When All Hell Breaks Loose (4 page)

“Being with Adrian on a Saturday night is all I need. Tim, I’m ready to settle down. I’ve been where you are, and I’m here to tell you that it becomes lonely after a while.”

Tim looks at me in disbelief. “Man, loneliness is a state of mind. There are too many women in the world to be locked down to just one.”

“Well, aside from all that, I asked Adrian to marry me.”

“Are you serious, bro?” Tim’s eyes widen in disbelief.

“As a heart attack.” I lean back in my chair.

Tim slides off the desk and sits back down. He looks like a bolt of
electricity just zapped him. “I knew you would pull some old crazy shit like this.” He looks at me and shakes his head. “You sure you ready for marriage? Greg, this is your prime time. Why settle now? Are you sure you’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“This means no more nights out with me watching ass walk by, making passes and getting those digits.”

“Tim, we haven’t done that in over two years.”

He relaxes and exhales a deep breath. His face calms from the hysterical look he showed just seconds before. “Cool, here’s some dap for the proposal and some more for the wedding night.” Tim daps me another two times. “It’s actually about time. You and Adrian been kicking it kind of strong these past three years.”

“Yeah.”

“Does this make me …?” he asks, pointing to himself.

“Best man,” I say. “Of course.”

“You know the last time I wore a tux I was in high school, right?” he jokes.

“Tim, there’s a second time for everything, bro.”

He looks at me one last time before leaving to go to his office. “My road dawg is finally hitching the old mule to the cart. I can’t believe it. Congratulations, man.” He smiles and walks out.

“Thanks, Tim.”

Tim and I started at Data Tech together as interns. He graduated from Huston-Tillotson College in Austin. We used to compete against each other back in the day at black Greek step-shows in college, but we never formally met until we both moved to Dallas. He’s a Kappa. I’m an Alpha. Our situation is cool, though, because our being in two different fraternities has never interfered with our relationship as friends. We’ve known each other for six years, and Tim is the only person who has seen me get buck wild with a woman. Let me tell you that story right quick before I go to my meeting.

The second summer we interned at Data Tech was in ’90. I had just pledged Alpha Phi Alpha that spring and Tim was gearing for the Kappa Alpha Psi line at HT that was coming up that fall. Being
a fresh Alpha man and all, I wanted to kick it, so I asked him to come hang with me one Friday night.

Back then, niggas were hanging out all over Dallas. This was before the gangs and random acts of violence got bad in the city. The most terrible thing going on for middle-class blacks back then was car theft. You could go to Kiest Park and the Venue was still open. There was Camp Wisdom Road, which had become a strip for people to ride up and down all night, and then of course there was a few places in Arlington and Grand Prairie you could hang.

Well, Tim and I optioned for Greek night at the Venue. The place was packed and we had to wait damn near twenty minutes before they let us in. We got in and immediately girls started checking me out. It had to be the Alpha pin on my shirt, because honeys were coming at me left and right—reactions foreign to me before I pledged. Tim was sitting back in the cut, trying to be cool, but he has that Kappa look, so sisters just assumed he was one. Tim is one of those chocolate pretty boys. Dark curly hair and piercing slanted eyes. His face is smooth and he has an innocent, perfect smile. He’s built, too. Every time we’d go out together, sisters would be on his ass. This particular night, he was wearing a red polo shirt and some khakis. We were lucky none of the real members of K-A-Psi tried to give him the secret handshake or else Tim would have gotten his ass beat down for perpetrating.

These two AKAs came up to us from out of nowhere. One of them just hugged me. She pressed her firm body against mine and wouldn’t let go.

“Hey, frat!” she said excitedly.

I played it cool and greeted her. She was a beautiful dark-skinned girl. The color of molasses. She had medium-length hair and chestnut-colored eyes, and she wore a black-and-pink dress that fitted like a glove. Her homegirl was all on Tim’s jock, but it was cool because my big brothers had told me that at some schools the AKAs and Kappas hang tight together. Her homegirl was fine too, except she had on this army-green pants suit with a salmon-pink shirt that wasn’t exactly color coordinated. I guess her yellow skin and long hair
made up for it, because Tim was checking her out. We introduced ourselves. Dark and Lovely’s name was Danielle, and her friend’s name was Evan, short for Evangeline. They were from Dallas but attended Hampton University in Virginia. Both neophytes of their chapter.

We ended up hanging together most of the night and we all left the club together.

Danielle invited us over to her sister’s place, who just so happened to be out of town. We got over there and Danielle pulls out some B&J wine coolers, rum-and-Cokes, and a bottle of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Wine. We got loaded playing this drinking game. I can’t remember all the details of us playing the game, but every time you stuttered over the beginning letter for your sentence you had to take a big drink of alcohol.

“Arthur ate absolute butter.” Danielle giggled.

“Butter breeds big children,” Tim said.

“Children catch cold … cold … damn!” Evangeline took a swig of the Boone’s straight from the bottle. We all laughed. Then I came in:

“Children catch colds daily.”

“Daily Daddy done dropped eggs.” Danielle giggled at her abuse of the English language.

“Eggs exterminate everything freaky!” Tim yelled.

“Freaky families finger goats.” Evangeline got it right that time.

“Goats gobble grass … I mean … Shit!” I took a swig of the liquor, and the game continued for the next two hours.

As it turned out, we all ended up drunk, laid out on the living room floor. Danielle retrieved some blankets and she and I lay in front of the couch, while Tim and Evan found a cozy spot near the fireplace.

Danielle asked me to hold her and I did. Her body was soft and warm against my legs and chest. She snuggled in tight and the more she snuggled the more Willie started talking to me. I tried to control it, but I knew she could feel it moving against her butt. Then she moaned. It wasn’t loud, just real low and restful. Sexy. She wiggled her butt enough to tease me, but Willie was up by then and he
knew what time it was. I was reluctant at first, because I didn’t like the idea of having sex with Danielle while Tim and Evan were only a few feet away from us in the same room.

The tripped-out part was that, when I looked over to see if they were asleep, I could tell they were already getting busy. The cover was over their heads, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to tell the position they were using. Let me put it this way: they looked like a human coffee table! Bow-wow! Ruff-ruff!

So, Danielle and I went at it. We were kissing and touching places on each other, and she told me when she was ready. I was thrown off a bit, because I wasn’t used to any girl telling me when she was ready and talking to me during sex. Danielle was definitely talking to me, and I know Tim and Evan heard her. She reached down and grabbed Willie and said, “Give it to me, baby!” She began some heavy stroking. I could feel myself throbbing with anticipation. Her voice sounded like it was in full stereo. Dolby! As uncomfortable as the situation was for me, I realized a brother only lives once. I thought to myself,
Fuck it, she wants it, I’m going to give it to her
. I put on a condom and as soon as I got inside her good, she started making noises and talking real loud. I wanted to join her in the conversation, but I couldn’t—I didn’t want the others to hear me. But I was the last thing on Tim’s and Evan’s minds. They were moaning passionately under their covers.

For the next ten minutes, I was lost in everyone’s voices. Each pant and moan enforced my self-inflicted silence. I held my breath as I pumped Danielle, concentrating on getting it done as quietly as possible. I was the only one who wasn’t saying anything until I felt my nut coming. My stomach tightened with butterflies and sweat broke out on my forehead. Danielle’s hands had gripped my lower back and buttocks. Her eyes were closed and she was cheering me on.

“Come on baby! Come on Greg baby! I know you can do it baby!”

I started pumping for real. I’m talking about crossing time lines and seeing my childhood pass in front of me. Sweat broke out on my forehead. I held it as long as I could, but I damn near blacked out from the strain. I now believe that trying to hold a nut should have a Surgeon General’s Warning attached to it. But when I let loose, it
was like the Fourth of July. All I remember was screaming, “YEAH BABY! OH YEAH! GODDAMMIT YES!”

Scared the hell out of everybody in the room. I was drenched in sweat, and Danielle held me against her the way a brother needs to be held after coming the way I did.

The Energizer Bunnies, Tim and Evangeline, giggled beneath their covers and continued their secret party. I don’t know what those fools were into, because they did it again before we left that morning. The next day, we exchanged numbers with the girls and left.

Tim talked about that night for the next two weeks! He kept saying shit to me like, “Greg, you’s a wild boy! I don’t know why you pledged Alpha, ’cause you’s a dawg,” or, “Greg, when you hollered out like that my nuts froze up!”

He tripped for a long time about that, but it was cool, because I still score on his ass about Evan’s no-fashion-sense-having ass. He takes it all in stride and never makes me feel bad about being the gentleman that I am.

That’s why Tim is my best man.

That was a long time ago. My view on women is totally different now. I don’t just take them for granted anymore. I don’t play games with them, either. I realized that having one-night stands is not only dangerous but makes you feel cheap and lonely in the long run. Adrian has come into my life and made me realize a lot of things. Up until I met her, Shreese was the only woman I could honestly respect, and that was because she is my sister. I still haven’t forgotten to tell you the story about my mom, but now is not the time because I have a meeting to get to.

“Mr. Alston, is the Dillinger Construction account going to set up another presentation date?” LaShawn Denton is looking at me with eager anticipation, as are the others.

“Yes, Miss Denton, they were duly impressed with the presentation you did and they were eager to have you come out and do another presentation for the CEO.”

Everyone in the room claps. LaShawn and her group are all smiles. Right now, they’re the only group under me that has sold all of their
presentations, which this year alone have brought in over $750,000 in revenue for Data Tech—and also increased my pay by three thousand dollars a year. LaShawn Denton is the only intern in Group Three, and she leads the pack. She’s a real smart sister who is bright and a quick, accurate thinker.

“Does this mean that their database will change if they go with what we have to sell them?” she asks.

“No. Dillinger is simply looking for an enhancement product. They want more shortcuts, macros, and buttons. Whoever created their database is now out of business, so we are actually going to have to start from scratch with a database for them that will last.”

One of my new hires, Miguel, raises his hand.

“What about the programming? If the database was solely created to run on a particular operating system, then won’t we have to design a whole new one anyway?”

“No. If they’re still running on DOS, God forbid”—people in the meeting room laugh at my remark—“then we’ll create DOS-based enhancements for their systems.”

The room is quiet.

“Anything else?”

No one says anything.

I passed out agendas for the next week. “Okay, here’s the rundown for August. Group One is still working on the Kaiser account. I need to run through that TCP/IP Network information with you. Let’s schedule that for Wednesday. Group Two, will you get those Power Point slides in to me this evening and have the Dillinger account slides ready for Group Three by Friday morning? Group Three, you need to have at least three macros and shortcuts programmed into the system and name the program. Group Four, you’ve got invoices that need to be finished and sent to the finance department. I am working on getting two accounts for September, so gear up and be ready, Groups Two and Four. That’s all.”

Everyone rises from their seats and leaves the meeting room. I take a deep breath.

When I get to my office, LaShawn is waiting by the door. “Mr. Alston, can I speak with you a moment?”

“Sure.” I open the door and allow her inside. She stands at the desk. She looks worried about something, but I can’t detect exactly what’s bothering her.

LaShawn is the same age as my sister. She got a late start on her education and is a sophomore at Texas Woman’s University, which is about an hour’s drive from here. All I really know about her personal life is that she has a daughter and is raising her alone. But I think it’s great that she overcame all that unwed-young-mother hoopla, and still decided to get back in school.

She stares at the picture of Adrian on my desk; then she looks up at the photo of Adrian and me that sits on my bookshelf. We were in Mexico and we both have on these huge straw hats. It’s my favorite photo.

“I … I … uh, just wanted to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with Group Three.” Something is bothering her, but she looks like she’s going to confide in me, so I wait.

“Miss Denton, you are one of the brightest interns I’ve seen come through here. You have earned this position. There’s no reason to thank me.”

She stands in an awkward position, and I notice she’s still looking at the picture of Adrian.

“Do you know my girl Adrian?”

“Uh … yeah.” She looks down at her shoes, a slight smile on her face. “She helped me to see how precious life can be when things are put in their perspective order. This all went down during my pregnancy.”