The California Saga (14 page)

 

 

My heart dropped when the shower curtain pulled back and a naked Touch stood before me. I didn't know if I should cover my body or turn my head from looking at his body. This was totally unlike him, and I was wondering where this was coming from. There'd been times when I got so drunk from the club that he would bathe me and then put me to bed, but that was back in the day, and he had never been naked with me.

As he stepped into the shower with me like it was nothing, I screamed, “Touch, no!”

“Chill out, girl. It ain't nothing but a shower.” He reached for his Irish Spring body wash.

Oh well, I guess he's right
, I thought to myself, feeling a little silly for reacting like a little schoolgirl. I studied Touch's physique as he washed his face beneath the running water from the showerhead.
Damn, was he fine!
Plus, his package was just right.

Touch caught me checking him out. “I see you looking.”

“Boy, ain't nobody looking at you,” I lied, embarrassed that he'd actually caught me.

I rushed to wash the blood out of my hair from my head wound. Then I went on to wash my body. I noticed that Touch's whole demeanor was kind of nonchalant the entire time we showered. Don't get me wrong, I didn't expect him to be jumping on top of me and trying to rape me or anything, but damn, a nigga should at least be trying to get a peep in. There was no way I was goin' to have this nigga around me, fronting like he didn't want to touch me, so I thought I might break the ice a little bit.

“Can you wash my back?” I said, hoping to get a little attention from Touch.

“Nope. How you wash yourself all the other times when you're showering alone?” he said playfully.

“Boy, don't play with me. You do me, and I'll do you.” I handed him my washcloth.

I don't know if I was tripping or what, but as soon as he placed the towel on my back, it sent chills down my spine, and with every stroke, a sensation was sent throughout my body. Just as I was getting into it, it was over.

“My turn.” Touch handed me my washcloth then grabbed for his.

“Turn around.” I grabbed his towel and instructed him to turn his back to me.

“Nah, you said you were gonna do me.” Touch looked at me with a straight face.

“No, silly. You know gotdamn well ain't nobody talking about
doing
you! I was talking about you wash my back, and I'll wash yours. Now turn around!” I demanded.

“Nah. Do it this way. I don't want you looking at my ass.” Touch laughed.

I didn't even have the energy to fight with his crazy ass, so I just wrapped my arms around him, as though I was giving him a hug, and tried my best to wash his back thoroughly.

Touch wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me tight, like he was going to war and this was the last time he would see me.

It kinda caught me off guard, so I paused and looked up at him. We locked eyes as he looked down at me with those big brown eyes that I thought made him irresistible.

Then, in one motion, he slid his hands behind my neck, forcing it back, and slipped his tongue inside my mouth.

I didn't resist the least bit. It felt so right. We kissed with so much passion that the fire inside me was burning hot, and I was prepared to take it all the way. I moved my hand toward Touch's penis, but he stopped me.

“I love you, girl,” he said as he grabbed his bath towel and stepped out of the shower.

I stood in the shower alone and speechless. This was all taking me by complete surprise. Touch and I had been friends for forever, and not once, through all the assumptions and innuendo, did we or, at least, did I ever think that we could be more than friends. But in the last twenty minutes all of that had changed. Years of friendship had changed. Where did that leave us now?

Baffled, I finished up my shower, hopped out, dried off, and baby-oiled my body. I threw on Touch's jersey and then met him in the living room.

“I'm hungry,” I said, trying to forget the awkward moment we'd just shared.

“Wanna order Chinese?”

“Sure.” I grabbed the phone then shuffled through his junk drawer in search of a Chinese menu.

Once I found one, I ordered our food then flopped down on the couch beside him. I took the remote from him and started to flip through his cable's On Demand, to find a movie for us to watch. By the time we'd flipped through six or seven movies and watched the previews and bullshitted with each other for a while, our food had arrived. We made ourselves comfortable on the sofa and ate Chinese as we watched the movie
Halloween
.

Not a fan of horror movies, I balled up underneath Touch's arm and lay my head on his chest, my feet across his lap. With what I had been through, being pistol-whipped and all, this was the safest that I had felt since the ordeal.

Although most of the movie was spent with me closing my eyes, screaming and jumping, I was still able to catch Touch constantly staring at me. Tired of wondering what the hell was on his mind, I just spat it out.

“Why the hell you keep looking at me?”

Instantly becoming irritated by my question, Touch sighed heavily and said, “This is some bullshit.” He then quickly got up from the couch and headed toward the kitchen.

I followed hot on his heels, yelling, “What? What the fuck is your problem?”
I know this nigga ain't sitting up here thinking about that shit between me and Calico
. I stared all up in Touch's face, waiting for an answer, but he didn't respond. He just shook his head and stared at me.

“So what? You think I'm pitiful now? That's why you shaking your head?”

“You have no idea, Jewel. I need to be with you, not that nigga Calico. That muthafucka almost got you raped. Maybe killed. All these years, and not once did you think to look my way, but this new nigga come into town and give you some money, now you ready to go down for his bullshit. I have protected you and cared about you all this time, and now you asking me some dumb shit? You know what? You right. You are pitiful because you here tellin' me I need a good woman and you can't see that you're it.”

This was the second time tonight that Touch left me speechless. I just never knew that he felt this way. I mean, sure, he was fine as hell, but he had Ciara and the fat rats. Besides, Touch couldn't be some random nigga I put on my team. I would dismiss the whole squad just to be with him.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard moving around.

“I need to step out for minute.” Touch grabbed his keys and headed toward the front door.

I raced in front of him and stood in front of the door like a club security guard. “You ain't going outta this house, Touch,” I yelled, tears of frustration welling up in my eyes.

“You want me to stay?” he asked calmly.

“Yes.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“You don't know what you're asking for, Jewel.”

“Yes, I definitely know what I'm asking for.

Just don't leave me. Please, don't leave.”

Touch grabbed me by my throat, startling me. The pressure from his hand pinned my head against the front door. He pressed his body against mine, and began to kiss me passionately again, causing my pussy to get wet within seconds. He released my neck and used his leg to force my thighs slightly open. I could feel the solidness of his dick through his boxers as the force from his body pressed against mine. With each hand he gripped my outer thighs and lifted me off the floor.

Eager to have him inside me, I wrapped my legs around his waist. In only a matter of seconds, I had lifted Touch's jersey over my head, and he'd dropped his boxers. And in one big thrust, he was inside of me, fulfilling my every desire. I didn't say a word as he forced his manhood deep inside of me. Not only did my body yearn for more, but so did my heart. I wanted Touch.

For the first time, I'd felt that chemistry between man and woman that I'd heard so much about. It was surreal. I was reaching my peak so fast.

“Cum with me, Touch,” I whispered in his ear, and like magic, we both came together.

Once again tears ran from my eyes, but this time they weren't tears of fear. They were tears of ultimate satisfaction.

After a session like that, there was nothing else left to do but wash up, and go to bed. And in Touch's case, take a smoke, wash up, and go to bed.

The next morning, I was awakened by a call from Sasha. “Hello?” I answered full of attitude.

“What's wrong with you?”

“Nothing now, but when there was a problem, you sure didn't answer your damn cell phone.” I was still pissed that Sasha didn't answer her phone when I'd called her the other night.

“I'm sorry, Jewel. I worked late that night, and I was fucked-up when I left the club. Are you okay?”

“Well, I am now,” I said, full of disgust.

“So what happened?”

“To make a long story short, me and Calico got arrested when we were leaving the strip club.”

“Oh, you went to see your little bitch, Paradise, huh?” Sasha interrupted my story with her regular bullshit, totally overlooking the fact that I said I'd gotten locked up.

“Like I was saying, I spent a few hours in jail but was released on bond. Calico is still in there. Then after that some niggas ran up in my shit and pistol-whipped me.”

“Oh my God! Jewel, are you sure you're okay?

Where are you now?” “I'm at Touch's house.” I smiled to myself.

“Oh, for real. What he doing?”

“Sleeping. I put that ass to sleep.”

“What?”

“Bitch, you heard me—I put that ass to sleep!”

Sasha said in a tone of disapproval, “Jewel, don't tell me you fucked Touch.”

“I sure did.”

“But that's your best friend. I thought you would never go there with him. I hope this is not another one of your money schemes, 'cause if it is, it sounds pretty pathetic to me. Oh, let me guess, you gonna use Touch now because Calico is locked up. Jewel, that is foul.”

Usually I can take Sasha's jealous rants, but today was different. She went on and on, like Touch was her fucking blood brother or some shit.

“Relax. It's not even like that. And why do you care anyway? I had no ulterior motive when we had sex. And the thing about it is that it felt so right. For the first time I have true feelings for a nigga. It's like he's my soul mate, and to think he was right in my face the whole damn time.”

“Whatever. Well, I gotta go. I have another call coming in.” Sasha hung up the phone before I could even say goodbye.

That was definitely new for her. She had never hung up on me like that before.
What's her problem with me seeing Touch anyway
?

No sooner than she hung up, my phone rang again. This time it was a number I didn't recognize. My first instinct was to not even answer, but I went against it. “Hello?” I answered with caution.

I heard a woman's voice say, “Hold on,” then Calico chimed in.

“Calico!” I screamed, waking Touch.

“Hey, baby. Look, I don't have much time. I'm on a three-way, so listen carefully.”

Although I wanted to blast him about that shit that happened the day before, I gave him an opportunity to speak first. I listened attentively as Calico explained he was granted a million dollars bail, and was going to pay the ten percent of that, one hundred thousand dollars, in cash and bond out. He also told me that he needed me to collect one hundred fifty thousand dollars that Touch owed him. Once received, some of the money was to be given to his attorney as a retainer, and I was to hold on to the rest, which he would need to make moves when he hit the streets.

“Okay, I got it, and I'm on it as soon as we get off the phone. Now let me share a few things with you,” I said calmly.

I spent the next five minutes giving Calico a rushed version of how that nigga Sincere came up in my house. But with the automated voice counting down the minutes and with Touch constantly yelling at me in the background to hang up the phone, I just couldn't deliver like I wanted to.

Thankfully Calico had a bond, so he would be out, and as soon as he was, I would be the first to snap off on his ass.

Before I could even properly hang up the phone, Touch said, “Yo, you insist on dealing with that nigga, huh?”

“Touch, I just want to let him know what's going on and wrap things up. Once things are in order, I'm gonna back away. I just don't want to up and turn my back on him, not right now anyway. Right now, I'm all he has.”

“So you think,” Touch mumbled. “Trust me, that nigga got plenty of other chicks playing the same position as you.” He got out of the bed and stood up and looked at the missed calls on his cell phone.

“Oh, and he wants you to give me the one hundred and fifty grand you owe him. I have to pay his lawyer with a portion of that.”

“Yeah, okay. Whatever.” Touch headed into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

All I could do was shake my head. I damn sure didn't need no more stress in my life.

 

 

I so didn't feel like answering my phone when I saw Jewel's name pop up on my caller ID, but since she had called me four times in a row, I decided to pick up. I answered the phone with a sarcastic attitude, “Either you're a psycho bitch, or you're a stalker. Which one is it?”

“Sasha, what is your problem?” Jewel asked.

I wanted to tell her that I was tired of her bullshit, tired of her always flaunting shit and showing off, tired of her always making a come-up, while I was in a unending state of struggling to get mine. Instead, I kept my mouth shut. It had been about three days since I had abruptly hung up the phone on her, and to be honest, I had absolutely no intentions of ever calling her ass back.

“Helloooo.”

“Yeah, I'm here. You called me. So what do you want?”

Jewel blew some air into the phone, as if she had a reason to have an attitude. “Look, I know you been going through some shit lately, and to be honest, I'm sensing something, like you have a problem with me or some shit—”

“Well, actually—” I cut Jewel off, ready to cuss her ass out and tell her to leave me the fuck alone, but then she interrupted me just as quickly.

“Wait! Would you just hear me out and let me finish?”

I kept quiet.

“What I was trying to say was that I got my hands on some money and I'm gonna be heading to New York to go shopping. I wanted to do something nice for you and have you come with me. My treat, all expenses paid.”

“Damn, that must be some killer-ass pussy!” I couldn't resist making a smart comment. “So how much did you get Touch for?”

“Sasha, what the fuck is your problem? I call you with regular everyday shit, and you got an attitude. I call you trying to be nice, and you still got an attitude. I don't get it. Is it that time of the month or something?”

“You don't get it because you're not me and you ain't going through the shit that I'm going through.”

“Yeah, but, Sasha, I'm your homegirl. You can tell me what's going on without taking things out on me. You already know that I'll be there for you and look out for you in any way that I can.”

“Blah, blah, blah, blah
,
” was what I felt like saying to Jewel, but I was no dummy. I was at least gonna get a free trip to New York and get some clothes in the process, so I held my tongue.

“So how much money did you get your hands on?”

“Well, Touch gave me one hundred and fifty grand.”

“A hundred and fifty gees?”

“Bitch, dry your panties off, 'cause the shit ain't my money. Some of the money is supposed to go to pay Calico's lawyer, and the rest is going to Calico. It's just money that Touch owed him. But, the way I see it, ten percent of that has to go to me as a fee for my services. You know how I do.”

Regardless of my attitude with Jewel, I couldn't help but laugh at her. I had to admit, I loved the way she got down, especially when my ass could benefit from it.

“Jewel, you are a true hot-ass mess.”

Jewel laughed. “Nah, that shit is only right. It's a ten percent facilitation fee.”

“Hooker, your ass can't even spell
facilitation
.”

Jewel and I both laughed. Then she told me that she was gonna book my ticket and call me back with the details.

“So we good now?” she asked me.

“No, I'm still gonna fight you when I see you,” I said jokingly.

Yeah, I switched up and went into a joking mood, but the truth of the matter was, I was just fronting my ass off. Jewel had her hands on one hundred fifty grand that I was gonna help her spend. As far as I was concerned, that was one hundred fifty thousand reasons for me to put on an acting performance.

Right after I hung up the phone, I sat straight up in my bed. My mind was registering what she really said. Then, suddenly I had an idea.

That bitch said she has her hands on one hundred fifty grand. Sasha, if you put on an Oscar award winning performance, you can leave New York and come back to ATL with at least one hundred thousand,
I thought to myself. This was definitely it. It was time for my come-up. My panties really were getting wet just thinking about what I would do with a hundred thousand dollars.

I got up from out of my bed and paced back and forth in my room, trying my hardest to think of just what I was gonna say to her, and how I was gonna say it, for her to hit me off with that money. I just didn't know if I should call Jewel back and kick my game to her, or if I should wait until we got to New York to give her my sob story.

Jewel ran plenty of game, and I'd learned from the best.

It was time to give her a taste of her own medicine. I knew I had to be careful because one thing for sure was, game recognized game. Jewel was an all-star at this, so she couldn't be easily manipulated. My hands were tied. This wasn't gonna be an easy task.

Think, Sasha, think!
I pleaded with myself.

After a few minutes, it came to me that when Jewel called me back I had to go in for the kill. I couldn't wait because, if I waited until we got to New York, she might divvy the money up by then and pay the lawyer and hit Calico off.

I knew that I had some killer sex myself. A tongue and pussy that I knew Jewel would die over. That girl loved me and she knew it. And with one hundred thousand in cash, I was gonna make her prove it.