The Reunion Show (18 page)

“I bet. Please pour me some Remy in a sparkling clean glass, no ice.”

It was the least I could do for Jaylin, considering I had voted to have him kicked out of the house. I didn't even trip off his sparkling clean glass comment, because I had gotten to know his anal self pretty well by now. I wanted to inquire about the flash drive, but I assumed that if he wanted to talk about it, he would bring it up later.

I got up to get our drinks, but as soon as I heard Prince's voice, I turned around.

“Ooooo-weee,” he said, looking toward the sliding doors. “Daaa- aamn, ma, you doin' it like that!”

Everybody's eyes were focused in the same direction. I followed suit and saw Chase from afar. She stopped to hug Jeff and was conversing with him and several of his crew members. I'll just say that if I were a lesbian, I'd have that bitch's legs cocked open right now. Her late appearance had Roc biting down on his lip, Sylvia rolling her eyes, and Jaylin softly stroking his goatee. Prince's words said enough.

Chase had not only shown up, but she showed out. The peach, sheer and sleeveless mini-dress she wore put shame to the word sexy. Decorative nude-colored flowers that were printed on the dress hid some of her private parts, but the sheer parts of the dress didn't leave much to the imagination. Parts of it revealed her perky breasts and curvy hips. She didn't have on a stitch of underclothes and her nude, peep-toe pumps blended in well with her caramel skin. Every strand of her hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail—I wondered how much sperm was needed to pull that off—but her hair was pulled back so tightly that it made her hazel eyes slant. Her high brows were arched and the rose-colored makeup she wore dazzled everyone. She put her gift for me on the table, and as she hugged Jeff, he didn't seem to want to let go. She shot him a wink, knowing that she had the attention on lock. I had no idea what her dress revealed from the backside, but as Jeff and his entire crew's eyes were on her, I could only imagine what they saw when she walked away. She worked the pathway up to us like a professional model on the runway. We all kept staring, and as soon as I gave Jaylin his drink, I hurried to return to my seat.

By then, Sylvia's head was turned in another direction, Roc was pretending to look at a text message on his phone, Prince was still acting thirsty, and Jaylin looked straight ahead with a blank expression on his face. Chase proceeded our way, shifting her eyes from Roc to Jaylin. She stared him down without a blink. I was positive that she would have to make a bathroom run like I did later. She walked up and stood right in front of me.

“Jada, would you please move over. I want to sit next to Jaylin, if you don't mind.”

This bitch was tripping if she thought I was fixing to get up out of my chair, so she could sit next to Jaylin. Before I could say anything, I could see Prince leaning to the side with his mouth dropped open as he checked out Chase's backside.

“Damn, shorty, you can sit right here if you want to,” he said, patting his lap. “I had no idea you were workin' with all of that.”

Chase turned her head to the side, blushing as she looked at Prince. “Thanks for the compliment, Prince, and hello, Roc, Sylvia, and Jaylin.” Her eyes shifted from one person to the next. Sylvia was the only one to speak back, aside from Prince who had already welcomed her. Jaylin did so with a nod, but Roc said not one word. As for me, I pointed to the chair next to me.

“That's your seat. I saved it for you.”

Chase narrowed her eyes and gave me an evil stare. But she kept a fake grin on her face. She moved from in front of me, and instead of taking a seat, she sashayed over to the bar. Why? Because she knew damn well that all heads would turn in the same direction. They did, and she took her time preparing a drink. The back of her mini-dress was as sexy as the front. The flowers started from the top of her left shoulder and flowed down her back like an S shape that covered only a portion of her ass. I didn't remember it being that big, but if she had gotten some ass injections, it was her business, not mine. Her perfect waistline could be seen through the sheer and so could a portion of her butt cheeks. I felt like running into the house to change clothes, and I now regretted not choosing one of the dresses the stylist had shown me. Chase had outdone herself. I had to admit that she impressed the hell out of me. I was so impressed that I let her take my seat, next to Jaylin. She thanked me and then sat down and crossed one leg over the other. Her posture was perfect, and she poked out her breasts to make them appear larger. After sipping from her glass, she shot a seductive look at Jeff and smiled.

“Ready whenever you are,” she said to him. “And please forgive me for being tardy for the party.”

I was sure that Jeff wouldn't hold it against her, but like it or not, it was time to get this show on the road.

I couldn't wait for this day to come. I had so much on my mind that I needed to say. Not even Jonathan's good sex the other day could calm my nerves, and I was kind of on edge because I hadn't heard from him. Now that I was here, I was feeling some kind of way about it. Based on what Jada had told me about what had happened after I left, I felt even more livid with Jaylin for being such a womanizer. I had a chance to see him and tell him what had been on my mind, but it was so funny that I changed my mind about saying anything, particularly about his conversation with Jonathan. The plan was to let Jaylin know how I felt about his disrespect and to acknowledge that, even though what he'd said to me was the truth, it still hurt. I was the one who should've known better. It was so unlike me to throw myself at a man like that, and I'd already had a bad reputation for falling for my best friend's husband. I used these several weeks away from Hell House to reevaluate my actions. I promised myself that I'd start making better choices. But now that I knew Jaylin had screwed Chase, the only thing that I was going to acknowledge was what a dog I thought he was.

Jeff said that he'd be ready to go in a few more minutes. I was happy to be sitting next to Roc. He offered good conversation. We laughed and discussed some of the ups and downs during our stay in the house. Our conversation halted when Chase arrived. The men watched her like she was prey. I could tell that Roc wasn't that moved by her presence because of the tightness of his face. The closer she got to us, he cut his eyes and looked away. To me, I thought she looked decent, but the dress she wore was too revealing. It gave her an official slut title. I guess she was trying to pull off a look only Jennifer Lopez or Halle Berry could do on the red carpet. But Chase had failed miserably. I wasn't trying to hate, but nobody cared to see her private parts peeking at them, did they? Then again, maybe so, because lust was on display as well as shock.

Jada seemed surprised by what Chase had on too. And speaking of Jada, the sweat suit she wore was not fit for the occasion. This wasn't a picnic. Didn't she know this was being filmed? There was no telling who would be watching. Her hair was beautiful, though. All in all, she was a chubby, cute woman with an obscenely foul mouth that was irritating.

All of the men brought their A game. I'd gotten used to seeing them dressed in basketball shorts, wife beaters, and T-shirts. There were days when their hair was not so fresh, beards were a bit rugged, but today made up for it all. While I was sure that I wouldn't see either of them again, my intentions were to make the best of this day and leave here with no regrets.

Jeff still wasn't ready, so I got up to get a drink. Roc and Prince were having a conversation about cars and Jada and Chase were chatting like best friends. Jaylin was talking to someone on his cell phone. His words implied that it was about business. I strutted by him, hoping that he would look up. He did so, but the blank expression that he'd had thus far was locked there. Jada and Chase stopped talking, but I heard Jada say something like, “suck it in.”

“Suck what in?” I stopped to ask.

“Nothin'. I was just speakin' out loud to myself.”

I shrugged and kept it moving. At the bar, I poured a glass of sparkling champagne, then returned to my seat. Roc reached out his hand.

“Where's mine at?” he asked.

“I didn't know you wanted anything. You should have said something.”

“Nah, I'm good. I was just messin' with you.”

There was a part of me that wished I had gotten with him instead of Jaylin. Roc seemed so down to earth, respectful, funny, and non- judgmental. The fact that he'd mentioned his woman caused me to back away, but apparently his woman didn't matter if he and Chase had had sex.

While I was drinking my champagne, Jeff pulled up a lounging chair that sat on the other side of the fire pit. His chair faced us, and it looked as if he was ready to start. Casually dressed in a polo shirt, khaki pants with a heavy crease, and brown leather loafers, he took a seat. His eyes searched from Jada to Prince and he grinned at all of us.

“Good evening,” he said. “Thanks to all of you for being here. It's time to get started. Before we do, I ask that all cell phones are turned off and put away. I also ask that you respect others in here by not over talking and being rude. As most of you already know, Jada Mahoney is the winner of this challenge. At the very end of the reunion show, I will present her with a check for one hundred thousand dollars. Before we get started, are there any questions or concerns for me?”

Jaylin spoke up first. “No questions now, but I'll damn sure have some for you later.”

Jeff nodded. “Jaylin, I welcome any questions that you have. I'll be happy to answer them, whenever the time comes.”

Jada smacked her lips. “My questions are, why do I have to wait until later to get my check? And are we supposed to just sit here and look at each other or what? I mean, how is all of this supposed to go down?”

“It was my decision to give the check to you later. How this will go down is I'll ask questions for each of you to answer. Some of the questions are from people who have gotten to know all of you rather well. You'll have an opportunity to express anything that's on your mind, and once you're done, everyone will be free to go home.”

“How long will this bullshit take?” Roc said. He had much built-up anger inside of him. I wondered why.

“Hopefully, not too long. Maybe an hour or two, if that.”

“You ain't said nothin' but a word. Proceed.”

Jeff gave no reply. He looked to his left where Jada was sitting with a drink in her hand.

“Jada, I'm going to go around the room, and starting with you, tell us what you've learned from this experience. What advice would you offer the other people here, based on how you feel they live their everyday lives? Your experience in Hell House should've enabled you to offer valuable input.”

Jada sat silent for a minute and then sighed. I assumed her mind was racing like mine was.

“You may want to start somewhere else,” she said. “Cause some people might not like what I have to say. I don't want to offend anyone or hurt their feelings.”

She gave Prince an evil-eye as he cracked his knuckles.

“We're all adults here,” Jeff said. “Everyone should be able to handle what you have to say. If they can't, that's their problem, not yours.”

“You got that shit right,” Jada said with a spark of enthusiasm. She turned to her left, clearing her throat before speaking. “Chase, you my girl and everything, but I think you are totally screwed up in the head. You be actin' real thirsty sometimes, and a woman who got it goin' on like you don't need to conduct yourself that way. Plus, you real bossy. You think people should always do what you say, but we grown up in here. Ain't nobody gotta listen to you. You need to chill with that. You also need to learn how to cook. I mean, pussy don't always keep a man on lock. You gotta know how to put something good in his belly. My suggestion would be for you to take some cooking classes and stop chasing men until you learn how to satisfy them one hundred.”

Chase put on a fake smile, pretending as if what Jada said didn't sting. Truthfully, she'd nailed it. I couldn't have said it any better. Jada continued when she moved her eyes over to Jaylin.

“I learned a lot about men from you, Jaylin, and there ain't no question that you made my stay here hella fun. My only gripe with you is yo anal behavior. You need to know that yo cleanliness was a pain in the ass and some of us black folk don't get down with the cleanin' like you do. My advice would be for you to never come to my house, because a few cockroaches do reside there. I'mma also need for you to see an anger management counselor. You got some anger issues that need to be resolved. Sylvia, unfortunately, I'mma have to hurt yo feelings 'cause I think you are fake as all outdoors. You bring negative energy into the room and you need special education classes on how to keep it real. Truth is, I really don't like you, but since you ain't payin' my bills, I don't have nothin' else to say.”