Second Time Around (5 page)

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Authors: Darrin Lowery

BOOK: Second Time Around
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“D, really, I hope you can appreciate this . . . I really can't talk about it.”
Once again the entire shop erupted in laughter. This time even Darren laughed.
“Okay, I can respect that,” Darren said, laughing.
“I thought you might.”
“Yeah, confidentiality,” Darren said while giving Gucci an understanding look.
“But you can tell me what's going on with my boy.”
“No, Gucci. I can't.”
“I'll tell you about me and Karen.”
“No deal,” Darren said, laughing.
Gucci wanted to know why his friend's scoring average dropped so low and the truth of the matter was the ballplayer had a lot on his mind.
 
 
It wasn't that Bryce was getting married that was bothering him. What was bothering him was that Bryce's male lover was pissed that he was getting married, and that the wedding was all over the television airways.
Gucci thought it was Maurielle that was blowing up the athlete's cell phone when he was getting his hair cut. It wasn't—it was the man he was cheating on her with.
Bryce wasn't gay. At least that is what he said. He was on the down low. He was bisexual. His secret was driving him crazy and he was very distracted by the possibility of being outed to the world.
In his counseling sessions with Darren he confessed that he loved Maurielle and his male lover as well. His scoring average was dropping because his lover was threatening to out him at his wedding or go to the press.
Bryce couldn't concentrate on basketball. If his secret was put out there he stood to lose both people that he loved and millions of dollars. His lifestyle would be severely compromised.
In therapy, Darren and Bryce discussed issues of sexuality, then infidelity as well as how he came to have an affair with another man to begin with. This was the one point that Darren was definitely confused about.
It seemed that Bryce had been dating Maurielle well over two years. Their relationship had its rocky moments, including a not-so-private moment of domestic violence that played over and over again in the tabloids.
The relationship had its great times too. Bryce loved the singer, who was also pregnant with his child at one point. Maurielle's manager explained that it was not a good time in her career to have a child, so she aborted, a decision that did not sit well with either of them. It was a sore point in their relationship and Darren surmised it was one of the things pulling the couple apart. In an effort to save his relationship with her, Bryce proposed. That didn't save the relationship, but it did seem to mend some of the pain. To Maurielle it was validation. It showed her that Bryce was committed to their relationship.
Darren asked Bryce how he came about the affair he had. Darren wanted to know the name of the man he was cheating on Maurielle with. He was dying to know, but it really wasn't necessary, however, in order to treat Bryce, so Darren asked that he not mention the other man by name. Darren's fear was that he would repeat it to a colleague and then the word would spread quickly.
Bryce said that in a moment of weakness, after playing against a West Coast team, he hung out with one of the guys from the opposing team. It was the same guy that burned him for twenty-four points, eight rebounds, and three steals. Bryce's opponent took him out to dinner one night as if to say no hard feelings. They also went to a nightclub and stayed out very late. They did a lot of drinking and a lot of partying that night.
As the limo took the guard back to his hotel, the two men, both in a drunken stupor, laughed and joked about various things they saw at the club and all the different women that tried to get them to take them back to their hotel rooms. They continued to drink in the limousine. The next thing Bryce knew, the opposing guard smiled at him. It was a smile that Bryce confessed he was unaccustomed to getting from another man. Bryce said the other man knelt in front of him and buried his head in his lap.
Initially he protested.
Initially he confessed he was scared.
He then told Darren that the liquor weakened his inhibitions.
And supposedly it was the liquor that made him have a same-sex affair.
Bullshit, Darren thought. But he didn't say that.
One thing reportedly led to another, and the men had been seeing each other ever since. The press thought they were good friends and competitors because of the rivalry between their teams. When the two icons went at one another on the court, they went at each other hard. The competiveness helped ratings, apparel sales, and ticket sales. The two men went at each other like they hated one another on the court, but off the court and in the press they seemed like the best of friends. They had each often said in the media that they could be friends as well as rivals. It turned out they were more than rivals, they were lovers.
Darren believed that Bryce used alcohol as his excuse for his sexual tryst. He used alcohol to take the blame for something he had always been curious about. Darren remembered how he continued to question Bryce about the affair.
“So let me get this straight. He's in the league also?” Darren asked.
“Yes.”
“And he is just as famous as you are?”
“Yes.”
Darren racked his brain to try and figure out who Bryce's lover was.
“So wouldn't his career take just as much of a hit as yours would if he were to out your affair?”
“It would.”
“So what makes you think that he would out you and not look bad himself? He can no more afford the bad press than you can.”
“That's what I'm struggling with.”
“Your fiancée, does she know?”
“No, of course not.”
“Don't you think she has a right to know?”
“Uh . . . no . . .”
“Wouldn't you want to know?”
“I'm not gay.”
“I didn't ask you if you were gay.”
“I'm just sayin', I'm not gay.”
“Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?”
“I'm just curious.”
“For more than a year? It sounds to me as if you are a little more than curious.”
“Okay then, I'm confused.”
“That's why you're here. We need to sort things out.”
“Do you think I should call off my wedding?”
“It doesn't matter what I think. What do you think?”
On and on the sessions went. Some were good, some were great. Week after week, however, Bryce became more and more comfortable with who he was. As the wedding date came closer, eventually he made a stand. He broke up with his male lover and decided to go forward with his wedding.
Darren thought Bryce should have canceled his wedding. At the very least, Darren thought he should have postponed it. This was his personal opinion, but his personal opinion had no place in his sessions, so he kept his opinion to himself. All he could think of was the fact that Bryce was putting Maurielle at risk. She would be at risk for STDs, HIV, and celebrity mayhem. This was Darren's life: celebrity chaos.
 
 
After Darren got his hair cut he told Gucci he would see him later and told everyone in the barbershop good-bye. He headed to the mall and strangely enough, found himself thinking about his ex when a special slow song played on the radio. As the song played, Darren went over in his mind the first time that he met her, her smile, and the first time that they danced. He also thought about the first time they made love and how magical it was. He then wondered how could he have ever let her go. He thought about all the good times, all the places that they had been, and how they used to confess their dreams to one another.
As the song went off, he tried to shake thoughts of her. Their time together ran its course, or so he thought. He went to the mall to do some heavy shopping. As he was coming out of a men's store with his third bag of items, he saw her. She was looking great, in good shape and, what was worse, she looked happy.
She hadn't seen him. She and her man kept walking hand in hand and occasionally they kissed like teenagers. They were several stores away from him and they looked so happy as they shopped, looking so in love.
Darren found himself following them. His heart skipped a beat with every kiss. Jealousy from nowhere welled up inside of him with every smile that she gave him. They were walking slowly, hand in hand. It was a lover's stroll. Darren was walking fast, faster than he knew to notice. He closed the distance between them and as they reached the food court he felt stupid.
It wasn't her. It was a woman that looked a lot like her. His heartbeat regulated and his jealousy tapered off. He had to have a seat in the food court to get himself together.
What the hell was that about? Why am I buggin' all of a sudden? She must be somewhere, talking about me. Do I still love her? Do I still have feelings for my ex? Nah, it can't be. It was just the song. The song in the car must have triggered something, right? After all, it's been five years since I last spoke to her. There is no way that I'm still holding a torch for my ex-girlfriend. That's crazy, isn't it?
Chapter Four
Korie and Jayna were in the last leg of their two-mile run at Millennium Park, when they noticed two black men jogging in their direction from the opposite side. One man was older and resembled the actor Denzel Washington. He was in great shape for an older man and his hair looked as if it were just beginning to turn gray.
The younger man running with him was about thirty and at a distance he was nice looking, but as he got closer he was fine as hell. He was Hershey chocolate in complexion, had pearly-white teeth, and appeared to be in peak shape.
As the two women passed by the men, Korie noticed that the younger man smiled as they approached, and he turned around to look at their rear ends after they ran by. Korie and Jayna were used to this. The younger man said something to the older gentleman and then turned around to catch up to the two women. The older man shook his head, laughing, and continued with his run. Korie and Jayna ignored both men and continued to run in the opposite direction. A few minutes later, they heard the younger man speaking to them.
“Excuse me, ladies, can I run with you?” The younger man ran up on them, smiling.
Fortunately for both women, they just finished their run. They stopped their full run and slowed down to a jog and then a walk. They kept walking some distance and didn't even acknowledge the young black man. They stopped walking about fifty yards away from where he originally caught up with them.
“I'm sorry to interrupt your run, but I was wondering if I could run with you.”
“We're done running,” Jayna said.
“Perhaps another time, then?”
“We run alone.” Jayna was cold in her response, almost as if to dismiss the man.
Jayna looked at the brother and assumed he was broke and not worth her time. He was very handsome, but nothing on his body was name brand. His shorts, shoes, and shirt had no known logos. Although everything on him was new and clean, he looked as if he bought all of his gear from a wholesale retailer.
“What my friend means to say is we just completed our run,” Korie said politely, looking at Jayna as if to say, your mother raised you better than that, at least be polite.
Korie thought the young man was fine. He was definitely in great shape and she did think he was handsome. She didn't mind that he wasn't dressed in name-brand clothing. He had great teeth and a great smile and she thought to herself that she was somewhat taken with him. Jayna was quick to shut the man down, but Korie was admittedly intrigued.
“Well, can I run with you all some other time? Do you ladies run here often?” he asked.
“Is that your best pickup line?”
Jayna placed both hands on her hips as if she were a superhero or something and started laughing at him, laughing at him as if he were nothing.
The young man looked at her as if he was pissed that she was being so cold to him. He gave off the vibe that he was not used to women casually dismissing him.
“Well, yes. That is my best pickup line and I was hoping that you would like it. So since that's not working and I can't obviously coincidentally catch up to you another time in the park, how do I go about getting your number?” he said to Jayna. It was obvious that he didn't give up easily either.
“You don't. You keep running with your daddy's Vietnam buddy that we saw you with.”
Jayna was still busy being cold to the young man. Korie was slightly hurt that the man barely noticed her. He smiled at her as he ran by, but he was obviously interested in Jayna. Korie was used to this happening a lot. Next to Jayna, guys seldom noticed her.
Korie was shaping up to be fit and toned but Jayna's body looked as if she were turning into a work of art. Korie hated to admit it, but she was a little jealous. Not enough for it to affect their friendship, but enough for the jealousy to affect her self-esteem.
“That's not my dad's buddy, that's my boss,” the man said.
“Even worse,” Jayna said, laughing.
“Look, I blew my boss off to come and introduce myself to you. My boss is a pretty influential man in this city, and he's not used to being blown off for women and—”
“Hold on!” Jayna cut him off. “We didn't ask you to come over here. So your ass can just keep on running for all we care. Don't start tripping because you came over here in pursuit of us. Who is your boss anyway?”
“His name is DeVaughn Harris, but that's not the point. The point is I would really like to get to know you a little better and I kind of lost points with my boss for putting off our morning meeting to chase some tail, as he would say.”
“Morning meeting?” Jayna asked.
“Yeah. We run every morning, but we also discuss how we expect the day to go and our mutual expectations for business.”
Korie was blown away that the man kept trying to get with Jayna even though it was obvious that she wasn't interested. Korie couldn't understand why he kept pursuing Jayna even though she was clowning him. He must have really wanted a serious taste of her honey. Then in an even more bizarre twist, Jayna threw Korie off with her next response.
“So what's your name?” Jayna asked.
“My name is Brandon, Brandon Lloyd.”
“Well, Brandon Lloyd, if I were to let you take me out, where would we be going?”
Brandon began to smile wide like a Cheshire cat. He felt good that in spite of playing hard to get, he might conquer the beautiful African queen before him. He ran his fingers across his chin and thought about where he might take her, and then spoke smoothly.
“Sweetheart, we can go wherever you want to go.”
“Okay, don't let your mouth write a check that your behind can't cash. I'm not a cheap date.” Jayna folded her arms as she spoke.
Korie thought, that's for sure.
“Well, if you will allow me the pleasure of your company this evening, we can go anywhere in the city you want to go, as long as it's after six.” Brandon's voice changed and now that he saw he was getting his way, his voice was sounding smooth and confident.
“Okay, well, this evening I would like to go to the Chicago Firehouse.”
“Okay, well, if you give me your number, I'll pick you up around eight.”
“Here is my card. My mobile number is on it.” Jayna retrieved a card from her bag.
“Great. Well, I'll see you this evening. It was nice to meet you, uh . . . Jayna.”
He had to look at the card to see her name.
“It was nice to meet you too, Brandon Lloyd.”
“And it was great to meet you too. What was your name?” he asked Korie.
“My name is Korie.” She gave a half smile, thinking Brandon had been rude to not acknowledge her until the last minute.
“You ladies have a nice day. I need to catch up to my boss.”
“That should be easy considering that he's a hundred years old.” Jayna said.
“You're something else, you know that?” Brandon spoke from a distance while jogging in place.
“Baby, you have no idea,” Jayna said.
“My boss is not as out of shape as you think. He runs seven miles a day and he's only forty-six.”
Brandon sprinted across the park to try and catch up to his boss, who was long gone and out of sight.
Jayna smiled to herself as she and Korie began to walk back to Korie's place. Korie was looking at Jayna like she didn't recognize her. Jayna saw the look of confusion on Korie's face and spoke.
 
 
“What?” she said, smiling with her hands on her hips.
“I'm shocked, that's all. He's not your normal type. What made you give in to him?”
“He said his boss was DeVaughn Harris.”
“So?” Korie said with a puzzled look on her face.
“DeVaughn Harris is a multimillionaire. He purchases companies that other businesses can't successfully buy because they don't have the capital, and he then sells the companies that he buys to other companies that want them for generally twice the asking amount. He has a lot of Fortune 500 companies paying him in installments, through stocks or seats on their boards. The man is brilliant and off the chain when it comes to finances.”
“Why haven't I heard of him before?”
“Because that's how he operates. He's quiet and reserved. He's really an amazing man.”
“So what does that have to do with Brandon?”
“Girl, if Brandon is working for DeVaughn Harris, he must be paid too. I'm betting he's just not the type of man that flaunts his money.”
“So it's about the money?”
“No, he's not bad on the eyes either, but the fact that he is paid helps.”
“Jayna, that's scandalous and wrong.”
“It may be wrong, but that's the way things are. Look, I've bust my ass at work, gone to school to get my MBA. I come in early to work and I leave late just to get the respect of the men at my firm. My colleagues respect me and my bosses respect me. I'm just saying that I want a man on my level, that's all. Brandon must make more money than I do, and I don't remember the last time that I met a black man that makes more money than I do who isn't married.”
“How do you know Brandon isn't married?”
“Aw shoot, you're right. Well, that will be the first question that I ask him when he picks me up tonight.”
“How do you know he makes a lot of money for this Mr. Harris? He could be the guy's dry cleaner for all you know.”
“That will be my second question,” Jayna said, laughing.
The two women walked back to Korie's place and Korie asked Jayna a million more questions that she should have asked Brandon before agreeing to go out with him. As they walked the trail on the way back to Korie's place the two women laughed and joked about the various things going on in their lives. Jayna began to tell Korie about the date she had last night. Korie didn't hear her because she saw a couple walking across the park holding hands. They were about a block away, but the man looked familiar to Korie. He had a small child in one arm and was holding the hand of a beautiful black woman with the other. Korie was speechless. She couldn't take her eyes off the couple. She was so engrossed into watching them that she didn't hear Jayna calling her name.
“Korie? Korie. That's not him?”
“Huh?” Korie finally came out of her trance. “Him who?”
“Girl, stop playin', you know damn well who. That's not him.
“Oh. Well, I, um, thought—”
“You thought it was. It's not. That's the same couple that was getting out of their car when we started running. It looks like him, but it's not him. Besides, chances are, he is with some white woman somewhere.”
Jayna's voice was filled with venom, but she tried her best not to judge Korie because she didn't want to be judged herself. The women decided to let the subject go and move onto something else.
“Do you have a lot of clients to see today?” Jayna asked.
“Yeah. Yeah, I do. You going into your office today?”
“Yeah, I'm going to go in for a few hours. I'll walk you back to your place and then catch a cab back to mine. Call me later.”
“Okay, I will.”
The two women walked in silence for a time. Jayna was worried about her friend and Korie was wondering why she was so preoccupied with her ex. She walked back to her place with him on her mind.

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