Hell House, page 8
“It doesn’t matter,” Nokea said. “But you’re two hours early. Had I known you were coming this soon, I would have made other arrangements.”
I wasn’t so sure what kind of other arrangements Nokea was talking about until I saw a tall, brown-skinned brotha with dreads come from the kitchen with no shoes on. My face fell flat, and my gaze was without a blink. Nokea and I had been getting our fuck on every now and then, and I was shocked that she had started seeing someone else. She told me that her schedule was too busy for her to be dating, and that if she did start seeing someone, she would let me know. Obviously, that wasn’t the case, and she could tell by the look in my eyes that I wasn’t too pleased about the brotha being there. Like always, Nokea turned to Nanny B for assistance. “Would you mind taking the kids outside on the playground for a while?”
Nanny B side-eyed the brotha on the couch who hadn’t said one word, and then she told the kids to come with her. After they left, I walked by Nokea and went into the living room to introduce myself. I extended my hand to the brotha and he stood up. No smile was on his face, but a smirk was definitely there. It was apparent that he knew who I was.
“And you are?” I asked while shaking his hand.
Nokea rushed to speak before he did. “Jaylin, this is Tyrese. He’s one of the distributors for my new clothing line.”
“Nice to meet you, Jaylin. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Too bad I can’t say the same.”
I let go of his hand, walked away and started to stroke my goatee. My insides were boiling. I tried to show Nokea that I was a changed man and could handle her dating other people, especially since I’d been dipping into some other things from time to time. Nothing serious because I knew only one woman had my heart.
Nokea cleared her throat and asked Tyrese if he was getting ready to leave.
“Yes, sweetheart, but I can’t find my keys. Have you seen them?”
“They’re on the dining room table, next to the wineglasses,” I said.
He thanked me and then walked over to the table to get his keys. Nokea followed and I turned away because if she kissed him upon departure, I would have to break her fucking neck. And then the whole sweetheart bullshit had me on edge. I was pissed off, and it looked like some kind of celebration had taken place this morning or last night. I suspected last night; when I went into her room, several burned candles were on the nightstand with wineglasses. Her silk black panties were on the floor, and when I went into the bathroom, there were two condoms in the trashcan. The shower didn’t look wet, but a hint of sex was fumigating the room. I heard the front door close, and minutes later, Nokea appeared in the doorway. She could barely look at me, as I sat calmly on the bed with her panties in my hand.
“Tell me why you never mentioned to me that you were seeing someone else, and how long has this been going on?” I asked.
Nokea didn’t know how to read me, so she stayed by the doorway, in case I broke out in one of my rages.
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. I knew how difficult it would be for you to accept me dating someone else, but now that you know, I’ve been seeing him for about four or five months.”
I sucked my teeth, while at the same time my flesh was crawling. Goose bumps appeared on my arms and the lump in my throat could not be swallowed. The thoughts of another man making love to her were eating me alive. I didn’t know how I would be able to deal with this shit going forward. Now, I couldn’t even look at her, and I preferred to keep my eyes fixated on the floor.
“Has he ever been around our kids?” I asked. I hoped to hell that he hadn’t because that was the one thing I would never tolerate.
“No. Never. That’s why I’m a little disappointed that you brought them over this early. Had I known, I would have made Tyrese leave sooner. I’m not ready to introduce him to our children just yet because it’s not that serious.”
“But it’s serious enough for you to give your pussy to him, huh? If you wanted sex, why didn’t you call me?”
This time, I lifted my head to look at her and awaited an answer.
“Because I’m attracted to Tyrese, and I wanted to have sex with him. I told you before, Jaylin, that I wasn’t going to put my life on hold for you. You agreed that I shouldn’t, but I get a feeling that you don’t approve of this.”
God knows I was trying to remain calm about this and not upset her. I also knew what I’d said, but that was before I saw this shit with my own eyes.
I laid Nokea’s panties on the bed and walked up to her. I lifted her chin because she had looked down. Our gaze into each other’s eyes was intense, but I had to be truthful with her about what I was feeling.
“I don’t approve of this shit, and I will never approve of it, especially when you entice motherfuckers in the panties I bought you, when you wine and dine them with champagne bought with my money, when you fuck them in the same bed you fuck me in, and when you allow them to taste your pussy that I tasted less than two weeks ago. So, hell no, I don’t approve, and I advise you to rethink this shit. If not, I see much hell lurking in your future, and I’m just being honest.”
I walked off, but Nokea reached for my arm to halt my steps.
“When does it stop, Jaylin? Why won’t you be happy for me like you said you would be? We tried…for years we tried and it didn’t work out like we had planned for it to. We owe ourselves—”
I shook my head from side to side and reached out to squeeze her face in my hands. I may have held it tighter than I was supposed to, but that was because I couldn’t control my anger as much as I had hoped to.
“No. We tried and we are going to keep on trying. You can’t fuck the love we have for each other away by being with another man. You’ve been there and done that before. So have I, with other women, and the one thing nobody will ever do is strip you from me. They are welcomed to anything else, but not you. You can call me selfish, controlling or whatever you want to, but your relationship with Tyrese ends today. I’m giving you one week to give that motherfucker his walking papers, and I expect a phone call from you, telling me that it’s over. One week, Nokea, that’s it.”
Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I pecked her lips. That pained me to do, especially since I had an idea as to where her lips had been. I silently counted to ten and did as I had learned to do in these situations—walk away.
“You’re not going to have it your way, Jaylin. Not this time. I won’t allow it.”
I didn’t even bother to turn around, but I meant what I’d said. “We’ll have to see about that, baby. And don’t you ever forget what I’m made of.”
When the next week rolled around, Nokea showed me what she was made of. She ignored every last one of my calls, and when she did eventually speak to me, she made it clear that Tyrese was there to stay. Almost six months later, he was still in the picture. I had somehow learned to cope. I had also came face-to-face with the true meaning of “don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.” But when all was said and done, I was confident that Nokea and I would grow old together. A year later, Tyrese was history, but the rejection that I’d felt from Nokea’s lengthy relationship with him left me bitter.
So what, I faked a heart attack. But after seeing Jaylin’s hands holding that thing, I knew he was capable of breaking a bitch down with that mutha hanging between his legs. He was mad at me, but ask me if I cared. Eventually, he’d get over it, just as I had done with the numerous arguments we’d had.
Honestly, I had gotten to like his silly self. I was the only person in this house capable of killing him with kindness. Behind all that hardness was a man who liked to have fun. I saw it from the moment I laid eyes on him, and, at first, I wasn’t interested in screwing him or anything like that. The crush I had was on Roc, but I wanted to see how this thing with him and Chase was going to play out. Now, I wasn’t so sure if I cared about that. Jaylin’s dick looked delicious, and I’d be a fool not to at least try to get a piece of it.
Then again—all BS aside—I wasn’t no dick-hungry chick. I talked a lot of bull, but if or when it ever came down to the real deal, I wasn’t sure if I would put up a thing. For now, the most important thing to me was winning this challenge. I was a fighter and I always played to win. It would be tough getting rid of the men in this house, but the women were easy. All they had their minds wrapped around was dick, and when Sylvia came into the bedroom last night, I was so sure she had given Jaylin a piece of it. That was why he was in the shower; he was washing the sex smell off of him. That nasty heifer, Sylvia, came straight to bed without washing her ass. That was trifling.
I tossed and turned all night and was unable to go back to sleep. It was after three in the morning and there I was up, staring at the ceiling in my cotton, Tweety Bird pajamas. Roc was next to me knocked the hell out and Chase was in the bed beside him with her short negligee on, trying to get noticed. That sucker was cut right below her coochie, and she had the nerve to have on a thong. Prince’s ghetto self was over there snoring loudly, but I didn’t hear a peep out of Jaylin. Sylvia was in the bed next to him, and I’m sure she was happy about that.
I punched my pillow a few times, trying to make it more comfortable. Cleared the mucus from my throat and then coughed.
“Why don’t you take yo ass to sleep?” Jaylin said from across the room. “Why you moving around so much?”
I sat up and put the pillow on my lap. “Because this room is too dark, and I think I see dead people. Can I come lay in the bed with you?”
“Hell fucking naw. This bed ain’t big enough for the two of us.”
“Yes, it is,” I said, stomping out of my bed and walking over to his. “Move over.”
Jaylin quickly sat up. I wondered if he still had on his black silk pajama pants or if he was naked. I couldn’t see because the sheets covered him. “Are you out of your gotdamn mind? You’d better get away from this bed, Jada, before you get hurt.”
“Ooo, hurt me, baby,” I said, snatching his cover off and hopping on his bed. He snatched the cover away from me and stood up.
“Stop playing, all right? I’m tired, baby, and the last thing you want to do is interrupt my sleep. Get back over there in your bed and go to sleep.”
“Nope. If you’re tired, then I suggest you lay down. I’ll hold you so you can go back to sleep. Just don’t bring that dick of yours anywhere near me; I’m not ready for my head to be all fucked up. I bet you have bitches walkin’ around like zombies, don’t you?”
Jaylin gave me an intense stare and then walked away to go get in my bed. That was when I saw he still had on his pajama pants. I followed and got in my bed with him. “You about to get cussed the hell out!” he shouted. “You got some mental shit going on that you need to take care of soon!”
He walked back to the other bed and so did I. After he got in the bed, I followed suit. We were back-to-back with each other and there was little room in the bed. We both were near the edge. I let out a deep breath and crossed my leg over his. He said not one word, until I let out a silent fart that seeped out and blew his way. Responding quickly to my bad manners, he picked up the fluffy pillow and hit me hard in my face with it. Hit me so hard, my face stung.
“So, you doin’ it like that?” My mouth was wide open. “Really?”
I tried to hit him with my pillow, but he ducked. “That was foul, Jada,” he said, shaking his head. “You got this whole room smelling like a rotten-ass egg!”
“Fuck!” Prince shouted and threw his cover aside. “Nigga can’t get no sleep up in here. Why don’t you motherfuckers go to sleep?”
“Why don’t you shut the hell up and pretend that you don’t hear us?” I fired back.
Next thing I knew, Prince threw something like a flying saucer and it hit me in the back. When it hit the floor, I thought it was a shoe.
“Now what you got to say about that, stupid bitch? Go check yo drawers because they stankin’.”
Maybe they were stankin’, but I wasn’t about to let him get away with calling me no bitch and throwing things at me. He needed to know that I didn’t get down like that, no siree. I wasted no time rushing over to him, fist-first. The lights came on, and, by that time, I had got in one punch to Prince’s head. Roc was out of bed holding Prince back. Jaylin held me, but I struggled to get away from him. No luck.
“Man, let that bitch go so she can walk straight into my fist!” Prince hollered out. “I’m tryin’ to snooze and she up playin’ night games and shit!”
“You mad ‘cause I’m not playin’ them with you? Is that what it is? Nobody else complainin’, but you.”
Chase cleared her throat. “I wasn’t complaining, but it does stink in here. Your voice was keeping me up, too. I understand where Prince is coming from.”
I’d just about had it with this heifer. She was jealous, too, especially since Jaylin hadn’t given her no attention. I snatched away from him, pretending as if everything was all-good. Roc released Prince, and nearly five minutes later, they got back in their beds.
“I hope we can all get some sleep now,” Sylvia said, yawning. “Somebody please turn off the light.”
“I got it,” I said, going close by the door to hit the light switch. Once they were out, I walked by Chase’s bed and hurled one of Roc’s tennis shoes at her head, in hopes that it knocked some sense into her.
“Ouch!” she yelled. “Who threw that? Jada?”
I definitely wasn’t backing down. “And what if I did?”
I could see a shadow of her coming my way, so I reached for her ponytail in the dark, pulling, twisting, turning it and trying to break her damn neck. This bitch and I went at it, and we were swinging wildly at each other. She got off a few good punches, but I backed her up to the bed and crawled on top of her. The lights came on and she did her best to roll on top of me. She pulled my hair, yanking it so hard that we fell on the floor, where I dragged her across it and punched at her face. She kept kicking her legs and swinging, while trying to get in as many punches as possible.
“Let my damn hair go!” she shouted and rolled on her knees to avoid my punches to her face. That allowed me to pound the back of her head.
“This is what happens to bitches who cross me! Let this ass kickin’ serve as a lesson!”
“Stop this madness,” Sylvia said, but was nowhere near us. “This crap is embarrassing.”
Jaylin and Roc took their time breaking us apart from each other. Probably because Chase’s negligee had ripped and she was damn near naked. Prince was all smiles and he chanted “get her ass” the whole time. I was sure he was rooting for Chase.
Finally, Roc held Chase back by her waist and she loved every bit of it. “That’s what you get, tramp,” she said, touching her lip. Yeah, it was bleeding and I had a handful of her weave in my hand.
I could barely catch my breath. Jaylin stood in front of me with his arms folded and as I tried to go around him, he pushed me back. I continued to charge toward Chase. “You didn’t do nothin’, did you? All you did was show yo ass, which Roc already done been up in that!” I shouted.
“Whatever, Jada,” she said. “Just so you know, I will fight your fat ass anytime, any day and anywhere. Don’t think I’m no punk.”
“This is ridiculous,” Sylvia griped. “I’m never going to get any sleep.”
She left the room and Prince got up, too. “I could stand a cup of coffee or somethin’. Let me know when y’all get done in here.”
Chase asked Roc to let her go, and when he did, she went into the closet. Hopefully to change clothes; the negligee she had on was nothing but shreds.
Jaylin and Roc looked at each other with smirks on their faces, but at the same time, shaking their heads. I didn’t give a shit, but I hoped that I sent a message to everybody in here—mess with me and you will get your ass whooped.
I wasn’t sure if I could go another day in this house. I was tired as ever, and after what had happened between Jaylin and me, I couldn’t even look at him. Part of me was embarrassed by the entire thing. Then again, I was ashamed. I still wanted a piece of the action; even after knowing he was a good friend of Jonathan’s. Pertaining to him, I seriously could not shake that man for nothing in the world. And I often found myself daydreaming about our numerous sexual escapades, in particular, one that happened in the office copy room. It was the first time we’d hooked up and it definitely wasn’t the last.
Nearly everyone in the office had left that day, but as usual, I hung around to see what else I could get off my plate. I didn’t mind working overtime; I was deeply in love with my boss. As his Administrative Assistant, I wanted everything to be in order. I was in the copy room making copies of several spreadsheets Jonathan needed for his meeting tomorrow. Piles of paper were stacked everywhere, and the copy machine was so loud that I couldn’t hear a thing. My gray, short fuzzy skirt gripped every bit of my big butt, as well as my hips that I often swayed from side to side to get Jonathan’s attention. My black silk blouse revealed a healthy part of my cleavage and my black stilettos increased my height by five inches.
With my back facing the door, I glanced at the round clock on the wall, seeing that it was already ten minutes to six. I had hoped to be done by six-thirty, so I could get home and check out my favorite TV show. The room was kind of stuffy, and when I realized that a few beads of sweat had dotted my forehead, I reached over to the thermostat to lower the temperature. As soon as my hand touched the thermostat, I felt another set of hands on my hips. I was startled, but then again, I already knew who was behind me from the smell of his intoxicating cologne that always left me breathless. I was shocked that he had touched me in such a way, but without saying a word, I reached my hand up to rub the back of his head.
“I need you, Sylvia,” Jonathan whispered with his lips close to my ear. “I need you now.”
Without hesitating, I said three words to my best friend’s husband. “Take me now.”
