If I Were Your Boyfriend (39 page)

I was standing outside the community center with Mike, waiting for Wesley to show up. Mike had gotten the necessary recording equipment from his weirdo DJ friend who liked to order spy and surveillance equipment online.

  "Why in the world does your friend order equipment like this?" I asked.

  "Who, Derek? He's always been inquisitive like that. He gets it honestly. His dad is a detective and Derek wants to be just like him."

  "Oh," I said, looking at Mike strongly.

  "What?" he asked.

  "What do you guys do with the spy and surveillance equipment?" I asked, not really wanting to know.

  "All kinds of stuff," he said, laughing.

  "Okay, just answer me this. You guys aren't the type who'll drill a hole in the girls' locker room wall in order to peep inside, are you?" I was concerned because I knew Mike didn't have a girlfriend and I feared that tes tosterone might have flooded his brain out and caused it to short-circuit.

  "No, I haven't thought of that one, but it sounds like something I need to try. Thanks, sis."

  I rolled my eyes at him. At that moment I spotted Wesley walking toward us.

  "There's my hero," I said to Mike

  "He isn't all that."

  I could tell Mike was a little jealous.

  "Hey, guys," Wesley said. "Let's go inside the lobby so no one sees us standing together."

  The three of us went inside the lobby. Before I allowed Wesley to speak I gave him a big hug.

  "I've missed you," I said to him.

  "I've missed you too," he answered.

  "Are you two going to stand here and make out or are we going to get down to business?" Mike didn't understand the necessity of our open display of affection. I ignored Mike and kissed my man.

  "Ooh, I love the way you kiss," I whispered. "You'd better not be kissing anyone else the way you kiss me," I said to him as I studied his eyes. I could tell that he seemed to be worried about something.

  "Is everything okay?" I asked, suspicious of the odd expression on his face.

  "Yeah," Wesley answered, but I felt as if he was hiding something from me.

  "Hello, can you let him go, Keysha, so I can show him how to use the wire tap?"

  "Dang, boy. Relax," I admonished Mike, who had become very annoying.

  "Let me see how this thing works," Wesley said as I un latched myself from him. Mike explained how the small microphone and mini tape recorder worked.

  "What about the surveillance video from the nightclub?" Wesley asked.

  "My friend and I are still working on that. He's going to dub the tape so it's going to take a little time."

  "Cool," Wesley said.

  "How do you get people to do stuff for you, Mike?" I asked because I was curious as hell.

  "What, you haven't figured that part out yet?" Wesley chuckled.

  "What?" I asked, confused.

  "Your father works at a radio station and has access to all types of promotional materials, concert tickets and other stuff," said Wesley. "Your brother trades goods for services."

  "How do you get stuff from Jordan, Mike?" I asked.

  "If I told you that, you might decide to cut in on my business," Mike was dead serious about protecting his interests. Since he was so sensitive about it, I dropped that conversation.

  "Okay, here's the deal." Wesley began to talk more about his plan. "Today, I got Liz to trust me enough to invite me to a secret party. Only certain people are invited."

  "So, what did you have to do to get invited?" I asked.

  "I had to convince her that I was my old self again and charm her a little," Wesley said. I wanted to ask him exactly what he meant but I didn't.

  "Okay, in order for me to really get Liz to open up I have to arrive at the party smelling like alcohol."

  "Why?" I asked.

  "Because the old Wesley always arrived at a party half smashed."

  "But you can't go and start drinking again. I won't let you!"

  "I know that I can't start drinking again and I don't want to. I just need for them to believe that I'd been drinking. I can act drunk, that's not a problem. The trick is going to be getting them to think that I'm half-baked. Any suggestions?" Wesley asked.

  "I have no idea of how you can pull that one off without actually drinking," Mike said.

  "Keysha, do you have any ideas?"

  "You just need to smell like you've been drinking, right?"

  "Yeah," Wesley answered.

  "Spray the alcohol on your clothes, like you would perfume. That should work. Just pour some alcohol in a spray bottle."

  "That's a good idea," said Mike. "I don't see why it wouldn't work."

  "I knew my boo would come up with something brilliant," said Wesley, who made me feel good about my suggestion.

  "Have you figured out how you're going to bring up a conversation about me?" I asked.

  "I'm going to charm her," Wesley answered.

  
There he goes with the word "charm" again,
I thought to myself.

  "What exactly do you mean by charm?" I asked. The only thing running through my mind was the conversation I'd had with Grandmother Katie about boys using their charm and wit to get a girl to lower her guard so that they could trick them into agreeing to sex.

  "Just making her feel comfortable around me."

  I read Wesley's facial expressions and knew that the subject of his charm and Liz made him uncomfortable.

"You've done Liz before, haven't you?" I asked flat out.

"No, Keysha, I haven't," he answered. "We—"

  "Do we really need to deal with this soap opera right now?" Mike asked. "Next thing you know I'll hear a thunderous voice saying 'tune in next week to find out if Wesley will tell Keysha about his sex-change operation.' Give me a break! Come on, Keysha, work with us here," Mike said sarcastically. "Girls charm guys all the time to get what they want. Wesley is just going to turn the tables on her. Do you get it?"

  "No." I got upset. "I don't want him flirting with Liz. That's disgusting to me."

  "Look, I'm not going to cross any lines, okay?" Wesley tried to reassure me. "I'm just going to be the old Wesley for a moment. Liz loved talking to the old Wesley. By the time I'm done, I'll have everything recorded."

  "What if she doesn't believe you? What if she wants you to prove that you're really back? What if she wants you to drink in front of her to prove it? What if she wants to drug you up and have sex with you?" I asked.

  "Keysha does have a point, Wesley." Mike tossed a little support my way.

  Wesley exhaled. I knew that he was trying to think.

  "I don't want to have sex with Liz. I'm not going to do that," he said.

  "Keysha made a few valid points. What if she wants you to drink in front of her? You could get busted if you screw this up," Mike said.

  "I'm thinking," Wesley said, and was silent for a moment.

  "Bring your own alcohol bottle." I finally provided him with an answer to the dilemma. "Just pour out the real stuff and replace it with sweet tea or some other dark color drink."

  "Good thinking, boo," said Wesley, who then kissed me on the forehead.

  "You just make sure that you don't do anything that's going to upset me," I said.

  "I won't, I promise. I'm going to hang around Liz and the rest of the crew over the next two days. I'll call you once I have the information we need."

  "You'd better not mess this up, Wesley. I've got a lot riding on this," I said.

  "I won't. I promise," he said.

  "Oh, one more thing," said Mike. "As far as the equipment goes, if you break it, you just bought it. Are we clear?"

  "We're clear," Wesley said as we all walked out of the community center and headed in separate directions.