Nina's Got a Secret (19 page)

“What are you up to, Nina?” she mumbled. “Something ain't right. I can feel it in my spirit.”

As if on cue, Nina came out of the bank and got into her car. She drove out of the bank's parking lot and headed back toward the house.

“Who are you meeting up with, Nina?” she mumbled as the faint sound of Yolanda Adams' voice could be heard coming out of her speakers.

Barbara's heart raced as she followed behind Nina. She started to curse out loud when a truck pulled in front of her and caused her to lose sight of Nina's new Cadillac Escalade.

“Dammit! Where did she go?” Barbara asked as she frantically searched for Nina's car.

The traffic around Fisherman's Wharf was especially heavy at 2:00 p.m. on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. When Barbara returned to the house, Nina was already sitting in the living room.

“Hey, Bee. Where have you been?” Larry asked.

Barbara stood still for a moment as she pondered the question. “Oh, I just went for a ride.”

“Ummm-hmm,” Nina replied with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

Barbara ignored the snide remark and went upstairs. She looked back at Nina and thought to herself,
Yeah, heffa, I'm watching you
.

Nina gave Barbara an equally menacing glare as she thought to herself,
Yeah, heffa, I know your big ass was following me.

T
HE NEXT MORNING
, L
ARRY LEFT EARLY
to go to the airport to catch an early flight. Maria left early that morning as well because she only worked on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. That left Barbara at the house to assume the nanny role.

Nina hated when Barbara came to town because she took over the place. She seemed to never stop cleaning and cooking. Nina felt Barbara did it to try to make her look bad in front of Larry.

By the time Nina had awakened, Barbara had already cleaned up the house, given Precious a bath, and left with the child. There was a note on the kitchen counter saying that the two of them had gone to breakfast at McDonald's and downtown to do a little shopping.

Nina sat there alone, pondering her options. Her secret was starting to ruin her life. First, she was forced into a ménage à trois. That was followed closely by Tyrone extorting thousands of dollars from her. Nina had absolutely no one to turn to. To say she felt lost was an understatement.

T
YRONE STOOD AT THE HOTEL WINDOW
with his cell phone in his hand. Every few seconds, he would look at the phone as if that would magically make it ring.

When the call he was waiting on finally came in, it startled him.

“Hey, can you talk?”

“Is she at home right now? Is she alone?” asked Tyrone.

“Yeah, she should be,” replied the caller.

“Is she going to have the five thousand dollars?” asked Tyrone.

“She has it in a bag. I saw it before I left.”

N
INA HEARD THE DOORBELL RING AND WONDERED
who it could be. She went to the door wearing a pair of peach-colored silk pajamas. The pajama top was low-cut and short at the bottom, exposing her navel. Made from the finest silk, it hugged her upper torso where it should have and flowed with ease elsewhere. The pants had a drawstring, but were designed to sit low on a woman's waist.

Tyrone's eyes became glued to Nina's cleavage the moment she opened the door.

“What in the hell are you doing here? Why did you come to my house?” Nina asked as she peered out of the door to see if anyone outside was watching.

“I have somethin' to do tonight so I decided to come over here this mornin'. Damn, girl, you're wearin' the hell out of those pajamas.”

Nina didn't reply. She was repulsed by the nature of his visit, but even in the midst of her indignation, she couldn't help but notice how ruggedly handsome Tyrone was.

Tyrone stood approximately six-feet-five inches tall. The scar on his face actually added to his bad boy image; thus, enhancing his sex appeal. His cheek and jawbones were pronounced and his body was chiseled. The brotha was in excellent shape.

“Wait one second,” Nina said as she went to retrieve the moneybag located a few feet away.

Nina returned to the door and extended her arm out to give Tyrone the travel bag that contained the $5,000 in cash. She wanted to throw the bag at him, but feared he would retaliate by carrying through with his threat to confront Larry.

“You didn't have to come here, Tyrone. I would've met you anywhere.”

“I know you would have, but I wanted to see this luxurious house you're livin' in. When Val came out here, she called me every day, braggin' about your home. I wanted to check it out for myself.”

“Well, you've seen where I live and you have your money, so you can leave now.”

“Damn, sexy, why are you tryin' to run a nigga off? Can I at least get a tour of the place?”

“Larry will be home soon.”

“Liar! Larry left this morning to go on a business trip. I also know that your little big-headed daughter isn't here. So, I got a strong feelin' you're here all alone.”

“What do you want, Tyrone?”

“I want you to give me a tour of your lovely home,” Tyrone responded as he forced the door open and barged inside.

He walked leisurely as he looked at the high ceilings and took a moment to admire the expensive décor. Tyrone acted like he was observing some type of expensive art collection at a ritzy gallery. Nina, on the other hand, looked as nervous as a hooker in church.

“Okay, if this is what it will take to get you to leave, I'll give you a quick tour.”

“Good. Let's start with your bedroom.”

“No, we will not start with my bedroom. You can see the rest of my house, but there's nothing in my bedroom for you to look at.”

Nina proceeded to show Tyrone the various rooms in the massive house. When they arrived at the media/game room, Tyrone's eyes lit up. Like most men, Tyrone was impressed by the projector screen and pool table.

“I have a proposition for you.”

“Tyrone, I don't have time for your games. What do you want?”

“Nah, boo, a better question is: what do you want?”

“You know what I want. I want you and Val to stop fucking with me so that my husband and I can live our lives in peace.”

“I can understand that, but life ain't always that simple.”

Nina sighed aloud to show her frustration and stood in the doorway with her arms folded and a serious scowl on her face.

“What do you want from me, Tyrone?”

“I want you to play me in a game of straight pool. Val told me you were a pretty good pool player.”

“I'm all right.”

“I'll be the judge of that,” Tyrone replied as he started to rack the balls.

“If I play this stupid game, will you leave?”

“I'll do you one better. I'll leave for good.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means that if you beat me in a game of pool, I'll take this money and you'll never see me again.”

“Whatever! How do I know you won't show up here next week asking for more money?”

“You don't. You're gonna have to take my word for it. I'll take Val with me and you won't have to worry about either one of us.”

“Yeah, right. Even if I did believe you would leave, I don't believe Val would go with you. She'd still be here becoming a thorn in my side,” said Nina as she drew back her pool stick and smacked the cue ball. She sank a solid-colored ball and a striped
ball, giving her the option of playing either set. She chose the striped balls.

“Good break,” Tyrone said.

Nina didn't answer. She sauntered around the table with great ease and familiarity as she pondered which set of balls would be easier to knock in; thus, giving her an easy victory and a permanent departure from Tyrone's presence.

“Look, Nina, like Al Pacino said in the movie
Scarface
, ‘
All I have in this world is my balls and my word, and I don't break them for nobody.'”

“So am I supposed to be impressed by the fact that you can quote a line from a movie? What does that have to do with what the two of you are tryin' to do to me?”

“It has everything to do with this situation. If I tell you I'm gonna do somethin', I'm gonna do it. My word is my bond. If I tell you I'm gonna leave and never bother you again, then I mean that. However, that goes both ways Nina. If I say that I'll tell Larry what I know about the crash, trust me when I tell you, I will do just that.”

“You've told me what I get if you lose. What happens if you win? Are you going to want even more money?” Nina asked as she sank her fifth straight shot.

With each passing minute, the green on the surface of the pool table was becoming more and more visible. Nina had already knocked down five of her six balls that remained on the table, and was hunched over as she prepared to knock down the last striped ball before she targeted the eight ball to win the game. Just as she focused on her last ball, she heard Tyrone answer her question.

“If I win, you're gonna give me some more money and a piece of that sweet ass that's staring back at me right now.”

Nina took her shot as the word ass came out of Tyrone's mouth. She sank the last striped ball easily, paused, and then looked at him.

“Tyrone, stop playin'.”

“Sweetheart, do I look like I'm playin'? I want some of that. I want some so bad that I'm prepared to leave town permanently if I lose. What do you have to lose? Val has already told me that you ain't been givin' Larry any lovin'. I know you don't have any dick on the side because if you did, you would have told Val, and she would have told me by now.”

Tyrone walked over to Nina and stood behind her as she bent over and prepared to knock in the eight ball. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “If I win, I want to fuck you right here on this pool table. I'm sure Val told you how good this ten-inch dick is, and yes, it's a full ten inches when it wakes up for duty.”

Nina didn't move. She could feel his rock-hard penis settle in the crack of her butt, forcing the silk pajamas she wore to retreat into her crevice. Tyrone purposely allowed his manhood to glide across her left cheek as he moved away.

As hard as she tried, Nina could not hide the fact that she was flustered. She stared intensely at the eight ball that was about twelve inches from the corner pocket. The ball was positioned close to the rail, but far enough from it that Nina had an angle that would give her a good cut shot.

Nina could still feel the remnants of Tyrone's hot breath on her neck. Without looking back at him, she said, “You got a deal.”

Tyrone smiled and backed away. He looked like he'd already won the wager.

Suddenly, Nina could feel the palm of her hands getting sweaty as she tried to will the ball into the hole.
I've made this shot one hundred times. Just focus, Nina, focus
.

As she pulled back her stick, Nina heard a thud sound on the pool table. Through her peripheral vision, she could see something shiny. Tyrone had removed a chrome semi-automatic handgun from his waistband and placed it on the edge of the pool table.