Let's Get It On (14 page)

I'm sick of lying women. First Lauryn, and now I find out that Kenya has been lying to me for years,
he thought as he sat in his holding cell. He couldn't help but wonder what he'd done to deserve this fate. Now he had to worry about the team and the league punishing him for these trumped-up charges, and then there was the possibility of a civil suit.
Second-degree assault,
he thought.
That old hag should be charged with assaulting the concrete with her big butt. The last thing that I need is a reason for the media to bring up my past again.

“
Mr. Goings,” a jailer said as he opened the cell door, “you're free to go.”

He didn't need to be told twice. Maurice leapt to his feet and headed toward the jailer. “Charges dropped?”

The man nodded. “It seems that you guys were underneath one of the uptown cameras, and the incident was caught on tape. It was clearly an accident, and just between me and you, Meg is an evil witch who needs to get laid.”

Maurice nodded and laughed. “I thought it was just me,” he said. “Anyone out there?”

“If by
anyone
you mean the media, yeah. But I can show you another way out, if you want me to.”

Maurice shook his head. “I'd better deal with it now,” he said as the jailer led him downstairs to pick up his personal belongings.

On the front steps of the jail, every media outlet in Charlotte seemed to be waiting for him. “Mr. Goings, Mr. Goings,” the reporters called out.

“Have you been charged with a crime?” one reporter called out.

“No. This was all a misunderstanding and has been cleared up, so there is no story here,” said Maurice.

“One of the uptown parking enforcement officers said that you assaulted her. Is that true?” another reporter asked.

“Unfortunately, that meter maid and I got tangled up, and she fell. I tried to help her up, but she didn't want my help. That's what happens in a crowded city,” replied Maurice.

“So, what was going on? She said that you were going to assault someone. Was that you ex-fiancée?” asked another reporter.

“I have no comment about anything other than the fact that I wasn't charged with a crime, and I'm sorry that this all happened,” Maurice said, then walked down the stairs, refusing to answer another question. He wanted to go home and close himself off from the world, at least for a day. He had to figure out how to deal with Kenya and her revelation. What if she was telling the truth? Her mother would have been very disappointed if she had gotten pregnant. And he wasn't ready for fatherhood back then.
Still, she could have given me a choice,
he thought.
She could have told me. And I guess I could have told her about Lauryn after that first night. We've made so many mistakes. Should we even be trying to do this again?

“Mo,” James called out. “Trying to be the Randy Moss of Carolina?”

“Man.” Maurice waved his brother off.

“Kenya told me what happened.”

“Oh, did she? Told you everything or just her version of the truth?” His voice was filled with venom. “I'm sick and tired of these women who think they can lie to me over and over again and I'm supposed to take it. Whatever. Kenya wants to throw Lauryn in my face every five minutes, and she's been lying and keeping secrets for years. I'm not going through this again.”

“So, you took it out on the meter maid? What kind of secret was Kenya keeping? I mean, she's the most straightforward woman that I know, and I can't imagine that she'd be lying to you about anything,” James said.

Maurice narrowed his eyes. “You don't know everything. Again, why do you think Kenya is this paragon of virtue? She's a woman, and by nature, women are evil.”

James eyed his brother as if he had sprouted devil's horns and a forked tongue. “What?”

“Even in the Bible, a woman always brings down a man,” Maurice said. “Look at what Jezebel did to Samson.”

James shook his head. “That was Delilah, and you need to go to church and find out what's wrong with you. What did Kenya lie about? And why do you think you have a right to be so angry? A few months ago you were about to marry another woman. Everyone has a past, and Kenya is . . .”

“Kenya is what? You act as if you want to be with her. If that's the case, then go get her! Maybe she'll keep your child.”

“Your child?” James's face wrinkled in confusion. “You got her pregnant already?”

“No,” Maurice said. “Before she left school, Kenya was pregnant, and she didn't say a word to me about it.”

“How could she? From what I understand—”

“Understand this. I don't buy her brand of bullshit. How could she not know that she was pregnant? I thought a missed period is the first clue. Then she claims that she had a miscarriage. I think she had an abortion.”

James didn't believe Kenya had aborted Maurice's child. He understood his brother's attitude, though. Maurice had hated the way their father had treated them as children, and he had vowed to do a better job when he had children of his own. “What if she's telling you the truth?”

“What if she isn't?”

“Mo, you weren't ready for fatherhood back then. Both of you were young, and you'd have just dumped her. Even if she had an abortion . . .”

“Wasn't her decision to make alone. She's being a hypocrite.”

“What?”

“I messed up and I hurt her. I can admit that. But she hid this pregnancy from me for all of these years. She keeps throwing Lauryn in my face, but I'm supposed to forgive and forget?” Maurice shook his head. “So, you think she's pure and pious?”

James shrugged his shoulders. “There's always two sides to a story, Mo.”

Maurice waved his brother off and started for his car. Then he remembered it had been impounded. Turning around, he looked at James, who had fallen in behind him. “You think I can get a ride?”

“I was wondering when you were going to get around to that,” James said, with a laugh. He walked up to his brother and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “Ever think that maybe you and Kenya aren't meant to be?”

“All I want to think about right now is getting my car, heading to a bar, and getting a drink.” Maurice had spent more time in jail than he'd ever wanted to. He deserved a drink and a lot more.

Kenya sat on the sofa in her apartment, home by seven for the first time in a long while. Part of her wanted to call Maurice and explain everything to him about the baby and her miscarriage. But she was angry. How in the world did he expect her to feel sorry for him? She went through losing the baby alone, she never told her mother, and a year passed before she even shared her loss with Imani.

One evening, Imani and Kenya had been hanging out in her dorm room. Johnson C. Smith's spring break was a few days before Clark Atlanta's, and Imani had come to Atlanta to hang out with her best friend. As they'd sat on Kenya's bed, Imani had commented on her friend's new look.

“I can't believe you cut your hair,” she'd said.

“I needed a change,” Kenya had replied as she ran her fingers through her Halle Berry type of cut.

“What's wrong, Kenya? And please tell me that you've gotten over Maurice. With all the fine brothers that I've seen around here, I know you can replace his rusty behind.”

Closing her eyes to hold back the tears, Kenya had said, “I wish it were that simple. Imani, something happened when I got here.”

Imani had reached out and clasped Kenya's hand. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Kenya had begun to sob, her shoulders shaking with each tear that fell. “I was pregnant. I had my suspicions, but I didn't want to know for sure, especially after I found them together.”

“You had an abortion?”

Kenya had shaken her head furiously. “No, the decision was made for me. I got sick, and when I woke up, I was in the hospital, and the doctor was telling me that I'd had a miscarriage.”

“Does Maurice know?”

“No, and he's not going to. I'm not telling him, and you better not, either. Maurice has made his choice, and he can have that skank,” Kenya had replied angrily. “If he had known that I was pregnant, nothing would've changed. He probably would've accused me of trying to trap him. I'm glad he didn't know.”

“But you're suffering alone. Did you tell your mother?”

Kenya had laughed through her tears. “No way. Angela would have had a coronary had she known that I did exactly what she said I'd do.” She'd wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I've decided that I'm never going to find myself in this situation again. I'm going to work on graduating, and I'm not going to let Maurice or any other man get in my way.”

“So, you're just going to shut yourself off from the rest of the world?” Imani had asked.

“Yes.”

Kenya had done a good job of shutting her heart to love and would've kept it closed if it hadn't been the fact that she'd seen Maurice again. She was weak for him; he was her addiction. This time, though, she was going to go to Mo detox and get over this man once and for all.

“I can do better,” she said aloud. She stood and headed to bed, despite the fact that it was only a little after nine. When she got into bed, Kenya tossed and turned, thinking of Maurice and his situation at the jail and memories of the past. Maybe she should've told him sooner about the miscarriage. Maybe she should've told him the first month that she missed her period that she thought she was pregnant. But what would that have changed? And why couldn't she get past it? Maurice said things were over with Lauryn, but Kenya couldn't help but wonder if he was lying and still harboring feelings for her, despite what had happened on his wedding day.

Sitting up in bed, Kenya decided to call him just to see if he was all right. As she dialed his number, she thought about what she'd say to him if he answered. Should she offer him an explanation about the past, or should she just ask him if he was okay?

“Yeah,” Maurice said when he picked up.

“Hi. I was just calling to make sure you were all right,” she found the voice to say.

“I'm fine,” he said coolly.

“I'm sorry about what happened.”

Maurice sighed audibly. “Sorry for what? Me finding out your little secret or me getting arrested? I want to be sure that you're apologizing for something I'd be willing to forgive.”

“Go to hell, Maurice. I'm not going to bend over backwards and kiss your ass,” Kenya snapped. “You want to act like a child, then fine. But think about this. Had I known that I was pregnant, do you really think I would've had the inclination to tell you after I walked in on you sexing Lauryn? Would you have pulled yourself out of her to play house with me and our child?”

“You know how I feel about children. I've always wanted a child of my own, and you robbed me of that chance.”

“I didn't rob you of anything, because I didn't have an abortion! Do you want to see my medical records?” she snapped.

“Swear to me that you didn't abort my child,” Maurice slurred.

“Are you drunk?” She'd known that having a child was important to him, but back then there was no way either of them was ready to be a parent.

“I've been drinking,” he said. “But you didn't answer me. Swear that you didn't kill my seed.”

“Where are you?”

“Swear it.”

“Maurice, I swear I didn't have an abortion. I would've never killed my child, no matter what I thought of you. I went through hell for years after the miscarriage, and I had to go through it alone.”

“No,” he snapped. “No, you didn't. You could've called me and talked to me.”

Sighing, she wanted to tell him that she'd called him several times but hung up every time he'd said hello. “Where are you?” she asked.

“At the Blake Hotel's bar.”

“You're not driving, are you?”

Maurice laughed. “My car was impounded. Can't go anywhere, and I don't want to.”

“Well, I just wanted to check on you,” she said, masking her disappointment.

“Are we making a mistake?” he asked. “Can we go back and start over, or should we just scrap it?”

“I don't know,” she said. “You tell me.”

“I love you, Kenya. I love you with everything in me, but I don't know if I can keep apologizing for what I did. I can't say I'm sorry anymore, and I don't want to have to answer questions about Lauryn every five minutes. Can you truly forgive me and give us another chance?”

Her lip trembled as she pondered her answer. “I can't just forget what happened, Maurice. Do you realize that you're the only man I've ever loved? The only man I've ever made love to?”

“You're kidding!” He'd been sure that when she'd returned to Atlanta, she'd gotten over him by finding a new man. That thought had fueled his jealousy when he first saw her in the Bahamas. Now, knowing that she had truly been branded his, he felt proud. Drunk and aroused, Maurice invited Kenya to the hotel, claiming that he wanted to talk to her.

“You know that ‘we're just going to talk' line is about as old as dirt,” she said, seeing through his request.

“All right. Then come over in your black lace, and show me that we're all right,” he said seductively.

“Oh, we're going to finish talking,” she said. “Then we can get to making up.”

 

 

Maurice realized after hanging up the phone that he hadn't even rented a suite yet. Slowly, so as not to lose his balance, he rose from the bar stool, then headed to the lobby to secure a room.

As soon as he stepped into the hallway, he ran into a woman he never wanted to see again.

Lauryn.

“Hello, Mo,” she said.

Rolling his eyes, he sidestepped her. Despite himself, he turned around and looked at her. She was still sexy and still wore clothes that were short and tight enough to show off her lithe body. She watched him as he gave her the once over and mistook his stare for a come-on. Walking over to him, she twisted her hips a little more than she had to.

“You can't speak, but you're going to stand there and stare at me?” she said, with a smile on her plum-tinted lips.

“Where's your woman?” he asked bitterly.

“We're not joined at the hip. Seriously, though, how have you been?”

Maurice shook his head. “Do you really think I'm going to have a conversation with you? You can go to hell.”

“Would you like to join us one night and see how much fun we can have together?” she asked, biting her lip and raising an eyebrow seductively.

Most men would have loved the chance to be with two sexy women at one time, but Maurice would never succumb to what Lauryn was proposing. It would be like saying that what she had done was all right and he approved of it. Besides, seeing her now and watching her pimp her girlfriend turned his stomach. “I wouldn't touch you or Mya with a dildo,” Maurice snapped. “Excuse me.”

She looked at him longingly as he walked into the bar. Lauryn had to admit that she missed Maurice, or at least his money. She'd hoped that he wasn't still in a funk about their wedding and that he would beg her to come back. She loved Mya, but love couldn't buy Prada. And Mya had changed. She wanted the two of them to be the poster children for gay rights, and Lauryn still wasn't sure she was gay. Men still turned her on, especially if they had money. She definitely didn't want to be known as “that lesbian Lauryn.”

Mya, on the other hand, had joined the gay and lesbian community center's board of directors, and she was working on the black gay pride event that was coming to Charlotte in the summer. Lauryn had had to get away from her activist girlfriend for at least a night, and that was why she'd checked into the Blake Hotel. Seeing Maurice was an added bonus that she hadn't expected. Maybe if she could remind him of the good time they'd had she could work her way into his bed. It was obvious that he was alone here tonight, and after what she'd seen on the news, she imagined that he needed to release some tension, and she had the remedy for him.

Just as she started for the bar, she looked up and saw Kenya walking through the front door.
No, he didn't dig her up to heal his heart,
she thought as she stood in the shadows and watched Kenya walk into the bar where Maurice was.

She grudgingly admitted to herself that Kenya looked a lot better now than she had when they were in college. She was slimmer, more stylish, and more confident. But she was still Kenya, and Lauryn wasn't going to lose to her. She fumed as she watched Maurice kiss her and hold her tightly.
I worked way too hard to let her come back and get all the money,
she thought.
If he doesn't want me, fine, but she's not going to get him.

Kenya sat close to Maurice, smiling at him as he ordered himself a cup of coffee. “I was really surprised to find you in the bar,” she said. “I figured you'd had enough.”

“Just came for the coffee,” he replied, then slipped his hand between her thighs. “I want to be alert and attentive when we get up to my suite.”

Leaning in, she kissed his lips gently. “Maurice, should we really be doing this?”

“I don't see why not. Listen, I know that I was harsh earlier, but I thought that you had aborted my child, and you know how I feel about being a father. As I thought about it, I figured that you were young and in denial. Remember when we got to college and your mother sat us down and said she wasn't ready to be a grandmother?”

Kenya nodded. “She told me not to run from you and Lauryn. But when I told her that I wasn't leaving because of that, she was happy to get me into Clark.”

“What happened to you wanting to go into PR? Not that you're not a great lawyer, but you said you wanted to own your own business and . . .” He stopped talking, remembering that the public-relations firm Kenya had planned to start was going to be half his as well.

“Well,” she said, as if she was reading his mind, “my partner was otherwise occupied.”

“Do you love what you do now?”

Shrugging her shoulders, she replied, “It's a living. I can't complain, because I'm very successful at what I do.”

“Doesn't mean you're happy.”

She looked deeply into his eyes and smiled, but her smile didn't conceal the wave of sadness that had washed over her. “What's more important? I know plenty of people who are happy and struggling. Really, I'm fine. But who can be happy working nearly ninety hours a week?”

“Slight workaholic?” he teased.

Kenya wanted to tell him why she worked all the time. It was to keep her mind off him and what could've been. What if she had paid more attention to her body? Would she be a mother now, with a little girl or boy that had his eyes? Would she have fought harder for their relationship, or would she be bitter and hating him? Maybe she didn't need the answers to those questions, because they were poised to write new chapters in the book of their lives.

“You want to get out of here and take my clothes off?” she asked boldly.

Maurice smiled devilishly because he had been ready to make the same suggestion.

“You don't have to ask me twice.” He waved for the bartender so that he could pay for his coffee.

Like two teenagers sneaking to a motel, they laughed and giggled as they headed for the front desk to rent a room, but the laughter died on Kenya's lips when she saw Lauryn heading in their direction.
What's she doing here?
Kenya thought. Her mind immediately flashed back nine years.
It could just be a coincidence. Just because she's here doesn't mean she's here to be with Maurice. Maybe there's a gay convention being held here.

Looking at Lauryn, Kenya wondered why Maurice had ever wanted her in the first place. Lust could only take you so far, and Lauryn didn't have a soul. She could tell by looking into Lauryn's cold eyes.