His Last Name (20 page)

C
HAPTER
42

Zakiya

“G
ood afternoon, Zakiya, this is Sister Elise.”

“Hi, Sister Elise. Yes, I'm coming to bible study today. I'm running a little behind. I have to bring my daughter with me, because my nanny couldn't make it.”

“Okay, that's fine. I'll see you when you get here, but I was calling you for two reasons.”

“Yes.”

“Well, the pastor and I have been talking. And after seeing you and your gorgeous, successful husband, we think you would be perfect for our ‘Blessed, Saved and Married' conference.”

“I don't know. What would we have to do? My husband is out of town a lot and he doesn't do much talking.”

“It's only four dates in Charlotte, Memphis, Little Rock, and Houston. We would like you to be guest speakers and talk about having God in your marriage and being a successful, happy couple. He wouldn't have to speak.”

“Can I think about it? I'll need to ask Jabril. What was the second thing?'

“Do you think you will be able to contribute money to get the church a van? We are going to buy a used van. Brother Miles said it will be about twenty thousand dollars. We are going to ask the congregation on Sunday for donations. Hopefully everyone will be generous, but I wanted to get a head start on the fund. How much do you think you can give?”

“Twenty thousand dollars. Let me see. How much do you have now?”

“Two thousand.”

“Uhm. I can donate five thousand. I'll write a check and bring it with me.”

“Okay.”

Pastor Elise had given me her address, but I wasn't sure I had the right house, because I had pulled up to a mansion. I double-checked the address and it was correct. I parked in front of a large fountain. There was a silver two-door Bentley, a yellow Ferrari, and a gold Rolls Royce Phantom all parked on an angle in front of the house.

I was greeted by a butler and maid. I saw Sister Elise and I waved to her. She came over to me and hugged me and Jabrilah.

Walking into her grand home, I marveled at the winding double staircase and the huge picture of her and Pastor Richard that hung on the hallway wall.

“What a beautiful home.”

“Well, thank you. I'm sure you have seen better. Do you have the check?”

“Yes, it's right here.”

“Thank you. It will help so much.”

I came in and greeted all the other ladies, who ranged in age from teenager to senior citizen. I had a seat on her plush tan leather easy curved couch. I put Jabrilah and her bottle down on the sand-colored carpet and pulled out my bible. I saw Talisha and waved at her and began reading a selection in my bible.

“You understand that version? I can't get into all that thou and thee stuff. You should get you the NIV version. It is so much easier to understand,” Talisha said.

“Thank you! I thought it was just me who was slow,” I said laughing.

“Nope. girl.” We laughed and talked until Sister Elise interrupted us.

“Get your baby and her bottle. I don't want any dirt on my carpet.” I looked over to see Jabrilah was turning her bottle upside down.

“I'm sorry.” I picked up my daughter and placed her on my lap.

“Okay, ladies, let's begin. We will be reading the Good Girls and Bad Girls of the Bible. It is important that we look at both. We are going to read it and analyze the text.”

* * *

After our bible study, Sister Elise's maid and butler served us dinner in her extravagant dining room. The table was set with white plates with gold trim at formal place settings with name cards. I found my name and had a seat next to Sister Elise. I sat Jabrilah on my lap and began nibbling from the salad that was in front of me.

They went over some official church business.

Sister Elise stood up and said, “Okay, I know you've heard the rumors about Pastor Wyatt and his wife getting a divorce. A few women have come forward and said that they have had a sexual relationship with him. I don't believe it, but that is between him and Sister Althea. I think these women are scum for ruining his marriage, but that's my opinion. I just wanted to make you all aware of it. Any other business?” Sister Elise asked.

“Yes,” an older sister name Joan said. “I want the choir to have a dress code. Sister Vanessa sings like an angel, but it is wasted, because she doesn't like wearing underwear. She wears them thongs every week.”

“What does that have to do with church business?” Sister Elise responded.

“Well, it's just disgusting. Her butt just shakes up and down and back and forth when she walks. And it's distracting for the male members. How is a man not supposed to look at that?”

“Sister, I don't know, but that's not important.”

“It is important, because her first baby already don't have no daddy and she don't need another one. She should wear some real underwear in the house of the Lord.”

“That's true, but God does say come as you are. Anybody else have anything to add?”

“Elise, don't ignore me. Say something to these young girls. God wants you to cover your butt.”

“That's enough. Changing topics, I want everyone to welcome Sister Zakiya. Both she and her husband are going to be coming to our marriage conference. Zakiya's husband plays for our Charlotte Hornets. Praise God. They are a dynamic young couple and I knew there was something special about her when we met.”

I smiled at her but I was upset because I didn't like being put on the spot, and I had told her I would let her know.

For the rest of the night I enjoyed the fellowship with the other ladies. It was refreshing to be around other people who were on the same spiritual journey.

* * *

It was a Tuesday afternoon and I could think of a hundred things I'd rather do than have lunch with the Franklins.

“Hurry up! I don't want to be late.”

I didn't want to go and was intentionally moving slowly. I was hoping Jabril would leave without me.

“I'm coming.” I sighed as I slid my green dress over my head and put my heels on. I grabbed my earrings and entered the living room and overheard Jabril on the phone with the bank arguing.

“What's wrong?”

“There's money missing out of our account.”

I had forgotten to tell him about the money I gave to the church over the last month or so.

“Oh! The money isn't missing. I donated five thousand dollars to the church, they needed a new van. And I wrote a few other checks.”

“Fifteen thousand dollars' worth of giving, Zakiya? We don't know what is going to happen with this team. I'm sitting on the bench right now. What if I get cut and next season I don't get picked up? Then what? It's not like you have any money coming in.”

I didn't even respond. I was going to let him get his frustration off of his chest.

“Jabril, so are you going to take everything out on me? If I spent money on clothes, it would be okay. But since I'm helping people it is a problem.”

“No, there is a difference. One you have something to show for it, the other you don't. I can't deal with this dumb shit. This is why my life is out of order.”

“No, it is out of order because you don't pray, and you need to stop smoking, then maybe God would bless you. And you would get more time.”

“What did you say?”

“I said, Jabril, you are probably slow because of all the weed that you smoke.”

“Worry about yourself, Zakiya, and stop giving out free money. They don't need our money. That pastor has a lot of donations already and a big congregation.”

The mood was already wrong, but he insisted upon having a double date with the captain and his wife.

“I don't see why I have to go. I don't like his wife, she's very messy. You told me not to be too cool with everybody in Oklahoma, now you are pushing that woman on me.”

“No, her husband is the leader. It's different. Zakiya, you don't understand. I can't be on that bench. He's in the assistant coach's ear. Last night we were up by fifteen and still nothing. I'm dying, seriously.”

“Fine.”

We met them at Bentley's on 27, a restaurant in downtown Charlotte. My skyline view was beautiful, until Dawn came and sat next to me. She was wearing designer everything, with an inauthentic personality. She bent over to give me a hug, but I didn't bother to meet her halfway. I just leaned back and waved. They had a seat and Jabril asked could I walk him to the restroom.

“That was rude, Zakiya.”

“Jabril, I told you I don't know how to be fake.”

“You have to pretend. You have to do this for us. You want to spend thousands of dollars, but if I don't have a job, how are we going to survive? Play the game, Kiya.”

“She was nasty to me, Jabril. She said I should let you fuck other women in our house. And she said she took Thad's mistress to the abortion clinic. What kind of wife is she? And what kind of husband is he?”

“Babe, that's them. We are us. I'm not getting anyone pregnant and I come home. Keep your opinion to yourself and just be nice.”

“Fine, Jabril.” I pulled away from him and walked back to the table.

I came back and told Dawn I was a little under the weather and didn't want to give her my germs. I complimented her on everything from her hair to her boots. She took it all in and by the time our double date was over, she invited us to a couple of events over the next couple of weekends. I told her we would go, but I knew we would never go anywhere with her.

C
HAPTER
43

Shanice

I
'd known Deuce for a few months, but I wasn't ready to be exclusive with him. I reasoned with him that I wanted to give him my all, but I just wasn't ready yet. The truth is I wanted to see what would happen with Jabril. I just kept imagining us being back together and him being mine. And I hoped that what I was about to do would bring me one step closer to realizing my dream.

I knew Jabril was playing in D.C. and I wanted to meet up with him. I was going to pretend that I had a video shoot and act like we just happened to be in the same city again. I didn't have anything to lose. And if he asked to see pictures, I already had some old pictures with me from an old photo shoot.

On my way to D.C. I sent him a text. I knew he kept his phone on before the game.

I texted:

He responded back,
I'm at practice. How about you?

I replied,
I'm in D.C. at a video shoot.

He texted back,
We play the Wizards tonight. What a coincidence. Do you want to come to the game?

I responded,
I can't I'm working, but maybe we can meet up when I'm done.

I knew it would be late and I knew he would probably think that I was setting him up, which I was. I wanted him to feel comfortable and not under any pressure. So I quickly texted back:

He texted:

I waited to hear from him. He sent me a text with the address where he was staying and said to meet him at a bar down the street.

I wore jeans, a t-shirt, and a blazer. I pulled my hair up in a sloppy bun and put on a little nude lip gloss. I didn't want to look like I was coming to seduce him. He was wearing a hat all the way down, a t-shirt, and loose sweatpants. I had a seat and he kept watching to see who was watching us. I could tell he was nervous that someone might see us and send a pic to a blog or his wife. He stood up and gave me a brief hug.

“You look nice and smell good,” he said.

“Thank you.”

“That's crazy that we in the same city at the same time.”

“Yeah, my manager just called me and was like, can you do this video? It was short notice, but I just decided to do it.” I laughed.

“Who's the group?”

“You never heard of them, they are local, but the pay was good.”

“That's what's up. You are always working.”

“Yeah, my manager has us doing a television show. I was supposed to be filming the night I ran back into you.”

“Television? That's good,” he said while staring down at his phone, and then he passed it to me and said, “This is my daughter, Jabrilah.” I took a look at the screen and saw a pretty little girl.

“She is cute and big.”

“Yeah, that's my baby girl. She acts just like me but looks like my wife. She runs after me saying Dada. Yo, I never thought I would be that dude, but my daughter can't date ever.”

“That's so sweet.”

“So how about you? Did you get your daughter back?”

“Sort of, and my mom came home. I'm taking care of both of them. I got us all a house.”

After about an hour of talking, he said he had to go. I wanted to hold him tightly and tell him to stay with me. The meet-up confirmed one simple thing that I already knew. I still loved Jabril. And I would do anything in the world to be with him.

I got on the highway and drove all the way back home, when I got a text from him saying it was good seeing me. If he only knew what it took to see him.

I was almost near my exit when Ashley V called.

“Hey, lady.”

“Hey, boo, what's going on?”

“Girl, I just want to warn you about the camera crew. When they come to your house, make sure you keep your composure. They told me they were coming at two and came at ten. I wasn't even ready. My hair was in a ponytail and I didn't have any makeup on. Even though I know how to speak on camera, I was nervous. I was stuttering and repeating myself.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, they will try to get you.”

“Okay. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll make sure I'm already dressed hours before they get there. I'll call you.”

“Okay, good luck.”

* * *

Two days later I was back in New York and finally met with the film crew. The cameraman was a young, short white guy named Larry with brown curly hair. He was the eyes behind the oversize camera on his shoulder. He was with a young brown-skinned girl named Chamber who wore shoulder-length burgundy dreads and a nose ring. They seemed cool, but they were really business-oriented. They didn't smile and if they didn't like what I said or did, they told me to do again. Although I was just supposed to be myself and forget that the camera was following me, it was hard to forget with a microphone pack taped to my back and people staring at me as I walked down the street. A few people actually came over and asked what we were taping.

They got to film me at an audition for a body wash commercial and having lunch with Ashley V. They, however, weren't coming to my house because I lived in Philly. I was happy. I wasn't really trying to put my mom and aunt on television anyway.

By the time I got back home, I was tired and I fell asleep. I was awakened by my phone ringing. I sleepily answered.

“Hey, I'm in Philly.”

I thought I was dreaming. It was Jabril.

“Are you up?”

He might as well have said, “Baby, I love you. I miss you, I need you.” I sat up and squinted to see that it was only eleven.

“Yeah, I'm up.”

“I called to see what you were doing.”

“I was relaxing a little. What are you doing here?”

“I took a drive and next thing I knew I was here.”

“Where are you staying?”

“I don't know yet. I'll probably stay downtown or I might go to my mom's house. I was seeing if maybe we could get together.”

We agreed to meet at Silk Nine. It was an upscale lounge. When I entered, he was already seated at the bar with two empty shot glasses in front of him. He stood up and hugged me. I sat down next to him and ordered a vodka and pineapple juice.

“So what's up with you? What are you doing in Philly?”

He appeared to already be feeling his drink. “I don't know, I just felt like driving.”

“What's wrong? You look like something is on your mind.”

“Nothing, I'm just tired. Been dealing with some team stuff and a situation with my wife. She's giving all this money away to her church without telling me.”

“Well that's not a bad thing.”

“No, it's not, but when it's fifteen thousand dollars in a couple of months.”

“To the church? Yeah, that's a lot of money.”

“And she's not really getting along with my teammate's wife. She doesn't want to be a team player and it is making me so mad. We went out with my teammate and his wife. They are the couple that you want to be cool with. If you're cool with them off the court, then you're cool with them on the court. Then when he has the ball, he'll pass it to me and I can get some numbers on the board. If I get them points, I stay on the team. But that's not going to happen if my wife is being a bitch.”

“She probably has her reasons.”

“Yeah, she said they were materialistic and they trash talked. But you know what, so what? Do this for me. Anyway, enough about my situation. You look nice. You always look nice. What you been up to?”

“Filming the show I'm a part of,
Eye Candy Queens: The Come-up
.”

“Is it like one of them crazy shows where everybody throws drinks on each other?”

“No, it's about our work doing videos. Our hustle. That type of thing.”

“You do be hustling. That's what I liked about you. We had a good thing. If I wasn't already in a relationship I would have been with you. I just had a lot going on.”

With those words, I knew I was not going to be able to hold back anymore.

“I don't care what was going on, Jabril. You should have called me. I was there for you, I took a case for you. I was there for you but you just left me. Like I never meant anything to you. I know you had your situation, but what about me?”

Tears were flowing down my face. I didn't mean to cry. I didn't want to scare him, but I was upset. He brought me into him. He kissed my forehead. I didn't care that people were staring.

“I'm sorry, baby. I'm real sorry. My uncle was in my ear heavy around that time. He kept saying you need a good girl that would always be in your corner no matter what. Get rid of everything on the side.”

Becoming more upset, I pushed him off of me and cried. “I rided for you. I didn't put those drugs in your car.”

“I know. I never found out how they got there, but it was just a crazy time. But you got the money I sent you, right?”

“I did, but that's not what we were about. I wanted to talk to you. I've missed you.”

“I've missed you, too. I thought about you.”

He grabbed my face and kissed me passionately. He was drunk. I knew he was having a moment of weakness. Jabril took my hand, kissed it and then looked in my eyes.

“I'm sorry. I was wrong. I should have called and checked on you. Let me make it up to you.”

* * *

We ended up at the Loews hotel. The moment I waited for was finally happening. I couldn't believe it. My baby was kissing me. We couldn't get our clothes off fast enough. His strong hands glided underneath my shirt to unhook my bra. I couldn't wait to feel him inside me. I had already forgiven him and my heart and pussy had been aching for him. He sucked my breasts through my shirt and I pushed him against the door of the room. He pulled down his pants and I turned around and I bounced my pussy up and down onto his long pole. We were finally united. He was moaning, trying to hold back from releasing. It only took a few minutes of pounding for a warm gush to run down my leg.

“It's coming out, Bril!” I screamed.

“I see it. Damn, this is some good pussy. I missed your sexy ass,” he said, biting my neck roughly.

“Look how that pussy is getting wet for me. You missed me, didn't you?”

“Yes, yes, yes, Jabril.” I could barely speak. Tears streamed down my face. I was so happy he was back with me. His dick felt like it was reaching my stomach, but I was overjoyed with pleasure so I didn't make him stop.

“I missed you so much,” I screamed.

“You did? You missed me? Show me.” He stopped midstroke and ordered me on my knees. “Suck it like you missed him.” He shoved all his thickness in my mouth, almost choking me. I managed to breathe and began caressing his balls and sucking, kissing, all over him. He was almost coming, but he stopped himself and told me to get on the bed and get on top. I sat on top of his dick and I rode him slowly then fast. I wanted him to know I was in control. I had to make him remember why he should never leave me again.