Kismet (Beyond the Bedroom Series) (16 page)

Her flashlight cop was breaking his neck to check me out. What a loser. I told her I would take TJ to get diapers first and then to a different Chuck E. Cheese. She pulled off without even saying bye to her child. She was a sorry ass mother. I can point fingers on this one because I gave my child away when I knew I wasn’t going to be a good mother.

She kept her child, yet put him off on everybody to get a steady income from the government while she continued living her life. That was wrong of her and TJ would grow up hating her for it.

Keisha was helpful in more ways than one. I went to Sam’s Club, bought a box of bulk diapers and drove them to Tyrone, who was sitting outside on his mama’s porch. He was so damned sexy.

“TJ, what are you doing, boy? You can’t be bringing your pretty women around me, man.” He grabbed the diapers and baby from me.

“We are headed to Chuck E. Cheese, but he didn’t have any diapers so I bought some and decided to drop them off over here before we left.”

Tyrone was pissed. “That bitch always sending my son off to somebody with no diapers. He soaking wet. Come in while I change his clothes.”

Ms. Maple’s house looked the same. She still had everything wrapped in plastic. As a kid, I would get stuck to her couch or leave with a water stain on my back.

Ms. Maple and my daddy played spades together at least twice a week. I spent many hours with Tyrone, Memphis and their friends; that’s how my crush on Big Ant started, over Ms. Maple’s house. I don’t care what time of day it was she was always cooking something.

“I got a pot of greens on in there, Savannah. If you were missing some southern cooking, you should have told me to fix you some. You know I’m from Louisiana. It will be ready around seven o’clock, you come back, you hear? I’m going to make you some real peach cobbler.”

There was no turning her down, either. “Yes, ma’am, I will be back with your grandson by then. I’m taking him to Chuck E. Cheese.”

She smiled and then took him from his daddy. “Take his daddy with you, too. He needs to get away from here. All he does is walk the streets. Get him out of my face, please!”

Thank you, Ms. Maple. "You heard your mama, Tyrone; let’s head out before it gets too late.”

I honestly had a great time with Tyrone and TJ. Tyrone was a great father. Keisha didn’t see that because she was too busy living her own life.

When I dropped them off, Tyrone ran in the house with TJ and came back with my plate of food and peach cobbler. It smelled so good. Once he handed me the plates, I heard the words I wanted to hear flow out of Tyrone’s mouth with ease.

“Aye, Savannah, from our conversation earlier. If you ever need it, I got it for you.”

I played dumb. "Need what, Tyrone?” He looked over his shoulder and then down the street. "If you ever need some dick, I got you covered.”

How straightforward. No jive with it. "Tyrone, I don’t think you can handle my needs.” I turned my back to him and got back into my car, smiling ear to ear. He was a man with an ego of course, attached to his dick.

"Give me a chance to prove it to you then.” I started my car and drove off.

Chapter 10: Ghostly Visions

The next few days that went by, I either gained a conscience or needed glasses. On my way to lunch with Stephanie, I could have sworn I saw Dre getting on the elevator as I was walking out. I took a double take, but the doors had closed before I could get a better look.

Then yesterday, as I ran along Venice Beach at 5 AM, I thought I saw him sitting at one of the bus stops watching me. When I started walking that way, the bus pulled up and the look-alike got on. Sade's birthday was that weekend, so that is what I chalked the visuals of Dre to.

I couldn’t wait to go to Vegas with Big Ant. I was going to celebrate my daughter’s birthday and get revenge at the same time.

I realized I only saw red since I was back in contact with Keisha and her crew. I had to get them back and prove to these hoes that the tables had turned and I was the most desirable. I would avenge the way I was treated in the past, get to have sex with one of the men I was interested in back in the days, all the while celebrating my baby’s birthday. If I won anything, it would get placed on her prepaid card to go along with her gift.

I knew I needed to check the PO Box next week because I was sure the Jeffersons would send pictures. They had sent a letter two months ago saying that they decided to tell Sade they were not her parents, but her godparents. They wanted her to know she had a mother and father out there who loved her and still took care of her; they were just too far away to see her.

I woke up at 5 AM Friday morning to get prepared for my trip with Big Ant. I needed to pick him up without being seen, so I asked him to meet me behind our old elementary school, which was in walking distance from his house.

As an extra precaution, I drove my Chrysler which I hadn’t driven to my old neighborhood so no one knew I owned one. It had been painted, too. It was now burnt orange and trimmed in silver with cream interior.

I had packed two Louis travel bags, not knowing what I wanted to wear. Usually when I am in Las Vegas, I go to the outlets for a little shopping, but I wanted to party this trip.

The crush I had on Ant was still there and he had gotten even more handsome. They didn’t call him Big Ant as a cliché like they called fat guys, Slim. He had earned his nickname. Big Ant was 7’ 1” and weighed about 250 pounds. Everything on him was huge, or at least I hoped.

When we were younger, he would grip basketballs in each of his huge hands and pretend to throw them at us without ever letting one go. He was a lot of man, even back then. He was a gorgeous big man. Tight, slanted eyes like mine, but he really had Asian heritage. He was born from an Army brat of the Vietnam War. His mother was half Vietnamese and black.

He wasn’t bright-skinned, yet he was far from being dark, more like a toffee color. He had his daddy’s big lips and ears that sat to the side of his face like mini satellites, but they didn’t affect him being handsome.

This may sound weird, but Ant always had this fresh laundry scent, which made me want to smell him. I would push past people to sit next to him just to inhale his fragrance.

When I made it to the school, he was sitting on the steps that lead to the gym. “Man, sitting up here brought back all kinds of memories. I remember the first day I sat and watched you really hoop. Savannah, you had a shot.”

I smiled and thanked him. “Ant, we have four hours on this road. Can you roll up so we can stop in about an hour and eat?” He dug in his bag and pulled out two Tamales.

“I already though about that. You know she came by screaming so I copped us one.”

I wasn’t trying to be mean, but my mouth was my worst enemy. “I wouldn’t dare eat another bathtub Tamale. It can’t be safe. You enjoy tasting Marie and Poncho’s dirty asses and in an hour, I’ll stop and get me something to eat.”

There was a look of disappointment on his face. “All right, I will taste Marie’s ass, but don’t act like you haven’t tasted her ass before. You used to get paper food stamps from your daddy and buy like eight of them with your fat ass. I see a lot has changed. Your ass is still fat, but now when I say that, I mean your butt and not your body.”

I was two seconds away from snapping on his ass about bringing up me and food stamps or me being overweight as a child and then he pointed out my changes, smart man.

We smoked and talked for two hours before my hunger caught up with me, so we pulled over in Barstow and ate at IHOP. Ant held the door open for me as I walked in. Once he was fully in, three little boys ran up to him and asked for his autograph.

I laughed because I assumed the kids thought he was an NBA superstar because of his height, weight and the way he was wearing dark glasses until one of the little boys said, “Mr. Wallace, is it true you’re going to a NBA training camp this year?”

Ant shook the little boys head and said, “Yes, it’s true; I can’t play college basketball forever can I, man?”

The little boy said, “No,” and his father approached and shook Ant’s hand.

“You gave them hell last month, son.” Ant looked the older white man directly in his face, giving him full eye contact, and thanked him.

We made it to our table with the entire restaurant watching us. “What was all that about?”

Come to find out, Mr. Anthony Wallace was a big time college basketball star at California State University at Berkley. My uncle had said Keisha’s sister, who I still hadn’t managed to see or find out who she was, and I were the only two who made it. He must have meant out of the girls because everyone seemed to know Anthony Wallace, power forward from Cali.

“What the hell are you still doing walking around south central LA like a nobody? I can’t believe you even sleep down there when you’re in town. You don’t have to put up with them low-lifes.”

He put his index finger over my mouth. “Damn, you talk too much and you always talking shit. My mama and daughter live there and that is where I am from. Even if I get picked up by a NBA team, I’m doing my mama just like you did your daddy. I’m going to hook her house up, get her a security gate and a nice ass alarm system. I’m going to keep a little change in my boys’ pockets like Tyrone and Javier, who ain’t never leaving the 'hood to keep her extra protected. Now shut up and order you something so we can get ready to party.”

He was dumb as fuck to think his life would be that easy as a celebrity, but who am I to bust his bubble? He will learn the hard way.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we showered separately and hit the casino. We started at the crap tables and then ended up playing black jack. It was too hot in the daytime to move around, so we decided to gamble at the same hotel we were staying at until sunset.

Ant was more of a gentleman than I thought. Every chair I sat in, he pulled out, doors I went through, he ran to open and he paid for every drink I ordered that didn’t come free.

He suggested we put on our party clothes now so we would not have to go back to the room anytime soon. I didn’t want to be the party pooper, but I was really enjoying myself with him and didn’t want to be separated by the loud environment of the club, so I asked to go sightseeing instead.

I arranged a two-hour long limousine ride around the strip with stops made at our request. I had never had so much fun. Ant made the driver stop where Tupac was shot and made him block traffic on an already busy street while we paid our respect. Ant said a few words of thanks to the deceased rapper with his lighter lit.

I had passed this area at least eight or nine times and it never crossed my mind that one of my favorite rappers was shot below my wheels. I hate that “out of sight, out of mind” shit and I do it all the time. I was crying my eyes out at my high school’s football game when the radio DJ announced he died in the hospital. I played all his songs on repeat and promised to stay a devoted fan. Almost 15 years later, I had to be reminded by a man five years younger than myself to never forget his legacy.

We rapped every Tupac song that we could think of. Later, Ant said he had done the same for Biggie in Hollywood. He loved both rappers in different ways and couldn’t place one over the other. He thanked them both for paving the way.

After we were done rapping our heads off, he asked me to close my eyes. “How can you ask me to close my eyes? I can’t stop smiling and laughing long enough to see out of them now.”

Throwing his hands up, he said, “Just shut up for once, damn, your mouth will make you miss out on a lot of shit!” I rolled my eyes and then closed them.

He kissed my lips softly four times and then went into my mouth with his tongue and wrapped it around mine. I felt him dig in his pocket. I could tell he didn’t want the kiss to end, but he needed to find whatever he was looking for in his pocket.

Ant pulled out a hundred dollar bill and handed it to the driver. He had won $1,500 on the crap table. “Aye, man, give us one more hour and roll up that window.” He pointed to the tinted window that separated us from the driver and then continued kissing my lips.

In between those kisses, he managed to say, “Sorry I turned you down when we were kids, I know I fucked up. Lay back so I can make it up to you.” I was down for some freaky shit, but fucking in the back seat of a limo was a little bit much.

“Ant, you must be drunk! I am not fucking you in the back of this limo and you need to start thinking like a future celebrity. What if he sells this to a tabloid? I could just see it now-NBA superstar fucks childhood friend in the back seat of a limo while holding a memorial for Tupac and Biggie.” He covered my mouth with his hand and cut me off.

“Na-Na, whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Ain’t that why you brought me here?”

He continued kissing me, but not before I was able to get out, “Don’t call me Na-Na.”

Laying me back on the seat, he ate the hell out of my pussy. I watched his ears flap like Dumbo flying away; that’s how fast he was moving his head. It felt so good. The only thing killing the mood was that I kept getting stuck to the leather seats.