Bad as in Good Read online

  Although she was good at her game and made sure to look good doing it, her immaturity was still apparent. She played a dangerous game that would end badly if she played her cards wrong. Still, I had to give the girl her props. When I was twenty, I wasn’t using my feminine wiles to get free drinks and skip lines.

  “Teona’s been this way since she turned sixteen,” Loraine chimed in. “She even had a man beg her to let him buy her a car. All he asked in return was the chance to get her name.”

  “Did you give it to him?” I asked.

  Teona smiled. “Not my real name. The car wasn’t all that anyway.”

  I cut my eyes at Loraine and gulped down the rest of my wine. “You let your little sister drive a car that some man gave her when she was sixteen?”

  “No one lets me do anything,” Teona interjected. “Loraine is not my mother. I could do what I damn well please. Besides, I gave it back.”

  Loraine gave me a look that said, “See.” I shook my head and smiled.

  When Loraine finished sipping her drink, two men from the bar made their way in our direction. They were both well-groomed and prepped to pounce. They weren’t the finest men to look at, but they still served as a healthy distraction from Tariq.

  “Hey, beautifuls,” one man said. He had on denim jeans, a white T-shirt, and a gray sports jacket, very simple but pretty well put together. He had an air of unwarranted arrogance as his lightning bolt of gray hair pierced through his structured fade. He folded his arms across his chest and smirked while the incandescent lights illuminated his tree bark complexion. He had a square head and fade cut like Morris Chestnut from The Best Man. He definitely wasn’t as fine as Morris Chestnut, but he was still someone I’d entertain for the night.

  “Hello,” Loraine said. Teona avoided eye contact, and I smiled back.

  “I’m Vince, and this is my man, Brad,” said the sports jacket.

  “Hello, Brad and Vince,” Loraine responded.

  “Only one of you talks,” said Brad. Brad’s dark skin reminded me of the mahogany brown furniture that accented my living room. That was his good quality. His pimply face and narrow eyes chipped away at the one good quality he had. And the other bad part of him consisted of the fact that he couldn’t keep his eyes off of our breasts. If he let his tongue fall out his mouth, I’d have to complete his look with a leash and a collar. He was short and stocky like a buff teddy bear. I usually didn’t like bald guys, especially since the look of dried sweat leading from the back of his neck to the center of his skull disgusted me. But on this crooked-tooth loser, his bald head and skin color were all he had going for him.

  Teona pursed her lips.

  I said, “I’m Erin.”

  “And I’m Loraine.”

  “Can we buy you three ladies a drink?”

  “If that’s okay with you, miss.” Brad reached for Teona’s arm. When she politely snatched it back, Brad’s smile dropped from a bruised ego.

  “My name is Dana,” said Teona. “…not Miss. And yes, you can buy me a drink.”

  A smarter man would’ve taken Teona’s attitude as his cue to move on to the next, but it was pathetic how easily men went for the chase. Teona’s flip sense of self was enough incentive for Brad to grin widely in an attempt to make Teona his prey. Unluckily for him, he was already Teona’s.

  • • •

  The night was was over. Teona was already halfway drunk from the slew of drinks Brad showered upon her seemingly insurmountable thirst. Eventually, Vince and Brad realized the game Teona was playing and decided to spend the little money they had left on women they could actually get into bed that night. As we left the club and entered the parking lot, we all stopped in our tracks as a tall, caramel brotha with eyes the color of a sunset stepped in front of us. His honey-blond dreads rested between his shoulder blades as he sucked on his bottom lip and kept his eyes on Teona. Usually, I didn’t hate on any female when another man was checking her out, but when he flashed a set of perfect white teeth, and the club lights changed his eye color from sunset to Pacific Ocean blue, I couldn’t help but clear my throat and step up a little to get noticed.

  “Te—” The letters dripped off his heart-shaped lips. Then he ran his tongue across his lips and made my panties more moist than the color of his eyes. “Where you been?”

  Teona fronted as if the depth in his voice didn’t make her knees weak like it did me. I had to hold on to Loraine’s shoulder to keep my balance. “C’mon, let’s go.” Teona grabbed Loraine’s hand and attempted to drag her past the Mandingo warrior dressed in a black V-neck sweater and jeans that cupped his butt and crotch in all the perfect places.

  I hadn’t even realized I was holding Loraine back until Teona swirled around to see why Loraine wasn’t moving as fast as she wanted. The gentleman wrapped his arm around Teona’s waist and held her back. “Where you goin’?”

  Teona rolled her eyes so hard I thought she lost them in the back of her head. “Get your hands off me, Dre.”

  Dre threw his hands up and then finally gave Loraine and me some attention. “I’m sorry. My name is Andre. To whom do I owe the pleasure?”

  Andre put his hand out for Loraine and me to shake. Loraine hesitated but I gladly took the opportunity to feel his hands. My fantasies wanted a better understanding of how his hands would feel wrapped around my waist. “Erin.”

  Andre licked his lips and winked before turning his attention to Loraine.

  “Loraine.” Loraine shook his hand like she was doing him a favor.

  Teona yanked Loraine’s hand from Andre’s grasp and then yanked her away.

  “Can you please leave?” Teona demanded.

  “I’ve been callin’ you.” Andre’s smooth demeanor slightly shifted as his intrigue turned to irritation. “Where have you been?”

  “Mindin’ my damn business.”

  Teona kept walking as Andre followed. Loraine and I followed after them as we watched the spectacle. Tired of chasing after Teona, Andre circled around her and turned his heavenly smile into a menacing frown. “Where’s my watch, Te?”

  “I dunno what you’re talkin’ ’bout.”

  “Don’t play stupid wit’ me, Te.”

  Teona turned around. Loraine sensed trouble and put some pep in her step as we headed in the opposite direction. “Who is that man, Teona?” Loraine asked.

  Teona huffed an annoyed breath. “Some lil’ boy who’s apparently following me.”

  Andre grabbed Teona’s arm and swung her around. Putting his finger in her face, he clenched his jaw and squeezed her wrist. “I’m not playin’, Te. My granddaddy gave me that watch. You think I’ma let you take it?”

  Teona wrenched her arm back and twirled her neck. “Don’t you put yo’ hands on me.”

  Loraine got in between them and pushed Teona back. “Excuse you. Don’t put your hands on my lil’ sister.”

  “Well, your lil’ sis is goin’ ’round stealin’ my shit. She lucky she suck dick good o’ I woulda came for her a long time ago.”

  Andre was quickly transforming into a menace as opposed to a Mandingo. “Teona, what’s goin’ on here?” Loraine asked.

  Teona sucked the enamel off her teeth as she folded her arms over her chest. “Dre, you need to go.”

  Andre brushed past Loraine and grabbed Teona’s forearms. “You think shit is funny, Te?” Andre’s Pacific Ocean eyes slowly turned blood-red as the fluorescent streetlights showed off the black, weed-smoke residue on his heart-shaped lips. He squeezed Teona’s arms as he pulled her close. “Gimme my shit.”

  Loraine smacked Andre’s shoulder and then pulled out her stun gun. When Andre noticed what Loraine had in her purse, he let Teona go and put up his hands. “Leave my sister alone.”

  Afraid of where this night would lead, I turned Teona around. “If you have something that belongs to this man, please give it to him. We don’t wanna end up on the news tonight.”

  Teona stomped her foot. After going through her purse, she pulled out
a gold watch with a diamond-encrusted rotating bezel. Andre swiped the watch from Teona’s hand and examined it. Pleased with its condition, Andre blew Teona a kiss and then disappeared into the night.

  “What the hell was that about, Teona?” Loraine asked as she put away her stun gun.

  Teona shrugged her shoulders. “Same shit, different night.” With that, she walked toward the car. Loraine and I exchanged looks as my heartbeat steadied.

  “Is she serious?”

  Loraine shook her head. “Same Teona, different dang night. Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER 9

  Erin

  When I got home, I kicked my shoes off and headed for the wine bottle waiting on me. As I stood barefoot in my kitchen, I thought about gettin’ nice and liquored up by making Amaretto ice cream floats and sippin’ on Pink Moscato. Unfortunately, my plans were interrupted by a gentle knock at my door. I took a deep breath and glanced at the clock on my microwave. Taking a deep breath, I untied my hair and scratched between my tender roots.

  When I opened my door and noticed Tariq’s tall frame taking up most of the space in my doorway, it took my breath away. I literally held my breath as my eyes scanned the fine specimen before me. The last thing I expected was his haughtiness knocking on my door at four in the morning, especially after how we ended things. Still, my breath found it hard to come back as my eyes gazed over the way his nicely fitted button-down caressed his chest and his slacks gripped his body in ways that I only wanted to. I cursed myself for being jealous of men’s pants. “What are you doing here?”

  He licked his soft lips and gazed over my body. “I wanted to talk.” His deep voice danced off my eardrums and slid between my inner thighs. I squeezed the door and tried not to squeeze him.

  “We have nothing to discuss. You’re married, and I don’t date married men.”

  “That’s what I want to talk to you about.”

  “Save it for the next chick you try to screw over.”

  “If I was tryna screw you over, I wouldn’t be at your door tryna talk.”

  “Talk? You’re probably horny.” He sucked on his bottom lip and smiled. Yes, my knees quivered, but I folded my arms over my chest like his lip suckin’ didn’t do me any favors. “Like I said, save it for the next chick you try to screw over.”

  “C’mon, Erin. It’s not even like that. I can’t lie and say I’m not thinkin’ ’bout that when you standin’ here lookin’ sexy in skinny jeans, breasts all out, hair down—man’s goin’ be a man. But I did come here to talk to you.”

  “About what?”

  “ ’Bout what happened. I ain’t wanna leave things like they’ve been.”

  “It’s been a month, Tariq. It’s been left. There’s nothing more to discuss. And as my outfit points out, I’ve moved on to other things.”

  “Is that right?” Within seconds, his words were on my neck and his arms around my waist. I tried to push him away but his lips met my skin and I was lost in translation. His previous actions showed me we were over, but as his lips spoke dirty little nothings on my neck, all I could understand was how sweet his lips tasted when they touched mine. Before I realized it, we were in my apartment, trying to make it to the bedroom as quickly as our clothes hit the floor.

  I felt so stupid for letting him do me like he did, but as soon as my panties hit the floor, I was his. I was his to lay himself inside of and my emotions were his to toy with. Nonetheless, in that moment, I needed him. I needed to feel a man as strong and as sexy as Tariq freak me right and assure me that the woman that stared back at me in the mirror deserved to be pleased the way she needed to be pleased. And Tariq was the man who knew how to please.

  “You can’t stay here, Tariq.” I wrapped my legs around his waist so he couldn’t leave. “We can’t do this,” I assured him as I tilted my head back and let him suck the spaces below my chin that always sent shivers up my spine.

  “You know you missed me,” he whispered in my ear as he pinned my wrists back and stroked his body on top of mine, He slowly satisfied me and forced me to reach my climax. “I came to make you come.”

  A task he knew all too well. As if his dick was meant for my satisfaction, I needed it to do to me what I lay in bed alone hoping he’d come back and do. I was fooling myself if I thought I had any say over what was going to happen the moment he knocked on my door. As soon as he knocked on my door, our fates were sealed and we were destined to lie in my bed soiling my sheets with me begging for more—and he knew it.

  CHAPTER 10

  Erin

  “That little girl brought home some random man.” Loraine stomped through my apartment pacing back and forth as she huffed and puffed. Loraine caught Teona sneaking some guy she met at the club that night into her home. Instead of being remorseful, Teona couldn’t understand why Loraine couldn’t accept her hustle. Two nights after my sexcapade with Tariq, I got a call at one-thirty in the morning that Teona dropped the bomb that Loraine was jealous. I didn’t even have to ask. Teona would be out the door and Loraine would be two seconds away from knocking down mine.

  I sat on the couch watching her, trying not to reveal the glorious night I had with Tariq. Tariq and I never really talked. I didn’t get the answers I truly needed from him. Questions like, Where’s your wife?, Where’s your son?, Why didn’t you ever feel the need to tell me? were left hanging in the same spot where I asked myself, “Why do you always let him in?” Either way, I came four ways ’til Sunday and damn sho’ wasn’t complaining. “You knew your sister wasn’t an angel.”

  Loraine placed her hands on her hips. “That does not excuse the fact that she met some man and had the nerve to invite this strange man to my house at one o’clock in the damn morning. I almost kicked him and her out my house tonight. That ho has two days before she’s out.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  Loraine cut her eyes in my direction and stopped pacing. With her finger in my face, she clenched her jaw and said, “I sound like I’m playing, Erin. I’m pissed the fuck off. You think I ain’t wanna kick the ho out my house? That man is definitely gone, but she’s my damn sister, no matter how many strange men she lets lounge inside her.”

  “You’re taking it too far. I’m sure she’s not a ho and—”

  “How would you know? You saw how she was at the club. Flashing her tits around for free VIP and drinks. And then there was that mess wit’ Andre. I dunno what that ho would do for jewelry, cars, and clothes. I don’t wanna know.” Loraine ran her hands through her locs, and went back to pacing a hole into my floor.

  When my phone vibrated, I couldn’t help but smile at the text Tariq sent me. “Miss u.” Albeit short and sweet, it was a message that had me lit up for the rest of the night.

  “What the fuck you smiling about? Did Teona text you?”

  I tried to hide my glee by sucking my teeth and changing the subject. “Why would Teona be texting me? She’s prolly at your place setting a blaze to all your things before she packs her things and leave.”

  “Girl, please. That girl ain’t crazy.”

  “After you cursed her out and told her she had two days to find another place to stay, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did.”

  Loraine brushed that notion off and refused to let my text go. “Who’s texting you at three in the morning then?”

  “That’s my business.”

  For the first time since she stomped into my apartment, Loraine calmed down. She took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders. “Look, my head’s real out of it right now. I realized my lil’ sister was…different, but I tried to ignore the possibility that she might be this active to get the perks she’s been receiving. You wanna know the reason why she felt justified to bring home some man she met at a club? Because he promised to pay off her student loan debt. This bitch is fucking for loan money.” Loraine plopped down on the couch next to me, shaking her head. “I’m not her mother, but why would she feel the need to bring this type of shit to my doorstep? I ain’t that easygoing.�
�

  “Ain’t that the truth,” I joked.

  Loraine slapped my thigh and rested her head on my couch pillows. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Forgive me if I’ve been difficult for the past hour but—”

  “You ain’t gotta explain nothing to me, girl.”

  “I don’t wanna get a call in the middle of the night about her, y’know?”

  “I understand. I guess it’s ’bout that time you two have a real sister-to-sister talk.”

  “We do. I don’t want her to blame her behavior on our dad not being around. I’m tired of hearing the excuses. I need her to be a woman and stop playing these reckless games. I had to give her an ultimatum, for the sake of our relationship. But, I guess I’ll sit down and talk to her before she leaves.”

  We sat there quietly. Loraine’s head had to be filled with thoughts of her fast-tailed sister. My head was full of thoughts of Tariq. My phone vibrated again. It was Tariq; this time it was a call. To avoid the scolding, I tried to quickly silence it before Loraine caught wind. I would’ve gotten away with it if he didn’t feel the need to follow up his missed call with another text that read, “I need 2 c u.”

  “Who is blowing up your phone, girl?”

  “No one important.”

  “Must be important enough. The first time you got a text, you were lit up like a Christmas tree. Now the calls are coming.”

  I waved it off and shrugged my shoulders. “It’s nothing, girl. I’m here to focus on you.”

  Loraine sat up. “Listen, the last thing I wanna be doing right now is focusing on my problems. You got a new man or something? Who’s blowing you up like this?”

  I took a deep breath and stared at the wall. “Tariq.”

  “What?” Loraine jumped up and put her finger back in my face. “Tariq, who?”

  “You know who I’m talkin’ about.”

  “Married Tariq? What’s he saying?”