Lookin' For Luv (34 page)
Authors: Carl Weber
It was almost 9:30 when Kevin walked into his apartment, covered in automotive grease. From the look on his face, Denise could see he was totally disgusted. He went into the bathroom and stripped off the stained clothing, dropping it on the floor. Putting her law book facedown on a table, she followed him into the bathroom.
“Kevin, honey, is everything all right? You’re not mad I’m here, are you? I charmed your landlord into letting me in.” She admired his firm butt as he slid into the shower.
“It’s not you. That fucking car of mine died on the Belt Parkway. It took me almost an hour and a half to walk home. What the hell is it with you New Yorkers? You see someone needs help and you run the other way. I must have asked ten people if I could get a ride, and not one of them would let me in the car.”
“Welcome to New York, home of the Good Samaritan,” Denise joked as she began to take off her clothes. She hung her conservative business suit and silk blouse on the back of the door. “What’s wrong with the car?”
“I don’t know. It could be anything at this point. That whole car’s nothing but a piece of shit anyway. I’m gonna go down to the auto auction by the Van-Wyck Expressway tomorrow. I can probably pick something up for around a grand.” He smiled when Denise stepped into the shower.
“I don’t think you should go to one those auctions.” She took the soap from him and began to wash his chest. “I read in the paper that most of those cars are real problems for the new owners. Why don’t you lease a new car? Didn’t you say you really like the Ford Expedition?”
“Baby, you must be confusing me with Michael Jordan. I’m the poor black guy you think is cute.”
“I wasn’t going to tell you this until your birthday next month . . .” She started soaping his back. “But I was going to give you money toward a down payment on a new car anyway. If I give you enough, we can probably get your payments down to three hundred a month.”
She turned Kevin around to kiss him on the lips. She loved the fact that material things always made him happy, since she could buy him anything he ever wanted.
“What do you think? Could you afford that monthly payment?”
“Hell, yeah, I could afford that. Baby, I pay that much in repairs on my Honda each month now.”
He pulled Denise in close and kissed her under the warm spray of the shower. She always seemed to know how to make things better. First with his sister Whitney, then with any kind of financial trouble. Of course, he liked to think he was taking care of her too.
He lifted her up and walked out of the shower, carrying her into the bedroom. Laying her wet body down on his new bed, he explored her neck and shoulders with his mouth. She moaned loudly when she felt his soft tongue. Kevin continued to travel across her body, placing kisses everywhere. Her breathing grew heavier as she eagerly anticipated his arrival at the final destination. The sudden jarring sound of the phone tore her from her ecstasy. He stood up to answer it.
“No! What are you doing? Don’t stop!” She pulled him back on top of her. The answering machine kicked in, and Kevin heard his mother’s voice.
“Kevin, this is your mama. Would you call me when you get this message?” Mama sounded depressed. Kevin jumped up to answer the phone.
“I’m right here, Mama,” Kevin panted into the phone.
Denise got up from the bed, cursing, and put Kevin’s robe on. Looking back at her lover, who had not finished the job he started, she walked into the living room to look through her law books and pout. Experience had taught her that he and his mother had meaningless two-hour conversations, and to sit there and wait was pointless.
“What’s up, Mama?” Kevin asked.
“Your uncle Kenny died this morning,” she said sadly.
“Oh, Mama, I’m sorry to hear that. Uncle Kenny was a good man.”
“Yeah, Kenny lived a good life. I just pray God lets me stick around till I’m ninety-five.”
“Mama, you don’t have nothin’ to worry about as long as you take your blood pressure medicine.” He knew Mama always became depressed when family died. It was the only time she thought about her own mortality.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Well, I’ll call you when I know more about the funeral arrangements.” She paused before changing the subject “So, what you doing? Denise over there cooking you some more of that Jewish food?”
“No, but we were trying to do a little celebrating when you called.”
“Celebrate! What you two got to celebrate? I hope you ain’t asked that girl to marry you, son. You haven’t even met her mama and daddy yet.” After a moment’s silence she thought to ask, “Why is that anyway?”
“We’re not getting married, Mama.” He laughed. For some reason he was unable to even picture himself and Denise married. Especially since he still thought about Alicia almost every day “We’re just celebrating because I’m going to get a new car in a few days.”
Kevin smiled at the thought of getting a new Ford Expedition. As long as he could remember, no one in his family had ever owned a brand-new car. After so many months of feelin’ like a failure, driving a status symbol might restore some of his pride.
“Oh, baby, I’m so proud of you. What are you getting, something new or used?” Mama assumed he would be getting a compact car.
“I’m going to get me one of those new Ford Expeditions. You know, the big sports utility trucks. That way when I have summer vacation we can take trips down to Georgia and Florida and visit your sisters.” He thought this would make his mother happy but learned he was mistaken when he heard her stem reply.
“Where you gettin’ the money for this big fancy truck? Them things are expensive. Lord, boy, don’t you tell me you’re gettin’ the money from Denise.”
Kevin didn’t say a word. He knew his mother was upset; he just didn’t understand why.
“Boy, I thought I raised you right. Don’t you have any shame?” Mama’s voice was getting louder with every word. “That girl done bought you a bedroom set, a living room set, and Lord knows what else. And you got the nerve to ask her to buy you a car? You ought to be ’shamed of yourself.”
“Mama, I didn’t ask her to buy me a car. I’m the one buying the car. She’s just helping me with the down payment. Besides, what’s wrong with her giving me expensive gifts? She can afford it.” He couldn’t believe his mother was so upset.
“Boy, if you was here right now I’d knock you upside your head. You think I’m stupid? I know how much them trucks cost. You gonna needed at least eight thousand dollars to get the payment so’s you can afford them.”
He had not thought about how much he was going to have to get from Denise as a down payment until Mama brought it up. But she was wrong, Denise wouldn’t have to give him eight thousand. It was more like twelve to fifteen thousand. Still, he didn’t see the problem with accepting the gift Denise was offering. If his damn basketball career hadn’t fallen apart, he would be spending his
own
money on things like this.
own
money on things like this.
“Mama, why you gettin’ all upset? Denise knows what she can afford. Why can’t you just be happy for me? This is going to be my first brand-new car ever. And I’ll still be making all the payments by myself.”
This was not the first time his mother had protested the gifts Denise had been giving him. In fact, every time she bought him something, Mama would let him know that she was displeased. He couldn’t understand what her problem was, but it was starting to become tiring. As far as he was concerned, she was his girlfriend, and she liked spoiling her man. If he had the kind of money she had, he’d do the same thing for her.
Mama had never fully explained her objections to Kevin. A part of her felt she should respect Denise for the help she gave in getting Whitney medical treatment. But now, she thought, things were getting out of control. Her son was getting sucked in by the lure of so many big-ticket gifts, and she needed to give him a dose of reality.
“Kevin, you listen to me, because I have something very serious to say.” Mama hesitated for a second, gathering her thoughts. “You know I like Denise. But if you think that girl is giving you all this stuff out of the kindness of her heart, then you are one stupid-ass man. That girl is up to something. I don’t know what, but she’s up to something. I can feel it.”
For the first time in his adult life, Kevin was ashamed of his mother. Denise had proven herself to him. The fact that she saved Whitney’s life should have been enough to convince everyone of her intentions, but it wasn’t. He couldn’t understand how his mother could be so ungrateful, and he exploded on the phone.
“Mama, how could you say that? Denise saved Whitney’s life. I would think you would be praising her instead of trying to develop conspiracy theories. Is this only because she’s white?”
“You can call it whatever you want, son. But if you’re not careful, one day you’re gonna wake up and find that everything you have really belongs to her. And that you ain’t a man but an unimportant little nigger following behind your white massa, waiting for her to throw you a crumb. Is that really a position you want to be in?”
“Mama, that’s uncalled for.”
“Is it? When was the last time you bought her a present? Can you remember when you last paid for the two of you to go out? Kevin, I don’t know what’s going on up there in New York, but something stinks, and I’m starting to think it’s Denise. I don’t care how much money she has. No one buys this many presents for a new love unless there’s another motive.”
“Mama, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” Both of them were silent.
He was tired of defending his relationship with a white woman. It was bad enough when total strangers judged him on the street, but hearing it from his own mother pushed him to the breaking point.
“I’m sick and tired of you constantly giving me shit about my girlfriend! You should be kissing her ass after the way she got those doctors to give Whitney that operation.”
“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?” Mama replied in a scream of her own. “You’re going to respect me, Kevin Raymond Brown! I swear before God you’re going to respect me, or so help me I’ll have Phyllis drive me to New York and put my big toe straight up your ass! Now, you tell that girl that you appreciate it, but you won’t be needing her money for a new car.”
“Mama, I’m a grown man. You can’t tell me what to do anymore. I want that car, and if Denise is going to help me get it, that’s none of your goddamn business.” He hung up the phone in anger.
After he took a minute to calm down, he realized what he had just done to his own mother. Never before had they had such a volatile argument. Even after he messed up with the NBA, Mama had always been by his side. He knew this issue must be extremely important for her to be as adamant as she just was. He dialed her number but decided he still wasn’t ready to face the whole issue again and hung up. He would apologize to her another day and hoped that she would relax her opinion just a bit.
In the living room Denise pretended to be reading her book but had listened to every word of his conversation. Her pout was gone, replaced by a subtle grin. She was happy that her plan was working, and Kevin was becoming more fiercely loyal to her every day. She put down her book and joined him by the phone, hoping to convince him to finish what he had started earlier.
29
MAURICE
Carol Davis sang the words to Lionel Richie and Diana Ross’s “Endless Love” as she sipped her red wine. She gazed out at the beautiful azure-blue water of Jamaica. A light breeze blew the wind chimes that were hanging on the patio, filling the air with their sparkling sounds. The music and the wine made her feel exquisite as she stretched out on a lounge chair to admire the pastel sunset.
She placed her wine on the table beside her chair and picked up a bottle of almond-scented lotion. Generously she smoothed the cream over her long, sexy legs, which were exposed beneath the ultra-short skirt she had chosen to wear for her first evening with Maurice. The intoxicating scent of the rich lotion made her feel both romantic and sexy, and she couldn’t wait for Maurice to arrive from the airport so she could properly thank him for this vacation.
In front of the condo complex Maurice stepped out of his rental car and smiled approvingly at the luxurious accommodations. He had flown Carol in earlier so that he could tie up some loose ends at work without making her wait to start her vacation. She had happily accepted the ticket for the earlier flight and promised him she would spend all day in anticipation of his arrival.
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