Hot Girlz: Hot Boyz Sequel (30 page)

“You hungry?”

“I am, actually. It smells
good in this house.”

“Thank you. I hope that
turkey turns out okay.”

“It always does.”

Mercedes stood next to
Claude. “Wanted you to know, I talked to Venus. I did invite her.”

Claude looked sure. “She
won’t come.”

“I think you’re right.
Sorry about everything.”

He crossed his arms.
“Everything happens for a reason.”

“I know. But anyway, I
hope you celebrated your birthday last night with a big bang,” Mercedes said,
watching Terrence take over. Mason seemed quieter now.

“I did. Yep. That much is
true. I did.” His words stumbled.

“Good.” Mercedes looked up
at the television and noticed it was a commercial. She said to everyone, “I’ll
let you all know when dinner is served.

“Cool,” said Terrence.

She heard Nadia barking
from the backyard and went outside to the dug-run. She opened the gate. “Come
on, girl. You can come in, too. It’s Thanksgiving.” Mercedes watched Nadia run
circles around her, wagging her tail. Nadia led Mercedes to the door and sat,
waiting for permission. She looked up at Mercedes with her pretty blue eyes.
“Go.” Mercedes waved her hand toward the inside. Nadia dashed in and ran up to
Mason first.

“Hey, girl,” Mason said,
looking down at Nadia and then resuming his game. He was back on a roll with
his shots.

Nadia made her way around
to greet everyone. She approached Terrence with caution and barked.

Mercedes hushed her.

Instead of coming close,
Nadia went directly into the living room.

Mason looked up at the TV
when he heard Rashaad’s voice, saying, “I need to step on the gas and be more
patient, see what the course gives me. Our plan is to stay on top. Stay on top
and rip it.”

Mason said with energy,
“That’s my boy.”

Nadia greeted Star. She
could be heard saying, “There’s Nadia. My pretty girl.” She sounded like she
had found a long lost friend.

~~

Out of the thirteen chairs
at the formal dining room table, six on each side and one at the head of the
table, four were not taken. One for Venus, one for Rashaad, and one for
Cameron, and the one at the head table for Mattie.

Mason led the prayer that
included being thankful for His goodness mercy and love. And everyone said,
“Amen.”

~~

Less than an hour later,
the platters and bowls that lined the table were half empty and the individual
dinner plates were all but licked clean.

Nadia lay under the table
being a good girl.

Skyy ate her food so fast
that she looked like she was a starving student.

“Slow down,” Mercedes
said, smiling to her niece who worked on her second helping of turkey. Most
everyone else was done.

“I can’t believe how much
Skyy has grown,” said Sequoia.

Claude looked proud.
“She’s a big girl.” He said, sitting next to her, “Slow down, pumpkin. That
food isn’t going anywhere.”

Skyy asked her dad after
swallowing, “Isn’t Mommy coming?”

“No.” He then asked his
nephew, “TJ, are you still hungry?”

“No.” TJ looked impatient.

“He just wants to play,”
said Sequoia. “He’s waiting to make his getaway.”

“Well, I’m done. That was
good,” said Star, taking her lap napkin and placing it on her plate.

“It was. Dessert time,”
said Terrence.

Star said, rubbing her
belly, “Excuse me.” She stood up. “I need to make some room first. I’m headed
back to finish watching the tournament. Rashaad and Rory are in third place.”

Mercedes said, “Oh, we
can’t have that.”

Torino talked like he knew
the game. “It’s early. And if not today, there’s always tomorrow. They’ve got
three days.”

Mason took a sip of black
coffee and sat back. “Not always. Like Rashaad said, in golf, you’ve got to get
a head start right from the beginning and stay on it. Where you start is where
you can end up. That’s got to be in your mind. It’s too easy to lose your lead
and I’m telling you, one hole, one stroke, can change the whole game.”

Terrence asked, “You miss
the competition?”

“I do. I was talking to my
manager about opening my own golf course here. Probably out in Valencia near
Magic Mountain. Have some competitions and train some of the young folks.”

“Count me in. I’d like to
learn.”

Mason nodded. “Okay. You
end up in L.A. and that’ll be a done deal.”

“Got it.” Terrence wore a
happy face.

Sequoia asked, “You still
get your golf on with the fellas?”

“Not as much lately.”

Star said with volume from
the living room. “That’s because he’s busy running for city council.”

Mason did not look
excited. “No. I just don’t think that’s for me.”

Terrence added, “I can see
it. I think you’d win.”

Claude said, “Don’t give
up that idea, Mason.”

Mason said, “I hear ya.”
He stood. “So, let’s see how Rashaad and his teammate are doing out there in
China.” He looked back at Terrence. “And then I’ll meet you back in the family
room to get my revenge.”

Mercedes asked, looking
surprised, “You won, Terrence?”

“I did.”

Mason mumbled as he sat in
the reclining chair. “Boy coming over here dating my daughter and spanking her
dad in his own house. That’s cold blooded.”

Torino said, “Gotta give
him credit for bringing it.”

Mason leaned his chair
back. “Beginner’s luck.”

TJ asked Sequoia, “Mom,
can me and Skyy play shooting pool, too?”

Sequoia said, “I don’t
think so.” She giggled. “And it’s not called playing shooting pool. You say
shoot pool. But what we can do is we can all take the gifts from over there
into the living room.” She looked at Skyy. “I’ll bring the lemon cake over
there so we can sing Happy Birthday to your father.”

Skyy hopped up after
finally pushing her plate away. “Okay.” She and TJ ran to grab the gift bags
that were near the table, taking them into the living room.

Nadia dined on leftovers.

The family sang Happy
Birthday and ate dessert, watching the game, shooting pool, and enjoying each
other just as the Wilson family had always done through the years. A few less
family members, but laughs nonetheless. Making the most of being, together.

~~

By midnight, Claude and Skyy had left.
Claude had arranged to have her with him for the next two nights.

Torino, Sequoia, and TJ left.

Star was sleeping in Mattie’s room
with Nadia keeping watch.

Terrence slept in the guestroom
downstairs instead of going home to his parents’ house. He wanted to go play
golf with Mason early in the morning.

Mercedes was tucked into bed watching
Rashaad’s golf tournament on the DVR in the darkness of her bedroom, paying
close attention to her son’s every move, even though she knew he and his
teammate were in second placing going into the next day’s round.

She focused on the TV screen when the
bedroom door opened. Mason appeared wearing his usual shorts and a tee. “Good
night.”

“Good night,” she replied, as usual.

Instead of walking away, he walked to
the bed and stood at the foot of it.

He asked casually, “What’s up?”

She looked at him and replied.
“Nothing.”

“Star’s got Mom’s room.”

“I know.”

“Great day, today.” Mason sounded like
a robot.

Mercedes looked confused. “Yes. It
really was.”

She kept her eyes on him.

He kept his eyes on her.

She looked at him as if to say,
and
.

He said, “Cedes, remember the letter
you put in my briefcase while I was in Ireland after we had our marriage counseling
sessions? It was the letter that read you won’t tolerate it and that if I did
it again you were gone for good. And that you forgave me.”

“Yes.”

His face looked like he was swallowing
his pride but his eyes looked sincere. “Ditto.”

Mercedes felt an immediate lump in her
throat. Her thoughts did flip flops. She said what she felt from deep within.
“Thank you.”

She pulled back the covers from his
side of the bed and gave him a look.

Mason came along to his side and got
in, adjusting his body to lay as close to his wife as possible, pulling the
covers over them both.

She wore a long, red, silk nightgown
and a red thong.

He smelled of cedar and orange.

He kissed his wife as she made the
move to maneuver herself on top of him, still kissing, placing her hand on his
chest, and then down to his stomach, and then down into his shorts to her
husband’s big ego.

She said while stroking it, “I missed
you.”

“I missed you, too.”

“Make love to me.” Her words were
soft. Intense.

“My pleasure.” He switched positions
with her. Ready.

Mason and Mercedes sealed their
reunion with a slow, lasting, passionate lovemaking session that ended with her
on her stomach and him laying upon her back.

He told her in her ear as he was about
to release all that he had been saving, “I’m home.”

Turns out their last time together
before wasn’t their last time together after all.

She began to release all that she had
been saving as well, contracting and focusing on nothing but him.

Mercedes moaned a loud moan, and
cried.

This time, nothing popped into her
head, but real, unadulterated love.

33

The Wilsons

“The volume of the music ceased . . .”

May 20
^th
of 2011, a Friday,
was a long-awaited, very special date at Wilson’s, Torino’s nightclub in El
Segundo.

It was early evening. Still happy
hour.

It was the night of Mason’s
second-ever book launch party. His book,
Grip It and Rip It
, hit the
shelves that day.

Rashaad was there with his girl,
Sasha, who Mercedes and Mason got to meet for the first time just before the
evening started.

Star was there, but not with Terrence,
who it turns out told his best friend that he was only with Star because he
idolized Mason Wilson. So, she dumped him, having vowed when she was young to
never put up with any man who was not into her only, knowing some would come
around for the fame of the family name. Tonight, she was with her friend,
Trinity Todd Germany, Ryan Germany’s daughter.

Lucinda, Mattie’s former nurse, was at
Mason and Mercedes’s house babysitting Kyle Jr., TJ, and Skyy. Their dog Nadia
now had a new companion, an all-white German shepherd named Sugar. Nadia seemed
happier, no longer sleeping in Mattie’s room.

Venus was out of town at a conference
for Make-A-Wish. The foundation rehired her as a virtual marketing director.
She mainly worked from home but traveled often.

Sitting upstairs at a large, private
V.I.P. table was Mercedes, Sequoia, Kyle, and yes, Colette Berry.

Colette, wearing all white, sat next
to Mercedes, who wore all red. Colette spoke loudly over the soulful sounds of
the R&B music. “I wanted to tell you, I’m really going to try to get back
in shape so I can return to the runway. I’m on the right track, I think. I hope
you’d consider assigning me some gigs. If so, I’d really appreciate it.” Her
voice was now back to high-pitched.

“I’ll do that. It’s good to see you’re
well.”

Colette put her hand on Mercedes’s.
“We were so cool. We had good times, you and me.”

“Yes. Yes, we did.” Mercedes noticed a
large black and blue bruise on the back of Colette’s hand.

“I’m working on me. I’ll be back.”

And Colette’s eye looked inflamed.
Mercedes coyly pulled her hand away and took hold of her glass of champagne,
wondering. She said, “I’m sure you will.”

 Sequoia watched Colette out of
the corner of her eye, particularly each time Colette looked over at Torino,
who was running around, making sure everything ran smoothly.

Colette’s son, Kyle Jr., was formally
still a Wilson, even though Torino took a legal paternity test and the support
order was canceled. Kyle voluntarily signed an affidavit of parentage but never
took a test. He was awarded full custody and claimed he didn’t need to know who
the real father was. Colette still claimed it was Torino.