Trevor waited for Alicia to finish patiently. Then, in the sinister, soft voice he used right before he used to beat the hell out of her, he said, “Listen to me. Listen to me real good, because I’m not going to repeat myself. If you ever talk to me that way again, I’m gonna come over there and kick your ass and that nigga’s ass. You got the nerve to take my loot and think I’m not going to call? You think you can play me or something? I own you, Alicia. Ever since I popped that cherry of yours, I’ve owned you. That nigga might rent the pussy, but both of you remember who owns it. Oh, by the way, it was your drunk-ass daddy who gave me your number. For a can of beer.”
Alicia slipped out of her clothes as she listened to Trevor rant. Her mind was on getting back to Kevin to finish what they had just started. Admiring the picture of Kevin on her dresser while she listened to Trevor shout, she realized that he no longer had any power over her.
“You don’t own anything, not even the shirt on your back,” she calmly told him when he finished his tirade. “Trevor, the only reason I got your money is because Child Support was gonna lock your ass up. What you need to do, Trevor Raymond Hill, is grow up and be a father. Oh, yeah, and about my man. He’s built like a brick shithouse. So if you’re gonna bring your coward ass over here, bring it now, because we plan on making love for the next few hours. That’s hours, not minutes, like you.” Alicia waited a few seconds for a response, then hung up when there was none.
Aware that her man was still waiting in the other room and probably upset by then, Alicia slipped quickly into her teddy and a pair of red high-heeled shoes. She checked herself in the mirror. “You look good girl.” She laughed.
Slipping into a robe, she frantically began looking through her dresser drawers for the condoms she bought. Giving up, she finally went to an old goody bag from a bachelorette party and found one. She placed it in a small jewelry box and smiled broadly, whispering, “Merry Christmas, Kevin.”
Kevin was still sitting on the couch, steaming, when Alicia yelled from her bedroom, “I’m going to turn out the lights so I can bring out your present.”
“This is not a time for presents, we need to talk!” he shouted from the living room.
“We can talk all night after I give you my present.” She turned out the lights and walked into the living room, stopping about three feet in front of him. “You can see, can’t you?” she teased.
“No, I can’t,” he said honestly, “but I really need to say something to you.”
“Kevin, your eyes are going to adjust to the light in a minute. Will you just relax and let me give you your present?” She handed him the box and slipped out of the robe, trying to strike a sexy pose before the lights came on. “There are two parts to your present. One is in the box, the other’s over here. There’s a light on the coffee table to your right Why don’t you turn it on so you can see?”
“Alicia, I can’t accept any present,” Kevin said sadly
“Why not?” Alicia was getting tired of posing and wished he would just stop it and turn the light on.
“Because I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”
Alicia’s arms dropped to her sides. “Look, Kevin, I’m sorry about Trevor calling so late. I’ll even change my number if it’ll make you feel better. Just turn on the light, sweetheart, so that I can give you your present.” Alicia was frustrated and really pissed at Trevor. With one phone call he had turned what should have been a perfect evening with Kevin into a fiasco.
“I don’t want your fucking present, Alicia! And this is not about that phone call. This is about you fucking that motherfucker Trevor! How the fuck could you do this to me?” He slammed his hand down on the coffee table, breaking the glass.
Alicia was so shocked that she couldn’t speak. Kevin had never acted like this, and she really didn’t like this side of him.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked, reaching over to turn on the light.
Kevin looked up and saw Alicia’s half-exposed body. For a brief second he let go of his anger and admired what he had lusted over for so long. The thought entered his mind to have sex with Alicia one time, then dump her. But he dismissed that thought knowing that if he slept with her once, he would want to do it again.
“Oh, my God, Kevin, you’re bleeding!” She reached over to help him. But Kevin, not wanting to be touched, accidentally pushed her to the ground.
“Now see what you made me do,” he apologized, offering her a hand up.
“That’s the same shit Trevor used to say right after he beat the shit out of me.”
Alicia looked with tear-stained eyes at the broken table and then at the blood on her cut hand. It was starting to seem like she’d gotten herself involved in another violent relationship. This time she was determined not to let it go on the way she had in the past. Alicia was crying as she walked to the kitchen phone.
“Now who the fuck are you calling?” Kevin took a paper napkin to stop his hand from bleeding.
“The police!” she shouted, trembling.
“Alicia, there’s no reason to call the police. Look, I’m sorry I pushed you. I just can’t believe you would cheat on me like this.” Kevin looked down at the broken coffee table. He was in trouble if she called the police, and the last thing he wanted was to go to jail on Christmas Eve.
“Please, Kevin! Didn’t nobody cheat on you. Why the fuck would I mess with Trevor when I love your stupid ass?”
“I love you too.” Kevin followed her and was now crying himself. He was starting to think he had made a big mistake. “You have a funny way of showing it.” She placed the phone by her ear. “Now get out of my fucking house or I’m really calling the police.”
Kevin eyes pleaded with Alicia as he walked past her to the door. “Alicia, please. Let’s sit down and talk like adults. We can work this out.”
“Save it for someone who cares, Kevin. You’re the one who wanted to break up.” She held the door open to let him know she wasn’t changing her mind. “Oh, and, Kevin, your mother was wrong.”
“Wrong about what?”
“This watch.” She threw it at him. “Your time isn’t up. It never really got started. Stupid ass!”
He looked at her in the red teddy as she closed the door. “Goddammit. I think I just made the biggest mistake since I smoked that joint in North Carolina.”
16
TYRONE AND SYLVIA
Sylvia gave her most seductive pose in front of the mirror as she admired her new Victoria’s Secret thong. Across her bed were strewn several other pieces of lingerie she had also purchased. She planned to try on each and every one, enjoying how the soft fabrics felt against her skin.
She looked good, and she knew it, as she admired her womanly curves. While she had always known she was an attractive woman, she had a newfound confidence about her desirability. Tyrone’s sweet flattery had convinced her that the sexual problems in her marriage were not hers but her husband’s. He made her feel more desirable with his words than Maurice had done in bed in all their years of marriage. In past years especially, Maurice was a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’ am kind of lover, and it made Sylvia feel like it didn’t matter who she was or how she looked. If she was a piece of meat, Maurice would have been just as interested. But Tyrone seemed more interested in making her feel good than in getting her in bed. In fact, Sylvia had been the one trying to seduce him. Tyrone seemed more concerned with boosting her self-image, and she was falling for him quickly because of it.
She’d indeed come a long way in a short time. With Tyrone’s encouragement she threw away all her old briefs and cumbersome bras and spent a fortune at Frederick’s of Hollywood and Victoria’s Secret. She now sported a sexy, short hairstyle and made a habit of borrowing from her daughter’s closet. It was incredible the kind influence that Throne had on her, and it had loosened the grip Maurice had held on her emotions. As she drifted away from him, she felt herself more capable of loving, and her feelings for Tyrone grew stronger. She often thought of taking their relationship beyond friendship.
Unfortunately Tyrone didn’t seem to be interested in taking things a step further, so they had met in person only two times. Both times. Sylvia had tried to get him to make love to her, and both times Tyrone had declined. He would leave her with a lustful kiss and a promise that when the time was right, they would make love beyond her wildest imagination. Sylvia couldn’t understand a man who didn’t take it as soon as it was offered, and she hoped he wasn’t just stringing her along.
In the meantime she had to be satisfied with the occasional phone sex they were having. As she modeled her lingerie in front of the mirror, she found her thoughts drifting to sex, so she picked up the phone to call Tyrone.
Tyrone. smiled as he flicked on his cell phone. “Hey, baby, what’s up?” It was 3:15, so he knew it would be Sylvia making her daily call.
“I’ll tell you what I want to be up,” Sylvia purred into the phone.
“Is that all you ever think about?” he teased.
“When it comes to you, yes!” she said, only half joking.
“Damn, woman! Can’t you appreciate me for anything more than my body?”
“Sure I can. How about your tongue?”
“You’re a trip. You know that?”
“Only because you make me this way. Oh, by the way, tomorrow’s Christmas Eve and my family’s left me home alone. My husband went skiing in Vermont, and my daughter’s in the Bahamas. I was hoping we could spend some time together before you leave for Virginia. Maybe have dinner and exchange gifts?”
“Aw’ight, Sylvia, that sounds like a plan. Why don’t you pick me up at the comer of Hillside and Parsons tomorrow at four?”
Sylvia could barely hold back her excitement. “I’ll be there at four o’clock sharp. Bye, Tyrone.”
“God, I want to make love to you,” he told her in a sultry voice, sensing her anticipation.
He hung up the phone before he heard Sylvia reply, “Promises, promises.”
Tyrone was whistling as he began his rounds, checking each hallway of the school. Not saying good-bye to Sylvia had been a deliberate act on his part. It was Tyrone’s belief that lovemaking was really a game, and if you learned the rules to any game, you could win. Reaching into his wallet, he pulled out a worn piece of paper he had been carrying since his days in prison.
Tyrone’s 10 Rules To Satisfy A Woman
1.
If you like her, hold out at least three months. (This will drive her crazy and make you more mysterious.)
2.
Try to refrain from seeing her more than once a week (Temptation is a hard thing to resist, especially in a beautiful woman.)
3.
When you kiss her, make it count. (Give her an idea of what your tongue can do.)
4.
While you’re holding out, tell her what you plan on doing to her sexually. (Always best to do this by
phone.)
5.
Sex is at least 50 percent mental. The things you tell her should be stimulating to a woman. (You want to make her fantasize about you.) Remember, the more she wants it, the better it will be when she gets it.
6.
Ask her questions. Find out what she likes and dislikes.
7.
Any woman can make a man come, but not every man can make a woman come. (This means you do whatever it takes to get the job done and you’ll be her hero.)
8.
Take your time and use a lot of foreplay. (Slow and steady wins the race.)
9.
Oral sex is the key to success. (Don’t stop until she tells you to!)
10.
If she’s satisfied, you’re satisfied. (No rule could be truer.)
Damn, he thought. I sure had a lot of free time on my hands in prison to be writing this.
Still, Tyrone believed there was truth in what he had written so long ago, and he smiled as he realized he had completed rules one through six. He was definitely looking forward to number seven through ten. Though he was making her wait, Sylvia had ignited a fire in him too.
It was about quarter to four Christmas Eve when Tyrone walked up the stairs from the F train. He had just spent a few hours with his two daughters and was truly feeling good about himself. He smiled as he looked in the bag of Christmas presents his girls had given him. His girls were growing up fast, and they made him proud.
Sylvia’s Mercedes pulled up to the curb. Opening the door and sliding into the passenger seat, Tyrone grinned at Sylvia.
“Hey, baby” He moved a little closer and pressed his lips against hers.
“My Lord, what’s put you into this mood? For kisses like that, I’ll pick you up every day”
Tyrone chuckled as Sylvia pulled away from the curb. “Where are we headed, Sylvia?”