Snapped (Urban Renaissance) Read online

  Gina snapped her fingers to bring me out of the daze. “Are you going to answer me?”

  “Huh?” I had completely forgotten what she had asked me.

  “I asked if you were trying to get smart. I ain’t going to have you living up in my house and disrespecting me.”

  “No, I wasn’t trying to be smart. I was just saying that things have changed. Nowadays everybody is on the Internet. I’m surprised that you aren’t on it.”

  “What do I need a computer for?”

  “You could shop.”

  “Shop for what? I have everything that I need.”

  I looked around her sparsely furnished apartment and stifled a grunt. “You could even find a man on the Internet.”

  “I don’t need no man. And if I did, I damn sure wouldn’t be looking for him on the Internet.”

  I didn’t agree with that statement because I thought some dick was definitely what she needed. Perhaps if she got broke off in the right way, she wouldn’t be such a bitch. “I’m just using that as an example of the things that you could do on the Internet. You could even look into getting a hobby.”

  “Hobby? What do I need a hobby for? I’m happy with my life as it.”

  I was spending way too much time talking to my mother. I just wanted her to get out of my way so I could go into my room and start plotting how I could work my way into Cojo’s life. “So, what do you know about Cojo?”

  “Cojo? Why the hell are you asking about her?” She turned around, walked over to the sofa, and sat down. She turned up her nose like she had suddenly smelled something foul. It was clear from her actions that she seriously disliked my brother’s wife.

  “She’s in the family now, so I just wanted to know something about her.”

  “She ain’t in my family.

  If I had any doubt about her feelings about Cojo, they were clear now. “Why don’t you like her?” This conversation was about to get interesting to me, so I walked over to the loveseat and sat down directly across from my mother.

  “I don’t have any opinion about her at all.” Now she was lying her ass off. She turned on the television as if she was finished with the conversation.

  If I were smarter, I would have used that opportunity to go to my room, but I had to open up my stupid-ass mouth and push the envelope. I had gotten the focus off of me not having a job and on to something else. But by pressing her to talk about something she didn’t want to talk about I, brought the focus back to me. “So you’re going to just ignore me?”

  She turned off the television and gave me her full attention. “You need to stop lusting after your brother’s wife and find your sorry ass a job. That is the same shit that landed your ass in prison. You ain’t learned shit.”

  Damn, she busted me out big time. I thought I was being all slick, and she saw right through my mess. I stood up. “I ain’t lusting after nobody. I was just asking a damn question.” I started to stomp off.

  “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? You ain’t gonna come up in my house and think that you are going to talk to me any kind of way.” She was working on a major neck-snapping attitude, and I wanted to kick my own ass for not following my first instincts.

  As much as I didn’t want to, I knew that I was going to have to apologize. “I’m sorry, Mother. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.

  “Umph.”

  I continued to walk to my room while she was mulling over her next biting sentence. Lord knows my mother could cut you with her tongue, and I didn’t feel like verbally sparring with her. I would not win. “I’m going to take a nap.”

  She did not answer, but I didn’t expect her to. I closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief because she didn’t rise up off the sofa and try to continue her argument. I didn’t know how much more I was going to be able to take from her. She had the power to make me snap, and I wasn’t prepared to do it today.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  MERLIN MILLS

  Falling asleep should have been easy. I was back with my wife; we’d just made love. All should have been right with the world, but I still had the little red devil riding my shoulder, talkin’ in my ear. The little man had a lot to say, and most of it I didn’t want to hear. In fact, if I continued to listen to him, our marriage would be doomed. First he talked about my performance in bed. I didn’t last two minutes, but it had been a long time since I’d been inside of my wife. My body was on overload.

  Damn, should I start calling you “two”? the devil asked.

  Two? I thought.

  Yeah, as in two-minute brother. You busted your nut before she could even catch up.

  It’s been a long time.

  Is that your final answer?

  She got hers.

  But was she faking it? You know women are good at faking it. Stroking our egos, and we’re dumb enough to believe it.

  Cojo wouldn’t fake an organism.

  Are you sure about that, buddy?

  The seeds of doubt had been planted, and as I sat there waiting for sleep to take me away, I watered the seeds. Dealing with my brother always made me feel this way. The fact that he had actually been intimate with my wife wreaked havoc in my mind. I didn’t want to lose yet another woman to him. We’d been down this road too many times before.

  The devil said, Gavin tapped that ass for real. You just played with the pussy.

  “Will you just shut up,” I said aloud.

  Cojo lifted her head from her pillow and peeked at me. “Huh?” She wiped at her eyes, trying to clear the crust from them.

  “Nothin , sweetie, go back to sleep. I had a bad dream.”

  She snuggled closer to me. The smell of her sex was like an alluring drug. My dick rose to attention. I wanted some more, and this time I was going to last longer than two minutes.

  I palmed her grapefruit-sized breast in my hand, kneading her nipple. It became hard as a knot in seconds. That was one of the things that I loved about my wife. Her body responded to my touch. A low purr escaped her lips as she gently pushed her ass against my dick. Even though she was asleep, she responded to my touch, and that made me feel better.

  “Can I lick your pussy?” I whispered in her ear. My dick throbbed in anticipation.

  She’d never said no in the past, so I didn’t expect her to tonight. She complied, flinging her legs open wide, and I slipped down under the sheets to meet her at her V.

  This was the first time that I’d ever attempted oral sex on her after we’d had sex, and I knew she would be trippin’ because she liked to have her stuff smelling fresh, but there was nothing wrong with what I was smelling. This was the essence of our love, and I was ready to taste the fruits of our love.

  “Don’t you want me to freshen up?”

  “No, I want it just like it is.”

  As I lowered my head and took the first taste, she moaned.

  “Damn, baby, what’s come over you?”

  She did not want to hear my answer to that question because it would have really hurt her feelings. I wanted to make sure I erased all thoughts of my brother from her pussy.

  “I told you, I missed you.” I flicked her with my tongue again. That was an understatement. Being stranded for six months with a bunch of dudes was no damn joke. I could have done like some of my boys and taken advantage of the women who were also stationed in the Green Zone in Iraq, but I chose to remain faithful to my wife. That was another reason why it hurt me to find out that Cojo had slept with my brother. I nuzzled my face between her thighs and inhaled deeply. This was my wife and the woman who I chose to spend the rest of my life with. I needed to have her juices all over my face.

  You still drinking behind your brother? the devil whispered in my ear.

  “Shut the hell up.” I shook my head to get the little devil out of my mind.

  “What’s going on, baby?” Cojo raised up on her elbows to see who the hell I was speaking to.

  I felt like a first-class fool. “Your pussy is talking to me and I wa
s telling it to wait. We have nothing but time.” Damn, I was proud of myself for coming up with a plausible lie on the spot like that. But I also felt guilty for lying about how I really felt.

  The little devil on my shoulder started talking to me again: You must be doing something different than he did. Why else would she question you? Has she ever questioned you before?

  Shut the fuck up. I never talked shit like this before either, I thought. This little conversation was working on my erection and my desire to have my wife again.

  “I’m just trippin’. I have been dreaming about when I would be with you again for so long, my mind is on overload, not to mention my dick.”

  “Oh, baby, that’s so sweet.”

  Why did it sound like she was placating me for my early ejaculation when I knew she came too? These were the thoughts that I needed to erase from my mind if we were going to continue to have a happy and loving relationship. I couldn’t keep those doubts in my head or they would destroy me. “I’m good, baby. I just have something on my mind.” It probably would have been a good idea to say exactly what was on my mind since we were trying to rebuild our relationship, but I wasn’t feeling so studified. Meaning, I wasn’t feeling very comfortable about my manhood right about that time.

  There was a pregnant pause in our conversation, and I knew that she could feel the tension building up in me when it should have been the exact opposite. I threw the covers off my side of the bed and swung my legs over the side.

  “Where you going, baby?”

  “Going to get something to drink. Go back to sleep.”

  “Can you bring me some too?”

  Damn, I was hoping that I could take my time and get myself together before I had to come back in the room with her. “Sure. Can I get you something else while I’m in the kitchen?”

  “No, just some water will be fine.”

  I walked into the kitchen with a heavy heart. Part of me tried to punish my wife with my lovemaking, but it backfired on me. The shit got so good that I couldn’t control myself.

  I pulled two glasses out of the cabinet. I really wanted a stiff drink but she would question my drinking so late at night, especially since neither of us really ate that much. I was going to have to suck this up until I could get some time alone.

  I carried the glasses back into the bedroom and, to my surprise, Cojo was fast asleep. I could have cried I was so happy. Turning softly on my bare feet, I left the bedroom and went back into the kitchen. I poured out the water and went to the bar and fixed myself a hefty drink. I sat down on the sofa and gazed at the television. I didn’t dare turn it on for fear that it would wake my wife.

  “Lord, what am I going to do?” I whispered as a tear rolled down my face. I glanced around our apartment. It wasn’t bad. Before I left, it had felt like my home, but now I felt as if I didn’t belong. I felt like I was a stranger just visiting, even though I knew where everything belonged. I put my feet up on the coffee table as I sipped from my glass. I felt the beginnings of a headache coming on, but I was too tired to go and get some aspirin. Another tear slid down my face.

  Just a few days ago I was deep in combat and here I am crying like a little punk ’cause I shot my load off too quickly. My mind was so twisted, it did not occur to me that this was a natural reaction after being deprived of sex so long. It was almost like the first time, especially if you were used to having sex on the regular.

  A car pulled into the parking lot; its headlights briefly lit up the living room. I wondered who was coming home so late, so I got up to peek through the curtains. I couldn’t see the car because of a huge maple tree.

  It was dark outside, but I could see enough to tell that it was a man. He wore dark clothing and kept his head turned so I could not make out his facial features. Something about the man was familiar. He walked toward our breezeway and was blocked from my view. I moved from the window and went to the door. I wanted to see what apartment he was going to enter. The man walked straight to our apartment, much to my amazement. He put his ear to our door and stood there.

  I was stunned. Wearing nothing more than my drawers, I yanked open the door. “May I help you, motherfucker?”

  The man raised his head. “Hey, bro,” he said as he looked me up and down.

  “Gavin, what the fuck are you doing here, and why do you have your ear pressed against our door?”

  “Uh . . .”

  My blood began to boil. He was about to spoonfeed me some bullshit just like he used to do when we were kids.

  “Uh, hell,” I bellowed. Something just wasn’t right about him all of a sudden taking an interest in me and what was going on in my life. He’d been gone so many years, why now?

  “I, uh, I was just in the neighborhood, and I was making sure everything was okay with you.” He had a sheepish grin on his face.

  If I wasn’t standing there in my underwear, I would have socked him dead in his face. “Do you know what the fuck time it is?” My fingers balled into a fist, itching to slug him just once.

  “Naw, man. What time is it?” He was playing stupid on me and it was making me madder by the second.

  I looked past him to see if anyone was watching the spectacle we were causing in the hallway. “Negro, you playing games with me. First you popped up this morning, now you unexpectedly show up after midnight.”

  “I ain’t playin’, bro, I just wanted to make sure my brother and his wife were okay, so now that I’ve done that, I guess I’ll be getting on home.”

  The need to touch him was so strong I had to bite my lower lip just to keep from spitting on him.

  Cojo said, “Merlin?”

  I quickly turned around; I had forgotten she was asleep in the next room. That was when I realized that she was naked as the day she was born. I swung back around to look at Gavin. His eyes widened as he took in all her naked glory.

  “Baby, go back in the room and put some clothes on. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  She jumped back as she realized that we were not alone. “Oh, God!” she screeched as she ran back to our room and shut the door.

  That was the second time in the course of two days that she had exposed herself to my brother, and this shit was getting old.

  “That’s one fine woman you got there. Good to see that y’all knockin’ boots again.”

  If I thought that he was sincere, I would have been touched, but I detected a menace in his tone. “I’m going back to my wife.” I started to close the door on my brother’s leering eyes.

  “Wait, just answer me one question.” He put his hands up to stop me from closing the door.

  “What is it?” The sight of him was sickening me.

  “Why you out here in the living room drinkin’ when you could be snuggled up with that dime piece of a wife?”

  Damn, he must have seen me peeping through the curtains. That was it. I made up my mind to set this motherfucker straight once and for all. “You got that cell phone on you that I threw in with the clothes?”

  He pointed his thumb toward the parking lot. “It’s in the car.”

  “Good. I’ll call you in twenty minutes.”

  Gavin grinned as if I’d made his day. “Oh, yeah? For what? I thought you were going back to your sexy wife.”

  “I’m tired of drinking alone. Figured we could have a few drinks together.”

  I stormed into our bedroom and started getting dressed.

  “Where are you going?” Cojo said.

  “Out. I need to handle something.” I put on my Atlanta ball cap.

  “Out where?”

  “Not right now, Cojo.” I grabbed my car keys from the dresser and left.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  MERLIN MILLS

  I jumped in my car and sped out of the parking lot. When I came to the first stoplight, I dialed Gavin.

  In the middle of the first ring, he said, “I see you’re still Mr. Punctual.”

  “You know that bar, Central Station, in East Point?”

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sp; “Yeah, I remember it. I snuck in there a few times back in the day.”

  “Meet me there.” I started to feel nervous.

  “Drinks on you? Bars don’t agree with my budget.”

  Some people never change. Gavin always wanted to freeload off people, getting by without any effort on his part. The motherfucker just took, took, took.

  I laughed. “Sure, drinks on me; it’s the least I can do.”

  By the time Gavin pulled up, I was tipsy as hell and waiting for him in the parking lot.

  He walked up to me. “What’s up, fam?” Gavin had a familiar smirk on his face, and it was enough to propel me forward.

  I launched my body from the side of the building and slammed into my brother, dragging him to the ground. I punched him in the nose and blood was everywhere.

  “Man, what the fuck is your problem? Gavin struggled to get me off of him, but I was like a dead weight, and I wasn’t going anywhere.

  “You’re my fucking problem. Why the hell you keep popping up at my house and shit? I told you I wasn’t fucking with you.

  “You tripping, man. I just was in the neighborhood.”

  “Wrong answer, motherfucker.” I punched him in his jaw as hard as I could.

  He shook his head. I could tell that I stunned him. We started a back-and-forth tussle in the parking lot.

  He said, “Man, you better get the fuck off of me.”

  Gavin still was trying to catch his breath when I head-butted him. Little did he know that I’d learned a lot in the military, and all my aggression was pouring out on him.

  “Stay the fuck away from me and my wife.”

  “Urg.” Gavin finally regrouped and was able to push me off of him. He used someone’s car to pull himself to his feet.

  I quickly got up and circled my prey, coming in low. I wasn’t ready for this fight to end. My brother had caused me a lot of pain throughout my life, and I was ready to inflict some of my own.

  He rubbed his hand on his jaw and shrugged his shoulders as if I hadn’t hurt him at all. “Nice right. They teach you that in the service?”