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Authors: Earl Sewell

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BOOK: Love, Lies and Scandal
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CHAPTER 8

JESSE

J
esse rushed out of the hotel room to calm himself down. He needed to get away from JoAnn because his mind was telling him to strangle her to death and then drive out into the desert to dig a hole for her corpse. He'd been with JoAnn for well over a decade and she'd done a lot of ignorant and stupid things during the course of their relationship, but this latest idiotic act of hers outdid them all. He'd never put his hands on her before. He didn't understand how JoAnn could be so reckless and then want him to easily forgive her.

"She must be out of her damn mind," Jesse said out loud as he walked down the Leg Vegas strip. "How in the fuck did she blow all of the damn money and think that I was going to be okay with that shit!" He continued to rant loudly as he wandered the streets. He caught the curious glances of a few people who moved out of his way when they realized that he was on edge.

"I should've never hooked up with her ghetto ass. Everyone in her damn family is ignorant. None of them amounted to anything. They're all just a bunch of alcoholics, leeches, welfare queens, wannabe pimps and idiots." Jesse began walking away from the strip and toward the University of Las Vegas. Once he made it to the campus, he wandered over to the football field and took a seat on the bleachers.

He exhaled a few times and began to think about happier times with JoAnn. He thought about how they'd met at the Essence Music Festival. She'd accidentally bumped into him with her tray of food and spilled it all over him. She was so apologetic about ruining his clothes but he didn't care. He continually told her that it was okay but she wouldn't stop apologizing. Once she stopped brushing food off his clothes, he met her gaze and saw a kind and generous woman he wanted to get to know. Without thinking twice, he asked her name, where she was from and if she'd like to attend the Frankie Beverly concert with him later that evening. She said no at first, but then quickly changed her mind and told him she'd go with him if her sister came with them. After the concert, Jesse took her out for a late dinner. His attraction to her was strong, and as they got to know each other, a level of comfort developed that made him feel as if he'd known her for years.

After the music festival, they exchanged phone numbers and promised to keep in touch. Jesse didn't think he'd see JoAnn for at least a few weeks, but it turned out they were both on the same flight from New Orleans to Chicago. They rearranged their seats so they could sit next to each other and talk more during the flight home.

During the course of their courtship, Jesse and JoAnn enjoyed attending celebrations and enjoying nightlife with friends. For Jesse, it was a nice diversion from the chaotic and stressful world he lived in. JoAnn had the ability to make him laugh and feel as if he could accomplish anything with a woman like her at his side. After a year of dating, he asked JoAnn to marry him.

"I'm going to have to end my marriage. I can't go on like this. I can't continue to live in the house with a woman who insists on drinking and gambling. We are two completely different people. I knew it when I married her. Marrying her was a stupid move on my part." Jesse exhaled in an effort to release some of his frustration. He couldn't come up with a clear and decisive answer as to what he should do about his strained relationship with JoAnn. There were a multitude of things he needed to consider before going down the road of divorce. He would have to contend with the emotional trauma for their daughter, Trina. JoAnn would also have the right to ask for her fair share of his business profits and the value of their home.

"Damn, damn, damn!" Jesse shouted as he weighed all the facts. He no longer liked JoAnn, and he damn sure didn't trust her anymore.

"A marriage without trust is going to fail," he said aloud. "Our marriage is a relationship that should have been buried a long time ago," he murmured to himself. "I can't believe that I wanted to kill her. It's not cool that I lost it like that," Jesse said as he ran his fingers over his hair. He sat on a bench until sunset, mulling over his thoughts and the pros and cons of different scenarios centered around ending his relationship. He finally grew tired of placing so much mental energy into his problematic marriage. He decided that he'd walk back up to the strip and treat himself to a nice dinner and show to take his mind off JoAnn.

The following morning, Jesse went to the convention center and packed up all his remaining merchandise so that it could be shipped back to his store. When he was done late in the afternoon, he returned to the hotel room. JoAnn was sitting on a chair having a phone conversation. When she saw him, she ended her phone call and remained silent. Jesse could tell that she'd been crying because the whites of her eyes were still red. He didn't say anything to her because his heart didn't have any sympathy whatsoever. He opened the closet door and pulled out his suitcase and began packing. He was ending their stay early.

"Are we leaving early?" She broke the silence between them.

"I don't care what you do," Jesse answered bitterly. "I'm taking a five o'clock flight home."

"I don't blame you for the way you reacted," JoAnn said. "It's understandable, but I don't want you ever to do that to me again."

Jesse still refused to acknowledge her.

"You're not going to talk to me at all?" JoAnn asked. "We can work this out, you know. It's not as bad as it seems." She smeared away more of her tears. "Do you still love me?" JoAnn stood up and approached him. "Will you ever forgive me? I've forgiven you for choking me." Jesse's heart and feelings for her were completely iced over.

"Do yourself a favor--don't say a fucking word to me," he said as he moved toward the bathroom. Once inside, he shut the door, locked it and turned on the shower so that he could freshen up before heading to the airport.

When they arrived at the airport, Jesse paid the cabdriver, grabbed his luggage and immediately went to the ticket agent to change his seat assignment. He ended up with a seat at the rear of the aircraft near the toilet, but he didn't care. He didn't want to sit next to JoAnn during their flight home. Once he got his boarding pass, he didn't bother to wait for JoAnn to receive hers. He continued on his way as if she were a complete stranger to him. He took a seat at the gate area and glared out the window at planes arriving and departing.

"Do you want something to eat or drink?" JoAnn arrived and sat next to him.

Jesse couldn't believe that after all that had gone down, she still had the nerve to be in his face like a fly buzzing around a picnic table. He caught her gaze and showed her that his contempt for her was still very much alive.

"Don't look at me like that, please," JoAnn begged.

"Leave me alone, JoAnn. What part of that don't you understand?"

"We have to talk about this, Jesse. I'm so sorry for what I did. I got caught up. I wasn't myself, okay? I don't know what to say. I don't know why I--"

"Shut up, JoAnn." Jesse didn't want to hear another word fall from her mouth. She swallowed heavily and moved away from him. Jesse went back to the business of watching planes arrive and depart. After he got bored with that, he decided to walk over to a magazine stand and select something to read. As he did, he spotted JoAnn sitting at the penny slot machine searching her purse for any loose coins to gamble with. He shook his head disapprovingly. He picked up the latest issue of
Runners World
and went back to his seat.

"Here." JoAnn interrupted his reading. He glanced up at her from the page. "Your daughter wants to talk to you," she said as she tried to hand him her cell phone. He didn't take it. JoAnn pressed the mute button.

"You can be mad at me all you want for as long as you want. But don't take out your anger on Trina." She attempted to hand over the phone once again. Jesse took the phone, released the mute button and spoke.

"Hey, butter cookie," he said to his preteen daughter, Trina.

"Hey, Daddy. I can't wait for you to get home. I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too, honey," Jesse answered.

"Daddy, guess what?" Trina asked.

"I don't know, what am I guessing about?"

"I'm on the volleyball team at school."

"You made it. Well, congratulations. We'll have to celebrate when I get home."

"Thank you. I didn't think I was going to make it at first, but they posted the results of the tryouts today after school and I saw that I'd made it. I'm so excited."

"When is your first game?" Jesse asked.

"In a few weeks."

"That's wonderful. I can't wait to come watch you play." Talking to Trina made Jesse feel a little better. Before he realized it, JoAnn had sat in the empty seat next to him and removed his magazine from his lap to thumb through while he spoke with Trina. He stayed on the phone with his daughter until it was time to board the plane. Once he ended the phone conversation, he gave JoAnn back her cell phone, took his magazine back and walked onto the plane without saying a word to her.

CHAPTER 9

WILL

A
fter Angela dropped Will off at home from his trip to Philadelphia, he began unpacking his luggage. He checked all of the pouches in the suitcase to be sure that no evidence that would expose his affair with DaNikka was inadvertently overlooked. Afterward, he made his way to his office and began working on a draft of his speech regarding an amendment to a resolution on public housing. As he was proofreading his work, his cell phone vibrated on his hip. He ignored it; he'd check it after he finished. A few moments later, his house phone rang and Will once again ignored it. He made some revisions to his speech, printed it out and read over it once again. No sooner had he finished reviewing that his cell phone rang again.

"Who in the world is calling me like this?" Will unholstered his phone, glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Smoky, his brother.

"Where in the hell are you at, man?" Smoky growled.

"I'm at home," Will snarled back. He wasn't in the mood for Smoky or his attitude. At times Smoky was both offensive and abrasive.

"I need your help, Will. I'm in a bad way," Smoky explained.

"Smoky, I'm not about give you any money and you know that," Will said as he sat the phone on his desk and pressed the speaker button.

"You don't have to give it to me. Just give it to the city so I can get the hell out of jail."

"Jail! Smoky, what the hell are you doing in jail?"

"I need you to come bail me out."

"What did you get arrested for?" Will asked, irritated that his plans were about to be interrupted.

"They're trying to jam me up on some bullshit-ass charges. I told them that they didn't know who the fuck I was. But they brought me in anyway."

"On what charges, Smoky?" Will asked once again.

"What the fuck does it matter, man? Just come get my ass out of here before I hurt somebody. You know that this place is not equipped to handle me."

Will sighed. "Smoky, you are far too old to be getting arrested. What station do they have you at?" Will opened his desk drawer and pulled out a pen and a notepad and wrote down the information. "I'll be there within the hour," he said and hung up the phone.

When Will arrived at the station in Martinez, California, he learned that Smoky had been arrested for buying marijuana from an undercover narcotics agent. Will posted the one-thousand-dollar bond and waited for an officer to escort Smoky from his jail cell.

Forty minutes later, Smoky was rolling himself toward Will in his wheelchair. Will stood up as his brother approached. Before Will could react, Smoky had curled his fingers into a fist and punched Will in the gut.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Will coughed and was about to strike back.

"It's unlawful to hit a man in a wheelchair," Smoky said quickly.

"What the hell did you hit me for?" Will asked.

"For not answering your damn phone," Smoky said as he rolled away.

"Smoky, I swear, if you weren't my brother I'd beat your ass and I wouldn't feel guilty about you being in a wheelchair," Will said as he trailed behind him.

"Yeah, whatever. Suck it up, congressman, and come on before someone recognizes you and starts asking too many damn questions," Smoky said as a woman held the door open so he could wheel himself out. "You know there's nothing like being with a handicapped man, baby," he said to the woman. She didn't respond, only smiled as Smoky continued on his way.

"Why were you messing with that woman?" Will asked.

"Because she was hot," Smoky answered. "Oh, by the way, I need you to run me by the barbershop so that I can get a haircut."

"Who said that I wanted to drive you around all day? Maybe I've got other things to do," Will argued.

"Your plans changed once you came and got me, so stop your bellyaching and take me to where I need to go." Smoky wheeled himself next to Will's passenger door. "You know that ever since I had my accident I've depended on you. Why do I have to continually go through this shit with you, man?"

"Because you keep messing up the schedule I set up. I have everything scheduled for you. Your trips to the grocery store, visits to the doctor, all of that stuff."

"You know that I don't like schedules."

Will and Smoky were as different as night and day, but they hadn't always been so dissimilar. They were raised in a middleclass suburban home with both of their parents. Their father was an electrician and their mother was a top-selling real estate agent for a local agency. Their parents had them late in life; Smoky had come along when their mother, Vera, was thirty-seven years old and their father, Joe, was forty-four. Four years later, to their parents' surprise, Will was conceived.

Both Will and Smoky were very smart, did well in school and were always very competitive with each other. After high school, Smoky went on to graduate from the University of California at Berkley with a degree in business. Will graduated from Morehouse College with a degree in political science.

After losing both of their parents within two years, Will and Smoky became very close because they only had each other. Smoky worked as a real estate agent for the same company that his mother had worked for and eventually purchased the company. After college, Will landed a job working for his local congressmen.

While vacationing in Lake Tahoe, California, six years ago, Smoky and a few of his friends got intoxicated and decided to go racing through the wilderness on their rented snowmobiles. Smoky lost control of his snow craft and had a horrible accident which left him without the use of his legs. After the accident, Smoky became deeply depressed. He began drinking heavily and experimenting with drugs. Eventually he lost his business, his home and his nest egg. Will stepped in and made sure that Smoky saw a therapist and signed him up for rehab, but none of his efforts helped. Smoky had decided that his lifeless legs gave him the right to abuse himself until he got too tired to continue.

"How is that little girl that you have on the side treating you?" Smoky asked as Will lifted him out of his wheelchair and sat him inside the car.

"She's doing fine."

"Boy, that's a nice piece of ass you have there. Does she still do whatever you tell her to do?"

"She doesn't give me any grief, if that's what you mean," Will said. He got in the car and began their journey back toward the barbershop.

"See, that's the kind of woman I need. One who knows how to obey." Smoky laughed at his comment. "You'd better be careful though. Those young girls are kind of crazy. They'll turn on you in a New York minute."

"I'm not worried about DaNikka doing anything. I have her exactly where I want her. She lives in public housing and I'm her last hope."

"And what about Angela? You got her where you want her?" Smoky asked.

"I know how to manage my women, Smoky. Angela knows that we're perfect for each other. She isn't going anywhere."

"I taught you well." Smoky held his hand out so that Will could slap him five.

"Yeah, right." Will chuckled.

"What? Do I need to remind you that at one point I was holding down four women at the same time? Do I need to remind you that I had all four of them together in the room and kept all of them in check?"

"No, you don't need to remind me, Smoky." Will smiled. He wanted to remind Smoky that all four of the women eventually left him but he didn't feel like bruising his brother's ego. At this point, those memories were pretty much the only thing Smoky had left.

"Man, I need a hundred dollars from you," Smoky said.

"For what?" Will asked.

"I need to pay for some pussy. It's been a minute." Will was about to argue, but he didn't know how to respond to his brother's comment.

"Smoky, you really shouldn't be messing with streetwalkers, man. You could get sick."

"I'm already sick." Smoky didn't like Will's judgmental tone.

"Yeah, but--"

"But what? I'm still a man! I still have needs. My shit still gets hard. Now I'm asking you for a favor. I want to get me a haircut, an order of chicken wings, smoke some good weed and have sex with a prostitute. Is that too much to ask for?"

Will shook his head. "It's your life, man. I can't stop you from doing what you want to do."

"That's right. Because I'm going to do whatever I want whether you like it or not," Smoky said just as Will pulled up in front of the barbershop.

Inside a Lincoln Town Car, Will was being driven to the airport. He was headed to D.C. for the next congressional session. The driver stopped at a corner and Will noticed a man with one leg swinging himself across the street on crutches. The man had a sign taped to his back that read, End the War in Iraq. The sight of the disabled man made Will think not only about the war but about his brother, Smokey, as well. He wanted so much more for his brother. He wanted his brother to move out of their parents' old house. The neighborhood had changed and now it was infested with drugs. He wanted his brother to get on the right track, but Will could want for eternity. Smoky had lost the will to do better and that pained Will's heart.

In Washington, Will spoke before the House of Representatives regarding Resolution H.R. 3940. He'd been appointed to a congressional subcommittee to deal with the demolition and rebuilding of public housing.

After Will's impassioned speech, there was a loud chorus of supporters for his amendment when the chairman intoned, "All of those opposed to the amendment please signify by saying nay." Only one voice was heard. "The amendment passes," said the chairman.

Will exhaled as he sat back down in his seat, pleased with the victory.

Will finally returned to his hotel room just before midnight. He sat on the edge of the bed, removed his shoes and loosened his necktie.

"Damn, I'm tired," he muttered to himself as he stood up and made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. Once he was done, he put on his pajamas and rested comfortably on his bed. He picked up the television remote and clicked the power button. He surfed through the channels in search of a program that was entertaining, but he wasn't able to find anything, so he settled on a twenty-four-hour news channel. There was a special report on about professors dating their students and how university officials across the country were trying to create policies that would ban such behavior.

"What the hell," Will said to the television. "If the two people agree to get involved with each other, the university has nothing to do with that. People are going too far with this. I'd be mad as hell if my employer dictated to me who I could and couldn't sleep with." Will became so disgusted that he turned off the television.

He positioned himself comfortably on the bed and closed his eyes for a moment. He saw images of his beloved wife submerging her naked body in their swimming pool. His body began to yearn for her as he allowed himself to fully recall an erotic encounter he and Angela had a few months ago. He remembered that it was one of the most explosive sexual episodes they'd ever shared. When he saw her naked form enter the water, he didn't hesitate for a second before removing his clothes and joining her. He plunged beneath the water and swam to her. When he resurfaced, he was standing directly in front of her, looking at the flames of desire burning in her eyes. She didn't say a word to him. There was no need to. She crushed her lips against his and slipped her tongue past his wet lips. Their kiss was passionate and spirited. Her tongue danced inside his mouth as he lifted her up so she could lock her legs around his waist.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked as his hands traced the fullness of her ass.

"In a minute, you'll have gotten into me," Angela said as she nibbled on his bottom lip. Her words sparked his passion. His manhood pulsed with anticipation, and he was filled with a hunger that demanded to be satisfied.

"Oh, so you're a bad girl tonight. You want it rough?" Will said, ready to feel her warm folds.

"On the steps of the pool. That's where I want you to fuck me," Angela said. They maneuvered over to the steps. Angela spread her legs and leaned forward to rest her hands on one of the higher steps, placing her ass and the entrance to her paradise just above the surface of the water. Will entered her and began thrusting deep inside her. Angela released sensual moans that encouraged him.

"Yes!" she cried out as he spanked her caramel ass.

"Come on. Give it to me," Will demanded and Angela complied. She spread her legs a little wider so that Will could push harder.

"Oh, baby," Angela cried out as her orgasm made her body quiver. That was the reward Will was searching for--the moment he got it, he exploded inside her.

Will felt a sudden burst of energy and needed the comfort of a woman. His nature was demanding and at times, untamable. He thought about booting up his laptop computer and watching some adult videos, but he didn't. He didn't want to talk to Angela because she'd become way too focused on her career lately and had been ignoring his needs for intimacy. He needed someone who could satisfy his obsession with sex as well as his constant cravings. He couldn't look at a woman and not wonder what she was like in bed. Unbidden DaNikka ran across his mind.

"Damn it, Will. Get it together, man. You can't let thoughts of DaNikka consume you like this." Will shut his eyes tight, but his mind only flashed images of his young temptress dancing seductively for him and nibbling on his neck.

"Fuck it," Will said aloud and picked up his cell phone from the nightstand.

"Hello?" DaNikka answered the phone.

"Hey. Where are you at?" Will asked because he heard a lot of noise in the background.

"Hanging out with a friend. Are you back home yet?" she asked.

"No, I'm still in D.C. I'll be back soon though." Will paused. "Hanging out with a friend where?" Will became insecure. He didn't want DaNikka going anywhere without him knowing about it. She was his private delight and he didn't want to share her at all.

"I'm at home with my girlfriend Shantel. You remember my girlfriend Shantel, don't you?"

BOOK: Love, Lies and Scandal
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