Charge It To The Game Read online

  ―Oh, my gosh…Taaaaj!‖ I had never felt so many good emotions at one time. As far as I was concerned, things couldn‘t get any better between Taj and me. Yet, I never imagined being his wife. It wasn‘t that I didn‘t want to be. And it wasn‘t that I didn‘t want to spend a lifetime without him. But I had never allowed myself to fantasize such perfection.

  The men that previously had come in and out of my life meant nothing to me. We knew what was up right from the beginning. There were no hidden agendas. They wanted regal pussy and I wanted temporary comfort. I lived by one rule— never let a nigga leave his stain. It always worked— that is—until I meant Taj.

  After taking a sip of his drink, Taj said, ―We gonna have the biggest mothafuckin‘ wedding New York ever seen.‖

  ―Taj, you want a big wedding?‖

  ―Hell, yeah! We gonna have something so hot even Donald Trump gonna be jealous of it. You know how I do…it‘s gonna be sick.‖

  I kissed him ravenously. The only time I would drink was when Taj and I were together. Drinking always made me horny. Therefore, I always made sure Taj was around when I did. The alcohol, the realization that I would soon be his wife, Taj‘s cologne and the heat that was penetrating from his bralic body made me want him more than I ever had before. I anxiously started tounbutton Taj‘s shirt. ―Now let‘s really celebrate and bring this in the right way,‖ I said.

  Taj rubbed his hands up and down my butt then gave me a sly smile. ―Oh, you being cute, huh?‖ Then he licked and nibbled on my ear lope. ―You sure you ready for this?‖

  ―Mmmm…let me show you,‖ I took his hand and led him to the bedroom.

  ―You gonna dance for me?‖

  * * * The bedroom had floor to ceiling windows. The vertical blinds were dressed in custom burgundy and red drapes. The massive room had a circular bed covered with red stain sheets and a mink comforter, which Taj had covered with rose petals. The room exuded jasmin fragrance, which went along with the ambience. Taj set the magical mood in the room as he took the master remote control instantly the fireplace opened up out of the wall, Brian McKnight was singing Undeniable and the lights were dimmed.

  Taj had the fluke with Cristal and chocolate covered strawberries. We toasted, took a couple of sips and engaged in a long deep kissed. Then he started undressing me, Taj sat on the edge of the bed took both his hands and slowly explored every part of my body as if it were the first time he had laid eyes on it. He carefully laid me down then he took the chocolate covered strawberries out of the fluke and started caressing my body with it. He started from the neck, and then to the tip of my nipples. As he reached the tip, he gently took a bite of the strawberry, and then slowly traced his tongue on my nipple. He continued to lick me until he reached my crown. Then he plunged his tongue inside and skillfully wet my walls. I moaned, gnawed on my bottom lip. I didn‘t want him to ever stop. I was enjoying the ride he was taking me on. I pushed his head closer to my wet crown.

  We continued to take turns kissing, licking, exploring, and caressing each other. Then I got on my knees and stroked his warm and erect muscle. I took my hands and spread his legs open and began softly kissing his inner thighs. Then I ushered his muscle in my mouth and gave him the deluxe oral treatment.

  ―Daaaaamn baby,‖ Taj screeched and moaned. Not ready to give in to climax, he picked me up and laid me back on the bed. Then he slid his muscle in me. We made love ferociously. We came together, rested and went again. No man had ever had the capabilities of bringing me back a second time…until I met Taj. Finally exhausted we fell asleep.

  Suddenly, I felt Taj carefully removing his arm from underneath my head and covering me with the sheets. Then he quietly got out of the bed. I rubbed my eyes attempting to gain focus. ―Baby, where you going?‖ I asked in a whisper.

  ―I‘m ‗bout to roll up,‖ he whispered back. Taj sat on the black swivel recliner. He crushed up his purple haze, laid it out in the blunt and licked one end and twisted up. While he waited for it to dry I poured us another round of drinks. I handed Taj his drink and climbed back into the bed. Taj reached for his torch and fired it up. ―You wanna smoke?‖

  ―Yeah,‖ I answered and sat up.

  As we were blazing I sat watching Taj. He was fine and my man. Taj walked over to the bed and kissed me on the cheek. ―What you thinkin‘ about?‖

  ―Thinking about us,‖ I said. ―The wedding…our

  life.‖ ―I wanna get married right away.‖

  ―Taj!‖ I purred. ―We gotta plan. You say you want a big wedding. I can‘t plan no wedding overnight.‖

  ―You ain‘t gotta do it yourself. I‘ll hire somebody. Don‘t they have people that do that stuff for you?‖ ―Yeah. They are called wedding planners, baby.‖ ―Right, so that‘s what we‘re gonna get. You ain‘t

  gotta do nothing yourself. Don‘t worry about nothing. It‘s our world, Baby. In 2003 we was sittin‘ on the mountain top, but in ‗04 we gonna be dancin‘ on it!‖

  Part III

  I feel it in the air…

  Chapter 11

  Our flight back home from Miami had been delayed. A northeastern had slammed eleven inches of snow on top of the gritty streets of New York. After being delayed for two days, Taj and I were finally able to get a flight into Newark Airport.

  Rick was waitin g for us in Taj‘s 4.6 Range Rover. He got out of the car and immediately began grabbing our luggage.

  ―Hey,‖ Rick said, ―beautiful weather, huh?‖

  ―Yo, this is crazy. I‘m ready to go back to MIA,‖ Taj said. ―Hey, Rick,‖ I said. ―Happy New Year!‖ Rick and I embraced and then he kissed me on the cheek. ―Happy New Year to you, too. Oh, and I heard the good news. That‘s what‘s up. Congratulations!‖

  I felt myself blushing. ―Thank you.‖

  Rick anxiously lifted my left hand. ―Well, let me see.‖ I removed my gloves and showed off my ring. ―Damn!‖

  Taj grinned proudly. ―Yo, listen its cold out here.

  Come on, let‘s hurry up and get in the truck.‖

  * * *

  ―Why you keep staring at me, Rick? Don‘t think I can‘t see you looking in the rear view mirror.‖ ―Because you look different, Storm. You look happy and peaceful.‖

  ―That‘s ‗cause I am.‖

  ―Okay, so, when is the wedding?‖

  ―We gonna try and do the joint in April,‖ Taj advised. ―April? That soon?‖

  ―Yeah. And we gonna have a big wedding, too.‖

  ―Y‘all gonna have to get on the ball then. That‘s a lot of work.‖

  ―I know. It‘s gonna be all Taj‘s family and friends. You know I don‘t have no family and don‘t really have no friends. If it were up to me we could just go to the Justice of Peace and be done with everything. But this is what Taj want and I want him to have this.‖

  ―Taj, you the one that want the big wedding?‖ Rick asked.

  ―Yeah, man. Now you know I gotta show off my beautiful wife. Don‘t no other mothafucka on the planet got a package this tight.‖

  ―So, y‘all don‘t want to wait a few more months.‖

  ―No,‖ I replied. ―We just wanna go on and start with our new life. You know what I‘m saying?‖

  ―I hear that. Well, you know I wish y‘all nothing but the best. I know y‘all gonna make it work. Because you both love each other, power and respect each other. Y‘all don‗t let nothing come in between the two of you. Just keep doing that and you will die old together. I can promise you that.‖

  ―Rick, man. You know you gonna have to be my best man.‖

  ―For real, man?‖

  ―Of course. Of course. You know

  that.‖ ―I would be honored, Taj.‖

  ―Taj, I just thought of something,‖ I

  mumbled. ―What?‖

  ―I don‘t have anybody to walk me down the aisle,‖ I suddenly felt ashamed.

  The car instantly grew silent and remained that way for a few minutes.

  ―You know what? I can do it. I wo
uld be more honored to walk you down the aisle, Storm.‖

  ―Nah, Rick. You can‘t do that. I‘ll figure something out. I don‘t want you feeling sorry for me. I mean you‘re Taj‘s best man.‖

  ―Baby, I can have anybody be my best man. Rick should walk you down the aisle.‖

  ―Storm, I don‘t feel sorry for you. Hell, you don‘t let nobody feel sorry for you. I wanna do this. You know you my baby girl.‖

  ―You sure? ‗Cause for real, for real, I can walk down the aisle by myself.‖ I don’t really want to do that.

  ―I‘m positive.‖

  I turned toward Taj and gently held his face in my hands. ―You sure you don‘t mind Taj? We can work something else out.‖

  ―I‘m sure that I want you to be happy, baby.‖

  ―Okay,‖ I placed a gentle kiss on Taj‘s cheek and rested my head on his chest. Damn, I love this nigga.

  As if he could read my mind, Taj nibbled on my ear and whispered, ―I love you, too, ma.‖

  ―Why y‘all so quiet back there?‖

  We both giggled like two school age children. ―Nothing,‖ we both sang in unison. I didn‘t think it was possible to fall deeper in love with Taj but I had.

  I looked out the window, besides the snow covered bare trees it didn‘t look at all like it was a northeastern on the New Jersey Turnpike. ―Why is it so much traffic this time of the day?‖

  ―I don‘t know what‘s going on,‖ Rick answered.

  ―Why? You trying to make a stop somewhere before we go home?‖ Taj asked.

  ―No. I‘m just ready to get home.‖

  ―What you gonna wanna eat?‖

  ―I don‘t know…oh, you know what? I gotta taste for some IHOP.‖

  ―IHOP? This time of the day?‖

  ―Uh-huh. You know I can eat pancakes and grits anytime of the day.‖

  ―Alright. I guess we can do that. I was hoping for a home cooked meal though. You got some crazy ass eating habits.‖

  ―Taj, I don‘t feel like cooking. Baby, we just got back in town.‖

  ―A‘ight. I guess I‘ll just get some Jamaican food from Sonny‘s. Once we get you straight, I‘m gonna check on my moms.‖

  ―Okay. You don‘t want me to come with you?‖

  ―You can come if you want. I ain‘t bother asking you because you said you were tired. I thought you might just wanna go straight home and get some rest.‖

  ―I amtired. I‘ll stop by and see her tomorrow probably.‖ I

  put back on my Chanel sunglasses, reached in my Prada handbag for my Mac lip gloss, and then I dabbed my lips. For the remainder of the ride, I daydreamed about my wedding day. I knew I didn‘t have any family to be there crying and drying their eyes as I walked down the aisle but I really didn‘t care. Now that Rick was gonna walk me down the aisle, nothing else bothered me. I don‘t know when it exactly happened but without warning, I suddenly wasn‘t fearful of committing myself with Taj. Nor was I worried about his commitment to me.

  The only worry I had was how I would handle bringing up to Taj where he and I got married. Taj was raised in a strict Pentecostal church, and although he didn‘t attend church regularly, I knew without a doubt that he would oppose at any suggestions I had of us having our wedding ceremony anywhere but in the church.

  * * * After making all of our food stops, we finally arrived at my apartment.

  ―Storm, you know you should have on some snow boots or something,‖ Rick said. ―Rick, I‘m just leaving Miami. It was 70 degrees when we left there. Do you really think I was thinking about putting on some snow boots when we left there?‖

  ―Well, you knew about the blizzard. You should have told me to bring you some to the airport.‖

  ―I‘m fine, Rick. Ain‘t no snow inside the parking garage anyhow.‖

  ―Here, Rick, grab that,‖ Taj ordered pointing to my Louis Viutton luggage and garment bag.

  ―A‘ight. I got it. Y‘all can go up. I can manage. Madison is probably waiting at the door for you.‖

  ―You picked her up from the dog-sitter already?‖ I asked. ― Yeah, Taj told me to do that this morning when I spoke to him.‖

  Taj and I started walking toward the elevator. ―Oh, Storm, I know what I forgot to tell you. That crazy ass Pam been blowing up my phone looking for you.‖

  ―What for?‖

  ―She said you ain‘t been returning her calls.‖

  ―She‘s right and her ass know I was out of town with my man so I don‘t know why she keep calling.‖

  ―I don‘t know either.‖

  ―When the last time she called?‖

  ―She called about seven o‘clock this morning.‖

  ―Seven o‘clock?

  ―Uh-huh.‖

  ―Well, what she be saying?‖

  ―Oh, she was just talking a whole lot of bullshit about

  you ain‘t been talking to her and she don‘t know what‘s up with you. And she hope you ain‘t tryin‘ to play her?‖ ―She said that?‖ Taj asked.

  ―Yeah, man. She‘s been acting like she‘s maniac or something.‖

  ―You told her I was coming back today?‖

  ―Nah, but if I‘m not mistaken, I think she knew that already.‖

  ―How she know that though? I didn‘t tell her when I was coming back. Why is the bitch sweating me like that? You wait until I call her psychotic triflin‘ ass.‖

  Taj held the ―Door Open‖ button on the elevator while Rick pulled the luggage in.

  ―Don‘t worry about it,‖ Taj assured. ―Just handle your business and then be done with it.‖

  ―You know I‘m gonna handle her. But I‘m saying though…what‘s that all about? I mean why the hell is that stupid bitch calling Rick looking for me? She act like we be eating each other pussies or something. I don‘t like that shit. When I‘m ready to talk to her, I‘ll call her. That‘s why the bitch is cutoff ‗cause she on some stupid shit right now and I don‘t have time for that.‖

  ―Maybe she know about the Crimesolvers thing and that‘s why she trying to get at you,‖ Rick replied.

  ―I don‘t care…she still don‘t need to be running me down for that. That shit is on her. I ain‘t tell her to walk up in that store all open like that. She know I trained her betta than that.‖

  * * * When we walked into the apartment, Madison came running out of my bedroom. I hugged and played with her for a few minutes. Then I took off my Jimmy Choo boots and collapsed on the sofa. Rosa had retrieved all the mail and left it on the sofa table. I reached for the latest edition of Essence magazine; Queen Latifah was on the cover. I glanced through some of the pages then put the magazine down.

  Taj turned on the television then went into the kitchen to warm up our food.

  ―Baby, what you want to drink with

  this?‖ ―Do we have any juice?‖

  ―No.‖

  ―Well, I guess I‘ll just drink some milk

  then.‖ ―Storm, this milk is old.‖ ―I told Rosa‘s ass to buy some milk. See what I‘m saying?‖

  ―Calm down baby. I‘ll go get you some milk if you want some that bad.‖

  ―That‘s alright. I don‘t want you to have to go back out. Go on and eat. I know you are hungry.‖

  ―Why you seem so stressed since we got back? Is that shit about Pam bothering you?‖

  ―I guess it is.‖ Then my cell phone began to ring. It was Pam.

  ―That‘s

  her?‖ ―Yup.‖

  ―Answer it and get it over with.‖

  ―No, I don‘t feel like dealing with her right now.

  When I‘m ready to talk, I‘ll call her. She ain‘t gonna make me talk to her.‖ ―Well, stop stressing it then. After you eat I‘m gonna run your water so you can take a bath. And while I‘m at my moms I want you to relax and get yourself together. Remember we got a wedding we need to start planning for.‖

  I smiled at the reminder and stretched out my hand to admire my engagement ring. ―Thanks, boo.‖

  Taj handed me my
plate of food. ―Here, go on and eat.‖

  * * * Taj had decided to take Madison along for the ride to visit his mother. The warm bubble bath and listening to Maxwell was definitely what I needed to relax me. I grabbed a Heineken from the refrigerator and rolled up a blunt to finish me off. As I waited for the blunt to dry, the telephone rang again...it was Pam. Damn what the fuck is her problem?

  ―Hello,‖ I said in an irritated

  tone. ―Storm?‖

  ―What?‖

  ―Well, damn. Where the hell you been? Why you ain‘t been returning any of my calls?‖

  ―I ain‘t know I had to check in with you. My bad.‖ ―What‘s that all about?‖

  ―What?‖

  ―The attitude. I mean if you got something to say then I would appreciate it if you would be woman enough to say it.‖ Did this bitch just have the audacity to challenge my womanhood? ―Oh, you know I‘m definitely woman enough to say what the fuck is on my mind. Pam, you of all people should know that by now.‖

  ―Alright, then. What‘s up?‖

  ―I‘m not getting into this because you feel like you need to know right now. I told you I‘m tired. I just got back from my trip with my fiancé—‖

  Pam quickly interrupted me.

  ―Fiancé?‖ ―Yeah.‖

  ―So, you and Taj are getting

  married?‖ ―We sure are.‖ ―Well, why you ain‘ t tell me that before? When did all this happen? Why you acting so secretive, Storm? I mean you didn‘t even call a bitch and say Happy New Year or nothing. What‘s up with that? I thought you was my dog.‖

  Just listening to her speak was beginning to annoy me. ―Listen, are you done?‖ ―Am I done? Am I done?‖ Pam repeated, her voice began to escalate in anger. ―Storm, is that what you just asked me?‖

  ―Pam, I ain‘t stutter. And I‘m not gonna say it again, I‘m tired. I‘ll call you tomorrow.‖ Then I put the receiver down. I waited a few minutes to see if Pam would call back. She didn‘t. Good. Then I pulled back the black mink bedspread, climbed into the bed and began to light up.