21. Harlem
HARLEM
A COMMUNITY AFFAIR
The music was jumping, the kids were exhausted but still running around with balloons tied on their wrists, faces painted, and something sugary and sticky smeared on little hands and mouths.
The teens were walking around in friend groups, either chatting and laughing or flirting with members of the opposite sex.
The senior adults walked around with approving smiles and every now and then would stop one of the younger kids to correct behavior.
The initial two hours we reserved for haircuts had turned into four hours, but it was worth it.
All the business owners had shown up, except for the drycleaners and the liquor store, to celebrate in the community.
Baby and Mrs. Vanessa had both donated some alcohol for the adults for the celebration later tonight. Mrs. Vanessa’s husband, Bill, and his brothers were overseeing the disbursement of alcohol.
“Hey, Paul. Hey, bae,” Baby greeted, walking up to where I stood in front of the antiques shop talking to the owner, Paul Davis.
“Hi, Miss T. Thanks for the extra cupcakes you sent down. Mildred told me to tell you thank you, and the next time, you should send my extra to her,” Paul stated. He laughed and Baby laughed with him.
“I will be sure to send her extra, and I’ll make sure you still have one set aside. How about that?” she asked.
“As long as it came from your bakery, we can’t go wrong,” Paul stated.
“Thank you. Bae, it’s almost time for the fireworks show,” Tegan announced, turning her attention to me.
“Cool. I’ve already had JC to take our chairs down when he took his down. You ready?” I asked, taking her hand in mine.
“Yeah, babe.”
“See you at the park, Paul,” I stated just as the deejay announced over the intercom that everyone should head down to the park for the fireworks display.
I lifted our clasped hands to my lips and kissed her knuckles. “This was a great success today, bae.”
“I know. Thank you so much for taking this and running with it.”
“You did all the work, girl.”
“No. You kicked it all off, and it took flight from there.”
I squeezed her closer to me as we walked down the street, and groups of people followed our lead, doing the same. Not only had we given away lots of free service today, but it had resulted in actual sales and new customers for all the stores.
People stopped in the gift shop and bought an item or two.
Patrons who hadn’t made it in time for the free haircuts still paid to get their hair cut anyway and asked for a business card for future appointments.
Baby received customers in the bakery, who purchased whole cakes and other items that weren’t freebies.
That had been the story for the other business owners as well.
They hadn’t all come to the event at the very start.
Some of them had prior obligations to tend to and they arrived later in the afternoon, while others had to cut out early.
There were plenty of business owners who had been here from the start of the day until the end.
“There’s our seats over there,” she remarked, pointing in the distance where some of our friends and staff sat.
“You hungry?” I asked, pointing at the line for the funnel cakes, popcorn, and cotton candy.
She laughed and shook her head. “I’ve had more than my fair share of food. With all I’ve eaten today, I need to be in Palmer’s class every day, twice a day for the next three weeks.”
I smacked her on the ass and chuckled. “Shut up with your fine ass. You ain’t hurting nobody by eating an extra cupcake or two and all those grilled dogs you chowed down on.”
“Oh my God! You saw me?” she asked, her light eyes brightening even more in embarrassment.
“Hell yeah. Couldn’t take my eyes off your fine ass all day long.”
“I’m so thankful that I chose to close the bakery tomorrow. I’m exhausted, and I’ll need the extra sleep.”
“You’re the one who decided to work on a holiday,” I pointed out.
“It didn’t feel like work at all,” she countered as we took a seat in our chairs.
“It really didn’t, Harlem,” Raque spoke up when we sat down in the middle of our friends.
“Thank you all for doing that today. It meant a lot to me, to the community, and just everyone,” Baby declared.
“We think it’s an awesome idea. That’s the same thing that I told Harlem when he called and asked if I wanted to be a part,” Stephanie remarked.
“It just could not come together without you all. Harlem, don’t forget to get those items,” Baby stated, reminding me about the thank-you gifts.
“Yeah, give me a second.” I stood, Eli followed me, and we walked to the parking lot where our cars were. We grabbed some boxes and returned to our little group and sat in the middle of them.
“What’s that, boss man?” Monte asked, bobbing his head at the boxes.
“This is our little thank you for your support today. It didn’t go unnoticed that you all pitched in at the last minute without complaint,” I explained as Eli and I ripped the boxes open with our pocketknives.
“I enjoyed it. We had so much fun,” Thérèse stated.
“We should do this every year,” Kori Jones, one of Baby’s wine attendants, proclaimed.
I got my box opened first, and I passed out the first bottle of Premium Edition Sexton Bourbon.
“This is for us?” Kira Jakes, Baby’s assistant baker, asked.
“Hell yeah. JC and Isaac, y’all better tell ’em how we turn up,” I stated, chuckling as Eli and I both pulled more bottles out and passed them around until they were gone. Once those were gone, we passed out $400 gift cards to Dawson Castle’s Steakhouse.
“Damn, these ain’t cheap gifts,” Warren, Baby’s pastry chef, declared.
“We don’t do shit cheap around here,” I declared. “But we appreciate you all like that.”
“Thank you, man,” Isaac declared.
“Thank, my girl here. It was her idea to give out gifts for your day of service,” I explained.
They all took turns thanking Baby just before the fireworks started. It was right on time, too, because my ass was getting hornier than a muthafucka. I stood and pulled her out of her chair.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“We’ll see y’all later. We’re heading closer to the action,” I lied, and I bobbed my head toward the other side where the activities were set up at.
In reality, we walked to the far side of the park. I had already asked Eli to take care of our chairs and things so that she and I could have some private time.
“What’s this about?” she asked when we walked upon a basket and a cooler.
I opened it, removed two blankets and the wineglasses, and I removed the bottle of wine from the cooler.
“This is about as much as I enjoyed today, I missed my woman.” I opened the wine bottle and poured some into our glasses.
“We got to spend time together, babe.”
“Sporadically and not like I would have wanted to. This is our time,” I expressed, pulling her down on my lap. I covered our laps with the blanket, and I nuzzled her neck.
“That sounds romantic.”
“Mm-hmm,” I murmured against her ear as I licked the shell of it.
“What are you doing?” she asked, giggling and leaning her head to the side so that I could kiss her neck.
“Exactly what you want me to do.”
“So, you’re going to do what I tell you to do?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Mm.” She moaned and grabbed my hand. When she slid it underneath the blanket, my fingers easily found the hem of her sundress and tugged it upward.
“Is this what you wanted?” I asked, nipping her shoulder and tracing the lace at the edge of her panties.
“You’re getting close.”
“How about this?” I asked, sliding her panties to the side.
“Mm, much closer,” she whimpered, spreading her legs apart.
My fingers circled her clitoris and gently tugged. “You like the way this feels?”
“That’s real nice, bae. More.”
“How about this?” I asked, plunging two fingers inside of her.
“More.”
I slid a third one inside and rubbed her clitoris with my thumb. “You’re greedy, dulzura.”
“Because all I—mmm, Harlem.” She gasped as I scissored her pussy, and the first explosive firework burst in the sky in an array of red, white, and blue.
Her ass rose from my lap, and her hips circled as she arched her back. She was wet, and when the loud boom of the fireworks dimmed down, I could hear her pussy suctioning my fingers deeper still. I pulled them out, and she gripped my wrist.
“It’s okay, dulzura. Calm down. Just wanna taste you, ma.”
I sucked my fingers clean before I returned them inside of her warm, sticky nectar and played around some more.
“Thought you were supposed to be telling me what to do,” I whispered as she moaned, and her body shook.
The humidity of the night closed us in, and the cheers of the crowd on the other side of the park blended in with the fireworks. None of that mattered to us, though. We were in our own personal fireworks show, shooting off sparks that were incomparable.
Baby gripped my wrist again, and she lifted her ass once more.
She fucked my hand so hard that I could barely move it.
She had one arm stretched up, gripping the back of my neck.
Her breasts jutted into the dark air, but every time the fireworks went off, I could see her nipples poking against her yellow, cotton sundress.
She was a sight to see as sweat beads formed at her temples, and her hair became plastered against her face. The humidity and the pleasure that I brought her turned her cheeks red, and her freckles stood out in the dark of the night anytime the fireworks went off.
Baby’s lips were parted, and her warm breath was a sweet caress against the side of my face as she turned her head toward me and moaned. “I’m cumming, Harlem.”
“That’s fine, dulzura. That’s all I want is to see you come apart for me. This is all about your pleasure tonight. Give me what you need to give, and I promise that I’ll be back for more as soon as we get home.”
She squeezed her legs around my hand, humped hard and fast, and within seconds, my entire hand and wrist was coated in her juices. I waited until she calmed down, released the tight grip her thighs and pussy had on my hand, and then I pulled my hand free.
I sucked my fingers clean and licked my wrist as well. Baby laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“You! You’re so damn freaky. Your wrist, bae?”
“Shit! Why not? I don’t believe in letting prime pussy juice go to waste.” I licked my wrist again to show her exactly what I meant.
I watched as she stood and removed her panties from underneath her dress.
“You’re going commando, dulzura?”
“Might as well. You ruined these.”
I reached up and snatched them from her hand.
“What are you gonna do with them?”
“Keep them around in case I need a hit of you in the middle of the day, and I can’t get to you.”
She shook her head and laughed. “You’re so damn nasty.”
“Come here and sit on this hard dick. You love ya nasty boy,” I replied, pulling my dick free of my shorts.
She gathered her dress in her hand, repositioned herself, slid down my erection, and settled her back against my chest. I wrapped an arm around her as I slowly pumped up inside of her.
My movements weren’t fast, and my drive wasn’t erratic.
I took my time stirring her juices up again, pushing her to the point of delirium, and sending myself to the brink of insanity.
Our sex was slow in the heat of the late night, on the other side of the park, all alone, underneath a large sycamore tree. She rode me slow and long as I thrust deep in a leisurely manner.
I kissed along the nape of her neck as my hand went to the front of her neck and slowly squeezed. She moaned, whimpered, shook, and pleaded as I drove our body temperatures past the boiling point.
By the time we came, we had been holding on for longer than I thought possible. Her body shook, and she released a shrill cry as I dropped my head back, and a barbaric sound ripped from my throat. We were both oblivious to the heat of the night and the piercing sounds of the fireworks.
I held her closer and kissed her neck as the oxygen worked its way back into our lungs.
“Thank you for this, Harlem. Thank you for everything. Today has been the best.”
“And there’s still more to come.”
I could only think about what I had planned for her for Labor Day. Until then, I would continue to make her dreams come true. She was everything I wanted and needed in life, and whatever I had to do to make her happy was so worth the sacrifice.