Sexaholics (26 page)

“Amen,” the churchgoers replied, most looking around at one
another. Teela nodded to herself and said it twice.

The service drew to a close after the final song and prayer. The ladies
exited the sanctuary and walked into the lobby, standing near the front
door.

Rachel Cummings was dressed in khaki pants and a loose blazer. She said,
“Thank you all for coming. I hope you got something out of it. I
don’t like to preach at our bi-weekly meetings, though I do think our
faith is what’s most important. Like I said, we can’t do it
alone.”

“I agree. I appreciate the invite. He is good. Very inspiring,”
said Teela.

“And by the way, this is my wife, Trish. Trish, this is Miki, Teela,
Valencia, and Brandi.”

“Hello. It’s very nice to meet you all,” Trish said.

Valencia said, “Nice to meet you, too. You’ve got quite a woman
here.”

“I know that. We’ve been together for a long time. She’s my
rock.”

“That’s a beautiful thing.” Teela gave them a look of
admiration.

“Yes. It is,” said Brandi.

Miki suggested, “How about if we all go and grab some breakfast?
There’s a great diner near here, and the food is pretty good.”

“I’m game,” said Valencia.

“Me, too.”

“Sounds good to me. What about you two?” Teela asked Rachel
Cummings and Trish.

Trish replied, holding on to her wife’s arm, “We’ve got a
meeting that we facilitate that starts in a few minutes and goes most of the
afternoon. But you ladies enjoy yourselves.”

“Oh, okay. Well, thanks for telling us about the church. I know
I’ll make a point to come back,” said Miki.

Rachel Cummings told them, “Good. See you all on Tuesday.”

“Have a good one. Adios,” said Valencia.

About thirty minutes later, all four ladies were seated at Dinah’s
restaurant near Fox Hills. The high-school-aged water girl served them coffee,
juice, and water. They placed their breakfast orders and reminisced about the
sermon.

Teela spoke calmly yet sounded moved. “That whole thing about going
through it again until you get it right brought me goose bumps. I mean,
I’ve thought that so many times. That every time I say I’m going to
do something differently, it gets the same results. And then it happens again.
It’s like, okay, God, enough.”

Valencia said, “I’m telling you, it’s been awhile since
I’ve been to church. Hearing what he had to say does get you to thinking.
It’s like a pattern we fall into that’s sometimes like a comfort
zone. Even when it’s a bad pattern, it ends up feeling comfortable because
we get so used to it. I don’t wanna stay in my comfort zone
anymore.”

Teela added, “Well, if it’s true that God hears tears, then he
should hear me loud and clear. Austin and I broke up. Austin’s my
boyfriend who lived with me, but I caught him with a girl we both got with who
lives in our complex.”

Brandi looked caught off guard. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said,
sitting next to Teela.

Teela shrugged her shoulder. “No, it’s cool. I spoiled him rotten
anyway, and with me trying to detox when he stayed so freaky, we just
didn’t work well together. I found myself always trying to find strange
women for him to get with. I mean, it fed my fetish, but it wasn’t gonna
help me get past it any sooner.”

Miki asked, holding on to her coffee mug with both hands, “So
he’s just as lustful as you are?”

“More so. He just doesn’t see a problem with it.” Teela
sipped her ice water.

“Well if he’s seeing someone who lives in the same place behind
your back, that sounds like he’s a little out of control to me,”
Valencia said, looking at Miki.

“Don’t look at me. I am no judge on control,” Miki said,
shaking her head.

“Me neither,” said Brandi. She glanced at the clock on the wall,
then tapped her fingers along the table.

Miki asked Teela, “You don’t think you two will get back
together? I mean, where’s he gonna live?”

“He lives with her. I kicked him out that night.”

Brandi looked sad for her. “Wow. Have you heard from him?”

“I have. He calls and I don’t pick up. He sent me a text,
apologizing, saying she can’t compare to me. And he said he’ll
always have love for me. Whatever the hell that means.”

Valencia explained, “That means let’s be friends for now while I
see what else is out there, since I’m free, but don’t move on with
anyone else until you take me back when I’m done. Funny how they never
learn until it’s too late.”

Miki shook her head. “See. That’s how men are. Valencia will tell
you, I’ve learned to dish it right back out. I mean, what’s good for
the goose is good for the gander. Girl, please. If you were busy doing your
thing on the side like he was, then he would’ve been hit right back with a
taste of his own medicine and you all would’ve been
even-steven.”

Teela replied, “Well even or not, I’m sorry, but I don’t
wanna share my man any longer unless I’m there.”

“What’s the difference? There or not, if you’re not the
only one he’s fucking, then you’re not the only one, period.”
Miki took a cautious sip of her brew.

Teela leaned forward with her elbows on the table. “True. But fucking
behind my back is cheating. Fucking with me is not.”

Miki placed her coffee mug down on the table. “I don’t get it. I
watch Tariq with someone else and I’m cool if I’m there. But I also
know if he was with someone and I didn’t know, as long as I’m doing
the same, no problem.”

Brandi asked, “So you’d have no problem with him if he had a life
aside from you where he did things you never knew about?”

“No. I really wouldn’t have a problem.”

Brandi looked at Teela, who gave her a
don’t tell
look, then
back at Miki. “Wow. See, that’s why I just don’t have anybody.
That keeps things a whole lot cleaner.”

Valencia took a small sip of juice and told the ladies, “Well, I wanna
get married. I want kids soon. That’s all I know. I want my fiancé
Greg to be my husband because I want the life, the dog, the picket fence, and
all that goes along with a good life. I want all of it.”

“And he wants you to stop fucking, right?” asked Teela.

“He does.”

Miki admitted, “See, I think I’m safe in telling you this.”
Miki looked at Valencia, who nodded. “I mean, it’s no big deal to
us. See, Val and I have been lovers for a while now. Her fiancé knew it
before and he was cool, but now he’s not. My man is very cool with it. I
mean very, very cool.”

Brandi asked, “Really? So you guys are gay?”

“We’re not gay,” said Miki quickly.

Valencia corrected her. “We are.”

Miki leaned back and crossed her legs under the table. “I’m not.
Speak for your damn self.”

Teela said, “Funny, if a man slept with a man we’d call him gay.
But when we do it, we just say we’re what, curious?”

Miki replied, “No. Not curious. I sure as hell know my way around a
pussy by now to be way past curious. Call it what you want. I just want a woman
every now and then. I know what I do and do it very well, thank you.”

“Oh yes, she surely does,” said Valencia, making a move like she
was squirming in her seat.

Brandi said, “Well, that’s not me. I mean, I just don’t
wanna work that hard. And that looks like a whole lotta work. Eating pussy.
I’ll stick to sucking the dick.”

“Like anything else, you’ve gotta like it. Put on your knee pads
and stay a while, hell.” Miki looked around for the waitress.

“You ever thought about trying it, Brandi?” asked Valencia.

She turned up her nose like she smelled sour cheeks and smooched her mouth to
the side. “Oh hell no. I just like the way a man reacts to me.
That’s it. I could care less about a woman.”

Teela exhaled loudly and readjusted her hips. “Well, I see we got all
that out on the table. How about we eat?” she asked, winking at Miki.

Miki winked back at her as the waitress approached with plates piled high.
“There she is,” she said smiling from ear to ear. She inhaled the
smell of the sweet pancakes and licked her lips. While the waitress stood there
passing out the orders, Miki asked, “Who out of all of us is the
freakiest?”

Teela pointed to Brandi. “She is.”

Valencia pointed to Miki. “She is.”

The waitress grinned and blushed and shook her head and walked away.

They all laughed while grabbing their forks to begin eating their meals. But
not before Miki and Teela and Valencia closed their eyes and looked down for a
silent prayer. Brandi watched them and then did the same.

The four ladies enjoyed their meals and shared stories of life, love, and
what it would be like to one day live normal sex lives.

After about an hour and a half, as they all pulled off in their rides, Miki
sent Valencia a text.

R u still comin by 2nite?

U know it. Can’t stay long. But hell yeah I’m there.

Good. We’ll c u then. U looked hot 2day.

Thanx. U 2.

Valencia

I
ntensely, Gregory’s voice rang
from Valencia’s wireless earpiece while she hurried from Inglewood to
Brentwood as fast as she could.

“Where the hell were you this time?”

It was that same Sunday, almost midnight. Valencia had spent another late,
freak-filled evening with Tariq and Miki. It was one hour past the time
she’d agreed to come to Gregory’s house and spend the night.

“I’m just running late. I’m on my way.”

“From where? Okay, of course. Don’t tell me. You were with the
love of your life, Miki, right?”

Valencia tried to hide the sound of an exhaustive sigh. “Yes, I was at
Miki’s. She was helping me with wedding plans. Time just slipped
away.”

“She was helping you with wedding plans? With our wedding plans or
yours and hers?” His cynicism was thick.

“Greg, please don’t start that. I’ll be there in thirty
minutes. Bye.” She sped up the 405, way past the speed limit, racing to
get her fast ass to her future home.

By the time she arrived, Gregory was sitting at his desk as usual. “Are
you always on that computer?” she asked, as she put her purse beside the
bed.

He kept his back to her. “Are you always with Miki?”

Valencia took her overnight bag and unzipped it, taking out her black silk
PJ’s. “Do you want to talk or can we go to sleep?”

“You look pretty tired. Maybe you’d prefer sleep.”

“Tired? You haven’t even looked at me. But, yes. I guess I
should.”

He spun around and spoke with an edge. “Well, I’d prefer
talking.”

“Greg.” She shook her head and took her toothbrush and pajamas in
hand, heading to the bathroom where she closed the door.

Twenty minutes later, she exited showered and dressed for bed.

He asked, still sitting in the same position, “Tell me, cause I wanna
make sure I get this right. You and Miki went over what, exactly?”

She stood at the bathroom door, looking over at him. “We just went over
different options for reception locations. And we looked at some dresses
online.”

“And what else?”

“That’s it.” She walked to the bed and pulled back the
checkered satin covers.

“And it took all that time?”

“Yeah. It did. Any more questions?” she asked, fluffing up the
foam pillow.

“Yes. So, what’s this about you and Miki being together with her
man?”

She paused. “What do you mean?”

He blurted, “What I mean is this exactly. Quote, unquote. ‘Val,
baby, Tariq and I had a sexy-ass time again. Let’s not let it be the last
time. And just so you know, we went at it again after you left. All in your
name.’ ”

Silence swelled. Valencia’s eyes rose and her mouth dropped and she
swallowed a gasp. She looked over at her purse, which was wide open. He held up
her BlackBerry. “You went through my phone?”

“Tariq went through my pussy?”

She stepped to him fast. “Greg, you have no right.” She snatched
her phone from his hand. “Jerk.” She dismissed him with her angry
eyes.