A Greek God In Harlem (10 page)

Tanya reveled in the feel of his bulge against her own center. They were both still fully clothed, but the friction between their bodies was hotter than naked sex.

Percy's hands moved to cup her bottom, as he lifted her even higher up the wall. Both her legs were encircling his waist now, in a tight clasp. She could feel his hardness even more now, and it showed the extent of his manhood, which scared Tanya a little.

He seemed too big for her. His mouth moved from her lips as he now decided to concentrate on unclothing her. He felt for the zip of her dress and pulled it down more roughly than he had intended. Tanya didn’t mind, she understood the urgency of the situation.

When her dress opened and crumpled down to her waist, Percy thought he was going to explode when his eyes finally settled on her naked upper body.

He looked up at her, almost in awe. 
Tanya smiled slyly at his reaction, "What Mr. Theodosiou? Never seen a naked black woman before?"

Percy smiled back and put his mouth to her dark chocolate nipple. Her breasts were supple, rounded and her skin was uniformly chocolate brown, not a blemish in sight.

He knew she was beautiful before, but seeing her like this was killing him. And he hadn't even seen her bottom half yet.

He sucked and nibbled on her hard nipple and his mouth encircled the areola that surrounded it, while his hands massaged her beautiful, pretty breasts.

Still stuck up against the wall, Tanya moaned and looked up at the ceiling. She loved everything he was doing, because he knew what he was doing, everywhere he touched and caressed was just right.

"I have to ask you something..." Tanya said as she lay in the bed, her legs intertwined with his. It was about four in the morning and she was feeling quite sore in her nether regions. Thanks to the man lying next to her.

Percy mumbled something unintelligible and Tanya swatted him.

"Do you always fall asleep after making love, mister? No sweet words, looking into my eyes... not for you?" Tanya joked softly as Percy struggled to open his eyes.

He smiled guiltily and replied, "Where are my manners?"

Next thing she knew, Tanya was being hoisted from her position and onto his... well.. his naked midriff. Only a bed sheet separated her silky sheath from his manhood.

She could feel it come alive again and he could too. Regardless, he kept a straight face and looked at her naked form before settling on her precious face,

"Go ahead. Ask me princess."

"There's that word again. Percy... why do you keep calling me 
princess
?" Tanya huffed. Her hands ran along his bare expansive chest.

He cocked his eyebrow, "I think you're nothing less than royalty." Tanya rolled her eyes.

"Percy, I'm a teacher in Harlem. Nothing more, nothing less. It's kind of creepy..." she started.
Percy asked, "What's creepy?"

"The way you seemed to come into my life the moment I opened, a certain book," Tanya replied. She gulped as she stared at the book that was on her bedside table. She gestured for Percy to look over at it and he did.

He looked back at her and didn't say anything. She continued,
"Percy look. I know who you are. And you're not- you're not a teacher from Connecticut who's come to teach. You're, you're not even from this century. This millennium."

Percy said, "I can hear a phone-"

"No Percy. Please don't change the subject. Not before you tell me who you really are."

Then Tanya heard it too. Her phone. In her bag. Who was that calling her at 4 in the morning?

She gave Percy a warning look implying this conversation was not over yet.

She jumped off his long body and went to answer the phone. Whoever it was, they were relentless.

"Hello?" she asked irritably.

"Is this Tanya Whitford?" the voice sounded official.

"Yes. Yes, this is her. What, who is speaking?" 

"This is Mount Sinai Hospital, we'd like you to come down as our patient's next of kin. Morris. He has suffered severe gunshot wounds... he was brought over... his mother is not answering her phone... you're his teacher?"

Tanya dropped the phone from her shaking hand. She looked back at Percy who had been enjoying the naked view of her posterior. 

His smile turned upside down when she faced him. She was pale, if that was possible.

"Morris. It's Morris," she said slowly, before quickly gathering up the clothes on the floor.
Percy frowned and sat up, "What about him? Tanya?!"

She threw his clothes at him, "Get up. We're heading to the hospital. He's been shot. Several times..." she said the last bit almost disbelievingly.

Percy's eyes widened. He got up quickly and started to dress up. When they were both done, Tanya suddenly started to sob. Percy held her and tried to comfort her.

"What are we gonna tell Donyelle? Do you think they've called her?" Tanya asked in between tears.

Percy kissed the top of her forehead, "Let's get to the hospital and figure everything out from there, okay?"

Tanya nodded and sniffed, "I'm scared he might not make it, he's young," 

Percy grabbed her hand, "Tanya let's go."

Tanya and Percy sat in the lobby of Mount Sinai Hospital, facing each other. They were waiting for the doctor to allow them inside the room. The room where a wounded Morris lay.

The doctor, a gentle looking Indian man, finally emerged and gestured for the couple to enter.
Percy grabbed Tanya's hand and squeezed it. They were not sure what to expect. 

Morris had been found by a young woman, who was there at hospital too, after she heard gunshots go off at a ball court nearby. And Morris had been the receiver of four direct shots from an AK47.

Needless to say, he was left bleeding while most people just tried to evacuate the scene.

Two suspects had been arrested. But neither of them was the shooter, according to the young woman.
This was stuff that Tanya didn't care about right now. She looked at the young woman, who was skimpily dressed.

Tanya just had to ask, "What, how did you get to the scene? I mean, weren't you scared?"

The girl bit her lip and said in a lilting Jamaican accent, "I was the girl. I caused the misunderstanding that led to my boyfriend shooting Morris. He thought Morris was macking on me, but it was me who started it."

She said this in a low voice. Tanya looked the girl up and down. She wanted to slap her, to hit her, to hug her and tell her it was okay. This girl had just incriminated her boyfriend. A mixture of emotions travelled through Tanya's body. She would tell the police, very soon.

Now that Tanya and Percy were in the room, everything seemed to go silent. The doctor stood in the corner politely. 

Morris lay there, tubes coming in and out of his body. He was shirtless and bandaged around the chest area, where he had been shot at close range.

Percy stood back as Tanya let go of his hand and moved to the side of the bed. His eyes were closed and he was breathing very, very slowly. She held his cold hand and hoped the coldness was due to the weather, and not that he was slipping away. She was about to let go of it when she felt him squeeze her hold.

She gasped silently, "Morris?"

Without opening his eyes he mumbled, "Donnie?"

Tanya smiled slightly. His voice still carried some strength, "No sweetheart. Not Donyelle. But I'm sure she's on her way here. Do you know where you are? Do you know what happened?"

Morris made a gruff sound as he tried to adjust his position unsuccessfully, "Definitely not my comfy couch back home."

Tanya smiled. He could still be humorous. A good sign.

"Where's, I really want to see Donyelle. Sorry teach. I mean, thank you for coming," his voice trailed off like he didn't mean it.

Tanya smiled understandably,

"I know sweetie, You wanna see your girlfriend. The mother of your child. That's understandable." 

Tanya squeezed his hand and whispered, "The doctor's telling me to let you rest Morris. Percy and I are outside of the room. Very close. Donyelle will be here soon."

Morris smiled weakly, "Tell her I love her. And I'm sorry. I don't deserve her, but I'll try. To change. I love her so much, no matter what distracts me..." His eyes teared up and he turned away. He didn't want Tanya to see him crying. 

Tanya whispered, "Okay. You'll tell her when she comes okay?"

"I'm in so much pain," he suddenly said, as soft as he could. Tanya felt her eyes sting. He had been putting on act of strength and defiance. He was actually, really physically hurting. Tanya could not begin to fathom the pain.

"I know sweetie. Just hang in there. Donyelle, your mom.... they're all on their way. And we're all praying. You'll be fine. You need to finish your Greek mythology assignments as well..."

He chuckled and let go of her hand.

Tanya panicked and looked up at the doctor, who smiled softly, "He is just resting and he'll..." 

...And then it started to beep loudly. The machine.

The doctor's eyes widened and all the nurses rushed into the room at his demand.

Then the fluorescent green line went flat.
 

Tanya could feel Percy's hands grip her shoulders to turn her away. Did she scream? Did she cry out loudly? Did she kick and hit things?

That moment would always remain a blur to her.

Morris was buried a few days later at a very emotional funeral. 

The procession was larger than his mom could ever expect and she mentioned this during her emotional speech. The whole community seemed to be there. One of their sons had been taken.

The rest of the time, Donyelle and Morris' mom held each other and cried. Today was supposed to be the day Donyelle attended an antenatal scan with Morris. She remembered the last words she had said to him, 
Yes. My baby's doing fine so far
.

She touched her stomach and looked up at the sky, "Our baby's doing fine Morris." This was when she had sneaked off to her own private corner to grieve. The father of her baby was dead. Gone.

Her boyfriend and best friend. Gone.

Donyelle sat on the church steps and could hear people asking after the service, "Where's Donyelle? His girlfriend? His baby mama..."