . . . who cares? It's not about them anymore; it's about you. For as long as I can remember, it's always been about you. You go through life constantly hurting people, and the thing is, you don't even care. Is it ever going to be about someone else other than just you?”

“It is about other people in my life, Nokea. My children, that's who. You had your chance and you fucked up. What in the hell do you want me to do about it?” I rubbed my hands together and told her how I really felt. “You know, the more and more I think about everything that's happened lately, I blame you for creating this monster in me. I was trying to get myself on the right track, and then you played me with the Stephon bullshit.”

“Wait a minute,” she yelled. “How dare you sit there and blame me for your obsession with women? You need to man up and 'fess up to this mess you've got all of us in. But, somehow or someway, I knew you'd come here and blame me for your ignorance.” She stomped over to her nightstand and pulled out a small black pistol. She aimed it at me and demanded that I get on my knees.

“Woman, you're crazy. I ain't—”

“Damn it, Jaylin!” she yelled. “I'm in control now! Don't argue with me, just do it! And don't think I wouldn't shoot you right now because I'm truly feeling as if I have nothing to lose.”

I thought about rushing Nokea and taking the gun from her, but under the circumstances, decided that wasn't the best thing to do. After seeing the tape and meeting with Pat, her mind could be anywhere. I wasn't taking any chances, so I did as she asked and eased down on one knee. “Okay, so now that you have my attention, now what?” I asked.

“How does it feel letting a woman have control? For once in your life, how does it feel?” She moved in closer with the gun and aimed it directly at my face.

“Nokea, look. I'm not going to fuck around with you like this—”

“Shut up and listen! Can you do that for one time in your life?” I nodded and saw her hands shaking. “This bullshit between us is over! I don't need any more apologies, no more of your lies, nor do I need anymore of your hand-me-down-ass dick! We have a son together and that's it. Don't call me unless it concerns him, don't touch me unless I ask you to, and don't even think about grabbing this gun because I will blow your damn brains out!”