In the Life (28 page)

Chapter 9

Sade's song Sweetest Taboo had never sounded so sweet. Jackson blew away some of the pink bubbles that he held in his hand. The water in the tub was hot, but it was Sherrod's presence behind him that made the bubble bath steamy. Sherrod traced Jackson's every curve with the soapy crimson washcloth. Jackson had never felt this pampered in his lifetime. Red rose petals floated around him. He picked one out of the water and gently rubbed it across Sherrod's arm.

"You know that we are playing with fire, right?" Sherrod said as he dipped the washcloth in the water and then brought it back to Jackson's chest.

"I really don't want to think about that right now. I want to concentrate on the here and now."

"I bet you that nigga Tracy would never have you like this." Jackson laughed for a minute at Sherrod's statement. That was one special night that he would love to forget.

"You are probably right," Jackson responded leaving out mention of Tracy's shortcomings.

This moment was special. Even though they were wet and naked, this was not about sex at all. It was all about enjoying the others company. They were all about making intimate, not hot, sweaty love. But that would probably come a little later.

"What do you think would happen if Alonzo found out?"

"He ain’t going to." Sherrod stopped rubbing Jackson with the cloth. He pressed his body closer into Jackson's.

"But what if he does? You know he can get crazy." Jackson grabbed Sherrod's hand and started to guide it back to making the soft circular motions that it had just a minute ago.

"Well, we will handle that hurdle when it comes." The bathroom door burst open and the lovers jumped up in shock. In the door was Alonzo holding a butcher knife from the kitchen. His eyes burned with anger.

"Oh yeah! Then handle this you bitch ass motherfucker!" Alonzo ran towards them and lunged forward with the knife. This was the end. This was the end of Jackson's nightmare.

His alarm clock jolted him out of the bad dream. He hit it with such force that the clock fell from its stand. Jackson took in deep breaths and exhaled slowly to calm down his rapidly beating heart. He looked over to his side and there was Tracy still knocked out. Obviously, that wretched event hadn't been a bad dream. Jackson leaned over the edge of the bed and picked his clock back up. The time was 10:30. Why was this nigga still there?

The sun light coming from the window gave Jackson a clear view of Tracy's body. His upper body was beautiful. He had a tattoo of a set of angel wings with the name Ruthie Mae between them on his back. Jackson guessed that the tattoo was honoring a family member. His eyes drifted over to Tracy's backside which was ample with just a touch of hair. Maybe Jackson should have taken the role of being a top. That idea seemed more appetizing. Since Tracy was lying with his back towards Jackson, he had to lean forward to see his package. Just as Jackson had suspected, the package was bite sized. His flaccid dick was the size of a container of Chapstick.

"Well, isn't that just precious," Jackson said sarcastically. No wonder the man had oral skills like that. He had to get his partner off some way. Unfortunately, Jackson had not been given the chance to bust his seed.

Jackson was tired of this nigga in his bed. He wanted him gone. Jackson tried to nudge him awake, but that didn't work. Last night’s events must have taken its toll on Tracy. He had probably given it his all. Jackson shook Tracy harder until he woke up.

"Huh? What?" Tracy rolled over to face Jackson. He began to smile once his eyes were able to focus on Jackson's face. "What's good, sexy?"

"I am about to get up to run some errands. I would have let you sleep a little longer, but I need to be out." Jackson didn't want to just tell Tracy to get the hell up out his place. It wasn’t his fault that he had the dick of a one year old chimp. It was all natural selection. Or maybe Tracy had done something so terribly wrong in a past lifetime that had garnered him with a baby dick in this life.

"Oh my bad. What time is it?" Tracy sat up and began to search for his clothes. Jackson was happy when he put his underwear back on.

"It's around 10:30."

"Damn, that late?" Tracy found his pants and pulled them on. He started to search for his shirt. Jackson figured out what he was doing.

"You left it at the table, remember?" Jackson got off the bed and began to start pushing Tracy out. Jackson figured that since he did not have to go to work for a few more hours, he could still catch a good two hours of sleep. Tracy grabbed his shirt and jacket from their locations and put them on. He stopped at the front door to say his goodbyes.

"So I will call you later on, okay?" Jackson forced a fake smile on his face and nodded.

"Yeah, I enjoyed chilling with you." He knew he was going to hell for telling that blatant lie. Tracy started to lean forward to get a goodbye kiss. Jackson quickly held his left hand up to stop him and then his right hand to cover his mouth.

"No, morning breath. You know. I don't think you want to experience that." Tracy laughed.

"Got you." Tracy smiled his megawatt grin and then extended his fist out for a pound instead. Jackson dapped him up and then closed the door. He was glad that Tracy was gone.

He turned around to see Sherrod standing in the hall wearing only his boxers. Jackson could tell from the way that his boxers hung that Sherrod definitely was not suffering from the same affliction that his company had.

Jackson began to walk back to his room. Sherrod's eyes were all on him. Jackson could not read the expression that Sherrod had on his face. Was it jealousy, curiosity, anger, or disgust? If anything, Jackson hoped it was one of the first two.

"Company just leaving," Sherrod said flatly.

"Yeah," Jackson replied looking back at the door. He stood in front of Sherrod not knowing what to say.

"He seemed like a real cool dude. You deserve that."

Jackson looked up at Sherrod. He had not been expecting that to come out of his mouth. These were words of acceptance and not animosity. Jackson did not know if he would be more comfortable with the latter.

"Thanks." Sherrod walked off towards the kitchen leaving Jackson dumbfounded. Was that it? Jackson went back to his room and closed the door. He had hoped for two more hours of sleep, but he would be lucky to get twenty minutes after this encounter.

Chapter 10

People watching could be so fun. Individuals of different races, ages, sizes, colors, and sexual orientations walked by him in the Ford City Mall. Some people were there to shop while others were there to be seen or just have something to do. Jackson had stopped by to indulge himself in a little shopping spree. He just wanted to pick up a few things to add to his sparse wardrobe. A few new shirts or a pair of trendy jeans may put him back financially, but it would be worth the investment, especially on those days that Jackson normally was bitching about having nothing to wear.

Two Mexican ladies speaking Spanish passed Jackson. Whatever they were talking about must have been interesting because they were very into what each other were saying. They laughed and moved their hands expressively as they walked towards the food court.

Next, catching Jackson's attention was a group of high school kids. The clan was made up of three ghetto diva wannabes and two fake immature thugs. Unlike with the Mexicans, Jackson could hear and understand everything that the kids were saying; actually the whole mall could probably hear them. They weren't even real close to Jackson yet and he was still privy to their conversation.

"Naw, what the fuck is you talking bout?" The plump, short girl with red and blonde braids said as she crossed over to the girl that was at the head of the pack. The middle girl had a cell phone up to her ear and seemed to be trying to hold multiple conversations at once.

"Look, that is what she saying." The girl was just as loud as the first. She stopped her strut for a second to take a look at her phone. She tossed her long micro braids back and placed the phone back to her ear. Her free hand began to wave back and forth catching her friends' attention. "Oh hells naw, Tisha, let me call you the fuck back."

"Girl, who is it?" The third girl tore herself away from flirting with the boys for a moment. The taller guy, who Jackson found handsome in a prepubescent sort of way, grabbed the girl by her shoulder to try to get the focus back on him. She violently jerked away and shot him a look.

"Bitch, why you playing?"

"Nigga, who the fuck you talking to! I will fuck your motherfucking ass up, bitch!" The girl waved her finger in front of his face. She made it known that she would not be fucked with. The other boy laughed hysterically.

"How the fuck you gonna call my phone?"

"Who the fuck is it, bitch?" The tubby girl asked. Her other friend was too busy fighting with the boy to care anymore.

"That motherfucker, Draygo! Yeah I am talking about you, nigga! Why the fuck you calling me? You aint gonna get no more pussy! Your bitch ass didn't know how to act with your little dick ass. You couldn't even eat my shit right."

"Girl, you aint say he had a little ass dick!"

"Let me tell you! I couldn't even feel that shit in my pussy!" It was like the middle girl had forgotten that she was on the phone for a minute. Jackson thought that maybe the guy had hung up on her. When the girl started back talking into the phone, Jackson knew that the guy was still there. But Jackson had to wonder why after the production that she was putting on.

The hood parade kept rolling past Jackson. He thought about their vulgar, profane language and attention seeking behavior. Jackson knew that he used cuss words. He was an adult. He could do that if he wanted to. However, with these young kids, they had no business doing it so loudly and frequently. Jackson figured that they used such language to try to prove that they were grown even though they weren't.

An incoming call on Jackson's phone interrupted his people watching. It was Mykel. He had been meaning to give him a call. Jackson had some things to tell him.

"So has he called your ass yet?" Jackson had told Mykel all about Tracy. In doing so, he also spilled the beans on Sherrod and Alonzo. It felt good to be able to talk to someone about his situation. Mykel could be trusted. He was not going to go around and tell business that wasn't his own.

"He sure hasn't." Jackson responded. He went into the DTLR store to check out their merchandise. "It is not like I really want to talk to him either."

"I know, but it is the principle."

"Exactly." Jackson waved away one of the salespeople that was headed his way. "I would say that Tracy got the best part of me, but I am still not 100% sure that he was all the way in there."

"Damn!" Jackson and Mykel both began to laugh. The whole experience had become humorous after the fact. "So have you thought about calling him?"

"Why the hell would I do that?" Jackson saw a hoodie that he liked and walked towards it. It was black and green. Jackson decided to get it. He saw a great shirt to go with it.

"And what about Sherrod? How are things between the two of you?"

"I mean, it is no different I guess. To be honest, I just knew that Sherrod would have something to say by now, but he hasn't said a word."

"He isn't talking to you?"

"No, he is. Like I said, everything is everything. He did ask whether I was going to hang out with Tracy again."

"Did you tell him…"

"Naw, I didn't. I didn't feel like answering questions or getting into the details of the night and the sex and everything. I don't want to talk about that with him. It is one thing for him to suspect that I got busy, but it's another thing to confirm it. And then if I tell him that I can't even get the dude to call me back, I would look like a bust down. I don't want him to look at me like that."