D'Kass Black Present Jail's Bait: Doin Da Time (Book 2)

I sat on my bed towelin off after my shower.  Da game was a draw, so Joop ran home to get clothes for the movies and the club tonight, and I got showerd up.  I remembered that accordin to the side bet me an Joop made, we both was fukkin each other tonite.  Fine by me, I didn’t curr who gave up the ass.  Joop and me just chillin, bussin off together, is what mattered to me.  IT was true dat Joop got up in my ass more than I got up in his, just cause that’s the way he and I might be in da flow, but truff be told if I never tapp dat no mo, I wont be missin nuthin.  I love how Joop feels inside me as much as I love how he feels grindin dat phatty on my dick- it knew it weren’t bout just ‘sex’ wit us, it was bout how much we feel for each other, so much- we gotta let it out in our nutt…

I lay back butt-ass on the bed, looked at the lt. blue skies outside the windows over my bed, and I knew it was gonna be the best summer of our lives.  Joop got out of da pen the middle of June, and it’s been only a week since then, so we had all of July and August before we hadda go back to school.

I’m a junior at WSU, and Joop wasn’t feelin goin past high school, he didn’t even graduate then.  Dat nicca was always wantin to rob sumthin instead of doin the rite thing.  I had BEEN tol him about his stikky fingers an shyt, but he aint start payin attention to that until he got caught at that bodega that day by dat undercova.  While he was up north tho, Joop started tryin to get his school shyt on track, he got his GED before he got out, and now Pops was talkin about gettin him started at WSU in September wit me.  He’ll be startin his first year da same time I’m gonna finish my last year, but I might not finish on time anyway, my grades kinda slipped while I was worried bout Joop all last year- I barely got my Junior status and I hadda pull da grades back up to above 2.5 to keep da scholarship.

Pops was always sayin dat I don’t ever follow through on shyt, but I think dat me stickin by Joop was the first time he saw me really commit to anything.  I weren’t as bad as all that but truff be told, Pops wasnt never around to see me follow through and shyt, so of course he couldn’t know that I know how to finish what I start.   It’s all good tho, I’m just real fukkin glad that he already approves of who I chose to give my heart to.  I was real worried an shyt, but havin your father KNOW dat you get down wit dudes, gave yo heart to one, and he APPROVES, I’m sayin, dat shyt made me an Joop the happiest two niccas ever.  He could come over anytime and Pops is cool wit it- I think he understands that Joop an me are boyz first, then ‘together’ after dat- that we aint just hoe-in each other out till the nex nicca comes along, he an me are the shizzle fa sheezy…

My phone started ringin then and I reached over to pick it up.  “Yo sup,” I said.

“Waddup nicca,” Joop yelled into da phone.  “Wat we seein 2nite?”

“It don’t matter yo, whatever,” I yawned, stretchin my body against the bed.

“Yo, u gonna play wit my nutts in da theater..?”  he whispered, a grin in his voice.

“Nicca bring da Slip-n-Stroke and its on,” I smiled back.

He yelled out, “DATS WASSUP MY NICCA, I LOVE U SUNN…”

“I love u too Joop, yo hurry up an get back hurr, I aint got nuthin on…” I teased.

“…Werd..?” he said, all anxious an shyt.  “YO I’M CUMMIN RITE NOW!!!” And he hung up da phone wit a loud click.

I clicked my phone off an laffed my ass off, thinkin dat Joop was a serious fiend for my body, an I was da same for him.

Da phone rang again and, still laffing, I picked up the phone.  “Yo what now nicca,” I yelled.

“Babycakes, I know you aint yellin like dat at ME,” a woman’s loud voice screamed across the line.

“Uhh, Ms. Regine..?”  I sat up in bed, feelin weird that I was laying in bed naked on the phone with Joop’s mother.  “Sorry, ma’am,” I stammered quickly, reachin for my towel.

“How you been, Lamar?” she asked me.

“Iight, I’m good,” I said.  “You need my help or something..?”

“Well, you know Malik gotta go to his first parole session wit Danny tomorrow, so while they’re doin they thing, I just wanna know if you’d like to come over and get some chocolit chip cookies, I’m bakin em in the mornin.”

“Mmmm,” I nodded, “jus let me know when ta come lick the bowl,” I said.

She howled laffin, an I shook my head wit a half grin at her outrageousness.  “Ok, be at the house at like 10:30,” she said.

“I’ll see you then,” I answered.  We said our goodbyes an hung up.  I smiled to myself, takin the towel back off, waitin on Joop to show up.  Ms. Regine could bake da BOMB cookies from scratch, an I was gonna get to em before Joop did..! I wondered, tho, whether there might not have been another reason why she asked me to come over just when she KNEW Joop and my father weren’t gonna be around…

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The next mornin I was over in Joop projects, sittin on a stool in Ms. Regine’s kitchen, lickin the bowl after she placed the dough in the oven and started cleanin up the counter.  I grew up practically in this kitchen wit Joop, eatin Ms. Regine’s cookin and us both getting yelled at from eatin up her cookies when she baked em.  I hadda admit to myself that this was the best batter I ever tasted, even better than what I remember bout my moms’s cookin…

“Babycakes, you gonna get sick,” she warned me, “from eatin raw dough.”

“Then I’ll get sick,” I said in between slurps.

She laffed her loud way again and then ran the water in the sink to start the dishes.  “That’s just like my Malik would say it,” she said, wipin her eyes.  She lit a Black-N-Mild and started in on the dishes, an pretty soon the warm smell of nicotine an chocolate chips was fillin the room.  She just recently got into smokin dem Black-N-Mild’s, she would be who I think of whenever I smelled em; me an Joop ain’t smoke that shyt.

I finished my attack on the mixin bowl and handed it to her.  “Well, got-damn,” she said, flicking away some ash.  “I could put this up in the cabinet already- it’s spit shined.”

“Dat’s all your fault,” I said, “you made the batter better than da cookies’ll turn out I bet.”

She laffed her wild ass laff again and I smiled at it.  She put the bowl into the sink an turned to me.  “How you been, Lamar?”

“Just fine,” I said.

“I bet you glad ta see Malik outta jail, aintcha?” she smiled.

“No doubt,” I answered, thinkin to myself that she just aint know how much I was glad ta see my nicca.

She smiled, noddin her head.  “I likda fell out when I heard that yo pops is my ol …friend from high school,” she went on, turnin back to da sink, “an that makes me damn glad you an Malik are …friends,” she said.

It was da way she said it more than anything dat put me on da alert.  What did she see in me an Joop..?

Ms. Regine went on, lookin at me real hard.  “Look, I wanna let you know dat I know dat you an my son are gonna be …friends for life, and I just wanna thank you for bein someone in his life he can really rely on.”

“Aww, Ms. Regine, we boyz, me an Joop, since grade school,” I said, while inside I was sweatin like whoa.  “Dat aint gonna change, I reassured her as lightly as I could make it.”

“Well, I’d like to get to be better …friends with Danny again,” she said, finishin up the last of da dishes.  “I hope that you are cool wit that.”

I stared at her, finally realizing what she meant by ‘friends’ with my pops.  She was askin me to hook her back up wit him..!

I suddenly got real thirsty.  “Could you gimme some water,” I said, my throat goin dry like a desert.

“I got sumthin better,” she said, grinnin.  She reached in the cabinet an took out a glass, then instead of water, opened the fridge and got out a bottle of O/E, popped it open, an poured me an herself a tall one.  I reached for the glass an started to drink but she held up hers to mine, givin it a tiny clink.  “To you an Malik, an me an Danny, both bein better… friends,” she said, starin at me as she downed her glass in one gulp.

“To… friends,” I said, smiling back, drainin my glass an then I jumped up.  “Where you goin?” she asked as I headed for the door.

“I gotta get sum stuff done, errands- before Pops finishes up wit Joop,” I said.

She looked disappointed.  “I was hopin you’d get sum of the cookies when they got done,” she yelled after me.

“Save me some- I gotta go,” I said, the door slammin wit dat project hallway echo behind me.

I ran to da elevator an pushed da button, then decided to go down da stairs, all 25 flights, before she came out her apartment.  I started down the dark stairway, my mind runnin faster den I was goin.  The way she had kept hesitatin before she said da word ‘friends’, talkin bout her an my pops, and me an Joop… I knew dat Joop aint tell her nuthin yet, but it was like she already KNEW… and, funny, if I aint know her better, it almost sounded like she was hintin at it jus so I would help her hook up wit my Dad…

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The rolls were coming along fine in the oven, the roast chicken was almost done, the sautéed mushrooms and gravy were thickening just so, the vegetable casserole was cooling off, and the wines were chilling in the freezer as I put the finishing touches on the table settings.

I had just enough time after my parole session with Malik this morning to get to the grocery store and get what I needed to make tonight perfect.  Everything was looking and smelling so good, and I had to admit that I’d outdone myself with my special dish, baked Chicken L’Orange.  The secret was in my special sauce, which Lamar could never get enough of- he would pour it over everything.  The whole evening I had planned was looking like it was going to come off without a hitch.  I smiled to myself, ignoring the pang of dread that threatened to overwhelm me.

I surveyed my table, which was set for four.  Candles gleamed white against their silver holders, and the crystal glasses twinkled dimly in the light of the setting sun which came through the dining room windows.  Four places- one for my son, one for my lover,  one for my son’s lover, which was also my lover’s son… and the reason why I planned this dinner tonight.

Tonight would be truth-telling time, the revelation (and introduction) of Malik and Joe's connection.

Boochie, from the few talks she and I had, wasn’t ready to do this; as Malik’s parole Officer/surrogate father AND practical father-in-law, I owed the truth to him, as he entrusted his life to me.  Also, as Joe was MY lover, I owed him the truth as well, as he entrusted his heart to me.  I had no choice- to keep this secret much longer would be betraying the both of them, not to mention that Boochie would more than likely pass the buck and have me tell them both anyway.  The weak mindset she was exhibiting caused me to remember just why I’d never even considered taking her seriously as a girlfriend.   Claire was more of a challenge, strong-willed… I liked the hard road she put before me, whereas Boochie threw pussy at me whenever the wind blew.  It was good pussy, but it was too free for my taste.  The Boochie of today was the same as she’d always been, which was what tonight was all about.  I knew that Malik hated his father, and I knew that Joe hated Malik for fucking me in the conjugal room, all for him to see and replay over and over in his VCR- and his mind.  Just hearing the name had put him off in our afternoon of passion, and he never let me finish what I was trying to tell him, once he knew who I was talking about.  So as far as he was concerned, tonight was all about me and him finishing up our aborted romantic evening, combined with meeting my son for the first time.  Joe was astonished when I told him my son had a lover as well, and was fascinated in the prospect of sitting down to break bread at my table with them both.   I just prayed that once he came into the house and saw who was sitting at the table…

“Hey wassup Dad,” Lamar burst into my thoughts.  Looking up I saw Lamar and Malik coming in through the kitchen door, the screen slamming behind them.  “You makin yo chicken orange..?” he said excitedly, sniffing the air.

“‘L’Orange,” I corrected him.

“Yo dat smell madd good, Pops,” Malik exclaimed, going to the stove and reaching to open it up.

Instantly Lamar beat him to the oven door, smacking his hand away.  “Yo if you know whut’s good for you, you wouldn’t do dat,” he warned Malik with an arch look.

Malik turned to me to see a large meat cleaver in my hand, and a weird gleam in my eye.  “Get away from the stove,” I growled menacingly.

Malik backed away, hands raised as if to ward me off.  “Iight, iight,” he said, “Yo don’t be gettin all Souf Centrl on a nicca…” he turned and headed out of the kitchen for the front hallway.  “I’ll b up in yo room Mar,” he yelled as he bounded up the stairs.

I put the meat cleaver down and looked at my son, who was trying without success to stifle his grin.  “I tried ta tell him, Dad,” he laughed.

“It’s okay, he would’ve gotten all of YOUR sauce if he had opened that oven door too soon,” I replied blandly.

Lamar looked stricken.  “Don’t even PLAY like dat,” he yelled, backing out of the kitchen doorway and running up the stairs after Malik.  “Call us when it’s done,” he called behind him.

I chuckled to myself, turning back to the stove and the simmering smells of goodness.  I loved when Lamar and I sat down to dinner, like when he was a kid.  It wouldn’t happen as much now that he was an adult, but every so often he’d make his old man feel good by sitting down with me at the table like a family.  Now that Malik was here, it was like I had two sons for to fix dinner, and I experienced a very good feeling at that.

Pretty soon I heard the banging and scraping of Lamar’s bed across his bedroom floor, which was just above the kitchen.  It seemed as if they’re at it again, I smiled to myself.

More than anything, the fact that my two boys were so sharing and intimate with each other made the bed scraping seem less demeaning and more endearing- not so much two men having sex, as two men sharing the most innermost parts of their hearts to each other.  I knew that such was the love that was shared between Malik and Lamar.

My mind’s eye constructed a plethora of possibilities borne from tonight’s dinner.  If all went well there would be more family dinners like this, with everyone present at TONIGHT’S dinner, all linked together as family in more ways that anyone else suspected (excepting myself)…

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An hour later Malik, Lamar and I were at the dinner table, the candles lit and the dishes filling the table and the room with their aromas.  Joe was a few minutes late and both boys were looking at me with malice because I refused to let them start dinner without my final guest.  “Why are we just sittin here, Dad,” Lamar grumbled, “I wanna eat!”

“Just a few more minutes,” I apologized.  “My guest should be here soon.”

“Who’s comin,” Lamar replied sullenly.

“Well, it’s like this,” I began, taking a deep breath.  “It’s something I’ve mentioned to you already.  There’s someone I’ve been seeing…”

Malik looked up then, scowling.  “No you DIDN’T,” he said, sitting bolt upright, his hands balling into fists.

“Malik, please listen to me,” I said.

Lamar looked back from me to his lover, frowning.  “What’s goin on… Joop, waddup?”

“He invitd da Wardin ta dinnr,” he growled.

“Yeah, that’s who Pops is seein,” Lamar replied, looking confused.  “Why iz you madd then, Joop?”

Malik’s eyes grew dark.  “Oh, you aint tell Mar yet- bout how dat nicca blackmailed you inta givin up da azz, by threatnin to toss me bac upstate fo da rest of my time..?”

Lamar whipped his head back to stare fixedly at me.  “What da FUK is dis?” he asked me.  “You still lettin dat nicca FUCK you after he forced you ta do it first…?”

“Lamar, wait,” I said, holding my hands up in a futile attempt to calm them both down.  “You don’t know the whole story…”

“Dat nicca better not show up,” Malik said in dangerous tones, “cause if he DO-”

Just then there was a knock at the front door, and we at the table froze.  Seconds later the doorbell began to chime.