The Secrets of Silk (30 page)

O
ne of the perks of pretending to have been raped and battered was that Silk didn't have to put up with Buddy's early morning sex raids. He kept his dick to himself while she was in the process of healing. He insisted that she remain bedbound and surprised her with a portable TV for the bedroom. If it weren't for her burning desire to see Tate, she would have stayed in bed for the rest of the week, but by the time Thursday rolled around, Silk couldn't take it any longer. She had to see Tate's face. She was desperate to kiss his lips. The bruises had taken on a yellowish tint and she hoped that the unattractive discolorations on her skin wouldn't prevent Tate from making sweet love to her.

Cruising around in her Cadillac, Silk drove from one end of the city to the next, searching for Tate, and making pit stops at the places he was known to frequent. When she spotted his car in front of Womack's Hoagie Shop on Concord Road, Silk broke into a big grin and parked behind Tate's Thunderbird.

But her grin quickly disappeared when Tate stepped out of Womack's flanked by two wig-wearing whores who were decked out in clunky, cheap jewelry, ugly pale lipstick and white eye shadow. Silk's first impulse was to attack the women and yank off their wigs, but remembering how unmercifully Tate had beaten her ass the last time she'd acted up, she wisely controlled herself.

Tate said something to the two women and they walked away and got inside his car. He sauntered over to Silk, looking spiffy in a dark-brown banlon shirt and yellow iridescent pants with razor-sharp creases down the legs. As he approached Silk's Caddy, she couldn't help thinking that Tate was too damn fine for his own good.

“What's the word, Silk?” he greeted with a smile. “I heard you ran into some trouble with that retarded boy. I heard your husband jacked him up so bad, the boy was carted off to the hospital. They said he didn't even recognize his own aunt when she came to visit him.” Tate burst into cruel laughter.

“That's not funny, Tate. I had to explain those bruises to Buddy some kind of way, and I feel bad that I had to put the blame on Sonny Boy.”

“From what I heard, Sonny Boy swore to God that you were his girlfriend the whole time Buddy was whooping on him.” Tate burst out laughing so hard, he doubled over and stamped his feet. “Then Sonny Boy went so far as to claim that you and him have a secret love affair that you sealed with a kiss.” Tate could hardly finish the sentence from cracking up with laughter. “I could be bent out of shape and jealous to find out that you've been cheating on me with that retarded, blind boy, but I'm not gonna blow my stack the way you did.”

Silk rolled her eyes at Tate for teasing her. “Do you have any idea how Sonny Boy's holding up?”

“Not really. Sonny Boy's condition isn't the kind of information that I'm concerned about. If you really want to know, why don't you go visit your boyfriend at the hospital?”

“Stop calling him my boyfriend! Anyway, I can't visit him; Buddy would have a fit.”

“I hope you wouldn't let that husband of yours stand in the way of you coming to see about me if I was ever laid up in the hospital.”

“Nothing could keep me away from you, Tate.” Silk's anxious eyes darted toward the women sitting in Tate's car. “Who are they? Two of your whores?” She tried to form the question in a casual manner, but couldn't keep the emotion out of her voice.

Tate nodded.

“Do you have to fuck 'em for Arvetta?” Silk asked worriedly.

“I already did that when they were hired a while back. Now, it's strictly business between me and the girls.”

Silk let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

Tate leaned to the side and glared at Silk. “You got a lot of nerve interrogating me. Do I ask you how many times you fuck your husband?”

“I don't mean to pry in your personal business, but I get so jealous. I'm sorry, but I can't help myself.” She looked at him with a sad expression. “Can you spend some time with me today?”

He scratched the side of his face. “Not right now. Maybe later on tonight.”

“But I won't be able to get out later on. Buddy ain't been working his overtime hours this week. He's been coming straight home from work to look after me.”

“Look here, baby. I got big plans for you and me. Plans for you to be by my side when I take over the city. But right now, while I'm hustling in these streets, I can't give you all the attention you need. It seems to me that you want a square nigga who comes home at the exact same time every night.” He shook his head and turned his mouth down in disgust. “I'm not that kind of cat. That'll never be me.”

“I don't want that to be you. I love you just the way you are.”
She gazed at Tate pleadingly. “I need to talk to you. Can you sit in the car with me for a minute or two?”

Tate twisted his mouth to the side in annoyance as he glanced down at his watch. “I got shit to do, so make it snappy.”

Seeming to move with great reluctance, he slid into the car and closed the door. Silk immediately embraced him, kissing him passionately and telling him how much she missed him. Tate slipped his hand up her skirt and stroked the crotch of her panties. “Make sure you keep this thing hot for me.” He put his hand on the door handle. “If you want to get together, then figure out a way to meet me at ten o'clock tonight.”

“Where do you want me to meet you?”

“There's a spot on Pennell Street that I use sometimes. Meet me at the corner of Seventh and Pennell tonight.” Tate opened the door and had one foot out.

“I won't be able to drive with Buddy's car blocking mine in the driveway. If I walk down to the corner of Ninth and Flower, would you pick me up there?”

“Sure, doll. I'll see you there tonight.” Tate got out of the car. With a dip in his walk, he strolled toward his Thunderbird.

Silk didn't pull off right away. She sat in her car observing Tate. He moved like he was gliding. Everything about Tate was so damn smooth. As if transfixed, she remained parked behind his car as he started up the engine. Music blasted from the radio and the two whores instantly began snapping their fingers and bobbing their heads back and forth. Tate said something that made both women burst into laughter. Silk watched enviously as Tate screeched out his parking spot and sped away with the two whores.

Buddy arrived home at four-thirty and was surprised to find Silk out of bed and moving about. “I'm feeling much better,” she assured him. “But I'm tired of eating in the bedroom. I want to have dinner with my family tonight.” She'd already warned the children not to mention that she'd left the house earlier in the day.

Carrie, the cook, had left an hour ago and had given her daughter, Sharita, instructions to keep an eye on the roast beef that was in the oven. As Sharita set the dining room table for dinner, Buddy and Silk sat in the living watching the news. Buddy kept a protective arm around Silk during the newscast.

The kids were in the backyard playing while they waited for Sharita to call them in for dinner.

“I've been thinking,” Buddy said.

“About what?”

“Well, after that close call you had with Sonny Boy, I got to thinking that if something tragic was to happen me, I wouldn't be able to rest in peace if you and the children weren't adequately provided for.”

Silk gazed at Buddy with an arched brow. “You already have a life insurance policy, don't you, Buddy?”

“Yeah, but that money wouldn't last more than a year or so.” Buddy clasped Silk's hands. “I'd want you to be on easy street if I wasn't able to provide for you. So, I took out an extra insurance policy. And if, God forbid, I have an accidental death, the policy will pay out big.”

Silk winced. “Buddy, I don't want to even think about you having an accidental death.”

“I'm simply taking every precaution to make sure that you, my beautiful angel, will never have to be concerned about your financial well-being.”

Silk shook her head adamantly. “I don't want to talk about an accidental death policy. The subject is too unpleasant.”

“I know. But we have to have this conversation one time and then I won't bring it up anymore.”

“Okay,” Silk said with an unhappy sigh.

“In case of my death, accidental or otherwise, the house will be automatically signed over to you. Now if I lost my life tragically, you'd get a check for seventy-five thousand dollars. That kind of money would take care of you and the kids for a lifetime. All the paperwork is in a safe deposit box at Fidelity Bank. The safe deposit box is in both our names.”

Tears filled Silk's eyes. “Oh, Buddy, I can't bear the thought of losing you. Now, you listen to me. I've heard you out, but you have to promise me you won't bring up this awful subject ever again.” Silk rested her head on Buddy's chest, sniffling. “I couldn't make it without you, Buddy.”

Buddy wiped away her tears and whispered, “Don't worry. I'm not gonna leave you, angel. It's only a precaution, that's all.”

During dinner, Silk hardly spoke a word. Her mind raced with thoughts of how she could lure Tate out of Chester and out of the hands of that awful whoremonger, Arvetta, if she had seventy-five thousand dollars cash money in addition to the proceeds she was entitled to collect upon selling Buddy's house.

As far as the kids…well, they could go live in Biloxi, Mississippi with their stupid Aunt Clara. Or she could drop them off at the county orphanage. They weren't her flesh and blood and she surely wasn't going to waste any time worrying about them. But then again, she had a soft spot for Dallas. Maybe she'd get rid of the boys and keep Dallas, as long as Tate didn't mind having a child underfoot.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Buddy asked with a dreamy smile.

“Oh, I'm just feeling a little down in the dumps after what happened to me. I was thinking about how much you and the children mean to me. I know you love me, Buddy. But I'm not sure if the children truly love me.”

“I love you, M'dear,” Dallas informed with a sweet smile.

Buddy shot a hot look at the boys. “What's wrong with you boys; can't you see that M'dear is brokenhearted? Tell her how much you love her.”

“I…um…I love you, M'dear,” Myron said quietly, his eyes lowered in embarrassment.

“Me, too,” Bruce piped in.

A serious look crossed Buddy's face. “M'dear loves you children as if she were your natural mother. I want each of you to stand up and give her a kiss. Show her how much you love her.”

Buddy ordered the three children to line up and take turns giving Silk a kiss on the cheek, and after all the kisses were completed, they were instructed to say in unison, “We love you very much, M'dear.”

The love and adoration Silk received at home enabled her to feel good about herself, and it made up for the shabby way Tate had recently started treating her. There wouldn't be any sneaking out of the house tonight, Silk decided. Tonight she was going to stay home and devote herself to her family. Tate would be hot under the collar when he discovered that Silk had stood him up, but he would forgive her when he realized she was putting a plan in motion that would secure their financial future. A plan that would free Tate from the hardship of helping Arvetta pimp a bunch of no-good whores.

A
fter dinner Buddy, Silk, and the kids sat in the living room watching
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
Dallas stared at the TV screen dreamily while Ozzie and Harriet's teenaged son, Ricky Nelson, strummed a guitar and crooned a love song.

“Do you like the way he sings, Dallas?” Silk asked with a teasing smile.

Dallas blushed and looked downward. “Uh-huh.”

“Dallas wants to marry Ricky Nelson,” Bruce said tauntingly.

When a commercial interrupted the program, Silk turned down the volume of the TV, got up from the sofa, and opened the wooden cabinet of the hi-fi. She put a stack of 45s on the spindle in the middle of the turntable. When “Twist and Shout” by The Isley Brothers began playing, Silk let out a loud whoop, and began doing a sensual twist in the middle of the living room floor.

“The heck with those slow songs that Ricky Nelson sings; this is the kind of music I like,” Silk announced as she sensually lowered her body while twisting from side to side.

Enjoying Silk's impromptu performance, Buddy and the kids began clapping and cheering her on.

“I know you boys ain't gonna let me dance all by myself. Come on here, Myron. You can do the Twist, can't you?” Silk beckoned Myron, but the boy leaned back, looking mortified by the idea of getting up and dancing.

“Go on and dance with M'dear,” Buddy encouraged. “Do as you're told, dance with her,” Buddy insisted in a stern tone.

Dragging his feet, Myron took forever to join Silk in the middle of the floor. He began moving awkwardly and without any rhythm whatsoever.