Zane's the Other Side of the Pillow

  I sat down on the sofa while Jemistry put the movie into my Blu-ray player and grabbed the appropriate remote.

  She was about to turn it on when I stopped her. “If it’s okay with you, I would like to talk about what happened to me at work today.”

  “Of course, baby.”

  We held hands.

  “I’ve lost a lot of patients over the years, but something really struck me today about Mrs. Turner’s death. Even though I’m well aware of my mortality, I realize that I’m still relatively young. There are things that I still want to do before I leave this earth.”

  “I feel the same way. Life is a one-shot deal. What you make of it, or don’t make of it, ultimately becomes your legacy. That’s why I’m so determined to make a difference with the kids at Medgar Evers. A lot of them don’t have anyone else who believes in them.”

  “I love the fact that you’re so passionate about what you do. There are many people who don’t have that kind of excitement about their jobs.”

  “Hell, Tevin, most people are only going through the motions to get a paycheck. I see it in the teachers at my school, especially some of the younger ones. They’re underpaid, underappreciated, and thought that they would change the world when they started. Then they got a reality check.”

  “Well, the same goes for a lot of doctors, keeping it real.”

  “Don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of great teachers, and the rest generally have the potential to achieve greatness. But when you have a few students trying to ruin it for everyone else, it can be a challenge. I try to weed out most of that kind, but a lot of times even the teachers are afraid to tell me what’s happening in their classrooms.”

  “A lot of people live in fear these days. The world has become a crazy place. It’s not unusual for us to have gunshot victims under the age of fifteen, or kids coding after using intense drugs.”

  “You and I both have a lot going on. It can be depressing.”

  Jemistry pushed play on the remote. “Let’s chill, watch this, and talk later.”

  “Okay.”

  She propped her back up on some pillows and then pulled me between her legs. I could smell the sweetness of her pussy and feel my dick instantly become hard.

  “I know you said that you were only going to massage me tonight, but, baby, I may need to take it a little bit further than that.”

  She giggled. “How much further?”

  “I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.”

  Jemistry started massaging my shoulders and her hands were magical. She often gave me full-body massages. What I loved about them was that it was obvious that she truly enjoyed doing it. She wasn’t doing it for show, or because they talk about all of that in romance novels. She told me once that her love language was physical touch. So I always tried to make sure that I held her hand, hugged her, or spooned with her in bed as much as possible. She said that it made her feel safe and that she slept better that way.

  “Yeah, I get your drift,” she said, “and after this movie, I’m going to put it on you.”

  I grinned as the opening credits started. “You’d better.”

  * * *

  The movie was cool. Made me think about a lot of things regarding life—past and future. Finally getting some kind of closure with Estella earlier had left me with a sense of relief. Even though I never did anything intentionally to harm her, and even though people grieve the loss of children in different ways, I could have treated her better and could have been more understanding.

  Jemistry had yet to tell me that she loved me, but there was no need for her to ever speak the words if she didn’t want to. It was obvious that she loved me. A lot of people say it and act like anything but. My baby girl was there for me, had entrusted me with her heart, and things were going well.

  She was in the shower about midnight when I joined her. She loved for me to wash her hair and I enjoyed doing it. She was much shorter than me and her caramel complexion complemented my deep chocolate one. What I loved most about her were her eyes. They were brown but they had this sparkle deep inside them that actually made them seem like they were twinkling sometimes. She had a small gap in her front teeth, which turned me on, and her skin was smooth all over. She didn’t have a single scar on her.

  She told me once that she used to have a lot of bruises from being beaten, but had used vitamin E capsules, popped open and spread over her skin, to get rid of any visible trace of them. I only wished that I could get my hands on even one of the men who had laid a finger on her. Sick motherfuckers.

  She put a sliver of soap in her mouth, got down on her knees, and started sucking my dick. She’d grown used to the size and even though there was no way that she’d ever be able to take me entirely into her mouth, she had figured out a way to make it seem like she had it totally engulfed.

  I was about to come when I pulled away. “No, not yet. Stand up.”

  Jemistry stood and took the soap out of her mouth. “Did you like that, baby?”

  “You know I did. You’re so creative.”

  “Freaky and creative. Don’t you forget it.”

  We both laughed.

  “I can be a little creative myself,” I said.

  “Oh yeah? So what are you going to do to me?”

  “Turn around.”

  She turned toward the wall.

  “Assume the position.”

  She spread her palms on the tile wall and spread her legs as far as she could in the space.

  I stuck the tip of my finger in her anus and she twitched.

  “I need to make sure you don’t have any contraband in your ass.” I spread her cheeks and pushed my index finger in farther. “Hmm, not too sure. I may need to do some further exploration.”

  “Are you serious?” Jemistry asked, looking over her shoulder. “I’m not sure if I can handle all of that in my ass!”

  “I agree. I don’t think you can either.”

  I’d actually never had anal sex. It never seemed like a mandatory thing to me. I loved pussy. But I did want to see what would happen if I played with Jemistry’s ass.

  I slipped two more fingers into her ass.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Being freaky and creative.”

  I bent my knees and placed the head of my dick at the rim of her pussy and started fucking her. Her pussy gripped around my dick as if it was milking it. Again, that is what I adored about her. Her desire for me was real, not fake, and she wanted me as much as I wanted her.

  After a couple of minutes of going to town on her pussy, I started moving my fingers in and out of her ass at a rapid speed. The effect was immediate. Jemistry spurted pussy juice all over my dick and then screamed out in pleasure.

  “Shit!” she exclaimed. “Oh my beejeezus!”

  She tried to get out of the shower but I held her in place.

  “Hold still,” I whispered in her ear. “I haven’t come yet. You know it feels good.”

  “Yes, it feels real good.”

  “I want you to cream all over my dick again. I’m not taking it out until you cream again.”

  I kept plummeting my dick in and out of her pussy until we both climaxed together.

  After that, we lay in bed and stared each other in the eyes until we both dozed off.

  I fell asleep with the vision of Jemistry in my mind and in my heart.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it.”

  —Audrey Hepburn

  Man, your game ain’t shit!” Floyd was talking mad shit as usual. “For someone so damn tall, you shoot like a ten-year-old.”

  “Whatever, man. I always beat you, and I’m going to beat your ass again today.”

  We were playing basketball, one-on-one, in his driveway. He lived out in Largo with his wife and four kids. We worked together at Sibley. Floyd was a cardiologist.

  “That’s an urban legend. You’ve never beat me.??
?

  I had the ball after Floyd had barely managed to make a layup with his five-eight frame. Midget!

  I looked around. “No one else is out here so not sure who you expect to hear that lie. I’m up five points right now. Yet you call my game shit?”

  “I’m fucking with you, man. It’s all about knocking down some stress.”

  “Damn right!” I bounced the ball twice and made what would have been a three-pointer on a professional court. “Kind of like I just knocked that ball into the basket without you even touching it, huh?”

  “Whatever, punk!”

  We both chuckled as Floyd attempted to catch his breath.

  “Let’s take a break and get some of Courtney’s lemonade.”

  “Ooh, I love your wife’s lemonade,” I replied. “Besides, you look like you’re about to have a coronary. Not a good look for a cardiologist.”

  Floyd threw the ball at my chest and we headed into the house.

  * * *

  We ended up in Floyd’s man cave watching sports highlights on ESPN.

  His wife, Courtney, had come in from shopping with the kids. She came downstairs to speak and then vanished somewhere else in their spacious home.

  “Why’d Courtney evaporate so fast?” I asked him.

  “This is called a man cave for a reason, Tevin. No women allowed unless they’re dropping off a twelve-pack of beer or some sandwiches.”

  I pushed the button to lift the foot portion of the recliner that I was sitting on. “It’s good to see that you have such a high respect for women.”

  “Hey, I respect my wife and part of that respect is because she knows how to stay in her lane.”

  “Her lane? Isn’t she in the lane right beside you? Your equal?”

  “She’s right behind me in the lane. I’m the man, which means that what I say goes.”

  “You’re straight tripping. That is that old-fashioned mentality. Chicks aren’t playing that today.”

  Floyd muted the television and stared at me. “Old-fashioned, my ass. It’s biblical. Eve was made from Adam’s rib. Point-blank, period.”

  We had already switched from lemonade to beer. Neither one of us felt like going back outside to finish the game. I was going to win regardless.

  “Point-blank, but no period. While I totally agree that back in the day men ruled the world, you have to admit that a lot of our brethren have surrendered that kind of thinking and are trying to live off women instead. How can they be considered the head of anyone’s household if they aren’t paying any bills?”

  “I’ll give you that, but that’s not what’s happening up in here. I pay all the bills and Courtney stays home and raises the kids.”

  “Doesn’t she have a degree in psychology from Hampton? Didn’t she minor in business management?”

  “Yes, but the only business she’s managing for the next decade, at least, is the business of running this household and letting me take over once I enter my kingdom.”

  I shrugged. “Different strokes for different folks. If she likes it, I love it.”

  “Not only does she like it, she wants it this way.” He turned the volume up a little so he could hear something the sportscaster was saying. Then he turned it back down. “Courtney went to college but never truly aspired to be anything more than a housewife. Her mother wanted her to become a psychiatrist, but her father sent her to Hampton to find a husband.” He ran his fingers over his chest and patted his abs. “And she found the bomb diggity.”

  Floyd was the kind of doctor who thought he was the shit; you couldn’t tell him anything. And as much as he sat there bragging about being such a great husband, I knew he had fucked at least a half-dozen nurses at that hospital. He gave “making rounds” an entirely new meaning.

  “Are you still messing with that nurse from the burn unit?” I asked him, trying to knock him down a peg or two. “The married one?”

  “Depends on how you define ‘messing with.’ She loves to give head, so I lend her mine a few times a week. I wouldn’t actually fuck her with someone else’s dick.”

  “But why do you find it necessary to even do all that? I’m sure Courtney hooks you up. I know you, and there’s no way you would’ve ever married a woman who didn’t give blow jobs.”

  “And you are absolutely correct with that statement. However, women suck dick differently and there’s nothing wrong with variety. It’s what makes life interesting. You can’t tell me that every single woman who’s ever gone down on you had the same skills, any more than you can say that they all had the same pussy.”

  I couldn’t argue with that and admitted it. “True enough, but I’m not married like you are. When I was, I never cheated on Estella, and I’m not going to cheat on Jemistry.”

  “What do you want? The male-saint-of-the-year award?” Floyd sighed and took a swig of beer. “Besides, I would never say never if I were you. There’s always, always someone who could come along and make you eat those words . . . along with her pussy.”

  “Not in my case. The same nurses throwing cooch at you throw it at me and I deflect all of them like flies.”

  “Damn, now why would you call fine women flies?”

  “You know what I mean. I’m not crazy enough to jeopardize my career over casual sex, and you need to stop before it all catches up with you.”

  Floyd waved me off. “Every chick I’ve fooled around with on the job has done a bunch of dudes. They all know what time it is. Long hours, a bunch of stressful shit always going on, and people dying all around us. Sometimes we all need to escape for a few minutes and there’s no better way to relax outside of fucking. That shit’s better than popping five Valiums.”

  “Sex is cool, but making love is where it’s at. You’re too old to still be trying to nail random broads.”

  “So you say!”

  “Not to mention that you’re married with four damn kids.”

  “Wow!” Floyd looked at me like he was shocked. “You mean to tell me that I have a wife and kids? I never knew that.”

  I threw my beer cap at him. “Okay, I’ll drop it, but all I’m saying is that if I’m hearing about all of your extracurricular activities at work, other people know. I’m not one to gossip, so it’s getting around. They’re going to nickname you Water Cooler Dick in a month or two if you don’t quit.”

  “I hear you. I do need to slow down. The shit’s getting old.”

  “It’s not only old, it’s dangerous. All it takes is one doctor going home and blabbing to his wife during pillow talk, and her being one of Courtney’s buddies, and it’s a wrap. Courtney’s cool and while she probably expects you’re doing some dirt, if she finds out any facts, she’ll take your ass to the cleaners. Not to mention putting foot to ass.”

  “She’s not putting any foot to anyone’s ass, but I get your drift. It’s not worth it.”

  Floyd turned the television back up and we sat there watching it for a few minutes while we finished our beers.

  “Speaking of pillow talk,” Floyd said out of the blue. “When am I going to meet Jemistry? She’s all you ever talk about.”

  “I’m not letting you around my girl; you might try to talk her out of her panties.”

  “Man, that hurts. I’d never do that to you.”

  Floyd really had a painful expression on his face.

  “I’m only kidding. Relax. Sure, you can meet her. Why don’t we plan to take Courtney and Jemistry out to dinner next weekend? Are you on call on Saturday?”

  “No, I’m off. But Courtney already made me promise that we’d take the kids down to Williamsburg and stay at Great Wolf Lodge.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  “Happy, happy, joy, joy,” Floyd stated sarcastically. “I plan to catch me some serious Zs while they run around the indoor water park. I don’t mind doing Busch Gardens, though. I need to keep my eyes on the kids in a crowded place like that.”

  “Isn’t next weekend their season opening?”

  “Yes, so it’s goi
ng to be packed. Six Flags is damn near around the corner, but she wants to go more than three hours away. I don’t get it.”

  “She can take the kids to Six Flags anytime. Go and make them all happy.”

  “I’m going. I’m going.”

  “There is something I want to run past you, Floyd,” I said, my mood changing.

  “Shoot.”

  “As you probably remember, I married Estella rather quickly. I’m not sure we knew enough about each other to make that move in that time frame. We loved each other, sure, but I’m not sure we knew enough about each other’s capability to handle life.”

  “Man, you and Estella would still be married to this day if it weren’t for . . . what happened.”

  “You can talk about the miscarriages. It’s my reality. I had three children who never had a chance to experience a day of life, but I’ve finally accepted it. Matter of fact, I called Estella the other day and apologized.”

  Floyd sat up in his seat. “Apologized for what?”

  “Not being as supportive as I could have been. Not understanding what she was really going through. I shouldn’t have—”

  “Tevin, I get it. Then again, I don’t. You dealt with the loss the best way that you could and you were there for her. She shut you out. I remember. I was there. I was the one you talked to because she wouldn’t even discuss it. Sure, it was probably harder on her. It wasn’t that you couldn’t get her pregnant. It was because she couldn’t carry to term.

  “We’re both doctors so you and I both know that everyone’s body is not the same. It never weakened your love for her. It simply got to the point where the pain of looking at each other was too much. You’d work overtime and sleep in your office at the hospital to avoid going home. That was no way to live. Let that go.”

  “I have let it go. We’ve been divorced for years. She told me she’s engaged and thinking about adoption.”

  Floyd stared at me. “And how do you feel about that?”

  “I’m happy for her.” He eyed me suspiciously. “I am. I did love Estella, but if I’m being honest with myself, I never loved her as much as I love Jemistry.”