Lust and Lies (The Jamie Reynolds Chronicles #1) (8 page)

“Man, this blows. I have to spend Christmas in here, and hopefully I can get out by New Year’s. Yo, J, you know I wouldn’t ask this favor if I didn’t have to, but can you look out for my family and get a few Christmas gifts for them. I was hoping that job came through and I had the extra cash.”

This sucked, Christmas was only three weeks away, but clearly, Terry probably didn’t have a job coming through. I’d known him for over three years and never seen him work a real job. He was that guy who knew everyone and was always at the right place at the right time, but never knew how he made it. He never sold drugs or anything crazy like that. His wife worked a full-time gig, but she don’t play, so I doubt she was just supporting him.

“Sure, T, I got you. I’ll get a few things for your fam for Christmas,” I said with a heavy heart. This was why I never had any extra money.
I’m so tired of living from check to check and using up my savings on everyone else
, I said to myself, but if the tables were turned, I knew Terry would do the same for me.

“Yo, J, you heard that new song by Kanye West? It’s called ‘Through the Wire.’ He sampled that Chaka beat. All I can think of is that song as I sit in this bed. He was also in an accident and got banged up pretty bad, but he made it through the wire.”

***

“Yo, J, JR,” Terry yelled over the music, trying to figure out why I was just sitting down. “Yo, this is my party, so you better get up and have some fun and stop daydreaming.” He filled my glass yet again.

The night was going good and my glass stayed filled all night long. I guess everyone jumped on the opportunity to give me a drink since I only drank once in a blue moon.

“No, I’m good, True. I had enough to drink.” Everything was looking like a blur.

“Come on, JR, have a drink with us. This is True’s party, and he made it ‘Through the Wire,’” one of Terry’s friends said.

“I still haven’t finished my last drink.” I raised my glass of Cristal mimosa to show everyone that I still had some drink in it.

“Come on, JR, you’re not driving and you said you don’t have to go to work in the morning,” Terry said as he began to pour more Cristal in my glass.

About four glasses of mimosa filled with a mixture of Cristal or Don or Moet with Ketel One vodka later, I was feeling too good, not to mention I had two shots of Patron and a Sex on the Beach, compliments of Terry.

“Damn, what time is it?”

“Yo, JR, you bugging,” Terry said as he put his hands on my shoulders, trying to calm me down. “You need some fresh air. It’s mad hot in this club.”

“Okay, it is hot as hell in here,” I said as we began to walk outside.

“Yo, J,” Terry shouted over the crowd. “Let’s go through the back. Too many people out front still trying to get in.”

I should have known better. It was about two in the morning, raining outside, and the club closed in an hour, and there wouldn’t be anyone outside. That night was pretty much a blur. The last thing I remembered was walking outside with Terry and he asked me for a kiss. I, of course, laughed it off and continued to walk; that was it. Four hours later, I woke up in the backseat of Angela’s car at Angela’s house with Terry standing over me with an umbrella. It was crazy, the door was open, and he was just standing there as if he never left my side.

“Jamie, Jamie,” Terry said as I began to regain consciousness. “Yo, man, you had me scared. I never seen you drunk before.”

I tried to sit up, but my head was killing me, and I began to ask him 101 questions. “Terry, what time is it? Where am I? Is everything okay?”

“No, Jamie, you good. I was so scared, you scared me to death.”

“Why, what happened?”

“You must have had too much to drink. You passed out a few hours ago.”

Reason number two why I didn’t drink; it wasn’t like I couldn’t hold my liquor, but I had these blackout spells and never remembered a large block of time if I drank too much.

The relationship between Terry and me was about to change at that very moment, and all I could say was, “Damn, how drunk was I? Did anyone see me drunk?” thinking of myself and my almost spotless reputation.

“Jamie, I have to talk to you,” Terry said, brushing off my last question.

“What’s up? This must be serious; you never call me Jamie. Oh god, what did I do in those four hours I was passed out? How did I get to Angela’s apartment?” I was still asking questions.

“Don’t worry about it; I took you home. I drove my car and followed Angela to her apartment, making sure you guys got home okay.”

“Thanks, man.”

“You know I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I love you.”

“Aw, I love you too.”

“No, Jamie, I’m serious and don’t know why I’m telling you this now, but I really love you. More than you know. I can’t stop thinking about you, and after the accident, you were there for me, and for three months you were by my side in the hospital.”

“Terry, I wasn’t the only one by your side; your wife, Monica, was there as well.”

“Man, I know that. I love Mo and she’s the mother of my children.”

“Yeah, she’s also your wife and she’s a friend. Think about what you’re saying. Please don’t do this.”

“You talk as if I’m trying to hurt you; I’m not trying to hurt you. I love you, man, don’t you understand I love you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“You can’t tell me how I’m supposed to feel.”

“Now what? What do you want me to do or say? You know I love you like a brother, for god’s sake, I’m like your children’s godmother.”

“Jamie, what am I supposed to do? Just keep my feelings toward you inside?”

“Yeah, Terry, I wish you did, I really wish you did,” I said as my voice got softer and softer. “Terry, you are my life and I would do anything for you, you know that.” I began to speak as the tears finally came rushing out of my eyes.

“I would do anything for you too, JR.”

“Terry, please leave and go home. Go home to your wife, my friend Monica.”

“JR, please don’t do this.”

“Do what?” At this point I was crying mainly out of anger and frustration. “Terry, I sat there and listen to Monica cry over you when she caught you cheating on her. You know how long and hard it was for her to even trust me and I wasn’t the one you cheated with. She trusts me and I would never do that to her, to myself. You know how things went down with me and Robert, and I will never go down this path again. Listen to what you’re saying. You are family and that is it, family.” I finally tried to get up out of the car and removed the blanket lying over me and realized my pants were unbuttoned.

“What did you do, Terry?”

“What?” he responded with a dumb-ass look on his face as if my pants were not unzipped.

“Terry, go home.”

“JR, JR, JR,” he shouted as I ran towards the stairs. “Yo, Jamie, we need to finish talking.”

“I am done talking to you,” I yelled as I ran up the stairs and into Angela’s house without looking back.

“Angela, Angela, are you up?” I called out her name as I walked into her apartment, wiping my tears away.

“JR, you okay? I see you finally got out of the car.”

“Hey, I’m jumping in the shower; we’ll talk later.”

As I began to get undressed, I couldn’t help but think about what really happened in those four hours I was passed out. Could Terry have tried me like this? “He couldn’t,” I said to myself. The thought of Terry taking advantage of me was unreal. I finally got all my clothes off and looked at my naked body in the mirror and began to examine myself. If something did happen between Terry and me, then maybe I would have some kind of mark or bruise. But then again if I was passed out, then I didn’t know what was going on, so I may not have fought back. I realized I might be overreacting since there was no bruising and I jumped into the shower. As the cool water hit my body, waking me up, I was frozen for a second. Nothing could have happened, I hadn’t had sex in months, and when I waited a long time, everything got tight like it was my first time and I would be sore. I didn’t feel sore, so I didn’t think we had sex, I prayed. As I finally got out of the shower and began to get ready for bed, it was seven in the morning. I said my prayers and fell fast asleep.

“JR, wake up,” Angela said, shaking me to get up.

“Damn, Angela, I just went to bed like ten minutes ago. It’s too early.”

“Too early? You must be still drunk. It’s almost three o’clock.”

“In the afternoon?”

“Yes, in the afternoon. I was letting you sleep after your night last night. Chris asked about you in spin class today. He said I give him a half-assed job when you’re not there working out with me.”

Angela kept talking and talking. I wasn’t even listening. I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened to me early this morning.

“JR, JR,” Angela called my name, snapping me out of my daydream. “Did you hear me?”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said how much did you have to drink?”

“Girl, I don’t even know. Last night is such a blur, maybe you can fill me in on what happened?”

“Girl, all I know is your drunk ass missed a great party.”

“Did everyone in the club know I was drunk? Did I embarrass myself like drunk people do? You know I hate that.”

“No, actually, you didn’t, but I would have paid money to see Miss Perfect act like an ass,” Angela said, laughing. “Girl, I’m just kidding. All I know is you were in the VIP with True and them while I was on the dance floor with True’s friend Alan. He is too cute, by the way.”

“Girl, stay focused, and besides, I told you to stay away from Alan and True’s friends. They’re nothing but drama.”

“First of all, I am a grown woman, and second of all, they’re your friends too.”

“They are associates, there’s a difference, and this is why I can tell you to stay away from them… anyway, I was in VIP and?”

“Yeah, you were in VIP, you came up to the dance floor every now and then when your jam was on, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. I didn’t even know you were drunk until True came and got me and said you were passed out in his car in the parking lot. Girl, at first I didn’t believe him; then I remembered you said you were drinking tonight. It was around 3:30 or so when True was hurrying me up to leave and take you home.”

“So, you took me home?”

“Yeah, I took you home; you bail my ass out all the time when I have too much to drink.”

“Did you?”

“Did I what?”

“Did you also have too much to drink?”

Angela became silent; she knew she couldn’t lie to me especially at my best friend’s party. Word would have gotten back to me so fast if she was drunk or either one of us acted the fool. “I had a few drinks. Besides, Terry drove behind me and followed me to my apartment. He was crazy; he asked me if I needed gas in the car… I live five minutes away from the club, but I still took the twenty he was offering,” Angela said as she began to laugh. “You got a good brother; he really cares about you. He was driving me crazy.”

“What was he doing?”

“He couldn’t even enjoy himself once you got sick in the car. He was harassing me to take you home and stuff. He wanted to take you to the hospital. Girl, would you believe that? What am I supposed to tell the doctor? He was tripping. Then when we finally got home, he didn’t even want to move you. He told me to go upstairs and get a blanket. When I finally came back downstairs, he was yelling at me for taking too long. Girl, you know what alcohol do to me, I had to use the bathroom so bad. Anyway, when I told him I was going to bed, he said he was going to stay out there until you got up. He even asked me, me of all people, if I had food in the house. Now I knew he was losing it. I am a chef on the side; I always have food in my house.”

I tried to force a smile on my face, but it couldn’t show through my eyes. Everyone could always see if something was bothering me through my eyes.

“JR, don’t worry, you didn’t do anything to embarrass yourself, I promise.”

I smiled but still couldn’t understand what really happened between Terry and me, and I guess I would never know.

***

“And last but not least, I would like to thank my best friend, Jamie Reynolds.” That last sentence of Terry’s acceptance speech snapped me back into reality. “JR, this is for you,” Terry said as he pretended to be all choked up from crying.

“Terry, you stupid as hell… but great speech, but why you have to speak about me like I was dead and not like I was sitting in the audience with a badass Chanel dress on with a fine-ass man next to me.”

“You crazy, J, I got to go, I’ll hit you later.”

“Okay, holla at me.”

“Okay, one.” The phone went dead. I guess whatever happened on Terry’s birthday would be a mystery to me, and I wanted it to stay like that. It was great to have my best friend back.

Two Months, Ten Days, and a Whole Lot of Hours…

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

“Dear heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for waking me up this morning. Lord, I thank you for the many blessings in my life. I thank you for the many positive people in my life. Please continue to keep them safe and always be with them in their time of need. I ask you, Lord, to continue to look over me and my life and help me to walk in the path of righteousness. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

“Good night, Toni,” I said as I closed my eyes, wishing him good night as if he was with me in the room. That night I laid my head, closed my eyes, and thought how good it would feel to have Toni in my bed next to me. Tears slowly came out of my eyes. Were they tears of joy or sadness?

“Good morning, baby…” I typed, sending Toni my daily morning text.

“GM, honey… how did you sleep?”

“I slept good.”

“I had a dream about you.”

“Really, what was it ’bout this time? U always have dreams ’bout me. I wish I could remember my dreams as while as you do,” I said, sounding a little jealous.