Let's Get It On (18 page)

Maurice watched as his brother drove off with Kenya in the front seat. Figuring that she was in good hands with James, he decided to go find Lauryn and get to the bottom of that DVD. Running back upstairs, he grabbed the package, then his keys, and headed for the garage. He headed to Mya's place, hoping to catch Lauryn there.

The trip to Mya's stirred confusing thoughts in him. He remembered all of the times that Mya had gone out to dinner with him and Lauryn, the trips, the Super Bowl, and all the times he'd tried to set her up with his single friends.
A damned smoke screen,
he thought.
All along she wanted what I had. I wonder how she feels now that she has it?

Maurice pulled into the driveway of the apartment complex and parked his car. Looking up at the building, he thought about the nights that he'd dropped Lauryn off to have girl time with Mya. How many times did they end up having sex? Though questions like that nagged at him at times, Maurice didn't care about what Mya and Lauryn had. It was his pride that had his head spinning at the moment. Maurice walked up to Mya's door and banged on it as if he were a police officer about to serve a warrant.

“What the . . . Mo?” Mya said when she opened the door.

“Where's Lauryn?” he demanded.

“Don't know. Don't really care,” she replied and started to close the door. Maurice shoved his foot in the doorway.

“Mya, if you know where she is, you need to tell me, because I'm not letting her get away with this.” He shoved the DVD under her nose. “What do you know about this?”

She pushed the door open. “My neighbors might call the cops. Come in.”

Maurice stepped inside and stayed in the foyer. “Where is Lauryn? I don't know how she did it, but I'm going to find out.”

“What is this?” Mya asked as she took the DVD from his hands.

“It's your girlfriend pretending to have sex with me yesterday. This DVD is obviously altered, and I don't know what she's trying to prove.”

Mya smiled sardonically. “So that's what she was doing.”

“What?”

She sighed and walked into the kitchen. “Want something to drink? You probably need one.”

“I need to find Lauryn.”

“Cut your losses and move on. I have. Lauryn is too selfish for words, and I can't deal with her anymore. She's toxic.”

“How long had you two been doing this?” Maurice asked. Curiosity had gotten the best of him.

“Doing what?” she asked as she poured herself a glass of wine. “Oh,
this
as in a relationship? Lauryn and I have been ‘doing this' since college. We were roommates, and I thought at first that Lauryn was a lesbian. At that time I was confused about my sexuality. I knew I was attracted to women, but I didn't think that I would ever act on it. Then Lauryn moved into my room. The way she used to flaunt her body and walk around the room in skimpy little outfits made me realize that I wasn't just going through some phase in my life. I wanted this woman, and I had to have her.”

“But you knew that she was straight,” Maurice said.

“So? I knew I wanted her, and I could tell that she was curious. I fell in love with her, Mo, just like you did.”

“I wasn't in love with her. It was more like lust,” he snapped. “But that's neither here nor there. Where has Lauryn been spending her time lately?”

Taking a swig of wine, Mya shrugged her shoulders. “I haven't a clue. She hasn't been here, and I thought maybe she'd taken up with some other rich man.”

Maurice turned and headed for the door. He grabbed the knob and turned around. “So every time you two were together, did you just laugh at what a fool I was?”

Mya snorted. “This was never about you, Maurice. Lauryn was selfish, and she played both of us. Just let it go.”

“Where did you say she had this DVD made?”

Mya rattled off the address of the videographer.

Maurice dashed out the door, ready to give Kenya the proof that she needed to see Lauryn was a liar.

 

 

Kenya crossed her legs and leaned closer to James as they sat on the sofa, watching the news. She'd told him that she didn't want to be alone after finding out that Maurice had cut her so deeply for a second time and that she really wanted him to stay. The truth was, he'd be the knife she planned to cut Maurice with. When Maurice got wind of what happened with her and his brother, he would feel the same pain that she had felt when he pressed PLAY on that DVD player.

Two wrongs don't make a right,
her voice of reason said to her. Kenya ignored that voice and looked over at James. Sleeping with Maurice's brother wasn't going to change the fact that her heart was broken again. Inching closer to James, she made up her mind that it didn't matter what the consequences would be: she was going to make her move. After all, James was there for her all of those years ago. Maybe he had feelings for her that she could squeeze out of him.

James had stayed with Kenya because he felt as if he owed her something. It was déjà vu. They could just as easily have been in Atlanta nine years ago, sitting on her mother's porch, with her head buried in his arms.

He'd promised himself that he wouldn't let Maurice hurt Kenya again. Yet that was exactly what had happened. How could Maurice be so stupid as to take up with Lauryn again? Hadn't she embarrassed him enough by leaving him at the altar after turning their wedding into a media circus? His heart broke for Kenya as he put his arm around her shoulder in what he meant to be a brotherly show of affection.

Kenya turned her head slightly. Their lips were inches apart. Feeling that she'd lose her nerve if she didn't do it now, she leaned in and kissed him. However, as she slipped her tongue in his mouth, she imagined that she was kissing Maurice. When she eased her hands between his legs, she thought about all the times she'd made love to Maurice. James's body wasn't as muscular as Maurice's or as lean, but that didn't matter to her as she unbuckled his belt.

James pulled back from the kiss, eying Kenya as if she were a stranger. “What are we doing?” he said, running his hand across his face.

“I need you,” she said. “I just want to forget.” Kenya cupped her hands around his face, trying to coax him into kissing her again. She could tell that he was weak when he closed his eyes and leaned into her.

She closed her eyes, too, imagining that Maurice was sitting beside her, getting ready to make love to her.

James pulled Kenya's hands from his face. “This is wrong. You're hurt and angry and . . .”

Rising to her feet, Kenya wiped her hands on her thighs. “Maybe when I got back to Atlanta, I should've looked at you as more than just a friend. Maybe you and I should've been together, and this wouldn't have happened again.”

James crossed over to Kenya and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You don't mean that. I know you're hurt, and you're not thinking clearly right now. Anything that we do right now, we're going to regret when it's over.”

Turning around to face him, Kenya knew James was right. Having sex with him wasn't going to make her any happier. She'd still be hurting over the fact that Maurice had betrayed her again.

“I don't know what I'm doing right now,” she whispered. “I shouldn't try to pull you into my mess. Maybe you should go.”

He nodded, then kissed her on the forehead. “And just so you know, if things were different, if I knew you wanted me for me and not as a means to get him back, nothing would stop me from making love to you. But you and Maurice have to work this thing out. Put some closure on your relationship or something. I don't want to stand by and watch him hurt you again, and I don't want you to do something that you're sure to regret.”

When James left, Kenya buried her face in one of the pillows on her sofa and sobbed until she drifted off to sleep.

It must have been after midnight when she heard the banging on her door. Initially, she wanted to ignore it. But as it continued, Kenya knew whoever was at her door wasn't going away. Pulling herself up off the sofa, she ambled to the door, looked through the peephole, and saw Maurice's face.

“Kenya, I know you're there. Please open up,” he said as if he could see through the door.

“Go away.”

“Not until you hear what I have to say.” He placed his hand on the knob and turned it.

Kenya sucked her teeth. “Do you think you're getting in here tonight after what you've done?” she hissed. “Why aren't you with Lauryn?”

“Because I don't want to be with her,” he said. “Kenya, do you really want all of your neighbors to hear this?”

“Go away.”

“Open the door.”

She started to walk away from the door, and Maurice called out, “I'll wait here all night if I have to.”

“Then have a good night, jerk,” she snapped but didn't walk away from the door. Peering at him, she saw that he had what seemed to be the infamous DVD in his hand.
This man's insane. Or I am because I am still in love with him, and it's so obvious that he can't get Lauryn out of his system.

Maurice banged on the door again. “I'm not leaving, Kenya. And you got people opening their doors, wondering why I'm out here begging you to open this door.”

She could imagine the spectacle of Maurice banging on her door and waking her neighbors. It wouldn't be long before someone called the police, and then this would be another media event. Kenya opened the door.

“You have five minutes,” she hissed.

Maurice walked in and handed her a DVD. “Watch this.”

She threw the disk in his face. “You think I want to see you and Lauryn having sex?”

“I can tell you all day that I'm not the one on this DVD, but until you see the truth, you're not going to take my word for it.”

Turning her back to him, she glanced up at the purple clock on the wall. “You have two and a half minutes left.”

“Damn it, Kenya, if I wanted Lauryn, I would've forgiven her when she left me for that woman and married her. But I didn't. I got another chance to be with you, and that's what I want. This DVD is a lie. She had it made by a videographer on Central Avenue. Mya saw her leaving that shop this morning. She's been stalking us since she saw us in the Blake Hotel, and she knew how you'd react if you thought that we were sleeping together behind your back.” Maurice dropped to his knees and grabbed Kenya around her waist, forcing her to look at him.

“I don't believe you. I don't trust you, and I want you out of my house,” Kenya said coldly.

Standing, Maurice grabbed her hand. “If you think I'm going to let you run from me again, you're wrong.”

Yanking her hand away from him, she shot him an icy glare. “The only thing that I was wrong about was thinking that you'd changed. Everybody was right about you. He has more money, but Mo is just the same ass that he's always been. Why don't you, Lauryn, and her lesbian lover go somewhere and make another DVD?”

Maurice walked over to the television, ignoring the angry look that Kenya shot at him. “This DVD was faked. Lauryn had my bedroom superimposed as she and some man had sex. Then my face was put on his body so that you would think this was me.”

“Do I look like I was born yesterday?” Kenya snapped. “For all I know, you could have taken this in and had it doctored yourself. Maurice, why don't you just go out and find one of those mindless groupies and marry her? We're done. Now get the hell out of my house.”

He grabbed Kenya, roughly pulling her against his body. “If you want more proof, then come with me to the videographer. He'll tell you everything he did for Lauryn.”

She pushed against his chest, but Maurice didn't release her. “Like you didn't pay him to say what you want. I'm not falling for your lies again!”

“I've never lied to you. And I haven't lied to you about this DVD or being with Lauryn. When did I have time to do that? Kenya, can't you see that I love you and I want to be with you and only you?”

“Well, seeing you having sex on DVD isn't really convincing me that I'm the only woman in your life.” She punched him in the chest until he dropped his arms. “I want to hurt you, make you feel the pain that you've caused me. But I'm not that kind of person.”

“I didn't do anything,” he said.

“So you say.”

Maurice closed his eyes and dropped his head. “What do you want to do? Do you really want things to be over between us?”

“Yes,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “I want you out of my life, out of my head, and out of my heart.”

Pointing his finger in her face and shaking his head, Maurice said, “I know that you don't mean it, because if you wanted me out of your life, I wouldn't be in your head and heart. You wouldn't be trembling like a leaf.” Stroking her cheek, he brought her mouth level with his. “Kenya, this isn't right. We can't give Lauryn what she wants.”

“If she wants you, she can have you.” Kenya didn't step away from him, because everything that he was saying was true. She loved him, and she wanted to be with him more than anything, but the DVD and the past, coupled with all of her insecurities, were keeping her from totally committing her heart and soul to him. How could she when the days changed but the questions remained the same? The pain never seemed to go away. Her mother was right, Imani was right, and her heart was wrong.

“Get out,” she found the voice to say. “I don't want this anymore.”