CHAPTER TWO

You Can't Play God

Lamesha sat on the top of the bed that she shared with her boyfriend of four years, Calvin. She drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her sexy long legs. She couldn't believe what Calvin had just once again asked her. “You want to do what?”

Calvin rubbed his large flat palm over the top of his smooth head, his low-cut hairstyle made gentle waves under his hand. “Yeah, you know my boy Ricardo be doing them private sex parties.” He looked directly at her at this point. “I want to see if he can set us up for one.” He paused for a moment, a sly smile spreading across his caramel-colored handsome face. “A couple of girls for me, maybe a guy for you. See if that can get us jump-started in our sex life...you know, back on track.”

Lamesha would be the first to admit that the sex between her and Calvin had fizzled over the last year or two. In fact, for the last six months, after he was done hitting it, she'd had to go finish herself off with her vibrator. Calvin wasn't even having orgasms at all. It just wasn’t happening.

She shook her pretty head, her curly hair bouncing as she moved. “We already talked about this a billion times, Calvin. The answer's still no...you know that.”

He came around the side of the bed. “Come on baby, this might just be the thing that we need.” He placed his arms around her and pulled her into his embrace. “It might be the thing that will give us our groove back.”

Lamesha closed her eyes. She'd been with Calvin every since senior year of high school — since she was eighteen. Calvin had been her first love and she still loved him now. She'd do almost anything to please her man, because she was sure that he loved her in return.

She began thinking about most of the other guys that she knew. She was sure that as soon as the problems had started in the bedroom, they all would have stepped out on their woman and found someone else to sex. Lamesha was happy that Calvin hadn't done that to her. He'd stuck by her side and was trying to work things out with her.

He kissed her on her neck then whispered in her ear, “Please, baby...please. You know I ain't been able to get a nut in almost a year.”

Her heart wasn't into having an orgy. But she loved Calvin. Over the past two months, she'd begun to feel her resolve slipping each time he'd asked her the same question.

A frown spread across her beautiful dark caramel colored face. She knew she was about to give in. “Okay, Calvin...we can give it a try. Just this one time though, and if it doesn't work, then you'd better not ask me to do this ever again.” Her eyes met his. “And I mean never.”

Calvin jumped up from the bed, his taut muscles rippling as he pumped his fist in the air excitedly. “Oh, hell’s yeah baby..hell’s yeah! You won't regret this. I promise.” He bent down and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

As he rushed out of the room — to call Ricardo and hook up the connection Lamesha assumed — she shook her head. Somehow she knew that she was going to regret it, but she hoped with everything within her that she wasn't.

<<<<<>>>>>

The Next Day:

Lamesha sat in the food court at the East Plaza Mall with her girlfriend, Sharita. She had met Sharita when they had been in community college together two years ago. Both girls had been working on their Associate’s Degrees in business and administration. They had hit it off with a quickness and had been tight ever since.

Sharita almost sputtered her Coke out of her mouth when Lamesha leaned in and whispered to her that she'd finally agreed to having an orgy with Calvin.

Sharita dabbed at her mouth with her napkin. She cut her eyes at her friend. “Girl, are you absolutely sure about that?” She shook her head. “You know once you open that Pandora's Box, you can't shut that muthafucka back up.” She frowned. “I know all about that shit.”

Based on the fact that Sharita and her boyfriend of three years — Jarrod — participated in orgies all the time, Lamesha was sure that she really did know about it all. That's part of the reason why she was talking to her at that moment.

Sharita reached across the table and took Lamesha's hand into hers. “You know, I love you like a sister. Right?”

Lamesha nodded. “I know.”

“I don't want to see you hurt. Think hard and long before you do what you thinking ‘bout doing. Everybody can't deal with this type of lifestyle. Especially not halfway wanna-be-saved chicks like yourself.”

Lamesha nodded her head again. Then she smiled at her friend. “I understand, Sharita...thanks for the advice.”

Sharita tilted her head to the side and slit her sexy dark brown eyes. “But you gonna do it anyways, huh?”

Lamesha laughed and nodded her head, her BFF knew her pretty well. “Yeah. It was a hard call, but I done made up my mind on it.”

Sharita smiled. “Well, since your mind is made up, make sure you give me the blow-by-blow details once the deed is over with.” Sharita could feel her own self getting excited about what her girl was about to get into. She had half the mind to suggest that Lamesha and Calvin come over to her place and get their freak on with her and Jarrod instead. But she was sure that Lamesha wasn't ready for doing all that with her best friend. At least not yet, Sharita thought to herself.

Sharita grinned. After Lamesha's first orgy, she might be ready though. Sharita hadn't let on to Lamesha, but she'd been wanting to be with her girl in an intimate way for a long time. She licked her lips just thinking about it. A very long time. But she knew that her friend didn't roll like that, so she’d been leaving it alone.

Sharita pushed the sensual thoughts from her mind. “When's it going down?”

“Tomorrow night.”

<<<<<>>>>>

Ten Minutes Later:

“Mesha...is that you?”

Lamesha had almost made it out of the food court at the mall when she heard a familiar voice behind her. She turned around to see who was calling her name.

“Lamesha! Hey! It’s me. You been on my mind girl! I was just thinking about you this morning. I ain’t seen your butt in so long. What has it been? Two and a half years? Three?”

Lamesha gave her old friend, Yvette, a tiny smile. She hadn't seen the girl since the day they’d had their little discussion about Lamesha moving out of her mama's house. Lamesha was thinking ‘little discussion’ in her brain, but in reality they’d really had an argument.

Lamesha had gotten pissed off at Yvette because she'd been trying to talk her out of moving in with Calvin. In retrospect, Lamesha now kinda wished she'd listen to her ex-bestie and found some type of way to just stay at her mama's house. After all, it ain't like me and Calvin getting along too good now anyways. I'm about to have to go do some freaky ish that I don't even wanna do, just to try to keep my man happy so I can hold on to him.

Lamesha decided to push her thoughts to the side and give Yvette a genuine smile. “Hey, Vette. Yeah. Long time no see.”

Grinning, Yvette shook her head. "Too long of a time. Give me a hug, girl."

Lamesha allowed Yvette to embrace her and she hugged her back. They may have parted ways on an argument, but they had a lot of history between them. After all, they were best friends from the time they were both thirteen till the time they’d stopped speaking to each other at eighteen.

Yvette looked a lot different to Lamesha. A lot different than she had looked five years earlier. She had a classy, upscale vibe about herself, as opposed to the hoodrat one she’d been known for. Lamesha wondered what was up with that.

She didn’t have to wonder much longer because Yvette came right out with it. “God is good, Lamesha. You won’t believe all the changes he’s made in my life since we last talked.”

Oh, hell. I should've known. She’s a Jesus freak. That’s why her look is different. But I do have to admit that she looking cute though. Her style is on point — she just doesn't have her titties and butt hanging all out like she used to be doing before.      

Because of the situation she was facing with Calvin — the orgy and all — Lamesha didn’t  too much feel like hearing anybody talk about God. That would cramp her style. That would get her to really concentrating on the fact that she wasn’t really feeling what she was about to do because part of her thought it was just plain wrong.

“Uh, it was nice to run into you, Yvette, but I gotta keep it moving. I got someplace to be or Imma be late.”

Lamesha knew darn well that she didn’t have anywhere she needed to be — she was on her way home. She was just telling Yvette that to get her holy-roly butt out of her face.                    

"Oh okay, girl." Then Yvette hurried up and opened up her purse. She pulled out a business card and handed it to Lamesha. "Here's my card, boo. Call me sometime. Okay?"

Lamesha nodded her head a few times. She gave the card a quick glance, barely looking at it. But she did notice the word ‘evangelist’ and the picture of a cross. "Yeah it was good running into your, Yvette. Bye.”

As she watched her old friend walking away, Yvette frowned. She needs you Lord, she thought to herself. Things aren’t right in her life...I could tell without her even saying a word to me about it. I know you allow everything to happen for a reason. So I know it wasn't a consequence that I ran into her after not seeing her all these years. Keep and protect my old bestie, Jesus. Please put your anointing over her life. I still love her like a sister.

<<<<<>>>>>

Lamesha got into her Toyota Camry and pulled out of the mall’s parking lot. It had been good seeing Yvette, even though the last time they’d been up in each other faces, they’d cussed each other out and almost came to blows. Their boyfriends had had to pull them apart and keep them off of each other.

Lamesha shook her head. “Was losing my girl over some nigga really worth it?” She was starting to think that the answer was no. And she was also starting to think that going through with an orgy so that she could keep that same nigga wasn’t gonna be worth it either. But I love him. What else am I gonna do? I don’t want to lose my man.

Then she glanced down at the passenger seat and frowned at Yvette’s business card and the cross that was printed on it. Looking at that cross made her think about her mama. She hadn’t seen her mother in three years — not since the day she’d moved out of her house. She hadn’t called to talk to her either.

She got to thinking about God too, but she shut her thoughts about him down with a quickness. “I can’t live the way I’m living if I got Jesus on my mind.”

It took her twenty minutes to make it to the apartment that she shared with Calvin. She pulled her car into the parking lot and cut the engine. Then she laid her head back into the cloth seat and closed her eyes.

She started thinking about her past. All of her life it had been her and her mama. She’d never met her daddy...didn’t even know his name. As far back as Lamesha could remember, her mama had told her that God was her father.

I used to believe that shit, too, she thought to herself. I used to believe that God was my daddy. Then she put a frown on her face. My mama lied. God wasn’t there to tell me no bedtime stories, to tell me he loved me, to physically protect me.

But then she got to thinking about how good she’d used to feel whenever she prayed. That was a bright spot in it all. Lamesha was confused and conflicted. But she knew that she’d give anything to someday have the feeling of peace that she used to have when she used to get down on her knees and talk to God.

“Lord, what happened to those days?”

Then her cell phone began ringing. She knew it was Calvin because she had given his phone number a special ringtone. She picked up the device and answered it.

“Why you sitting down there in that parking lot, girl? I’m hungry. Come on in here and fix me some hotdogs or something.”

She didn’t even have the time to say anything in response because he’d already hung up the phone.

“I ain’t even trying to get into an argument with him tonight. I guess I betta get my butt in there and fix that man some supper.”

<<<<<>>>>>

An Hour Later:

“I need to talk to you about that stuff that’s about to go down tomorrow night, Calvin.”

Calvin normally didn’t like being interrupted when he was watching the game, but he didn’t mind this time. He was all the way down for discussing the upcoming sex party that they were going to attend.

He muted the volume on the television and dropped the remote down on the sofa. Then he began smiling and rubbing his hands together in anticipation. “Yeah...let’s talk about it.”

“I’m not gonna feel comfortable having sex with other people. I’ll go along with you, but I don’t want to participate.”

His smiled faded into a frown. “Look, you don’t have to worry about feeling comfortable. You gonna be okay. They gonna have a stocked bar there. After two or three drinks, you gone be mellow, shawty.”

He didn’t need anything ruining what was about to go down so he decided to take another approach. He walked over to her and put his arms around her waist. He smiled. “You know I keep telling you about my fetish. I want to see another guy sexing you. That shit turns me on. I know I’m gonna get my groove back on for sure with that.”

She sighed. She didn’t like his response but she felt like at least he knew how she felt about it. “Alright, Calvin. Alright.”