Authors: Marissa Monteilh
“Oh hell, honey. Make it fast like you used to,” Mercedes said, looking eager.
“I can’t believe you’re asking me to make it fast for once.”
“It was fast that night we came home from the strip club. Did you see me complain?” she asked with a gleam in her eye.
“No.”
“Okay then, come on.”
Mason still looked uncomfortable. “Damn, but what’s my motivation?”
Mercedes’s tone became seductive. “Knowing that the woman whose mouth is pleasing you is your lady, your wife, and the woman who loves you. Is that something you want?”
“Say no more,” he said as she felt his bulge start to grow. He leaned the seat back all the way and unzipped his dress pants, pulling his penis out. She licked the tip with her stiff tongue and took him deep into her mouth.
“Oh, yeah. That’s it, let it hit the back of your throat.”
Mercedes positioned herself so that she could use her left hand as well, stroking the bottom and bracing it upright, easing it into her mouth with rapidity, adding her warm saliva for lubrication.
“Do you love me?” she asked, breaking away for a verbal tease.
“Yes.”
“You don’t want me to leave you, do you? Not the pussy that has only had you inside for eighteen years. The pussy that is virgin to anyone but you. You wouldn’t want me out there giving your stuff to someone else would you?”
“No. You’re my woman, baby. This dick belongs to my wife,” he said, raising his pubic area closer to her mouth for continuation.
Mercedes barely got two licks in when she felt his veins pulsating and his penis thicken. She closed her eyes and moaned him through it as he expelled his secretions into her mouth.
Mercedes took every drop, licking his tip and then kissing it.
Mason jumped. “Okay, now that’s not fair.”
“That’s what I like to do, please my man.”
“I can see that, baby.” He pulled the flap of his underwear back over his penis and secured his pants, glancing around the car for spectators. There were none.
Mason’s phone rang. He could feel Mercedes give him a glance that spoke volumes. “Don’t get that,” she said, taking a mint out of her purse.
Mason looked at the display of the phone number that flashed from his dashboard. “It’s Claude.” He let the call go.
Mercedes leaned over against his shoulder and continued looking out at the water. She enjoyed the peace and quiet and serenity. The phone rang again.
“It’s Claude again with a 9-1-1 page. I’ve got to call him back.”
Mercedes scooted over and handed him the phone as he pushed automatic callback.
“What’s up, man? Is everything still on for dinner?” Mason asked.
“Mason, Venus left us. She left me. She left a note. That’s all. Just a fucking note.” Claude sounded dejected.
“Venus left you? When did this happen?” Mercedes sat up in her seat.
“She just came back from the hospital and I thought she was taking a nap.”
“The hospital?” Mason asked, sounding extra concerned.
“Man, she had a fucking miscarriage yesterday.”
Mason looked at Mercedes who looked alarmed. “A miscarriage. Oh, I’m sorry, man.”
Mercedes eyes bugged.
“Cameron was in his room and I went over to the office for a minute. When I came back her car was gone. All she left was a note on the refrigerator.”
“What prompted that?” Mason asked.
“I don’t know, man, I was just about to take her away for a while so we could be alone and now she’s gone.”
“Bro, calm down. Mercedes and I are on our way.”
“Let’s get going, Mercedes,” said Mason, starting the car, not saying another word as he hung up.
Mercedes called Venus from her cell phone as she and Mason drove to Claude’s house. Mason was quiet as a mouse.
“Sister, girl. What happened over at that house? You left Claude and Cameron?” Mercedes asked.
Venus was driving. “I knew he’d call you guys. I had to, Mercedes. I had no choice. It was just too hard.”
“Why didn’t you talk to me first? I had no idea you were that fed up.”
“I didn’t either. It was an impulsive move at first, but I really think I made the right choice. That’s Fatima’s house. Her everything. Not mine.”
“Venus, you seemed to fit in just fine. I just never saw it as that bad for you. Even when we talked.”
“Mercedes, I lost my baby yesterday. I’ve always wanted a baby. I thought maybe that would have made a difference, but it just wasn’t meant to be either.”
“How far along were you?” Mercedes asked as Mason pressed the button to lower the ragtop.
“Not long. I didn’t even know it myself. I don’t even remember being late,” Venus said gloomily.
“I’m sorry you went through that. But that must have been hard on everyone, even Claude.”
“He just up and went to work after I came home.”
“You know how Claude is, Venus. He isn’t as direct about expressing his feelings like his brothers are. Even so, I’m sure he just doesn’t know what to say to you.”
Venus was not sounding very understanding. “He’s just fine at saying what he needs to say when he wants to. But, it’s not like he could have even said the right thing to make it all okay. It was a mistake from the beginning.”
“But Venus, didn’t you even try to talk it out before you left? You told me you never wanted to divorce.”
“I know I said that. But Claude knows as well as I do that this is best.”
“I don’t think so. He seemed pretty shook up. I think Claude is crazy about you, girl.” Mercedes looked to Mason who nodded his head in agreement.
“Believe me, he’s not.”
“Have you ever thought that maybe all of this is just in your head? That your guilt is one of the reasons why you’re internalizing this so much? You’re beating yourself up way too much.”
“Mercedes, imagine yourself in my shoes. In your case, you married for the love of a man. In my case, I married a man I fell in love with because of the love of a friend. I loved her, too. It’s easy to judge but this is some crazy shit.”
“I’m not trying to judge. At least I hope I’m not sounding like I am. But I’ve never heard Claude say one bad thing about you.”
“Maybe so, but it’s not like he and Fatima just broke up. I feel her ghost every day, Mercedes. It would be better if she could show up and kick my ass or call me and threaten me. She’s dead. The silence in that house was so loud that I thought I was going to go nuts. And then the voices started, and I’d imagine her everywhere, in our bedroom and in his car. Everywhere. Even Mattie called me ‘Fatima’ the other day. And Claude and I argued about some serious stuff recently. He’ll never forgive me. It just weighs too much for me to take. I tried, but I just can’t do it, Mercedes.”
Mercedes asked, “He’ll never forgive you for what? Plus, you know Mattie was just confused. She calls me Star half the time. Sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. You’re putting yourself through this major guilt trip. That’s the real problem.”
Venus was quiet.
“Will you just stay still for a while and take time to think about your decision? I’m not saying go back, but don’t make any rash plans too prematurely. Let this sink in for everyone. Will you do that?”
Venus sounded tired. “Yes. I’ll be at my dad’s house until I get a place.”
“You know you don’t need to find a place, what with all of the property that Mason and Claude own. That’s the least of your worries.”
“And that’s another thing, Mercedes. You need to check out your neighbor, Heidi. For some reason, Claude and Mason have her all hooked up in a house around the corner.”
“Okay, I will,” Mercedes said, looking at Mason but not letting on.
“I just don’t want the confusion. I want to start working for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and start over. I want a new beginning.”
“You know Claude was just about to take you away on a vacation. He just told Mason that today.”
Venus’s mood did not change. “No, I didn’t know.”
“Wouldn’t that have helped?”
“I don’t know, girl. I think it’s a little bit too late. Claude’s not even sure if he can love me the way I need to be loved. This takes work. Dealing with a dead ex-girlfriend and a dead friend is more than a notion. Claude doesn’t know how to handle me and he can’t deal with my emotions. There is a way to love me. He just doesn’t want to know how. Maybe we got married too fast. I never spent time in that house and we didn’t have any premarital counseling. We just jumped at an impulse after we bonded over the loss of Fatima. I’m not Fatima. I’m not a clone. I’m Venus.”
“Wow. Girl, I really don’t know what else to say. It sounds like you’ve thought it out and I support you. But I just don’t know what this family would be like without you. You’ve been around for so long. Just promise you’ll call me and let me know what’s going on. And I really think you should consider some type of counseling. It really can make a difference.”
“I will.”
“I’ll call you to check on you. I’ll try you tomorrow night on your cell. And Venus?”
“Yes.”
“You can’t run from this. I hope you change your mind.”
Venus sounded grateful. “Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Good-bye. Keep your head up.” Mercedes gave Mason a questioning eye.
“I will.”
Venus disconnected her cell phone and then turned off the power, filing her phone in her purse. She exited the freeway at La Tijera Boulevard and drove through the business section of Ladera. She pulled her SUV up to a traffic signal, stopping at the red light. She tapped her finger along the leather-padded steering wheel, looking around at the familiar surroundings. She noticed a young, teenaged couple walking together in the crosswalk, hugging and
laughing as if they did not have a care in the world. She smiled. As she watched them step onto the curb, she caught a glimpse of a bus bench on the north side of Centinela near Fat Burger. It was an advertisement for Wilson Realty, with her husband’s smiling face underlined by their slogan, “You could be home by now.” Her brief smile turned to a frown.
The song “Wasting Time” by Faith Evans came on her radio. She turned it up. “Life’s not that important if you don’t have love,” she sang. She changed the station to an all-news program. Venus drove on down toward La Brea and through the streets filled with apartments in Inglewood. She parked in the back in her dad’s space. The sofa would be her bed for now.
That night, Mason and Mercedes took the time to go for a walk together. They threw on their sweat suits and headed down the street for the two-mile trek to the park and back.
Mason said, “Seems like we’ve been so worried about Claude losing his woman, that we neglected the fact that Venus lost a best friend in Fatima. That’s got to be a big part of what she’s feeling. It can’t be all about Cameron not accepting her.” They turned the corner onto Green Valley Circle.
“It’s Claude and his distant ways as well.” Mercedes took a sip of her bottled water. “Will you promise to keep this under wraps if I tell you?”
“Cedes, you’ve never given me that intro to anything you’ve ever told me. Come on now.”
“The three of them were together the night before Fatima died.”
“I know. Claude told me just before she got shot. Just before she arrived at the house.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“Well, you didn’t tell me.”
“I just found out. Was he bragging when he told you?”
“No, Cedes.”
“Mason, would you ever…?”
“No. I would never want Sequoia to join us.”
“Are you sure?”
“More than sure. How about you?”
“No way. Venus was braver than I would be. That’s wild.”
“Tell me about it.”
“But apparently Fatima asked Venus to be with Claude if anything ever happened to her.”
“I knew that. Claude already told me that, too.”
“He knows?”
“Venus told him a couple of days before she left.”
“About the if promise?”
“Whatever it’s called.”
“You men talk more than we women do.”
Mason asked, “Did Venus ever tell you what she knew about that dude Owen?”
“That he’d been threatening and stalking Fatima for a long time, yes. She didn’t want to break it off with Claude so this guy started acting more and more weird. Right before he killed her, he’d asked her to spend the day with him in Vegas, actually to get married. She told him she was coming over to our house for Thanksgiving and couldn’t talk to him. Owen said if he couldn’t have her, no one could.”
“Damn, that was one sick brotha,” Mason said, shaking his head.
“See what can happen when you bring a third person into a relationship. You never know how they’re going to behave.”
Mason nodded in agreement and then looked around the neighborhood. “Baby, do you think we should move away because of the memory of what happened to Fatima?”
Mercedes started to sound winded. “Sometimes I wonder. I don’t know.”
“Those new homes up the hill are a lot bigger and newer.”
“Well, our house is paid for. And I really don’t need anything bigger. Do whatever you think is right, honey. I trust you.”
Mason explained, “I didn’t say move out of Ladera. I said the new homes on the north side.” A car honked as they made their way back home. Mason waved.
“Who’s that?” Mercedes asked, looking at the white Infiniti as it drove by.
“I don’t know,” Mason replied. He picked up his pace even more.
Mercedes managed to keep up with him while returning to the topic at hand. “Like I said, I trust you.”
Mason got his chance to spend quality time, one-on-one, with his aging mother Mattie. He picked her up from Claude’s home at eight o’clock sharp and took her to her favorite place for breakfast, Dinah’s Restaurant.
She beamed as they walked in, almost as if she was on a date. The other patrons were staring at Mason and leaning into each other for a whisper as if Michael Jackson had just walked in. Mason held her arm. They followed the young waitress to their window table. Mattie shuffled along in her ballerina slippers, taking small steps yet making her way at a fast pace. She scooted her hips along the burgundy vinyl booth seat just as the drink girl took their order.
“Just coffee for me,” Mason told the girl.