Who Do I Run To? (10 page)

“Who
, girl? Who’s coming over?”

“Isaiah,” she said
, like Janelle should have known.

“I thought you said you gave up on him and you were going to just let it go
.”

“Yeah, that was earlier, but I was wrong, way wrong.”

“Okay, what made you change your mind?” Janelle asked before taking a bit of her Maxwell Polish.

“Well
, I ran into Iyeshia.”

“Who is Iyeshia?” she asked
, chewing in Janiece’s ear.

“His sister
, and what in the hell are you smacking on?”

“A
Polish, girl. I stopped on Halstead before coming home.”

“Oh, well
, anyway, I saw Iyeshia, so I asked about him, and she told me that he went out of town on Sunday to go to a game in Dallas and that he would be coming back tonight.”

“So
, how did you end up talking to him? Did he call you?” she asked continuing to enjoy her Polish and soggy fries.

“No, she told me to call him about 9:30 and I did
, and now he’s coming over,” she squealed.

“Well
, my sista, you know what time it is.”

“No, what are you talking about
, Nellie?” she asked because she didn’t know if she meant give him booty or what.

“Time to get some act right in your life and leave that ugly
-ass K.P. alone. Damn what he told you this week about leaving his wife and kids. He’s just trying to keep you hooked.”

“Oh, funny you mention that. His crazy
-ass wife called me.”

“What?” Janelle said almost choking on her grape Crush pop. “When, and why? Well
, I know why, but when? What did she say?”

“
She called not too long ago, and he isn’t lying about leaving her.”

“What? How do you know that for sure?”

“Well, let me see, ‘Bitch, stop fucking my husband or else it’s going be hell to pay. If he leaves me and my kids, you gon’ regret it,’” she said mocking K.P.’s wife. “Now, I’m not a genius or nothing, but I figured that one out.”

“She said that?”

“Yeah, and then she had to nerve to tell me that it was okay when we were just fucking, but now that he wants to be with me, she has a problem,” she said making fun of her. Janiece thought it was foolish of Kimberly to freely admit that she was okay with them messing around as long as he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Damn,” Janelle said in disbelief. She’d be damn if she would allow Greg to have a woman on the side. But it was funny to her. “You mean to tell me that this crazy chick is okay with him cheating on her as long as he doesn’t leave her
?” she asked laughing. “Girl, I under estimated K.P.. That Negro dick must be bronze—hell—gold. Is it that good, Jai?” she asked cracking up at herself.

“Ha, ha, ha, funny
, Janelle…” she said, not really seeing what was so funny.

“So what you gonna do?”

“What do you mean what am I gonna do?”

“Exactly what I said
—what you gon’ do, bitch?” she said mimicking Monique from the movie Two Can Play that Game.

“Well
, first of all, I don’t want him; second, I’m not gon’ tolerate this drama. It’s not that serious.”

“Yeah
, right, Jai. You know damn well you talking shit. You said all this BS last Saturday when you were getting ready to go out with Isaiah, and then what did you do? Spend the whole damn week with K.P.,” she said finishing her pop.

“Well
, I didn’t know what the deal was with Isaiah, and plus, K.P. wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

“Yeah
, whatever, li’l sis. You act like you forgot who you talking to. You enjoyed his sorry ass, and you know it,” she teased. She was just messing with Janiece.

“Maybe a little, but honestly
, Nellie, and this is the truth, I thought about Isaiah the whole time. Even when we were making love, I imagined it was Isaiah,” she confessed.

“Damn
, Jai, I guess the K.P. ship is sailing. You are coming around, girl. I’m proud,” she teased.

“Things are just so different now
, Nellie. I used to eat, sleep, and breathe K.P., but now I have to kinda force a thought in my mind about him. Isaiah is taking up all the space. All the stuff that we did this week was beautiful, but it should have been months or even years ago.”

“So why haven’t you told
K.P. to get lost, Janiece?”

“Nellie
, truthfully, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He was just so happy and excited. He was walking around like he had done this great justice for me; I was amazed, but not happy. You know what I mean? He was doing everything in his power to make me smile, and it was fake, Nellie.”

“Okay
, but you know you gon’ have to tell him that it’s over.”

“Yes
, I know,” she groaned.

“And he is not gonna make it easy for you.”

“I know.”

“But you can’t drag this out
. You gon’ have to do it soon, especially if K.P. done told his wife he’s leaving. Hell, he may be popping up whenever now. I told your ass to change your locks.”

“Yes
, Nellie, you told me,” she agreed. She wasn’t in the mood to hear “I told you so.”

“Well
, if you need me, call me, and don’t let ‘Crazy’ call you no more. Change your number first thing in the morning,” she said sounding like their mom again.

“I will, but look
, let me go. I have to change. Isaiah will be here soon.”

“Okay, but behave yourself
, young lady.”

“Oh
, I will, trust me,” she said with a naughty smile.

“Okay
, call me tomorrow.”

“
’K, bye,” she said and hung up.

Chapter
Twelve

Janiece went to turn on the music and fix her hair. She stood in the mirror getting cute and sang like she was Aretha while she put on a little makeup. She took off her sweats and put on a pair of tight jeans and her favorite Chicago Bears, Devin Hester T-shirt. She was so excited she couldn’t sit down, so she was walking around, whipping down, and straightening things that were already straightened.

She went over to the mirror she had lean
ing against the living-room wall and checked herself out. She admired her voluptuous body and thought she looked good in her jeans. She turned to the side and looked at her bottom and wished she had a smaller butt. She figured she’d be in a size twelve instead of a fourteen if she had a smaller ass. She examined her breasts and stomach, and she definitely agreed that she needed to incorporate some sit-ups in her daily routine.

She wasn’t shagging anywhere, but she didn’t want to get any bigger than that size. Her breast
s could stand to be a cup size bigger, she thought, but then she probably wouldn’t be able to still get away with some of her cute little halters in the summer. She only had a C cup, but they were still perky.

Satisfied, s
he went back into the kitchen and peeped out of the window for the Avalanche again, but there was no sign of it, so to kill some time, she grabbed her book Luck of the Draw and read a couple chapters. When she looked up an hour had gone by and still he had not knocked on the door.

She got up to go and brush her teeth again because she wanted her breath to be
super fresh when he arrived. She brushed them, dried her mouth, and then applied her lip gloss. Then she rinsed her hands under the water she had been running since she had started brushing her teeth. When she turned it off she heard knocking at her door and she sprang to answer it. Stopping at the door, she took a deep, cleansing breath.

Janiece
opened the door with delight, because he was definitely finer than the last time she saw him. She invited Isaiah in quickly, and he handed her a bottle of Riesling. She thanked him before putting it in the fridge. They stood in the kitchen looking at each other awkwardly until he broke the silence.

“You’re looking good tonight,” he said with a smile.

“No, you’re looking real good tonight,” she teased with a giggle.

“I can certainly say the same about you
, Janiece,” he said, still wearing his warm smile.

“Look
, Isaiah, I know we got ... off to a—”

“Wait
, Jai, before you say anything. I’d like to apologize,” he said.

“For what?” she asked
, wondering why he wanted to apologize. She was the one who messed up the date.

“Well
, first, for coming on so strong and for not telling you the full story about going back to Texas for the rest of my time in the service. I was afraid if I hadda told you that I was just here on leave, you would have thought I was just looking for a fling, and you wouldn’t have wanted to go out with me. I didn’t want to risk you saying no, so that’s why I didn’t mention my going back to Texas,” he explained.

“Well
, I’m sorry too for not being honest and straight up with you about my situation,” she said, and he looked at her confused.

“Come on, let’s have a seat, and I’ll explain,”
then she led him into the living room. She went back and grabbed a MGD from the fridge. She didn’t know if he liked that brand but for some reason, that was her favorite. She sat on the love seat instead of the couch so she could look at him without having to sit awkwardly.

Jani
ece started at the beginning. She told Isaiah the truth about her and K.P. up to the day prior to him coming back to Chicago from Dallas. She made a promise to God that if she was blessed to find a great man that had the potential of being a part of her life she would be honest with him.

Isaiah listened and from what she could see
, he wasn’t passing judgment on her and that made her feel good. She got up to get him another beer and poured herself a glass of the Riesling that Isaiah brought over for her. She then sat on the sofa beside him because she was done telling her horrible life’s choices to him.

“So
… are you still seeing him?” he asked.

“I have already decided that it’s over, but I haven’t told him yet,” she said truthfully. She hadn’t come to that conclusion
until after the crazy wife called.

“Well
, when do you plan on cutting this cat loose?” he asked and took a drink of his beer. He wasn’t trying to be in her business, but he was curious about what he should do. He definitely didn’t want to be in no drama either.

“I wanted to tell him tonight, but when I called him
, I only got his voice mail. I can’t deal with the drama, and the harassing phone call from Kimberly is something I never expected our relationship to come to.”

“Kimberly
? Who’s Kimberly?” he asked because she didn’t mention the fact of his wife calling her earlier that evening.

“His wife,” she said dryly and took a sip of her wine.

“His wife knows about you?” he asked sounding surprised.

“Yeah, and today
, she confirmed that she’s known for a while.”

“Damn, what did she say?” he asked turning toward Janiece, wanting to know the scoop.

“Oh, so I see you do like drama,” she said, laughing.

“Na
h, I’m just curious,” he replied, laughing with her.

“It doesn’t matter because that
’s the last time I’ll be bothered with that shit fo’sho. I’m changing my cell phone number first thing.”

“Damn, girl—that is some drama. Now
—enough about the married cat and his crazy wife. What’s up with us?” he asked in a more serious tone.

“Well
, I was going to ask you the same question.”

“You know I’m feeling you
, and you know I want to get to know you on a more personal level,” he said taking her free hand into his and then she sat her glass down on the coffee table.

“Well, Isaiah, I want you to know that you going back to Texas
concern me.”

“Listen
, Janiece, I know you think of it as a bad thing, but I promise you if you and I are together, that means, we are together. I’m not the kinda man who needs to run around on my woman. Since the moment I saw you, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you,” he said looking at her with genuineness. She could feel the attraction that was going on between them, and she was dying for him to kiss her.

“Me
too—I can’t front or play games with you, Isaiah. I’m attracted to you in more ways than one,” she said looking at him like he was going to disappear if she blinked.

“Really?”

“Really,” she said. So what do we do now?” she asked, and he moved closer to her and readjusted himself in front of her. Their faces were so close there was less than an inch between their lips. She wanted his lips to kiss hers, and he wanted so badly to kiss her.

“We go with the flow and take advantage of every moment we have together. We take our time and get to know
each other and see how it goes,” he said in a low, sexy tone. His mouth was so close she could feel his warm breath and smell the mint of his toothpaste mixed with MGD.

“Then what
—” she tried to ask, but before she knew it, he kissed her. She relaxed and let his tongue explore her mouth, allowing him to suck on her bottom lip. His kiss tasted so good, and she thought to herself that he had to be a passionate lover by the way he grabbed the back of her head. His kiss was so sweet and soft, and she knew he had no intention of stopping. He wanted to taste her everything. Janiece’s nipples began to harden, and she knew she was done.

She told herself if he tried, he was going to definitely get some for sure. They both thought of making love and teasing
each other. Janiece was so anxious—she decided to help him out by moving one of his hands down to her breast. He grabbed hold of her breast and massaged it gently and pinched her nipple through her T-shirt. Then he pushed a little weight on her, causing her to lie back a little. They broke from their passionate kiss long enough for him to remove her T-shirt. He sat back a little to get a good look at her white-laced bra. They both smiled.

“You sure you wanna do this?” he asked.

“Yes,” she whispered and climbed on top of him. They kissed again, and he grabbed her ass and squeezed it gently. Her ass was plump and was a pleasure to his hands as he palmed it. He licked her neck, and she leaned back a little, giving way to her cleavage. Her eyes were closed, and she held the back of his head. She was happy that she was no longer merely imagining his lips kissing her body. He was really there. She reached behind her back to unsnap her bra to expose her erect nipples, but her phone chose that moment to ring, jerking both of them out of their moment, and they both laughed nervously.

“You gon’ get that?” he asked.

“No, I don’t wanna move from this spot.”

“Okay then
, don’t get it,” he said, and they start kissing again. They were getting back into the mood when the phone rang again.

“You got to be kidding me
,” she said looking around for the cordless phone. By the time she located where it was it stopped ringing. She snapped her bra back and went over to the phone and looked at the caller ID. It was the one person she feared it would be. The one person she dreaded; the one she didn’t want to hear from that night: K.P.. She became terrified when she saw his name, because he still had a key. Before she could put the phone down, it rang again in her hand. She knew she had to answer it and handle her business.

“Hello,” she said giving Isaiah the give
-me-a-minute signal. She walked toward her room.

“Who in the fuck is in my parking space
, Jai?”

“What?”

“I’m downstairs, and some niggah’s Avalanche is in my spot, Jai.”

“
K.P., you don’t have a spot. That spot is for my guests, and I have a guest.”

“Who
, Jai …?”

“No need to make a scene so let me call you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Are you planning on letting him stay the night?”

“
Maybe—that is not your business, K.P.,” she snapped.

“Jai
, what the fuck is up? Tell me what’s going on.”

“
K.P., please, let me call you later,” she begged.

“You know what
? I’m on my way up,” he said, scaring the shit out of Janiece.

“No
, K.P.. Come on, you have to respect my place. I can’t walk up in your crib whenever,” she reminded him.

“Well
, you need to come down then.”

“No
, I will not, and you need to get a grip.”

“Jai
... who is this dude? You’ve been acting distant all week. I can tell something is up with you because it’s like you are not yourself,” he said, and she knew he was telling the truth. Even if he was really leaving Kimberly to be with her; it was all great, but too late.

“Look
, K.P., I gotta go.”

“Jai
, baby, please don’t hang up. Come down and at least talk to me for a moment. I know I’ve been an asshole, but, baby, please tell me I’m not too late,” he begged, and it penetrated her heart. She didn’t want to be cruel to K.P. or hurt him.

She
was just tired of the drama. Even if they got together, she would have to deal with Kimberly’s crazy-ass, and she didn’t have the strength to deal with the amount of stress she would bring to her life.

“Jai
, baby, are you still there?” he asked because she didn’t say anything. She was trying to fight the tears.

“Yes
, I’m here,” she said softly.

“Baby
, please tell me I’m not too late. I want to make you happy. You deserve to be happy baby. Please give me a chance. Tell me I’m not too late baby please,” he begged.

“I don’t know
, K.P.; I’m tired of coming in second.”

“Jai
, I’m trying to change for you, and I can’t make that happen overnight. It’s gonna take some time—Jai. Do you hear me? I love you and I have loved you for a long time. It is so much more than just getting up and walking out the door. I’m ready to be who you want me to be. I just needed time,” he pleaded, and she had to hurry off the phone, because if she kept talking, she would allow him to make her feel bad. She did love K.P., but things weren’t the same.

“Listen
, K.P., I promise you that I’ll call you tomorrow, because I can’t deal with us right now. We have too much to talk about; too much to cover right now, so please let me call you tomorrow.”

“Do you love me
—”

“
K.P. please—”

“Yes or no
… I’m going to go out of my mind if you don’t tell me you love me.”

“Yes
K.P., I do, but things just aren’t that simple anymore. Now please K.P., I don’t wanna hang up on you, but I need to go,” she pleaded.