7. Creed
Chapter 7
Creed
I ’d been back home in West Pier for almost two weeks now and it didn’t seem like my brother was going to wake up anytime soon. Since being back I’d only been up to the hospital once and that was including when I first got back. It seemed like my parents, mainly Mom, spent most of their time at the hospital and I had no desire to be around them, causing my limited time to see my brother. Nakyra made sure to keep me updated. She spent a good amount of time up there enduring my parents’ nonsense.
I had just come back to the house after spending a good amount of the day at the West Pier office on conference calls. Although I didn’t live out here, our logistics office was still based here.
My plan was to change and leave back out. I headed for the steps but paused seeing Nakyra on the couch and her hands moving quickly and fluently. She had her phone propped up on what looked like a selfie stick. I looked around and didn’t see Bella, figuring she was out back.
Leaning on the wall with my arms crossed, I watched her as she communicated with whoever was on the other end of the phone.
Nakyra finally looked up and her eyes grew once she noticed she wasn’t alone, causing a small smirk to form on my face. Pushing off the wall, I headed for the couch and took a seat next to her. The woman she was talking to looked just as surprised to see me.
“How do you sign hello? How are you?” I asked, facing Nakyra.
With confusion still plastered on her face, she moved her in the direction to show me.
Facing the phone again, I repeated the gesture with a smile. “Hey,” the girl replied.
“Oh you’re hearing?” She snickered and nodded.
“This is my cousin Summer. Summer, this is Creed,” Nakyra stated.
“Oh… so you’r e the brother. I don’t see the resemblance at all,” Summer said.
A chuckle left my mouth. “Hopefully that’s a good thing.”
“Oh, it’s a great thing. Hopefully your personality doesn’t match your brother’s either.”
“Summer!” Nakyra hissed then started moving her hands quickly.
Summer rolled her eyes and signed back. The two went back and forth for a second longer while I watched on the sideline, confused.
“Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, Creed. I’m happy my cousin has someone there with her when I can’t come around.”
“It’s all good. I’ve been enjoying hanging out and getting to know my future sister-in-law.” Leaning back I tossed an arm on the back of the couch so it was behind Nakyra.
“That’s good to hear! It’s nice to know not everyone in your family is an asshole.”
“Summer!” Nakyra shrieked while I laughed. “I’m sure you have some work to do so I’ll talk to you later.”
Summer cut her eyes at her cousin and she moved her hands in front of her. Nakyra soon responded and the two got lost in conversation. I was curious to know what they were saying. I wasn’t familiar with ASL, but Nakyra seemed at ease when she did it.
“It was nice meeting you, Creed, hopefully next time it’ll be in person,” Summer said, peeking at me. “Bye, cousin!”
“Bye!” Nakyra hit the red button and sighed. “Excuse my cousin, sometimes she forgets her manners.” Her hand raked through her braids.
“It’s all good. You two seem close.”
That gained me a small smile. “We are. She’s more like my sister than my cousin.”
I swiped my bottom lip with my thumb and peered down at her. Since staying here, Nakyra mostly had her aids in and used her voice to speak. Seeing her use ASL was interesting to me. Not like she was a sideshow or anything, but seeing how fluent she was in it and how quickly her hands moved fascinated me.
“Do you prefer ASL over speaking?”
Nakyra jumped and looked at me. “Huh?” She reached up and adjusted something with one of her aids.
“ASL, do you prefer it over speaking?”
She opened her mouth then quickly closed it. “Why do you ask that?”
I shrugged. “I just noticed sometimes it looks like you go to speak with your hands but suddenly stop. Not to mention how easily you and your cousin communicated.”
“I don’t remember being hearing, honestly. My first memories are of being deaf. Once I got the aids, it was weird to be able to hear again. Oddly, I found comfort in the silence. My parents pretty much ignored me growing up, so if I wasn’t with Summer, I was alone. Even though speaking is my first language, ASL became important to me because I was able to still express myself and still embrace my silence.”
“Does your whole family use it?”
She snorted and her eyes saddened. Her tongue swiped over her lips and she fumbled with her hands. “Summer’s the only one I have a relationship with. I didn’t start learning ASL until sixth grade. I got a bad ear infection and couldn’t wear my aids for a while. One of my teachers I was close with knew it and offered to teach me. She told me although my hearing may be gone at times, my voice shouldn’t be taken away. Summer found out and decided to learn to communicate with me when I couldn’t verbally.”
“And your parents?”
“Never saw the point in it.” With that, she stood up. “I should let Bella inside.”
Her comment caught me off guard. I didn’t come around much, but now that I thought about it, since knowing Nakyra this was the first time I’d ever met any of her family. When she and my brother first started dating, and I was around a little more before I moved, she never talked about her family and they never came around. I didn’t even know what her parents looked like.
Nakyra soon came back into the living room with Bella at her side. When she noticed me, her tail began to wag faster as she pranced over in my direction.
“Hey, girl.” I petted the top of her head, causing her to grow more excited.
“She likes you,” Nakyra mentioned.
“You think?”
She nodded. “I’m sure she likes everyone. She’s a good dog. Aren’t you, girl? Your brother was against her at first. He’s not a dog person and doesn’t really interact with her. I hate wearing my aids all the time, especially at home, and since he worked so much, it was easier for me to be here by myself and still be alerted if need be.”
Bella eventually grew bored of me and walked over to her doggy bed across from the couch and plopped down, grabbing her bone in the process.
Digging into my pocket, I pulled my phone out to check the time. “You got any plans tonight?” I wondered, standing up. I had finally gotten everything settled to go to Club Onyx and tonight was the first night I’d be attending.
“Nope, just a date with the TV.” She walked over to the couch and took a seat, grabbing her blanket and pulling it up over her legs.
I cocked my head to the side. “Don’t you have friends you can go hang out with? Since I’ve been here, all you’ve done is go to the hospital and come back home.”
“Summer’s the only person I hang out with and she has plans tonight. Plus, I’m not exactly in a social mood while my fiancé’s in a coma.”
Her last statement made sense, but still… “Understandable, but you shouldn’t just stay hidden away in the house either.”
“It’s fine. I enjoy my own company.” I studied her for a second. The couple of weeks I’d been here I’d gotten the hint that Nakyra was lonely. She always seemed to perk up when we sat and ate together or just had simple conversations like this.
“A’right, but I’ma get you out this house one of these days.”
____
Sitting at the bar I swirled the ice around in my glass as my eyes wandered around the common room I was in. Onyx, much like Scorpion, was an exclusive, membership-only sex club. The main room was set up like a club, people scattered around dancing and talking in the center. Ducked off on the sides, a few members were openly playing with one another—some having sex, some on the couches, others hidden in the cubicles on the wall, some just giving a show. The mainstage was currently empty but from what I was told sometimes workers at the club put on demonstrations of different things for couples and members to learn or experience. Members could also perform on the stage as well. One thing different from Club Scorpion was how the rooms in the back were set up. Here at Onyx they had theme based rooms where members could play with other members, rooms strictly for couples already together, and watch rooms where members could have a fantasy played out by workers and be a spectator. The rooms came in two different versions: public, where people could watch through a two-way mirror, or private, where no one could see what was going on. Club Onyx also supplied a plethora of different toys and equipment for members to utilize while here. Each room also came with a panic button, so if anyone ever felt unsafe or needed help, a staff member would be there to assist. Although condoms were provided in the common room and all the playrooms, it was required for members to upload a health screening every thirty days if they planned to stay active.
“Do you plan on playing tonight or are you just watching?” A sultry feminine voice sounded to the right of me. Bringing my glass to my mouth, I turned and faced the curvy, brown-skinned woman next to me. She wore her locs in a bun at the top of her head currently and was dressed in a halter crop top that stopped right under her full breasts and shorts that looked more like panties on her thick thighs.
My tongue swiped over my lips and I eyed her over the rim of my glass.
I finally spoke, lowering my glass. “Depends.”
A flirty grin formed on her glossed, plump lips. “On what?”
“What’s your poison?”
She lifted her wrist, showing three single wristbands—green, yellow and blue—meaning open to play, liked to be watched, and open for sex. “Just looking for a good time and to relieve some stress.”
“Preference?” I raised a brow.
“I assume you’re not a Dom because you don’t have a red wristband, which is fine with me, I’m not into all that sub stuff. I do, however, like a man who knows how to take charge still and make me cum.” Her tongue slowly dragged over her lips and her lashes fluttered.
“Hard limits?”
“No golden showers, no back door play.”
I nodded. I could work with that. We spent the next few minutes talking to make sure we were compatible. One thing about these clubs that was strictly enforced was consent and being on the same page as the person you’re going to be playing with. Tonight I wasn’t looking for sex. I just wanted to tie someone up and have some fun. The woman, Dee, I learned was fine with that. We headed to the hall that led to the back rooms. In the back were three levels. Depending on what members were interested in determined which level they would be on. I went to the table and selected what kind of play we were interested in and we were directed to the second floor, room 2B.
What made this club different from Scorpion were the identification wristbands each member had to wear inside. It was how the club kept track of members. There was a two-drink max and member wristbands had to be scanned each time they ordered alcohol to make sure they weren’t passing the limit. Also, when it was time for a private room, all parties scanned their wristbands at the tablet and also to open the door once they got to their assigned room. Onyx was big on safety. While NDAs were signed upon joining, some people had their wristbands under aliases for better protection of their identities, especially when a celebrity or high power official was involved.
Dee and I headed down the hall, with me holding her hand and leading the way. Most of the time coming to the clubs wasn’t about sex for me, but the high I got by being in control and my partner being at my mercy. That was what I needed tonight. Being back in West Pier had me on edge, and in order to help ease that tension, I needed to regain some power the only way I knew how.