Maneater (19 page)

I
f I thought Blow was acting foul before, it was nothing compared to how he nutted up after I had my surgery. He bust up in my bedroom two days after my breast reduction with two lame cats from the team and our boy Tomere, who was swinging a tiny pink bra over his head like a lasso.

“What size you wearing now, niggah?” Tomere laughed.

I was laying in bed, bandaged up and sore as hell.

“Ribs got his titties cut! Ribs got his titties cut!”

Blow was worse than a little kid, and I woulda kicked his ass if I could have.

“Lemme see one of them things, man. You sure you wanted to get rid of those? Ain't like you messing around and squeezing nobody else's. What they do? Suck the fat outta ya nipple, man? Damn! That shit sounds
fucked up!
”

I endured their torment like I always did, but these days I saw that shit for what it was. We weren't kids in college no fuckin' more. This wasn't no frat house bullshitting by cool brothers who just liked to clown. Nah, Blow's shit had risen to a whole new level. Nap's and Tomere's, too. Between the drugs, the young girls, the shady business deals, and the phony front companies, those dudes were set to self-destruct.

 

It was a couple of weeks before my swelling started to go down, and I was amazed at what I saw! I had mad muscles! My shit was looking tight! My surgeon had promised that even more results would begin to show over the next few weeks as the swelling completely disappeared, but the results already looked hot to me.

I fucked Blow's head up a few nights later. He was having some renovations done on my end of the crib, so I was forced to use the bathroom on the other side of the kitchen. Nobody was around except me and him, so I walked through the living room naked while he was sitting on the sofa watching an old game tape.

“Damn, niggah!” he shouted as I strolled past him looking like a prizefighter. “I don't wanna see ya fuckin nuts!” But his eyes were buck wild and he was staring at me like a mahfuckah! I'd lost close to seventy pounds of fat and gained about thirty pounds of muscle. The look on Blow's face was priceless! He was fuckin' jealous! Blow had never seen me ass-naked before, but I'd sure seen what he was holding! That niggah couldn't believe how fit I was, or how long my dick was neither!

“Whattup,” I nodded, then cupped my big nuts as I strolled on by. Blow's mouth was wide open, and I laughed inside as I stepped into the small bathroom to take a piss. I left the door open on purpose too, 'cause I had something Blow didn't have, and now he knew it. Standing in front of the toilet, I dangled my hose over the bowl and let my water flow, and then in a voice loud enough and deep enough for Blow to catch my fuckin' drift, I hollered, “God
damn
this toilet water is cold!”

 

It was Saturday morning and Tee and I were going out looking at apartments. She had compiled a list of places that weren't too far from the stadium and were within my price range, and I was looking forward to seeing what was available out there.

It had been a minute since I'd talked to Tee, even though we still did kickboxing together twice a week. She'd been by the crib and had even e-mailed me a few times to ask a few questions about what features I was looking for in a crib and which areas I'd like to live in.

I figured out that I'd been avoiding Tee without even realizing it. Seeing her with Blow wasn't easy. That shit really hurt. That fool didn't deserve to have a winner like Tee, and I couldn't understand what she saw in him, either.

“We've got four appointments,” Tee said, crossing her legs under her long black skirt and putting her purse on the floor. I'd held her door open, and when I got in on the driver's side she reached over to give me a friendly hug. “Two in North Jersey and two a little further south. I figured we'd hit the closest two first, then work our way out from there. Okay?”

Whatever Tee said was cool with me. I punched the first address into my GPS system, then pulled into traffic as she chattered away about the features in this crib and the number of rooms in that one.

The first place we looked at just wasn't it. The crib itself was cool, but the neighborhood was almost tapped out. Trap boys were on the corner conducting business in broad daylight, and we had to walk through a group of three or four of them on the way out the building.

“It's cool,” I told Tee as we walked through the lobby. I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. Then I nodded at them young thugs like I had a big toolie in my pocket and guided Tee through with no problem.

I was still holding Tee real close when we got to the curb. For once Old Oscar didn't have shit to say. Them thugs had punked him out and he stayed his ass downstairs with his one eye closed. But something was going on between me and Tee, and it didn't seem one sided neither because she walked to the car leaning into me like in my arms was where she wanted to be.

“Thanks,” she said, moving away as I unlocked the car and held the car door open for her. “That was nice of you, but I wasn't scared back there, you know.”

Shit! I thought.
I
was! Them boys had looked at me with a little bit of respect, but it probably wouldn'ta gone down like that if I was still fat. People treated me real different now that I had a tight physique, and I guess I was carrying myself differently too.

“Oh, so you a G or something? You got some gangsta in you?” I joked. “You got a burner in that little pocketbook or something?”

Tee laughed.

“I might just be strapped. I'm from Harlem, remember? I'm not as innocent as I look. I can handle mine.”

It was my turn to laugh. “I'm not crazy enough to underestimate you, baby. You dealing with my man Blow, so you better be able to handle yours. You seem pretty bullshit proof, and that's why I can't figure that shit out.”

“Figure what out?”

I shrugged and shut up. I was really digging Tee, but it wasn't for me to tell her nothing about her man.

The next place we looked at had already been rented out. Tee went off on the landlord for not calling her to cancel our appointment, but I told her it was all good because I wasn't crazy about the joint anyway.

“Sorry about that,” she apologized when we were back in the car. “I'm a professional, Rishawn, and anything I get into I take very seriously. I called this morning to confirm our appointment and he told me that we were still on. I'm very thorough when I make plans and I hate wasting time.”

She wasn't wasting my time. I was hyped just to be near her and I woulda been cool with driving her around in circles all damned day.

I was impressed with the next crib before we even got out the car. It was on the fifth floor of a nice building that had a little doorman standing outside and everything.

“This one is a bit pricey,” Tee said as we walked inside the lobby, “but as you can see by the decor, it's a lot nicer than most.”

She gave me that gorgeous smile as we waited for the elevator, and I smiled right back. When the elevator came we got on and Tee pressed five.

“Now, I know you said you wanted a two-bedroom,” she said as the doors closed and we lifted up, “but I put this one on the list because it has a full bedroom and a loft that's really—”

A sudden jolt threw her against me and the lights flickered out. The elevator jerked to a stop, its momentum tossing us around. We were stuck as fuck. We banged on the doors and stomped our feet and all that, but that baby didn't move.

“Hold up,” Tee said. She dug in her purse and got her cell phone, then clicked it on and examined the elevator panel in the dim light. “I'm from the projects, ya know? We know elevators. There's an alarm button on here that'll make all kinds of noise.”

Tee leaned on the button and the noise was instantly off the chart.

“Lemme get that,” I said, moving her hand. “Stick your fingers in your ears so you don't go deaf.”

Pretty soon we heard banging coming from below us, and I raised up off the button.

“They'll be sending somebody in a minute,” Tee said in the darkness. “We just have to chill and wait.”

And that's exactly what we did. Leaning against the walls, we talked for about twenty minutes, and when nobody came to get us out neither one of us sweated that shit. Tee had some good conversation. I was digging her flow like crazy in the darkness, and something bold jumped up in a brother because I found myself wanting to be closer to her.

“Come over here,” I said, even though I was already moving toward her. My hands searched for her on their own, and when they found her I pulled her next to me and held her close. To my surprise, Tee's arms went around my neck and the next thing I knew we were kissing, with Tee taking the lead and me following. Old Oscar was up outta the basement and just a hollering, and I backed off just a little 'cause I didn't want to scare her.

Tee's hands were on my arms, roaming and squeezing, and where she would have found lumps of fat in the past was now all muscle. I slid my hand down her back and cupped her ass through her skirt, balancing the weight of it in my palm.

Squeezing gently, I pulled her close until our groins collided, grinding deeply against her as I moaned and breathed the scent of her hair.

“Rishawn,” she whispered, breaking our kiss.

I used the opportunity to move my lips down her body, licking the top of one breast through the open neck of her shirt. Tee put her head back and offered me the whole thing, and my fingers were quick on her buttons. Her nipples were like hot bullets in her bra, and I released one breast and covered the tip with my lips.

We were both moaning as I ran my tongue back and forth over her peak, that warm brown titty in my mouth the best damn thing I had ever tasted. Well, almost the best thing.

Something got into me and I found myself on my knees, lifting her skirt. Her scent was out of this world, and I pushed my face between her legs and inhaled as deep as I could. I pulled her panties aside and parted her pussy lips with my tongue, then lapped at her softness with wet, gentle strokes.

It had been a real long time since I'd had the taste of pussy in my mouth. Far too long. Tee was dripping with juice and I couldn't get enough of it. She hiked her skirt higher and threw one leg over my shoulder, then her hands were on my head, on my cheeks, guiding me to her spot. She talked to me too. Gently, like she appreciated what I was giving her. “Yeah, baby. Just like that. Oh my God…my clit…lick my clit. Now back inside. Put your tongue inside me. That feels so good. Yes, squeeze my ass. Damn, Rishawn, you make me feel so good, baby.”

I felt the storm building up inside her, and when her muscles clenched and she arched her back, I knew what time it was. It was that time for me, too, and for once I wasn't ashamed as Oscar did his thing and filled my drawers with that hot sticky love. Me and Tee came together. Her in my mouth, and me…well, y'all know how I usually do it. But it was good for both of us, and even though Tee belonged to someone else, for that moment she was all mine.

Afterward, we laughed quietly in the dark. Tee took some tissues from her purse and I helped her get cleaned up, then took care of Oscar's mess the best I could. I expected things to get kinda awkward, but they didn't. Instead, Tee and I learned some things about each other, we laughed, and we shared some of our hopes and dreams. By the time the firemen arrived to get us out, Tee and I were close. Something between us had really clicked. We'd done some bonding during those ninety hot minutes in the dark, and even though we had missed our appointment, I'd found something with Tee that for me was much more than just for the moment.

I
was meeting Sugar for lunch at a salad shop in Manhattan. We'd been hanging out together after our workouts, and I felt like we were starting to get pretty close. So close that it fucked with my head to know the things I did about Nap, and I didn't believe he deserved a girl like Sugar. I knew for sure that she didn't deserve a bonehead like him.

We'd taken a nice long jog the day before, and I was watching her towel off when we'd finished. Some shit just came down on a playa, y'all. I swear. I was used to keeping secrets, but sometimes being down for somebody else's cause meant you really didn't have one of your own. Sugar looked so innocent standing there in her purple and white jogging outfit that it fucked with my heart and I opened my mouth and committed a series of deadly sins.

“You a cool lady,” I told Sugar as we headed inside the gym to shower and change clothes. “I don't think I ever really thanked you for butting into my life and making it so much better.”

She laughed and leaned against a row of lockers with one foot up behind her. “No thanks necessary. I'm the one who should be thanking you.”

“I don't know about that,” I said, “but I like you, Sugar. I think you're a winner and you deserve the best. And because of that,” I said, pulling the ends of my towel then flicking it at her playfully, “I'm gonna tell you a little secret.”

I pulled Sugar over to a little wooden bench and sat her down, then I ran down all the dirty, diabolical, dastardly shit that Nap had participated in, going all the way back to our college days in the frat house. I violated some major fuckin' laws, and I coulda had my playa card torn up on the spot. But I didn't care. I was tired of all the grimy shit I'd seen and heard, and a winner like Sugar deserved to know what kind of shithead she was dealing with.

So I told her. Yeah, I did. I opened my mouth and crossed the line and shit all over Nap with a vengeance. I shit on Blow and Tomere too, just so my other two homeys wouldn't feel left out. Instead of looking stunned and pissed off like I thought she would, Sugar looked fuckin' amused.

“So you mean to tell me that your best friends are bankrolling drugs in the hood, shaving points for bookies, running internet gambling schemes, and cheating the IRS out of thousands of dollars?”

I shrugged and thought about Nap's bullshit business ventures, all the young girls Tomere had turned out, and the dirty, career-ending injuries that Blow had caused over the years. “Yeah,” I admitted. “That and a whole lot of other shit too.”

Sugar shook her head and got real gutter. “Those dumb motherfuckers just don't know who they fucking with. But they will.”

Oh, so she
was
mad.

“Don't let it get to you, baby,” I said, waving my hand. “I just wanted you to know what kinda dirt you hanging around with. That way you can keep yourself clean.”

Sugar grinned. “Thanks, Rishawn. For looking out for me. I really appreciate you putting me down on Napoleon like that.” She reached for my hand. “But since you've shared so many secrets with me today, I've got a few that I'd like to share with you too. Meet me in midtown tomorrow at two, okay? Dress nice. I'll be treating you to a late lunch.”

 

Getting stuck in that elevator with Tee had definitely had its benefits, but it had had a small drawback, too. I didn't get that nice apartment, but she did help me find another that was almost as cool and in a better neighborhood too.

I crashed until noon the next day, then I got up and started packing a few things and then hit the barbershop to get my hair edged and a fresh shave. An hour later I stepped into the Lovely Leaf salad shop as hungry as hell and ready to grub. Eating late had thrown me off my careful regimen but it was better for my new body than eating lunch twice. This was gonna be my first time grubbing in this joint, and I was thinking about a nice big salad and maybe a piece of chicken on the side.

“Over here,” Sugar called and waved to me just as I was scanning the crowded tables trying to find her. She was all smiles, but I was struck dumb as I stood there shocked by what I saw.

Sugar wasn't by herself.

There was not one, but three sexy ladies waiting to have lunch with me.

Sugar, Honey, and the amazing girl who had grabbed my heart, Ice Tee.

“Whattup?” I said, walking over to their table. The dumb look was all over my face. I kissed Tee on her cheek and squeezed her a little, then kissed Sugar and Honey too.

They were grinning like shit and I knew the joke was all on me.

I looked from one gorgeous smiling face to the next one and shook my head in disbelief. “What's going on, ladies? Why are the three of y'all together?”

Busting their slick smiles, I shook my big head again and chuckled. “Hold up. Y'all smile a whole lot alike…” I glanced at Tee, throwing the question her way. “What's up with that?”

Sugar answered for her. “Well…Rishawn…like I told you yesterday…since you were nice enough to share your secrets with me, here's one that I wanted to share with you. We're sisters. Me, Tee, and Honey are all sisters.”

They laughed, so I did too, but somehow that shit wasn't all the way funny.

“I see the resemblance,” I said, almost at a loss for words. “Yeah, put y'all side by side like this and I can
really
see the resemblance. So,” I said suspiciously, “How'd the three of y'all manage to hook up with my boyz? Did y'all set it up that way, or something? You ladies scheming on my boyz, or what?”

Sugar grinned at me and suddenly all the craziness fell in place. She said, “The secret I promised to tell you is not who my sisters are. It's who our brother is.”

And as the sound of Charlie Baker's name rung in my ears, I gazed at the three devastatingly determined beauties sitting across from me and gave each of them mad props.

Sugar. Honey. And Ice Tee.

Devious. Devilish. And diabolical.

Quality traits indeed.