Unmasking Charlotte (a Taboo Love series) (11 page)

Calvin

“Full house, Aces over Kings, suckas!” I shout, tossing my hand on the table, rubbing it in their faces. I stand up and lean across the table collecting the chips, adding them to the rest of my winnings.

“Shit!”

“Motherfucker!”

“Nice hand,” Nick offers, probably because he folded before the flop, so he didn’t lose anything but the ante.

“Glad I was able to teach you something, son,” my dad adds with a proud smile.

“Like taking candy from a baby,” I say with a shit-eating grin.

Everyone laughs and takes swigs of their beers.

Tonight is our monthly boy
s’ only poker night, and it is my turn to host. Since I couldn’t get out of work, I just booked a VIP room at Club M for us to use. Actually, it’s Nick’s old room that was retired once he and Delilah decided to have a go at it. There’s eight of us here tonight. The usual suspects – me, Nick, Parker, Anthony (Nick’s dad), Rick (Delilah’s dad), and my dad –and then there are these two other dudes that I have never met before. Supposedly, they are friends of Parker’s from his agency, but like I said, I have never met them before. I believe one is a former Disney star, and the other a comedian on the BET channel. I haven’t decided what I think of them yet, but so far, they are both tools. Until they prove to me otherwise, they’re not going to be invited back. Unless of course they keep losing like this. Then maybe I will keep them around. Normally, I avoid surrounding myself with douchebags, but if they so willingly give me their money, then maybe they do serve a better purpose. As long as the ends justify the means, I can deal with the jack holes.

“I gotta hit the head,” Nick blurts out, “This beer…” He doesn’t finish his sentence. He just stands up and leaves to take a piss, shaking his head.

“Why don’t we all take a ten minute break?” Anthony asks, as he stands and stretches his arms overhead.

Everyone nods and mumbles their assent, and we all push back from the table to take a breather.

“Parker, man, you think I can talk to you for a minute?” I ask, tipping my head to the side toward the door so he understands that I mean privately.

Holy shit he reeks of booze. No wonder he is losing every hand. We slide on our masks and step outside of the room into the hallway so none of the nosy gossiping yentas can hear our conversation.

“Sure, man. Of course. Everything all right?”

“Yeah… I
, uh… I did something really stupid, bro. I am so sorry.”

“Dude, you are starting to scare me. What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I…hmm…I…” I clear my throat unable to say the words. I fucking broke the bro code.

“Dickhead, fucking spit it out before I beat it out of you.”

Fucking god dammed woman.
She’s got me so tied up in knots that I can’t even form a coherent sentence.

“Dammit! I kissed Charlotte! I am so sorry, man. So very sorry.” I bowed my head, shaking it side to side.

I am so pissed at myself for succumbing to the temptation, but god damn did she feel unbelievable in my arms. And her lips. Those fucking pouty lips tasted like peaches. I could have kissed her all night long and died happy. I wonder if her pussy tastes like peaches, too.
Shit! Focus. You are supposed to be apologizing, not mentally fucking her.
I take in a deep breath and meet Parker’s eyes. He is about five inches shorter than I am at six feet nothing, but I don’t see anger. Or pain. I am not sure what emotion that is… confusion?

“What the hell are you talking about Calvin? Who is Charlotte and why would you think I would be angry about you kissing a chick
that I don’t even know?”

I fucking knew it! That little, devious, conniving, deceitful, cunning, beautiful, intelligent, tempting, sexy –
what the fuck, King! Get your shit together
– liar.

“Charlie?” My eyebrow raises in question.

“What about Charlie?” he asks, and his ignorance is starting to grate on me.

“Charlie is Charlotte,” I say slowly. He is so wasted.

“I still don’t get it. What about Charlie?”

“Damn, Parker. I know you are pretty and shit
, but I never thought you were
this
dumb.”

“Huh?”

I just stand there staring at him. I shake my head. I have to laugh. He is so drunk that he is not even going to remember this conversation in the morning. But I need absolute confirmation.

“Are you dating Charlie? And don’t fucking lie to me or give me a bullshit line about privacy.”

“Oh, shit. I knew this would come back and bite me in the ass.”

“What the fuck are you talking about, man?”

“She just told you that she was dating me so that you would quit asking her out.”

Interesting. But of course I already knew that.

“So you are definitely
not
now or have ever slept with Charlotte?”

“Bro. Not a chance. My dick is as free as OJ Simpson. Oh, wait, he’s locked up, isn’t he? My cock is as free as…as… shit. My dick’s free!”

I walk away chuckling and shaking my head again. Not sure if it’s more at Parker, or how Charlotte totally blew me off. Now that I know Parker is not dating her, and I don’t have to worry about all of that “bros before hoes” bullshit, she is fair game. Oh, it’s on like Donkey Kong, and I will have her.

“Aight, losers, back to the table. Time to give me more of your money!” I shout to the motley crew and make my way back to the game. Only this time, my mind is not on the game. It’s on a game, just not the one in front of me. Either way, I play to win.

More Calvin…

We have been playing for over an hour and everyone has broken into their own conversations as we play a friendly tournament. The room isn’t that big, and we are at a round table, so even though different conversations are going on around me, everyone can still hear everything anyone else is saying.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t repeat myself by saying those two dudes that came with Parker are dill weeds. They are hammered and they are playing sloppy. This, again, is beneficial to my game, since my concentration is shot from my earlier conversation with Parker. Nonetheless, I am still taking their money. But my patience is wearing thin with regards to them and their fraternity-boy, sophomoric, crass humor, and it’s not as much fun as it was when the game began.

I try to ignore them and shift my focus to a conversation with my man, Nick.

“Yo,
Bro, what’s my Little Bit up to tonight?” I ask, using my nickname for Delilah. He hates it when I call her that. I just think he is jealous because she likes it when I use it. I can tell by the blush that creeps up her cheeks.

“
My
fiancée
is hangin’ with Charlie tonight.” He answers and my dick twitches just from the mention of her.
Fuck, I’m screwed!

I attempt to
coerce my voice into a neutral tone and force my face into a flat affect. I probably look like I got too many Botox injections, but I try to remain expressionless. Any sign of vulnerability, and these ass holes will attack like sharks that smell blood in the water.

“Oh, yeah? What are those two trouble makers up to this fine evening?” I ask nonchalantly, but even I think
I sound like a desperate douchebag.

Nick shrugs. “I dunno. Some girlie shit, I presume.”

He smiles at me knowingly, like he has my number, or something else is going on that he is not telling me.
Shit! Now I am being paranoid.

I nod and process, all the while
trying to come up with my next question, hoping to obtain more information without sounding like I want more information. Either I drank way too much, or I have really lost my mind over this broad. I open my mouth to ask Nick something, but before anything comes out, Disney asshole speaks up.

“Are you guys talking about Charlie Fisher?” he asks, using his hands in the air to mimic her hourglass figure.

Both Nick and I stare at the douchebag for a moment before I reply. “Yeah, you know her?”

“Do I know her?” The fucker chuckles and elbows his buddy, the BET tool. “Dude, I tapped that bitch multiple times,” he says, high-fiving his friend.

“I tried but she wasn’t having it,” the BET schmuck frowned.

Hmm, that’s interesting. So she screwed the white fuck face, but wouldn’t do the black guy. I can’t listen to them for another minute. How dare they disrespect Charlotte like that? You NEVER talk about a woman that way. I don’t care who you are.

“Yo, asshole, watch your fucking mouth,” I bite out.

Disney is too wasted to care and really, I’m not sure if he even heard me. “I’m tellin’ ya, man, that bitch is fine. She’s got this ass like…POW…and her tits, dude…”

That’s it! I can’t take another word that comes out of this shithead’s mouth. I’m going to fucking kill him! I stand up so quickly and with so much power that my chair flies out from under me and topples to the floor. Nick and my father both jump out of their seats when they realize what’s going on.

“Calm down C-dog, they are just drunk and talking out of their asses,” Nick says to me, trying to get me to cool down before I end up in jail.

“Get them out, Nick. Get them the fuck out of my club and out of my face, before I rearrange theirs.” I snarl. Laid back Calvin has definitely left the building.

Nick tells me to take a walk out of the room and not to come back for ten minutes. I slide my mask back on and head downstairs. I take that time to do a once around the bar area, make sure the clientele and employees are behaving appropriately, and ensure all of the anonymity rules are being followed. I check in briefly with the new girl at the front door – Monica, my usual ball busting girl at the door, has the night off - close out the cash register at the bar, and do a money drop into the safe in my office. Once I feel composed – and sober – I make my way back up to the reserved poker room.

I don’t know what Nick did or said, but when I reenter the room, everyone, minus frick and frack, is engaged in what looks like pleasant conversations. They have also started playing cards again. I sit in the empty seat next to Parker, who is the only one not involved in a conversation. I know he knows that I am sitting beside him, but he just stares blankly at his cards, not looking in my direction. At first, I think he is passed out drunk, but then he speaks.