Talk a Good Game (7 page)

The Columbia Police Department. Even after all these
years the big brass CPD emblem on front still shined like a new
quarter.

I remembered Pops coming through the front door with
that hat on his head and the gun holster around his waist.

That had been worse than any nightmare.

Quickly I tossed everything back onto the shelf,
then grabbed the album, closed the closet, and hurried into the
kitchen.

“
Here you go.” I was out of breath
as I put the book on the table.

Mommy looked pleased. “Thanks.
Felicia wants some baby pictures of Brice.”

I nodded. My
brother
’s
wife had been talking about
putting together a collage for their wall.

“
Mama, I gotta go.
”
Leaning over, I kissed her cheek and moved toward the
door.

“
Jae?” she called after me and I
stopped in the doorway, and turned around. “Thanks for
everything.”

I nodded and without another word,
rushed out the door and down the sidewalk to the car. Ms. Gina was
saying something, but I ignored her nosy ass. All I wanted to do
was get inside my car before I fell apart. I climbed in, shut the
door and realized my hands were shaking and my heart was beating
fast. All because of that damn hat. “You bastard!” I screamed and
punched the dashboard.

I will no longer allow you to control me!

I sat there for the longest time, fighting back
tears when my cellphone started ringing. Oh shit! I had to take
this call. No time for crying. It was Kaleb.

“
Hey you,” I purred.

“
What
’s
going on beautiful?” There was
that deep mesmerizing voice of his.

I wiped my eyes and gazed in the
rearview mirror as I spoke. “Nothing much. What are you
doing?”

“
Thinking about
you.” His words were just what I needed to hear. “My son and I are
heading to Applebee
’s
near the mall. You wanna join
us?”

I tilted the rearview mirror, took
in my appearance while hesitating like I was giving his question
some thought. “Sure. I can stop through.” Lord knows I needed
something else to be thinking about.

I pulled into the parking lot, and made sure my face
and hair were perfect. They were. I then climbed out my car,
gracefully, and sauntered through the door of the restaurant. I
spotted Kaleb immediately, over in the corner, but I played dumb
until he started waving to get my attention.

I can be such a bitch.

Smiling, I strutted over to the table where he was
sitting across from a lanky kid with glasses.

“
You made it.”
Kaleb rose and planted a kiss to my cheek then whispered,
“
You look
sexy.
”

Of course I do.

“
Jae, this is my son, Christopher
John Kerrington, but we call him CJ.”

As I sat down next to Kaleb onto
the bench, I grinned at the kid who looked really uncomfortable.
“Hi CJ.”

“
Hi,” he said and pushed his
glasses up onto his face.

I liked kids, just as long as they
weren’t my own.

Kaleb shifted on the bench. “We
just ordered. You want something?”

I turned up my nose. “No, the food
here is horrible.”

He shrugged. “True, but
it
’s
CJ
’s
favorite.”

I could tell the kid had
self-esteem issues. His shoulders were hunched and he was staring
down at his napkin. Goodness, this was why I didn’t
want
kids.

He was dark chocolate unlike his
father, with a round face dotted with acne. His hair was cut too
low for the fine grade, so you could practically see his scalp, and
the long sleeve t-shirt he was wearing had seen better days. For
someone with money, Kaleb definitely wasn’t spending it on his
son
’s
appearance.

I decided to order a diet soda and
some potato twisters. They were hell on my hips, but I planned on
burning them off soon and I didn’t mean in the damn gym. Kaleb was
rubbing my knee under the table, and I was caressing the part of
him I had yet to be introduced. After three dates, numerous kisses,
and me rubbing on his dick, I was certain Kaleb was probably
getting tired of me teasing him. Personally I didn’t see it as
playing hard to get. A man needed to earn the right to fuck me.
Pussy this good didn’t
come cheap.

Besides it served him right for trying to play me
all day. He wanted to play games. Then bring it out. I was the
queen of bullshit.

CJ was tapping his finger,
annoyingly, on the table. I had to grit my teeth to keep from
demanding he stop. “So how
’s
school?
” I asked.

“
It
’s
good.
”
Tap. Tap. Tap
.

Okay, so much for a conversation.

“
He
’s
a straight A student,” Kaleb
offered and was grinning like a proud father.

“
Really?” I was
impressed. Since he was intelligent maybe being his stepmother
wouldn’t be
that
bad. “That
’s
excellent.
What
’s
your favorite
subject?”

“
Science.”

“
That
’s
impressive. You ever attend any
science fairs?”

He shook his head.

“
We
’ll
have to look into that.” I
nodded my head. “As a matter of fact, I have a friend who runs a
summer minority enrichment program and if you have good math and
science I might be able to get you in this
summer.”

While I talked to him about living
in a dorm on the university campus, his eyes grew big. He kept
looking over at his dad, who was leaned back on the seat still
grinning. Other than their round faces the two didn’t look anything
alike. And if CJ looked like his mom then it was no wonder Kaleb
thought he had won the lottery with me.

The waitress returned with my diet soda.

“
What have you been doing today?”
Kaleb asked as she moved to the next table.

I took a sip then looked in those
big pretty eyes of his. “I just left from visiting my
mother.”

Intrigue was written all over his
face. “Both your parents still around?”

It took everything I had to keep a
straight face as I said softly even though I was certain CJ was
listening, “My father passed away.”

“
What happened?”

As far as I knew the man had gone
straight to hell. “He was a cop. He died while investigating a
burglary.” Remembering his hat falling onto the floor flooded my
mind and actually gave me goose bumps. “What about you?”

Kaleb took a sip from his straw as
he spoke. “My parents live in Houston. Them, my sister… we all have
our own lives so we don’t really talk much.”

I wondered which was worse, his family or mine?

“
It
’s
just me and my son. Right
CJ?”

His eyes shifted to the table
before he nodded. “Yes sir.”

“
He
’s
quiet, isn’t
he?
” Except for that damn
tapping. I don’t know why the sound didn’t bother his father
because it sure annoyed the hell out of me.

“
Dad, may I be excused to the
restroom?”

Kaleb nodded, and he sprang from the seat, hitting
his knee on the table.

“
Slow down!” he scolded a little
too loudly. I noticed the couple at the next table looking at
us.

CJ looked so embarrassed I almost
felt sorry for him. “Yes sir,” he mumbled then hurried off toward
the restroom.

When I turned on the seat, I could
tell Kaleb was waiting for me to say something about his kid. “How
old is he?” That was the best I could come up with.

“
Going on thirteen.”

“
Goodness,
he
’s
tall!” CJ had to be about six
feet.

Kaleb gave me a sexy smirk. And to
think I thought he looked mean. “Yeah, I guess he takes that after
my side of the family.”

I shifted on the seat to make sure
he saw my good side. Oh hell, either one was my good side.
“Where
’s
his mother?”

His face suddenly became very
serious. “Dead.”

“
Dead,”
I mocked.
“I
’
m sorry. What
happened?”

“
She was shot.” Kaleb leaned in
close and lowered his voice so no one else would overhear us. “She
had dropped by the grocery store on her way home from work. Someone
shot her in the parking lot and took her purse.” He shook his head
and there was no mistaking the despair. “My wife never carried more
than twenty bucks.”

“
I
’
m sorry to hear that. Did they
ever catch the person who did it?”

“
Hell no.
” He shifted on
the seat and I could tell this was hard for him to talk about. “The
camera in the parking lot was a piece of shit. No leads.
Nothing.”

I raised an eyebrow. “How old was
CJ at that time?”

“
He was three.
He doesn’t even remember his mother. Sometimes I wonder if
that
’s
a good or a bad
thing.”

I placed a hand on his forearm.
“It
’s
up to you to keep the memories alive.”

“
Anyway, that was almost ten years
ago.” He reached down and squeezed my knee again. “I have finally
come to terms with what happened and let go because I know her
memory will always be with me. But right now I want to focus on
this beautiful… sexy woman sitting beside me.”

I was cheesing. So much for
playing it cool. “I have no problem with that.”

CJ returned around the same time
the food arrived. We joined hands and while their heads were bowed
I peeked out the slits of my eyes and glanced at them. Kaleb was
praying while CJ was fidgeting on the seat. Dammit. I needed to
pray for patience. Something I’ve never had.

NYREE

I glanced down at my phone.
Rock
’s
lying ass had been calling me
for the past week trying to get me to listen to him. The last thing
I wanted was to hear his excuses.

I tried watching the basketball
game. The Oklahoma Thunders was my team and they were beating the
Boston Celtics, but I just wasn’t hyped like I was used to. I
decided to call Janelle. She answered but I could barely hear
her.

“
Why are you whispering?” Damn,
now she had me doing it.

“
Because
I
’
m in the bathroom taking a bath,
tryna get this kitty-kat smelling fresh to death and nothing
less.”

“
I was calling to see if you
wanted to go and see a movie this evening.”

“
Nah,
I
’
m hoping to have my legs up in
the air,” she said and I giggled loudly. Janelle had the nerve to
start hushing me like that dude could really hear me. “Rock still
blowing up your phone?” she asked, suspiciously.

I sucked my teeth for great
measure. “You know he is.”

She tsked in the phone. “I told
you that man wasn’t leaving his wife.”

“
Yeah,
yeah.”
I
don’t
know why I had even told her except
I needed to talk to someone. Veronica was out of town and Gloria
was too busy with her new husband, besides I had to admit Janelle
really is a good listener. I just wished I hadn’t told my mother
about having a new man in my life. I’ll never hear the end of
it.

“
Listen Ree, I gotta go. But, I’ll
call you later.”

I hung up feeling a little disappointed. Ever since
she started dating Kaleb, Janelle barely had time for me. Not that
I was hating. I was happy she had found someone she really liked. I
just wished it was me.

I was watching the second quarter when I logged onto
Blackfolksmeet.com, and scanned my Flirts then decided to upload a
photo to my profile during the half-time show. I then answered a
few random questions that were pretty standard, and when it came to
what I was looking for in a man, I decided to change it up and just
keep it real.

I’m looking for a Christian man
who will keep it 100 with me. No head games. No married men.
Serious inquiries only.

I hoped that would help to weed
out the ones who were strictly window-shopping. I had heard the
rumor about men joining these sites just for something to do
because they were unhappy with their marriages. I wasn’t going
there. Not anymore. Rock made me feel like a fool and I couldn’t
blame anyone but myself.