Authors: Sasha Campbell
Scandals (6 page)
8
Robin
I had a long night at the club and wished whoever was ringing my doorbell would get the hell off my porch.
We had a porno star on the stage last night and the club was packed. I made a grand in two hours, then met Chris once again at Motel 6. I knew once he sampled my goodies, he wasn't gonna be able to stay mad for too long. I officially added him to my list of sponsors.
I rolled over onto my stomach and was getting ready to doze back off when I heard the doorbell again. “Dammit!” I dragged myself out of bed and went downstairs to the door. When I looked through the peephole all I could do was groan. If I had a choice I would have pretended I wasn't home, but unfortunately he'd know I was avoiding him.
Mumbling profanities under my breath, I disarmed the alarm and yanked the door open. “Could you at least have waited till I got some sleep?” I snapped.
“Listen, I told you I'd give you until Sunday to think about it, but now we need to talk.” Trey brushed past me and moved over to the couch. As soon as he took a seat, he looked over at me and grinned. “Damn, boo. You always greet yo men like that?”
He was eyeing me lustfully from head to toe until it finally dawned on me I was wearing nothing but a sports bra and string bikinis. “There ain't no shame in my game,” I mumbled. One thing I was confident about was my body. “I'll be right back.” I turned on my heels and swung my hips slowly up to my bedroom, making sure he got an eyeful. Hey, what can I say, I'm a naturally born flirt. Everyone wanted me, so why would he be any different?
I grabbed a robe and slid on a pair of pink slippers and went into the bathroom. I looked a hot mess with my hair all over my head and slobber on the side of my face. Damn, I was slipping. I wasn't at all interested in cutie pie, but I couldn't stand for him to see me looking less than fabulous. By the time I cleaned myself up, ran a comb through my hair, and headed back down to the living room, Trey was nowhere to be found.
“I'm in here!” I heard him call from my kitchen. I walked in to find him making coffee. “Sorry, I haven't had mine yet. Thought we both could use a cup this morning so we can talk,” he explained with a sexy little grin.
Sighing, I took a seat at the breakfast bar. Friday after he'd showed up at my house with my nephew, I ranted and raved and made Trey take Kyle back home with him after I promised that he could come back on Sunday so we could discuss it. Damn, time flies.
“Where you keep the mugs?”
I pointed to the cherry cabinet near the stove, and while his back was turned, I leaned back on the stool and took a moment to check him out. I ain't gonna lie, Trey was like a well-seasoned pork chop, ready to be sucked. He wasn't just fine, he was succulent. He was rocking a cream shirt and tie and a pair of black slacks that hung low on the hips of a sensational athletic body. He was a little older than me, probably thirty, which was a good thing because I preferred my men older, not that I was planning to date him or anything, but if I were, he would definitely be my type. He carried two mugs to the breakfast bar, then lowered onto the stool on the end.
“So what's up? You give what we talked about any thought?” His gorgeous hazel eyes were locked on mine, waiting for an answer.
It was hard to focus with him looking so serious. “I haven't had a chance. It's not easy to think when I got a G-string flossing my ass.”
He chuckled. “And when you planning to do that? I told you I was coming back today to talk.”
“I was busy.” I rose, grabbed the sugar dish and a carton of milk and carried them over, then returned to my seat. “I've got more important things to be worried about.”
“More important than family?” He clearly didn't understand. “Have you even checked on your sister?”
I paused because for a second there he was about to make me say something I might regret. “Why would I do that? Look, Trey ... me and Deena ain't close. I'm serious. We haven't talked in years.”
He nodded. “I understand. But someone has to take care of Kyle.”
As far as I was concerned, that person was him. I mean, come on. He had a lot of nerve. Who did he think he was, showing up at my doorstep to drop off some kid I knew nothing about? I'd promised to give keeping the little crumb snatcher some thought. Well ... I thought about it a full two minutes, and the answer was still no. “Listen ... I'm not used to being around kids. I work four nights a week and I don't have anybody to watch him.”
“Okay ... how about I watch him for you on the nights that you work?” Trey was being sincere, and that's what made refusing even more difficult. What would Robin Sharice Douglas look like with a kid hanging around? Somebody might make a mistake and assume he was mine. I brought the mug to my lips and took a generous sip. Damn, I didn't think my coffee ever tasted that good before. If that muthafucka could make love as good as he made coffee, someone was gonna be one lucky chick.
“Tell me ... why you care what happens to him?” I asked when he looked up from his mug at me. “What's a grown man doing hanging out with a four-year-old anyway?”
“I volunteer for the Big Brother/Big Sister program,” he said, then shrugged. “I want to make a difference in some kid's life.”
Something about the way he said that sounded so damn sexy, it made my coochie clench. “So whatcha do when you're not hanging out at the playground?”
“I see you got jokes.” He laughed and I took a moment to take in his pretty dimpled smile. “I manage a soul food restaurant on Jefferson Davis Highway.”
“No shit.”
He nodded. “Yeah, Mama Lee's. It's been in our family for years.” He took a sip and I watched him staring at me, checking out my face and hair. Like I had said before, he wouldn't be able to resist all this sexiness. “So what's up? We gotta figure out how to keep Kyle's life together until his mom gets out. I'm willing to do whatever I can to help.”
He was really making it hard for me to say no. The last thing in the world I wanted was a kid cramping my style. Other than catching HIV, motherhood was the other reason I practiced safe sex. “Trey, seriously, I don't do kids. He's my sister's problem, not mine.”
“Yo, regardless of what you think of Deena, Kyle is your nephew and you're the only family he's got.”
Why in the world is this happening to me?
Some people were cut out to be mothersâunfortunately, I wasn't one of them.
Some people were cut out to be mothersâunfortunately, I wasn't one of them.
“So tell me ... What's your story?” he asked between sips, changing the subject.
“What do you mean, what's my story?” I didn't like the way that sounded. Why I gotta have a story?
He shifted on the stool and I noticed his large thigh muscles move beneath his pants. “You and your sister ... I'm trying to understand why you hate her so much.”
“That's really none of your business. Just trust and believe, I have my reasons.”
He held his hands up in surrender. “Hey, I was just asking.”
“Why you care so much anyway?”
He shrugged. “Deena is cool people and I like Kyle. He's a good kid, just got a bad break.”
I didn't want to care but I asked anyway.“Bad break, how?”
“You really don't have any idea what's been going on in your sister's life.” He gave me a look like he felt sorry for me. Fuck that. The person he needed to be feeling sorry for was Deena, not me.
“I told you I didn't. I haven't spoken to my sister in years.” I didn't mean to have an attitude, but damn. What's it gonna take for him to understand?
“That's a shame,” he mumbled under his breath, then took a sip of his coffee while he stared at me over the top of the mug. His sexy eyes met mine and I felt my nipples getting hard. Thank goodness I was wearing a thick robe. “One evening, about two years ago, Deena and Kirk was on their way back with Kyle after going to get ice cream. Someone pulled up beside them, shot Kirk in the head, and blew his brains out. They haven't caught the dude yet. Anyway, Kyle saw everything. He's been seeing a counselor ever since. Deena said he hasn't been the same since he lost his father. So she'd hoped by having a male role model in his life, he would get over losing him.”
Hearing that my sister cared about someone other than herself was hard for me to believe. She didn't care enough about me, so why would she care about someone else?
“Anyway, he and I hang out once a week. I take him swimming. . . out to eat ... sometimes we just go to the park and toss the ball.”
Trey was so fine. It was weird to think of him giving up his time to spend with a kid that wasn't even his. “Why? I'm sure you got better things to be doing with your life.”
“Sure I do, but like I said, I'm giving back. My father died of a heart attack when I was ten years old. That was the hardest thing ... growing up without a father. No one was there to show me how to become a man. My mother tried to fill both shoes, but there are just some things a woman can't teach a boy. Anyway, I hate to see Kyle grow up without a positive male role model.”
I leaned forward on the breakfast bar and stared him dead in his pretty eyes. “And you think you're positive?”
“Hell yeah, I do.” He licked his lips and I felt my lower region quiver. Goodness, that dude was hazardous to my health. He was probably right about being a positive role model because he was definitely doing positive things to me. “What do you do at the restaurant?” I asked, trying to get my hormones under control. Like I said before, he was cute, but I wasn't looking for a relationship.
His brow rose. “What you mean, what do I do? I throw down in the kitchen,” he replied with his chest stuck out proud.
“Really? You don't dress like any chef I know.”
“What's a chef supposed to look like?” He laughed. “I cook, but I mainly handle the financial end of the business. My sister and mom do the majority of the cooking, and my brother is the king of the ribs.”
Shit, I was getting hungry. “Damn, so it's like that? Some all-in-the-family type shit.”
“Trust me ... we bust our asses and the hours are long, but we've been in business for almost twenty years. You need to come down and check us out.”
I had to smile. “I guess I will.”
Trey stared at me for a moment and my mind started racing with possibilities. “So, what's your story? What's a sexy female like yourself do for a living?”
Any other time I would have thought a brotha was throwing me a line, but something about his eyes said he was keeping it real. “I'm a stripper.” I waited to see if he batted an eye. Trey barely blinked.
“Hey, whatever it takes to pay the bills, and looking at this place I can tell it pays quite well.”
Tilting my head at him, I replied, “You're different. Most men either try to fuck me or act like I got herpes when I say I'm a stripper.”
Trey threw his hand up. “Nah, handle your business, Ma. I'm in the business of making money.”
I liked him. I didn't want to, but I did.
“So, what's up with Kyle? You gonna take him or not?”
I released a heavy sigh. “Trey, I don't do kids,” I whined. “Never have. Also, he'll cramp my style. I sleep all day and work all night.”
“Like I said before, I'll watch him on the nights you are working. I live over in Glen Allen, so I'm not that far away.”
He was trying to make it hard to resist. But I just couldn't imagine myself with a kid 24/7. What in the world would we talk about? And then I would have curfews, bath time, and grocery shopping. Who the hell wanted to do all that?
I drummed my fingers against my lips like I was seriously thinking about the bullshit situation my sister had put me in. “Listen ... I have men over at all hours of the day and night. That's not the type of environment a kid should be around.” One of my cardinal rules was to never shit where you sleep, so I never brought a nigga back to my crib, but Trey didn't need to know that.
He took a deep breath, probably growing annoyed. “So what you saying?”
Hello! Is he not hearing me?
“I'm saying I don't know how I'm gonna do it,” I answered quickly in defense.
“I'm saying I don't know how I'm gonna do it,” I answered quickly in defense.
“Do you have any other family that can take him?”
I rolled my eyes because he already knew the answer to that. “You know I don't.”
Trey rose from the stool and carried his mug over to the sink. “Then I guess I'll have to call DFS and see if they can find somewhere for him to stay until his mama gets outta jail.” He cleared his throat. “I don't mind helping, but I can't do it all on my own.”
While he rinsed out his mug I thought about what he said, and just thinking about Kyle going to foster care made me sweat. I wouldn't wish that kind of life on anyone. Nobody at all. I still had scars to prove it had been a painful life. As much as I didn't want a little kid hanging around, there was no way I could let my nephew go into the system. Been there, done that shit, and I'd be damned if I let someone else's head get fucked up behind it.
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