Across The Tracks (5 page)

LISA:

Lisa tossed and turned all night. Her mind was filled with images of Rich’s lips on hers, his body touching hers and how wet she got when he kissed her. She should not want him, she did not want him. Lisa already had her tall, dark and handsome. Why was she in bed thinking about the enemy? What was he thinking to kiss her like that? It must have been a bet or something, Lisa thought. He could not actually be attracted to her because he was indeed a prejudice bastard. Well, that didn’t stop the slave owners from raping and killing black women, so it could not have been anything special. Pussy is pussy, no matter what color it is. Rich had a beautiful woman on his side, why would he want to jeopardize that, she mused.

After a while, Lisa gave up on sleep and decided to answer her hundreds of emails. This would also take her mind off Danny, who decided to stay at his place because he did not want to have the marriage, baby, or relationship conversation. He avoided it like the plague and this was grating Lisa’s nerves. They had known each other forever, dated for years now, but there was no sign of commitment. Not that she could talk, after she had gripped onto Rich’s hair and allowed him to kiss her like she was his.

She only got through half of the emails before she realized what she needed to do. Lisa decided that she would keep talking about this matter, she would bring it before the legislature, and she would rally the troops about this issue. Hopefully, crazy ass Rich would keep his end of the bargain because they could use an ally who could do something about it. She also decided to pursue her master’s degree in Community Planning and Urban Development. 

Her email box chimed and she saw it was from ‘Jr., Wells, Richard.’ She didn’t want to open it, but what was he doing up this time of night and why was he emailing her.

To:
[email protected]
From:
[email protected]
Date: July 18, 2014, 4:05 AM
Subject: For the record

Lisa,

I am sorry about the bathroom incident. I didn’t mean to come on so strong, but there is just something about you that keeps pulling at me. Is it just me? Do you feel it? Do you find it odd that after that life-altering moment on the basketball court that day, we run into each other again in a courtroom to butt heads? I looked you up, it seems you were a hell of a basketball player. Clearly, I underestimated you then and even last week. I do want to mend fences with you. I’m a little dense at trying to figure out the best way of going about that.

I will do what we discussed, but I also wanted to extend an olive branch because I think you and I could be good friends.

I hope to hear from you.

Your nemesis,

Rich

--

Lisa laughed at his signature, then she typed her own response.

From:
[email protected]
To:
[email protected]
Date: July 18, 2014, 4:15 AM
Subject: Re: For the record

Hello Mr. Wells, Jr.

For the record, I accept your apology. In regards to that bathroom incident, that can never happen again. You are happy, I’m happy, let’s stay happy with what we have.

You upholding your end of the bargain will appease me.

Thanks for your email.

Honestly, not your nemesis,

Lisa

--

From:
[email protected]
To:
[email protected]
Date: July 18, 2014, 4:19 AM
Subject: Re: Re: For the record

You are up? Why?
Bet you couldn’t sleep like me? I wonder what clouds your mind. Probably the same event that I keep replaying over and over again. Delicious. 

Sweet dreams, darling.

--

Lisa read this and logged off her computer. The man was incorrigible.  She tried to figure out what had her blood pumping so hard. Was it his determination to penetrate her icy demeanor, his courage to pursue something that was out of reach or just his arrogance? As a rule, Lisa did not think arrogance was a good quality, but Rich wore confidence like any politician did, she guessed. He was sure, secure, settled and had a plan. It wasn’t necessarily a plan she admired, but it was a plan. The man was determined, she would give him that, but that was it. She refused to admit that there was even an inkling of attraction because there simply wasn’t.

She planned to file it away as hormones or lack of sex.

RICH:

After they had left the restaurant, Grace was asleep in the car and they were only half-way home. Rich drove her to her parent’s home, where she still resided because he did not want to deal with her and she had been off lately. After he had arrived at his apartment, he laid in bed with his hand on his erect cock, wishing a brown-eyed, chocolate smelling woman was there with him. He wanted Lisa badly and the desire seemed to be overtaking him. He did not realize that he had succumbed to the craving and was kissing her until he actually had his lips on hers in the bathroom. He was out of his mind. He rubbed the length of his cock with his fist and groaned. He did not know her but knew she could do a much better job than his hand could. With that pink pouty bottom lip, slowly sliding up and down his cock. She was a wildcat, so he knew she’d show some teeth. He groaned, just thinking about the visual.

This had to end. 

Rich pulled out his iPad, went to his favorite porn site and for the first time in life, he clicked on interracial couples. He knew the woman must have cast a spell on him because he had never even thought about or considered watching a woman of color before. They were beautiful, but it just didn’t cross his mind. After watching a woman who had the curves, hair and what he imagined Lisa’s bosom looked like, he got off twice and fell asleep.

******

He had not been back to Penn State since he had graduated over five years ago. Partly because that was a five-hour drive, but there was nothing to celebrate. They were receiving some bad press lately, so his father told him to steer clear of the place. His friends were having a Poconos get together and invited him and Grace. Surprisingly enough, they were both looking forward to the break away from their normal routine and excited about taking a trip back to school. Grace and Rich had been together for six years. They were introduced by Rich’s father and his associate. It all seemed like a business transaction, which Rich had no doubt that it was. However, he had grown to like Grace, they even had sex when she didn’t have a headache. The relationship consisted of Grace doing things to ‘help his career’ and then using sex to get back into his good graces.

Grace was always floating around talking about what the papers would say when they decided to get married. A match made in heaven, college sweethearts, or the perfect couple. Grace was no romantic, she was an opportunist, which oddly enough was the very same thing that she accused Lisa of being. Lisa might have been passionate, but opportunistic, Rich would not have put her in that category, even though she was trying to end his career. In some way, he almost wanted her to end this madness because he did not know what to do. His father still managed to make decisions for him and every day, he hoped he could break away from his prison.

Grace tried to talk to Rich in the car, but eventually put her headphones when he kept giving her one-word answers or none at all. He swore those podcasts she listened to were about how to take over the world one dinner party at a time. He gladly turned his music up louder, which consisted of Contemporary Pop and old school Hip Hop. Grace absolutely hated anything he liked, so he was thankful she came prepared with alternative entertainment because he planned to play his music, regardless of her preference. They arrived at the resort in six hours because that long bend in the road that lead only to Penn State was still a single lane that took forever to get through. After they had checked into their cabin, Grace scampered off to the bathroom while Rich changed into his gear so he could hit the slopes. He could not wait to ski so it would be just him and the mountain.

Rich met up with his friends, Will and Max at the ski rental. They were all excited about the trip and already had the keg in ice for later that night. Rich thought nothing could get better than this. Good friends, good fun, and a big ass mountain. Rich was the last once off of the lift out of his two friends. They stood, smiled at each other and started to go down the mountain. As Rich descended, he thought about his job, the upcoming race, his father, and the plan. He kept making sharp turns with each thought. Then his mind wandered to Lisa, what she thought of him, how she communicated that to him, how she publicly humiliated him again, and then his mind wandered to their kiss. He remembered the way her fingers slid into his hair. It was so simple, but it felt erotic to him. In the 32 degrees weather, Rich felt hot and he knew it was not his snowsuit. It was the same reason he could not sleep last night. As if being lifted from a daze, Rich jerked and realized that he was skiing too close to the edge. He tried to make another sharp turn, but his angle was wrong and he toppled over into the trees. A lot of branches broke as he kept tumbling through the snow, unable to get his bearings on the skis. That’s when he heard something crack and it was not a big branch, it was attached to him.

Rich knew this would not be good.

******

LISA:

Lisa paced around the kitchen, trying to figure out how to approach Danny with her ultimatum. It had been six years, so at this point, there was only one ultimatum. She wanted the wedding date, the time and location of the joyous event. There would be no more of this pushing the conversation off. She was 26 years old and he had known her since she was a child. They grew up together, played football and basketball together. He was 29 and the man still was not trying to settle down. She attempted to figure out where it went wrong. She used to love Danny when she was little because he always made a point to pick on her. Then as she grew out of her tomboy phase, Danny stopped talking to her. She did not know why, but he stopped showing her the attention he used to before. He had girlfriends that he seemed to talk about when only she was around or he would kiss them when she was walking down the street. So, she stopped liking Danny and started to secretly see different guys.

They had to remain a secret because Aaron and Josh Johnson would not have little Lisa dating. When she went to college, even though Drexel was a bus ride away, her dad insisted that she stay on campus and get away from the neighborhood. Lisa wanted that anyway because being under their microscope had severely limited her love life. In her junior year, she ran across Danny talking with one of her college professors. He was shocked to see her, hugged her and asked her out for old time’s sake. Lisa was a little weary about this because she had made him her nemesis since he was such a jerk to her the last she saw him.

She’d never forget how Danny was staring at her and kept touching her in public at the Starbucks. He said that he wanted to catch up with her again because he would be on campus more, with his research career taking off. Hanging out turned into making out, then Lisa called him out on the shit he pulled when they were teenagers. In essence, he said that he liked her when she was young, but could not really do anything about that, due to his loyalty to Josh and he was scared of her father. Then he said when she stopped hanging around them or playing ball with them, he knew she had changed. Therefore, he decided to cut her from his life the best way he knew how. She was not the little runt that followed them everywhere or stole the ball from him during a game. She was becoming a beautiful young woman and that scared him. He said he was too young to figure out what to do with that, but now as a grown man, he knew exactly what to do with her.

From that day forward, they were an item. Josh was cool with it, her dad was surprisingly very silent about his thoughts, which meant he did not approve. Josh called him out on this once, but dad only said, ‘I just don’t see it.’ He was never rude or cold towards Danny, but Dad was Dad. After she graduated from college and started teaching, Danny’s career took off, which had him traveling all around the country and spending weeks and months away. This was fine for Lisa then, but she did not feel like a priority to him, which meant that she probably wasn’t.

A knock came on the door. Lisa knew it was him because he had the same knock every time. 1,2,3,4 pause, 5,6. He was very meticulous, which was why he was an excellent researcher. She opened the door for him and they embraced for a kiss. He could tell there was something off because he pulled back and said, “What’s wrong?”

She tried to figure out the best way to approach him about this. Then, she did the standard Lisa move. Jump first then ask questions later, “Do you want to marry me?”

Danny sighed and exclaimed, “Not this again!”

She did not know his full feelings on the subject and that he never wanted to be married or tied down. He just wanted them to kick it as they had before. Marriage was for fools. All he had to do was look at his father, his uncles, and every other man that was in his life. They were all fools and he would never succumb to that torture. Lisa was not getting this and lately she kept bringing it up. At first, he would make a joke and they laughed it off, but now she was persistent. He wondered why this was so important to her right now since before she never cared.