Ezra 14.
I shift again on the couch, unable to get comfortable. While the swelling and redness has gone down, my…undercarriage is still sensitive. I’d like to say I regret my actions leading to such a predicament, but I don’t. Not. At. All.
My Dottie in the throes of passion, riding me, taking her pleasure, using my body, hottest sex of my entire life. Anaphylaxis inducing bug bites be damned.
“Ezra.”
I smile at the concern in her voice. We’ve been on the phone for hours. I’m not a hundred percent yet, and I can’t be around her and not pounce. So, for my own safety, I’m staying home today. However, since I find I can’t live without at least hearing her speak, I laid down earlier and called and the conversation has flowed ever since. However, the longer we talk the more I can’t stop thinking about the fact I haven’t seen her naked yet. I’m in so deep and I don’t know what she looks like sans clothes. A snippet of her talking to herself outside the elevator the night we met flashes through my mind.
“I’m good, baby. I promise. Just tender.” I can’t even be mad when she chuckles. What have I become? “Why’d your nipples go AWOL?”
I grin when she splutters in my ear. “What the fuck, Chode?” Oh, damn, I think I just fell in love. “Where’s the buildup? What happened to decency?”
Laughing at her indignation, I call her out, “You just called me chode!”
“Fair’s fair.” She replies haughtily.
“Nipples McGee.” She sighs heavily. “Chode for nipples? Tit for taint? Nip pro quo?” I can hear her mind spinning over the line. “If you aren’t—”
“I’m not ashamed. It’s just…I get weird reactions when people find out.”
“Dottie. I’ll give you time for just about anything except your safety, and if you aren’t ready to discuss it with me, I understand. But don’t ever keep something from me because you think I’ll react badly. I’m not a chump like the others you’ve dated. I’m a real man.”
“Blanche, Rose, Sophia, and I are fraternal quadruplets. Meaning we aren’t identical; we didn’t share an amniotic sac. We were told that Rose and Sophia were so small because their eggs implanted after Blanche and I.” The phone muffles as she no doubt shakes her head and changes position. “My father…you know he isn’t a good man. His marriage to my mother was arranged. He refused intimacy with her. I’m not sure but I think that’s when she started to die a little inside. And throughout the entire process of fertility treatments, IVF, the pregnancy, and discovering there were four of us, there wasn’t anything left by the time we were born.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too. I don’t know what kind of woman she was before my father; she was very young and na?ve when they were married. Anyway, so while the four of us share a birthday and in theory share the same DNA, I’m the only one who carried the breast cancer gene. About 7 years ago, I found a lump under my armpit. I immediately went to my doctors, and after a whole battery of tests, it was concluded that I did not have breast cancer, but that I am very likely to develop it. I’m so thankful that my sisters didn’t have to go through any of this. I know it was hard enough for them to watch me, but I don’t think I could have handled it if the roles were reversed. They are my world.” Her breath hitches and at a loss for words I hum in commiseration to let her know I’m here for her. “I was presented with several options, but it was a no brainer for me. Chop ‘em off and fill ‘em up with something else.” I chuckle at her no-bullshit delivery. “So, I had a double mastectomy, then implants.” Her watery laugh has me sitting up on my couch. “My sisters…the brats, they organized a ceremonial burial for my breasts and nipples. Eulogy, luncheon, and all.” I laugh outright. That’s some funny shit and exactly what my family would do. “Three years ago, Blanche took me to a tattoo artist in Ohio, and he gave me nipples and a little of my dignity I didn’t realize I’d buried with the OG’s.”
“You’re fucking incredible. And so are your sisters.”
She gives me a hoarse, “Thank you. But don’t ever tell them that.” I hear her blow her nose and wish I was with her. I should have known this wasn’t a happy story. Nobody misplaces their nipples in a hilarious comedy of errors. I should have waited until I was with her so I could hold her.
“You’ve gotten away with it so far, but next time I have you, baby, I’m tracing my tongue along every curve, dip, and scar. And I’m sucking on your new nipples until you cum.”
Dot clears her throat. “Uh…I’m not sure if that’s possible, but I’m certainly up for testing it out.” There’s a beat of silence. It’s a weighted pause, I can feel her gearing up to ask something, so I wait her out. “I know…there are things that you can’t tell me. That…shouldn’t be spoken of over the phone. And I’m not asking for any secrets, Ezra. I just…who are you?”
It's a fair question. She sort of grew up in the life, but the shit show her father is running out of Miami isn’t anything like the Kosher Nostra. “When the world is overrun with monsters, to fight effectively you must become something scarier. We operate within our own code of ethics, but I promise you, we all sleep well at night.” I lean my head back and close my eyes. “I’m all in, Dottie. I know a good thing, the best thing to ever happen to me, when I see it. And, let me tell you my vision is 20/20 when it comes to you.” Her breath hitches. “Meet my family. Meet the women of the Kosher Nostra. Then make your decision about us.”
“Ezra.” She’s crying now and I feel like shit. “My heart has already decided. It’s my brain, the memories that cloud my mind, that’s where I’m stuck.”
“I’m not a perfect man. But I believe…with every fiber of my being, that I am the right man for you.”
“I’m nervous. I have spent the last 13 years of my life working hard to ensure my sisters and I thrive in technicolor. I don’t know if I can live in gray again.”
“Life is not black and white. But it doesn’t have to be gray either, Dot. I know you can live in color with me. You’ve met Ruthie.” She hums. I still can’t believe my sister-in-law went behind my back to meet her. Though, I’m grateful, because I think she helped push Dottie toward me. “She is the sweetest, most precious member of our family, but the others…they aren’t your mother, Dot. They are strong. Fierce. Capable women. The guards refer to them as the BABs.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Badass Bitches.” Her hearty laugh goes a long way to soothe me. If I’m honest, I’m nervous about tomorrow. She doesn’t know she’s coming to the family compound for breakfast, but I figure it’s like taking off a Band-Aid. Quick is best. And meeting the family in person, getting to know them is the best and quickest way to put her fears to rest. “And my cousin, she’s the ringleader and a royal pain in everyone’s ass. She’s the MOABAB.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask.”
“Mother of All Badass Bitches.”
“I like her already.”
“My family is a lot like your sisters. Drive you to complete madness, but you don’t want to imagine being without them.”
She inhales a shaky breath, “I really like you, Ezra.”
“I really like you too.” That’s an understatement.
“Open mind, open heart.” It sounds like she’s telling herself that more than me. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Bright and early.”
Now, all I can do is wait. Fucking hell.