D’Kass Black Presents Jail’s Bait: Chains & Cuffs (Book 3)

FOR CHRIS B.

 My boy through thick and thin…

It was Thursday; I took the day off.

I spent most of the day just relaxing, vegging out in front of the television and the DVD player.  I didn’t feel like driving anywhere, like I could, anyway; Joe had taken the LS-300 and the boys left a note saying they were using the Excursion to the park for the day.  I’d just taken a bath, and now I relaxed to the sounds of soft jazz on my stereo, listening to the voicemail left for me from Joe.  He was going to be late this evening, so he wanted me to go ahead and start dinner for the boys if I wanted to.

I dried off from the bath and, back in my room, I sat clad only in black silk boxers in front of my dresser mirror, staring at the reflection as I toweled and oiled down.  A masculine, rugged, older yet handsome face looked back at me- the dark, full head of hair and mustache shot with streaks of gray.  It always amazed me that between Joe and myself I was the younger one, yet my lover had the younger-looking hair.

Outside the trees were still in the sway of summer’s grip, and the shadows were beginning to lengthen on the western side of the house.  It was almost a year since my son Lamar’s best friend/ lover, Malik Warrington (known as Joop to his friends) was released from jail on that weapons/robbery charge (thanks to me, his P.O./ lawyer).

Malik’s father, Joe (my lover and the warden of the prison Malik served time at), is currently in the process of trying to plan a surprise party for his son without the boys finding out- which is becoming an impossibility, since he and Malik have become so close.  They’ve been that way since the two of them found out about each other- which was also a year ago this week.  The party will also be about the anniversary of the two of them finding each other.  This should prove interesting, trying to plan everything all out without alerting-

“Hey, Pop!”

My son Lamar’s shout interrupted my thoughts, included with a large bang of the back screen door.  'They’re in early', I thought as I grabbed my bathrobe and went downstairs to greet my ‘sons’.  I reached the first floor and went into the kitchen, where I found two sets of basket-ball short-clad asses and hairy legs, one set light-skinned, one set darker- staring at me from inside the refrigerator.

“If you two wouldn’t mind not trying to relocate into the fridge, I’d tell you that you’re wasting your time,” I smirked, going over to the cabinets above the sink and opening them, studying the contents inside.  “You drank up all the apple juice yesterday.”

“That’s what I called you for,” my son’s muffled voice came from inside the refrigerator.  Shrugging themselves back up, my shirt-less, sweating boys looked at me, sullen.  A year’s togetherness made them both sexier than they ever were- to the chagrin of many a female in the hood, for they stopped messing with everyone else but each other.   Lamar and Malik spent extreme amounts of time at the local gym on the free weights and they were both now rippled with lean muscle. Malik’s 6 ft 2 frame shadowed my son Lamar’s 5 foot eleven inch height, in a most complimenting way.  They had the casual way about them a couple would have who were so happy with each other they didn’t notice it outright anymore.

At the moment, my son Lamar’s handsome face was pouting.  “Who allowed us ta drink all off the apple juice before you could buy more..?”

“Come on, ‘Mar, it’s not your pop’s fault,” Malik defended me, smiling my way.

Malik and I shared a special bond, in many ways.  He was my first parolee, also my first sexual experience with another man; he turned to me as a father figure before he found out about Joe.  Combining the fact that he was the love of my only son’s life and the son of my own lover made Malik very special to me; no longer sexually, but on much deeper levels.

“You always take his side,” Lamar said to Malik in a teasing way.  Lamar knew that the interlude between me and his lover was long over, yet sometimes I wondered if he didn’t save a small part of his mind for worry.  Especially since (due to the fact that I talk to my son about EVERYTHING) Lamar knew a secret about me, something that neither Malik nor Joe knew about- a secret that could, possibly, mess up the relationships between us all if found out…

 

I turned back to the cabinets and started rummaging for ingredients to start dinner.  “Well, you could actually do a common chore and go to the STORE and buy some apple juice,” I tossed casually.  “I AM on my day off, you see.”

“Some father,” Lamar quipped behind me.  Suddenly I felt arms around my waist and I was lifted off the ground before I could grip myself.

“Lamar!” I thundered, laughing in spite of myself as he spun me around, letting me go over the floor mat.  I fell to the ground as he and Malik collapsed to the floor themselves, laughing uncontrollably.  “So y-your workouts have paid off, huh..?” I said, breathing heavily as I stumbled to my feet.

Instantly Lamar rushed over to fling his arms around me, hugging me tight.  “I love you so much, Pop,” he wheezed between giggles.  “I was only kidding.”

I pulled my son into an embrace.  “I love you too, son.”  …And just when I felt his body relax, I flipped him over, his body landing on the same mat he had just dropped me on.

Malik almost passed out from laughing so hard.  “Ohhh  say WERD,” he said, shaking with sobs of laughter.  “Mar, yo pops jus DID u, sunn, while he wuz still layin down on da flo..!”

“Iight, iight Pop, you got that one,” Lamar said, grinning his approval as I helped him to his feet.  “You still madd fast,” he breathed in awe.

“Don’t ever sleep on your old man,” I advised him with a wink, and turned back to the cabinet to finish starting dinner.

After Malik picked himself up, he and Lamar went upstairs to shower and change for dinner.  A part of me breathed a sigh of relief that Malik didn’t ask me if I’d heard from his father; one hint of subterfuge and both boys would pick up on it.  I was just glad that so far, they didn’t seem to suspect anything.

***

“So, you think yo pops iz gonna tell us bout da suprize parti my popz iz tryin ta hide?” Joop asked me while he searched the linen drawer for a clean towel and washcloth to take a shower.

“Naw,” I said; “I think he’s gonna try ta keep it from us, it would hurt his feelins if he knew we knew what he was doin,” I said, turning away from Joop and pulling off my b-ball shorts and boxers, intent on getting in the showers before dinner.

Joop saw me bare-assed an whistled.  “Damn nicca,” he smirked, pullin off his shorts and boxers with a quickness.  “You KNOW u can't be all in my face showin dat pretty azz…” and before I knew what he was gonna do, he grabbed me round my waist and up-ended me on the bed, landin on top of me.

We laffed together as we play-wrestled naked, our sweaty big black dicks and nairy nuttsacks grindin up on each other, his sexy sweaty body pressin against my sweaty ass body, da scent of us together makin me horny as all hell. After two years together this nicca still makes me MADD horny, jus like the first time when we were in ATL at Club 112 on da dance floor.

He stopped wrestling and looked at me, his dark eyes so deep… I always got madd lost in em, all the time.  “Yo, Mar- you know how much I luv u?” he said then, seriously, his breathin slowin down, his lips lookin madd sexy to me, my breath caught up.

“Yeah nicca,” I said, smiling at him, feelin his 10.5 inch thick azz dick growin against the spot underneath my nuttsack.  “You let me know ee’ry day.”

He leaned over an kissed me, his tongue slidin against my own tongue, his soft ass lips smashin against mine, makin my 9 inch thick ass dick begin to swell up.  I grabbed his powerful muscular arms and pulled him all the way down on me as we got meshed in a blend of hot sweaty nicca flesh- and then we heard a shout outside da door.

“Yo Mar! Joop!  Where yall AT?!?”  It was our boy Rah-Rah- sounded like he was comin up da stairs...

“Got-DAMNIT,” Joop growled, the mood broken.  In a flash we were scrambling off the bed, Joop grabbin his shorts and the towel, dipping into my bathroom while I called out, “Yo up here, Rah…” I pulled my shorts back on without the boxers just as the door banged open.  Rah-Rah was at the hoop court with me and Joop, he must have followed us here…

“Yo sup, where Joop at,” Rah-Rah asked as the sound of shower water started up in the bathroom.  “I’m waitin for him to get out the shower,” I replied as I picked up my boxers and flung em into the nearby hamper.  “My pop’s makin dinner.”

“Yeah, Mr. Clark told me yall was up here,” Rah-Rah said, floppin his ass down on my bed.  “Yo did u see dat new honey-” he just stopped then, and I was aware that I only had on my b-ball shorts and my dick hadn’t gone all the way down- it was poking at half strength.  I turned away from Rah-Rah, hopin that he wasn’t starin at my dick… “Yo, did you get the new Assault CD?” I said, tryin to take the attention away from me (just in case) as the shower water droned on.

“Uhhh, naw- not yet,” he said slowly, like he was distracted on sumthin. But anyway, what yall doin after dinner, he asked.  “Come over to da crib, and I’ll bust yo ass in NBA 2K5… you down?”

“Yeah no doubt, always up for PS2,” I said with a smile.  Rah-Rah smiled back, eyes all lit up.  “Bet- I’ll get sum munchies an shyt.”

“Yo, u better get da Jacardi Apple joints too, Joop drink those like water,” I said.

It was my imagination just then but I thought the smile on Rah-Rah’s face got forced when I mentioned Joop. “Yeah, yeah, I got u,” he said, but he suddenly didn’t seem as psyched as he was a minnit ago.  I frowned at him.  “Yo Rah- ee’rything iight..?”

The shower water abruptly ended.  On cue Rah-Rah jumped up off the bed.  “Yeah-yeah, I’m good… I’ll let yall …do yall thing,” he said, headin for the door.  “Tell Joop I said sup,” he mumbled as he closed the door behind him before I could say anything else.

That was madd weird, I thought to myself.  It’s almost as if he was givin me and Joop …alone time.

The bathroom door opened up.  “Yo sup,” Joop said, towel wrapped around his chiseled waist, the smell of Lever 2000 and fresh scrubbed nicca nutts filled the room.  “Where Rah-Rah went?”

“He… bounced,” I said with hesitation.

Joop noticed my vibe.  “Yo what he said to you? U iight?”

I thought a minnit before I answered.  “I’m iight,” I said, grabbin my own towel and smiling at Joop as I slid my shorts back off.  “He told us to come over and get up with that 2K5 for a while.  He getting munchies too, them Jacardi Apple joints…”

Joop shook his head at the lost opportunity to be alone together.  “Damn- we can't say no now, he know we aint doin nuthin else… and tryin to stay here alone, he might ask questions on that shyt,” he said.  “Damn, baby.”  He came over to me and put his arms around me.

I held Joop close, his warm, damp body smelling like new soap.  “We got all nite later on, Joop- bet on dat,” I assured him.

He looked at me, dark eyes glittering.  “How bout we bet on who gettin up in da azz 2nite on da game?  Best 3 outta 5; if you lose u gettin a new azzhole ripped in 2nite nicca,” he grabbed on my ass cheek and squeezed.

“Oh werd,” I countered; “and if I win..?”

“U aint winnin.”  Joop smirked dat half-smile I liked so much.

We’ll see bout that, I said, kissin him and going into the shower.  Once under the water I pushed the weird vibe Rah-Rah gave me outta my mind.  Me and Joop were always careful; I could BET there was NO way Rah-Rah suspected anything…

***

Dinner was perfect, I had to admit- I found the makings of a chicken casserole in the cabinet and served it with a vegetable medley.  As usual, however, Lamar and Malik talked to (only) each other all the while, cleaned their plates and left the table, bounding up the stairs without even realizing I was there- in about seven minutes (I timed them).

As usual I felt like a part of the wall, or one of the place settings.  Before I could even open my mouth to say something about it this time, I heard them bounding back down the stairs, the kitchen door swinging open.  The sounds of ‘Be back later, Pop!’ and ‘See ya, Mr. Clark!’ accompanied the bang of the screen door.

I sat at the table, chagrined.  After spending an hour at least cooking, the actual dinner session, all in all, lasted for only 10 minutes.  And Malik shouldn’t be going out anyway- he was starting his new job at the mall tomorrow; in accordance with his parole he had to keep a job at all times- even though his parole was up in a couple of months, he could still get it revoked if he didn’t keep to our schedule if the parole board found out.

Then I calmed down, smiling to myself.  Lamar and Joop are both 20 now, and still so much in love it’s almost embarrassing to see them together when we’re all alone here in the house; they are allowed to not think too clearly right now.  I sighed, getting up to put the dirty dishes into the kitchen sink, opting to wash them by hand instead of using the dishwasher (Joe teases me about that all the time yet I used the wash time as therapy; it helps me think.  Tomorrow I was headed back to work to meet my new law partner; although I preferred to work alone, the senior partners, impressed at my success with my work up at the prison, had ‘insisted’ that I train other lawyers to double as PO’s in order to make the firm top-notch.

This was why I took the day off, to prepare for the intrusion of another person in my office, sharing my personal space.  I was glad of the chance to be alone though… it’s times like this I can admit to myself that it’s not going so well being with Joe… I mean, he looks at me the same way that Malik looks at Lamar.  But I don’t look back at Joe the same way Lamar looks back at Malik.  Lamar knows; he and I have talked, father to son, about it.

My son knows that I don’t really love Joe; I don’t think I ever really did.

I stood at the sink, washing the dishes, mulling it over in my mind.  Joe is the perfect lover.  He’s kind, thoughtful, considerate, very passionate, and very thorough in his love-making (his body is amazing, the fact that he’s well-gifted in the dick department isn’t bad, either).  He’s mature enough to know not to mix up our business relationship at the prison with our personal relationship (something not really easy to do).  And he loves me with all his heart.

The problem is, I’ve only been going through the motions for a while now, smiling when I’m supposed to; being the dutiful lover, giving him all the ass he can stand (and THEN some), taking trips and making wonderful memories with him; the understanding and compassionate friend.

But that’s just it, I admitted to myself.  In my heart I know that I only see him as a friend- a friend with ‘benefits’. When he says that he loves me I… hesitate.  I say it back, but I don’t feel it.

Not at all.

I’m a damned good liar, though, because he doesn’t see the truth- either because he can't or he doesn’t want to see it.  Whatever the case, I had to talk to someone about what’s beginning to broil in my heart.

Some weekends we fellas do the father/son thing (something Lamar came up with for Malik and Joe to have some alone time, to get to know each other better); one of those weekends while Lamar and I were on a camping trip I told him how I was feeling.   He responded with sympathy and by solemnly swearing that he would never tell anyone about this.

The only thing I didn’t come clean with was the fact that to date, the only person who made me feel things deeply- like passionate-type feelings- was that brief time I was having sex with Malik while he was my parolee, before I found out that he was also my son’s best friend (and lover) Joop.  I think I got with Joe because of the way he reminded me of Malik, but after a time I realized that it wasn’t about Malik at all- Malik just made me feel something, and Joe doesn’t.

I’d secretly wished for a long time that Joe could become that person that I felt something for, but it hasn’t happened.  I now know that maybe just having someone is better than being alone, wishing for what I can't have.  That private admission does not sit well with me, but I’m… content with Joe, and he’s happy- why not just keep things the way they are..?  And I always have Lamar to talk to if it gets too much every so often.

 

The phone rang, pulling me out of my reverie.  I stared down at the sink and realized that not only had I washed all the dishes, but I had dried them and put them all away, and I was just standing there with the dishtowel in my hand, my other hand gripping the sink.  The phone kept on ringing.  Striding over to the wall, I picked it up, expecting to hear Joe's voice.

“Clark residence…”

“Hello,” a deep and very sensual voice sounded on the other line.  The spot under my nuts twinged- damn he sounded sexy, whoever this was..!

“Hello,” I responded, “who’s calling please?”

“I-I’m looking for Daniel Clark,” the voice said.  “My name’s Trey- Trey Smith.  I’ll be working with you, starting tomorrow.”

My mind said to me that I should be very irritated that this guy would dare to call me at home.  But my mouth betrayed me.  “Oh, yes, Mr. Smith… how are you?”

“Fine, thanks- I know I shouldn’t have called you at home, but I wanted to talk to you outside the office, if you didn’t mind.   Tomorrow we’ll be officially partners- but before that happens, I wanted to have a drink with you or something, if that’s iight with you.”

I was instantly impressed; he obviously wanted to smooth out any wrinkles as soon as possible.  His slight use of Ebonics suggested that he wanted to deal with me on a ‘just us guys’ level.  Intrigued beyond my will, I agreed.  “Sure, where’d you like to meet?”

He cleared his throat.  “Ummm, how about Clancy’s on 5th?” he said, the relief evident in his voice that I was okay with all this.  “In about a half hour?”

“Sure- I’ll get dressed and be there,” I said pleasantly, my nuts doing a little twist of excitement.

“See you there.”  And he hung up.

I had bounded half-way up the stairs before I realized that I still had the kitchen phone in my hand.  Amazed that I was that excited about meeting this guy, I turned back and returned the receiver to the kitchen wall.  Oh, boy, I said to myself as I went back to the stairway and started up.  If my body and my dick is already reacting to this guy’s voice alone, how in HELL am I going to be able to work with him every day…?

Not even five minutes into knowing my new law partner and I knew (deep down) for a certainty- that my relationship with Joe was in TROUBLE…