Over the years Vanessa's relationship with Mimi had become
her life.
Her trust in Mimi was so strong that Mimi was the only person who Vanessa revealed the dynamics of her relationship to. Mimi had been the outlet that Vanessa had
to express a joy she felt no one else would understand. But after speaking with Mimi minutes
earlier, Vanessa realized that she had been spending too much time discussing her relationship.
Mimi was tired of hearing her. Although Vanessa didn't get to spend much time with Mimi, the trip to her home taught Vanessa a valuable lesson. She had fallen in love with two companions and she was slowly losing her best friend.
Rich was driving a blue Audi R8 through Midtown, Manhattan. He had good
news for Vanessa He convinced Ted to publish her book early, provided it met the expectations of the company's senior editor. So the book could be on shelves in a few months.
Rich turned on Lennox Avenue and headed Uptown. He parked in front of the shop and
stepped inside. He kissed Vanessa then greeted Leah and Candy. The shop was about to close
and they were the only people left inside besides Vanessa. He said, “I got an announcement. My
baby about to be in it to win it in a hot minute.” He explained the news about his conversation with Ted.
“You the man,” Vanessa said, then kissed Rich.
“Ladies,” he turned to Candy and Leah, “I'm takin' my baby out to celebrate and it wouldn't be right if y'all not in the building.”
“Sorry,” Leah said. “My husband is taking me to see his parents.” She kissed Vanessa on the cheek. “Congratulations.”
Rich was happy to see Leah leave. He rarely got the chance to spend time with Vanessa
and Candy in public. There was always an element of apprehension among the trio—a fear that if
they were seen together too much, speculation could lead to rumors. Vanessa had expressed that
it was the only thing she disliked about their relationship, because she was a free spirit who
really did not care what people thought. But she knew that gossip could cause problems for
business and disrupt the vibe among the women in the shop. She was also nervous that her
relationship being made public could have some negative effect on her book. She knew of countless gay and lesbian authors who were defined by their sexuality instead of their writing
skills. Vanessa was certain that her unusual relationship would be far more controversial.
Rich led them out of the shop and into the Audi. “You spending the night?” he asked Candy.
“Yeah.”
Rich nodded.
Minutes later they were pulling up to an exclusive eatery in Upper Manhattan. It was a vegan
restaurant that was Vanessa's favorite.
Once inside, Vanessa chatted with the maitre d’, who she had known for
years. He seated the group at Vanessa's favorite table.
“Thank you,” Vanessa said, as Rich pulled out her chair and helped her sit down.
He did the same for Candy.
“Such a gentleman,” Candy said with a smile. “Who would've known you were once a thug on the streets?”
“First law of survival is self-preservation,” said Rich. “You been around and you know how it go down.”
“It's sad,” Vanessa interjected. “Some of the things people have to deal with on the streets, especially our youth.”
“It's a struggle to survive and a struggle to thrive on every level,” Rich said. “From the
`hood to the Hamptons from the projects to the mansions. Life is a struggle, just different levels and manifestations.”
A waiter arrived and handed them each menus. Everyone at the table ordered, then continued talking until their food was served.
Rich glanced at a woman holding a newborn at the table nearest him. He looked at Candy and Vanessa, thinking about his future with them. They had
recently discussed the possibility of having children. Rich wanted a son. Candy and Vanessa
wanted daughters.
“See you thinking over there,” Candy said. “What's on your mind, baby?”
“Us,” Rich responded.
“Oh yeah?” Candy said.
Rich looked at Candy, then Vanessa. “Remember that conversation we had on the terrace the other day?”
“About kids?” Vanessa asked.
Rich nodded.
“What about it?” Candy asked.
Rich explained that he had been giving their conversation some serious thought because the night with Chase
had been weighing heavy on his mind. Rich felt if he would have died that
night, there would be no one to carry on his legacy. He had been questioning how he would be
remembered. Many people in Harlem still saw him as a drug dealer and womanizer. Since it was hard to escape
his past, Rich knew it would be easier to produce a reflection of him born into a privileged life he had nearly died to earn.
“I ain't gettin' no younger,” Candy said.
Rich looked at Vanessa.
“I'm not ready yet,” she said.
“You're about to be a famous author.” Rich smiled. “Plus, you need at least another year to finish school.”
“Are we ready to let the world know about our relationship?” Vanessa began citing a list of negative things that could come of Candy having a child and their relationship becoming public knowledge.
“I got a solution,” Candy said. “We wait until next year. By then, Vanessa will be out of
school. I'll have my hair care business up and running, so I can fall back from the shop. “I'll hire two girls to replace me and Vanessa.”
“I don't know,” Vanessa said. “Let's just wait a minute and see how we feel about this in the future.”
Rich was silent. He knew Vanessa had made some valid points about the drama that
could come of their three-way relationship being revealed. But he also knew he wanted a son as soon as possible.
***
Back at his penthouse an hour later, Rich's head was propped up on a plush pillow on
his bed. He was breathing hard and his toes curled. His eyes opened. He watched Candy as her
tongue circled the head of his dick while Vanessa juggled each of his nuts in and out of her mouth. Rich tried to reach out and palm her head, but he couldn't. The overwhelming sensation
that filled him was too much to bear. His arms were paralyzed and he hardly had enough strength
and energy to curl his toes. Candy began sucking every drop of juice from him. Rich moaned and his body trembled. He could feel the cum flow from his nuts as Vanessa sucked them.
Candy crawled beside Rich and slithered her tongue inside his mouth. He turned to her
as their bodies touched, their hands roaming freely. He felt Vanessa's warmth as she wrapped
her arms around him and put hickeys
on his neck. Her leg slid over his and she slipped her tongue
inside his ear.
Candy turned around, reaching back and grabbing Rich's dick, gently rubbing it until it
was erect again. “Put it in me,” she whispered.
Rich eased his rock hard muscle underneath her yellow butt cheeks and inserted it inside her burning wet flesh.
“Ahhh,” Candy whimpered.
Rich wrapped his arm around her as he sucked and licked her neck, slowly shifting in and
out of her insides. He could feel Vanessa's tongue all over her neck and back.
Vanessa crawled over and made her way to Candy. She kissed her, sucked on her lips and
trailed down to her large breasts, causing Candy to moan uncontrollably.
Rich pumped harder and harder and Candy screamed with each stroke.
Vanessa eased
between Candy's legs. She managed to get a few stabs of her tongue on Candy's clit as her body
shifted back and forth into ecstasy.
Rich came shortly after. His rapid strokes slowed to a halt.
Vanessa made her way back behind Rich. He turned to her and kissed her, engulfing her
in his arms. Candy turned and hugged him from behind, slipping her leg between his. The trio lie entangled in the nude until they fell asleep.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Candy was seated inside of a McDonald's in Downtown, Brooklyn. She was impatiently
awaiting Domingo's arrival after speaking to him hours earlier. She had met with Domingo once
after their introduction in Red Hook Projects. She had paid him $1,000 to monitor Vera's
movements in and about of her apartment. Candy planned to pay him an additional $1,000 after he helped her with the final stage of her plan for Vera.
Candy's fingers tapped away on the table, as she snacked on some fries. She
gazed out the nearby window, waiting for Domingo to make his appearance on Fulton Street.
She glanced at her watch. It was 9:40 p.m. When she looked up, Domingo was stepping out of the passenger seat of a burgundy Acura truck. “About time,” she mumbled, shaking her head.
Domingo turned his fitted Red Sox hat backwards as the Acura pulled off. He stepped off
the curb and looked around at the huge intersection of Fulton Street and Flatbush Extension. He
lived just five minutes away in Red Hook, but he seemed like a tourist in Brooklyn for the first
time. He put his hands in his pants pockets and paced into the McDonald's and flopped down at
Candy's table. “Hey sweetness.” He grinned.
“Candy. My name is Candy.”
“Still sweet.”
“Your little ass is too much.”
Domingo touched her hand. “You ready to get married, Mamita?”
Candy smiled. “What could your young ass do with a woman like me?”
“First thing I'll do is revoke your lickin’ license. Then I'll take ya ass for a ride and see
what's up with all that junk in ya truck, ya heard?”
“Whatever.” Candy laughed, shaking her head. “So what you got for me?”
Domingo knew when Vera picked up her mail, went food shopping, to and from school plus some other routine trips to destinations Domingo was not sure of.
Candy said, “You're sure about all this?”
“Never doubt the kid, Mamita. Ya boy handle his biz.”
Candy took out her BlackBerry. “Run all that by me again.” She began typing in days, places and times of Vera's movements. “I'm a be in touch with you,” she said, after five minutes of typing. She stood, her thick thighs at eye level with Domingo.
“Mamita?”
“What?”
“That's all I get?”
“I'ma be in touch. When the job is done, you'll get the rest of your money.”
Domingo sighed. “Not that.”
“What?” Candy's eyes squinted.
“I ain't good for a kiss?”
Candy smiled. Then she bent down and pecked Domingo on the lips. She jerked her head
back, just as he opened his mouth and his tongue crept out.”
“Damn, Mamita.” Domingo shook his head. “I ain't know you was no dick teaser.”
Candy grinned.
* * *
“Rich is my man and you need to get off his dick!” Vanessa barked at Chanel.
Candy stepped from the back of the shop when she heard Vanessa's roar.
Chanel headed for Vanessa. “Ain't nobody on no fucking Rich dick!”
“I know because you inside his dick looking out the hole. I need to go home and give him some pussy so he can nut you out,” Vanessa screamed.
Chanel pointed her finger at Vanessa. “Heifer, who the fuck you think you talking to?”
“Hold up, hold up,” Leah said as she and Candy jumped in between the two angry women.
Chanel was huffing, her head shaking slowly. “Candy, you don't know. I will hurt that heifer.”
No you won't. You'll get your ass beat.
“Listen,” Candy said. “This shit gotta stop, right
now!” She pulled Chanel to the back of the shop.
“You don't even know what happened,” Chanel argued.
“I know what Vanessa said about you wanting to fuck Rich is true,” said Candy. “I told
you before to be easy.”
“That's how it's going down, huh?” Chanel asked.
“Business over bullshit. I told you,” Candy said, emphatically. “Just leave her alone.”
Chanel was silent for a few seconds, staring into Candy's eyes. “Whatever.” She walked off.
Candy began breathing slowly, calming herself. She wanted to do nothing more at that
moment than hurt Chanel. Chanel was unaware, but Candy had drawn a line a while ago. Candy's top priority was the well-being of the three-person immediate family of which she was a part. The women at the shop had become extended family.
Candy walked back to the front of the shop. “You okay?” she asked Vanessa, who was
sitting and talking to Leah.
“Chanel was outta control,” Leah said.
“I tried to talk to her before about Rich like you said, Leah.” Vanessa frowned. “She said
I was paranoid.”
“Exactly what happened?” Candy asked.
Leah explained that they were the last ones in the shop and were talking about men being
unfaithful. Chanel made a few snide comments about men manipulating women who were not
street smart. Vanessa ignored her, but then Chanel looked at her and said, “These heifers will go for
anything 'cause they never had a real man.”
“That's when I had to say something,” Vanessa interjected.
“I never seen you so mad,” Candy said.
“You seen that vein poppin' out her head?” Leah joked.
“I don't like her and I don't trust her,” Vanessa said.
“Don't sweat it,” said Candy. “I just spoke to her.”
“Yeah, you got bigger things to focus on,” Leah said, picking up a copy of Vanessa's recently published book
Ghetto Love.
“You're right. My first book signing is coming up next week.”
“Yeah, girl. Focus on that,” Leah said.
Candy was focusing on Chanel. She was fed up with Chanel's games and she knew she
would eventually have to be more forceful if she really wanted to stop the drama between Chanel
and Vanessa from escalating.
Vanessa was inside a small bookstore in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn. She was
seated behind a long table with copies of her books stacked on each side of her. She sipped on a cup of green tea after signing her fifth book for the night.
I'm finally where I need to be.
She stared at a huge poster of her book cover.
Ghetto Love
had been promoted online and she had received good reviews in
Essence
magazine and
The
Village Voice
newspaper. She had been in the book store for a few hours as people wandered
over to her, sporadically purchasing books. The book had been out for two weeks and she did not
know how much it had sold. Judging from the sales at the signing, it would be some time before
she became a best-selling author. But she was still happy to finally have her first book in print.
A 30-something woman with mocha skin and a bright smile
walked up and purchased a
book. “Can you autograph it, please?” she asked.
Vanessa smiled. “Sure.”
“It's for my partner, Denise.”
Partner?
As Vanessa signed the book, the word “partner” was stuck in her ear like wax.
She had heard the term used by gay and lesbian people, but she never considered Candy her partner.
“Thank you,” the woman said. “She's gonna love it.”
“I'm sure she will. Thank you.” Vanessa noticed the woman's curvaceous figure as she walked away. Then she took in the sway of her hips.
She's definitely sexy.
Vanessa didn’t usually see women how she saw Candy. But if she knew a woman was
gay, her lustful tendencies kicked in. It was some type of psychological glitch in her mind. It
made sense because sex was mental for Vanessa. It was the mental intrigue of sex with a woman that had attracted her to Candy.
Another customer stepped up to the table. He was about Vanessa's s age and dressed in a
preppy outfit with loafers and a cardigan. “How are you?” he asked.
“So far, so good.”
“I read the book review in
The Village Voice.”
He nodded. “Sounded interesting, so here I am.”
“What was it in particular that interested you?”
“There was something about trust, and how when trust is broken it can't be restored.”
“Only if there is genuine love. That's one of the major themes in my book.”
“Exactly. That's what it was. One of your characters grapples with being betrayed by his
first love.”
“You'll see. It's a very touching story.”
The man paid for his book. “Thanks.” He walked away, then doubled back. “What inspired
you to write this book?”
“Life and love.”
“Interesting.”
As the man strolled off, Vera walked up from behind Vanessa. Vanessa immediately
thought of the nasty look Vera had given her in the doorway of Candy's office. It was the last
time Vanessa had seen Vera.
“Vanessa,” Vera said. “I'll take one.” She paid for the book and Vanessa remained silent.
“I'd appreciate it if you signed it 'To Vera.' And for the record, I'm not your enemy. I actually
came down here to warn you about Candy.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Come on, Vanessa. I'm far from stupid and my vision is twenty-twenty.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
Vera looked around, then pulled her phone from her handbag. She flashed the screen at Vanessa.
Fuck!
Vanessa's eyes expanded at the sight of a video of Candy eating her out. She knew
immediately that it was their first tryst.
“There's a lot you need to know about who you're dealing with,” Vera said. “It's much
deeper than her making videos.” Vera pulled a card from her pocket and handed it to Vanessa.
“When you're ready to talk, you can find me here.”
Vanessa was in shock. Visions of the video flooded her mind. She didn't even see Vera
walk off. Everything about her relationship with Candy was spinning through her head so fast that she felt dizzy. Betrayal, mistrust, hurt were just a few of the emotions that were too many
to number or name completely. It made no sense to Vanessa. Why would a person who loved
and protected her undermine her? Vanessa realized the video was old—before her
infatuation with Candy elevated to love. Still, that meant their love was rooted in a lie. There was
no telling what else may be in play. How many other videos existed and who had them? But
Vanessa knew who could tell her.
* * *
After the book signing, Vanessa drove straight to Red Hook. She walked into Vera's
apartment. It was a small, nicely furnished home, scented by candles.
“I'm glad you came.” Vera grabbed Vanessa's hand and pulled her inside. She locked the
door and led Vanessa over to a sectional couch in front of a 50-inch flat screen television. “I take it you wasn't too comfortable seeing that video.”
“I didn't know it existed. Did she give that to you?”
“Watch it first, then we'll talk.” Vera turned on the television. In seconds, a wide screen
display of Vanessa and Candy was playing. Vera stepped out of the room.
Vanessa was in awe. Her face was clearly visible on the video. Then Candy kissed her.
She remembered the unusually good feeling of her first kiss from a woman. It was like Vanessa
was experiencing her first time with a woman all over again. Candy went lower, stimulating
Vanessa's breasts, navel, pussy and ass. Vanessa shifted her legs on Vera's couch, becoming aroused. She never knew what her own ecstasy-fueled face looked like. She had never seen a tape of herself doing anything. Now she was watching herself cum on camera.
The tape paused.
Vanessa looked up, spotting Vera's luscious naked body waltzing
toward her with a remote in her hand. Vanessa leaned back. She didn't know what to say or do
as Vera sat beside her and set down the remote. Vera pulled Vanessa's hand on her soft bare
breasts. Vanessa jumped up and stepped away. She was fighting the lust running through her
overheating body. “This is not gonna happen.”
“You sure?” asked Vera.
“Yeah.”
Vera sucked her teeth. “Candy got you open like a research monkey.” Vera stood and
approached Vanessa, backing her into a corner. “She forced her tongue into Vanessa's mouth.”
She tastes so good.
Vanessa shook her face free, breathing heavy.
Vera said, “If you don't want that video on floating around on the internet, I suggest you be a good girl. Let me please you.”
Vanessa felt her world crumbling. All she had done with Rich and Candy to keep their relationship quiet could be compromised by one video of her and Candy.
Vera began unbuttoning Vanessa's blouse. “I wanted you ever since I first saw you on that video.”
Fuck,
Vanessa thought. She wanted to cry. But that changed when she felt Vera sucking her nipples
and slipping her hand between her legs. Vanessa instinctively pulled down her pants. “Ahh,” she purred, as her insides were fingered.
Vera came up, easing her tongue back into Vanessa's mouth. They kissed
passionately like old lovers. Vanessa felt Vera push her downward. Soon Vanessa's tongue was
inside Vera. Her body was sweaty. The taste soaked into Vanessa's tongue each time she
licked Vera's clit. She could feel one of Vera's thick calves wrapped around her neck, followed
by Vera's hand cupping her head. Vera's grip was forceful, yet delicate, a comfort Vanessa
enjoyed. Fingers roamed through her 'fro.
“I'm cumming,” Vera yelled, as her body shook into submission.
As Vera loosened her grip on Vanessa, the reality of Vanessa's bittersweet predicament
set in. She felt used. Used by Candy. Used by Vera. She felt dirty and cheap. And she still felt guilty
for cheating on Rich. She realized that if she had been faithful to him in the first place, she wouldn’t be in her current situation
.