A Sticky Situation (13 page)

I rubbed my hand across the crotch of his pants. His dick got rock hard that instant. “You know how I love it when you push that big dick inside of me. So, give me four or five days and we’ll be right back in business.”

Mendez sighed heavily. “Damn Sam, I was really looking forward to being alone with you tonight.”

“You still can. We just can’t do anything though.”

Mendez looked like he wasn’t at all happy by the fact that I just shot down his plans to fuck the hell out of me inside the counselor’s office tonight. But I figured he’d be all right after he carried his ass home to his wife and two kids. Whether he realized it or not, I had a life of my own, and I planned to get on with it as soon as I got out of there. Seth was my main priority, and I refused to let another nigga come between that. Now I couldn’t say the same about Seth, because he fucked around on me more times than I could count. Not to mention the fact that I was in this situation because of him. But hey, what can I say other than I forgave him and he and I were moving forward. He knew he owed me though. So, I planned to collect everything that was due to me as soon as I got my freedom. And I wasn’t gonna let no nigga or ho get in my way either.

Now once I assured Mendez that I was going to make it up to him, he smacked me on my butt once again and left me standing in the hallway so he could make his rounds. Right after he walked off, I headed in the opposite direction, and as soon as I turned the corner, this bitch named Monique was posted up not too far from where Mendez and I were talking, so I knew she had been eavesdropping when she said, “I got some pads if you need some.”

I stopped in my tracks and looked at this short, black, ugly-ass chick who swore up and down she was a man with her corn rows and baggy uniform.

“Bitch, don’t play with me! You know I don’t need none of your motherfucking pads!”

She gave me a sly little smirk. “You sure? Because I got more than I need.”

I immediately became frustrated. “What’s your point?”

“I don’t have a point. All I’m trying to do is be nice.”

“Monique, cut it out. You could care less about being nice to me, and you know it,” I told her, and then I stepped away from her to leave.

But, she cut me off and blocked me from getting by her. “What’s the rush?”

“Bitch, if you don’t move your ass out of my way I am going to knock you the fuck out,” I warned her.

“Come on now, Samantha. You know I ain’t trying to get into any beef with you.”

I got agitated. “Then what the fuck do you want?”

“I want to try some of what you’re giving Mendez,” she said.

I tried to play dumb. “And what the fuck is that?”

“Stop it, Samantha. Everybody knows you fucking Mendez. And personally, I don’t care. But I am curious to find out what you’re working with and why that nigga be sweating you like he does.”

“First of all, Mendez doesn’t sweat me. And secondly, I’m not into that bumping pussy thing, so please get the fuck back!”

“You sure? ’Cause you know I can take care of you better than that nigga can.”

Refusing to stand there and listen to Monique another second, I stepped forward and forced my way by her. It felt like I almost knocked her arm out of socket because when I passed her, I hit her ass real hard with my shoulder. I thought we were going to go toe to toe with one another, but she let me ride. I guess she felt like it wouldn’t be worth it because she had a girlfriend who lived in the next dorm, so how would she be able to explain to her why we were fighting? She did make a slick-ass comment as I walked away.

“Let me know if you change your mind,” she yelled behind me.

I ignored her and kept it moving.

MAXINE

Later That Night

I had been trying to get Seth on the phone all day long. I knew he was all right, but I just had this urge to hear his voice, especially after everything that had gone on today. The only other thing I could do was send him a text message and wait for his response.

I typed in the message, I
KNOW U
’
RE UPSET WIT ME
,
BUT U NEED
2
CALL ME
. B
CUZ
I
JUST GOT A CALL ABOUT A SCUFFLE YOU WERE IN EARLIER
& I
NEED SUM ANSWERS
.

I pressed the SEND button on my Blackberry and waited for him to respond. To my surprise, that stubborn bastard dialed my number. Hearing my phone ring sent my heart rate up at least fifty notches. I took a deep breath and answered.

Seth went straight into his defensive mode. I didn’t get a “Hello, how are you doing” or anything. “What altercation you talking about?”

To keep from telling him that I actually followed him all the way to Portsmouth and watched the whole thing unfold between him, Mike, and the other guys, I came up with the most believable story of the year.

“I’m talking about the one you and some other guys got into earlier today.”

“Well, whoever told you that mess lied,” he yelled.

“Seth, you can tell me anything you want, but I’ve got a friend who works for the Portsmouth Police Department, and she said that two names, yours and an unknown name, were being thrown around her department about an assault made on a man in front of a barbershop. She also said that there were several reports about a shootout.”

“Oh, nah, that’s bullshit, because I don’t get into shit like that.”

“Seth, the guy who was beat up was the one who called your names out.” I gave him no more room to lie.

“What was the other guy’s name?”

“I was told that his name was Mike.”

There was a moment of silence, and I knew right then and there I had his dumb ass exactly where I wanted him. He finally came out of his mouth and said, “That—that was bullshit because I don’t know a guy by the name of Mike.”

I knew he wasn’t about to throw in the towel. I came at him even harder and said, “Well, they may have gotten the other guy’s name wrong, but they definitely took down the right license plates.”

Sounding a little worried, he said, “Whose license plates?”

“The license plates on your Magnum,” I replied. “And since your car is registered in my name, that’s how I got the call.”

“What else did your girlfriend say?”

When he asked me that question it was clear that he was beginning to become a little worried. I gave him a little assurance by saying, “All I got to do is give her the word, Seth, that it was me driving your car and she will make that tag number disappear. But I am going to need you to be honest with me and tell me what happened.”

Again, Seth fell silent. I knew he was contemplating whether or not it would be in his best interest to spill his guts to me. Then again, what other choices did he have?

After about thirty seconds of him breathing through the receiver, he finally said, “A’ight listen, I was out there, but shit didn’t go down like your peoples said it did.”

“Then what happened?”

“I ain’t really trying to talk about it over the phone.”

“Well, could you come by so we can talk about it?”

“Yeah, a’ight,” he sighed. “I’ll be by there in a few minutes.”

“Where are you now?”

“Well, I was about two blocks away from my crib, but I’m turning around now,” he replied.

Hearing him tell me he was on his way to my house put a smile on my face instantly. I wanted to jump out of my seat, but I figured it would be best if I waited until I got off the phone. Immediately after we hung up, I rushed straight into the shower. It was a must that I be fresh and smelling good when he came through the door. It had been a few days since we had last seen each other, so it was important for me to show him what he had been missing.

About twenty minutes later, I was out of the shower and smelling like a bed of fresh roses. I was getting ready to slip on something sexy but then I figured it would probably be better if I walked around with my towel on. All he had to do was snatch the towel off if he wanted some pussy, and I would happily oblige.

Not long after I lotioned my body down and sprayed on perfume, Seth was knocking on the front door. When I opened the door, he looked me up and down and said, “Why you change the locks?”

“Oh, that’s a long story,” I said as I closed the door and locked it behind him.

“I’m listening.” He took a seat on the living room sofa.

I sat down beside him and told him about everything that went on with me the day before. He sat there in awe as I reiterated every single detail of my horrifying experience back at that house. He acted as if he couldn’t believe it, so I grabbed his hand and placed it right over my right ear. “Do you feel that lump?” I asked him.

“Hell yeah, I feel that joint! And it feels like it should be still hurting you.”

“It only hurts when I try to lay on that side.”

“So, where are them motherfuckers now?”

“I don’t know, but some detectives are handling it and so is my supervisor.”

“Why is your supervisor handling it?”

“Because my gun was taken.”

“Your what?” Seth screamed.

“They stole my gun.”

“Ahh man, that’s not good.”

“I know. But that’s not it.”

“What else happened?”

“They also took my cell phone and my whole set of keys,” I said. “That’s why I had to change my locks on my door.”

“Yo, them niggas got a lot of heart fucking with you like that. As a matter-of-fact, if I ever get a chance to run into them, I am going to murder something!”

“Seth, don’t let this thing get you all upset.”

“It’s too late for that.”

“Well, just calm down.” I tried to massage his shoulder.

“Yo, I am really sick of this shit!”

“What are you talking about?”

“That job shit! Fucking with all them knucklehead-ass niggas on your caseload.”

“Look, I know you’re not happy about what I do because it is dangerous. But look at the bright side; I will not be doing it too much longer, because as soon as you’re done doing your thing out there, we can start up that business we were talking about,” I reminded him. “Oh, speaking of which, tell me what happened earlier.”

“It wasn’t nothing, really.”

“Well, it must’ve been, because I would not have gotten that phone call.”

Seth sighed heavily. “Ay yo, all I got to say is that whatever that nigga said happened to him, he had it coming. End of story.”

“So, you admit to attacking him?”

“I ain’t going to ever admit it. But I will say that he deserved whatever he got.”

“Well, were you a part of the shootout?”

“Like I said, I would never admit to doing a damned thing. I wouldn’t care if you caught me on camera, because I am going to still say it wasn’t me.”

“I understand all of that, but I am your woman. So why are you trying to keep shit from me?”

“Because at the end of the day, you’re still my probation officer.”

“So what you think I am going to have you locked up?”

“I don’t know what you would do anymore.”

“Come on now, Seth. You know that if I wanted you back in jail, I would have done it a long time ago.”

“Like I said, I don’t know what you would do anymore.”

This conversation wasn’t going anywhere, so I changed the subject. “So, how much money have you saved thus far?”

“A couple of grand. Why?”

“I was just wondering how far you had to go to get to your goal.”

“I ain’t got far.”

“Do you think you can still do it in a week’s time?”

Seth hesitated a bit. “Nah, a week ain’t gon’ be enough time.”

“So, how much time are you gonna need?”

“I’m not sure, but I’ll let you know.”

What I had gathered so far from his responses was that it wouldn’t matter what I said, because he had already made up his mind how this situation was going to play out. I didn’t say anything. The last thing I wanted was to start another argument, so he could run out on me while I was trying to make my point. Instead of giving him an extension with restrictions, I’d take a step back and let him use his own discretion on how long he needed to be out there on his hustle.

I said, “OK, take as long as you like.”

Seth looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language.

“Whatchu just say?” he asked.

I smiled. “I said, take as long as you like.”

“What, is this a joke or something?”

“No,” I answered him, still smiling.

“Why are you smiling, then?”

“Because I am happy to see you.” I hugged his neck.

I leaned over and started kissing the side of his face, too. As I moved my lips toward his, he pulled back from me and said, “Nah, I ain’t in the mood for that right now.” He stood.

The feeling of rejection shot through me like an injection and it didn’t feel good, either, so I stood up as well and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

“Ain’t nothing wrong with me,” he said. “I’m just tired, and I want to get some sleep.”

“Well, go in the bedroom and lay down,” I insisted as I tightened the towel around me.

“Nah, I’d rather crash out here on the sofa. That way, I could still sleep in my clothes.”

Hearing Seth tell me that he would rather sleep on a fucking sofa than lay in the bed next to me was beginning to wear me down. I wanted so badly to curse his ass out and ask him if he’d been out there fucking around on me, but what good would that do? All that would do is start an argument and give him a reason to leave. Besides, I wouldn’t get the truth out of him anyway. He would definitely deny fucking another woman, and he would take it to his grave.

I sighed heavily and said, “All right. If that’s what you want, let me go and get you some covers.” I went to the linen closet.

While I was gone, Seth took off his sneakers and set them side-by-side at the end of the sofa. He took off his New York Yankees ball cap and set it on the coffee table. By the time I got back in the living room, he was lying on his stomach with his face facing the back of the sofa. I laid a bed sheet across him first, then placed a blanket on top of that.