Single Ladies (10 page)

Chapter 13

Daphne

Having her phone off for a couple days, missing the last ladies night, and not going anywhere for any reason, gave Daphne more relief and energy than she thought it would.   She dressed in all black and headed for the salon.  When she got there, everybody greeted her with hugs and "so glad to see you back’s.   The day was long, and in between the flirts from her male clients, and the gossip from her female clients, she just wanted to relax in the arms of Jas.  She would be arriving that evening, and Daphne anticipated merely lying in her arms.  

"I been thinking, Jas.  About this whole relationship and my lifestyle. "

"M-hm." Jas waited for her to finish.

"I just. I just don’t wanna live the rest of my life pretending to be somebody else or hiding who I am, rather.  When Denise was alive, he lived his life as Denise, not Darnell.  He was happy in the skin he was in.  He died with pride.  His memorial service was a happy occasion, because he didn't hide who he was.   Everybody knew.  And that's how I feel now.  I feel like it's time to tell everyone about who I am.  Who you are to me."

Jas's had a pleasant look on her face. "Really, Daphne?  I mean, are you sure?"

"I'm very sure.  I'm gonna tell my friends very soon.  I made up my mind that I'm not gonna hide something that I shouldn't have to hide, anymore."

Jas hugged her tight. "Damn, I love you girl!"

"I love you, too, baby." 

"So, since you didn't cook anything, let's go down to the rib joint.  I could eat a whole cow right now.  I want some ribs, baby."

"That sounds good.  You can tell me about the Elite tours on the way."

Jas grabbed her keys and she and Daphne headed for the door.

Chapter 14

Angie

After a long day at work, and Daphne doing her manicure and pedicure, Angie just wanted to snuggle under Brandon, and have him all to herself.  He promised that he would turn his cell phone off and give her his undivided attention for the whole night.  She was excited.  Her trip to Victoria's Secret had taken place the day before, and she purchased a nice fuchsia negligee.

She had an expensive bottle of his favorite Chardonnay waiting on candlelit table, when he called and said he was on his way.  She loved the mellow sound of Raheem Devaughn when she was at the Wall Hole, and she'd even heard his cd at Karla's house, so she purchased it, and had it playing softly.   Dressed in a short, black, silky Joneri dress and black heels, she looked elegant and inviting.  Her hair was pinned up with a few curly tendrils hanging down in the back.

Her phone rang for the fifth time, so she decided to see what the urgency was.

"Hey.  What's up Roni?"

"Girl, did you tell Karla about my PCOS?" she blurted.

"Huh?" Angie frowned with confusion.

"Did you tell Karla about my condition?"

"No, why do you ask that?"

"Oh, my bad.  She called me like really late last night and I was just wondering.  Karla usually doesn't call that late."

"Well, why don’t you call her and see, cuz I got Brandon on his way over."

"Ohhhh sukky sukky now! You about to get the good lovin body rockin' knockin boots all nite long, kinda lovin!" she laughed maniacally.

"Yes, girl! and it's about time.  I will call you later! Probably in the A.M.  Chow!"

"Don't kill em' girl!" Roni was still laughing in that crazy tone of hers, when they hung up.

When he knocked at the door, she had to fight to lower the adrenaline that pumped furiously through her sex crazed body.  She opened the it to see him standing there, merely dressed in a pair of black jeans ,a plain white t-shirt, and a pair of Air Max tennis shoes.  The five o' clock shadow that decorated his face, proved that he hadn't shaved since that morning.  He just didn't look very excited or prepared for a lovely evening with someone he claimed he loved so much.

"Hey sweetie," he kissed her on the cheek.  He smelled of soap, at least.  Usually, it was Isseymiyake or the one French cologne that turned her on every time she smelled it. 

"Hey." she held her composure as she walked into the kitchen, past her stainless steel appliances and took the top off a steaming pot.

"What's for dinner?"

"I-uh, made a little filet mignon with mushrooms and onions, redskin potatoes, asparagus tips, and homemade butter rum bread pudding."

"Sounds very good." he tried to look interested.

"You look a little bummed out.  What's wrong?" she asked, trying not to look at him.

"Nothing, just a little tired, but I'll be okay." he smiled.

"Tired?  So, do you really wanna stay, because I don't want to cut in on your sleeping time by you being here," she waited for him to disappoint her, like he usually did.

"Don't be silly.  I'm okay.  I need to be here with you tonight."

"Is that right?" she flirted. 

"Yes, it is.  We have so much to cover." he said matter of factly.

"What do you mean by that?" she looked at him, that time.

"Oh, just stuff.  We'll talk later. Let's just enjoy the moment. Please." he insisted.

"O-kay, I just hope everything is alright," she continued to pry.

"Just chill out.  We have all night," he smiled, to ease the tension that was starting to build.

"So, what's been going on with the case?

"Oh, I didn't tell you? We won, as usual.  This had been one of the worst, longest, and drawn out cases I've ever dealt with.  Now I gotta meeting with some colleagues out of state.  I will be in and out for the next few months and I wont have a lot of time much of anybody or anything.  I already knew that when I -" he looked down and frowned.

"What's wrong?" she started to put food on their plates.

"Uh, I forgot to turn my phone off."

She smacked her lips in disappointment. 

"Don't worry, I'm doing that now. Whoever it is will have to wait.  I'm with you tonight.  You have me all to yourself." he smiled.

She smiled back, and continued to fix their plates. 

After dinner, and conversation about their work, they walked, hand in hand ,down the four stairs that lead to the marble tiled hallway, to the master bedroom.  Underneath her dress, Angie was dressed in her fuchsia negligee.  It was only moments before it was revealed.

Brandon's hands roamed her feverish body, while she undressed him.  Their tongues danced, as she straddled him and sat down on his lap.  His hand caressed her hairless femininity and it started to get hot and juicy with anticipation. 

"Fuck me.  I missed you.  Please, fuck me." she gasped.

Brandon grabbed her hands and restrained her. That didn't stop her pursuit.  She stood up and tore her negligee off and straddled him once more.  She reached down to his unzipped jeans, and attempted to pull his hardness through the small hole of his boxers.  He grimaced and gripped her body firmly, pushing her onto the bed on her back.

"Please, fuck me! Please!" she moaned.

"Fuck you?  You want me to fuck you?"

"Yes!" she cried.

He pushed her hands over her head, then removed his jeans and underwear.  He was pulsating, as precum slid out of him.  "Beg me.  Tell me how much you want it."

"I want it bad.  You know I want it bad! Brandon, please. Fuck me!" her voice was cracking.

  She began to moan instantly, as he started to nibble on her neck softly.  He created a heated, moist trail from her neck down to her hardened nipples .  When he began to bite on them, she moaned with pleasure, raising her hips to meet his hardness.  Suddenly, he grabbed her thighs and parted them wider, pushing her shaking legs back.  He entered her with ultimate force and began to swiftly plunge deep into her.

"Yeah! Oh yeah, that's what I've been waiting for, Brandon!" she rubbed the stubble on his unshaven face.

"You like that don't you, Angie?"

"Oh yeah!" she hollered out, in a lust driven, husky voice,  as her hands roamed to his sweaty back.  He continued to push himself deeper inside of her.  The intensity of his thrust was becoming overwhelming as she started to climax.   She dug her nails into his skin.

Just as he was about to orgasm, there was a loud pounding on the front door.

"Wha-what the hell?" Angie panted.

"I don't know." he frowned.

The pounding became louder.  "Oh, my God, maybe it's one of my girls, or something's wrong with one of the neighbors. Hold on."  She jumped out of the bed and slid the glass doors open to her closet, retrieving a robe.

"Coming!" she yelled as she approached the front door.

Not bothering to look out of the peephole, she opened the door, to stand face to face with a woman, about her height, her complexion, with longer hair. Her expression was icy and evil and her demeanor wasn't any better.   If  Satan could appear in the form of a woman, she was looking at her, in the raw flesh.

"May I help you?" Angie took a cautious step back.

"Yeah, you can fuckin help me!  Tell Brandon to come on out! Tell him to come out now!"

"What?! Who are you?" she looked the angry lady up and down, in disgust.

"Bitch, who am I?  I'll tell you who I am!  I'm the one that he's been fucking and loving  for the last year and a half, while you thought he was with you!  That's who the fuck I am!  Where is he?  Brandon! Brandon!" the crazy lady looked past Angie, hoping that he would hear her.

Brandon appeared behind Angie, fully dressed and breathing wildly. "What are you doing here, Melissa?"

"Melissa? You know this crazy bitch?" Angie was bewildered, and looking back and forth between the two.

He was silent.

"Well, do you know her or not?!" Angie demanded an answer.

"Yeah, I- I know her." he admitted, with his head down.

Melissa stood in front of Angie with a devious grin of satisfaction on her face.

"Tell her, Brandon!  Tell her I'm pregnant and you and I are getting married!"

"Why did you follow me, Melissa?" he asked in an annoyed tone.

“Tell me I’m being fuckin Punk’d right now!  This is a joke right?” Angie screamed.

"Because, you lied to me.  You told me you were going on business tonight, and I knew you were full of shit.  See, a woman has intuitions. We know when something's not right." she looked back at Angie.  “And no, bitch this isn’t a joke.  It’s reality! Deal with it.”

"Wait a minute! Pregnant? Married? What the fuck, Brandon?  You and I were supposed to go to Hawaii soon.  How could you lie to me like this?" Angie was crying.

"Hawaii? Ha!  In your dreams, bitch.  We've been to Cancun twice.  So, I guess he's told you he was away on business, too.  A typical lie for a typical man.  Anyway, face it.  He was with me, loving me, fucking me, and bitch, he was loving every minute of it!  That's why I'm wearing the rock, and you're not!" she held out her long, slender hand and displayed the expensive rock on her finger.   "See it and weep, bitch!  Yeah, our honeymoon is in the Cayman Islands. Hmph! and you settled for funky ass Hawaii right here in the states, huh?  Ha!" Melissa started to laugh hysterically.

"I don't give a fuck who you are or what the case is, bitch!  How dare you come to my home and disrespect me like this! I'm about to beat your ass!" Angie screamed as she lunged forward like an angry cat and grabbed two handfuls of her auburn hair.  She screamed as Angie ripped large plugs of her soft hair out. Brandon jumped in between the ladies, and after a few minutes, he was able to pry each one of Angie's fingers from her head. 

Melissa's face was red and she was trying to push Brandon out of the way,  to retaliate against Angie. "I'm gonna get you bitch! Pregnant or not! Let's do this, right now, bitch!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, c'mon bitch! You don't know who I am or where I'm from bitch! Don't let this neighborhood and my house fool you!  I will shoot you, hoe! Hold on, I got something for you.  Wait right here, while I go get my shit!" Angie ran to get her gun, but Brandon grabbed her arm.

"Angie! No! Stop it!"

"Why should I stop it? She came to my house!  Brandon, tell me it's not true.  Tell me she's not pregnant and you're not marrying her.  You promised me so much, Brandon.  Please! TELL ME!" her lips were trembling.

"I can't, Angie." he dropped his head again.

"So, it's true,"  her eyes darted back and forth.  "You're gonna just leave with her.  You're gonna just leave me like I mean nothing to you."

" Don't act like you haven't been fucking somebody on me, too," he shot back.

Angie gasped loudly. "Oh my!" she grabbed at her aching chest. "What are you

talking about?"

"Need I say it, Angie?"

"What?!" she yelled defensively, knowing all the while, he was referring to Nasir.

"Nasir Hall."

Angie raised her hand and was about to speak, but no words came out.

"No, there's no need to defend yourself!  I don't even care about that.  I just want you to know that I knew all this time.  You never know how small the world is. What's more, I know every fuckin body.  You should've known better.  His partner, Terrence Hardaway,  happens to be my cousin's ex- husband.  I"m sure you know why he's the ex, now.   They got caught fuckin!   Yeah, you're boy's on the D.L!" his voice broke off into a wild, high pitch laugh.   "You've been fuckin a faggot!  Sheri's seen Nasir come to your house quite a bit.  She lives right down the street.    I can't be with someone who has that bad of a judgment of what a real man is."    He chuckled, but then paused, as the expression on Angie's face changed multiple times.   She reflected back to the conversation she and Terrence had at work.  She thought of when Nasir called Terrence's phone.    She even thought of Terrence's manicured nails and eyebrows. 

"Why are you doing this to me?  I would've never met Nasir, had you not been neglecting me."

"You meant a lot to me, Angie." he started.

"I mean- you just fucked me!" she yelled.

He held up his hand as a request for silence.   "But, truth is, I am in love with Melissa.  She's having my child.  I- I came over here tonight to tell you.  I didn't want to have sex with you, but you came on to me, and I-I don't know what I was thinking.  I just know that I can't do this anymore.  I can't bounce back and forth between two women, anymore."

"I don't believe this!" Angie wailed, looking at Melissa, who was smiling again.

"Believe it.  Because, I'm leaving you. It's over." he said, as he took Melissa's hand and they walked away. 

Angie dropped in the doorway and cried so hard, it hurt physically.  She couldn't breathe.  Brandon Whitmore had just taken her life.