Talk a Good Game (21 page)

She rolled her eyes. “Thirteen and
since he
’s
a boy I don’t have to worry
about raising him. That
’s
his
daddy
’s
job.”

That was probably a good thing because she had never
been any good with kids.

Gloria rose and moved over to
refill our glasses. “I
’
m just so happy for both
of you.”

“
Me too,”
Veronica chimed in then held up her glass. “We might have another
wedding before the year
’s
over.
”

I know it was soon, but I sure hoped that person was
me.

JANELLE

I always spend Saturday
morning
’s
shopping and cleaning up my
house. But ever since Kaleb and I started dating, finding time for
myself had been few and far between. Not that I
’
m
complaining. I have a good man and life couldn’t get any better
than it was right now. I was practically living with him, and now
that we were engaged I was planning to put my townhouse on the
market. I glanced down at the rock on my finger and giggled.
Hee-Hee! I was so happy.

Kaleb was getting my oil changed
so I was rolling in his Range Rover. I parked it near the front of
Walmart then grabbed my purse and moved inside. As usual it was
packed with people. The whole reason for shopping before ten was to
beat the crowd but I guess I didn’t get the memo this
morning.

“
Jae!”

I turned around and this tall,
peanut-butter-brown brotha was walking toward me. There was
something familiar about his walk, but I couldn’t quite place him
with the baseball cap tilted low on his face.

“
Don’t act like you don’t know
me,” he said like I had a lot of nerve forgetting who he was. He
then removed the cap and I gasped.

“
Frankie? Oh my God! When did you
get back?”

I was talking and hugging him all at the same
time.

“
I got home last week.”

I shook my head and smiled. It was
so good to see him. “
Mommy didn’t
tell me you
were back.”

“
That
’s
because I’ve been chilling
trying to get a few days in by myself before I started hollering at
my crew.”

I was standing in front of one of
the most handsome men I knew. Frankie Simmons and I went way back.
He grew up next door to me and we hung out and had been friends up
until I started getting attention from other teenage boys and
realized how gorgeous I was. I then didn’t have time to hang out
with a nerd who was two years younger than me. I was too busy
dating boys with cars and college guys. I went off to college and
Frankie had joined the army. I remembered running into Ms. Lorraine
a couple of months ago and she mentioned Frankie had busted up his
ankle and was being medically discharged.

“
So
you
’
re back for
good?”

“
Yep.
I
’
m planning to open a
carwash.”

I was impressed. Back then he was
tall and lanky. Now he was sexy as all get out. “Look at
you.”

He was grinning showing off a set
of beautiful white teeth. “So whadda you been up to?”

“
I opened a
restaurant.”

“
Yeah I remember hearing something
about that.” He nodded and looked clearly impressed. “So you
finally did it?”

I was grinning too hard to do anything but nod.

“
I remember you
used to spend hours in the kitchen dirtying up Granby’s
kitchen.
”

I playfully punched him in the
chest. “Yeah, but you enjoyed everything I made.”

“
Hell yeah! You
could slam in the kitchen.” He rubbed his stomach and lifted his
shirt slightly and I noticed how flat his stomach was. I was
standing there staring at him and heard the
Drunk In Love
ringtone in my purse.
“I
’
ma have to drop by your
restaurant for some vittles.”

“
Yes, you
should. I
’m
right at seventh and Broadway
up from CJ’s Wings.” I decided to ignore Kaleb and call him back in
a few minutes.

“
Damn, remember how we used to
tear up them wings?”

I nodded. “Yep and
they
’
re
still good.
”

“
I’ma have to check you out.” He
was then looking at me as if he had just noticed me standing there.
And I couldn’t believe it. I suddenly lost my composure and
swallowed nervously as he took his time checking me out.

“
Damn, Janelle.
I always knew you were fine, but baby, you
’
re thick as
hell!”

“
Thanks, you don’t look bad
yourself.”

He looked so tasty I was tempted to take a lick just
to see if he tasted like peanut butter.

“
So
what
’s
been up with you? Kids?
Married?”

“
No kids. And never been married.
At least not yet.” I heard my phone chirping again in my purse,
reminding me I was engaged but yet I couldn’t find it in me to
share that bit of information. In fact, I noticed I was keeping my
left hand down to my side so he wouldn’t catch the gleam of the
diamond on my ring finger.

“
What about you?” I
asked.

“
I was married for about five
years then my wife was killed in a car crash.”

“
Oh no.
I
’
m sorry to hear that.” There was
pain in his eyes so it was easy to see that he had really loved
her.

“
Hey, if
you
’
re not busy, how about we hurry
up in here and head to Bandana’s for some ribs?”

I was staring up at him watching
his beautiful lips as he spoke, and found myself wondering what
they would feel like licking away at my throbbing kitty. Frankie
looked like he knew how to eat pussy. I was so caught up in my
fantasy that it took me a few seconds to realize my phone was
vibrating. I didn’t have to look to know it was Kaleb trying to
reach me, but for the life of me I didn’t want to talk to him. My
mind raced with possibilities. I was enjoying
Frankie
’s
company way too
much.

“
Hey, Janelle, did you hear me?
How about lunch?”

How in the world could I say no
when I wanted so badly to say yes? “I’ve got an appointment in an
hour. Sorry.” Why did I feel more compelled to lie than tell
Frankie the truth?

“
Okay, well then how about dinner?
I found this little spot downtown Jeff City I know you would
love.”

My phone was ringing again.
Irritated, I reached inside my purse and silenced it. How in the
world could I think with Kaleb blowing up my phone? “How do you
like being back home?”

“
It
’s
cool being back here. When I
left I knew there was no way in hell I was ever coming back to the
Midwest, but after being gone for so long nothing else has ever
come close to feeling like home.”

“
I know
that
’s
right.” I nodded knowingly. I
knew exactly how he felt. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
Don’t get me wrong, in a little college town there wasn’t much to
do, but they had great schools, a close knit community of people,
and everything you needed was within a short drive, not to mention
the cost of living was perfect.

“
So what’s up with dinner?”
Frankie was standing there with a relaxed stance that I found so
sexy, while he waited for an answer. What was wrong with two
friends eating dinner and catching up? A far as Kaleb was
concerned, everything.

Frankie kept staring at me with those light brown
eyes and his sexy mouth and I caught myself licking my lips. Damn,
for the first time in weeks, I hated being committed to one
man.

“
Today really isn’t a good day at
all. We’re busy at the restaurant. Hey, how about you drop through
this evening and I give you the royal treatment?”

“
The royal
treatment, huh? That
’s
what
’s
up!
”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Just
come around seven.” Kaleb was calling again and I figured I had
ignored him long enough. We exchanged numbers and Frankie promised
to drop by later. I hurried and moved toward the register. I had
been in the store long enough. It wasn’t until I had the groceries
loaded in the Range Rover that I finally answered.

“
Where the hell have you been?” he
barked.

Sometimes Kaleb acted like he was
my damn daddy. “I told you. I was going shopping.”

He sucked his teeth. “You must
think I
’
m stupid. There ain’t no way
you
’ve
been shopping for almost two
hours.”

“
I
’
m a woman.
That
’s
what we do.” And I wasn’t about
to apologize for it.

“
You didn’t get my messages?” he
probed.

“
Which, the phone or the text
messages?” I said calmly.

“
Okay, so if you
got them, why didn’t you call me back?” Kaleb
’s
voice was getting real loud now.

“
There’s a bad reception in
Walmart. I was planning to call you back as soon as I got outside.
Quit tripping.”

“
You must have been with some
nigga.”

I rolled my eyes. Why is it I had
to be messing around? Sure. I was beautiful and getting a man
wasn’t a problem but I didn’t want just any man. I wanted
Kaleb.

“
I wasn’t with
nobody. I
’
m on my way home to you, big
daddy.” Any time I used the pet name it always seemed to calm his
jealous outburst.

“
Well hurry the fuck up! I got
something I wanna show you.”

“
What?” I asked
suspiciously.

“
You
’ll
see when you get
here.”

I hung up and blew out a heavy breath. The last
thing I was in the mood for was another argument.

I pulled onto his street and as I grew closer to the
house, I spotted a red 435i BMW in the driveway with a big white
bow on top.

“
Oh shit!” I almost ran into a
parked SUV staring at the beautiful car. I turned into the
driveway, jumped out, then quickly hopped back in.

I had forgotten to put the car in Park.

Kaleb came walking down the front steps,
grinning.

“
Baby, what is this?” I was hoping
it was what I thought it was but I didn’t dare get ahead of
myself.

“
If you had answered the phone you
would have found out.”

“
Oh baby!” I wrapped my arms
around him and kissed him hard on the mouth. “I’ve got a trunkful
of groceries. There ain’t nobody I want but you.” I gave him
another big sloppy kiss.

Smiling, Kaleb reached inside his pocket and pulled
out a BMW keychain and waved it over his head.

I jumped up and down trying to get
it. “Baby, quit playing!”

“
Do you love
me?” he asked and he was so serious, a
chill snake
d
my spine.

“
Yes baby, you know I love
you!”

He finally handed the key to me.
“Go ahead and get in.”

“
Who
’s
car is it?” I just had to
know.

“
It
’s
yours.”

I was screaming and laughing all
at the same time. I slipped in behind the wheel and turned the
key.
Ohmygoodness
! She purred just like my pussy did when I was turned
on.

While Kaleb carried the groceries
inside, I played with all of the buttons and adjusted the mirrors
and seat. When he finally came back outside I waved over at him.
“Baby, get in so we can go for a ride,” I urged. He smiled and
walked around my ride with that cripple walk of his that made me
smile. I loved his broken-down ass!

As soon as the door was shut, I backed slowly out
the driveway and then took off down the road.

“
Oh shit! Baby, hurry… Open the
sunroof!” I screamed. This was so unreal.

“
Alright,” he chuckled and reached
up and pressed a button and the glass rolled back.

I can’t believe it! I had a hot
new ride, sunroof, five disc changer, heated seats—you name it. I
clicked on the music and realized I had Sirius satellite radio. As
I zoomed up one street after another, I reached over and squeezed
my man
’s
hand.