The Reunion Show (21 page)

“Come on, bitch,” she said, rolling her hands in circles. “I've been waitin' to tear that ass up. Just a few more steps and you gon' run right into these knuckles.”

I was going to let them fight, but Jaylin stood to intervene. He addressed Sylvia, who was all mouth and no action. She didn't want none of Jada. If she had, she would have moved forward.

“Go take your seat so we can hurry up and get done with this,” he said. Sylvia didn't budge. She evil-eyed Jada and stood with her arms folded.

“You'd better listen to the man,” Jada said. She drew an imaginary line on the ground, using the cane. “ 'Cause if you step over this line, yo ass is mine.”

Jaylin reached for Sylvia's arm, but she snatched away from him. She pointed her finger close to the tip of his nose. He gazed at her without a blink, as if she had lost her mind.

“Don't touch me ever again,” she hissed. “Especially if you don't want to get spit on.”

“The day you spit on me will be your last day on earth. I'm trying to save you from getting the shit beat out of you, but at this point, I don't give a damn.”

He sat back down and opened the pathway for Jada and Sylvia to clash. Sylvia did exactly what I figured she was going to do—she sat her fake self down.

“Finished?” Jeff said. “I mean, this is so uncalled for. I'm at a loss for words, and I don't quite know what to say.”

“I know exactly what to say,” Jada said. “Better yet, I know what to do.”

Without using the cane, Jada got up and dumped Sylvia's gift in the trash. She returned to her seat and crossed her legs.

“You are so ungrateful,” Sylvia said. “I paid almost seventy dollars for that gift. I purchased the premium edition for you, because it appears that's where education started to fail you. I'm sure there were plenty of things you could have learned from that kit, but your loss, Jada, not mine.”

Jada stuck up her middle finger and didn't bother to respond to Sylvia. Truthfully, I wanted to see the two of them fight. I disliked Sylvia so much that I wanted Jada to wear her out. I was hoping that Jaylin did something to her too, but he didn't seem like the kind of man who would put his hands on a woman. Then again, if she had spit on him, I wondered what he would have done.

“I guess I may as well open this last gift,” Jada said. “No matter what is it, Prince, I swear I'm not gon' argue with you.”

Prince shrugged. “That's because you won't have to.”

Jada opened the box that had black tape on it. Inside was what looked to be a simple gift card. Jada removed it from the box and read what was on the tiny card.

“Yo cookin' was good, but yo attitude stinks. The gift card is worth fifty dollars. Since you can't buy yourself a new personality, buy some new pots and pans with it. Congrats on yo win. The Almighty Prince aka Street Soldier.”

Prince looked away and whistled. Jada was trying to hold back her smile, but when she couldn't, she stood and reached out her arms.

“Aww, give me a hug, boo. Thanks. That was real sweet of you.”

As Jada used the cane to limp forward, Prince stood and backed away. “Don't come over here. I appreciate yo cookin', but that's it. Do not touch me, please.”

They were being real playful. I thought it was kind of nice of them to make peace with their situation. Thing is, I doubted that it would last for long. And what in the hell was up with Jada and this cane? It was obvious that she was faking like she was hurt. Little did she know, she looked hideous.

She plopped back in her chair and looked at Jaylin. “Jaylin, where my gift at? Why you, of all people, ain't get me nothin'?”

“Because I only buy presents for people who are special to me. That's why.”

“So, are you sayin' that I'm not special to you?”

“You're special. Just not special to me.”

She licked out her tongue. “Screw you, you curly head, crooked dick fool. Ugh, I swear you get on my doggone nerves with that smart mouth of yours.”

To no surprise, he didn't respond. We all looked at Jeff, who sat with the index cards still in his hand.

“Okay, let's move on. I can't ask you guys all of these questions, but I will choose a few. Please answer only if the question is directed to you.”

We all agreed.

“Jaylin, you received the majority of the inquiries, along with Roc, but he's not here to answer them. Chase, you were next, so I'll start with Jaylin and then you. Keli from St. Louis believes that Roc has a lot to lose from having sex with Chase. She wants to know, Jaylin, if you regret having sex with Chase or do you think you have anything to lose.”

I was a little tense. Jaylin was known for throwing shade and hurting feelings, even if he wasn't trying to. I knew he would be honest in his response, but there was no denying that the truth sometimes hurt.

He held up three fingers and looked at Jeff. “There are only three things in my life that I've ever regretted. One, that I wasn't around to save my mother from being killed; two, that I haven't been able to shake my feelings for a woman I consider a dear friend; and three, that I didn't honor my vows and I fucked over the only woman I have truly ever loved. I regret nothing that has happened between me and Chase, and when I get ready to go there again, I will. I have nothing to lose. Every decision that I make benefits me, and in one way or another, I always gain something from my actions.”

I wanted to jump up and down, scream for that matter, because I figured Jaylin was feeling me. His eyes said so. I was so good at reading men. Sylvia and Jada didn't like his response, but too darn bad. I loved it.

“Thank you, Jaylin,” Jeff said and then shifted his eyes to me. I was surprised that he was being nice to me. I'd been playing him off since I'd left. I barely answered any of his calls, and I had only answered when I needed him to get certain information to Jada.

“Chase, Chris from Illinois had an interesting question. First, she applauds your scandalous behavior and attitude. She's dying to know your motive and she wants to know why you willingly gave yourself to two men in the house and not to Prince?”

Prince removed his cap and scratched his head. “I was wonderin' the same thing too. Why not, Chase?”

I laughed and answered as best as I could. “No offense to Prince, but I'm only interested in men, not boys. Prince still has some growing up to do, but if I was the same age as him, or close to it, I may have gone that route. While some people make a big deal about sex, I don't. I think when you find yourself attracted to someone, make sure they're strapped up and go for it. It makes no sense to waste time creating fantasies about men who your heart desires. I like to explore and live out my fantasies. That's exactly what I did. So my motive was to satisfy my desires to the fullest. After that, I checked out of here because I assumed Roc and Jaylin would take issue with my approach to satisfy myself.”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Sylvia said. “Those are the true words, spoken from a whore. What a shame. How can anyone admire you?”

I crossed my legs and laughed at Sylvia's comment. “Jealousy will only continue to hurt you, not me. And if you think I care about you calling me a whore, think again. I may even agree with you, but at the end of the day, so-damn-what if I am a whore? I'm good at what I do, and my whore status doesn't allow me to be a scorned woman like you who is mad because you keep running into a brick wall, searching for true love that you'll never find. Wise up, hooker, you're getting too old for me to have to keep schooling you.”

She had nothing else to say but “Whatever.” I guessed I shut her up, at least until Jeff posed the next question to her.

“Sylvia, Candace from California wants to know why friends don't appear to be off-limits for you? To her, you made a mistake with your best friend's man, and then you turned around and had sex with that man's friend. Are you willing to do brothers?”

“Boom,” I said unable to control myself. “Please pick up your face from the ground because Candace just splattered it.”

Sylvia put up her hand, ignoring me. “We have no control over who we fall in love with. And if we find ourselves attracted to someone in particular, so be it. I do have limitations, and I would never do anything like knowingly sleep with brothers. What happened between me and Jonathan was an isolated incident that I learned some valuable lessons from. What happened between me and Jaylin was a huge mistake that I regret. But it's not like I can go to him and ask for my goodies back. What's done is done. No one is going to make me feel guilty about my choices.”

I didn't bother to offer my feedback. The only reason she regretted being with Jaylin was because she felt dissed. If he would make her an offer to leave right now, she would jump on it. That was why I considered her a phony.

Jada had been kind of quiet. That was a relief to all of us. I hated when Jeff called her out to answer the next question.

“Jada, many of the comments that came in about you were positive. But Bernice from Indiana said she found you to be a bit much. She had hoped that you would be voted out of the house, and she wonders what you believe you contributed to Hell House.”

With her mouth dropped open, Jada looked around and then pointed to her chest. “Who me?” she said to Jeff. “You need to recheck those index cards. I can't believe she thought I was a bit much, but nobody else was. Please find out more about who this Bernice person is, because she don't know how to chill out and have fun. Hell House wouldn't have been nothin' without me in it. That's why I'm gon' happily walk my tail up out of here with one hundred thousand dollars. I'm sure she won't be happy about that, but Miss Bernice, do me a favor, please. Mind your business, get you some black dick in your life, then go somewhere and sit down. After that, hopefully your attitude and reception about me will change. Next.”

Like a real dummy, the word she was reaching for was perception, not reception. Bernice was on point about Jada, whether she liked it or not. My mouth was covered the whole time she spoke. Prince was shaking his head and so was Sylvia. Jaylin's nonchalant demeanor remained on display, and all Jeff could do was move on to the next question.

“Prince, there's no secret that you were the most disliked person in the house. I guess you rubbed many people the wrong way, but the next question is from Nikki in Atlanta. She says that with all of the fatherless children you have in St. Louis, why not focus more on trying to win this challenge, so you could have money to support your children? She felt as if your effort was lacking and you had more reasons than anyone did to win.”

Prince removed his cap and turned it backwards. He leaned forward and clenched his hands together.

“Man, I don't want to hear that noise about how many people couldn't get down with me. If I rubbed them the wrong way by stayin' true to myself, so what. The lady who thinks I got fatherless children runnin' around in St. Louis would be incorrect. There were several chicks who lied to me about those babies bein' mine, and the two kids who are really by me are bein' handled. Maybe I didn't give it my all to win the challenge, but with the women in the house ridin' Roc's and Jaylin's nuts, I was cooked from day one. That was pretty clear, and I was lucky to be in the house for as long as I was. What I'm sayin' is, strategy or no strategy, the women would have voted me out, regardless.”

I didn't appreciate Prince's nut-riding comment and neither did Jada or Sylvia. Sylvia spoke up before either of us did.

“I disagree with you for saying I was riding their nuts, because I wasn't,” she said. “I don't know where that comment came from, because I treated everyone fairly.”

Jada let out a deep sigh and growled. “I hate a trick who suffers from amnesia when somethin' doesn't benefit her. The comment came from his knowledge of knowin' that you rode Jaylin's nuts while you were in that closet. It came from you ridin' his dick in the bathroom the first night you were here and it came from you ridin' Roc and tryin' to get him to notice you. Stop tryin' to act all brand-new, Sylvia, it's irritatin'.”

“Exactly,” Prince said, cosigning. “I couldn't have said it better.”

Sylvia snapped her head from Prince to Jaylin, expecting for him to clear up her dick-riding status.

“Would you refer to my approach as dick-riding?” she said to Jaylin. “I'm curious, because I don't appreciate the bad rap I'm getting. I certainly do not view it that way.”

He was straight to the point. “I'm not going to answer your question. We have nothing to say to each other. Direct your question elsewhere.”

She folded her arms and lost all control. “Why? Because I told you the truth about yourself and you couldn't handle it? Come on, Jaylin, grow some balls and accept what I said to you like a real man. Don't cry about it. If I touched a nerve, kudos to me. That's one point for me and a big fat zero for you.”

Jaylin looked at Prince. “Yeah, she was riding; riding so much that it made me sick. But she did so like an amateur. Had she perfected her dick-riding slash sucking skills, maybe my vote would have swayed in another direction. But, unfortunately, I saw no need to take up extra space in the house with a lame-ass woman who was incapable of making me remember what her pussy felt like five minutes after I jumped out of it.” He fixed a stare on Sylvia. “Face the facts, you've been called out. Go fix that pussy and see what you can do to enhance your sexual performance. If you need help finding someone who can teach you, let me know. I know plenty of women I can refer you to. Chase would be one of them.”

I turned around in my seat to look in another direction. “Damn” was all I could say. Jada was rocking back in forth in her seat, ready to explode. “Ooooo, this is gettin' real U.G.L.Y. 'cause somebody don't seem to have an alibi. Where in the hell is the popcorn, soda, and Boston Baked Beans? The score is tied. Sylvia, I'm turnin' the mic back over to you. Do your thing, girl, I got my whole dollar on you.”