Читать книгу So You Call Yourself A Man - Carl Weber - Страница 14

“I love you, Mr. Williams.”

“I love you more, Ms. Hendy…I mean, Mrs. Williams.” I smiled as I said it. I was sure my bride-to-be was smiling.

We’d been talking on the phone for about twenty minutes. I was lying on my living room sofa about to take a shower, change into my pajamas, and go to bed in anticipation of tomorrow’s big event. After the game, I’d gone to Hooters with Sonny at James’s request, but I still couldn’t believe he actually left the game to babysit a kid he wasn’t even sure was his. Lord, I hoped Cathy never found out about this. Not having James around kinda spoiled the rest of the evening for Sonny and me. We didn’t even stay fifteen minutes at Hooters before deciding to leave. When I got home, I prayed, then I called Alison to say good night.

“Mrs. Williams. Lord knows I love the sound of that,” Alison said. So did I. It was hard to believe, but this time tomorrow we’d be on our honeymoon on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. We were planning on trying to have a baby right away. Both Alison and I loved kids, and we both wanted at least two. I wanted to be a dad more than anything in the world.

“Me too. I can’t wait to show you off as my wife.”

Alison was quiet for a moment before she said, “Brent? Can I ask you something?” Her tone lost its excitement.

“Sure, baby. What is it?” I sat up.

She never asked a question. It was more like a statement, a confusing statement at that. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I’ll understand if you wanna back out.”

I pulled the phone from my ear, staring at it before resting it back against my head. “Huh? What are you trying to say?”

“I wanna know if you really wanna marry me. Are you sure you’re not just doing this because you feel sorry for me?”

How could she be questioning my love? Maybe she was just having last-minute jitters, but her comment caught me off guard and left me feeling insulted. “Why would you ask me that? You know I love you, Alison. Have you ever even seen me look at another woman?”

“No, but I see the way they look at you. They all want you, Brent, even the married ones. How long are you going to want me, with all of them waiting in the wings for us to fail?”

“Until death do us part,” I answered, confused by her sudden lack of faith in me.

“I hope so, Brent, because sometimes I think that you could do better. That you’re just settling with me, and I don’t want you to settle.”

“I’m not settling, Alison. I love you.”

“But why? Why me? I’m black as hell, I’m damn near forty, and I weigh over two hundred fifty pounds.” Her curse caught me by surprise. “The only thing I got going for me is my Indian hair.”

“You’re the woman I fell in love with, so all the rest of them don’t matter. And I don’t give a darn if you weigh two thousand pounds. I love you, Alison, for the woman you are inside. I don’t care about that superficial stuff. I want you to be my wife.”

“That’s all I wanted to hear,” she answered, sounding more like herself again. “’Cause once we walk down that aisle, I’m never giving you up. And I mean never.”

“I don’t want you to give me up. Alison, you’re the woman I wanna grow old with.”

She let out a thankful sigh. “I love you too, Brent, more than anything in the world.”

“Good, then we still have a date to meet at the altar tomorrow?”

“I’ll be there,” she assured me.

We chatted for a few minutes longer, then said our final good night before hanging up. I took a shower and got ready for bed. I thought about calling James to see how things were going with the babysitting, but before I got to the phone, there was a loud knock on my door. I jumped out of bed.

“Who is it?” I asked as I went to the door.

There was no answer, so I pulled back the curtain on the window beside the door. I did a double take, letting go of the curtain when a figure I recognized turned toward me. There was another knock on the door, and this time I opened it with a sense of excitement and fear.

Jackie Moss, my church’s sexy organist, walked into my house. There was no question in my mind that Jackie was intoxicated, but even drunk, Jackie’s presence had a way of warming my heart and chilling my soul. It had been obvious from the first time we met that there was a mutual attraction between us. I’ve got this thing for green eyes, and Jackie’s were the greenest I’d ever seen.

“Jackie, what are you doing here?” I couldn’t help but stare.

Ignoring my question, Jackie strolled over to my living room bar, taking out two glasses and filling them with Hennessy, then offering me one. It almost fell to the floor in our exchange.

“You’re drunk?”

“Uh-huh. I wouldn’t be here unless I was.”

“So, why are you here?” I asked again.

Jackie gulped down the entire glass of Hennessy, giving me a look that told me everything I needed to know and more. “I came here to get you to cancel this ridiculous wedding. You can’t marry fat-ass Alison Hendy.”

“Why?” I snapped, not happy about the insult to Alison, “because you’re jealous?”

Jackie laughed. “Whether I’m jealous or not doesn’t matter. The whole congregation is laughing at you, Brent.”

“So, let them laugh. What are they going to say when Alison and I are still together forty years from now?”

Jackie frowned. “Brent, you’re the most handsome man in the church. People like you and I aren’t supposed to get married.”

“How can you say that? You’re married.”

Jackie placed the glass back on the bar and approached me. “That’s exactly why I’m telling you that you shouldn’t. You don’t really love her.”

“I do love her, Jackie. She’s everything I ever wanted in a woman.”

“Please. Then why are you looking at me that way? You can’t even take your eyes off me. You know it’s me you really want.”

I tried to look away, but the truth is the truth. I did want Jackie. I’d never met anyone so attractive, so perfect, but my mother always warned me that if something seems too good to be true, it usually is. In Jackie’s case, Momma’s words rang truer than ever, because my true soul mate was already married—to a prominent member of our church. In another place and another time, our fates probably would have been different. I’m sure it was the Lord who intervened and forced First Lady Wilson into introducing me to my bride-to-be, Alison. If she hadn’t, Jackie and I would have probably started an affair that would have rocked the church. And that was something I would never do.

“Sometimes what you want isn’t necessarily what you need,” I said. “I’m sorry, but I will not give in to lust. I love Alison, and I’m going to marry her.”

“You don’t love her. Not the way you could love me.” Jackie stepped up and kissed me like I’d never been kissed before. My entire body began to tingle and blood was rushing to places it shouldn’t have been. I was so turned on it took everything I had to pull myself away.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Jackie. I do love her. Maybe not in the physical sense like you’re offering, but in an emotional and spiritual sense that will last a lifetime. Now, I think you should leave.”

Jackie grinned at me wickedly. “Do you really want me to leave, Brent?”

I was hesitant, but I nodded.

“Okay, I’ll leave. But not before I give you your wedding present.”

“What wedding present?”

“This one.”

Before I could respond, Jackie’s lips were pressed against mine and a warm, Hennessy-flavored tongue parted my lips and began to explore my mouth. The alcohol taste didn’t bother me at all, and we kissed passionately for a good ten seconds. This time, I couldn’t hold myself back. Believe it or not, it was Jackie who ended our kiss abruptly with a grin. “Now, that’s a present I’m sure you’ll carry with you throughout your marriage. Feel free to share it with your new wife anytime you like. I’ll see you tomorrow at the wedding.”

And on that note, Jackie strode toward the door and walked out.