Twisted (14 page)

“Girl, no woman is going to knowingly take care of some other woman’s baby.”

Shanna better listen to her friend
, Tina thought.

“This one will,” Shanna bragged. “She loves Erik and will do anything he tells her to do. Hell, I might even tell him to move me into their home. He’s been complaining about being in my cramped apartment.”

Tina smirked. Apparently, Erik neglected to tell her that he didn’t reside with her anymore.

“Yeah, she really would be stupid if she did something like that. I wouldn’t put up with such foolishness.”

The manicurist finished with Tina’s feet and another approached. “We have a spot ready for you, Ms. Ferrari,” the woman told her.

“Thank you,” Tina said in Vietnamese to her.

Shanna looked over at her as she rose. The surprised look on Shanna’s face was enough to satisfy Tina.

Tina stared back at her, turned her nose up, and followed the manicurist over to another chair. Her cell phone rang as soon as she sat down. “Oh, hello Erik,” she said. “You want to meet with me tonight?” She giggled. “Sorry, I’m not interested in doing that with you ever again. And while I have you on the phone, go to hell.” She disconnected the call and slid her cell phone back into her purse.

Alexis got out of her chair laughing and joined her at the nail table. “What did that snake want?”

“He wanted me to take him back. Do I have fool written all over me? Did I tell you that he has a baby coming in a couple of months?”

“How is his poor ass going to take care of a baby?” Alexis asked, making sure she said it loud enough for Shanna to hear.

“I really don’t care. He’s not getting another dime out of me.”

****

Erik pitched his cell phone aside. What was wrong with Tina refusing his offer? He thought he was being generous. It had been a couple of months since they’d slept together. She must be climbing the walls by now. It had also been a couple of days since she’d learned about him and Shanna. She was just taking this jealousy thing too far. So what if he’d slept with another woman and lied about it to her again? It was time for her to get over it and let him back into the house.

He accessed the Internet and did a search for hotels near work. He selected one and tried to make a two week reservation. That was the amount of time he’d give Tina to come to her senses and for Shanna to get an abortion. He could take a joke as well as the next person, but enough was enough. Erik selected a room and put in his charge card information. It came back declined.

Erik pulled out another company card. It came back declined too. “What the fuck?” He’d bet anything that Tina had turned them off. He tossed the cards aside. He reached for his desk phone and dialed Tina again. The call just went to voice mail. He pulled out the calendar. He had to find her and get her to turn his cards back on. He leafed through the calendar until he came to the date. She usually had her nails done and then she went off to exercise class. He strummed through the calendar until he found the name of the place.
Maybe I’ll pay her a visit there and ask her to take me back. There’s no way she is going to make a scene in front of strangers
.

****

Later that evening, Erik arrived at the dojo. He looked outside the window.
What kind of exercise could Tina be doing at a place like this
? He spotted her a moment later. Luckily, he’d parked a couple of businesses away and other cars blocked him from her sight. She was speaking to some other female. They both entered the building and he was just about to get out of his car when Alexis walked past him and entered the building.
What are they doing here
? He watched others entered.
Maybe it’s not such a good idea
. No, he needed money and a place to stay. Tina was his only prospect.

Erik got out of the car, straightened his jacket, and walked toward the front door of the dojo. He entered the main foyer of the building, annoyed by how esoterically clean the place appeared. He passed several martial arts posters and posters with rules on behavior while inside. He approached a desk and caught the attention of a young man.

“May I help you?” the young man asked.

“I’m looking for my girlfriend,” Erik told him.

“What is her name?”

“Ballentina Ferrari. She takes some kind of exercise class here.”

The young man looked him over. “You’re Ms. Tina’s boyfriend?”

“Yes,” Erik answered. “Her fiancé, actually.”

The young man gave him the once-over again. “Funny, she never mentioned being engaged.”

“Is she here?” Erik asked, irritated by having to entertain this kid with conversation.

“She’s changing for class,” he told him. “You can go in and watch, but please don’t disturb the class.”

Young punk
, Erik thought as he walked away.

The class had already begun when he entered. He walked over to a set of bleachers and found a seat with some other spectators. The students were all dressed in white karate outfits and they stood in uniformed rows at attention. He spotted Alexis and Clarice in the front row, and Tina in back with taller students. He never knew she was taking a martial arts class. All these years he thought she took aerobics or something girly like that.

A door opened from the side and a man dress in similar garb as the students, but in black, walked out and stood facing the class. The students bowed to him and he bowed back. Erik couldn’t get a good look at the man from where he sat, just the back of his head. He had a long ponytail and broad shoulders. And he was tall with a decent build.

“Good evening,” the man said to the class. “Welcome.”

He had an accent that sounded familiar. Erik sat back and watched as the class went through several drills before pairing off into couples to perform other routines. Tina walked to the front of the class and bowed to the teacher. The man bowed back to her and they paired off. That caught his attention. The teacher tossed Tina to the mat and she landed on her back with a resounding thud. She hopped back to her feet quickly and bowed to the teacher again. They sized each other up, but this time Tina managed to toss the teacher down to the mat.

Erik chuckled. The teacher probably let Tina toss him because there was no way she could physically be that strong.

The class ended about an hour later. The teacher sent most of the students to the showers, but for some reason, Tina, Alexis and Clarice remained behind. He thought it was the perfect opportunity to let his presence be known. Erik walked down from the bleachers and over toward them.

Tina spotted him first. She gasped, alerting the others. They stopped talking and looked in his direction. It wasn't until he was upon them that he realized that the teacher was Kevin Chen, Tina’s new business partner.

“What are you doing here?” Tina asked him.

“We need to talk,” Erik told her.

“We have nothing to talk about,” Tina said.

“I think we do. I need you to turn my cards back on.”

“Fat chance of that happening,” Tina replied, wiping the sweat from her face with a white towel.

“Can we go somewhere? There are too many ears listening in on our conversation.”

Both Clarice and Alexis rolled their eyes at him.

“Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of them,” Tina replied. “They already know everything.”

“Everything?” Erik asked.

“Yes, everything, including you screwing some bitch in my bed.”

“Don’t call her that,” Erik said, defending Shanna.

“I can call her anything I please. Nasty, dirty skank. You could have chosen someone with a little more self-respect. No real woman would feel comfortable in another woman’s bed.” She walked away from him.

“Don’t walk away from me while I’m talking to you.” Erik reached out and grabbed Tina’s arm. The next thing he knew, she jerked away from him, spun around, and kicked his legs out from under him. He landed on his back, luckily on a mat.

Erik groaned and sat up. “I am so going to kick your ass for this,” he told her. He struggled to his feet and grabbed at Tina. This time, she grabbed his hand and threw him back down on the floor. When he looked up, she was standing over him in an attack pose.

“Get up,” she told him. “And whose ass are you going to kick?”

Erik got up. Several people had come over to see what was going on. Most of them were men. His macho came out. He couldn’t let other men see him beaten up by a woman, especially one who normally wouldn’t hurt a fly. “Fun’s over,” he told Tina. He grabbed her from behind and wrapped his arms around her so she couldn’t move them. He pressed his body into her back. “You’re no match for me, bitch. I can break both your arms with one snap.” He laughed. “I don’t need to take martial arts to handle you.”

He never saw her head move until she used it to butt him in the face.

Erik screamed and released her. He touched his nose. It was bleeding.
What is wrong with Tina
? “Have you gone crazy?”

“No, I’m just defending myself. Why don’t you leave while you can still walk away on your own?”

Erik pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his nose. He turned to Kevin. “What have you been teaching her?”

Kevin just shrugged.

He reached for Tina, grabbed her by her uniform, and dragged her over to him. Then he back slapped her.

“Ouch,” Tina cried out.

Kevin took a step toward him.

“What are you going to do pretty boy?”

He was answered by a pair of hands grabbing his jacket and tossing him to the mat roughly. He looked up and found Tina standing over him again.

“Don’t you ever put your hands on me again,” she warned him. Her feet came down on his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

“Don’t move,” Kevin told him. “She can destroy your larynx just by applying pressure with her foot.”

Erik chuckled, not believing him.

“I’m serious,” Kevin told him. “She knows what she’s doing.”

Erik stopped laughing and looked down at Tina’s foot. She had it placed right over his Adam’s apple now.

“Move your foot, Tina, honey,” Kevin said tenderly to her. “He’s not worth it.”

Tina lifted her foot.

Erik crawled to his knees. Tina was in Kevin’s arms with her face buried in his chest. Kevin’s arms held her protectively.

“I’d leave now if I were you,” Kevin told him.

“What’s this shit?” Erik asked, pointing to Kevin and Tina.

“Exactly what it looks like,” Alexis answered. “Her man is embracing her.”

“Her man? When did this happen?”

“Does it matter?” Clarice asked. “You’re out and he’s in.”

“This isn’t over, Tina,” Erik shouted.

“Yes it is,” Tina told him. “I got about a hundred witnesses here to prove that you came here and attacked me. So why don’t you leave here, go back to your little pregnant slut, and never let me see you again.”

Erik laughed. “Yeah, see you at work tomorrow.”

“What work?” Tina asked. “Brother, you’re fired, and if I catch you anywhere near my house our any of my businesses, I’ll have you arrested for trespassing.”

The other students applauded and Tina buried her face back into Kevin’s chest.

“She’s a dud in bed,” Erik said, walking away.

“No, she not,” Kevin replied. “She’s magnificent.”

The other students laughed at Erik as he walked out of the dojo training room. He made it to the lobby with what little dignity he had left. He paused to catch his breath. What was he going to do now with no home, no job, and a baby on the way? He stormed out of the front door and ran to his car. Shit, now he had to find another job.

****

“Does your face still hurt?” Kevin asked Tina as she laid on his bed in his condo.

“A little,” she said. “I guess the bruises will go down tomorrow.”

Kevin looked down at her. There was just a slight bruising, but it wouldn’t leave a mark. He leaned over and kissed the spot, and Tina threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down on her. Her tongue wiggled through his lips and then plunged into his mouth. She tasted faintly of wintergreen mint.

Her hands left his neck and moved down his body, and he heard his pants unsnap. “What are you doing?” Kevin asked as he felt his zipper lower. The next thing he knew, she had lowered the waistband of his pants and was gently squeezing his buttocks with her fingers.

“Feeling you up,” Tina replied.

The fingers moved around to his penis and squeezed him gently.

Kevin moaned. Her hand was so warm. “Why don’t I get out of these clothes?” He rose and climbed off the bed.

Tina sat up to watch him. “Slowly,” she told him as she began to undress on the bed.

Kevin slowly disrobed. Tina’s eyes stayed glued to him, watching with interest. She was nude on the bed by the time he shucked out of his briefs. She parted her thighs in a very sexy manner. “I need you deep inside of me,” she said, reaching up and freeing her hair from the ponytail.

Kevin reached up and freed his hair. It cascaded down his shoulders.

Tina growled at him and made room for him on the bed.

The next thing he knew, she had maneuvered him on his back and she was astride him, lowering her body.

Kevin gasped as his cock made contact with her wet pussy. “Ah, we forgot something, darling?” Kevin told her as she moved up and down on his Johnson, slowly.

“What?” Tina asked without opening her eyes.

“Oh,” Kevin said as she made her bottom revolve, sending him deeper inside of her. “A condom.”

“Oh,” She replied, but did not stop riding him. “Well, I guess we’ll have to get married if anything happens.”

Kevin smirked. “My first proposal. How romantic.”

Tina pinched one of her nipples and shuddered.

Kevin raised an eyebrow at the sight. It made him harden and throb inside of her. He reached up and played with the other nipple, squeezing it hard.

Tina made a guttural sound as she slowly screwed him. Her buttocks ground into his pelvis. She was in control, trying to find her own G-spot.

“Do you need any help, honey?” he asked as he ran his hand down to her stomach and began messaging her belly.