Marcus was-
n’t into oral sex nor was he half as endowed as Life was. I went to
sleep with my hands between my legs, thinking how that thug had
put it on me.
At 11 o’clock, I was awakened to the sound of the phone ring-
ing. Disoriented, I couldn’t remember where I was. I finally
remembered to speak. “Hello?” I was informed that it was check-
out time. Still I could not get my bearings. I lay back down on the
pillow. Then it all came back. I was in a hotel room with a man I
hardly knew, he had taken my body. Oh, shit! I thought about the
guns, the police and those evil white men that tried to abduct me.
I sprung from the bed, my torn panties lay on the floor as a
reminder of the conquest of my body. And Life was gone. I did
not know if that was good or bad considering all that he took me
through. My mind raced a mile a minute. I went into the adjoin-
39
L i f e
ing room. He wasn’t there. I ran my fingers through my hair. The
phone rang, startling me.
“ Hello?”
“ Wuz up, Shouty!” From the sound of his raspy voice, he had
been drinking. “I got the car fixed. You ready to bounce to Tally?”
“ Yaaa!” I was excited for some reason as I answered. “I’ll be
down in a sec.” I hung the phone up and walked over to the win-
dow; children were playing around the pool, it was a beautiful day.
As I took a shower, I had to admit, even though Life Thugstin was
a thug, he handled his business. I shuddered at the thought of
what would have happened to me if Marcus would have been
there when the white men tried to abduct me. I r ubbed my
swollen private thinking once again how every woman from time
to time needs a thug in her life. Once thing for sure, once we made
it to Tallahassee I was going to get rid of his ass like a bad habit.
I walked out into the hotel vestibule with my luggage in hand.
I was wearing white slacks with a pink blouse made of soft cotton.
Life, nor my car, were anywhere in sight. I looked around, the sun
still bright and I heard my name. Life was all the way at the end
of the parking lot. He came strutting toward me with all new
clothes on. A gold Nike sweatsuit with a brown Kangol hat and a
pair of the new Jordans that had just come out. Once up close he
tried to kiss me while speaking, “Hi baby!” I ducked. He reached
for my luggage making a face, a knowing grin. I took off walking.
I smelled his cologne.
“ I have a surprise for you.” I continued to walk. Betty was still
nowhere in sight. I stopped, looked behind me and saw that he
had stopped, placed my bags down and was pointing at a car. I
knew I was right earlier, the man had been drinking. “Da–dahhh-
hhhhh,” he droned, gesturing at the car, palms open pointing. It
was an older model candy apple red Honda Accord with a sunroof
and rimmed expensive tires that cost more than my old car.
“ Boy! Have you lost your damn mind? Where is my damn
car?” I said walking up to him. Again he tried to kiss me. I moved
out of the way.
40
L i f e
“ This is your car!” he beamed.
“ No it ain’t.” I scoffed. “I own a blue 1973 Ford Mustang.”
“ Not no mo, I sold it to the junkyard for $75.00.”
“ You did whatttt? I know damn well your jinxy ass ain’t sold
my car!” I was all up in his face. His eyes darted to the ground as
he dug into his pocket passing me my ID with the title and regis-
tration in my name. “You went into my purse while I was asleep
and stole my ID, sold my car and bought this car?” I asked trying
to control my temper. My jaws were clinched so tight it felt like I
was going to crack my teeth. He looked away. “Why?” I asked. I
found it amazing how men could turn into little boys. He mum-
bled something about last night, and me saving his life. I could see
that I hurt his feelings, yet he tried to mask the pain with a facial
expression that returned my question with,
why can’t you accept my
gift?
Dope boys were
Linda Westphal
Ruth Hamilton
Julie Gerstenblatt
Ian M. Dudley
Leslie Glass
Neneh J. Gordon
Keri Arthur
Ella Dominguez
April Henry
Dana Bate