Erotic City (24 page)

“Yeah. But see, I know I don’t deserve her. Not only because I got with you. But I don’t deserve her because I didn’t even leave a message to say that I’m sorry. That’s what bothers her.”

She clicked her tongue. “Oh please. So now you feel sorry for her? Tamiko is not the saint you think she is. She’s more like her sister than you know. I’ve known her a lot longer than you.”

“Since you’ve known them so long, do me a favor and fuck their estate and the money.”

She looked like a lightbulb had gone off. “Oh, now I see. Did she ask you to talk to me? She’s going to use this to her advantage. That’s some damn nerve.” She managed a brief, sarcastic laugh.

“No she didn’t. But my opinion is, they deserve what their father left them.”

She put her hand over her heart. “Have you even stopped to think about what I might deserve, Jarod? Oh yeah, that’s right. You don’t know me well enough to give a damn. But see, you made a smart-ass comment about who I could have ever loved. I was with their father for sixteen years and loved him more than I loved myself. I put up with what he said was a failing marriage to his first wife, and I dealt with his daughters, who rejected me from day one. People called me a home wrecker and I was even blamed for him dying, like I gave him a heart attack. That man lived fast until the end. He had a chick on the side in every city and put me through hell because he thought I had one affair. And here I am left with nothing as if I never even existed. Mark my word, those girls are going to look for men who are just like their fathers. Come to think of it, Tamiko probably would take you back in a heartbeat. Men who fuck around is all she knows.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“It’s Charlie Kennedy’s fault. It his fault they learned men are dogs and men cheat. And it’s his fault he left me with nothing. I loved him. And contrary to popular belief, he loved me.” Her eyes were clouded with tears.

“So why go after his daughters? You’re punishing them. What’d they ever do to you? If it was your father, you’d do the same thing.”

“They just happen to be in the middle.”

“In the middle of you and a dead man.”

“Jarod, stay out of this,” she said with warning.

“Stay out of it? Okay. Since it’s none of my business, maybe this is. Are you with me to get back at them? Did you come into Erotic City looking to fuck right up in the very place that Milan owns just to screw with her? Or did you go up there snooping, trying to find a way to shut her club down?”

“Where the hell did that come from? Tamiko must have put that junk in your head. You’re the one who got caught hiding in the corner choking your overgrown chicken. Maybe you’re with me to get back at Milan for firing you. Is that why you ran to me?”

“I take full responsibility for my dumb-ass stunt. It was stupid. I got caught up.”

“Yes you did.”

He abruptly stood. “Nancy, you know, it’s obvious this won’t work after all.”

“Why? Because I’m suing them? That was way before you. But all of a sudden you’re being their little advocate to make sure I never file the claim. I want what’s coming to me.”

He grabbed his keys. “I think you’ll get something coming to you but it won’t be money. What would it take for you to feel like you have enough? You got your divorce settlement.”

“Yes, I did and what do I have to show for it? I’m driving a ten-year-old, raggedy car and renting a tiny apartment that I’m almost three months behind on. What do I have to show for a life of loving that man, one of the most well-known musical legends in the world? It’s like it was all a dream. I at least deserved a house to live in. But all I got was escorted out of my own home by Milan. I want half of his earnings from the time I met him till the day of our divorce. I wanted that before you and I still want it now.”

“Let me tell you something.” He stood near the bedroom door.

“Don’t tell me. You’re willing to end this all because I want my money.”

“Good luck.” He turned toward the door.

“You know what?” she shouted.

He turned back. “What, Nancy?”

Her eyes were tight. A tear traced a path from her eye, right into her mouth. “You’re as big a dummy as your big-ass dick. That’s all you’ve got going for you anyway.”

“Oh Lord. Like I said, good luck.” He headed out of the room and down the hall.

She jumped up and yelled at his back. “Fuck you, Jarod. You don’t know a good thing when you see it. You had to ruin it and stick your nose in where it doesn’t belong.”

He said while walking, “You need to stop being so greedy and get happy. Maybe you can start by getting a job.”

“I’m not the one who got fired, baby boy!”

“Good-bye.” He opened the front door.

Her hands flailed about. “Go ahead and run back to Tamiko. She’ll laugh in your damn face.”

He laughed out loud as he walked out the door. “On second thought, go get you a full-time woman.”

“Asshole,” she said, grabbing hold of the closest thing she saw. She hurled her cordless phone toward his departure just as he slammed the door. It burst into pieces along the entryway linoleum.

She held her head down and cradled her face into her hands, crying like a baby and yelling at the top of her lungs. “Damnit, Charlie Kennedy. It’s all your damn fault. Now what? Now what am I going to do? I need that money. The money you fucking promised me. You lying bastard. What the hell am I gonna do?”

38

“Can U Believe”

Friday, May 30, 2008
6:00 p.m.

M
an, you know I was in the fast lane from the time I was born.” Lavender ran it down to his coworker, Brian, sitting at the oval bar area of the dark, upscale, Sambuca jazz cafe in Buckhead. The sexy sounds of a tenor sax swirled in the air. A live jazz band played along the small, raised stage, and a slew of singles mingled about. It was the height of the happy hour rush crowd.

Lavender continued, “I’m a lot like Milan. The world I was in caused me to travel more by the time I was five years old than most people do by the time they’re thirty. And Dad raised me till around the time I was in high school and then he died from liver disease. So his mom and dad were all I had.” He sat upon the cherry leather–padded barstool with his forearms resting on the bar with a glass of Crown Royal before him.

“I can’t imagine what that was like. I know it’s tough, man. So who showed you the ropes as far as boxing?” Brian nursed a cold bottle of Miller Genuine Draft.

“My dad was trained by his dad, who trained me, too. My grandfather became my role model and my trainer. My everything. As soon as I graduated from high school, I was in the ring being sought after like crazy. I was being wined and dined like I fucking mattered. It was like I was a rock star or something. Hell, they all went away when I got hurt.”

“Sounds like you’ve always had all the women you’ve wanted, twenty-four-seven.”

“Man, I had women thrown at me. I screwed anything in a skirt, whether they were virgins or going through menopause. Money was thrown at me. Drugs were thrown at me. I fooled around on every woman I promised to be faithful to, especially Ramada. I saw our mutual interest in swinging as my license to fool around. Fooling around kept me feeling something. Who knows what the hell I was looking for, but I felt lucky just to have found a woman who understood me wanting variety. We shared women and she let me fuck them right in her face. She loved that shit. And I loved it, too, hell, until I saw that guy last year. I know it was a double standard. But I just couldn’t deal with it.”

“And Milan’s not having that, huh?”

“Hell no. Meeting Milan’s been one of the best things that ever happened to me. I had so many fucked-up days before meeting her. The only thing that got me out of bed was going to work and the first thing I wanted to do when I got off work was sleep or fuck or drink. Milan was the only woman I’ve felt has really loved me as a man, not a boxer. She accepted the fact that I was running security at a damn retail store. And she accepted and trusted me enough to go into business together with the little bit I had to invest in the club. We like the same things. The sex is great. We seem to come from the same worlds. We both lost our parents and came from the fast lane. She’s open-minded, but she’s not sharing me any more than I could share her. But, man, what we have is unraveling right before my eyes.” Lavender took a long sip of his drink.

“So what now? What do you want to do?”

Lavender set down the crystal glass. “I’ve wanted to settle down. I’ve wanted one woman who would trust me and who I could trust. I come from a long line of Lewis men who’ve had sons. I want to have children with a woman who I’m married to. I wanted to marry Milan.”

Brian sat back a bit. “Wanted? Then do that. Man, you’ve gotta go for what matters to you. If Milan is enough for you, fuck what the world thinks.”

“Funny. Milan has told me that so many times, fuck what the world thinks. She’s got that shit down pat. But she can’t deal with Ramada being Ramada.”

“Dude, you need to go ahead and step up and settle down if that’s what you want. Make it work.” Brian sucked on his beer bottle again.

Lavender shook his head. “Not if she’s gonna run out on me when times get tough like this. Besides, I’m just not sure that I can. Truth is, I just don’t know if I have it in me to be a one-woman man.” He glanced down at his half-empty glass. His eyes traveled across the bar to the angelic face of a woman who looked his way. Just before she could give a full smile, he looked back down at his drink. He brought
the glass to his lips and swallowed what he always called liquid courage. He hoped it could bring him enough cour-age to keep his eyes off of the woman staring him down.

Brian looked around from left to right, noticing how crowded the place was. They sat silent. He asked, “Then what’s holding you back?”

“Milan will not deal with Ramada’s psycho bullshit anymore.”

“Sounds like Ramada will never change.” Brian leaned forward.

“Man, she wanted a baby so bad years ago that if I would’ve spit in her she would’ve gotten pregnant. She was a damn fertile Myrtle. You know, she was so pissed after we broke up that she had a yard sale and sold the shit I’d left at her house, including some of the crap that I bought her.

“That’s a straight-up
Waiting to Exhale
move.”

“She even checked my e-mail for a month after we broke up and kept e-mailing Milan, telling her shit. She was the password-cracking queen. One night, she cussed me out and tried to choke me and when I tried to leave her house, she lay in the driveway behind my car so I couldn’t back out. Other than not seeing Taj at all, I’m gonna have to deal with her for the rest of my life. Lord knows if I had my way, Taj would be with me all the time.”

“Is she the one who pulled the dine-and-dash over at Copeland’s last year?”

“That’s her.”

“You need to try and get permanent custody.”

“Don’t think I haven’t thought about it.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, how much are you paying her for child support? It’s gotta be steep. You were getting paid well.”

“Three grand a month.”

Brian’s eyebrows lifted. “Damn, that’s like a full salary. For one child?”

“Shoot, that’s nothing to her. I ain’t saying she’s a gold digger, but . . . hell, she is.” Lavender gave a weak laugh. “Whoever gets with her better be big in the pockets, open-minded, and ready for some drama.”

“Probably would’ve been cheaper and less drama just to keep her. You ever think about going back there?”

“I’d rather die. You don’t sleep with the woman who set out to destroy you.”

The bartender set down another bottle and took away the other one. “Thanks,” Brian said.

Lavender raised his glass to Brian and guzzled the remaining amber liquid. He felt a tap on his right shoulder. He turned back and so did Brian.

“Excuse me, but I was just watching you from across the bar, and, well, I know this sounds corny but don’t I know you?” a tall, smiling woman asked Lavender. Another woman stood behind her.

“Do you?”

“You look so familiar.”

“Really?”

Her brown eyes said she was trying to think back. “Yes. Are you from Atlanta?”

“No. I’m from Miami.”

“I see. No, I’ve never been to Miami. Anyway, hello, my name is Angel. And this is my friend Sharon.” She pointed toward her back.

Her friend stepped forward a bit.

Right away, Lavender’s eyes disobeyed him and looked at her chest, leaping from tittie to tittie. “Hello. I’m Lavender.” He pointed to his buddy. “This is Brian.”

Brian nodded to them both. “Hello.”

“Hi,” the ladies said together.

“Lavender?” Angel’s friend Sharon said as though a lightbulb flashed. “Lavender Lewis, the boxer?”

Lavender said, “Yeah.”

Angel asked, “Boxer?” at the same time she perused his bicep where his boxing glove tattoo resided.

Lavender made sure to say, “It was a while ago.”

“Oh, Angel, it wasn’t that long ago. He was a heavyweight champion. Remember?”

Angel seemed to be thinking hard. “No, I don’t.”

“Surely you do.” Sharon’s eyes were big.

Angel said fast, pointing to Lavender, “No. I know where I’ve seen you. You work at Erotic City, right?”

“Erotic City?” Sharon asked.

Angel looked at her friend. “You know, the club I told you I went to a couple of months ago.”

“That sex club?” Sharon’s nose was turned up.

Angel asked Lavender, “You work there, right?”

“I handle security there.” Again his eyes went on a journey, roaming the length and thickness of Angel’s body.

“Oh my goodness. That’s right.” Angel sounded a bit seductive. “I remember seeing you and wishing you were there for more than protection.” She giggled. “Really, though, I came in as a freshman. I was just in awe of everything I saw. But I didn’t get lucky.”

Sharon’s mind was stuck. “I still can’t believe you went there.”

“I went with John from work. We’re just friends. But he got hooked up with this woman thanks to me. I just walked up to her, brought her over to him, and they didn’t even say a word, they just started rubbing on each other and next thing I knew, they walked away and I never saw him again until we left.”