Chapter 19 #2
Even with everything going down, I was determined not to miss my move-in date at Matsumoro Tribeca.
Every day I’d grind for twelve hours in the office, then go home and pack for another hour or so.
Within ten days, I’d hired a man with a van and was ready to go.
That Saturday, Teresa, Sofie, and Denyse came to Brooklyn to help me move.
“Girl, this is how you know we love your ass,” Teresa said, leaning against the wall of my Brooklyn apartment building and brushing crumbs off her hands.
We’d just taken my television down to the van and were splitting a huge peanut butter cookie as our reward.
I was fast discovering that on moving day, all your belongings mysteriously multiply like hamsters or gray hairs—and one man with a van was not nearly enough.
If my girls had not come to my rescue, I never could have finished.
“I know it,” I said gratefully as Sofie and Denyse emerged from the doorway, carrying my coffee table between them.
“I know you lazy bitches aren’t taking a break,” Denyse called out as she and Sofie struggled to the curb.
Teresa rolled her eyes while I laughed. “I was bribing our girl with a cookie so she wouldn’t bug out,” I yelled back.
Denyse walked over, wiping her moist forehead. “I am sweating out my perm for you, heffa,” she wheezed, joining Teresa against the wall.
“I know, I know.” I passed her a chocolate-chip cookie. “You love me, but I had better name my firstborn after you.”
“Shoot, forget the name. I’ll take some cash.” Denyse laughed and passed half her cookie to Sofie, who was now leaning next to her.
“She doesn’t have enough money to pay me for this,” Sofie said, shaking the dust out of her hair. “You seriously couldn’t throw out your manga collection that I just hauled down to the van in the world’s heaviest box?”
“But I’ve had some of those books since I was in junior high,” I said as all three of them groaned.
“Um, so?” Teresa said through a mouthful of cookie. “You’re only going to throw them into your big-ass walk-in closet and forget they exist.”
“Oh, leave her alone,” Denyse said, laughing. “It’s not her fault she’s got weird taste.”
“Wait a minute now, Marcus Garvey. I’ve never complained about your five-hour lectures on financial literacy and keeping wealth in the Black community.”
“Nikki’s got a point there.” Teresa suppressed a laugh.
“I still don’t understand why we aren’t moving you into Joseph’s apartment,” Sofie said as she tightened her ponytail holder.
“Girl, what are you talking about? He was such a tool!” Teresa exclaimed, then clapped a hand over her mouth.
“And I still can’t believe Teresa held her tongue all those years,” Denyse said with a side-eye.
“You think all good guys are tools, Teresa.” Sofie wasn’t ready to let it go.
“I do not!” Teresa protested. “I just get bored easily.”
“You have the sexual attention span of a toddler,” Denyse chimed in.
“Weird analogy, Dee.” I crinkled my nose. “I think she’s more like one of those insects that eats their mate.”
Sofie tapped her forehead, searching for the word in English. “What’s it called? Oh yeah, a praying mantis!”
“Now I’ve gone from bored to straight cannibalistic!” Teresa protested.
We ignored her, giggling, and pried ourselves off the wall to go back upstairs just as the man with the van appeared in the doorway, rivulets of sweat running down his face and pooling in the hollow of his throat before slipping lower.
It was a sweltering day and he’d been hauling boxes and furniture out of my studio all morning.
At some point, he’d stripped off his shirt and was now wearing nothing above his belt but a silver Coptic cross, his thick locs swinging at his waist while he lugged two chairs to the curb.
We all nudged one another, scoping out his glistening chest and bulging biceps.
“I know you want some of that hot chocolate,” I whispered to Teresa.
“Yeah, mon,” she whispered back, twisting a curl next to her ear and jutting out a hip.
The man grinned at all of us. “We’re almost done. How about you ladies take a rest and meet me outside the apartment building in Manhattan in an hour?”
“If you insist,” I said gratefully.
“You’re sure you don’t need any help getting there?” Teresa purred.
“Nah, I’m straight, but if you want to keep me company…” He looked her up and down appreciatively.
Teresa turned to us and winked. “I’m going to head into the city with, uh…”
“Dexter,” he supplied helpfully.
“Yeah, Dexter,” she said to us, practically licking her lips. “So, I’ll see you there. Save me a sandwich.”
“How’s about I save you some Ho Hos,” Denyse said, elbowing me.
“I think she’d rather have a Ding Dong.” Sofie snickered.
“Come on, let’s grab my luggage and lock up before you bitches throw an entire Hostess factory at her.” I saluted Teresa before turning toward the front door. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, Tee.”
“Don’t hate, congratulate,” Teresa called back, blowing us a kiss and climbing into the passenger seat of the van.
Sofie, Denyse, and I waved at her as we headed back inside to have a picnic on the floor of my empty apartment. But when we pulled up to Matsumoro Tribeca in Denyse’s car a couple hours later, Teresa was standing on the sidewalk.
“What’s up, Tee?” I asked as I climbed out of the car. “Where’s Dexter?”
“Girl, he’s gone. And your stuff is unloaded already.” She looked very confused.
“Wait, how? He couldn’t have gotten all that done so quickly. He didn’t even have a key.”
“You tell me,” Teresa replied, putting both hands on her hips. “When we got here, there were three burly guys waiting for us who said they’d been hired to move you in. They’d even convinced the building manager to give them a key.”
“Shit, were they thieves?” I asked nervously, envisioning all my stuff selling on a street corner in the Bronx for thirty-two dollars.
“Hell no, I’m not that stupid. I watched them put everything away in your apartment and I got the key they had,” Teresa said indignantly, handing it over to me.
“That’s weird,” Denyse said as she and Sofie walked over. “Did you hire extra people, Nikki?”
“No, I didn’t,” I told her, now totally baffled. “Did they say who hired them?”
Teresa shook her head. “No, but you have an enormous bouquet of flowers sitting on your kitchen counter.”
Denyse and Sofie oohed and aahed as we walked through the plush lobby to the elevators, but I barely noticed because I was wondering who my fairy godmother (or -father) was.
They would have to have known when I was moving and where I was moving to.
How many people had that information? Had Barbara or Kiara hooked me up with some moving-day love?
Maybe my parents wanted to surprise me? But I didn’t think so when I saw the flowers in the apartment: four dozen perfect red roses.
“Whoa, these are amazing.” Denyse sighed when she saw the bouquet. “Someone’s got a crush on you.”
“I hope they’re not from Joseph,” I said, opening the card. I hadn’t heard from him since I’d removed my things from his apartment.
“Well? Who’s your secret admirer?” Sofie asked impatiently as I read the card.
There’s a bottle of champagne in your fridge. I’d like to open it with you later to celebrate your move but understand if you’re still not ready. Yours when you want me,
JJ
P.S. You know Biggie is my man, but tonight would be all about Tupac …
“Um, it’s from this producer I had dinner with. The guy from that night at Chakra,” I said, blushing deeply. I opened the refrigerator. Sure enough, a bottle of Cristal was chilling inside. When I turned around, my girls were clustered together, reading the card.
“Hey!” I exclaimed.
“Don’t even start,” Teresa said, waving away my protest. “You know we needed to check it out for ourselves. So, JJ is the guy you were out with the night you broke up with Joseph, right?”
“Yeah, that’s him,” I said, snatching the note from Teresa and plopping down on the sofa to reread it.
“The champagne is for real?” she asked.
I motioned with my chin toward the kitchen. “In the fridge.”
“Impressive,” she reluctantly acknowledged. “You going to call him?”
“Might,” I admitted. “You know, sometime.”
Teresa grinned at me. “Okay, Nikki. Give these guys a tour of your place so we can get out of here.”
“What are you talking about? I thought you were going to stick around for a while,” I said as Denyse and Sofie took their cue from Teresa.
“We’ll come back over the weekend to help you unpack some more, although those guys made serious progress,” Sofie said, glancing around the mostly box-free apartment.
“They even made your bed. So tonight, maybe you should relax on your own,” Denyse said, winking at me.
The three of them glanced at one another, smiling while I pretended not to see.
After a few more weak protestations, I gave up trying to get them to stay.
I showed Denyse and Sofie the apartment and the rest of the building, and they were gone within the hour.
As she left, Teresa whispered in my ear, “Have some fun, Nik. This is not the night to be concerned about rumors or reputation. Just do whatever the hell you want, for once.”
When I was alone, I surveyed the scene before me.
The movers JJ hired had unpacked the biggest boxes and put away the most obvious items. But clearly their mandate had been to get in and out as quickly as possible.
I walked around, putting away the odd sweater and fork and towel taking in my new space.
The bouquet was so big that the smell of roses chased me from room to room.
Peeling off my grungy T-shirt and jeans, I ran a hot bath with some lavender oil.
My hair was filthy, so I washed it, letting the curls spring back in, then scrubbed my skin with a loofah I’d stashed in my bathroom box.
I put on some low-slung lounge pants, a silky tank top, and perfume, then found myself sitting at a kitchen chair with JJ’s card on the table in front of me.
Yeah, the movers and flowers and champagne were a little presumptuous, but he’d gone way out of his way for me.
So what if he’d done it when he was aware I was at my most vulnerable?
I still liked that he’d taken charge. I picked up my phone and dialed his number.
JJ arrived with takeout from Nobu. To his credit, he only spared a quick glance at my braless breasts before popping the bottle of Cristal and heaping a plate with rock shrimp tempura, yellowtail sashimi, and miso cod.
After we ate, he whipped out some jojoba massage oil and dug into my back muscles that ached from packing and lifting and cleaning.
By the time he was putting on his jacket to leave, I was the one looking forward to a goodnight kiss.
I kept thinking JJ would make a move, but when he was almost at the door and I realized that he really was about to go, I touched his sleeve and shook my head. That was all he needed.
JJ pressed me against the front door he was about to open and grabbed a handful of my hair, tilting my head back and kissing the base of my neck as I melted into his hard body.
He brushed the top of my nipples until they poked through my thin top, then slid a hand under the waistband of my pants to feel a slippery welcome.
His fingers rubbed back and forth until the wetness soaked through my thong and I could barely stand.
Then he flipped me around so my ass was firmly nestled against his groin, bent my head forward, and gently nibbled the back of my neck.
Even with both palms against the door for balance, I was dizzy as I begged for more, gasping as I felt his hard dick slide inside me.
My hands balled into fists as he thrust into me.
It crossed my mind that my introduction to my neighbors might be pounding on the inside of my door mixed with our guttural moans.
But that thought quickly left my mind as one deep thrust made me explode into a million pieces.
JJ pulled his pants back on while I sank into a nearby chair, breathing heavily.
Before he left he inclined his head toward my burning pussy, looked deep into my eyes, and said, “That’s mine now, Nikki.
” Then he kissed my forehead and walked down the hallway toward the elevator without looking back.