My Mans Best Friend (9781622860241) (17 page)

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Authors: Tresser Henderson

BOOK: My Mans Best Friend (9781622860241)
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Kea
It had been so hard getting through these past few days having to deal with the bombshell my parents dropped on me. The past reared its ugly head and changed the dynamics of our family, mostly affecting me. Emory was gone. Daddy had moved out and got a place of his own. Mother wanted nothing to do with me, and I was the product of sexual abuse. My real father was a rapist. My face was what reminded her of a past that no child should have had to go through.
For some reason, the person's shoulders I could rely on to get me through all this was Jaquon. He saw me sad the other day when he came home and actually showed concern about what was going on with me. The puffy eyes and tearstained pillows might have given my sadness away. He climbed in bed with me, wrapping his arms around me and cuddled me. Lying on his chest, I tried to think back on the last time Jaquon had done this.
Even though I was lying in his arms, I couldn't help but to think about Derrick and the time I couldn't spend with him. A small part of me wished it was Derrick's arms wrapped around me. Then guilt came over me. Had I turned into the person I hated most? Was I becoming a Jaquon?
Here he was showing me more love than he had in a long time and I was thinking about his best friend. I was the variance which would separate their bond of friendship. Maybe Jaquon felt something was going on. Maybe his instinct was starting to talk to him, telling him I was cheating on him now. Whatever it was, it must have shaken him to his senses.
I didn't know what happened to change him all of a sudden, but I welcomed his open arms. The way he stormed in here the other day, I thought he had found out about Derrick and me. But he didn't mention anything about my affair. He saw my sorrow and immediately started to comfort me.
Yes, I knew it was just a matter of time before bigmouthed Zacariah was going to say something. She couldn't keep anything to herself. Plus, I was number one on her hit list of individuals to get back at since I took her man. But now it was time to figure out which man I would call mine now.
As time passed with Jaquon and I spending more time together and him actually staying home at night, I was still surprised. Derrick had been calling the house I knew to hopefully speak to me, but most times Jaquon was answering the phone to speak with him. I couldn't say let me talk to him when I really never carried on a conversation like that with Derrick before. So I had to play faithful mate and be true to Jaquon since it seemed like he had made an effort to remain true to me.
Jaquon came up with a suggestion that we have a get-together with friends and family. I tried to figure out what the catch was. The only get-together he was ever down for was with him and his whores.
“I talked it over with Derrick, and he said we could do it at his house.”
“And he doesn't mind?”
“Not at all. He thought it was a great idea.”
“And you sure you want to do this?” I said with raised eyebrows.
“Yes. Why you looking like that?”
“I'm just surprised, that's all.”
“We haven't had anything like this in a while. I would have liked to do it here, but our place it too small. Derrick has the yard space and that huge deck for an event like this.”
“And when is this supposed to happen?”
“Saturday.”
“This Saturday?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said excitedly. “I can't wait for us to have some fun.”
“Why does it have to be so soon?”
“The sooner the better,” he said.
“What has gotten into you?” I asked curiously.
“What?”
“You being here with me and wanting to cuddle and watch TV together and go places together. Now, you're planning this get-together with me being involved. What has sparked this flame in you?”
“Baby, I know I haven't been here for you like I should. I've done a lot of bad things in our relationship, and I finally came to the conclusion I don't want to lose you,” he said, looking at me with the most sincerity I had ever seen coming from him.
“You have to know this is freaking me out. I'm waiting for you to tell me you got some chickenhead pregnant or something, and that's the reason why you've been sugaring me up.”
“Nobody is pregnant, Kea, unless ...” he smiled, rubbing my stomach.
“No. Nothing is in there,” I said pushing his hand away as he laughed.
“I can't wait until you have my babies,” he said.
“Who says I want any?”
“You did, remember? You said you wanted three.”
“That was before a lot of unnecessary pain dropped in and destroyed what I thought was special in my life. I can't bring a child into this confusion.”
“You shouldn't be confused about me loving you.”
I sat up out of his embrace and said, “Jaquon, what is really going on? Be serious with me.”
Sitting up to face me, taking my hands into his, he said, “Nothing. I can't show my girl some affection?”
“Not when the affection came out of nowhere.”
“Before you complained about me not showing enough affection and now that I am, you're still complaining. I don't understand.”
“I did want it,” I said.
“Did? Has something changed that you haven't made me aware of?” he asked suspiciously.
“No. What I meant to say was I do. For so long I have begged for your attention. As soon as I stopped begging and let you be you, you give me what I've asked for. I have to wonder, is it too little too late?”
“You don't love me anymore?” Jaquon asked with a frown on his face.
I pondered that question before I answered, “Yes, I love you. I will always love you.”
“You say that like you want us to be just friends.”
“I need some time to think about this whole thing.”
“Kea, I don't see what there is to think about. You wanted me; you got me. I'm not the same person I was.”
“And when did this new Jaquon emerge? How do I know he will stay around or whether he will get bored with me and want to see what's out there again?”
“Baby, I love you,” he said gripping my hand.
“Jaquon, you hurt me. My emotional scars haven't been erased because you have wrapped your arms around me and said you've changed. The way I'm thinking right now, no amount of hugs from you can take away all the hurt you have done to me.”
“I'm willing to try. Kea, don't give up on me. Give us a chance. Please.”
“This is going to take some time.”
“That's all I ask for. In time, I will prove I've changed.”
“I hope so, Jaquon. I hope you are not messing with my emotions because if one more thing is revealed to me, I swear our relationship is over.”
Essence
I couldn't believe Jaquon called to invite me to a get-together at Derrick's place. I hadn't heard from him since he stormed out of my place, and now he's calling me for this. Was he trying to set me up or what? As far as I knew, he was still with Kea. I didn't know if he had confronted her about sleeping with his best friend. Was he taking her too? I knew nothing and was torn. In a way, I wanted to go because I was curious to see this woman who had his heart. I felt like I knew her already, even though I had yet to lay eyes on her. And then again, I didn't want to go because I didn't know if anything was going to happen.
Finishing up the fourth slice of pizza, I had to relieve myself. The doctors tried to warn me, but my problem wasn't as simple as quitting the next day. I was addicted to the high of puking and couldn't stop. I knew I needed professional help, but didn't want it now. I was fine the way I was.
After relieving myself, I opened the door to my bathroom to leave. To my surprise, Zacariah was standing on the other side of the door.
“So, you haven't learned your lesson yet?”
“What are you talking about?” I said still trying to wipe my mouth.
“Come on, Essence. I thought you had quit.”
“I did, for a while.”
“What? Two hours? One day? Three days? What?” she asked holding out her hands. “I don't understand. You could die from doing this.”
“I'll be fine.”
“Okay, Ms. Fine, I'm done talking to you about it. Maybe you need to collapse and get admitted into the hospital again before you realize how dangerous this condition is. Evidently you dead set on something more serious happening to you in order for you to wise up.”
“Damn, Zacariah, when did you become a psychiatrist ?”
“Yesterday. I received my master's from a place called I Give A Damn. I finally found that place called Common Sense that you didn't think I had so I could talk to you.”
“Did Common Sense wise you up to let this revenge thing go with Kea?” I asked, pushing her out of my way as I walked toward the kitchen to get me something to drink.
Zacariah followed saying, “I only pulled it out to use it against you.”
“Figures.”
“Essence, your condition isn't a joke, but since you act like you getting an attitude, I'm going to leave you alone.”
“Good. Why are you stalking me anyway?”
“Well, I was coming to tell you I know how I'm going to get Kea back.”
“I don't want to hear it,” I said throwing my hand up.
“But I may need you.”
“How?”
“I heard about the get-together Derrick and Jaquon are having. I still don't understand why neither of them have ripped each other to bits since both of them know the other has slept with their girl. They're acting like things are still cool. What the hell is going on with them two? By the way, I heard you talking to Jaquon earlier and ...”
“Why you eavesdropping on my conversations? You need to hurry up and get up out of my house so I can finally have some privacy.”
“Essence, please. Are you going to hear me out?”
“No. I don't want any part of this.”
“I know he invited you.”
“And?”
“Just take me with you,” Zacariah pleaded.
“Absolutely not!”
“Essence, please.”
“I don't even know if I'm going.”
“Please go and take me.”
“If they wanted you there, then they would have invited you. You with Derrick, Jaquon, and possibly Kea in the same room is the makings for a disaster.”
“Not for me.”
“Something is wrong with you.”
“That may be so, but I got some information I need to drop. I think the heavens are opening up for me to do this. What better place than at this get-together? I might get a two-for-one deal here,” she said.
“Who?” I asked.
“You'll see when you take me.”
I sighed.
“You know you're curious.”
“I'll think about it.”
“We only have a couple of days, so think fast.”
“I said I'll think about it.”
“Thanks, Essence. I know you're going so why don't we go to the mall and buy the sexiest outfits we can?”
The look on Zacariah's face was one of euphoria. I knew it had to do with this retaliation she was plotting. I swear I wanted no part of this, but this situation was like watching a bad movie you just paid for. You make yourself go through it anyway just to see how it's going to end.
Derrick
Mama was here and had taken over the cooking of the seafood. She had already fried some catfish and clams, and the lobsters were being steamed. Not only was she putting a hurting on the food, she brought homemade coleslaw and hush puppies, which I requested. She also made baked beans, corn bread, four sweet potato pies, and a pineapple upside-down cake. Mama looked for any excuse to cook, and I took advantage of her expertise in her cuisine. This event was the perfect opportunity to get my mama to come visit me. She didn't live too far away from me, but she didn't drop by as much as I would have liked either. But I knew that had a lot to do with Zacariah.
Most of the men pitched in purchasing the seafood with me. It was a BYOB event, so they also brought their own alcoholic beverages. The ladies brought additional side dishes. I provided hamburgers, hot dogs, and some alcohol too.
My house was full to capacity. Most of the crowd was outside and not trampling through my house, which is the way I liked it. I didn't want anyone getting stupid and start tearing up my stuff because if they did, there was going to be a problem.
When Jaquon came up with the idea, I wanted to reach through the phone and choke him to death. He had slept with Zacariah and acted like nothing had ever happened between the two of them. I wanted to confront him so bad my body ached, but Mama told me to “Leave it alone. You are not with Zacariah any more, so let things be. Yes, Jaquon was wrong, but you two are like brothers, and you should never let a woman come between you.”
It was true. We had been friends for so many years. But I had to wonder whether Zacariah was the only girl of mine he had slept with. Doubts about our friendship started to surface, and I didn't know how to handle it. I didn't know how I was going to act when I saw him. But when I did, he acted like the same old crazy Jaquon, which, in a way, made it a lot easier to deal with. That was, until I saw Kea linked arm in arm with him. She was looking so damn sexy. I tried to play it off, but her beauty made it hard for me to concentrate. A part of me wanted to tear her away from him, punch him in his face, and take her away to be with me forever. But I maintained. Maybe this was also due to Mama standing right there watching me. She kept giving me the eye to let sleeping dogs lie. Little did she know how bad I wanted to lie with Kea.
Jaquon took off to the back to help with the setup while Kea joined Mama in the kitchen helping her with peeling the shells off the already deveined shrimp to be dropped into the deep fryer outside on the patio. The two of them hit it off immediately. Once Mama walked back outside to drop some shrimp, I walked behind Kea gripping her hips, pulling her body to mine.
“What do you think you are doing?” she asked.
“I've wanted to do this since you got here.”
“We're going to get caught, Derrick. Move back,” she said sticking her butt out, bumping me away.
“You know that's making me want you more,” I said pulling her closer, making the space between us disappear. I knew she had to feel the growth forming underneath my jeans with each pulsation of my heart.
“Derrick, please stop,” she asked seductively.
“Do you
really
want me to, or do you want me as bad as I want you?”
“This isn't right,” she said.
“Neither is your man cheating on you, but it doesn't stop his flow.”
She turned in anger pushing me away. “You supposed to be his friend.”
“And you supposed to be his girl. Come on, Kea. You know I speak nothing but the truth,” I said holding up my hand like I was being sworn in to testify.
“Don't get mad with me because you have feelings for me. I'm innocent,” I said shrinking the space between us again. The heat emitting off her body made my manhood stretch out to reach her.
I leaned my body against hers, pushing her against the counter. She held her hands up, trying not to get shrimp juice on us. I leaned in and kissed her. Her lips were supple and tongue-inviting. I couldn't bring myself to break away, but hearing voices made Kea break free and walk out of the kitchen. Mama opened the door to find me standing at the sink pretending to finish shelling the remaining shrimp left in the bowl. No matter how much I didn't want to get caught, my extension would have drawn enough attention to itself to give me away. I hid it by leaning against the counter pretending to be helping.
“Derrick, what are you doing in here?”
“I'm finishing the shrimp. I have a couple more, and then you can have it,” I tried to say calmly.
“Are you okay, son, because you look a little flushed in the face? What's going on with you?”
“I'm just tired, and you know it's hot as hell.” I tried to stop the words from rolling off my tongue but couldn't take them back. “I mean heck.”
“Boy, I was getting ready to say, you know better.”
“I know, Mama. I'm sorry.”
“That's fine. I come to see where you were and to soak up some of this cool air. That heat is something else. To be October, it's hot for this time of year,” she said pulling up a chair at the kitchen table. “Seasons mixing like this can't be good. The Lord is on His way back. People better start paying attention to these signs. Everybody needs to get their souls right with God because when He cracks this sky, it's going to be too late for many. And that's including you, Derrick.”
There was nothing like a good sermon from Mama to bring a man's erection down, literally. I loved Mama and knew she was telling the truth, but sometimes her preaching did get to me. I grew up in the church. I sang on the choir. I ushered and everything because that's what Mama had me do when I was coming up. Now I understand why she did what she did because I am aware where all my blessings come from. But she needed to understand it's a process for me, just like it was for her. It took time.
“Baby, you hear what I'm telling you?” she asked.
“Yes, ma'am,” I replied rinsing the last of the shrimp.
“I wish everybody knew God like I know Him,” she said fanning herself with a newspaper I had on the table.
“Are you all right, Mama? I hope you haven't overdone it out there. You were supposed to come over here and let us do all the work.”
“Son, I'm good. I'm just trying to cool myself down. And you know I don't eat everybody's cooking. I can't stand to see too many hands handling the food.”
Kea walked into the room wiping her hands on a towel.
“Honey, what did you say your name was again?” Mama asked.
“Mama, this is Kea.”
“Jaquon's girlfriend, right?” Mama asked.
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Oh, so you the girl dumb enough to get yourself wrapped up in that man.”
“Yes, ma'am,” Kea said looking staggered.
“I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean for it to come out of my mouth like that.”
“Mama speaks her mind,” I said softly to Kea, knowing Mama heard me.
“Boy, step back and let the girl breathe.”
I laughed along with Kea.
“Are you having a good time, Mrs.—”
“Call me Ms. Shirley, and yes, this is really nice. I better get back out there and check on the food. I don't trust Jaquon or your daddy to be handling anything,” Mama said getting up. “Pass me those shrimp so I can finish cooking. I hope we don't have burnt fish,” she said walking out.

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