Two Tears in a Bucket (6 page)

“
Well, maybe I’ll swing by over the weekend. I can pick up Nana, and maybe we can take you to the grocery store or something.”

“
Umm, that’s fine.”

“
Well, you go ahead and catch the bus. I just wanted to call and check on you. I’ll talk to you later.”

Simone hung up the phone, surprised by the conversation. It actually felt good to hear Angela’s voice.
Like Nana said, you are my mother.

● ● ●

Kevin stretched the kinks from his sore limbs.
Damn, it’s freezing in here
, he thought as he got up to close the bedroom window. As he turned to climb back in bed, he noticed Simone’s nightshirt had crept up, revealing her plump ass in a pair of bikini underwear.

Mmm, mmm, mmm,
he thought, instantly aroused as he crawled back in bed and snuggled up next to her. Gently, he nibbled on her ear and allowed his hand to travel under her nightshirt, where he began to massage her perky breasts. She woke with a smile on her face and rolled from her side to her back.

“
Good morning, beautiful,” Kevin whispered. He inched Simone’s shirt up until her chocolate nipples stared at him, making his mouth water. One by one, he took them in his mouth, savoring their flavor as he teased them with his tongue.

Simone moaned tenderly, rubbing the back of his head. “Good morning to you, too. You not sore? You don’t need to take anything?”

“
Naw, you all the medicine I need,” he said. “Tylenol couldn’t fix this, anyway.” Kevin slid the covers back to show Simone the bulge in his shorts.

“
I know how to cure that,” she replied seductively.

“
Oh yeah?” Kevin asked with a raised brow.

“
Mmm, hmm. Just take the socks out.” She smiled.

Matching her smile, Kevin replied, “Yeah, maybe I should.”

Propped up on her elbow, Simone watched as Kevin peeled from his boxers.

“
Damn,” he said as he tossed his shorts to the side of the bed. “No socks.”

He reached for Simone’s hand and guided her to his hardness. Together, they stroked him until his excitement began to leak.

Shit,
Kevin screamed to himself, fighting the urge to explode. “Okay, okay. That’s enough.”

“
What’s wrong?”

“
Naw,” Kevin said, forcing Simone down on her back. “I don’t wanna embarrass myself.”

“
You were getting ready to…”

Kevin silenced Simone with his lips, kissing her over and over again in slow, sensuous pecks. The passion in the room heightened as he nursed her lips apart. Faint moans escaped them as their tongues became reacquainted. Kevin’s hand skated down her curves and rested between the warmth of her legs. He rubbed the center of her panties until he simply couldn’t take it anymore. Maneuvering past the crotch of her underwear, he eased his fingers inside her. He peeled his lips from hers and watched her close her eyes in pleasure.

“
I wanna make love to you so bad, baby,” Kevin moaned, nibbling lightly on her neck as he played in her wetness.

Simone opened her eyes. Without words, she arched her back and gave Kevin the go-ahead to remove her panties. He peeled them off and positioned himself on top of her. With their eyes glued on each other, he worked his erection inside her, teasing her with just a portion, then satisfying her with it all.

Their bodies rocked in a deep, slow motion to the whines of pleasure filling the room as they made love for the first time. Soon, their hunger for each other amplified; their rhythm quickened as they found their ultimate pleasure together.

“
Damn, Simone,” Kevin panted as he filled her with the remaining drops of his orgasm.

“
Damn, Simone what?” she whispered, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead.

“
I’m falling in love with you.”

“
That’s good.” She smiled. “Because I’m falling in love with you, too.”

● ● ●

Simone woke to the irritating sound of the phone. Tangled in the sheets, she pulled herself from Kevin’s arms to answer it.

“
You sleep?” Nana asked.

“
I was.” Simone yawned and smiled down at Kevin as he stroked her arm.

“
Well, get up. Your momma’s here and we’re on our way over. See you in a bit.”

Simone hung up the phone and looked around her room. Kevin’s boxers and clothes were tossed on one side of the bed, and her nightshirt and underwear were on the other. The nightstand overflowed with the dishes from the late breakfast they had cooked together.

“
What’s wrong?” Kevin asked as Simone slung back the covers.

“
Get your drawers. My mother and grandmother are on their way over.”

● ● ●

The sunroom overlooking the manicured lawns of the nursing home was Mr. Johnson’s favorite place to sit while he recovered from his chemotherapy. There, Mr. Johnson could sit and watch the leaves change colors and descend to the ground. Of the eight elderly men Kevin tended to, Mr. Curtis Johnson was undeniably his favorite. He was the closest thing to a father Kevin had in his life.

“
Your momma told me you out there slinging them drugs again,” Mr. Johnson said as Kevin helped him into a rocking chair. “I guess you like sitting behind bars, huh?”

“
No, sir. Not at all. I’m not in the streets the way I used to be.”

“
The way you used to be? Boy, you shouldn’t be out there at all. I know that area where you hang out. I got a sister over there. I been trying to get her from around there for I don’t know how long. Every now and then, I spend the weekends with her. That place is like the wild, wild west. Bullets be flying all night long. You better get your tail from over there.”

“
I’m tryin’, Mr. Johnson.”

“
Aww, that’s hogwash. You ain’t tryin’ hard enough. Ain’t nothing in them streets but trouble and fast-ass women. When your little ding-a-ling get to dripping, you’d wish you hada listened to me.” Kevin couldn’t help but laugh. “You can think it’s funny if you want. You know what I’d do if I were your age?”

“
What’s that, Mr. Johnson?”

“
I’d find me a nice lil’ gal and start making plans for tomorrow,” he said, looking at Kevin firmly.

“
I already found a nice lil’ gal.”

“
Yeah, well, if she means anything to you, you’d get yourself together and leave them streets alone. ’Cause if you don’t, you gon’ end up bringing both of y’all down. Watch what I tell you. Get married and start a family. Hell, do it ’fore this cancer take me away from here. I’m sure I can muscle up enough energy to cut a rug at your wedding.”

“
Ah, Mr. Johnson, don’t talk like that. You ain’t going nowhere no time soon. You got a lot of life left in you.”

“
I don’t know ’bout that. Some mornings I feel like I’m a hundred-sixty-two instead of sixty-two. But don’t you worry ’bout me. When I’m dead and gon’, I’ma still be watching you from up above to make sure you do right, you hear me? You remind me of the son I never had.”

“
I hear you, Mr. Johnson.”

● ● ●

April, 1988 - Spring hit and Kevin began spending more and more time on the strip. The fast money he earned slinging drugs put the chump change he earned at the nursing home to shame. He tried reliving his conversations with Mr. Johnson over and over, but the old man’s words weren’t powerful enough to quiet the cries from the street.

Kevin reached a fork in the road. Drifting home late at night, he dreaded getting up early in the morning to work at the nursing home. He couldn’t take it and finally found the courage to quit.

“
Have you lost your damn mind?” Beatrice yelled.

“
Ma, I’m wiping ol’ men butts for five dollars an hour.”

“
Kevin, it’s more than that. It’s a real job, and it’s keeping your behind out of trouble. You haven’t even been home a year yet! Didn’t those six months behind bars teach you anything?”

“
Ma, I know you worried ’bout me, but I’ma get outta those streets eventually. I promise. Besides, I ain’t doing nothin’ compared to what I used to do, and I’m not gon’ be out there every day.”

“
Kevin,” Beatrice sighed in defeat, “you’ve been getting off lucky. One day, your luck is going to run out, and when it does, don’t come calling me.”

● ● ●

Simone gave Kevin the keys to her apartment and her heart. His toothbrush dangled from the toothbrush holder next to hers, and his clothes hung in her closet. Simone’s apartment had become their home, and their relationship was unbelievable. They talked into the wee hours of the morning, laughing and joking like best friends. Every time they unleashed their passion, their lovemaking felt like the first time. Their chemistry was perfect.

Often during the week, Simone would reach inside her purse and find a wad of money or Kevin’s fully endorsed paycheck from the nursing home, which she simply deposited into her account. Though the money was great and paid the bulk of the bills, the thing that impressed Simone the most was the sentimental little notes Kevin left for her.

‘
You are my light and hope for tomorrow. My heart has never known a greater love.’ Kevin left the notes everywhere—under her pillow, in her dresser drawer, or taped to the bathroom mirror. Few knew his depth went deeper than his handsome, thuggish exterior.

Kevin’s drug game picked up as Spring gave way to Summer, making the weekends he spent cuddled up in bed with Simone—watching movies or making love—history. Two Fridays in a row, Simone rushed home from work hoping to spend time with him, only to find Kevin rushing off to the strip, where he spent the entire weekend.

“
I hope you not spending the weekend up there again. That shit is whack,” Simone said with an attitude. “Why can’t you come home like you do during the week?”

“’
Cause, Simone. I told you the crackheads be out on the weekends until the wee hours of the morning, and the cabs don’t come up there that late.”

“
So where you sleep, Kevin? On the strip?”

“
Naw,” Kevin said as he threw on his black hoodie. “A bunch of us crash up James’s girl’s house.”

“
Yeah, and I bet her girlfriends be up there with y’all, too.”

Stepping into his steel-toe boots, Kevin watched Simone plop on the bed.

“
Naw, it’s just a bunch of James’s friends.”

“
Well, what the hell kinda boyfriend is James any-way? I mean, I can’t see you saying all your friends can come over here and spend the night every freakin’ weekend.”

“
Hell naw. They can’t come over here at all. But James is used to that shit. It’s always a bunch of niggas at her house. She let us do our business while she does her business.”

“
Y’all business?”

“
Yeah, Simone. Drug stuff. And you know I don’t like talkin’ to you about that.”

“
Damn. So all y’all hanging up there and cooking coke, and that don’t bother James?”

“
What you know about that?”

“
Kevin, James don’t care that all y’all be up there?” she asked again. She wasn’t as naïve as Kevin thought.

“
Naw, Simone, he don’t care. He’s used to, it.”

“
He’s used to having a million dudes in his house around his girl?”

Kevin took a deep breath, preparing himself for the argument that was sure to come. Finally, he was in a real relationship. One filled with love, trust, and communication. He’d never lied to Simone, and he hadn’t planned to start.

“
Simone, his girl operates a little escort-like service.”

Absent of a response, Simone sat numb on the bed.

“
Did you hear me, baby?” Kevin asked.

“
Oh, I heard you. I just figured you were lunchin’, so I was giving you a chance to tell the truth. But you’re serious. Kevin, don’t nobody operate no escort service in the hood. That tramp be tricking.”

“
Naw, tricking is when you exchange sex for drugs. She ain’t like that.”

“
Oh, so because she actually charges money, it makes it better?” she questioned sarcastically. “Have you bought anything from her?”

“
Hell no! Simone, c’mon now. It ain’t that type of party,” Kevin said, turning toward her. “Plus, she gotta weigh over three hundred pounds.”

“
Whatever, Kevin. Booty is booty, and I can’t believe you just told me this dumbness. So she’s never tried to book you or James’s friends?”

“
Simone, I mean, damn. She comes on to every-got damn-body, but I’m not thinking ’bout her. I got what I want right here. Plus, I told you that’s James’s girl. They just had a baby, too. At least we think it’s James’s,” he said more so to himself.

“
Okay, I don’t even wanna hear any more of this crazy talk, Kevin. Matter of fact, why don’t you just stay home this weekend? We good on money. Let’s call Melanie and Nic and hang out with them.”

“
Simone, I can’t. It’s the first of the month, and them crackheads splurging and paying off their tabs.”

“
They can pay their tabs off one day next week.”

“
Yeah, right,” Kevin said. He grabbed his cap from the nightstand and tossed it on his head. “They’ll be don’ smoked their whole check up by then.”

“
Come on, Kevin,” she pleaded. “We’ve never even gone out on a date. Stay home and let’s go out to dinner or something.”