Unfaithful Ties (34 page)

“Okay, I feel a challenge” Jason said looking at her then shifting his eyes to Cliff. “Rack us up again Clifford”  Glancing back at the woman. “Don’t say that I didn’t warn you” he smiled.

After Clifford racked up the pool balls Jason hit a bank shot, on the first burst,
then  called “black ball-three side pocket” and knocked it in. The woman didn’t stand a chance after that. From cross corner to side pocket Jason knocked the balls in. Just as he’d warned her.              “I’m not going to take your money. That would just be too cold-hearted of me” He told her, retrieved the one hundred dollar bill from the stack of money, pulled her hand inside his, and squeezed the money into her palm”

“You’re handsome and thoughtful” She smiled. “But a bet is a bet.” She had a firm grip on his hand as if she didn’t want to release it.

“If you weren’t so beautiful I wouldn’t mind taking your money”

“Well at least let me buy you another Corona” she offered and then strutted over to the bar. Jason noticed how the denim jeans emblazoned her silhouette. She sat down on the woodened bar stool, and motioned for him to join her. Everything about her was pleasing to the eye. Like a kid obeying his mother he did exactly what she wanted him to do. He sat down on the bar stool beside her and crossed his long legs at the ankles. She folded her arms across the bar counter. “Two Corona’s please” She said to the bartender and handed him some cash.

“Coming right up” A man of Mexican descent, said.

“I’m sorry I haven’t formerly introduced myself. I’m Jason”

“Valerie”

“Valerie” Jason smiled. “Means strong. Brave. Someone that has force of character, will, morality, or intelligence.”

“How do you know that?”

“Valerie was my mother’s name. She died of breast cancer years ago.” The Bartender excused himself and set two Coronas on the counter. “
Preciate it Man” Jason said.

“I don’t see a ring on your finger but that doesn’t mean anything are you married?”  Valerie asked and then slowly sipped on the glass bottle.

“For the moment”              

“Hey, things happen, right?”

“Yeah you’re right about that. Even when you’re not the least bit expecting them to. What about you?”

“It’s complicated.” She said

Jason just looked at her. The look on his face screamed that he was shocked. “Wow”.

“
What’s that look for?”

“I’m just wondering is that the line that my wife used when she was out cheating on me”

“I haven’t cheated. This conversation is completely innocent. It’s not like we’re screwing.” She giggled.

I wouldn’t be surprised at how far I can get you
, Jason thought and changed the subject “So what do you do for a living?”

“I’m a civil project engineer”

“Really!” She had an addled frown etched on her face.

“You say that like brothers can’t have a job that requires a degree. You’re looking at me like you thought I was going to say that I work on the corner” Jason joked.

“No” She laughed. I guess my facial expression offended you. I’m just shocked because normally a guy with that type of position doesn’t have dreadlocks.

“Well, Valerie, I’m one that does. I’ve been on my job for eleven years. Started out as an intern and worked my way up.”

“Were you born and raised in the Big Apple?”

“No. I’m from Alabama”

“Kinda figured you were from down South. You have a southern edge about you. Plus your southern accent is still a little heavy”

“That’s enough about me Valerie. Tell me a little bit about you. What do you do for a living?”

He was trying to get inside of her head. He prayed that she was the type of woman that stepped out on her husband. He thought cheating would make him feel better.

“Well my first job is what you
call motherhood. My second is full time employment with Hartson Lawder & Associates.”

“So you’re one of those feisty lawyers that they have on their team, huh?”

“Yes I’m an administrative attorney. I’m one of the many people in this city that helps to ensure that things stay in check around here.”

“Sounds interesting. How old are your kids?”

She swallowed down the last corner of her beer. and ignored her vibrating cellular.

“Kennedy is seven and Kyle is four. Those two make my life worth living.” 

Her phone vibrated again. She ignored it. She continued to ignore her mobile and three hours had flown by before they knew it. By then she and Jason were both tipsy.

****

Jason and Valerie ended up clawing off one another’s clothes as they barged through his front door.

“I don’t have any rubbers. Me and my soon to be ex-wife didn’t use them” Jason said while Kissing Valerie.

“It’s okay, I have some in my purse”

Jason scooped Valerie off of her feet. She wrapped her legs around his waist and they headed up the stairs with their tongues dancing all the way to the bedroom.

They fell onto the bed rubbing, kissing, and moaning. Jason ran his tongue up and down Valerie’s naked chest while thumbing her erected nipples. He pushed her breast together and sucked her nipples leaving a trail of saliva on her soft breast.

Valerie slid both her legs over his shoulders and moaned when her clitoris was introduced to his tongue. Jason slid his hands underneath her ass cheeks and smothered her pussy in his face. She shivered pleasurably.

After Valerie succumbed her second orgasm she told Jason that it was her turn to please him. She sucked his erected penis into the warm and wet juices of her mouth. She sucked it like it was the last bit of ice-cream left in a cone. She wanted to taste every bit of him. Using both of her hands she massaged his dick while moving her tongue up and down his shaft. She did circular tricks with her tongue, massaged his balls with her tongue, and deep throated his cock. His toes curled and he screamed. “Oh shit I’m about to cum….Oh shit!...MMMM….”

Valerie heard the garage door open

“Is somebody else coming here tonight?” She asked.

Jason hadn’t heard anything he was too busy groaning.

“No. My ex-wife is gone and she’s not coming back” He assured her lowering her head back down to his penis.

She continued slurping and Jason continued moaning.

Valerie heard some commotion right outside the bedroom door.

“I think that somebody is in here
” Valerie said.

Jason got up, slid on his boxers and opened the bedroom door.

It was Vanessa

“I thought I told you to leave”

“Jason we need to talk”

“Is everything alright?” Vanessa heard a woman ask.

“Do you have another woman in our bedroom? In our bed?”

Vanessa tried to open the door.

Jason wouldn’t let her. “You need to leave”

“I’m still your wife”

“I wish you would have remembered that two years ago”

“So you’re just going to have sex in our home? In our bed?”

“You did! Why can’t I? Let yourself out!” He told her and went back into the bedroom.

chapter 24

Kenneth & Lena...Atlanta Georgia

As Kenneth and his family sat down at the dinner table his thoughts were wearing him down, bad.  Images, baneful images, had tumbled through his mind ever since he heard his wife moan someone else’s name in her sleep. The name “Chris” had stayed with him since that night. It was something about the way she said it, that was driving him up the fucking wall. He didn’t buy her little
Chris Brown dream.
Who in the hell was Chris? The facts were trying to come to him but he couldn’t bring himself to believe that she’d do it.  She wouldn’t have an affair. Hell, who was he kidding? Recently Lena had proven that she was capable of anything.

“You’ve been texting an awful lot lately” He said, surprised by the calmness in his voice because he was so aggravated. Watching her grin with a Kool-Aid smile marked on her face as she responded to a text didn’t help his mood either. He wanted to know who was responsible for her sudden joviality. Was it Chris? “Since when have you started bringing your cellular to dinner anyway?”

“Since I realized that you seem to think that it’s okay for you to bring yours to the dinner table.” Lena put her phone in her lap and grabbed the bowl of spaghetti noodles and dumped a spoonful on Khi’s plate. “It’s business okay.”

Kenneth bit into a piece of garlic bread. “Just like it was business on the day of
Khi’s game?”

“Look, don’t beat around the bush. Exactly what are you getting at?”

“I’d rather not go there in front of Khi”

“You’ve already gone there in front of
Khi.  Why don’t you do me a favor and save your assumptions?”

“I’m not assuming anything. But you’ve certainly had a lot of business to handle lately. Especially for a woman whose business is going out of business.”

“You just love seeing me lose everything that I’ve worked for don’t you? I bet you’re just getting a kick out of all of this.” Her cheerful mood was fading by the seconds. “You have the money, you could’ve helped me get out of this mess months ago. That’s what a real husband would’ve done but you loved the fact that I finally needed you. I got news for you, I have a new investor. I don’t need your money”

“Good because you’ve already blown through enough of my money anyway. And you think that I’m going to let you blow through the rest of it? No way in hell.”

“May I be excused” McKhi asked. He hadn’t even touched his food.

“You haven’t even eaten anything” Lena responded. “Are you not hungry?”

“Of course I’m hungry. I’m just tired of hearing you guys argue day in and day out. Are you guys getting a divorce?”

Kenneth quickly addressed his son’s question “Son, we’re not getting a divorce. We’re just...”

“Your father and I are going to be fine.” Lena smiled and rubbed Khi’s hand. “So don’t worry”

Dinner was silent
, mainly because Kenneth and Lena both knew that they couldn’t say more than two words to each other without it turning into an argument.

They were just about finished with dinner when Kenneth’s phone rang. It was on the counter so he got up and answered it. It was his day off and he really didn’t feel like talking but he answered it anyway. It was Storm. Maybe she had a new lead on Sanchez.

He grabbed his plate from the table. “What’s going on?” He asked, whirling the remaining amount of spaghetti noodles around his fork.

“Why does something always have to be wrong whenever I call you on your off day?”

He was chewing. “Because it’s my day off. “Whatever you’re calling to tell me better be good.”

“Actually it’s better than good. It’s great”

“Oh yeah!”

“Yes”

“I’m listening”

“Captain received an anonymous tip that Sanchez has been hanging out pretty strong at Magic City.”

“And? We’ve received plenty of tips about the whereabouts of Sanchez, and not one of the leads has been successful”

“That’s why I wanted to be sure before I called you. So I drove over here by myself. I know that it wasn’t smart and I should’ve came by and picked you up first but I just didn’t want to bother you on your day off. Guess who, is here in the flesh?”

“You’re shitting me! Are you positive it’s him?”

“I’m willing to bet my life on it. I stepped outside for a quick second so that I could call you but I’m about to go back in and sit directly behind his ass. Hurry up and get your ass over here.”

He headed to the bedroom to get his gun and badge holding the phone to his ear “Keep a close eye on that motherfucker!.”.

Lena was loading the dishes into the dishwasher with an attitude when she heard Kenneth’s footsteps trekking up behind her. He was still on the phone.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes” He said before he hung up.

She knew exactly who it was. Storm! And she didn’t like it. It was his day off.

“I’ll be back. I’ve gotta’ take care of a few things down at the station.” He told her, reaching for his keys that were on the counter bar.

“What else is new?” She smart mouthed.

Kenneth ignored her and left.

“
Khi” She called.

“Yes mama”

“Go ahead and shower, you have school in the morning”

****

Storm was sitting at a table sipping on a bottle of beer when Kenneth walked in. Half naked women swarmed the dimly lit club while horny sex crazed men damn near lost their mind. Sanchez was the ringleader making it rain on a gorgeous woman dancing on the pole not knowing that two detectives were in close proximity of him ready to lock him away for the rest of his life.

Storm slid Kenneth a bottle of beer as he sat down. “So where is that jackass?” He said, while looking around at all the nakedness surrounding him.

“He’s the ring leader making it rain over there.” Storm said nodding her head in Sanchez’s direction. “Maybe you could’ve spotted him on your own if you weren’t so busy looking at all this scattered ass around here.”

Kenneth took a swig from the bottle. “There isn’t enough ass in the world to distract me from
putting his ass away”

“Looks like you got sidetracked for a minute”

“Well I am a man.” He chuckled. “It’s in my nature to look at beautiful half naked women”

“Can you try and stay focused on the reason why we came here!” Storm said, and rolled her eyes. “Looks like he’s really enjoying himself”

“Well at least his last day as a free man will be memorable. “ He chuckled.  “Have you informed the force?”

“They’re on the way”

“Good”

They both were halfway through their second round of beer when their backup finally arrived and signaled for them to move in on Sanchez.

Kenneth took a quick swig, sat his bottle down on the table and he and Storm both approached the table where Sanchez was enjoying the pleasure of an enticing curvaceous woman gyrating on his lap.

“
Rodrico Sanchez” Kenneth said, “Looks like you’re having fun”

“
Homie why in the hell are you all up in my space?” He asked. “I’m good baby” He said to the stripper, while assisting her from his lap. “Look I don’t think that you want these problems shawty” He said to Kenneth.

“I’m detective Gibson” Kenneth said and showed Sanchez his badge. “And this is my partner, Storm. Storm
do you mind telling Mr. Sanchez the reason why I’m all up in his space?”

“As a matter of fact I don’t” Storm smiled. “
Rodrico Sanchez we have enough evidence to put you away for a very long time”

“What the
fuck are you talking about bitch? I ain’ did shit to be locked up for and I really don’t have the time to listen to this bullshit”

“Actually you do because you are under arrest for the murder of Geraldine Dowers” Storm said as she pulled out the handcuffs that were in her back pocket.

Sanchez made an attempt to run but Kenneth quickly grabbed him by the arm and slammed him into the wall. “Not so fast?”

Storm clasped the handcuffs securely around Sanchez’s wrist.

“You got the wrong man. I ain’ killed nobody” Sanchez pleaded.

“Evidence proves that you did. You killed Ms. Dowers because you got into a
fistfight with her grandson and he kicked your ass. So to make him pay for embarrassing the shit out of you, you killed the most important person to him”

“You
ain’t got no proof of shit” Sanchez screamed. “I ain’t going back to jail.”

“I hate to be the one to rain on your parade but that’s exactly where you are going” Kenny blurted.

“And for a very long time.” Storm added, and the three of them headed for the exit.

Kenneth headed to the station, thrilled that he’d finally caught that son of bitch. However he wasn’t thrilled about doing all of the paperwork. Which always took hours.

****

By the time Kenneth pulled into the parking garage it was after midnight. Languidly he detached his seatbelt, got out the car and sluggishly headed towards the entrance of the building. He’d been working all day and he was tired. All he wanted to do was go to bed.

When the elevator doors pinged, he stepped on and pressed the button that landed him on the ninth floor. He didn’t necessarily hate living in a high-rise condo but he wasn’t too keen on it either. He’d always wanted to raise his family in a house with a gargantuan backyard. Buying a condo was Lena’s idea.

As soon as he walked through the front door he heard Lena yapping on the phone. He was glad that Lena was still up. They needed to talk. “I
gotta’ go” He heard her say as he walked into the kitchen.

“Hey, what are you still doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep”

“Oh, who were you just talking too?”

She thought of a quick lie “Vanessa”

Deep down Kenneth didn’t believe her. He didn’t know why, but he didn’t. He loosened his necktie, and set it, along with his pistil, and badge on the counter bar. “How is she?”

“She’s doing okay. Why? What’s with all the questions?”

“I’m just curious you two haven’t been on the phone this late since high school. Something must be bothering her”

“Just catching up.” She said pulling away from the dinette table. “Another late night?” Now she was scanning the contents in the refrigerator.

“Yeah, we finally caught Sanchez”

“Well good for the two of you. Goodnight. I’m going to bed”

“Before you go to bed there is something that I want to discuss with you.”

“What’s that?”

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that our marriage is in trouble. We argue all the time. We can’t even stay in a room for more than five minutes without getting into an argument about something petty. Our son notices it. The tension between us is affecting him. And I don’t want that for him. Lena we’re practically roommates that don’t get along. I think we should try marriage counseling.”

“Marriage counseling!”

“I think it’s worth a shot. I just don’t know where else to turn. I know that I want our marriage to work. Do you?”

“Of course I do”

“Storm referred the therapist that she used. I’m going to give her a call tomorrow.”

“Storm?” Lena hissed with a frown. “Isn’t she divorced?”

“She is, but it wasn’t be-”

Lena interjected. “Don’t make up excuses for her.  How sweet of her to refer a therapist that didn’t work for her. You may not see it but I can see exactly what she’s doing.”

“Lena for the millionth plus time, there is nothing going on between me and Storm”

“Yeah tell me anything! You two have gotten so personal that you’ve told her about the problems in our marriage?”

“She’s been my partner for years. I consider her a friend. And yes I’ve told her about some of our problems it’s not like I can hide the frustration. It’s obvious!”

“You tell a woman that wants you about our problems? She can pretend that she’s interested in helping save our marriage all she wants but I’m telling you she has a motive.”

“Okay somehow we’ve gotten all of the subject. Are you interested in seeing the therapist or not?”

“Go to hell” She shouted and headed for the guest room. Just when I’d made up my mind to end things with Chris, he pulls some shit like this, she thought “I bet he’s sleeping with her and if he can sneak around, so can I!” She mumbled.

The next morning Lena was on her way to work when her mobile rang.

“Hey girl” She said.

She heard sobbing.

“Vanessa is everything okay? You’re scaring me, what’s wrong?”

“It’s over
” Vanessa cried. “He found out about everything.”

“Oh I’m so sorry Vanessa, are you going to be okay?”

“You should have saw the way he looked at me” She cried. “What am I going to do?”

“It’s natural for him to be upset right now. He’ll come around.”