The Company We Keep (4 page)

A
rmed security guards with walkie-talkies patrolled the area inside and outside of the rapper’s house. Dressed in somber dark suits, dark hats, and dark glasses, they looked like an advertisement for that old John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd movie,
The Blues Brothers
.

Marcus Boggs was Rahim’s head of security and looked the part. He was built like an ox, had a face like an angry gargoyle, and a neck that looked like the trunk of a large oak tree. He towered over Young Rahim and most of the other guests.

The guests were a smorgasbord of ethnic diversity. White people were gadding about with their hair in dreadlocks, braids, and even afros. Some even had the nerve to wear African attire. Black folks, male and female, were prancing around with platinum blond hair. There were others present whose ethnicity, and gender in several cases, could not be determined.

Other guests included popular DJ Harrison Starr. He looked out of place in his dapper three-piece suit, but he was as cool and smooth as he looked. He was tall and solidly built, and he had the look of a man who liked to be pampered. His handsome coconut brown face was as smooth as the faces of some of the women present. He owed that to good genes, a balanced diet, and plain old luck. His slanted black eyes scanned the room and had been
doing so from the minute he’d arrived—a few minutes before Teri and Nicole.

He was surprised but glad to see Teri in the mix. That’s when he stopped looking around the room, because he’d found what he’d been looking for. As far as he was concerned, they had some unfinished business to address. From the way he was smiling at her, and trying to steer her by the arm to a more private spot, it was obvious to some of the guests close by that he had a “thing” for her.

“I’d like to talk to you before you leave tonight,” Teri told him. They did have some unfinished business, and she had a thing for him, too. He was the last man she’d been with. Their relationship had ended before it even got off the ground. It had started with a chance meeting at a charity function, a few dinner dates followed by nights of passion she had not experienced before (or since), and then it was over. Sometimes it seemed like it had never happened.

Their hectic lives were complicated by work and many other interests. And even though they were both still fairly young, they were settled in their ways and unwilling to bend too far in another person’s direction. Harrison had wanted her to spend more time with him, stroke his ego, be his trophy, and be the woman behind him.

She had scoffed at the notion of being
behind
him, or any other man. “If I can’t be beside you, I won’t be with you,” she had told him, laughing as she said it. But he had taken it the wrong way. Harrison had sulked for days and ignored her repeated telephone messages. And by the time he’d come to his senses, it was too late. His telephone messages to her went unanswered, and twice when he was bold enough to ring the buzzer at her residence, she’d ignored him. He finally gave up when he attempted to visit her at her workplace and was brusquely turned away by the pit bull security guard, per Ms. Teri Stewart’s instructions.

“We can talk now,” Harrison told her with a nod, still holding on to her arm. They hadn’t encountered each other since their breakup.

Teri nodded. “I heard about you going around speaking to the
kids at some of the inner-city schools. I admire you for doing that,” she told him, meaning every word.

“Did you also hear that I got robbed and beaten at the last school I spoke at?”

Teri gasped and shook her head. “I’m sorry to hear that. I hope that doesn’t discourage you from going back. Those kids need people like us, now more than ever. I visited the girls in juvenile hall last month. I didn’t think they’d want to hear anything I had to say about my work.”

“Did they?”

“They were more interested in who did my hair and what famous people I hung out with.” Teri laughed. “But I’m going back in a couple of months anyway.”

“So am I. And to one of the most violent schools in Crenshaw. As a matter of fact, the boys that jumped me turned themselves in and apologized. I got all of my shit back, too. They said it was my talk that had made them think about what they’d done once the excitement of robbing my ass wore off.”

“See? That just goes to show you that anybody can change,” Teri said hopefully.

“This is not what I want to talk about, Teri,” Harrison said, grinding his teeth. “What I meant was, I wanted to talk to you about me. It’s now or never.” His lips tightened and he gave her a defiant look, staring at her with his eyes narrowed into slits.

She didn’t like his brusque attitude and she let him know by giving him one of the harshest looks she could manage. It didn’t take her long to decide that since he had just acted so uppity, she would make him work his ass off to get more of her attention tonight. He would have to compete with all the other men at the party. “Excuse me,” she said bluntly, attempting to leave. He grabbed her wrist and held her in place. “Please don’t do that,” she ordered, removing his hand. Her attitude didn’t even faze him, though. He was glad to see that she was still a challenge. But he wanted what he wanted and he wanted it now.

Unlike Teri, Harrison had not been spending his days and nights alone. His bed and his arms were rarely empty. He and Teri had the same biological needs, but for different reasons.
Knowing what a firecracker she was in the bedroom, he had assumed that she’d kept herself busy in that location, too. He would have been horrified and amused to hear that Teri had been on a self-imposed “pleasure strike” since their breakup.

Harrison Starr had never denied himself the pleasures of nature. As long as he could get it, he would. But he had high standards when it came to women. He wouldn’t fuck just anybody. Beauty was one of the main requirements that he looked for in a woman. That shit about looks not being important was hogwash and had to be something that an ugly person had come up with. In his position he couldn’t afford to be seen in public with a woman who looked like a frog princess. But even having all the physical requirements was not enough. He had to like the woman, not enough to take home to Mother or to give her his name, but just enough to keep the flame going until it burned itself out.

“Do you want to talk to me tonight or not?” he demanded, his impatience showing.

“Maybe later,” Teri replied, pulling away with a smug smile on her lips. A disappointed look slid across Harrison’s face. Teri Stewart had been and still was his biggest challenge. He offered her a smile and another nod. Even though he had not been with a woman in two days, he could wait another two days, or two weeks, for Teri.

One of the many things that Teri didn’t like to do was rush. And the unfinished business that she had with Harrison Starr was something that she wanted to resume in her own time. After all, it had been six months since she’d been with the man. Another six months wouldn’t kill her.

T
eri latched onto Nicole’s arm and guided her to a long table in the center of the living room. There was something on that table for everybody, from crispy, golden fried chicken wings and fried okra to bite-size quiche and caviar. Teri and Nicole ignored the feast on the table. But they each snatched a flute of champagne off a passing waiter’s tray.

“What was up with that?” Nicole wanted to know, an amused look on her face.

“What do you mean?” Teri took a long swallow of her champagne, then wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

“You know damn well what I mean, girl. That was Harrison Starr. He was looking and acting like he wanted to lick you up one side and down the other,” Nicole said with a leer and a hand on her hip. She wanted to do that “neck rolling” thing that black women had made so famous. But she didn’t because judging from all the gum chewing, blond-weave-wearing, loud-talking, scantily dressed sistahs already on the scene, the ghetto was being represented enough tonight.

Teri didn’t respond for a few moments. But a mysterious smile crossed her face. Her mind was on the thought of Harrison’s tongue on her body.

“Well?” Nicole yelled, jabbing the side of Teri’s arm.

“Well what?” The smile was still on Teri’s face as she adjusted the shawl on her shoulders and drank some more champagne.

“What’s up with you and Harrison? Tell me all the details,” Nicole demanded.

“It’s a long story,” Teri said with a mysterious look on her face. She glanced over her shoulder to see that Harrison’s eyes were still on her. She smiled at him but quickly returned her attention to Nicole.

“I like long stories. I’ve seen
Roots
eight times,” Nicole told her. “Start talking.”

“Well, like I said, it is a long story. But I will give you the short version. It’s, uh, all history now, but Harrison and I were very close once upon a time. It lasted only a few weeks. That was about six months ago.”

Nicole stared at Teri for a few seconds. “Hmm. With those powerful-looking thighs, I bet he had your ass flipping and flopping all over the damn bed,” she said with lust on her face.

Teri gave Nicole an exasperated look. “We enjoyed a lot of other things, too.”

“I bet you did,” Nicole added with a wink and an obscene gesture with her tongue. “If I remember correctly, you were walking mighty bowlegged around that time.”

“Girl, you are hopeless,” Teri insisted with a sharp wave of her hand. “There was more to our relationship than my body.”

“Tell me about it. Your body was just one of the props. Now I know why I stumbled across all those sex toys in your condo in the cabinet beneath the sink in your bathroom…about six months ago.”

Teri glared at Nicole. “Why you nosy heifer,” she snarled. “Now I know why you looked at me with such a bug’s eye and a shark’s grin.” She was used to Nicole’s loose attitude when it came to talking about sex. And it pleased her to know that she was one of the few people that Nicole felt comfortable enough with to talk the way she did. “Anyway, Harrison and I enjoyed each other’s company. We parted on fairly good terms and I’d like to keep it that way. It was a good business move.”

“A good move in what way? Other than the obvious, what else can he do for you now? Even I can tell that he’s happy to see you
up in here tonight. Either that or that big bulge on the side of his thigh is one big-ass gun.” Nicole fanned her face with a napkin and sipped her drink. “And while we are on the subject, I’m beginning to feel a little horny myself around all this testosterone.”

Teri gave her friend an exasperated look. “Now don’t you even go
there.
Like I said, remaining somewhat friendly with him was a good business move. And not just for me, but for everybody at Eclectic Records.”

“Well, that everybody includes me and unless you tell me, I don’t have a damn clue what a good business move it was for you to stay on good terms with Harrison Starr.” Nicole was talking trash, but she was also serious. The solemn expression on her face told Teri that.

“For your information, he is the lead DJ at one of the few radio stations that will play our music cuts frequently. As a matter of fact, every hour on the hour. They are one of our strongest support systems. That’s a relationship I can’t afford to lose.”

“Uh-huh. Well, I guess that is as good a reason as any for you to keep him happy.”

Nicole and Teri blended into the crowd, smiling and air kissing a few people they knew. Another one of the more interesting guests was a wildly popular basketball player named Dwight Davis. Teri had not expected to see him at the party, and when she did, she stumbled. She was glad that Nicole didn’t notice her reaction. She was not in the mood to tell her that she and Dwight also had a “history” and that he was also in her slush pile.

The fact was that she and Dwight had had a brief but very hot affair before Harrison entered the picture. But unlike her situation with Harrison, a relationship that was only on an extended pause (she’d realized that as soon as she saw him tonight), the intimate part of her association with Dwight was over as far as she was concerned.

There he stood, just a few feet away from her, gnawing on a chicken wing with his eyes closed. If he didn’t look countrified and ghetto, she didn’t know what did. A large gold hoop earring dangled from his left earlobe. He was the only person present who had on a jean outfit. With his long sexy legs and high firm ass, he couldn’t have looked sexier if he’d been naked.

Nicole noticed Teri fanning her face with some folded papers she’d removed from her purse. “Are you ok? Don’t you think you should eat something before you finish that drink?” Nicole asked. “I don’t care how expensive that shit is, you shouldn’t drink too much of it on an empty stomach.”

“I guess I could use some of that quiche,” Teri decided, moving back toward the table. She looked at the document in her hand. “Let me find Rahim so I can give him this damn contract before I forget.” It took Teri several minutes to track Rahim down. And it took her another ten minutes to convince him to take the contract and put it in a safe place for the time being.

“Girl, stop thinking about work and get loose,” Rahim told her. “Get out there and have some fun.” He handed the contract to a nearby assistant and dismissed Teri with a slap on her ass. She started to walk back to the buffet table, but she stopped when she saw that that was where Dwight was. She pretended to be admiring the artwork on the walls and the other décor until Dwight had moved away.

Harrison’s presence, and that little chat she’d just had with him, had been enough for her. Despite her “I’m going to make you work to get me back” attitude with Harrison, the longer she remained in the same house with that luscious man, the more she realized she wanted him back sooner rather than later.

Teri could feel herself beginning to weaken, especially in the knees. There was some hot, tingling, throbbing, moist activity going on between her thighs. The champagne had contributed a lot to her meltdown, but it also helped her feel less inhibited. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Because now that Dwight had been added to the brew, she knew that if something happened between her and Harrison tonight, or between her and Dwight, she wouldn’t be responsible.