The Roof is on Fire (2 page)

I loved the feel of Roc's strong arms secured around my waist. His touch made me relax a little. Besides, the
real
Sylvia was about to show up. The classy-lady act had flown out the window, and she was about to embarrass herself even more.

I twisted and turned to get away from Roc, but his grip was too tight for real. All I wanted to do was smack Sylvia for being so stupid, but he was preventing that from happening.

“You're real lucky,” I hissed. “And only if I had a shoe.”

Sylvia waved my threat off and looked at Roc. “I guess you voted for me too, huh?”

He didn't hesitate to answer. “Sorry, ma, but you made yourself an easy target. When I say don't take it personal, I mean that shit. See you at the reunion show. I hope you don't come strapped to that mutha.”

Sylvia shrugged. “No need to. I guess you did what you felt you had to do.”

Roc nodded and kept a tight hold on me as we made our way outside. I lifted my middle finger at Sylvia, positive that she knew what to do with it. She was now left to deal with Jaylin who had proven himself to be a plotting, cold motherfucker with no remorse.

It was no secret that I felt betrayed. In no way did I see this coming—not from Jaylin anyway. I still couldn't believe that he had voted for me to leave. I needed to hear it straight from his mouth if, indeed, that was the case. But after Jada and Roc left, Jaylin attempted to walk off. I reached out to grab his arm, giving it a light squeeze.

“Did you?” I questioned. “Yes or no.”

He glanced at my grip on his arm, then peeled my fingers away from it.

“What difference does it make?” he said. “Jeff said no questions asked, you must go. I don't feel—”

“To hell with what Jeff said. I'm leaving, but I still want to know who you voted for. Why don't you man up and tell me?”

“Why don't you woman up and face reality. Your time here is up, Sylvia. Peace.”

He walked smoothly toward the bedroom. To say I was shocked by the whole thing would be an understatement. I expected for the others, especially the women to vote for me, but I thought Jaylin and I had made a connection last night. A friendly connection where he would look out for me, as I had done him. How could I have been so wrong?

I charged after him as he went into the bedroom and sat shirtless on the bed. His fineness was being ignored because his piercing gray eyes were filled with animosity toward me. Why? I hadn't a clue.

I sat on another bed in front of him so he could face me. “You say I should woman up and face reality, but what is the reality of this situation? Am I missing something?”

He got straight to the point and came off cold as ice. “The reality is you're going home. I suspect that you only have a few more minutes to get packed before someone will be here to get you.”

I swallowed the baseball-sized lump in my throat, barely able to reply. “I'm okay with going home. If that's my reality, so be it. But my concern is with you. Why are you treating me as if last night never existed?”

“Don't concern yourself with last night. It was only sex between an eager man who needed to accomplish something and a horny-ass woman who got exactly what she wanted. Nothing more, nothing less.”

My mouth was wide open. “Is that how you saw it? I found it to be much more than that. Horny or not, we made a connection. A connection that I, at least, thought would make me exempt from you casting a vote against me.”

The gaze in Jaylin's eyes showed that he didn't care. He stroked his goatee, wet his lips, then elaborated more. “My vote was an easy one. I lost respect for you and wanted you to go. Boys will be boys, some friends will remain friends, but a woman who fucks them both doesn't get much respect in my book. A connection we did not have and I reject your fantasy. The only thing we had was satisfying sex, so stop fooling yourself. If you thought that pussy would sway my vote, sorry, you were sadly mistaken. Pussy that
belonged to my friend doesn't move me like that, and the good and or bad of it don't supersede my brainpower. My brain makes decisions for me, not my dick that you managed to wet so well. You satisfied my appetite momentarily, but get real and recognize that all good things do come to an end.”

I was speechless. Did he really just go there? A big part of me wanted to drop back on the bed and cry. But there was no doubt that I could handle his harsh words that shook me to the core. I had to keep a straight face so Jaylin wouldn't have the satisfaction of seeing me break down. For him to sit there and speak to me with so much coldness and cruelty, it said more about him than it did about me. The truth of the matter was…I was in a vulnerable state. I shouldn't have put myself in a situation like this one, and I regretted it. How stupid of me to think we'd made a connection.

Now that I had my answer, I got up from the bed and went to the closet to gather my things. I heard the bedroom door shut. I figured Jaylin had left the room. I closed my eyes, trying to fight back some of the hurt I felt inside. There was no doubt that I still had some work to do on myself. It started with getting my feelings under control, pertaining to Jonathan. It was because of him that I was here to begin with. It was because of him that I allowed Jaylin to go inside of me. I assumed that he would tell Jonathan everything that happened here, but at this point, so darn what. Girls will be girls, some friends will remain friends, and a real woman won't deny when she's had good dick inside of her. Jonathan would get an earful. I chuckled a bit from the thought, and after I packed, I sat at the computer desk to reply to the last piece of fan mail I'd gotten.

Hi, Sylvia. My name is Sasha Sutton and I'm from Montgomery, Alabama. When I read about you in Slick, I could relate to your experience
with Jonathan. I, too, fell for my friend's boyfriend, but in the end, I wound up losing them both. They're now back together. I wondered how you would feel if Jonathan and Dana ever remarried. Also, do you feel as used as I do?

I adjusted the chair and placed my fingertips on the keyboard to respond to Sasha's questions.

I doubt that Jonathan and Dana would ever remarry. There was too much damage done. But if it somehow magically happened, I would be hurt. I get what you're saying about feeling used, and even though I don't want to seem like the victim here, I was put in a tricky situation. As my friend, Dana used me to lie for her. She often told Jonathan that she had been spending time with me, when in reality she was with her lover. She had no problem putting me in the middle of her lies, and I was put into a horrible situation where I had to lie to Jonathan when he asked about our whereabouts. Unfortunately, I wasn't a good liar as she was, and he was able to see right through me. I hated lying to him because I loved him. But he also made me feel used. It was my shoulder that he cried on when Dana had hurt him. It was my pussy that he dove into when he didn't have access to hers. I happened to be in the right place at the right time, but to this day, there is a part of me that still loves him. I'm aware that my lingering love really doesn't matter and some things in life can never be. Then again, I'm not one who can ever predict the future, so who knows? Maybe that wedding of his won't happen after all.

I heard a horn blow. When I rushed to the window, I saw a yellow taxi parked in front of the house. I figured it was waiting for me, so without any further ado, I thanked Sasha for her question, logged off the computer and grabbed my bags. With my head held high, I sauntered by everyone sitting in the living room and slammed the door to Hell House on my way out.

Simply put, women like Sylvia had to learn about men the hard way. I saw the setup coming a mile away. She seriously thought she had the upper hand when it came to men like Jaylin. I may have underestimated him too, but as soon as he came through the kitchen this morning and didn't say two words to Sylvia, I knew it was a wrap for her.

What I didn't expect was for Jeff to ask us to vote someone out of the house today. I didn't give it a single thought. Sylvia had to go. She was fake. With her going back and forth between Roc and Jaylin, that wasn't working for me. The next person I wanted to go was Jada. She was too much! I didn't care much for Prince either, but I preferred to be left in this house with three men and no other women.

My plan to get Jada out of here would be difficult, only because Jaylin and Roc seemed to like her. I wasn't so sure about Prince, though. I couldn't read him like the others, but I did peg him as being a no-good crook that would stab a best friend in the back. I wasn't sure how he felt about Jada, so I intended to pay more attention to him. Maybe he could help me get her out of here—who knows?

The breaking news about Sylvia leaving had everybody watching
their backs and on edge. We all seemed distant, but when Jada recommended that everyone join her in the living room area for a late-night movie, we agreed. She popped popcorn and separated it into two round bowls. The movie we decided to watch was a horror movie. With a blanket covering me, I scooted over on the floor and sat next to Roc. Jada was only a few inches away from Jaylin on the couch and Prince was relaxing on a beanbag.

“Somebody needs to turn out the lights and start the movie,” Prince said.

“You're the closest to the TV,” Jaylin replied. “And besides that, I can't touch anything with all this hot butter on my hands. Without mentioning any names, somebody thought it was a bright idea to pour two sticks of melted butter over the popcorn.”

Jada sighed and snatched the bowl from his hands. “Yo ass is always complainin' about somethin.' I would hate to be yo damn woman 'cause you ain't never satisfied. This popcorn is delicious. If you don't like it, you can always go get an apple.”

Roc reached out to bump his knuckle against Jada's, approving of her buttered-down popcorn. “You did good, ma. I don't know what Jaylin gripin' about. This is exactly how I like my popcorn.”

“You're you and I'm me,” Jaylin countered while holding out his hands. “This shit is too buttery and greasy. Look at my hands. I can jack myself off with hands like these.”

“I'd be happy to watch,” I said with a wide smile on my face.

Jaylin ignored my comment, but Jada didn't. “Didn't you learn anything from what happened to Sylvia? She came up in here sanctified and prayin' over meals, but left out of here a scorned ho. Stop bein' so desperate. If a man don't want you, he just don't want you. It's apparent that Jaylin ain't interested.”

“Shhh,” Prince said, dimming the lights. “I'm gettin' ready to start the movie, so y'all need to be quiet.”

I paid Prince and Jada no mind. No words could describe how I felt about her. I turned around to question Jaylin.

“Am I coming off as being desperate to you? And if you're not interested, wouldn't it be wise for you to say so? That way, people aren't likely to assume anything, as Jada clearly has.”

“Look, keep me out of it,” Jaylin said. “I'm trying to watch the movie, but not before I go wash my hands.”

He got up and stepped over Jada on his way to the kitchen to wash his hands. She frowned at first, but then smiled as her eyes followed the cargo shorts that hung at his waist.

“Daang.” Jada licked her lips. “What's up with all that junk in yo front? Why don't you go put on a long shirt to cover all of that up, 'cause you may mess around and get raped up in here.”

“Looking forward to it,” Jaylin said while washing his hands.

I couldn't help but to laugh. It was a good thing that I wasn't the only one who noticed the mountain-sized bulge in his shorts. I wondered if he was hard. If so, who or what was possibly on his mind? Not to give it too much attention, when Jaylin returned to the couch, I scooted even closer to Roc. He seemed annoyed and looked straight ahead at the TV. I guess I had some making up to do, so as the movie got started, I crossed my leg over his and held on tight to his bicep.