Little Black Girl Lost (26 page)

N
apoleon convinced Johnnie to keep their rendezvous at the chic Bel Glades Hotel. He reserved the honeymoon suite. The suite was filled with long-stemmed red roses and candles, giving the room a romantic ambiance. He knew Johnnie would be apprehensive and cold. To her, it was only a chore she had to complete. Like ironing clothes, it was something that had to be done but no pleasure was derived from it.

Napoleon didn't want an unemotional, detached romp. He wanted her to take an active part in the interlude. He wanted her to be reckless, to throw herself into the night and be liberated from her sense of loyalty to Lucas. In short, he wanted her to want him as much as he wanted her. To him, that was the only way sex could be truly enjoyed.

Johnnie was afraid to be seen riding in his car, and agreed to meet Napoleon in the parking lot of the hotel. She remembered what it was like to ride through her old neighborhood with Earl when Billy Logan yelled “Ya whore!” at her as they rode down the street. She felt bad enough that she was betraying Lucas, but she also disregarded Sadie's sisterly advice, which was another reason she didn't want Napoleon to pick her up.

Johnnie was astonished by the luxurious hotel's marbled floors and massive pillars, which stretched up to the ceiling. Without thinking, she said, “Wow.”

When Napoleon heard her, he knew she had just lowered her guard, if only a little. It was what he hoped would happen. As far as he was concerned, all women craved power, riches, and beautiful things. It was like a sweet pastry to them—hard to resist. His tool stiffened, and an almost invisible victorious smile appeared.

When the employees spoke to him using his first name, suddenly Johnnie felt like a piece of meat on a very expensive hook. Johnnie's attitude changed and Napoleon could feel the vibe.

Stepping into the elevator, Napoleon said, “What's wrong? Don't you like the hotel?”

“It's okay,” she said dryly.

Napoleon fell silent as he considered what just happened. He could tell by the sullen look on her face that she was upset because she no longer felt special. They exited the elevator on the top floor and entered the honeymoon suite, complete with his and hers bathrooms.

Johnnie gasped when she saw that the luxurious suite was full of roses. The sweet scent filled the room and she inhaled deeply. Although she didn't want to be, Johnnie was impressed.

“Make yourself at home,” Napoleon said in a low, romantic voice. “We have all night.”

She scanned the room and was taken in by the picture window. From where she was standing, she could see the city lights of her native New Orleans. “The city is beautiful at night,” she heard herself say.

“Yes, it is,” he agreed. “Would you like to see it from the terrace, Johnnie?”

“Yeah. Why not?”

Just before walking out to the terrace, she noticed the enticing aroma of the dinner he'd ordered for them. She wondered what they were going to have—it smelled marvelous. When he opened the terrace door, a cool breeze swirled around them. The breeze was the perfect antidote to the blistering August night. New Orleans was usually an inferno in late summer.

“Johnnie,” Napoleon called to her softly. “I'm not going to bullshit you, okay? I love women, and black women in particular. Sure, I've had other women here. I'm not going to lie about that. But none more gracious, none more lovely, none more stylish than you.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better about what I'm doing?” she said disapprovingly.

“Well, it's supposed to make you feel better about me. In the business I'm in, I don't meet a lot of honest people.”

“What makes me so special, Napoleon?”

“Your innocence,” he said sincerely.

“What do you mean?”

“You have an innocent way about you that hasn't been corrupted, even though you've done some not-so-innocent things. It's hard to explain, but it's your innocence that attracts me, not just your beauty.”

Johnnie looked over the cement baluster to see what the street looked like from the fiftieth floor. “Everything looks so small from here,” she said.

“See, that's what I mean, Johnnie.”

“What?” she asked naïvely.

“You say that like you didn't realize things would appear smaller from this height. It's like you don't know these things or something.”

“Well, I'm only sixteen,” Johnnie said, feeling the need to defend herself.

“Yeah, but you look like a woman,” he said, turning a deaf ear to her youth. “You act like a woman. And that's the attraction, don't you see? You have the face and body of a woman and the innocence of a child. Men are going to want to protect you. That's what we enjoy.”

“Protect me from what?” Johnnie asked, still looking at the street.

He turned her around to face him, then gently lifted her chin so that he could look into her eyes. When she looked at him, she could feel his powerful aura. “Anything and everything. All the evil of this world.” And with that, he kissed her. “Come on. Let's eat.”

N
apoleon escorted Johnnie to the dining room table and held her chair until she was comfortable. Then he lit all the candles on the table. He smiled at her when he turned off the lights and took his seat at the other end of the table.

For the first time that night, Johnnie smiled and relaxed. After bowing her head, she said a short prayer of thanksgiving, then anxiously lifted the lid and looked at the food that smelled so wonderful. Their dinner consisted of honeyed pot roast, turnips, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, fried jumbo shrimp, lobster, fried perch, greens, and a German chocolate cake.

“Why did you order so much food, Napoleon?”

“I didn't order it from the hotel. I had it brought here, just for you. I didn't know what you would want, so I ordered a lot. I can get more if you want.”

“No, this is enough. Can I take some with me when I leave?”

Napoleon laughed. “Sure, take as much as you like.” He sat quietly, watching her fill her plate, enjoying the view. She was almost finished before she realized he hadn't eaten anything.

“Aren't you going to eat something?”

Napoleon popped the cork on a bottle of white wine and poured some in her wineglass, then he sat in the seat next to her. “Sure, I'm going to eat something tonight. I was just hoping it would be you.” He grinned and picked up one of the shrimp. “Here, try one of these.”

Johnnie opened her mouth and allowed him to feed her the shrimp, then washed it down with a swallow of white wine. She choked on the wine a little.

“Is this your first time having wine?” he asked her.

“Yes.”

“You have so much to learn, Johnnie. I would love to open a whole new world for you, if you let me.”

She took another sip of her wine and said, “Well, I hope you can show it to me tonight, because that's all you get. Remember?”

“I was hoping to change that agreement, if you're willing, of course.”

“I'm not willing, Napoleon. You wanted me for one night. That's all I'm giving you. As a matter of fact, I'm finished eating. Let's get to it so I can go home. Where's the bathroom so I can change?”

“It's right behind you.”

She turned around and looked through the darkened suite, spotting her bathroom. She drained the rest of her wine then left the table to change. Turning on the light, she saw four dozen roses on the wall to wall counter. A smile emerged. She undressed and looked at her naked body in the full-length mirror on the bathroom door, then put on a sheer red negligee. When she opened the door to leave, she had a real appreciation for all the candles in the room for the first time.

Napoleon had rearranged the candles while Johnnie was in the bathroom changing, creating a path to the bed, where he waited for her. He watched her approaching the bed, his lust ever growing as her silhouette became more and more clear. When he stood up to greet Johnnie, her eyes immediately dropped to his penis.

She gasped slightly when she saw how big he was. Her experiences with Earl and Martin led her to believe that all white men had small penises.

“Don't worry, baby,” he beamed. “Napoleon ain't gon' hurt you with the snake. It don't bite.”

Nervously, she walked up three steps and crawled into the king-sized bed. They were in the darkest part of the room until Napoleon lit the candles on the headboard. “Don't be nervous, Johnnie,” he said.

“I'm not,” she answered.

He knew she was lying, but didn't care. “I promise I won't hurt you, okay?”

“Okay,” she said, determined to get through it as quickly as possible so she could go home.

Sliding over to her, Napoleon felt the warmth of her youthful body and the irritating fabric of the negligee. “Take this off,” he whispered.

With both hands, she pulled the garment over her head and lay motionless next to him. Napoleon took a long, admiring look at her incredibly developed body. His desire to be inside her became almost unbearable, but he knew he had to put a leash on his lust. Being the ladies' man that he was, he knew that kissing was the one aspect of foreplay that most women couldn't resist. Diving in with both lips, he kissed her inviting, thick mouth. He felt her body reject his touch and ignored it. The wine would kick in soon, he thought.

His persistent kissing paid off. After about twenty minutes, she was kissing him back. Feeling like he had the green light to touch her, he did. Napoleon slid his hand down her side, around her wide hips, and down to her naturally muscular thighs. She flinched slightly. He ignored it and continued his approach to the land of gold—the only human organ in the world that relieved stress and gave indescribable pleasure at the same time.

Gently, he touched her forbidden zone and felt her sticky fluid. The sensation he felt at the moment had to be fought. His lust begged him to enter her, but his goal demanded patience, so he waited. He continued to stroke her there, softly, and her body betrayed her. Knowing she was letting go, he encouraged her by continuing to do the thing she enjoyed.

“Just do it,” she begged, “so I can go.”

“Not yet, baby. Not yet. This is my only night. Let me enjoy it.”

“But I gotta go, Napoleon,” she pleaded.

“Shhhhhhhhh,” he said, taking one of her sizable nipples into his mouth while continuing to stroke her.

“Don't do that, Napoleon. Please don't do that,” she beseeched.

“Why not?” he asked, coming up for air.

“ 'Cause it feels too good.”

“You think that feels good? This is just the beginning of what I have in store for you.”

With his tongue, he made circles around her nipples and began the long trek to the land of gold. After reaching it, he lapped for what seemed like an eternity, letting her sensitivity be his guide.

Johnnie tried, but her body demanded liberation and she gave into it. She began to scream and she didn't care. It felt that good. With her legs on his shoulders, Napoleon began to impale her with his long tongue. Having lost any semblance of control, Johnnie pumped him in the face until she came—loudly. Then he slid his tongue back up to her breasts and licked them until she moaned.

“Stick it in me now,” she demanded. “I want it now!”

Positioning himself to enter, he did it with ferocity. They pumped hard and steady. Johnnie could feel herself on the verge of another orgasm and pumped faster. They slammed their bodies together so savagely that each time they touched, the smacking of their bellies could be heard over their moans.

Napoleon was digging all nine inches into her with no problem, and it turned him on even more. Suddenly, he felt her nails in his back. He could tell she was close now. The bedsprings howled and the headboard banged against the wall. Napoleon could hear a constant thud over and over again; the bed coming off the floor, then slamming down again. Finally, they came together. Exhausted, he heaved heavily.

“That was great, wasn't it, baby?” he asked her. Hearing no response, he found the strength to raise his head. He looked down at her. He could see that she was still breathing, but Johnnie had passed out from the intensity of the orgasm.

I
t was 4 o'clock in the morning when Johnnie woke up. She opened her eyes, expecting to see Napoleon, but he was gone. He had blown out the candles before he left, leaving the room completely dark. She rolled over onto her back and began to consider just what had happened that night.

She felt terrible for giving herself to Napoleon and even worse for enjoying it so much. To date, Napoleon was definitely the best lover of the four men she'd known. She thought about their sexual encounter and without intending to, began to relive it. As she imagined everything that happened between them, she grew angry at Napoleon for making her beg him to enter her. The last thing she wanted to do was have him inside her, but to actually beg for it? She hated him. Although she was glad it was over, a small part of her wanted it to happen again; that angered her too.

Johnnie swung her legs over the side of the bed. She decided to take a shower and get home as soon as she could. When she turned on the light in the bathroom, she saw a note from Napoleon that read:

Johnnie folded the note and put it in her purse, then climbed into the shower.

 

 

“Where the fuck you been?” Johnnie heard Lucas ask when she entered the house.

Startled, she recoiled and said, “Lucas, you scared me to death. How did you get in?”

“Through the window over the kitchen sink. I broke your plant coming in.”

Johnnie looked at the window and tossed her purse on the counter. The poinsettia was missing. She went over to the window and locked it. “I thought I locked this window,” she said, buying time to think of just the right answer.

“So, where you been?” he repeated.

“Well, at least you asked me without being profane this time.” She frowned. “Why do you ask questions that you really don't want to know the answers to?”

“So, you was with Earl again?” he asked rhetorically. “When you gon' leave that white man alone?”

“This was the last time,” she said, grateful he had supplied his own answer. “His wife found out about it and put a stop to it. Apparently her father was killed in an accident and left everything, including Buchanan Mutual, to her.”

“So, this was one last fuck, huh?” Lucas said more than asked.

“Since you won't respect me, I'll ask you the same question. Did you fuck Marla yet?”

“No.”

Johnnie rolled her eyes. “Don't lie, Lucas. I know you did.”

“How?”

“A woman knows these things about her man,” she said, still frowning. “What do you think is going to happen if certain people find out what you did? You could get killed. Did you ever think about that? That you could be killed for what you did?”

“Yeah, I thought about it,” he said, lowering his eyes.

“So, you did do it with her,” she confirmed. “Well, you better stop.”

“Why you so worried about it, Johnnie? Do you know something I don't?”

“I know you're the typical male that has trouble turning down pussy. I know that.”

Lucas walked over to her and took her in his arms. “I love you, baby.”

“Would you do anything for me? Would you do anything to keep me safe, to keep me from being killed? Would you sacrifice yourself for me, Lucas? I would sacrifice myself for you. I would do anything to keep something bad from happening to you. Anything at all. I love you that much. Do you understand that? Do you? Please tell me you do.”

“I understand, baby. But what's this all about? Did Earl find out about me or what?”

“No. And we don't have to worry about him anymore,” she said, thinking of a convenient way to change the subject. “Guess what? Not only is Earl outta the picture, I got some money outta the deal.”

“Oh yeah? How much?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Just a few thousand.”

“A few thousand, huh?”

“Yeah, a few. And Earl is gone forever.”

“Forever, huh?” he said, smiling for the first time. “So, it's just you and me now, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Let's go upstairs and celebrate then,” Lucas said. “I know you ain't tired from being with a white man. It was just the regular thirty-second deal, I'll bet. Cain't no white man put it on you the way I do. Ain't that right, baby?”

“That's right,” Johnnie said without hesitation.

“Why don't you go on upstairs and get ready for me? I wanna get something to drink.”

“Okay, I'll be waiting,” she said and went upstairs.

Lucas opened the refrigerator and took out the orange juice. He opened the cabinet door to get a glass and saw Johnnie's purse. He poured himself some juice and drank it straight down, he rinsed the glass, then turned to go upstairs. But his curiosity got the better of him. He was warned by his mother to never go into a woman's purse, just as he was told to never go into the girls' restroom in school. He had to see what they kept in those little bags that was so important.

He went back to the counter and picked up the purse, then looked back at the door to make sure Johnnie hadn't come back. He opened the purse and looked inside. At first glance, there was nothing worth hiding in there; just some keys, some money, a makeup kit and a few other odds and ends. He reached inside and grabbed the money to see how much she had. When he pulled it out, the note from Napoleon came out with the money. After reading the note, it all became clear. She was telling him that if she hadn't slept with Napoleon, he might be dead now.

“Is everything okay down there, Lucas?” Johnnie shouted.

“Yeah. I'm on my way up,” he said, putting everything back in the purse.

“Can you bring my purse?”