Sixty-Nine (13 page)

G
uilt was kicking Magnolia’s butterscotch ass.

She’d tossed and turned for two weeks straight and just couldn’t bring herself to tell Rebe that she’d had a freaky night
as sexual cheerleader with her ex-husband and his new wife.

She wondered if maybe she was having such a hard time because she couldn’t believe it herself. Did it really happen, or was
it just her imagination? Did she watch Randall eat pussy and get his dick sucked by his wife and screw her doggy style, the
enemy, the other woman who’d stolen her best friend’s man? The man who said “I do” to Rebe, who stood beside her and Darla,
Rebe’s maids of honor on Rebe’s wedding day years ago. Yet she’d seen the spectacular penis of the man who crushed Rebe’s
heart by cheating on her.

How could I let myself do that?

Rebe’s my girl.

She’s been to hell and back.

Who the hell am I?

Magnolia piddled around the house, straightening up and washing clothes, doing mindless things, which were about all her brain
had room for. She fixed herself a lasagna dinner with a spinach salad, and then sat on the sofa in front of her television,
trying to relax, fighting to chase away thoughts of her newfound online hoochie life, and her staying true to her promise
to Rebe and her new lover to go to Erotic City soon.

She flipped through home design channels, CNN news, the movie
New Jack City
, which was showing on BET, and a variety of reality shows. Her thoughts shifted to what was possibly awaiting TastyTangie
online, on GFF. Part of her was curious. She leaned forward to brace herself to stand, and something pushed her back down
when she remembered that Randall had known it was her. She shook her head at herself.
I’m shutting all that crap down.

Magnolia refocused on the television screen and switched back to the Wesley Snipes movie, just as Wesley asked, “Am I my brother’s
keeper?”

She crossed her legs, swaddling herself with her leopard Snuggie, when her doorbell rang.

Magnolia got up and went to the front window, peeking through the thick slats of her wooden living room blinds, but there
was no sight of a car, or anyone at the door.

She walked to the door and looked through the peephole. “Who is it?” Nothing.

She headed back to the couch, and the doorbell rang again. Along with the voice, “Magnolia, it’s me. Neal.”

Oh hell.
With an angry forehead, she headed back to the door and spoke close to it. “What, Neal? And don’t just show up over here unannounced.”

“I know. I know. I’m sorry. I just need to talk to you. I’ve been trying to reach you. I need to apologize. I didn’t want
to approach you at work, and since you won’t take my calls, I decided this is the best thing, just come on by.”

“Actually, no, it’s not. I just looked out and you weren’t there. What’s up with you?”

“I knew if you saw me you’d pretend to not be home. I needed to make sure you were here. Please open the door. Please.”

“Dammit.” She unbolted the door and jerked the knob, pulling the door toward her. “What?”

“Mag. Can I come in?”

She stepped aside, he stepped in wearing a sweat suit, she closed the door and turned her back to it, shifting her weight
to one leg. His scent was his usual Old Spice bodywash.

He stood in the dimly lit entryway and glanced into the family room.

She said right away, “And no, you can’t. This is as far as you get.”

“I was just making sure you were alone.” He looked straight at her. “Mag. Why are you on GFF?”

“Oh Lord.”

“Really. I want to know. Why?”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

She shifted her weight onto her other leg. “Dammit, Neal. Even if I was, that would be none of your business, now would it?
Obviously you’re on it or you wouldn’t ask. And I don’t give a damn anyway.”

“Yes, I’m on it. Keyonna and I are on it. And so are you. Same city. Same age. Same height. Same damn orange bra I bought
you. Same titties. My titties. Same fucking red tattoo on your neck.” His words grew bigger. “Not to mention the fucking charm
you had on. See the problem is, she and I are supposed to be on it. You, Mag, are not.”

She snickered at him for using the word
my
anything. She knew he was already a member, but didn’t know he’d found her on there for sure until now. She tried to play
it all off. “And what makes you think I’m not supposed to be on a freak site, Neal?”

“You’re not like that.”

“Oh, I’m the good girl, huh?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, actually, I have found that bad girls like Keyonna finish first. So I wanna try and see what that’s like. I’d say it’s
way past time for me to be first. You chose Keyonna over me. Randall chose Kandi over Rebe. Maybe being wild in bed has its
advantages.”

“Mag, there’s nothing but trouble on GFF, I’m telling you now.”

“So why do you pay for it then?” She found herself about to get caught. She rephrased her question. “I mean, you spend money
to be on a site that you know is trouble?”

“I’m part of a couple. The single women on there can get into trouble.”

“So how many single women have you two gotten with? Did they look like they were afraid of trouble when you and your girl
had threesomes with them? That’s what all this is about. I guess I’m trouble, too, then, since I’m a single member. But you’ve
finally got what you wanted. You’ve got a freak in the sheets. Remember, you said I was class in the streets and class in
the sheets. You said that’s not how it works. So, make it work. I now plan to make it work for me.”

“See, I don’t understand. Didn’t what Keyonna said give you enough of an idea of how I’m still stuck on your ass? Can’t you
see I’m not over you? If I was, I wouldn’t still have you in my head when I’m with her. And I wouldn’t be here now.”

“You having some woman in your head when you have sex with someone else is no big deal for you. I know when I was with you,
you always had someone else in your perverted mind. You think I didn’t notice? I wasn’t as clueless and square as you thought.
You were somewhere else in your mind with me then, just like you are with her now.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re in my head, and in my heart.” He looked to the side and let out a large exhale.
He aimed his sight back at her and took a step closer. “I want you back, Mag. I want you back in my life.”

She looked away as she replied. “You only want me because you don’t have me. Once you got me back, then what? You’d do to
me just what you’re doing to Keyonna, trying to get some new pussy, old pussy, some pussy other than what you had. Never satisfied.
Face it. You’re not a one-woman man, Neal. And it’s okay.” She put her hand on the doorknob. “Now please, if you don’t mind,
I’m going to get back to my evening. Alone.”

He tried to aim her face to his with his stare. It worked. “Mag. Look at me. You can’t deny how you still feel about me. I
see it.”

She sounded like she was amused. “Yeah right. You can’t see a damn thing. Sparkle gone!”

He grinned. “Sparkle there!” he said, speaking adamantly.

She looked away again.

He said, “Baby, please. This is the worst-case scenario. I don’t want anyone else but you. I don’t care about Keyonna. I don’t
care about Bambi, or Trixie, or anyone else. I want you back.”

“Neal.” Magnolia’s cell phone rang, light blinking from the coffee table. She stood looking down at the floor, and crossed
her arms.

“Baby.”

It rang again. And again. She opened the front door for him to leave. Her cell rang again.

He looked over at it. “Someone looking for you?”

All she did was step fast to the table. “Hello?”

She heard, “Let me talk to Neal.”

“Who is this?”

“It’s Keyonna. I know he’s there. Let me talk to him.”

“Keyonna, have you lost your mind calling on my number?”

Neal went from standing with his arms crossed before him, to dropping his hands and moving closer to Magnolia.

Keyonna was loud. “Why would you have my man over? As nice as I tried to be to you.”

Magnolia was louder. “Oh, now see, let me tell you something, bitch.” She pointed her finger in the air and moved her head
about. “You don’t call on my cell and get nasty with me. Actually, don’t you call me at all. If you ever do again, I promise
you I’ll file a police report for harassment.”

“I don’t give a shit. Put his ass on the phone. Now.”

Neal stood right in front of Magnolia and moved his hand toward her to take the phone. She pushed away his arm and turned
her back. “What you can do is call him in about two minutes. On his damn phone. I guarantee you he’ll answer it then.”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you, you dyke ass ho,” Magnolia screamed.

“You’re the one who—” Click. Magnolia pressed the off switch on her phone and slid it across the table. “Neal. Get the fuck
out now.” She pointed to the door. “Don’t bring your silly ass drama into my life like this. Acting like you’re done with
her. Get out of my house.”

“But—”

She hurried to the door. “Get. The. Fuck. Out.” Her face was disgusted.

He followed. “Mag. I love you. I’ll handle her.” He took two steps to the other side of the doorframe and prepared to turn
back to her. His mouth prepared to speak.

Magnolia slammed the door and double locked it, turned off the porch light, turned off the TV, and headed for her master bedroom.

She turned on her laptop, immediately logged on to GFF, and canceled her membership.

TastyTangie was no more.

It was enough just handling Magnolia Butler.

She spoke aloud, “That Negro has some nerve. Bitch calling on my fuckin’ phone. I’ve got enough shit in my life, I don’t need
no mess like that crap. I don’t think so.”

She shut it all down, climbed into bed, and laid her head down in the dark.

That night, Magnolia once again tried to fall asleep.

But just as she did the other nights since she’d played with Randall and Kandi, she failed.

And it, along with Neal’s nerve, were eating her alive.

D
arla begged, “Nine. Stop.” His body was very short, and very thick, but he was very, very hung.

The tawdry, muted porno movie called
Kinky Kiki
played on the TV screen, but nobody was watching. It was an expert ménage scene gone to waste.

“Relax, baby.” He rubbed her firm, thick legs while on top of her generous frame. His words were greedy, like he was hungry
for every pound. “Yeah, those are the thighs I saw when you walked past me earlier today. The closer you got I was like, yeah,
that’s a goddess there. I’m a leg man. And I like ’em just like this. These sweet, shapely legs got my dick hard from the
first second I saw you. And now my dick is digging inside of this fat, juicy pussy. Sweet like mango juice.”

Her eyes squinted and she winced. “Nine?” Darla said his name as a question.

He was named after the size of his dick. “Wait, just one minute, baby. Hold up.”

“Nine. It’s too long.”

He ground a couple more times and then paused. “Are you okay?” he asked, sounding like he might not really care either way.

Darla spoke from underneath him. “It’s just that it feels like it’s all up in my stomach. Like it could end up in my throat.”

“I can just do it slower, or maybe not put it in all the way. Know what I’m saying?”

Darla scooted back to make his penis come out. “It just feels like, maybe I’m dry, or, I don’t know. It feels like every time
you pull back, and then in again, like my vagina’s going to split open.”

He spoke close to her face. He had sweat on his forehead and his eyes were red. His breath was warm and stale. “Oh. Well,
how about if I eat you again? I can do that.”

She shook her head along the pillow. “No. It’s okay. That part was good. But, I just can’t do this.”

Nine reached down to make sure his condom was still secure and not inside of her, and then he turned over onto his back. “Okay.
Let’s just lay still for a minute.”

“Sorry,” Darla said as if it was all her fault.

“No problem. Maybe another position. Maybe on all fours. Know what I’m saying?”

“No,” was all she was saying. She closed her eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked again, not looking at her.

She turned her head toward him and looked down at his still hard dick. “I just thought I was ready for it, or for this. It’s
different from what I was used to. It’s been a long time. Five years.”

“Really? So you haven’t been with anyone since 2004? Is that what you’re telling me?” He still looked away.

“Yes. That’s what I’m telling you. My husband was my one and only lover for almost twenty years. Well, I did have one other,
but only once.”

“Wow. I mean that’s good. You’re a queen. A real lady. Know what I’m saying?”

“I don’t know about all that, but I know for a fact that he was nowhere near as large and long as you.”

“I’m the one who’s sorry. We don’t have to.”

She looked down at his size again. “I’ve never even seen a condom on a man, other than the movies. And how do you fit that
on you? What size is that anyway?”

“Durex XXL.”

“Wow.” She looked in shock.

“You’ll be fine. You just need someone to take their time and break you in. Know what I’m saying?”

Darla gave a small laugh and looked up at the ceiling. She said in her mind,
If he says, “know what I’m saying” one more time…
“You make it sound like I’m a virgin.”

Suddenly, his tone changed. He now looked at her. “That’s exactly what you are. A damn virgin. Know what I’m saying? How the
hell you gonna be a virgin at forty? With a pussy that damn tight. What the hell is your problem?” She looked over at his
face and suddenly saw the devil himself. “Are you some kind of sexually repressed, closet lesbian or what? And you just lay
there like a damn corpse. What you need to do is take all this dick and get this shit over with, with your fat…”

“Ahh,” Darla pressed the breath she’d been momentarily holding while she slept and her eyes burst open like they’d popped.
In her head she could still hear, “Know what I’m saying?” It rang like a doorbell. She caught her exhale in time to force
a sufficient inhale and grabbed her throat and tried to calm her chest.

Her room was dark.

She was alone in bed.

And she was sweating like a first-place marathon runner in Zimbabwe.

“Oh my God.” Inhale, exhale. “What was that all about? That young man was a trip.” She drew another deep breath, let it out
fast, and saw the omniscient red light from her alarm clock that read 4:44 in the morning.

It was the same time of the morning that she and Aaron would joke they’d always awake automatically just before they’d adjust
sleeping positions for a final hour of slumber. And there she was in her solo bed of one, dreaming about having sex with another
man.

A man who her shy vagina would not accommodate.

“What in the world is that going to be like? God forbid it’s with someone like that. I’m a pretty sad case. Aren’t I Aaron?”

In her spinning head, she convinced herself that Aaron brushed the side of her cheek with the back of his hand as usual. She
felt it for sure. And smiled. All was easier to take for a minute.

Within the next hour, Darla was up and showered, dressed in her work uniform and tennis shoes, and in her kitchen brewing
her morning black coffee. She grabbed a vanilla Slim Fast shake from the fridge, popped it open, and sipped.

After a swallow, she asked herself, “Why do I drink these when all I do is stay the same size?”

She stepped to the balcony of her condo and leaned against the white railing, looking out along the majestic, first morning
vision, and eyeing the aqua waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The fresh sun shone its tangerine highlight in flickers of light
that spanned across the water’s horizon like a gigantic fan.

How did I end up alone? A widow by the time I was thirty-five. No credit. No money. A job I hate. And still I have the nerve
to want to open a lingerie store. Who in the hell is going to give me a loan?

She found herself headed to her built-in bookshelf in her living room where she found her cherished, black study Bible that
her mother gave her on her twelfth birthday. It was even signed “Presented to Darla, By Mom, On January 1, 1981.”

She set down her shake and flipped through the pages of the Bible, opening it to a section that was bookmarked by a long,
thin, ivory crucifix. Darla noticed some scribbled notes alongside the explanation of the verses. Her mother had written,
It may be late, but it’s not too late. It only depends on how hungry you are. Get hungry for purpose. If you’re not hungry,
he won’t come with food. A fast will sharpen the things of God. Empty yourself, for yourself.
The writing was on a particular highlighted page,
Isaiah 4, verse 4—The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by
a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.

Darla took in the words, read them again, and it was like she could hear her mother speak to her. Darla sniffled and then
her eyes filled with tears, and they flowed heavy and fast until she could no longer see the writing from the water-clouds
in her eyes.

She clutched the Bible close to her, just as her home phone rang.

Darla walked to the kitchen phone and said a nasally, “Hello.”

“Mrs. Clark, it’s Ralph, the concierge from downstairs. We have a delivery for you that’s been at the front desk since yesterday.
It’s a certified letter that we took, but you need to sign the card. I don’t know if anyone called or put a slip in your mailbox.
I know it’s early, but would you like to come get it on your way out, or we can bring it up?”

Darla sniffled again and patted her cheeks. “Yes, please bring it up. And don’t worry about it being early. I don’t think
I’m going in to work today.”

A knock at the door ten minutes later was answered by Darla, who was now in her nightgown and slippers, with a white silk
robe wrapped around her. Her hair was brushed straight back.

With her red nose and makeup-stripped face, she opened the door and took the envelope, signed the green confirmation card,
and handed the man a few dollars.

“Thanks, Ralph.”

“Surely. Have a great day, Mrs. Clark.”

Darla shut the door, examining the letter front and back, expecting it to be another letter from the homeowners association,
or the bank.

She opened the letter, headed to the kitchen for that cup of brewed coffee that had her name on it, saying aloud, “Oh please.
This is all I need right now.”

She read.

Darla was careful to examine the check, which was attached to the letter via paper clip. She saw her name, but it didn’t seem
real. She saw the numeric amount, but she couldn’t believe it.

She put her hand over her heart and her head spun. Darla dropped the letter and the half-million-dollar check onto the floor,
and stood. She was completely still, not wanting to awake from what could have been an amazing dream.

She turned her face toward her Bible that she’d left open, which was sitting on her dining room table and she had a look of
disbelief, and then the look of a woman blessed with a dream come true.

Darla, shaking, dropped to her knees, clasped her hands, lifted her head up high, and said to the heavens above, “Thank you,
Mom. Thank you, Aaron.”

That next day, she gave her two weeks’ notice and quit her job.

Her dream could now become a reality.