Feelin' the Vibe (20 page)

My heart sank, because I had completely forgotten about Devin’s conference, considering my plan was to just stay as far away
from him as possible. Anything within ten thousand feet wasn’t good for my health. My eyes switched from side to side and
I took a deep breath. “Maybe you should take them.”

“You want me to take eight girls without you?”

“You can get another staff member to go with you.”

She reached across my desk and grabbed my hand. “I don’t like them. Why don’t you go with me?”

I looked down at my wedding ring and then back up at her. My head tilted, hoping she understood. “I can’t go, Teeny.”

“Stop being a sissy. Why you scared to see Devin?” She shook her head. “Girl, you just as soft as cotton.”

“Teeny, Devin is like kryptonite to me, and I think I just want to stay away.”

“You can control it. He’s nothing but another man. His drawers get dirty just like the next man’s.”

I blushed, and visions of our night in New York flashed in my gazing eyes. “Nah, Teeny, he’s more than just a man.”

She laughed. “You are certified crazy.”

“Crazy for Devin Patterson.”

“Look, you have a job to do. These girls are expecting you to go with them, and you’re acting like a teenager yourself. Get
it together. You better learn how to get it and quit it and go home like nothing happened.”

“Teeny, I’m not like you.”

“I know, ’cause I would go to the conference and steal a piece in the bathroom and go home like nothing happened. You’re making
it too deep. That’s what an affair is. It’s an event that’s not supposed to linger on forever. You leave your feelings at
the door.”

“It’s not deep. It’s just not right. You know?”

“C’mon, Clark. You can go. You can be a big girl for once.” She pouted. “For me?”

I sighed. “A’ight, Teeny. I’ll go.”

“Yeah, just play cool. You can do it.”

A part of me felt that I was making a big mistake, but the other side of me wanted her to coax me into going. I had thought
about Devin every day. Why shouldn’t I go and refresh my vision of him?

H
aving the perfect campaign manager and the right people in leadership is pertinent to success. The night before the Girl Power
conference, I was briefed by Mrs. Dillon at the school. She flirted and talked at the same time. We walked through the schedule,
the food stations, and the posted directions to make sure the conference flowed smoothly.

As we left the building, Mrs. Dillon grabbed my hand. My eyes quickly shifted to Curtis. He wasn’t paying us any attention.
She tickled my palm. I pulled my hand from her, and she smiled sneakily. I gave her a stern look, but she smirked as if to
say at the right place and time, she could get me.

Out in the parking lot, everyone said their good-byes and got into their cars. I tried to keep Curtis out there for a minute,
hoping Mrs. Dillon would keep it moving. Instead, she stood there beside me like it was cool. She let me wrap up my conversation
and I opened the car. When the locks popped up, she put her hand on the car door. “Can I sit in the car with you?”

“What’s up?”

“I just want to talk.”

I didn’t want to be too presumptive, so I shrugged. When we sat in the car, I looked at her impatiently. She tucked one leg
under her like she planned to be there for a minute. “What’s going on?”

“Are you happy with how everything is working out?”

“Yeah, you did your thing.”

She reached over and put her hand on my leg. I looked down at her ring. Still, it was hard to believe that someone actually
made a commitment to this chick. She massaged my thigh and I instantly pushed her hand away. There was just something sneaky
in her eyes.

“So, what’s up with a permanent position with Love My People?” she said seductively, as she put her hand back on my thigh.

I grabbed her wrist. “You know you don’t have to do this to get a permanent position with the foundation. You know that, right?”

She reached over with her other hand and cupped my dick. Chuckling, she said, “What, this?”

Looking down at her hand, I said, “Yeah, this.”

“I’m doing this because I want to. Is that okay with you?”

I had to be careful how I handled this. I didn’t want to brush her off too abruptly, but I knew I couldn’t submit to my manhood
rising in her soft hand. “Look, I’m a married man.”

“And I’m a married woman. What does that mean?”

“It has to mean something at the end of the day.”

“You ever see my husband?” I didn’t respond. She proceeded: “Exactly, and I’ve never seen your wife. So she’s obviously not
concerned about what you’re doing.”

“Look, Mrs. Dillon.”

“Call me Shawna,” she said, as she massaged me vigorously.

Just as my penis began to respond, I grabbed her hand. “Look, Shawna, I don’t do this. I don’t cheat on my wife. I respect
her and my marriage. So I’m sorry.”

“Please. All men cheat,” she said with an attitude. She took her hands off me and rolled her eyes. “If you’re not attracted
to me, just say so.”

“It has nothing to do with my attraction to you, and all to do with my commitment to my wife.”

“Is your wife so committed?” I shrugged my shoulders, and she asked, “You don’t know what she’s doing, and you’ve never cheated?”

“No, I’ve never cheated.”

She laughed. “Oh, that’s right, you’re still a newlywed. I’ll give you a few years and you’ll be jumping all into this hot
black pussy.”

I frowned. I wasn’t sure if she thought she was turning me on, but she made it sound like she was burning. All I could think
of was how many men she had fucked this week. Suddenly, I was irritated with her and didn’t really care about her feelings.

“Shawna. I’m not that dude.” I reached out my hand to shake hers. “I’m going to see you tomorrow.”

She sucked her teeth, didn’t shake my hand, and stormed from the car. I felt sorry for the dude that married that freak. I
sat in the parking lot for a moment and let her pull out. Finally, I headed home. When I opened the garage and noticed Taylor
wasn’t there, I called her.

“Hey, you,” she said.

“Hey, you, where are you?”

“Courtney and I met for drinks.”

“A’ight. Hurry home.”

“Okay, baby.”

It was two hours later when I heard the garage door open. She walked up the stairs with a cheesy-drunk smile. She was trying
to unbutton her black fitted shirt. Her jeans were already unzipped. She sang my name, “De-vin.”

Her eyes looked like little slits. It was clear she’d had too much to drink. “Did you drive home like this?” I asked.

“No, Courtney’s home girl Rachel drove us home. You’re going to have to take me to pick up my car in the morning,” she said
before collapsing on the bed.

I stroked her back. “Not tomorrow morning. We have the conference.”

“Conference, bonference. It’s always something.”

I proceeded to help her out of her clothes. “You know you’re scheduled to talk to the girls, right?”

She turned to look at me with a forced sober stare. “So what am I supposed to say to them?” She plopped back down on the bed.

I stood over her, wondering if she was serious. Trying to talk to her in this state was useless. Instead, I climbed on her
and started kissing her breasts. She held my face between her hands. “I love you,” she said.

I kissed her lips, wondering if she or I even knew what love was. I rolled her over on top of me. She twirled her hips. “You
love me, too.”

“Yeah, baby, I love you.”

I yanked her panties to the side and began rubbing her butt and sliding my fingers up and down her crack. She moaned and I
felt the moistness between her legs. She started sucking feverishly on my chest. Finally, I tickled her vagina with the tip
of my penis. I wanted to be inside of her.

“Put it in, you.”

“You like me, baby.”

“Yeah, TJ. Put it in.”

“How much do you like me?”

“Baby, I love you.”

“Okay, now you can have me.”

She slid down on me. I almost came instantly, as she smothered me with her warm, juicy vagina. I pushed deep into her, nearly
ripping off her panties, which were still pushed to the side. She yelled loudly. Her screams made me want to love her longer,
harder. Finally, after she came, I released in her. She rolled off of me and was snoring seconds later.

My alarm clock went off at six o’clock and I popped up. When I looked over at Taylor, she looked like a dead person. I shook
her and she took the pillow and hugged it around her ears.

“Baby, we need to be at the school at seven-thirty.”

“What time I gotta speak?” she groaned.

“The panels start at around nine, but the keynote speech is at eight-thirty, and we’d like all the panelists to be there for
the speech. Isn’t that what your invitation says?”

“I didn’t read it. I don’t have to be there at eight-thirty. My head hurts so bad. Let me sleep a little longer.”

“It’s all that wine you had last night.” I said, as I climbed out of bed.

By the time I reached the bathroom, she was snoring again. I glanced back at her and shook my head. When I got out of the
shower, she still lay there. I called her name multiple times. She tossed and turned, but didn’t get up. I told her to drive
the BMW and we’d get her car later. She nodded but was clearly incoherent. I figured she would figure it out when she woke
up, because I had to run. So I set the alarm for eight, and prayed she’d wake up and be there by at least nine.

When I got to the school, the hospitality room was packed with people. There were tons of bagels, croissants, muffins, coffee,
and fruit. Shawna was the first to greet me. “Good morning, Mr. Patterson.”

“Good morning, Mrs. Dillon.”

A bunch of volunteers were running around. I grabbed a cup of coffee before figuring out what I could do to help. As I stood
in the hospitality room, sipping my coffee, Shawna walked in with a volunteer. She gave her instructions on which table each
guest should be seated at when they signed in.

I said, “Shawna, everything is perfect.”

She brushed me off as she headed for the door. “Yeah, thanks.”

It was clear that she was offended, but what other choice did I have than to resist that burning booty? I stayed in the hospitality
room, greeting the panelists and thanking them for taking the time to come out for the kids. The keynote speaker arrived around
eight, and she was so excited to be giving back. Her excitement made me feel good, but it shifted my mind to Taylor. Where
was she? Had she even gotten up yet? As I sat there, entertaining Amerie, Shawna stormed in and excused herself. It was partially
rude, but she handed me a walkie-talkie. “Here, Mr. Patterson. The entire staff is connected. Just state who you are, where
you are, and what you need. Okay?”

I nodded and continued chatting with the various panelists. Finally, my walkie-talkie beeped. “Mr. Patterson, we’re about
to get started. Can you come down to the gymnasium?”

I pulled out my cell phone as I headed downstairs. Taylor didn’t answer the home phone or the cell phone. Shawna flipped through
the pages in her clipboard, checking off the panelists that were already there. We decided to move the panelists from location
to location, instead of moving the girls. That would cut down on a lot of the hysteria.

One of the volunteers ushered me to a seat onstage. Once I sat down, Shawna flipped through her pad, “Mr. Patterson, is your
wife here?”

“No. She’s not here, yet,” I said, slightly embarrassed.

“Okay, well, I asked for the panelists to check in no later than eight. I’ll have a backup take her place on that panel and
if she shows up, she can participate in the afternoon.”

I wished I could tell her that was wrong and that she should keep my wife’s spot, but I couldn’t. To be perfectly honest,
there was no reason that Taylor wasn’t there, except for a lack of consideration. Suddenly, I was mad as hell. I couldn’t
believe that she would just totally disregard this event.

The gym was packed with tons of young ladies there to learn from all the powerful women we’d invited. Looking out over the
crowd made me proud. This had begun as an election strategy, but the deeper we got the more excited I’d become.

Another volunteer ushered in the rest of the panelists, and I hoped Taylor would surprise me and be there. Still, no Taylor.
I flipped through my index cards, making sure my speech was airtight. Once all of the panelists were seated, Shawna stepped
onstage and calmed the crowd. She talked about why we were here and gave me a serious introduction.

“He is a man for the people. The founder of the Love My People Foundation. This foundation helps people of color all over
the world. He believes that love can save our communities, our children, and our people. Mr. Patterson is on a path to change
the way things are done and he carries our people on his shoulders. The next United States congressman from Maryland District
Four: Devin Patterson, Esquire.”