Chapter 2
Instead of taking my ass home when Dos dropped me off, I went inside the club to check on things. Our club manager Stacy was on duty tonight. Stacy was a fine ass mocha chocolate sister. Her body was stacked like a bomb hand of spades. When I hired her, I was worried about Dos fucking shit up and messing with her. Come to find out she’s a lesbian. You should have seen the look on Dos' face when he saw her tonguing this bitch down. Nigga had the nerve to ask if he could get in on the action. I never laughed so hard watching him that night. Rejection wasn’t his strong suit.
The club was open for the casual dinner crowd. Things didn’t start jumping until around ten on Sunday. It was only five o’clock. But from the look of the parking lot, it was a full house. I walked through the back doors hoping no one would see me. I was wrong.
“Just the person I wanted to see,” Stacy said catching me before I could close my office door.
“What’s up Stacy?”
“I finally got the budget for the Afterparty request for the upcoming concert. You know the CB Concert.”
“Oh Yeah.”
“Well, their request I think we can meet most of it, but I’mma need you to sign off on a few things.”
“No problem. As long as it pulls in the money and security is tight, I’m game.”
“Well, I’ll have everything emailed over to you and will collect signatures tomorrow.”
“Sounds good”
“Now take your ass home Uno and stop fucking women in your office. Don’t you have a bed at home?” She joked.
“Naw. These bitches can’t know where I live. I would never have any peace.” I laughed.
“See, that’s what’s wrong with the Douglas men, that fuck’em and leave’em attitude is why yo ass is stuck here on a Sunday with nothing to do. You need a life or a wife.”
“I got a life.”
“You have a club. A Damn good one at that. A life, not really,” she said as she walked away.
Stacy was right. I needed to get some rest. I grabbed a few things from my desk and locked up my office. I made my way out the door, into the summer air and got in my black two-seater Porsche Panamera.
The hot water from the shower head pierced my skin as I stood there deep in thought. It seemed like Nana and Stacy were always pushing that marriage shit. And as much as I loved and respected both ladies’ advice, they were going to have to miss me with that shit. I had been in more than enough situations to know if my heart was getting hurt at that stage in a relationship, love was out of the question. There had only been one girl who came close to me having feelings that deep. Even that caused some problems. Naw, the single life was for me. I could always get my dick sucked and fuck some random, but repairing my heart, that was something I never wanted to go through again.
I preferred to air dry my body as I walked through my condo naked. The three-bedroom thirty-six hundred square foot apartment sat on the sixteenth floor of a downtown high rise. There were only four condos per floor giving each unit a corner view of the city. My view overlooked Lake Erie’s shoreline. My condo was decorated with modern aesthetics with a masculine vibe. Artwork adorned the walls paying homage to some of the local artists as well as some popular prints from well-known painters. The smell of mahogany coconut room freshener set the tone for a relaxing evening. I poured myself a glass of water and headed back to my bedroom when my cellphone buzzed. I looked down at the phone and noticed I had a missed call from an unknown number. There was a voicemail. I ignored the notification assuming it was a telemarketing call.
I proceeded to lotion my toned body admiring how I maintained my athletic physique years after playing sports in high school and college. At thirty-eight years old, I was probably in the best shape of my life. I hit the gym four days a week and even took a few Pilates classes for flexibility so I wouldn’t cramp up when I’m giving back shots or twisting legs into pretzels. Chicks now a days want you to wine, dine and fuck them hard. I don’t have a problem doing any of that especially serving up dick. I know for a fact that my manhood had these women acting a fool once they let me hit it. I was long enough to hit that spot deep between thighs and thick enough that you needed both hands to wrap around my meat. I been stretching coochie walls out since I was a youngin. Hell, most women couldn’t even handle taking me in their mouth all the way. Ole girl from earlier told me she could, then when she saw my girth tried to back down. Thought she was going to kiss and just suck the tip. With a little coaching she worked herself into taking me down her throat which was why I was late. It took her thirty minutes to get comfortable handling my dick. But once she got going she couldn’t stop. Just thinking about her tight wet mouth had me massaging my shit.
Just as I was about to rub one off, my cell phone rang. Annoyed I answered, “This better be a fuckin emergency!”
“Mr. Douglas, This Is Kaleida Health. Mrs. May Douglas was brought into the hospital a few hours ago. You are listed as next of kin.”
I cut the nurse off as she was attempting to explain what happened. “I’m on my way.”
I threw on some sweatpants and a hoodie. I slipped on a pair of Air Force 1’s and ran out my condo. When I got to my car, I immediately instructed Siri to call Dos. Through the car Bluetooth, I could hear the call go straight to voice mail. “Fuck!” I said hitting the car horn by mistake. I left a message letting him know to get his ass to the hospital.
Every traffic light in town must have been working in my favor. The green signaled lights allowed me to coast all the way to the hospital without having to stop for traffic. I pulled in the parking ramp and ran into the building. There wasn’t anyone waiting at the receptionist desk, but the older woman was on the phone talking. Under normal circumstances I would have shown patience. I think the look on my face told the lady to hurry up her call or at least put them on hold so she could assist me.
“Hi, how can I help you?”
“My Grandmother, May Douglas was brought in.”
“ID Please.”
I was one step ahead of her. My driver’s license was in my hand waiting to show her.
She quickly wrote my name down and handed me a visitor sticker to place on my person.
“Take the blue elevators up to the fourth floor.”
As soon as she said that I took off toward the elevators, pushed the up button and made my way to the floor where my Nana was being kept. The elevator doors opened, and I looked for room 438. The maze of rooms took me all around the floor before I came to her door.
When I arrived at the assigned room number, there was a female waiting in the room with my Nana. I couldn’t make out her face and assumed it was a nurse or even a church member that worked at the hospital and recognized my Nana. It didn’t matter. All I knew was I was here now. Kneeling down by her side brought back a flood of emotions I wasn’t prepared to deal with. The last time anyone was in the hospital that was close to me was when my parents died. My head rested on the bed. That’s when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see a familiar face from my past.
“It’s ok Uno. Nana May will be fine. I’ll let the doctors know you’re here,” the soft voice said.
I watched as she left the room. I didn’t know what to say. There was too much happening in this moment. Nana was lying there unresponsive and the one woman who literally could bring me to my knees was back. Ivy was here. Ivy Thompson was home.
The doctors came into the room. The formalities of introducing themselves seemed rehearsed and irritated my soul. All I wanted was to know what happened to my grandmother. As the monitors beeped and my eyes stayed fixed on the thin clear tubes that had been inserted into her arms, chest and nostrils, my heart ached as the doctors explained to me that she had a stroke. I heard their words and diagnosis, but it all sounded foreign to me. The beeps from the machines blurred out the conversation and made anything else seem insignificant.
“Will she be ok?”
“We will monitor her for a few days. Your grandmother is a very strong woman. We are doing everything we can to make sure she recovers. The next 24 hours are the most critical,” the neurologist stated.
My eyes stayed focused on Nana as she peacefully lay in the hospital bed.
“Mr. Douglas, can we speak with you outside?”
There must have been a look of confusion on my face. I didn’t want to leave her side.
“It’s ok Uno. I’ll be here with her.”
I looked up to see Ivy sitting in the club chair next to Nana. I had forgotten that she was here.
“It’s ok. Go.” She nodded.
I stood up and followed the doctors out of the room to continue our conversation. They discussed with me the next steps of recovery if and when Nana came to. I gave them my permission to do what they needed to do. Whatever insurance wouldn’t cover I would. The nurses needed me to sign a few documents and once I was done, I went back to the room.
We sat there in silence just watching the monitors, breaking the tension in the room when the on-duty nurses came in to check on Nana’s vitals. I would look up and occasionally see Ivy staring at me.
Ivy Thompson lived next door to Nana. She was the girl next door that we got in trouble with growing up. She was a year younger than Dos. First, she was annoying as hell, always following us around asking questions and telling on us whenever we weren’t nice to her. But as we all grew up, Ivy became the third person in our trio. She was a tomboy at heart. Rough and ready and she wasn’t afraid of anything unlike most girls her age. During the summers we would spend time together on the porch, play games and eat candy. Nana even brought her to church with us. Ivy’s mother worked crazy hours, so Nana volunteered to watch Ivy which meant she was always around. During the school years she rode the bus with us, and we made sure no one messed with her.
By the time we made it to middle school, things in the trio started to change. Ivy changed. She no longer resembled the silly dirty little girl next door. Her hair was always combed. She was taller than I remembered. She even started dressing like a girl, which was different than the tomboy look we were accustomed to. The way we played changed. She was no longer interested in playing hide and seek or cars. She would just sit on the porch and read her books. Even the way she looked at me seemed different.
When she entered high school it was the first time I saw Ivy as the young lady she was becoming. Dos noticed to. Even though we still rode the bus together and hung out at Nana’s the chemistry between all of us changed. I remember some corny dude on the basketball team was talking real fowl about Ivy. Dos caught wind of it and confronted him about it. Needless to say, Dos beat that nigga’s ass for disrespecting Ivy. That was the beginning of a long summer.
One evening as the sun was setting and all the kids on our block came out, someone suggested we play hide and get it. Dos’ nasty ass was down for anything that involved grabbing a girl’s booty. I was going to sit it out and hang back with Ivy when she chimed and said, “Can I play?”
Dos looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. Ivy looked back at me and said, “Come on Uno.” I followed along wondering if she even knew what this game was about. We all gathered in the field across the street. The girls ran and hid as the boys counted to fifty. Like the hunters we were, and with puberty hormones leading the charge we were ready to feel on some girls as we went in search of the prettiest females in the group. You could hear girls giggling as they were caught, and the boys collected their prizes in kisses, dry humps and titty feels. I was more concerned about Ivy than getting my free feels.
I searched several spots until finally I came across Ivy. She looked so innocent unlike most of the girls I knew. Playing sports and being good at it opened a new world of opportunity up for me: girls. They were throwing themselves at me left and right all hoping to be my girlfriend. Nana had warmed me about these girls. That didn’t stop me from playing with a few of them. A kiss here a finger there and for the more advanced girls a hand job. I was never the aggressor; I didn’t have to be. They were always willing to do whatever for a piece of my time. Ivy was different. Until now, I didn’t even think Ivy was into any of this stuff. Once she saw me, she pulled me into her and kissed me hard. There in the corner of the Smith’s family backdoor, between the overgrown bush and the garbage can, Ivy Thompson grabbed my dick and kissed me.
For the rest of the evening Ivy made sure we found each other and as the night cast over the city and the streetlights came on, Ivy and I kissed and fondled each other every chance we got. The last time I went looking for her I found her, but she wasn’t alone. Dos was there first, and I saw them kissing and he had his hands down her shorts, the same way I enjoyed her innocence throughout the night. The sound of Nana calling us to come sit on the porch was the only thing that broke them up. They didn’t see me, but I saw them and it was game on.
It became a challenge to me to see who could get Ivy first. I saw the way Dos started looking at her and how he behaved whenever she was around. I also knew I had feelings for Ivy. I would sneak out of the house and meet her in the back hallway of her house so we could dry hump and kiss. By the time I was a senior I had asked her to the prom. Everyone assumed we were a couple, but we never made anything official. Besides, Dos was always in the wings waiting. It was like him and Ivy had a secret language going on and anytime I walked in the room a weird silence filled the space. I asked her about it, and she assured me that nothing was going on between them. But the smirk on Dos' face told me differently.
“Uno, would you like something to drink?”
The sound of Ivy’s soft soprano voice snapped me out of my trance. I looked up at her trying to remain calm and composed as I shook my head no. She just stared at me. I felt like she could read my thoughts and knew I was replaying our history in my mind.
“I’m going to grab some water. I’ll be back,” she said, standing up and exiting the room. I heard the heavy wood door close behind her. The sounds of the monitor filled the room and allowed my mind to wander off again.
When I left for college at Alfred State University, Ivy would visit me. We went from sneaking around to being public on campus. We still didn’t have any labels, but everything about us said couple. She was a senior in high school when it happened. One weekend when she came up to visit me, while we were cozied up in my twin-size bed, our playful touching turned into something else.
“Are you sure?” I asked her.
“Yes. I think I’m ready.”
“You can’t think you’re ready. You either are or you’re not.” I responded concerned that she thought we needed to do this. “Listen Ivy, do I want you; hell yes. But I can wait.” I assured her.
“No. I’m ready Uno. I want you to be my first.”
She then kissed my lips. I slid on top of her allowing my stiffness to rub in between her legs. Our dry humping caused her pussy to drip in wetness. Her vaginal lips smacked against my rod exciting me. “Are you sure?” I asked looking down at her angelic face. Without answering me, she reached down and placed the tip of my erection at her opening. “Wait, we need protection.” I whispered as her hip thrust forward and her walls spread welcoming me in. She let out a mournful gasp as the urge to go deeper into her tightness overcame me. Her nails anchored themselves in my back as together, slowly we fucked.
Ivy felt so good and knowing that she chose me to be her first had me smiling on the inside. I grabbed her right leg and had it nestled in the crease of my forearm as her moans filled the dorm room. We kissed long and hard as she allowed me to explore her innocence. Her perky breast bounced as I cuffed and sucked on them as she climaxed over and over again on my dick. The tightness and newness of her pussy had me seeing stars. I had held off as long as I could before I felt the urge to cum. I pulled out immediately squirting all over the t-shirt I was just wearing. She giggled as she turned to watch me.
“So, think that’s funny?” I joked.
“Nothing about you is funny Uno.”
Our eyes locked on each other.
“Can we do it again?”
“Damn Ivy, it’s like that.”
“Yeah. It’s like that. “
It must have been the excitement of it all because my adrenaline had my dick hard as hell and ready to give Ivy just what she wanted. We stayed in the dorm room the entire weekend only breaking for food and to sleep. We fucked all weekend. It was then that I knew I could love this girl for the rest of my life.