The Awakening (11 page)

Shit got thick real quick, and it was only a matter of time before it got worse once we headed back into the house.

I can't remember the last time I saw a man so cold.

Jay sat there stone-faced while Jasmine tried her best to get him pissed enough to yell back at her. No matter what she said, it didn't faze him one bit. He had me really worried.

“Are you done, Jasmine?” Jay calmly asked her. “I need to speak my peace now.”

His demeanor was stoic, even Jasmine had to pause. She watched him move with a purpose across the room, closing in on her to make sure his point resonated within her.

“You know, I was upset enough to do something really stupid that night,” he said. “But I probably would not be a free man right now if I did.”

“Please, Jay, spare me the—”

“Did I say I was finished?!?!”
Jay snapped, which really shut Jasmine down. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Candy smirk, enjoying the show. Meanwhile, I saw a man who, in the course of a day, had finally found his balance again.

“You have no control anymore. You lost that when you got caught cheating.” His eyes got small, almost piercing through Jasmine as he said it. It looked like he was exorcising a ghost from his body and mind. “I'm sorry I ever gave you that power over me.”

“It was just one night, baby.” Jasmine was in panic mode, and it was beginning to show. “You're not gonna throw away what we have over that, are you? I'll do whatever you want, please???” She sounded defeatist, like she wasn't sure if she would be able to persuade him this time.

“Here's what's funny, baby. If you had said that instead of blaming me for all of this, I would have probably believed you. That's how much I loved you,” Jay pointed out. “But instead, you decided it was better to insult me; put the blame on me to make yourself feel better.”

Being a student of power exchange, you could tell when someone was losing their power and energy over someone else. Jasmine's color began to fade to pale as she began to realize her marriage was coming to an end.

“Please, honey, please don't do this. I love you, we can work this out.” Jasmine was in full panic mode now, begging Jay to reconsider, but Jay wasn't having it.

“My lawyer will be in contact next week. I want a divorce, Jasmine.” Jay finally breathed the words he thought he would never have to say. “You can have the house, because I can't live here anymore.”

“No!”
Jasmine yelled.
“You can't leave me. Your place is here, damn it!”

“Not anymore, Jasmine.” Jay never raised his voice, not once. “Not anymore.”

Jasmine collapsed in tears on the couch. Jay just stood there, and Ramesses said to him,

“Dawg, it's time to roll. There's nothing more left to say.”

“All of you can go to hell!”
Jasmine yelled after us.
“I'll make you all pay for what you did to me!”

Once we got outside, Jay softly uttered, “I didn't deserve her anyway.” His energy was spent, and it looked like he had been through his own personal hell to get to this point. There was still love in his eyes, and pain as well. It was a look I would never wish upon my worst enemy, and one that I prayed I would never have to go through with my husband.

Candy corrected him quickly. “No, she didn't deserve you.” She kissed him to make her point clearer.

The look on Kane's face, to let me tell it, was one of a kind. “Never jump without a parachute, huh, bro?” he mentioned.

“You taught me well, bro,” Jay replied before getting back on his bike. “I'm just making sure that I don't get caught out there like that again.”

Once word got around about Jay and Jasmine, my phone would not stop ringing.

The women ripped Jasmine to shreds for days, and in the same
breath, wondered where they could find Jay to make him “feel better.” It got so widespread, even Amenhotep called to confirm things. All Ramesses could do was to deflect the attention as much as he could.

Speaking of getting heads together, it led him to his next head-scratching moment: Candy acting more than just a “friend” last week. “What in the hell was she thinking,” he kept saying. Without proof of her infidelity, Jay could get screwed in court. Things would get really complicated if he didn't keep his manhood in check. Jasmine was not one to just lie down and take it. He had a point, and I knew it.

To take his mind off things, he decided that a ride would do him some good, so, he pulled his bike out of the back area where he and I kept them. That's when we noticed someone in a car across the street watching us. I couldn't tell the type, but it was a dark-red sedan.

I didn't give myself away. I knew the person was watching, and he made sure to keep doing what he was doing so that they wouldn't get too spooked.

“You're not getting away that easily,” he said as he walked back in the house to get his camera. When he came back out, he faked as if he were taking pictures of me on the bike, using the zoom lens to get a good look at who might be having beef with us. The lens got a good look at the plate number as the car sped away.

“Never fuck with a cop's family, dumb ass,” he said as he wrote the number down from the digital image. The only thing I hoped was they didn't use bogus plates.

10
RAMESSES

“So, what's on for tonight, dawg?”

Jay seemed to be completely over what had happened to him a couple of weeks ago. It was as if he were trying hard to forget that any of it ever had happened. “Are you meeting us at the spot or what?”

I was a bit concerned he was being so cavalier about his impending divorce, but he was intent on making a clean break, even giving up the house in the divorce settlement. I guess he really wanted no reminders of Jasmine. But then again, I didn't know what he was going through, considering I'm not a big proponent of monogamy.

I took a look at my watch, which read around six, and hoped Neferterri would be ready to roll by the time I got home. She always liked making a grand entrance, but I hated being late. “Yeah, we should be there by eight or so. I'm just leaving the job now.”

“Cool, Kane, we'll be in the VIP as usual,” Jay stated.

It was like that every Friday night of the month, when we headed to the club that my wife partly owns: Liquid Paradise, or Liquid, for short. We usually hang out with some of the newbies we chat with online or become new to the online group we run, and then head either to Candy's or down to our house for an impromptu after-party.

I took the long way home, even though I knew it might make
us a little late. Oh well, can't be on time all the damn time. But it gave me an opportunity to reflect back on a few things that had occurred recently.

In some cases, I guess my life has been pretty full. I have a beautiful, wonderful wife and three hyper-ass-but-well-behaved children. Thanks to some lucky and wise investments, including the club, we are able to stay comfortable in the neighborhood that we live in. We made sure to buy a lot with at least one acre on it, to make sure the neighbors didn't get too nosey.

As far as things outside of our personal “vanilla” lives are concerned, I guess we're as close to celebrities as you can get. Neferterri and Candy are models for a website called “Full Figgaz,” which I was proud about, especially when I had a hand in the initial photographs being sent to the company. Hey, having camera skills is a player's best asset, and it did wonders for finding, and breaking in, potential females curious about the lifestyle.

But, I couldn't get my mind away from the other stuff that had popped up in recent weeks: the bullshit with Jasmine; the person in the car that insisted on spying on me at my house; Jay acting like he was never married to begin with. It was beginning to weigh on me, and I couldn't let that happen. Besides, I'm happily married, even as a libertine, I'm happily married. Neferterri and I have a strong foundation, regardless of what it is that we do. Without that foundation, the alternative lifestyle can tear you up and spit you out.

Unfortunately, Jay and Jasmine found out the hard way.

I finally pulled into the driveway, checking the grass to make sure that it didn't need to be cut. Damn HOAs, I swear they can work your nerves sometimes. Once I got the car in the garage, I got out and headed into the house to see about Neferterri.

“Hey, babe, you ready to go?” I was relieved to find her putting the finishing touches on her outfit.

“Hey, sexy, just waiting on you,” she replied as she gave me a quick peck on the lips. “shamise said she'll meet us at the club, but jamii and nuru can't make it.”

I sort of bypassed that statement as I quickly jumped in the shower, mainly because I really wasn't in the mood to bother with them. I would have to deal with them sooner or later, though. There was nothing worse than a submissive who really insisted on acting a fool for no reason. If they thought that this was a good way to get attention, they both had another thing coming.

On the bed, I saw she already had the outfit she wanted me in set out on the bed. Don't get the wrong idea; I can dress myself, but I was in a rush, and my wife knows what I like to wear.

Once I got out of the shower, I saw Mercedes talking to some dude online who allowed her to view his webcam. I took a look at his screen name, which read “da_greatest.” Yeah, I know. I laughed when I saw it, too.

“Who's this, someone wanting to take you from me as usual?” I joked.

“Nope, even better, baby. He claims he would be the greatest sex I or any of my girls will ever have. Never mind that I am a happily married woman, because he can change all that.” Mercedes giggled. She'd heard that line before. In most cases, they never are able to “rise” to the occasion.

The man must have lost his mind at some point during the conversation, because he asked a question that most single men have no business asking a married woman:

da_greatest:
so when can I come over so we can do this?

daddys_mercedes:
you really are stupid…only at parties

da_greatest:
yeah, I know, but I know I could make your toes curl if we had some private time

daddys_mercedes:
no deal. only way you see me at all is at Liquid tonight, and if you're a good boy, then we'll go from there

da_greatest:
damn girl, you drive a hard bargain. see you tonight. How will I know who you are?

daddys_mercedes:
come to the VIP, you'll see me there. I'll be the one in black sitting with my HUSBAND, with a dancer in my lap giving me some personal attention

Now by this point, I would have normally taken over the keyboard and said some things to throw ol' boy off a little.

But that was the old me.

“Whatever, dude.” Neferterri got up from the PC with a dismissive tone in her voice. I guessed we would probably not see “da greatest” after all.