This Can't be Life (37 page)

“Hey, there, sweetie, what brings you over at this time of night?” Mommy Miles asked. I bent over to give her a kiss and then plopped on the bed.

“Monie, you are going to make me mess up. Now be still,” Talise admonished, throwing a cotton ball at me that didn’t get very far. She looked up at me. Then she began closing the bottle of polish as she got up. She knew the look on my face and I could see the worry in hers.

“I’m not going to repeat myself again. Now both of you just pop up over here like I live next door and neither of you want to talk. I’m making some tea. Simone, go wash your face. You have dried up tears on your cheeks. And Talise, clean up this polish. You both meet me in the sunroom in no more than five minutes. Y’all hear me?” she asked with a stern look on her face. I hated to worry Mommy Miles like this, but she was all I had as a mother figure and this was the first place I thought to go.

After the tea was poured and we were all settled into comfy chairs, I shared the letters and cards with them. After we read through a few together, Mommy Miles got up and came to me with open arms. I stood and let her embrace me and help relieve some of the pain, like she always has.

“I know all that has happened hurts, baby, but this is good news,” she said in a soothing voice.

“What do you want to do, Monie?” Talise asked, now standing at my side rubbing my back as Mommy Miles held on to me tightly.

“I want to find my real mother and forget I ever knew that family. They never showed me anything but hate and dysfunction. I want this to be behind me. I don’t want to hurt anymore,” I cried.

“Well, it’s settled then. You girls are sleeping here tonight. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. And in the morning, we’ll talk more about finding your mother. Now, Talise, it’s your turn. What’s going on with you?” Mommy Miles asked as we both looked at Talise for an answer. When she told us the secret she had been keeping from us about Malachi’s problem, we were both stunned. We had no idea what she and Malachi had been going through, but we both believed that they could pull through and that their relationship would survive.

Deon

        I sat on the team plane as we made our way into Portland, Oregon to play a game that was scheduled for the next night. Shelly and I had been seeing each other for a while now, and I was feeling good about the way things were going. She made my days less lonely when I was home and kept me company by telephone when I was on the road. Our first date seemed like our 10th. I was very comfortable around her and felt that I could be myself without being judged.

We spent a lot of time chilling at her house on Venice Beach, where we’d just sit around talking and enjoying each other’s company. She was really open about her life and loved telling stories about growing up. I enjoyed being around her so much so that we were rarely apart when I was in town. I would go to practice, home to get clothes, and would be back at her house before sundown. Things were moving pretty quickly, but it felt right. Being with her was effortless. She was naturally beautiful and didn’t fuss with a bunch of makeup and designer clothes, which was sexy as hell to me.

One night, as I watched her in her studio on the lower level of her house, I couldn’t restrain myself any more. I got up and walked over to where she was sitting with a potter’s wheel between her legs, and pulled her up from her sitting position. From the look in my eyes, she knew what I wanted. We had yet to consummate our relationship and I couldn’t wait any longer, and judging from her reaction, she couldn’t either. Shelly grabbed me by the neck and started kissing my face; cheek to cheek, nose to forehead to chin, she took her time connecting her lips to mine. Her hands went under my tee and rubbed the six-pack I’ve had since I was 15. I began removing every piece of clothing from her body except her thong panties. I ran my hands across her bare breast and felt her nipples grow hard against the palms of my hands. I put one into my mouth and gently sucked as I rubbed the other in between my index finger and thumb, squeezing with my fingers and sucking harder with my mouth.

I could feel her tremble and hear her moans, which excited me on even more. I traced kisses from her breast up to her neck as I guided her backward against the nearest wall then got onto my knees so I could continue kissing her all over. I lifted one foot, kissed her toes, and did the same with the other. I kissed up her legs and thighs and back up to her belly button. I kissed her on top of her panties and began to lick the smooth fabric between her legs as she moaned and called out my name. I moved her thong to the side, not bothering to take it off, and began licking her clit.

As I sucked on her, I inserted my thick middle finger into her tight hole. Her moans were turning me on, and I was eating her pussy like it was my last meal. I turned her around facing the wall and bent her over. I sucked and licked on her clit from behind until her legs just about gave out and her body shook uncontrollably, which was a sure sign that I’d made her cum. She was still trembling with her hands against the wall, trying hard to hold herself up when I stood. She immediately got on her knees and pulled down my basketball shorts and boxers in one full sweep. With no hands, she took all ten thick inches of me into her warm, wet mouth like she was used to dealing with dicks this big. She knew what she was doing and she wasn’t ashamed to suck it like she was being filmed for a porno. She was sucking my dick like an expert! I was so damned hard, my dick could have snapped in two. In and out, she took the whole length of me all the way to the back of her throat. When she began moaning and playing with her clit with one hand and my nuts with the other, I knew that I would cum in her mouth if we didn’t stop this now.

I wanted to feel my dick inside of her. That was how I wanted to end my night.

“Do you have a condom?” I asked. She shook her head no without as much as a pause in her continuous sucking. She could definitely suck a mean dick. I’d been known to go for hours without cumming, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen tonight if she kept sucking my dick like this.

“Cum for me, daddy,” she said as if she’d read my mind, and that’s just what I did. She swallowed all of me and licked me dry. Wow, what a pleasant surprise. Beautiful and a freak! Just what I need in my life!

Talise

    Malachi took leave from the hospital, stating that he had a family emergency. His colleagues wished him well and we headed to the treatment center. Parting with him was hard, knowing that I wasn’t going to see him for at least a month. He held me so tightly for the longest time, but I felt like I was the one that should have been holding him, the one giving him my support. That is just the type of man that he is, always making sure that I was happy, always putting everyone before himself.

The kisses we shared in that moment spoke volumes. No words needed to be spoken. I opened my mouth to say goodbye, but he put his fingers to my lips to shush me. He whispered, “see you later,” in my ear, kissed it, and walked away. He didn’t even look back as I stood there with tears streaming down my face.

That was three weeks ago and I was missing my man like crazy. His program would be over in a week and from there he’s entering an out patient program closer to home. His calls and letters helped me through his absence, but I couldn’t help worrying about whether or not he’d be the same person that I fell in love with when he came home. More than anything, I just wanted him home and free of his addiction. This experience showed me that I was truly in love with him and wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

I looked up and was startled when I noticed Jose standing quietly in the doorway of my office. I was so engrossed in my work and thoughts that I had no idea how long he had been there, nor did I know that anyone was still on this floor this late in the evening. To say that I was put off that he didn’t bother to announce his presence was an understatement.

“Can I help you with something, Jose?” I asked a bit peeved.

“Oh, I’m sorry to bother you. I was in a trance just watching you. I didn’t want to disturb the beautiful picture,” he answered, sounding like he was in a damned Telenovela.

“There must be a reason why you came in here, Jose. How can I help you?” I had decided not to respond to his snide, sexual, and clearly harassing comments. Did he not get it? After the first time he showed interest in me and I didn’t respond, he should’ve gotten
that
damned picture and left me the hell alone! This man has really shitted on my work enthusiasm.

I stood, walked around my desk, and grabbed my handbag and briefcase out of the small closet. I put on my jacket and retrieved my keys and Blackberry from inside of my desk drawer. I scrolled to the voice recorder on my phone and pressed record. This man was starting to give me the creeps, and it was way too late to be in my office alone with him. By this time, Jose had already made himself comfortable on the small leather sofa in the corner of my office.

“Jose, what did you come in here for?” I asked again, perching my bottom on the corner of my desk. Handbag, briefcase, jacket, cell phone and keys in hand, I was ready to leave. I was hoping that he got the idea and would get his ass up off of my sofa, but more importantly, I wanted him to say the wrong thing like I knew he would so I could record him and put an end to this once and for all.

“Talise, why are you always so mean to me? Relax. Come and have a seat,” he began, rubbing the seat next to him in a circular motion, which couldn’t have been more sexually suggestive if he would have just gone ahead and rubbed his dick through his pants.

“This is very inappropriate, Jose. If there is anything you need to say to me, you can say it during normal business hours. I don’t appreciate you creeping in on me with not so much as a peep, and watching me for only you know how long. This is getting ridiculous, Jose. How much longer are you going to keep making advances toward me? Because if my verbal refusal isn’t enough, I can make it so you really hear what I’m saying,” I stated, my voice rising with each syllable.

“Oooh, and how would you do that, my dear? Do you know how much I think about you, Talise? I think of you all the time. You should give me a chance to at least take you out to dinner. Just give me a chance. Let me take care of you. Let me cherish you like you should be cherished, Talise,” he said in the most romantic voice I’d heard, yet it made me want to earl all over my beautiful high heels.

 “Listen, Jose, this is the last time I am going to tell you this.” I got up and marched over to him. Pointing my finger in his face, I bent down and looked him dead in the eyes.

“Pay attention. I don’t want to be with you. I don’t want to have dinner with you. I don’t want any other relationship with you other than a working relationship. You are my boss and what you are doing is illegal. I’m sick of this shit, day in and day out. I have been recording everything that was said tonight in this office.” I lifted my phone and put the screen in his face. You couldn’t mistake the big red dot of the recorder blinking on the screen. 

“If you don’t back the fuck up and get back on the professional track, you won’t have a profession to speak of.”

I pushed the stop button and pressed play and his voice began to play black. Jose’s face was so pale you would have thought he saw a ghost.

“Good, you got the idea.” I turned around, walked out of my office, and didn’t look back. My heart was beating a mile a minute, but I knew that I wouldn’t have to deal with his bullshit any more. I let out a sigh of relief. It felt good knowing that I had taken care of that problem single-handedly and had proof if I ever needed it.

Stacey

“I’m sorry, man, but that’s how it has to be,” Tyron was sayin’ in such a matter-of-fact tone that he could have been sayin’ the sky is blue. I could not believe my ears!