The Secrets of Silk (13 page)

Silk pretended to cry, and Buddy rubbed her back.

“Don't cry,” Buddy murmured. “I'll take you to the movies.”

“You will?”

Buddy nodded and Silk wiped nonexistent tears from her eyes and threw her arms around his neck with such exuberance, whiskey splattered from the glass he held in his hand. He set the glass down on the porch. Seeking out Silk's lips with his, he drew her into a tight embrace.

It was a lingering, sweet kiss, and when they finally broke apart, Silk said, “Buddy, I have a confession. I'm falling for you, and I know I shouldn't.”

He took her hands in his and stared in her eyes. “I feel the same way. But I'm so confused. Although I realize I have to face the fact that Ernestine is gone, it still feels like I'm cheating on her with you.”

“You're such a good man, Buddy. It would be so easy for me to love you and treat you right, and I can help you take care of those sweet little children of yours. By the way, how are the twins holding up?”

Buddy shook his head. “The doctors call them miracle babies, and I pray their luck holds out. But things aren't looking too good
right now. Pamela has breathing problems and she's losing more weight. Paulette picked up some weight, but she has some kind of heart condition.”

“It's a shame that those poor little babies never got a chance to meet their mother. I'd like to go with you the next time you visit them at the hospital.”

“Clara usually goes with me to see the twins. I don't think it would be proper for you and me to carry on in public…at least not right now. Let's give it some time. After the funeral Saturday…” Buddy's voice trailed off. “It's hard to get used to the fact that I have to bury Ernestine. But as I was saying, after her funeral, we'll let my sister know that you're not going back to Louisiana. We'll make up a story about you waiting on your teaching papers, and tell her that you're gonna help me look after the kids until I find permanent help. Nobody needs to know about our personal business. We'll keep that to ourselves.”

Silk gave Buddy a pat on the arm. “You don't have to worry about me saying a word. People wouldn't understand how we fell head over heels so fast. Tongues would be wagging, and those church folks would be spreading rumors if we broadcasted our love affair.” Silk paused and scrutinized Buddy's face. “You do love me, don't you, Buddy?”

“I have strong emotions for you, but it's too soon to call it love.”

Silk didn't like his answer, but she nodded as if in agreement. “Since we're keeping things under wraps, I think we should hold off from going to that picture show until it's nice and proper.”

“Thanks for being understanding,” Buddy muttered and then shot Silk a suspicious look. “You don't plan to go traipsing off to the movies with Cephus, do you?”

“Why shouldn't I? There's nothing between me and Cephus. I consider him a friend.”

Buddy gave a wry laugh. “You don't know Cephus. That joker is always up to no good. He can sweet-talk the drawers off a woman in a matter of minutes.”

“He won't get inside these drawers. This here juicy poontang is exclusively for you.”

Aroused by her lewd declaration, Buddy made a groaning sound as he tugged Silk's arm, guiding her onto his lap. “You drive me crazy, Silk. I've never met a woman like you before. Since last night, I can't keep you off my mind.” He groped beneath her dress and pulled her panties to the side. “Mmm. It's soaking wet between your legs,” he whispered. Lifting up a little, he unzipped his pants and withdrew his hardening manhood. “God forgive me for being weak in the flesh, but I need some of your juiciness right now.”

“Don't you worry, Buddy Dixon. I'm going to take good care of you and give you all the poontang your heart desires.” Silk pressed down, taking in his full length. Sitting on his lap, she rode him, clenching her inner muscles as she whispered dirty words in his ear.

•  •  •

Buddy kissed Silk twice before he finally pulled himself away from her and crept upstairs to slip into bed with his sleeping sons. Silk lingered downstairs, emptying ashtrays and straightening up the mess Buddy and his friends had left in the living room. Her living room! The furnishings looked spanking, brand-new, but they wouldn't stay that way if she allowed the boys to continue to climb on the furniture and to roughhouse all over the place. In due time, she'd train Bruce and Myron to sit still when watching TV and to confine their rowdy behavior to the backyard. Dallas was a sweetheart who didn't require reprimanding. Silk and Dallas would get along fine as long as Dallas accepted that Silk was the new queen of the castle.

C
lara was outside hanging up sheets and towels on the clothesline while Dallas played on the swing set and the boys chased each other around the yard. Trying to get on Clara's good side, Silk kept big-headed Vernon, Jr. inside the house with her, rocking him as she watched an episode of the soap opera,
As The World Turns.

The members of the Dixon household were in an odd state of mourning. One moment the kids would be crying for their mama, and the next moment they were racing around, playing tag. And Buddy and his moody self was as bad as the children, walking around with a long, sad face during the day, but slipping in the bedroom after Dallas went to sleep, hounding Silk for some poontang at night.

Saturday couldn't come soon enough. Silk wanted the funeral to be done and over with so she could get the household in order. It seemed to Silk that the bratty kids were running the show, but all that was going to change after she became the lady of the house.

The telephone rang and Silk hurriedly picked it up. Having a phone on the premises was another perk in her new lifestyle. “Dixon residence,” she said with a smile in her voice.

“Hey, Silk. This is Cephus.”

“Hi, Cephus,” she said unenthusiastically. When he'd called yesterday,
she'd made it clear that she wouldn't be accompanying him to the picture show. He sure was persistent.

“You bailed out of our movie date, but I have another proposition.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Every Thursday night there's a beef and beer at the Melody Lounge bar over on Third and Edgmont, and I was wondering if you'd like to go. The place is always packed with folks from Chester and other towns like Twin Oaks, Linwood, Trainer, and Marcus Hook.”

The towns he named didn't mean a thing to Silk, but the idea of letting her hair down and having the opportunity to have some fun was very appealing. “Sure, I'd like to go. What time do you wanna pick me up?”

“How does eight o'clock sound?”

“Sounds good. See you later.”

Silk forgot all about the soap opera she'd been riveted to. She raced up the stairs to raid Ernestine's closet. She no longer felt the need to ask for Buddy's permission—not with all the poontang she was providing him. Besides, everything that Ernestine had owned would officially belong to Silk immediately after the funeral. And that included her husband, her kids, and the insurance money that Buddy was expecting to receive very soon.

She held Vernon, Jr. in one arm and used the other to push hangers around until she found the perfect dress, a tight-fitting burgundy number that would knock Cephus dead when she stepped out of the house. Most of Ernestine's shoes were stored inside boxes, and it took Silk a while to find a color that coordinated with the dress. Next, she rummaged through the dead woman's bureau drawers, selecting underwear and jewelry. On her way out of Buddy's bedroom, her arms filled with the pilfered goodies,
Silk snatched a bottle of Avon perfume from atop Ernestine's vanity table.

•  •  •

Silk had persuaded Buddy into going along with her plan to start dating Cephus. No one would suspect that she and Buddy had a secret affair if she used Cephus as a front, she had explained, and then assured Buddy that he didn't have to worry about any hanky-panky between Cephus and her.

When Cephus pulled up in front of the house and honked his horn, Silk raced down the stairs. She was relieved that Buddy had two unexpected guests. Two white men—one from the insurance company and the other was some kind of politician—were sitting in the dining room with papers spread out, having a serious conversation with Buddy about the insurance money.

Silk intended to find out what they were talking about later. She was also very interested in when Buddy was going to receive the check. As she strode to the front door, Clara and the children gawked at her.

“That's my mother's dress,” Myron said sullenly.

“It sure is,” Bruce said with anger settling over his face like a dark cloud.

“Did you ask Buddy?” Clara inquired worriedly.

“No, I didn't want to bother him while he's busy talking with his visitors. But I'm sure it's all right with him,” Silk said gaily. She could feel Buddy's eyes on her, and without seeing the expression on his face, she sensed that he wasn't happy with the way she'd helped herself to his dead wife's fashionable wardrobe. Oh, well, he'd have to get over it.

Cephus was standing outside his car. When he set eyes on Silk,
he looked her up and down and let out a whistle. “I don't know how you got into that dress…looks like you were poured into it. You sure look good, baby. I should have remembered to bring along a baseball bat.”

“For what?” Silk asked, playing dumb.

“To fight off the cock-hounds that are gonna be sniffing around you tonight.” Grinning, Cephus eagerly opened the car door for Silk.

After he climbed into the driver's seat, he gave her another lingering look. “I wish you could slide over, so I could put my arm around you. But these bucket seats…” He trailed off and shook his head. “I knew I shouldn't have bought a car with bucket seats.”

Cephus and Silk stepped inside The Melody Lounge, and male patrons murmured, “Who's that fox?” as they gazed at Silk with longing. One look at Silk, and the women inside the joint seemed to arch their backs like cats, whispering behind their hands as they glared at her.

“What are you drinking, baby?” Cephus asked after he and Silk took seats at the bar.

“Gin and tonic,” Silk replied as she scanned the barroom, sending flirtatious smiles to her many male admirers.

The drinks arrived and Silk chugged hers down quickly and requested another. “Let me have some change for the jukebox,” she said to Cephus with her hand stuck out. Happy to oblige, Cephus dug inside his pockets. But when he came up with only nickels and dimes, the men who were sitting nearby, quickly provided Silk with a handful of quarters.

Strutting toward the jukebox with a drink in one hand, quarters in the other, and her purse tucked under her arm, Silk was delighted by the attention she attracted. As she studied the record selections,
Cephus joined her, pretending to make small talk while he stood next to her like a bodyguard.

Out for a good time and not caring what Cephus or anyone thought of her, Silk continued to peruse the selections while leaning over the jukebox and shaking her behind to the beat of “Something's Got a Hold on Me” by Etta James.

One of the fellows who'd provided her with change, danced over to her, holding out his hand. “Come on, let's bop, girl.”

Silk handed Cephus her drink, her purse, and the extra quarters in her hand and began dancing. Wiggling her ass excessively, Silk heated up the place with so much sexual energy, men abandoned their girlfriends and lined up to get the next dance with her. In between songs, Silk made pit stops to the jukebox, taking long swigs of her drink. After draining her second glass of gin and tonic, various male patrons tripped over each other, getting to the bar to refresh her drink.

Several up-tempo records played, and then “Baby It's You,” a slow song by The Shirelles poured from the jukebox.

Refusing to be ignored any longer, Cephus handed Silk her purse, and said, “It's my turn,” as he swept her into his arms. “I let you have your fun. I stood back and watched you while you were freshing around with every man in this bar, but I hope you didn't think I was going to let you slow drag with any of these jokers.”

“Simmer down, Cephus. Don't be jealous; I'm only having fun. You're acting ornery, and there's no cause for that.”

“I can't help it. I brought you out so we could have a good time together, not to stand back and watch you play around and make a fool out of me.”

She whispered in his ear, “Be a good sport and I'll reward you later.”

“Reward me? How?”

“I can show you better than I can tell you.” She gave him a slick smile. “You'll see what I mean when we leave here and go to your place,” she said seductively.

Cephus released a long sigh and pulled Silk closer. “You have no idea what you do to me. You got me steaming hot, girl.”

“I plan on cooling you off as long as you step aside and let me have a little fun tonight.” Silk stroked Cephus on the cheek.