SHARIECE
I tossed and turned all night, sleeping for only an hour at a time. It wasn’t fair to Emjay to allow my insomnia to keep him from losing sleep, so I got up, went to the kitchen and made myself some warm milk. I’m probably the only woman on the planet who drinks the stuff, but it’s the only thing that helps me sleep. I sat down in front of the TV with chocolate chip cookies and watched a late-night, early-morning episode of The Closer. I hoped it would be enough to get my mind off that damn video, but all I did was worry even more, thinking about my job, my reputation. My life was suddenly spiraling out of control. The thought of Rochelle seeing that video, or worse, having my students see it, made me sick to my stomach. Emjay says I should remain positive, but how in the hell can he stay calm in a time like this? I stand to lose a hell of a lot more than him. I could get fired while he would be praised for fucking his English teacher. My hands perspired to the thought of meeting this sick fuck who had videotaped us. I went back to bed after drinking half a glass of the milk I had made. I had another four hours of sleep left before Emjay got up for class. I decided that I was going to call in, and have Kalisa, the receptionist, cancel my morning classes. There was no way in hell I would have been able to teach thinking about that video. I’d tell her I came down with something.
I glanced at the clock on the nightstand table that read 10:36. The aroma of bacon stirred me awake. I managed to drag myself downstairs where Emjay stood over the stove in a pair of boxers, flipping pancakes. He looked so cute in his blue flannel boxers.
“Good morning,” he said.
What was so good about the morning when my life was falling apart?
“Is there any coffee?”
“Yeah, I just made some.”
Emjay could make the hell out of some coffee for someone who was all of twenty-two years old. I grabbed a coffee mug out of the cabinet above the counter and poured. “How did you sleep?”
Was he serious? “Is that a trick question? You didn’t feel me tossing and turning all night?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t want to bother you, knowing that you had to be up for class today.”
Emjay forked bacon out of a frying pan and laid the crispy strips onto a paper towel onto a plate.
“I slept for maybe an hour at a time. My head was too busy swimming for me to get any real sleep.”
“I heard you go downstairs last night,” Emjay said as he placed a plate of pancakes in front of me. “Are you okay? Is there anything I can do?” he asked, caressing my elbow.
“Baby, I wish. I think once I get through this semester, the holidays will give me a chance to rest up from everything.”
I desperately wanted to tell Emjay what was going on, but knew that I would only make things worse for both of us if I got him involved in my mess. Whoever this person was, I had to deal with him on my own.
“So I had lunch with an old friend of mine at lunch yesterday.”
“Really? Who?”
“My boy, Dash. I hadn’t seen him in months and we talked, caught up on stuff. I told him that I met somebody.”
“Did you tell him about us?” I asked, wiping sleep out of my eyes. I could tell by the sly, giddy look on Emjay’s face that he had talked about me.
“Jesus, Jay, I thought we both agreed that we would talk first before telling other people about our relationship.”
“Baby, Dash has been a good friend of mine since high school. Trust me when I tell you he can keep a secret. He’s not going to tell anyone.”
The smell of eggs was making me sick to my stomach. “It’s tough enough to deal with Leandra knowing, and we still don’t know if she will say anything to Rochelle.”
“If Mama was going to do anything to us, she would have done it already. She knows that she would risk losing me if she tried something against you.”
I had quit smoking a year ago, but I was in dire need of a cigarette.
“So Dash wants me to come to Black Dog Cafe and read some of my poems. He said he would love to meet you, and I would love to show you off.”
“What do I look like, a prize pony you won at the fair?” I regretted my words as soon as I let the last word tumble from my lips. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
“Are you sure everything is okay?”
“I told you I just have a lot of stuff going on at work.”
“We don’t have to go if you don’t want.”
“No, you haven’t seen your friends in a while; you should go, have fun.” Emjay sighed, disappointed that he couldn’t show me off as he put it.
“Rain check then, I guess.”
“Absolutely. You know I’ll make it up to you.”
“I can think of a few ways you can make it up to me right now.” Emjay pulled me close to kiss me, pushing his tongue past my lips. “Jay, as much as I want to, I have a class in an hour.”
“An hour is all I need.” He slid two fingers along my nipples that were enough to get me wet. He fingered the spaghetti straps of my nightgown off my shoulders, powder-pink satin grazed against my breasts. The moment he slid a finger past the lips of my pussy, I was officially caught in Emjay’s rapture. My gown collapsed off my shoulders, past my thighs to my feet. Emjay cleared the kitchen table of half-eaten plates of pancakes and set them in the kitchen sink before he smeared me onto the table. He yanked his flannel boxers down around his bubble butt, exposing nine, thick hung inches that was more than anxious to explore my sweet spot. I let loose a soft gasp as he slid his dick inside me. Being so busy with school, and all the crazy-ass drama with Leandra and this video, I forgot how good Emjay’s dick felt. Sometimes some good dick is all a girl needs to take her mind off things. Emjay kissed me with a sweet passion that only he could commence as he thrust inside me, filling me with inch after hard, tender inch. From sucking the lobes of my ears to my chocolate chip nipples, it was like Emjay knew all the right buttons to push on a woman to make her toes curl. The kind of head game he put on my clit, was enough to give me pussy spasms. Yeah, I’ve had my share of deep-dick love-making, but Emjay is the first to ever tap my pussy right from front to back. He fucked me like a porn star. I figured it was what I deserved for leaving him sex starved for days on end. Men like Emjay needed to get a nut at least three days a week and Emjay’s dick was looking a bit ashy. He dicked me until we both came in an earth-shattering orgasm. The best kind of sex was the kind that always took place outside of the bedroom. The kitchen table, the kitchen floor, the shower, giving him car head every now and again while he drove home.
We lay there for a while in our own juices before we managed to pry our buck-naked bodies off the kitchen table to head upstairs to shower.
“What class do you have today?”
“Western Civilization, Algebra 2 and this bullshit Positive Living class. The easiest class I have this semester.”
“So what’s the story with your friend, Dash?”
“We’ve been boys since elementary school. We lost touch for a couple of years when his moms moved on the North Side of town, so he could go to Godby High School, ’cause she didn’t want him going to Rickards on the South Side.”
“Rickards though, has gone from a D-list school to A-List. It’s nowhere near as bad as it was back in the nineties.”
“Tell Dash’s mom that, but it was cool, ’cuz we kept in touch through e-mails and Facebook. You’ll get a chance to meet him. He’s a cool guy and an amazing poet.”
“Speaking of that, have you been working on any new material?” I asked.
“I’ve had a few ideas, but nothing solid. I have a couple of things going, which is what I wanted to ask you. Do you think you could maybe read over some of what I have? I’d like your opinion on what I have so far.”
“Sure, baby. I would be honored.”
“Dash wouldn’t let me leave yesterday until I told him that I would come out and hang.”
I thought about what Emjay said about getting me to come out. “You know what, I see how important this is to you, so let me see how my workload is looking at the college. I think I may be able to free myself up to attend the reading.”
“Really? What about what you said about us being careful and us being seen in public together?”
“Well, I see how much this means to you. Besides, I would love to hear you read.”
“You’ll get a kick out of Dash. The two of you have a lot in common.”
“The way you talk about him, I like him already. What time is the poetry reading?”
“Dash told me that it starts at like eight o’clock, but you know those things never start on time, so how about I meet you there a little before eight—that way you can meet Dash, Brent and Chadae.”
“We can grab something to eat before the reading if you want.”
“I’m down for whatever as long as you’re there,” Emjay said before he kissed me.
“I know this might be an uncomfortable subject right now for you, but have you thought about maybe inviting Leandra?”
“I have, but I don’t know. I mean, I’ve tried calling Mama, but she never answers the phone. I leave messages, but she doesn’t return my calls, so I don’t know what else I can do. I doubt she would show up anyway.”
“I don’t know, Jay. Sometimes people will surprise you.” Emjay sighed like he wasn’t sure what to do about the state their relationship was in. “At the end of the day, it’s up to you.”
“I’ll think about it. Honestly, I would like it if it was just you and me, you know? I would like the night to go off without a hitch, and not have to worry about Mama kicking up drama.”
“I don’t blame you on that. Whatever you decide to do, I support your decision.”
Emjay and I kissed each other before we divided off to get in our cars.
“Don’t work too hard,” Emjay said.
“Give them hell in that Positive Living class.” I smiled.
As I drove off, my palms started to sweat to the thought of meeting the person who had caught Emjay and me on camera.