The Johnson Sisters Page 9

  “Y’all are not going to spoil her. She hardly sleeps at night now. She thinks somebody supposed to hold her all the time,” Serena quipped.

  “I wonder why?” Vivian asked, giving Serena a sideways glance.

  “It’s not me. It’s her daddy. Tyree holds that girl all the time. I’m surprised he let her come over here with me today,” Serena said, climbing onto the barstool at the island.

  “Aw, daddy’s little girl,” Vivian said, speaking in a baby voice.

  “I know, right? He even sleeps with her on his chest. I’m so scared he’s going to turn over and squish her. He sleeps, and she lies there just as content. But when it comes to putting her in her bassinette, homegirl isn’t having it. I’m surprised she’s ’sleep now,” Serena said. “That’s why I don’t want you bothering her, Dawn.”

  “Well, I’m her auntie, so I want to hold her. You are just going to have to get mad at me,” I said, picking her up and placing her little frame up on my shoulder.

  “I wasn’t supposed to bring her,” Serena admitted.

  “Why?” Vivian asked.

  “I was going to have some me time and leave her with her daddy, but we got into an argument, which is why I’m late.”

  “What are y’all arguing about this time?” I asked.

  “What else? The ring he refuses to give to me.”

  “You need to leave that dead horse alone. That man is not going to marry you,” Shauna said.

  “I want to get married one day,” Serena stated.

  “Then you need to decide if the love you have for Tyree is worth losing to find a man who will marry you. And please know finding a good man who’s going to take on you and your child, with a job, a car, his own place, not abusive, and loves you, and is not gay, is going to be a task in itself,” Shauna explained.

  Me and my sisters giggled.

  “Why does it have to be so hard? Why don’t men want to commit?” Serena asked no one in particular.

  “Because that means giving up any other chance at random women,” Shauna said.

  “But he’s supposed to be faithful to me anyway. He isn’t supposed to be cheating. So if that’s the case, why not make it legal?” Serena asked.

  “It’s something about that piece of paper men are afraid of. You see comedians joke about it all the time. It’s the lockdown. The ball and chain for life, the clink clink,” Viv said, holding her wrists together, causing us to chuckle.

  “Well, Tyree needs to get over it and soon, or else I’m leaving,” Serena declared.

  “Yeah, right. You are not leaving that man. If you do, you’re a fool. Especially if he is faithful and has a job,” Shauna said.

  “And good sex. You said his sex was amazing, so where you going again?” I joked.

  My sisters laughed, and Serena found herself amused too.

  “All we are saying, sis, is think about it good before you make an abrupt decision. Don’t let love go over legalities,” Viv cautioned.

  By now I had checked out of the conversation as I snuggled my face against my little niece, saying, “I love the way babies smell. She makes me want to have one.”

  “Help yourself. She makes me not want anymore. I love her, but giving birth hurt like hell,” Serena countered.

  “I thought you got the epidural?” Shauna asked as she went over to the table to claim her spot.

  “I did, but it wore off by the time it was time for me to push. I asked could they shoot me up again, but they said no because I was fully dilated. Girl, when her head started to come out, I thought the doctor was blowing flames down there. The nurse said something like it’s the ring of fire. I started to tell her then cool it off with some cold water or ice cubes, anything that would reduce the burning I was feeling. That pain was excruciating,” Serena stressed.

  “But once you saw this little face, you had to forget about the pain,” I said, rubbing my cheek against Nevaeh’s curly black hair.

  “That’s true. You do forget about the pain you went through, but the fear is still there. And now I’m faced with a child who hates to sleep at night.”

  “But that’s normal. Most infants do that. It will get easier,” Vivian tried to convince her.

  “Easy for you to say; you are the one getting six to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep,” Serena said, crossing her arms with a frustrated look on her face. “I would kill for an eight-hour nap.”

  “I can watch her for you one night,” I offered.

  “Is Tyree going to stay with you too?” Serena asked, causing all of us to cackle. “That man ain’t going to let her stay nowhere until she’s thirty.”

  “Don’t you mean forty?” Shauna joked.

  “Exactly,” Serena said, pointing to her as we giggled together.

  “He can stay too,” I said, rubbing her tiny little head.

  “Good. Then maybe he won’t try to ride me all night.”

  “You keep it up, you are going to have another little Nevaeh,” I said.

  “What’s with the shades, Shauna?” Vivian asked, staring at Shauna, whose head leaned against her fist as she looked at us around the island.

  And just like that, the mood shifted for some reason. I saw Serena give Shauna this look, but she didn’t say anything.

  “I’m just trying to style and profile,” Shauna replied.

  “You can take your shades off in here,” Vivian suggested.

  “I’d rather not,” Shauna countered, as her chipper mood changed to a somber one. All of us looked at Shauna then Serena, who dropped her head.

  “Uh-oh. What’s going on?” Vivian asked as her eyes darted back and forth between the two.

  I was lost also and wanted to know what was going on.

  “You see. I knew I shouldn’t have come over here,” Shauna muttered, turning to face the window.

  Vivian put down the spoon after she stirred the gumbo, and she went to Shauna. She pulled the shades from her face. When she did, we both gasped. “What the hell!” Vivian yelled.

  “It’s nothing,” Shauna said, rubbing her bruised face.

  “So a black eye is nothing these days,” I said.

  “Serena, explain please,” our matriarch, Vivian, demanded as she walked back over to the stove.

  “Her and Cal got to fighting, and he got the best of her. That’s all,” Serena explained like it was no big deal.

  “That’s all. You saying it like that’s nothing,” Viv said heatedly.

  “Why are y’all just telling us?” I asked, trying my best not to raise my voice since I was holding the baby.

  “We figured we would wait until today. It wasn’t any need getting anybody else involved,” Shauna said, looking at Serena, who turned her head like she didn’t know anything.

  “Anybody else. Wait.” Vivian held her hand up. “Who else was involved?” Vivian asked.

  “Big Ray, Pookie, Gerald, Tyree, and Phoenix,” Shauna listed.

  “Y’all can call them, but you can’t call us. That’s messed up,” Vivian said furiously, walking over to the fridge to retrieve the lemonade she prepared.

  “It wasn’t like that, Viv. I wanted to handle this on my own, but some people thought it was in my best interest to call the cavalry,” Shauna said, eyeballing Serena.

  “I didn’t do anything. It was Phoenix.”

  “But you called her.”

  “No, I didn’t, Shauna. I told you she came over because we were supposed to go walking. She saw your car and knew you were there. Y’all know I’m not good at lying. She questioned me until I caved in, and things happened from there,” Serena explained.

  “All I have to say now is that y’all are lucky I’m even here. I didn’t want to come. I heard it all before. I don’t need it today, too. I know everything I need to know, and the main thing is I’m not taking him back before y’all come out your mouth with it,” Shauna snapped. “So leave it alone.”

  All of us held our hands up like we were done with the subject. We knew when it came to Shaun
a’s business, she never wanted anybody in it. This was why we only knew what she wanted us to know. Really she was much like Vivian in that way. They liked their privacy.

  “Fine. I guess it’s wrong for us to care,” Vivian said, scooping ladles of gumbo into a large bowl she took out of her cabinet. While she did this, the room was quiet.

  I kept my attention on my niece as we watched Viv scoop the liquid into the bowl. Once she was done, she picked up the steaming hot gumbo and carried it to the table. “Let’s forget about this for now and eat,” Viv suggested.

  “What about Phoenix?” Serena asked.

  “I’m not waiting on her anymore. She knew what time to be here. I’m tired of Phoenix thinking the world revolves around her. So if y’all ready, let’s dig in,” Viv said, and we all gathered around the table to get our grub on.

  Chapter 13

  Phoenix

  I had a good reason why I was running late to Vivian’s dinner. It was a man, of course. My sisters might not think it was a good enough reason to be late, but I thought it was, especially when it benefitted me. My extra, Eldon, was over, and I had to get me some of his yum-yum first. Lucky for me, Tobias wasn’t home to mess up my flow. He went to play golf with some buddies of his, and while he was gone, I got my workout on with Eldon.

  Eldon called me to see if he could drop by, and his timing couldn’t have been more perfect. He was leaning against the doorframe trying to be cool, but it looked odd on him. Cool was the last thing Eldon was. He stood six feet one inch, 190 pounds, wearing a tight pair of jeans with a button-down blue-and-white striped shirt with a red bow tie and black slick bottoms. He wore his red-framed glasses today, I guessed to match his bow tie. Who wears a bow tie in the middle of the day, with denim jeans, no less? As hard as he tried to be cool was as hard as he was a royal failure at it.

  I almost burst into laughter at his attempt, but I managed to hold back my hilarity. He was a little out of the ordinary from the men I was used to dealing with. The men I messed around with were damn near thugs or the business-corporate type. It was hard to place Eldon in either of these categories. Maybe nerdy was a better term, but this nerd had stacks of money and didn’t mind hitting me off with some of his hard-earned cash every now and then.

  Eldon not only had money, but the man knew how to eat some pussy. The man stayed hungry for it, and I really loved that he stayed hungry for me. As soon as we got to my bedroom, I couldn’t get my panties off fast enough before he was laying me down on the bed. He dove between my thighs, feasting like it was Thanksgiving, I was the turkey, and my liquid pleasure was the gravy that saturated his face. He acted like he hadn’t eaten in days and I was the meal that would conquer his hunger.

  I sent up a big thank-you to the heavens as he salivated over my nucleus. He licked and sucked and plunged his tongue and fingers deep inside me. I was ready to hand this man an award for best pussy-eater ever, and I had quite a few who made attempts. Some failed miserably. Some could hold their own, but after having Eldon lay down his proficiency, it was hard to think of any man who could make me feel like this with his tongue.

  I could feel my gravy running rapidly, yet he consumed it like he was drinking from a gravy boat.

  “You taste so good,” he muttered through licks.

  I moaned my approval by saying, “Yes, baby, eat. Eat me good, baby.”

  I know I climaxed at least five times before he came up for air. Not only could he eat, but he would stay down there for a long period of time. When he came up, he wiped his face as I lay back, thinking I could go right to sleep now. His job was done to excellence. I could see his Johnson angling to get inside me, but this was the time I was ready to end this feast fest of ours and send him home. As much as I enjoyed Eldon eating me out, when it came down to the penetration, he really didn’t do a good job with his stroking performance. One gift took away from the other. As good as he could eat me was as bad as he could screw me. He was really bad at it.

  Honestly, there were very few men who held the title of total package in my book, and that’s a man who can eat and fuck me like a champ. In Eldon’s case, he could only eat. It wasn’t like he had a very small penis. It was average, but he just didn’t know what to do with it. That “motion in the ocean” crap was true, because when he tried to ride the waves of my ocean, his paddle got lost and the next thing I knew, Eldon was crashing to shore, releasing moments after he entered my sandy beach. I guess I shouldn’t complain when it took him a minute or two to reach his orgasm. That was all of him I had to endure.

  Yes, I hesitated, not wanting him to enter me, but since I knew it wouldn’t take long, I let him inside. Like I thought, Eldon was crashing to the shore of my sandy beach, and all I had to do was gyrate my hips to pull his explosion from him quicker.

  I was running late and needed to get cleaned up so I could leave. Unfortunately, this time I think I showed my disapproval for his motion in my ocean.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked after he bust his nut, panting like a dog needing water.

  “Nothing,” I said nonchalantly.

  “It’s something. You don’t look pleased,” he said, unclogging himself from me.

  “I was pleased until you put your dick in me,” I said, not thinking.

  “What?” he asked, frowning.

  I pushed Eldon off me and got up, saying, “Eldon, I enjoy what we do, but—”

  “But what?” he asked, sitting there like a bump on a log.

  “But you can’t fuck. I’m sorry to be so blunt about it, but you can’t.”

  “Yes the hell I can,” he defended himself.

  “No, you can’t, sweetie,” I said, scrunching my nose.

  “Then why are you involved with me?”

  “I’m with you because I like the way you eat my pussy. From what you lack in your strokes, you totally make up in your tongue. I swear if I could make your tongue platinum, I would certify it today, so you shouldn’t get too upset, because at least you got that going for you,” I tried to say convincingly.

  Eldon got up off the bed and began gathering his clothes like a kid who was picked last on the playground. “I didn’t come over here to be insulted.”

  “It’s better you hear it from me than somebody else,” I said, standing there buck-naked.

  “I haven’t had any other complaints from women,” Eldon said.

  “What woman do you know will complain? Most just lie there and deal with it. I did for a while, but I’ve gotten tired of pretending. I like to get into what I’m doing, and if you’re not doing it for me dickwise, then I have to say something. Hell, life is too short to fake the funk.”

  “I guess you think you are the total package?” he asked angrily.

  “You’re here, aren’t you? Not only do I taste good, but my cooch moved enough to make you cum in less than one minute flat, so yes, I think I’m the total package,” I said, giggling. “You got a nice-sized Johnson, but you couldn’t keep it wet inside me long before you were losing it.”

  Eldon was putting on his shirt when he caught on to me laughing at him. From the way he paused, his look went from one of anger to one of pure rage. Next thing I knew, he came over to me and grabbed me by the arm.

  “What do you think you are doing? Let me go,” I demanded.

  “You want to get fucked, I’ll fuck you,” he said, pushing me back down on the bed. I wasn’t scared. I was actually excited by his take-charge attitude. Now, this was what I was talking about. To urge him on, I started taunting him.

  “What? You’re going to fuck me now? Please don’t if you aren’t going to last but one minute again. I don’t think you can handle my wetness for five minutes.”

  Eldon flipped me to my stomach, pulling my hips in the air.

  “Don’t let my fat ass cause you to shoot prematurely now,” I teased.

  Eldon pushed his Johnson inside me, causing me to take note this time. Not only did it feel bigger, but it felt like it was in control this time.

&nb
sp; “Is this good enough for you?” Eldon shot back, plunging in and out of me. I didn’t reply, because I didn’t think he was going to last long again. Talk was cheap. Eldon had to show me what he was made of.

  “If you last five minutes, I might scream your name,” I coaxed.

  Eldon pushed deep, hard, and with vigor. That nerdy man who showed up had disappeared, and now a champion had emerged. I turned my head to the right to look at my nightstand at the clock and realized he had lasted two minutes. I guessed he noticed what I was doing and plopped his body on top of mine to get me from looking. He came down and tongued me. I turned my head away as he continued to slide in and out of me. There was nothing gentle about this, and I liked it. I could feel my body coming to the point of heightened exhilaration. Eldon was doing his damn thing.

  Making a mockery out of Eldon ended up being the best thing I could have done for him. This man put in work, causing me to reach my climax three more times, something I had never done from his manhood. When he finally finished, I turned to look at the clock to see he lasted forty-six minutes. I turned onto my back and clapped my gratification for a job well done. He was sweating profusely. His anger had turned into animal magnetism, and I loved every minute of it.

  When Eldon left, I had an extra $2,000 in my purse after I told the sad story about falling behind on my mortgage. I guessed he wasn’t mad at me anymore, and I damn sure had to pay respects to him for doing a damn good job at pleasing me.

  When I arrived at Vivian’s house, my sisters were already eating. They were damn near finished.

  “So y’all are just going to start without me? Y’all never started without me before,” I said, sitting at my place at the table.

  “If you get any later, we might be washing dishes and putting the food up next time you come late,” Vivian said.

  “Probably was a man who made her late anyway,” Shauna interjected, being right, but I wasn’t going to admit it.

  “I overslept,” I said.

  “Until six forty-five this afternoon?” Serena questioned.

  “Y’all, I couldn’t help if I had company,” I said, picking up the ladle to scoop the mixture into my bowl.