Hell House, page 17
All his ole funny-acting self did was stare at me. His eyes shifted back to the newspaper and he turned the page without saying a word. Sylvia definitely hadn’t handled her business because, had it been me in that closet with him, he’d be running around here with pep in his step and acting like a fat kid about to get some cake.
Saying nothing else to Jaylin, I put up my middle finger, hoping that he wouldn’t ignore that and shove it. I moseyed off into the workout room, where Chase and Roc were running side by side on treadmills. Prince was lifting weights. He was cut in all the right places, but not like Roc was. Without a shirt on, he looked like a black stallion. His basketball shorts were barely hanging on his ass, and I wanted to be somewhere in the vicinity if they fell off.
“Good morning,” I said, making my way onto the treadmill to the left of him.
“What up?” he said, looking at me, as I tried to figure out how to start the damn thing. “Hit the green, quick-start button, baby. Then increase your speed to about thirty or forty.”
I thanked Roc for helping me. What a way to get a sister’s morning going by calling me baby! I increased the speed and started to jog on the treadmill like he and Chase were. We all were hanging in there, looking good and sprinting together. Then all of a sudden, after three minutes, my legs clashed together and started to burn. My calves tightened and I could barely catch my breath. I didn’t want to slow down, but I had to. But when I touched the down button, the damn thing sped up. My legs tangled and the treadmill sent my ass flying off of it. I went crashing down on the rolling belt that carried me to the end of the treadmill and dropped me to the floor. My blubber shook; I was so damn embarrassed. I pretended that I hurt myself and grabbed at my ankle. Roc stopped his treadmill to come cater to me. Chase and Prince couldn’t stop laughing.
“Whaaaaaaaaa,” Prince whined like a baby. “Damn! That shit felt like an earthquake.”
Chase covered her mouth, trying to hold back her giggles. I was too mortified to cuss those fools out. Roc had a smirk on his face, too, but he bent down next to me. “Damn, ma, what happened?”
I squeezed my ankle and even forced out a tear as if I were seriously injured. Chase and Prince ole silly selves left in a fit of laughter, shaking their heads.
“I think I twisted my ankle,” I said.
Roc took a light squeeze on it. “Can you feel that?”
I nodded. Of course I could.
“Can you stand up?”
“I think so.”
He put my arm around his shoulder, helping me peel myself from the floor. I limped on one leg while he held my waist, making sure I didn’t fall.
“How does it feel?”
Referring to his dick, I didn’t know yet, but I would one day find out. This was too much sexiness to ignore, but I had to get him on my team first. “It’s okay, Roc. It hurts a little when I step on it, but I should be okay.”
He removed his arm from around my waist, but I still pretended to be helpless. Moments later, he swooped me up in his arms, carrying me without a sweat.
“I’mma take you to the couch so you can elevate your feet. It doesn’t look swollen, and maybe all you need is some pain killers.”
To hell with the couch; take me to the bedroom. That would surely cure me, but for now, all I did was smile. Roc crossed me over the threshold of the doorway, making me feel as if it were our wedding day. I secured my arms around his neck with a big smile plastered on my face. When we entered the living room, Jaylin was sitting on the couch, along with Chase who, yet again, got ate the hell up.
Roc carefully sat me down and then went to the kitchen to get my aspirin. “Tylenol or Advil?” he said, searching the cabinets.
“Tylenol,” I said and then rolled my eyes at Chase.
“What happened to you?” Jaylin asked. At least he cared. For now, I had him and Roc wrapped around my finger, and I loved every minute of it.
“I fell off the treadmill. I’ll be okay, so no need to worry about me.”
As soon as Roc gave me the Tylenol and a glass of water, we heard someone enter through the front door. To our surprise it was Jeff. He spoke to us, and then he found the others and asked them to gather around. I wondered what was going on because Jeff looked to have something heavy on his mind. Maybe there was no fucking allowed in this house and Jaylin and Sylvia were about to get booted out. The rules mentioned nothing about intimacy, though, so I really wasn’t sure why he was here.
Either way, we all spread out on the couch to listen in. Jeff scratched his head and combed back his blonde hair with his fingers.
“The time has come for someone to be voted out of Hell House. There are six of you and all six of you will decide who that person will be.”
We all looked at each other because, all along, we thought that you had to leave on your own free will. No one could be voted out of here and this really didn’t make sense. I guess the same question was on everybody’s mind, so we all spoke at once.
“What the fuck?” Roc said out loudly. “You didn’t say all of that.”
“I’m confused,” Chase said. “Why vote?”
“Trickery,” Prince said. “This shit happens all the time.”
Jeff lifted his hands, gesturing to try and calm the noise. “O…okay, everybody, calm down. From the beginning, we told you all that there may be some twists and turns in this competition. This is one of them.”
“Well, I hope you don’t decide to do a twist when it comes to uppin’ the money,” I said. “If you do, be prepared for me to twist your fuckin’ neck because I don’t play when it comes to money.”
Many of the others agreed.
“The money situation is good,” Jeff said, clearing that up. “But in order for you all to dwindle down to one, we must do it this way. So, take a minute to think about who you all want voted out of here today.”
“Today!” Sylvia shouted. “Why today? It would be nice if you could give us a little time to think about this.”
“Unfortunately not. You must decide immediately, and one-by-one, I need each of you to go over to the computer and email the name of the person you want to leave. At five p.m., I will email you that person’s profile and picture. Feel free to answer your fan mail before you leave, but after that, the person voted off must leave.”
“This is terrible,” I said. “I feel like I got to backstab somebody, and I don’t like to get down like that.”
Jaylin stood up. “It’s the rules, baby. Learn to follow them.”
Without hesitating, he walked over to the computer. Logged in and typed in somebody’s name.
“Done,” he said, looking at Jeff.
My mouth dropped open. “Damn, it was that easy for you?”
He responded with a shrug. Afterward, Chase ran her trifling self over to the computer, logged in and did the same. She swiped her hands together and had the nerve to say, “Good riddance.”
Then Sylvia almost broke her neck, rushing to the computer to login. She typed in a name and then hit the backspace key to make a correction. “Oops, sorry,” she said. She logged out and walked away from the computer.
“Y’all some cold muthafuckas,” Roc said as he sat down at the desk. He pondered for a minute and then slowly typed in a name. He also shrugged and walked away.
Now, it was Prince’s turn because I was still in shock that nobody here had given this much thought. Prince laughed when he typed in a name and then said, “Done deal. Be gone, Biatch!”
What the hell! Really? Like it or not, it was my turn. I sat at the computer desk, pursing my lips and patting my leg, thinking hard about who I wanted to go home. I didn’t know whose name to type because I could think of at least one good reason why every person in this house should be sent packing. Some I could think of several reasons. Either way, the decision didn’t come easy for me, even though I couldn’t stop thinking about getting my hands on that money. Finally, I forced myself to type in the person’s name. I backed away feeling awkward, but hoping that the person leaving today wouldn’t be me.
“Thank you, everyone,” Jeff said. “Enjoy the rest of your day and say your goodbyes to everyone, just in case.”
No one said a word. The room fell silent and all we heard was Jeff shut the front door.
“Well,” Jaylin said, standing up and stretching. “It was fun while it lasted.”
Roc smiled and cocked his neck from side to side. “Yes, it was, but somebody must go. Too bad it won’t be me.”
Prince slapped his hand against Roc’s. “I second that motion, my nigga. Won’t be me either.”
“What makes you all so sure?” Chase said, standing and awaiting an answer.
Roc’s eyes shifted to Jaylin and his eyes shifted to Prince. Neither of them said anything else, leaving some of us on the edge of our seats for most of the day.
The men indulged themselves in a rough game of basketball. Shirts were off and all of their bodies were dripping with sweat. It was fun to watch as they trash-talked each other, and I couldn’t tell you how many times somebody had hit the ground or stumbled from being pushed. Sylvia, Chase and me watched them while chilling by the poolside.
“Be real careful with him!” I yelled to Prince as he pushed Jaylin in the chest. “I don’t want Jaylin to fall and bust his head, ’cause y’all know he the only real brains we got around here!”
Prince lifted his middle finger, telling me to stick it. When he missed his shot, I laughed, just to irritate him and distract his game.
I guess I should have voted for him to leave the house, but I had somebody else in mind. Somebody who I truly thought should go home because they worked my damn nerves. I tried not to think about who was leaving, so I reached for the tall Long Island Iced Tea in front of me and sipped. I had put all kinds of different drinks in my glass. Surely enough to last me from here to Long Island, New York. It was good, though, but when Sylvia reached over to remove the twisted orange from the rim of my glass, I smacked her hand.
“I asked if you wanted one, but you said no. Please don’t touch my orange; I plan to eat that.”
All Sylvia did was smile, and when we glanced at Chase, her lust-filled eyes were still glued to the men on the court. I swear I had never, ever been around thirsty-ass women like Chase and Sylvia. Now, I had some dick-happy friends, but these hoochies took the word thirsty and ran with it. Jaylin’s and Roc’s heads had probably swelled so big since they’d been here, and I wasn’t talking about their lower heads that had gotten all of the attention. I had to blow my breath in Chase’s face and call her name, twice, to get her attention. She blinked her eyes and was now back from her zombie-like status.
“Wha…what did you say?” she asked.
“I asked that you please clear your filthy, nasty, cluttered mind and stop droolin’ from yo mouth. I can tell what you’re thinkin’ and it damn sure ain’t about those cookies I baked earlier.”
“Not hardly, but the cookies were good. Real good, just not as good as my thoughts. I hope that I’m here long enough to live out some of the little fantasies I have swirling around in my head.”
“You may have to play out your fantasies elsewhere because there ain’t no tellin’ which one of us is goin’ home. I hope and pray it ain’t me because I sholl do need that money.”
“I could use the money, too,” Sylvia said. “But more than anything, it would be a true let down to be the first person voted out of the house. That would sting.”
“Big time,” Chase said. “And, Jada, since you’re so sure about me not living out my fantasies, I take it that you voted for me, huh?”
“I’m not sayin’ who I voted for, but whoever it was, I did so because that person was workin’ my nerves. If you’ve been doin’ it, then there is a possibility that I voted for you.”
Chase threw her hand back and spoke the truth. “Everybody in this house has been working your nerves. So, I’m sure it was hard for you to vote.”
I had to laugh because Chase was so right. Her eyes were now glued back on the men, as they headed our way. They came up to the table with heaving chests and a whole lot of loud mouthing.
“Y’all always cheatin’,” Prince griped while standing next to Chase. Roc was to my left and Jaylin was to my right, trying to explain to Prince why he kept losing.
Roc added his two-cents, too. “Your jump-shot is weak and you need to learn how to hold your hands when you take it.”
Roc gave him an example, but Prince wasn’t trying to hear him. He looked away, but all Roc did was shrug. He picked up my Long Island Iced Tea and, as he took a few swallows, I pulled on the rubber waistline of his basketball shorts to take a peek at his goods. He inched back and moved my hand.
“Boy, why you ain’t got on no underwear? You don’t have to answer, but ladies, I can tell y’all this.” I looked at Chase and then Sylvia. “I did not vote for that man to leave the house. No siree.”
They shook their heads and giggled. I turned to Jaylin and pulled on his shorts to take a peek, too.
“Lord knows I didn’t vote for him either, and all of that must stay, too.”
My eyes shifted to Prince, but he dared me to touch him. I didn’t mention out loud if I voted him out of the house or not, because I wanted him to think that I did.
I faced Roc who was still killing my Long Island Iced Tea. “Who you vote for, Roc?”
“You.”
I pointed to my chest, but could tell he was playing by the smirk on his face. Then again, I wasn’t so sure. “Me? Why me?”
“Because you talk too much. Besides, it ain’t really none of yo business who I voted for. You soon shall see.”
I snatched my empty glass from his hand. “It may not be my business, but that drink was. Please go hook me up before I have to go in there and change my vote to you.”
Roc removed the towel from around his neck and popped it against my leg. The pop hurt, and what he’d done sparked a playful fight between us. After I got done beating him up, I jumped on his back and he carried me into the game room to make another Long Island-Long Ocean Tea. While we were away from the others, I could see them from afar, chatting it up and laughing. There really wasn’t a doggone thing funny, and when five o’clock rolled around, we all realized that this was no joking matter. Somebody was going home and none of us were ready to receive our walking papers.
We all surrounded the computer desk, gazing at the monitor with a twenty-five-inch screen. The room was so quiet that the only thing you could hear was the chatter of Chase’s rotten teeth. My palms were sweating and my stomach tightened when the person’s profile and picture came up on the screen. All eyes turned in the same direction, and all I could say to myself was damn. You ain’t got to go, but it was time for whomever to get the hell out of here!
BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS
1. Who do you think will be voted out of Hell House? Why?
2. Who is your favorite person in the house and why?
3. Who is your least favorite person in the house and why?
4. Which person reminds you more of yourself and in what ways?
5. Would you ever move into a house with six other people to win $100,000?
6. Which Brenda Hampton novel are you more likely to read after your Hell House experience?
7. If you were in this house, would you be interested in having a sexual experience with Roc, Jaylin or Prince? Why?
8. The Hell House trilogy opens the door to reality TV book reading. Did you feel like you were watching reality TV, and what show did it remind you of, if any?
9. Create your own reality TV show. Who would you like to have inside of a house with you for three months?
10. Who do you ultimately think will win the Hell House challenge?
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I’m eager to hear from you! Please visit hellhouse.homestead.com to send comments regarding your Hell House experience. If you would like to ask questions or send “fan mail” to any of the characters, and possibly have your inquiry answered in the books following, please follow the submissions guidelines.
READING JUST GOT MORE FUN!
Naughty 1
Naughty 2
Naughty 3
Naughty 4: Naughty by Nature
Naughty 5: Too Naughty
Naughty No More
Jaylin’s World: Dare to live in it!
Full Figured 1
Full Figured 3
Full Figured 5
Who Ya Wit (Full Figured Finale)
How Can I Be Down?
No Justice No Peace
Street Solider 1
Street Solider 2
In My Shoes: A Writer Is Born
SLICK
Don’t Even Go There
Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right
The Dirty Truth
If Only for One Night
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
Girls From Da Hood 5
No Turning Back
Brenda Hampton has written more than twenty novels. Her name has graced the Essence magazine bestsellers list, and she was named a favorite female fiction writer in Upscale magazine. Her mystery novel The Dirty Truth was nominated for an African American Literary Award. She is the executive producer of a new reality TV show based out of St. Louis, Missouri, where she resides. Visit her online at BrendaMHampton.com.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
