Get Somebody New (34 page)

“What? I
can’t believe you.”

“I knew all
about your little fling dropping you. I used you. I knew you wanted Jazz out of
the way. You played right into my trap and made it effortless for me to
blackmail him. Don’t worry I plan to compensate you for the pictures you took.
That was really the clincher, the icing on the cake. I just told you we could
reconcile so I could easily manipulate your gullible ass. Don’t hate the
player, hate the game.”

“Yeah, but I
don’t appreciate you whoring around having people laughing at me because the
whole world know my wife is getting it poppin' with every dick that swings!”

“Don’t blame
your being a joke on me. You are the one flaunting your boyfriend while you
were still my husband. You lost the right to say anything about what I do when
you started fucking men. I’d rather be a whore, than an in denial, faggot
–loving, down low, confused pack of skittles like your fairy dusted gay ass.”

“I tried to
get a divorce and end this, but you wanted to be difficult. What were you doing
in there with Jazz for 2 hours?”

“Wild,
sweaty, ass slapping, jungle fucking! That’s what!”

“You didn’t
even give your hot ass a chance to even cool off before going on to another
man. Don’t you have any shame?”

“I have about
as much shame as you do when you’re bending over grabbing your knees for
another man.”

“Shut up
slut!”

“You go
first!”

“I’m gonna
make you pay for making a fool of me.”

“Sleeping
with Jazz had a double advantage. He fucks like a stallion and he’s hung like
one too. Your little boyfriend now knows how I felt. He slept with my man, now
I’ve slept with his.”

“You did all
that to get back at him? He doesn’t know you exist.”

“You’re
sticking up for your little boyfriend, how sweet. Did you show him off to your
colleagues, friends, and everybody else every chance you got?”

“I mind my
business.”

“Are you
afraid of what they would think if they knew you were sleeping with a man? I
can’t believe that since you were so proud to tell me.”

“I better not
catch you with another man Marlena. If you divorce me, you can have all the men
you want. Until then, you are not gonna have everyone laughing at me
questioning my manhood because you are sleeping with every man in town.”

“You just
said a mouthful. I need a real man, something you are not! I think I’ll send
memos out to all of your friends and coworkers telling them about your little
DL activities. I’d love to see how much of a man they think you are then.”

“I’ll show
you how much of a man I am.”

“Go home. Get
off of me. I don’t want you.” 

“I’m gonna
make you sorry you ever insulted my manhood.”

He
overpowered Marlena and pinned her to the floor. After achieving an erection,
he shoved the hardening member inside her forcefully. He grew angrier as he
thought about the way she’d mocked him.

“What in the
hell are you doing? Get off of me! I said stop!”

“Bitch, you
wanted a man. I’m gonna show you a real man.”

“Stop fooling
yourself. You are incapable of being the real man that a real woman like me
needs.”

He pounded
himself into her harder and harder trying desperately to prove a point to her.
Marlena was not one to ever relinquish control of a situation. He may have
bested her physically but she still knew how to manipulate him mentally. She
glared at her estranged husband coldly then started laughing at him. She mocked
him unmercifully as he tried unsuccessfully to convince her of the adequacy of
his manhood.

“If this is
the kind of weak sex you gave your little boyfriend it’s no wonder he left you.
You are embarrassing yourself. Quit while you can save a little dignity. This
is pitiful.”

“You bitch!”
He screamed as he pulled away from her in embarrassed anger.”

The man’s
eyes took on a distant look as if he were looking into a portal to a time far
away in the past. His ears went deaf, his mouth went mute, and his touch went
numb. As if in suspended animation, all sense of being became a void. Minutes
later as his ears began to hear, his mouth began to speak, and he began to
feel, he looked at Marlena in absolute horror.

She lay on
the floor covered in blood, her once beautiful and delicate features were no
longer recognizable. Her face so mercilessly beaten not one bone remained
intact. Repeated blows of her attacker’s fist had crushed them all. Marlena
made a gurgling sound as her lungs filled with blood. The sound rekindled her
attacker’s rage causing him to choke her. She lost consciousness as the life
left her body.

The attacker
descended into a psychotic abyss of no return, fading in and out of his self-awareness.
Each time he returned to cognizance of reality, he flew into a rage all over
again. As Marlena lay in a dead heap on the floor he continued to kick her
limp, lifeless body over and over. After he exhausted himself, he calmly
stepped over the body, took his keys from his pocket, removed his shoes, and
darted across the street to his vehicle with them in his hand. He left in the
same manner that he came.

“The murderer
was Marlena’s husband.” Randall explained.

“Her husband?
She was married? I’d like to meet the man who had the unfortunate luck of
marrying her.”

“Actually,
you have gotten a good look at him more than once. You talked to him only
minutes ago. He was the one fighting with police as we were leaving.”

“Jamal?”

“Yes.”

“What the
fuck am I in, the twilight zone? Jamal and Marlena were married? No wonder
things happened like they did. They were equally ruthless.”

“They’ve been
married for the last 8 years. After hearing the argument on the voicemail, I
did a marriage license search and found out she was married to Jamal. We also
got a lot of information from Marlena’s diaries. He apparently left her for a
man and she made the divorce a challenge every step of the way. She also vowed
to get even with the man Jamal left her for. Once police read the diaries, they
turned the investigation to Jamal. When they closed in on him he confessed
everything. He told them about the argument, the sexual assault, and how your
visit made it convenient to blame the murder on you.”

“Randall you
haven’t put it all together yet? The man Jamal left Marlena for was Zeke! 
She must have planned to get at Zeke, but he left Jamal before she could do
anything. When I came along, she saw an opportunity to get at Zeke by using me.
This whole thing is crazy but I don’t regret Zeke being in my life at all, not
for one second.”

“You really
do love him huh?”

“Man when I
just think about him, a feeling comes over me. It’s like a chill, a buzz, and a
good nut all at once!”

“I don’t know
what to call that. I’m sorry again for what I did before.”   

“We’re cool
man. I’m so happy to be out, I could kiss you.”

“Yeah, you
could…… kiss me.”

“What?”

“Nothing, uh
forget I said that.”

“Nah, pull
the car over man.”

“Come on Jazz,
there’s no need to flip out, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Just pull
the car over man.”

“Okay.”

“That wasn’t
just a slip of the tongue Randall.”

“Alright it
wasn’t but can we forget it?”

“Come here.”

“Man, I don’t
want to fight you but I will.”

It was funny
as hell to me that Randall thought I was mad. He put up his fists in a defense
pose.

“Drop your
fists man, I ain’t gonna hit you.” I said.

I lifted my
hand and gently grabbed the back of his head and pulled him closer to me. I
pressed my lips to his and kissed him. He looked at me in confusion so I kissed
him again. The second time I parted his full lips with my tongue. I found his
tongue with mine and took it hostage. Again I pressed my lips firmly against
his and gave him a soft kiss.

“Thank you
Randall.”

“Uh, umm,
y-y-yo-you-you-you’re wel-wel-welcome.”

After he
responded the way he did I knew he was feeling me. I had to go ahead and mess
with his head a little bit. We continued on to Zeke’s house to surprise him
when he got home. I was anxious to see the look on my baby’s face when he saw
me.

Nineteen

Ezekiel Nelson

It was so
frustrating to see Jazz locked up. He tried to put on a brave face, but I knew
he hated every minute of it. I was also convinced Jamal had something to do with
Jazz being there. When I returned home after a day of running errands, all I
wanted to do was sit and relax. When I walked into my house I thought my mind
was playing tricks on me because I could smell Jazz’s scent.

“Damn I miss
that man so much my mind is trying to wish him up.” I said aloud.

The closer I
got to my bedroom the more I thought I smelled Jazz’s trademark scent of Issey
Miyake cologne and Fresh Linen. As soon as I walked into my bedroom I saw Jazz
sitting on my bed. I knew it wasn’t a dream, yet I still couldn’t believe my
eyes. “Jazz?”

“That’s
right! I’m home baby. Are you surprised?”

No words
would come to me. A confusing flood of emotions burst forth at the same time. I
couldn’t cry, laugh, or scream. I was momentarily paralyzed. Jazz just looked
at me puzzled.

“You are glad
to see me ain’t you?”

“Jazz, I….”

“Awww come
here Zeke, don’t cry man you gonna make me cry.”

“It’s been so
hard Jazz.”

“Zeke I
messed up bad and I know it. I’m sorry I hurt you, something I promised to never
do. Nothing and nobody will ever separate me from you again. Life without you
has been miserable. I never thought I’d feel this way about anyone but I feel
that way about you. I need you in my life Ezekiel Nelson.”

“Jazz I never
thought I would ever meet anyone like you. I love you so much.”

“Zeke I want
you to ride somewhere with me, there’s something I want to show you.”

“Now?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok.”

It never
crossed my mind to ask where he was taking me. I just blindly said okay. After
a 30-minute ride, Jazz pulled up to a 2-story brick house in an upscale
subdivision on the outskirts of Atlanta.

“What’s going
on Jazz? This is what you wanted to show me?”

“It’s part of
it.”

A few seconds
had passed after Jazz rang the bell when a tall, slim woman opened the door.
She smiled instantly when she saw Jazz and gave him a hug. She was a pretty
woman by any standards. Her figure was tall and svelte. Her fair skin and fine
features were genetic expressions of her obviously racially mixed heritage. Her
long, light brown, hair lay in waves down her back, which she’d pulled behind
her when Jazz leaned in to kiss her.

“Zeke I’d
like you to meet my mom, Gloria.” Jazz said as he smiled brightly.

I felt like a
deer caught in the headlights of an 18-wheeler. He’d, without warning, brought
me to meet his mother. So much for being prepared to make a good impression,
which I was not. My only choice was to be my natural self. Then again if his
mother was anything like his father, I wouldn’t have cared what she thought
anyway.

“Hello, nice
to meet you, ma’am.”

“Likewise. So
Jazz, this is him huh?”

“Yeah Ma this
is my Zeke.”

The confusion
on my face must have been apparent. So Mrs. Hardaway explained to me that Jazz
had told her all about me and she had been asking him to bring me to meet her
for over a year.

“Oh Jazz,
baby I am so glad to see you.”

“I’m glad to
see you too Ma. I told everyone I didn’t kill that woman. I’m not a murderer.”

“I never
doubted you.”

“I know Zeke
here is so happy to see you. I can tell you really care for him. The way your
eyes light up when you mention his name or look at him says it all.”

“I wish pop
could be as understanding as you. I guess he will forever keep trying to
control the world and everyone in it.”

“It makes me
happy to see you happy, that’s all that matters to me. You are my baby
regardless. Did Tony meet him already?”

“Yeah, he
didn’t tell you?”

“No he hasn’t
said one word.”

“That’s hard
to believe. So when I was in the hospital a little while back for that stress episode
he didn’t tell you why he got arrested?”

“He said that
he got stopped for speeding and he had a warrant for an unpaid ticket.”

“Ma, he came
to the hospital and acted like a maniac. When he found out about Zeke he went
crazy because I wouldn’t lie about our relationship. He insulted Zeke and Zeke
told him off. Dad choked him, pushed him into a window and broke it, then tried
to push him through it. He even shot at me right there in the hospital room,
but Zeke jumped between us and caught the bullet in his arm. It nicked his
artery too, but luckily we were at the hospital so they were able to act
quickly. Why is he like that ma?”

“He’s just
plain mean sometimes.”

“Ma do you
remember Curtis, that dark, smooth-skinned dude with the open-faced gold crown.”
Jazz said.

“Yeah I
remember him alright. What made you ask about him?”

“Do you have
any pictures of him?”

“I have
plenty of pictures. Let me get the photo album.”

His mother
took the album from the end table next to her and opened it to the pictures of
Curtis. I remained quiet as I looked at the pictures. Soon the front door
opened and it was my dad.

“Hey Glo,
who’s ….. Oh it’s him. What are you doing here? I didn’t think they were ever
gonna let you out.”

“They let me
out because I was innocent.” Jazz responded.

“What are
y’all looking at?” Tony asked before he saw the photo album.