Bad as in Good (11 page)

“I'm about to come,” she revealed as her body shook. As she screamed in satisfaction, her legs wobbled and the veins in her throat surfaced. I watched as her eyes rolled to the back of her neck and her pussy lips held on to my dick and vibrated. I wanted to come too, but I held back and slid out before her grip forced me to change course.

I sat back on the couch and watched the seven o'clock news on my TV screen. There was a report runnin' about how neighbors found the body of a local businessman shot in the head. Apparently,
a cheatin' wife's husband found her lover sneakin' out the back door. Husband got him before he hit the lawn. Immediately, I was cold. I remembered this Bible verse my mama once told me. “A jealous husband shows no mercy.” I ain't wanna be the man that stood between a woman and her jealous man. Loraine sat back and caught her breath.

As we avoided each other's eye contact, I checked the time. “Did you want me to take you back to the diner?”

She didn't look at me. She nodded and fixed her crooked panties. “I need to use your bathroom for a quick sec.”

I pointed toward my half bath and watched her hips rock from side to side as she strutted inside. While the bathroom sink kept flowing, she was tryin' to wash my scent from her skin and conceal her cheatin' ways wit' cheap perfume and warm water. When she walked back out, her hair was up, lipstick back on and low-cut shirt tucked back in her skirt.

“You ready to go?”

She nodded her head and headed toward my door. We didn't have any more words to exchange. We got what we wanted from each other although our guilt continued to tap us on our shoulders, callously reminding us of the experience we shared. While it wasn't all my fault for breaking up a happy home, but not long ago, I wouldn't even think to screw another man's woman. I changed my ways to keep up with the times. No one was faithful anymore. For all I knew, her man was prolly between the legs of another woman while he checked
his
watch and made sure
she
wasn't home. I was playing the game all men were tryna win.

L
ife isn't meant to be lived alone. At night, everyone gets lonely. I start craving the opportunity to hold someone. I begin wanting to caress the soft skin of a woman who wants nothing but to lie close to me. Eventually, I yearn for the whisper of her voice in my ear, professing her love for me. The random women that I picked up at banks, soul food restaurants, or park benches weren't enough to feed my hunger for companionship. My sex drive seemed quenched, but I stayed hungry.

Damien was the man who pushed me into my path of hedonism and recklessness. With a slew of women under my belt, I could thank him for giving me the courage to stop playing the sucker and play women instead—get them before they got me. My gratitude, however, was mysteriously absent when I saw him at the gym.

“What have you been up to since you left the job?”

He wiped the sweat off his face and shrugged his shoulders. “You know, same ol' same. I got a job workin' in collections. Doing me, y'know?”

I rested my back against the wall and waited for my turn to use the set of weights I'd been eyeing. “How's everything else? You finally settled down yet?”

He cut his eyes at me and chuckled. “Who me? Why the hell would I do something stupid like that?”

“You been single longer than I have. You almost forty now, right? Ain't it time to give it up?”

“I ain't never givin' it up. Bitches ain't shit.” Damien grabbed one of the heavier free weights and started doing reps. “Why you askin'? You been pussy whipped all yo' life. I hope you ain't plannin' on settlin' down again.”

“I'm thirty. Of course, I'm thinkin' 'bout it.”

“What does that mean? Hoes are hoes at any age. You had yo' fill already?”

“I mean, it's cool, but you don't get tired of a different woman every other night? Playin' games, not havin' anyone to hold you down. Deja definitely pulled one ova on me, but I liked believing that she was down fo' me. I don't have that living like this.”

“Fuck it. Get married then. Don't let me stop you. I'm happy. If it wasn't fo' bitches, I'd be living off my millions after goin' pro straight from college. Instead, I'm workin', callin' mothafuckas, an' askin'
them
for money. You wanna wife one of these hoes, cool. Don't get mad when they pull another one ova on you, like they always do.”

When my weights were free to use, I walked over to them to start my reps. I was conflicted. Damien made sense, but I couldn't help but not feel right. It didn't feel normal going through women like objects. I wanted to slow down and recharge my batteries. I wasn't lookin' for a wife, but I did want something more than this. Whether Damien saw it or not, good women gave men balance. The men focused less on sleepin' around and focused more on their goals. My mama was living proof good women were out there. I ain't wanna be the forty-year-old player makin' a livin' workin' collections and fuckin' bitches.

When I left the gym, I called Simoné. She didn't answer. When I called the second time, I hung up after the third ring. I wanted to hear the sound of her voice. When her automated voicemail robbed me of that opportunity, I sat at a green light, confused. Staring at my phone, I didn't notice the three cars behind me honking. I stepped on the gas and pulled into the corner store parking lot. I somberly walked through the entrance and trekked down the aisles in search of bubble gum and hot fries.

“Flamin' Hot Cheetos are the best.” The sultry voice tickled my eardrums and excited me in more ways than I thought it would. When Simoné's thick black bangs and glossed supple lips greeted me, I smiled mischievously as my eyes slid down to her red pumps, up her long legs, and stopped at the sight of her breasts squeezed unmercifully in her push-up bra. It looked like she threw on her nude, skintight dress to come see me.

“Hey, beautiful,” I said.

She looked me up and down and grinned. “Whatchu doin'?”

“On my way home so I can head to work late.” We stood there in the snack aisle, staring each other down, waiting for the other to say something. “Whatchu doin'? You going' somewhere?”

“I'm mindin' my business.” She gazed at me a lil' while longer and turned on her heel. Before I let her walk away, I held her elbow and blocked her way. She pulled back and folded her arms across her chest. “What, Riq?”

“Where you goin' so fast? You ain't got shit to say to me?”

Simoné twirled her neck. “What would I have to say to you?”

“I called you. You ain't answer.”

“And?” She stood there silently and dared me to question her avoidance.

I licked my lips and chuckled. “So you avoiding me now?”

“What the fuck do you want, Riq? You ignored my calls, so why can't I ignore yours?”

“I can't wanna talk to you?”

“If you wanted to talk to me, you wouldn't have pushed me away like you did.” She turned around to walk away, and I skirted around her to stop her from leaving again.

She stomped her foot on the ground and grunted. “Riq, would you leave me alone? I blew you up like some groupie while you acted like I wasn't shit. Now you wanna stand in my way like you care about my feelings. If you genuinely cared, you wouldn't have tried me like you did. I'm tired of you trifling niggas coming in my face like I'm supposed to run back to you when you decide you're ready to make this work. Fuck you, Riq. Get out of my way.”

I wasn't about to beg Simoné for a chance. I respected her frustrations, and although I wanted a chance at making things work, I wasn't about to make an ass out of myself at a raggedy corner store.

I nodded and stepped to the side. “All right. Do you.”

She clowned me, but I wasn't about to let her gain the satisfaction of watching me beg for her. As I walked away, she was still standing behind me with her arms folded. I didn't even get what I went in there to get. I got in my car and headed home to get ready for work.

For the past three weeks, I was preparing to interview for a promotion to Compliance Manager. The last thing I needed was to worry about was a bad meeting wit' Simoné. I ain't even answer when her name came up on my cell phone.

•  •  •

When I got home from work, it was late. I sat on my couch drinking a beer. I cleared Simoné's missed calls from my screen and deleted her unread text messages. I considered callin' it a night when I got a call from Damien. “What's up?”

“I heard you got the promotion!”

I was smiling but held my composure. “It's not set in stone yet, but I'm pretty sure I did.”

“Nigga, please. You know you did. Who else were they goin' hire, Big Luke from accounting? That job was yours before you even walked in to the interview.”

“How you know all this? You talkin' like you still work there.”

He chuckled. “Just 'cause I don't work there don't mean I don't know people that still do. An' I got good news, too. I left collections. One of my boys got me on this personal trainer gig. I'm making more and setting my own hours.”

“That's what's up!” Lookin' at the time, I asked, “What were yo' plans for tonight?”

“There's this new club off OBT that we should roll through. I heard the ratio of women to men is like twelve to one. Plus, they got bottles goin' fo' forty. It's goin' be on point. And wit' this promotion, we gotta celebrate.”

My phone beeped. Simoné was callin' again. I sighed and smacked my lips. “All right, let's go.”

•  •  •

When we got to the club, Damien wasn't lying. For a second, I woulda thought we broke into a harem. Damien had the connections. We didn't even stand in the line that wrapped around the block. He slipped the bouncer a hundred and we walked right through. It was packed. Usually, with so many women in one place, the amount of ugly ones always outnumbered the fine ones, and the amount of cheap, stank ones outnumbered them all. Tonight, it was a sea full of sirens with bright smiles, fat asses, tight dresses, and loose morals. When we got to the bar, Damien ordered a couple of bottles and headed for the VIP corner. Like superstars, we sat
down and watched as the women swarmed. In minutes, my head swooned from vodka and Hen shots while my lap overflowed with vibrating bottoms of drunken bad girls.

I had never partied wit' Damien before, but he was sure to please. Eventually, he disappeared into the sea of women and left me with three gyrating women. They placed my hands on their hips and bumped and grinded off beat while loading up on shots of Patrón. Lil' John was their master as they let his beat move their bodies in ways their parents wouldn't approve. I happily accepted their debauchery while the intoxication took control. It was time for a breather when I caught a girl suckin' up Damien in a dark corner. I shook my head and refused another shot. I wasn't tryna get my dick wet like that tonight.

I squeezed out of VIP and headed toward the bar. A few women gave me a wink as they silently called me over with a sway of their hips. I ignored them. Only an hour had passed, and already I was worn out. Suddenly, I felt a woman's touch on my stomach. I shook my head and moved her hand away. “Lemme order a drink and catch my breath,” I said without looking back.

“I see you went back to ignoring my calls.” When her warm voice met my ears, I turned around. Simoné looked finer than she did when she was in the corner store. She wore coochie-cutting sequin shorts and a see-through blouse. Her hair was blown out and curly, but her shadowy eyes still poked through thick, jet-black bangs like they always did.

I sucked in my bottom lip and tried not to stare at how juicy her lips were tonight. With all the fine-ass women in this club, she still looked the finest. “What's up, Simoné? You came to cuss me out again?”

She stared down at her open-toe shoes and back up at me. She
innocently smirked and squeezed my arm. “I'm sorry.” She moved in closer and rubbed her hand back and forth on my chest. “It felt good to be the one to make you look like a fool, though.”

I moved away and glanced back at Damien in VIP. He was smackin' a girl's ass while she jiggled her bare booty all over his lap. I dunno why I thought Damien planned to take me to an upscale club. This was the type of mess ol' playas was in to. When I turned to face Simoné, I could smell the liquor on her breath. It was then that I noticed her droopy eyes and flushed skin. She was drunk and horny, and saw me as the man to release her from herself.

“I gotta get back to my boy.”

“I saw you as soon as you walked in here. You had hoes all over you tonight. I had to say somethin' when you finally got away from all that.”

“Well, you said somethin', an' now I'm out.”

“Why are you trippin', Riq?” She pushed my shoulder, rested her arm on the bar and then propped her other hand on her waist. “You can dish it out but can't take it? Why are you treatin' me like this?”

“How am I treatin' you? You tol' me how you felt. I'm givin' you what you want.”

She folded her arms. “I'm so tired of yo' bullshit, Riq.”

Damien grabbed my shoulder from behind and laughed. “Tariq, man. What the fuck are you doin'? You gotta get back to VIP.” He turned me around and pointed at the light-skinned chick with long straight hair and slanted eyes. “She's half-Asian, bruh. You gotta come back. She's been askin' fo' you.”

Damien yanked me away from Simoné with a big grin on his face. I turned back to look at Simoné, who had her eyes down, but I could tell she was boilin' inside. Before I got too far, I yelled, “Have a good night,” before disappearing into the crowd.

When I got to VIP, the Asian girl licked her lips slowly and twisted her hips to the sound of Usher. I got behind her and let her work her body on me like she was my private dancer.