Careful of the Company You Keep (6 page)

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Authors: Angie Daniels

BOOK: Careful of the Company You Keep
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I shrugged. “You were like a brother to me.”
“And now?” he asked, studying my face. He licked his lips and I felt my body quiver.
“Now . . . when I look at you I don't think about my brother.”
“That's what I wanted to hear.”
We chuckled and then I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes. For the first time since I left John's tired ass, I felt that maybe there was a chance for me to finally get it right.
It was during the next song that I got this feeling someone was watching me. Sure enough, I opened my eyes and spotted Leslie from across the room staring at my ass. I locked eyes with her, then ran my hand up and down Landon's back. Oh, the look on her face was priceless. It took everything I had not to start laughing while I rained light kisses along Landon's neck.
“Mmmm, that feels good,” he murmured.
I continued to smile over at Leslie, daring her to bring her big booty onto the dance floor.
“You better quit before you start something,” Landon whispered against my ear.
I pulled back and stared up at him, then draped my arms around his neck. “Oh, I'm definitely trying to start something,” I purred and looked over my shoulder to make sure Leslie was still watching. She was.
“What do you have in mind?”
I smiled up at him. “After the club. My place. I think we have a little catching up to do.”
He looked surprised by my response. “Sounds like a plan.”
The song ended and I released him and headed back over to where Danielle was sitting and talking to some short, bald dude. When I got up closer, I recognized him. Christopher Thomas. He and Danielle had dated while in high school.
“Whassup, Nae-Nae?”
I jumped back when I noticed his top teeth had packed up and moved the fuck on. “Hey, Chris, what's been up wit you?”
“Just trying to hold it together.”
If his teeth were any indication, he was doing a poor job at it.
He looked from me to Danielle. “I was just trying to get your girl here to go out with me.”
I smirked, reached for a chair at the next table, and pulled up a seat. “That sounds like a good idea. Danny, why don't you go out with him?” She gave me a look that said
help me out
but I pretended not to notice. “Chris, Danielle loves Red Lobster.”
“Bet! I can take you there tomorrow night. I think they are having all-you-can-eat shrimp.” He wagged his thick bushy eyebrows, then slid an arm around her shoulders. “How 'bout it, Danielle? You want me to pick you up?”
She removed his hairy arm. “I don't think so.”
I intervened. “What you riding these days?”
He stuck out his chest with pride. “A Geo Metro.”
“Geo Metro?” Danielle and I said at the same time.
“Yep.” You would have thought he said he owned a BMW.
I shook my head with pity. “I thought they stopped making them in the nineties.”
“They did. I have one of the last ones that ever came off the assembly line. I don't know why they stopped. They are economical. Even with gas prices, I can ride all day for little or nothing.”
“That's wonderful.” I turned my head to hide my laughter. Chris was definitely a winner.
“Come on, Danny, let's dance,” he suggested.
Danielle choked on her drink. “Uh, I'm not feeling up to it.”
“Okay, I'll leave you alone as long as you save me a dance and promise to think about dinner.”
Danny nodded. “I'll think about it.”
Chris said good-bye, then moved into the crowd with his pimp-daddy stroll and I howled with laughter.
“You need to quit playing so damn much. Ain't no way in hell I'm going out with him.”
I was cracking up. “He used to be the love of your life.”
“That was a long damn time ago. Now his ass looks tired as hell.”
We laughed, then leaned back in our seats and enjoyed the music. We were on our third round of drinks when Landon pushed through the crowd and joined our table.
“What's going on, Danny?” They hugged and he took the chair beside me.
“Damn, boy! The Army definitely does a body good.” She looked him up and down. “I should have snatched you up when you asked me to the spring dance our sophomore year.”
He gave a nervous laugh that used to sound so goofy but now was quite sexy.
For the next couple of songs, we sat there talking about the old days, laughing and shooting the shit. Danielle kicked my leg under the table. Damn, that was a bad habit of hers.
“Uh-oh, here comes trouble,” she said.
I followed the direction of her eyes in time to see Leslie heading our way. I struggled to keep a straight face. She huffed over to us and slammed the palms of her hands onto the table in front of Landon.
“Landon! We need to talk,” she demanded.
Danielle mumbled under her breath. “Uh-uh, no, she didn't.”
“Oh, but yes, I did,” she replied, spacing each word evenly, then bored her eyes at Danielle to show her she wasn't scared.
Danielle gave her a dismissive wave and pointed to the other side of the club. “Y'all need to take that shit over there.”
I started laughing 'cause I ain't think Leslie had it in her. But here her big ass was, leaning over the table all in his face waiting for Landon to acknowledge her.
He finally shook his head and got up. “Excuse me a minute.”
“Yeah,
excuse
him,” she replied sarcastically. Leslie stormed off and Landon followed.
I called after him. “Go handle yo business, boo! I'll be right here when you get back.” Danny and I exploded with laughter. “She would want to do something about her breath.”
“That wasn't her breath. That's her armpits.”
I started waving my hand in the air. “Hell nah! She smells sour as hell.”
“I can't believe Landon was screwing her.”
I sucked my teeth. “At the looks of things, he probably still is.”
I watched the two of them in the corner going at it. Leslie was definitely feeling some type of way seeing him with me, but then most women do.
Whatever!
My eyes traveled around the room and I spotted several people I knew who were too damn old to be in this place, but then who was I to talk. I had no business being in here my damn self. This was definitely a college hangout spot.
I looked over at the door and my mouth dropped. “Danny, ain't that Ron?”
“Where?”
I pointed and she practically broke her neck trying to see who was walking through the door. The expression on her face confirmed my suspicions.
I ain't gonna lie, Ron is delicious in a thuggish kinda way. Tootsie Roll dark chocolate. Tall with a muscular build. Straight-back cornrows. He had on low-rider jeans and a white T-shirt.
“Who's that girl he's with?” From across the room she looked vaguely familiar.
“I don't know and don't care,” Danielle answered with straight attitude. She tried to act like she didn't care, but her eyes reflected her anger and I could tell she was still hurting over him. I tried to cheer her up. “Girl, that bitch's weave is whacked.”
Danielle laughed. “Right.”
I rose. “I'm going to go and get another drink. You want one?”
She nodded, yet her mind was more on Ron and his date with the bad hairdo than on me. “Yeah. A drink would be great.”
“Coming right up.”
I shook my head. I don't know why Danielle can't just move on. Men like Ron ain't the kind you marry. They're the kind you simply fuck. Even if her daughter hadn't lied, Ron was a piece of shit. He ain't never been able to hold on to a job for long and spends too much time in the street. I wouldn't touch his dick with my worst enemy's pussy.
7
Danielle
I watched Ron with that bitch on his arm. I didn't want to stare, but his walk demanded my attention. I hadn't seen him in five months and just the sight of him caused old feelings to resurface. There was something about him that did things to me. He had obviously moved on, yet I couldn't help feeling jealous the way the two of them were hugged up. I felt hate. I felt love. I felt like going over and demanding that bitch leave my man alone. Luckily, I remembered he no longer belonged to me.
Damn! Am I ever going to get over him? It's been months, yet he's all I can think about. I am so pathetic.
I don't know if I'll ever love anyone like him. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to.
“I know who that is,” I heard Renee say when she returned to the table with our drinks.
I should have known Renee was going to bring Ron back up when she returned. Knowing her, she went over to the bar just so she could get a closer look. “Who?” I asked, trying hard to sound like it didn't matter one way or the other.
“He's with that bitch Rosalyn.”
The name didn't ring a bell. “You know her?”
Renee nodded and took a sip. “Yep. She used to mess with my cousin Dirt. Straight ho. I heard she's got the package.”
“Which package?”
She pursed her lips. “Herpes.”
“Hell nah!” I couldn't help but feel relieved by what she said even though it was probably just one of the hundreds of rumors floating around this little-ass town.
“Danny, if that's what Ron wants, then so be it.”
That was easy for her to say. She left her husband because she caught him fucking another man in the ass. The only reason Ron and I weren't still together was because of my daughter's lie. I wanted so badly to get out of my seat and go over there and talk to him.
Don't you dare do it!
Fine. Besides, I'm sure Renee would kick my ass if I even tried.
I sipped my drink and watched the two of them walking around the building, he in front and she right behind on his heels. As much as I hated it, they looked good together. She had more curves than a cul-de-sac. Full breasts. A wide ass and a narrow waistline. She was wearing low-rider jeans and a midriff sweater that showed off her belly ring. Ron was wearing loose-fitting jeans and a T-shirt that couldn't hide the massive muscles in his arms and chest. I wanted to reach out and take a bite. He had bowed legs. Dammit! Just knowing someone else was now riding
my
dick was hard for me to accept. Instead, I was left feigning for him and thinking if he would just give me one more chance things would be so much different.
My nostrils flared. It wasn't fair! I had waited almost two years for him to grow up and get a job. And as soon as he had gotten himself together and things in our relationship had just started to get better, my daughter stepped in and fucked everything up.
“You need to quit staring before he notices.”
I blushed. I should have known Renee was watching me. “Damn, am I that pathetic?”
“Danny, I know you ain't still trippin' off of Ron. After he spat in your face, he would be the last man I'd want to be with.”
I took a sip from my glass, ignoring her comment, and was glad when David came over and led her back out onto the dance floor. Sometimes my best friend gets on my last nerve. What she'll never understand is that it doesn't matter how long I date Calvin, I will never get over my one true love. No one can make me feel like Ron does. The brother was slinging dick for days, and nothing beats being in bed with a thug.
I forced myself to look around the room but my eyes kept landing on Ron and that ho he had on his arm.
If Portia hadn't lied, we'd still be together.
Or maybe not.
I released a heavy sigh. Maybe it was time for me to let go and move on. After all, it was Ron's loss. I had been a hell of a good woman to him for over two years, and up until the last couple of months all he had done was use me. My utilities had gotten turned off so many times even though Ron claimed he had paid the bill. Then there were the calls from his baby's mama in the middle of the night. For real, he wasn't even worth my time and I wasn't sure why I still wanted him, but I did.
Just get over him.
I looked over in time to catch Ron looking in my direction and quickly turned my head. The last thing I wanted him to know was that I still loved him.
Renee returned, reached for her drink, and brought it to her lips, then started bobbing her head. Everything was going to be all right. I could feel it.
As long as you stop staring at Ron.
Focusing on the opposite side of the room, I spotted a tall, thuggish-looking brotha with Hershey's chocolate skin. Good God Almighty! I had never seen him before in my life, and I thought I knew everybody. My heart started pounding. And when he glanced over in my direction and the two of us made eye contact, I wiped my mouth to make sure I wasn't drooling all over myself.
Renee noticed, too. “Goddamn, the cutie is sweating your ass.”
“And I'm checking his ass out, too.”
It wasn't long after, he walked across the room and stopped right in front of our table, and I thought I was going to fall out of my chair.
“Hey, sexy, you want to dance?”
I was tongue-tied. All I could do was sit there and stare at his sexy gold-tooth smile.
Renee intervened. “Hell yeah, she wants to dance.”
Nodding, I rose from my seat and followed him out onto the dance floor. The last time I was caught slow dancing in the club with another man, Ron had come over and started a fight. I glanced over to the right to make sure Ron wasn't paying attention. He wasn't.
“What's your name?”
I smiled up at my partner and wrapped my arms loosely around his waist. “Danielle. Yours?”
“Chance.”
Ooh, his name was just as sexy as he was.
I leaned against him, and together we swayed side to side to the beat of the music. I gazed up into a pair of mesmerizing hazel eyes. Damn, could the brotha possibly be any finer? “You new in town?”
“Yes and no,” he began with a pearly white grin. “I went to school at Lincoln University and used to kick it up here all the time.”
“Where'd you grow up?”
“St. Louis. But I've been back a month. If I can find myself a good woman I'd have a reason to stay.” The music slowed down and Chance pulled me snugly into his arms and I closed my eyes and smiled. Damn, it felt good being held by him. Why couldn't it be this way with Calvin?
When the song ended he pulled back slightly and stared down at me again. “I'll let you get back to yo girl. But first put your number in my phone just in case you try to sneak out before I get those digits.”
I smiled and tried to hide my excitement. The last thing I wanted him to know was how much I was feeling him.
“Holla at me before you leave.”
I nodded, then sashayed back to the table and caught Ron staring. I tossed my head back and laughed all the way back to our table. Good for his ass.

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