Let's Play Ball (9 page)

“
You still watch this
bullshit?”

“
You still watch the
Cubs?”

I sat down beside her. She was either
ignoring me or she was really engrossed in this stupid reality TV
show.

“
Kari, what happened at the
ballpark?”

She lowered the volume on the TV.
“Nothing happened.”

“
Were you going to go for a
drink with Jack?”

“
I don’t know.”

“
What the fuck?” My temper
was on an elevator going up to the top floor. “He wants to fuck
you.”

“
So what?”

My fist balled. “So what?”

“
I can’t control what he
wants to do? I can’t control what he thinks or says or does.” Her
voice was so calm and this only made me angrier.

“
Do you think you can go out
on dates when you’re with me?”

“
Meeting someone out at a
bar is not a date.” She shrugged.

“
Jack is
married.”

“
Seriously Mason, isn’t that
the pot calling the kettle, weed? You’re married and you don’t own
me.”

“
What are you talking
about?” The pot, kettle, weed, what the fuck. Is she stealing these
lines from Kanye.

“
I would never sleep with
Jack but you can’t dictate who I date. I mean in your position you
have a lot of goddamn nerve.”

“
You can’t date anybody. You
can’t date period. You’re mine.”

“
Oh really? Mason, you are a
hot mess.”

“
No listen you’re mine. I
don’t share.”

“
Seriously, you don’t pay no
motherfuckin’bills up in here.” She spewed the truth with pure
venom. She had her hands on her hips. I had inadvertently pushed
her ghetto button. I had only seen her get extra black as she
called one other time. It didn’t scare me.

I stood up and turned. I used my
excessive height to peer down at her. “So what bills do I have to
pay to own you?”

“
Slavery is over. You can’t
own me.”

“
Fuck that liberal top hat
wearing bastard motherfucker Abraham Lincoln. I say you’re my
slave. I own you.” Did I just say that?

Kari was trying desperately to hold in
her laugh. “Mason.” Kari scooted off the bed. She started walking
toward me with that playful sexy look in her eyes. She wrapped her
arms around my neck.

“
No, don’t Mason me.” I
removed her arms and placed then at her sides. I looked down on
her. I wanted her to take me seriously. “I will do whatever I have
to do to keep you. Your mortgage couldn’t be that high. You barely
go to work.”

She stuck her middle finger up at me
and plopped down on the edge of the bed.

“
Hello Kari, I’m serious.
How much money do you need to make this work?”

“
I’m not a
prostitute.”

“
Really.” I joked. She
didn’t think it was funny. Her faced conveyed that much. “I’m just
kidding.” I grabbed her hands and pulled her to standing. “Kari, I
want to take care of you. I, I, I have grown quite fond of you.” I
chickened out. I couldn’t say the ‘L’ word. I lost my
nerve.

“
Mason I’m sorry. If you
thought anything, I would never sleep with Jack. There is only
you.” She embraced me and pushed her face into the flesh of my
chest. I reached behind her and cupped her nice round ass in the
palms of my hands.

“
Do you keep your bills in
that file cabinet in the extra room?”

“
Yeah,” She frowned,
confused by my question.

“
I’m going to go take a
look. I will be right back.”

“
That’s my personal
stuff.”

“
You don’t trust
me?”

“
No it’s not that.
I--”

“
Listen, we have to trust
each other. So what I see some account numbers. You know where I
live. You can just drive up to my house and mess my shit up. I
trust that you won’t do that to me. Now you have to trust me.” I
kissed her glossy lips.

I went into her spare bedroom. It was
like a little den office space. There was a desk, a chair, and
walled book shelves filled with books. Kari was smart. She
pretended to be ill equipped but I knew better. I opened the metal
file cabinet and started pulling her utility bills out one at a
time. I looked at her bank statements and I saw that her child
support was a joke. She never talked about Trey’s father but he was
a cheap douchebag that was never around for his son. He had never
even showed up to one of his Trey’s practices or baseball games.
All I knew about Trey’s father was he used to work with Kari. He
wasn’t married and he was bi-polar with a minimal criminal past. Oh
and the most important thing of course. He’s black. From what I
could tell he was absolutely no competition for me.

After twenty minutes Kari came in with
a beer in hand. She sat it down on the desk and quietly left me to
my calculations. After ten more minutes I was done. I decided to
give her a spending allowance of fifteen hundred dollars a month. I
would just give her one of my company credit cards to pay her
bills. I handle my own books so there would be no paper
trail.

I returned to the bedroom where she was
patiently waiting. I explained the arrangement and put the Visa
card on top of the armoire. If money was all it took to reassure me
that she was mine and mine alone, I couldn’t dispute that. Besides
it was a wonder how she even made ends meet on her salary. But I
guess she didn’t really live an extravagant lifestyle.

I turned the TV off. I wanted to get a
taste of what I was paying for. “Hey can I get a fifteen hundred
dollar blow job.”

Kari jumped off the bed and came
charging toward me. She pushed me hard. She tried to tackle me. I
stumbled back over a brown wicker clothes hamper. She didn’t have
enough strength to knock me off my feet.

“
Fuck you!” She yelled
through flared nostrils.

I recovered quickly and grabbed ahold
of her flailing arms and wrists. “I’m just fucking joking. Would
you please calm down?”

“
You calm the fuck down!”
She raged against the machine that was me. Kari had no idea that
her cursing at me turned me on. Every fuck out of her mouth sent my
cock into attention, about face mode.

“
You meant that shit. You’re
an asshole.” Her eyes narrowed.

“
No Kari I didn’t mean that.
I was joking but now I want you to take me serious. I care about
you. I give a shit.”

“
I don’t think saying
bullshit like that means you give a shit.”

“
It was a fucking joke.
Don’t freak out. You know I care about you.”

“
How do I know
that?”

“
Don’t play stupid. I’m
here. I want you to be all mines. I want you to be happy. You’re my
princess.” She was my beautiful black princess and she was my dirty
little slut too but I will keep that little observation to
myself.

“
Mason, you’re messing with
my head.”

“
I’m being honest. I want an
exclusive contract, no free agents. Tell me, are you all
mines?”

“
Yes. I’m all yours.” She
beamed and I believed her but I needed more. I was going out on a
limb. I had the most to lose from this arrangement.

“
Swear it. Swear that you
are all mines.”

“
I swear on a stack of
Bibles.”

“
You don’t have a stack of
Bibles.” I stated the obvious.

“
Seriously?”

“
Well you just can’t say you
swear on a stack of Bibles without a stack of Bibles. Then it’s
just bullshit. I don’t trust you.”

“
Mason.” She
huffed.

“
Don’t Mason me.”

“
Fine, psycho. Can I swear
on one Bible?”

“
Yeah but I doubt a harlot
like you owns a Bible.”

Kari leapt from the bed and pranced
over to the armoire. She reached on top and came back to me holding
a Kindle Fire eReader device. Was she serious? She placed her right
hand on the Kindle.

“
I swear on the Bible that I
am all yours.” She flashed a mischievous smirk.

“
That’s not a Bible, that’s
a Kindle.”

“
No shit Sherlock. My Kindle
has books in it. Hello, I have the Bible in my Kindle.”

Did she really just sass me? “Show me.”
I was calling her bluff.

“
Mason seriously?” She
pouted.

I expectantly reached behind her and
swatted her on her ass with my open hand real hard. Kari gasped.
Her eyes almost flew out their sockets. “Show me now.” I firmly
commanded.

“
Did you just hit
me?”

“
Come on Kari. I’m wearing a
belt. Don’t make me spank you. I wanted to bend you over my knee
when I saw you with Jack.” I paused for a moment and the rest came
out in a weird monotone. “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me
when I’m angry.” Did I just Bill Bixby David Bruce Banner
her?

Kari frowned. She searched my eyes to
see if I was serious. I had nothing. My face stood flat and
emotionless. I wasn’t sure if I was horsing around or serious
myself. Would I really take off my belt and hit her with it? When
it comes to Kari, I’m not sure what I’m capable of.

After a brief pause Kari turned the
Kindle Fire on and tapped the screen a few times. I had momentarily
zoned out, overanalyzing the threat I just served her. Maybe I am a
psycho.

Kari glowered down at me sitting on the
edge of the bed. She didn’t seem too afraid of my threat as she was
cutting her eyes at me. She placed the Kindle below my face. “See,
the Holy Bible, the English Standard Version, the Old Testament and
the New Testament.” She placed her hand to cover the screen and
lowered to her knees to regard me carefully.

She stared up in my eyes. “Mason, I’m
all yours. You never have to worry about me and any other man. You
are the only man I want, the only one I need. You are the only man
for me. I am madly in love with you.”

What? I watched in awe as her eyes
burned into me yet again. If this would have been any other woman
the ‘L’ word would have sent me running for the hills. But it was
Kari and that was exactly what I needed to hear. I needed to know
she loved me. It was like a weight was lifted from my chest. Now I
could breathe. I had conquered her body. I had toyed with her mind.
But what I really craved was her love. It’s unanimous I’m a
psycho.

CHAPTER 8

_______________________

I knew what I was doing was wrong but
it had no intention of stopping. I felt I was performing my duties
as a father and a husband. My relationship with Kari was not
interfering with my home life. Kari didn’t ask for anything more
than I could give. She didn’t ask for more time, more money or more
commitment. She was perfect; the perfect mistress if there was ever
such a thing. I trusted her. I knew she would never betray me or
worst tell my wife. Every now and then she would have a temper
tantrum about some random minor thing but it was nothing I couldn’t
handle.

The little league baseball season was
coming to a close. We had made it into the championships so there
would only be a few games left. I planned to continue with Kari
even after baseball was over. I could never let the feelings I
formed for her go. Never.

My brother Mike invited me out to a
local bar. I had blown him off so many times because I was seeing
Kari. Tonight I decided to hang out with him. I met him at
Tailgaters around 9:30.

He was there when I arrived. He was
boozing it up at the bar. He small talked me for a while. Mike had
something to say and it was taking him forever to spit it out. I
knew my little brother well.

“
I went by moms yesterday
and she was complaining that you never come over to
visit.”

“
Did you tell her I’m busy
running a business, that I’m still coaching baseball and that I see
her at the games when she comes.”

“
No, I didn’t say
that.”

“
Yeah I’m sure you agreed
with her and threw me under the bus.”

“
No.” He was lying. Mike was
a suck up who still claims that our mother favors me over him and
our older sister Karen.

“
Hey Mason, you know Tess
has been talking to my wife.”

“
About what?” Melissa, my
brother’s wife is a busy body.

“
Tess thinks you guys are
having marital problems.”

“
Problems? No problems.” I
shrugged. What was he getting at?

“
Tess told my wife and she
told me.”

“
Told you what?” Spill it
stupid.

“
Tess thinks you’re having
an affair.” Mike just blurted it out.

“
What?” Shit! I didn’t
expect that to come from his mouth.

Mike took a swig from his beer bottle.
“Tess says you have been going out a lot lately and that…” Mike
paused.