The Sordid Promise (10 page)

She gave me a faint smile. 

Brought back to the reality of the situation, I thought about the talk I was supposed to have with Eric; the chat that was rudely preempted by a bitch in heat. “The talk…didn’t exactly happen.”

“Don’t you worry about that now. He’ll come around.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

“Trust in me, Diouana. He’ll come around. All you have to do is ask when the time is right. You’ll get that opportunity soon. Maintain your equanimity, daughter.”

Eric returned to the room with a cup of coffee in hand.

“Diouana, can you excuse Eric and me for a moment?” she asked as Eric slipped the cup of coffee to me. 

I gave her a look of puzzlement, but followed her orders anyway. 

“Close the door,” she croaked behind my stride.

I kicked up the stopper, balancing my hot Styrofoam cup as I allowed the door to close behind me.

I hung back for a bit, gazing through the vertical smoky glass window in the door. Eric leaned over my mother’s bed, nodding to her as her lips moved. He took her hand, clutching it like a son would hold onto a feeble mother. The whole exchange….rang odd.

Janet joined my side and blocked my view. “They might be a while. Going on break. Wanna grab something from the cafeteria?” Janet asked me.

I shrugged, because I was too stunned by the scene I witnessed to decline as I usually did.

I stretched out on my mother’s couch as I watched the end credits roll. “Albeit gory, the message about the arrogance of white collars from first world countries, and how they think they are saving third worlds and indigenous cultures with westernization….very poignant.”

With a smirk, Eric leaned back on the couch and rolled his head against the headrest. “Okay, movie critic. Are you going to go into a dissertation about the destruction westernization causes?”

“No.” I sank on the couch as I grabbed the remote and turned off the television. “I just read a lot.”

“Too much, because you don't have a social life.”

“Are you intimidated by smart women? I read that it’s a thing with men. They have to have more over the woman whether it be money, looks, or education. Otherwise, they feel emasculated.”

“You read way too much.
Nothing
about you intimidates me.”

I met his eye contact as I folded my arms and crossed my legs. “Maybe it should.”

“I have eyes, Nik. I saw the cuts on your arms…and your legs. The fact that you boasted about trying to commit suicide at my dinner. If I was going to run scared, it would’ve happened by now.”

“I didn’t boast about it.”

“Yeah, you really did.”

“I can’t work you out.” I slid closer to him and tucked my knees to my chest. “I don’t know what it is you really want.”

“Because you keep thinking I just want to fuck you. Again. Boxes. Black and white.” He mirrored my position and crossed one leg lazily over the other. His lids lowered as his expression turned to complete composure. “I’m very wicked, Nik, but I’m perfect for you. Be patient, and I’ll show you how.”

My mouth gaped. The fact that he admitted he was damaged garnered a point in his pro column. “Boxes,” I swallowed. “Okay. So, I shouldn’t think that you and my mother are a little too personal for two people who met just once?” 

He completely broke our eye contact and stared at the blank screen. 

“Eric?”

He crashed into me, kissing me with delicate softness as he clasped the side of my face. He pressed his body against mine, forcing my body to rest fully on the couch. As the smooth leather cradled me, he took possession of my mouth with an erotic hunger. My attempt to wrap my legs around him was quickly thwarted. He grabbed my thighs firmly, hurting me with the rough way he prevented me from my purpose.

His lips continued to serve as a neutralizer—an addictive, mind-numbing neutralizer. My hands wandered onto his well-defined back, and held firm around his taut behind. He separated his lips from me, just barely. He teased me, running the tip of his tongue against the peak of my lips. I lightly moaned and sucked the tip.

He paused to search my eyes with an overt softness.

“Eric,” I implored, because I didn’t want him to stop. I knew what I wanted, and I didn’t care if he moved on to another girl the next day. I had no intention of drawing out a relationship with him. A man like him couldn’t be tamed. I didn’t need his friends’ warnings to know that. I didn’t want to tame him. I didn’t come to him with stars in my eyes. I just wanted something different for the night; something to take my mind off…everything.

His sudden self-satisfied grin thrust me out of my comfort. Unexpectedly, he clutched the back of my head. With his hand tangled in my strands, he yanked my head back, forcing my neck to arc. His parted lips grazed the curve of my neck, setting it aflame. “Nikki,” he soughed, “keep begging for my cock. You’re making me so hard.” His lips latched onto the curve of my chin, sucking it hard enough to make me whimper. I tried to reach out for him, but he gathered my hands in one of his, placing them just above my head. “I can’t wait until I can make you beg for more than just my cock. And when I fuck you, baby, you’re going to swear my cock was a gift from the heavens.” 

I shivered and gasped. 

He laid his lower half between my legs. Slipping his hand down his torso, he adjusted his thick excitement underneath his slacks. He pushed my skirt up to my waist, and writhed his hardness against me.

“Fuck me,” I moaned, stuck in his hold and unable to move away from the torture. “Please.”

“That’s right, baby. Keep begging me for it.” He latched his lips to the bottom of my lip. Sucking hard on my lip, he let it pop on release. He reached down, undid his pants and pulled out his cock. It pulsed heavily against my panty-covered slit. “You’re going to have to wait until I want to give it you,” he sneered. “Until I think you can handle it. I know my torment is making you so horny right now. I know as soon as I walk out that door you’re going to slip those slender fingers inside your wet cunt.” He looked at me through heavy lids. “Don’t. Or I’ll make your wait longer. And, Nik….don’t even think of filling that need with anyone else. If anyone gets to fuck you from here on out, it’ll be me and only me.”

His vulgar seduction and strong front made my tremors worse. The throb between my thighs bordered on excruciating. He began to grind his hardness against my apex, manipulating me through my panties. “You love the way I talk to you, don’t you?” He increased the pressure of the tease.

“Yes,” I gasped as my slit continued to burn with the ever increasing moisture.

He reached down and lightly circled his hands around my throbbing clit. The gesture served to increase the tease, because it was too light to allow for a pleasurable release. “You’re a very dirty girl, aren’t you, Nik?” He sucked in a sensuous breath. “I’m going to enjoy making you come on my cock, my fingers, and in my mouth. My sex is going to set a standard that no man has ever reached, and nor will another man get a fucking chance to.”

I wanted to curse him. I wanted to scream. The torture he forced me to endure felt so intense, I couldn’t restrain my body from shaking.

“Now…tell me that you’ll be a good girl for me.”

I whimpered, struggling to say anything. Having my control taken away was freeing to say the least.

Removing a hand from my hair, he grabbed a fistful of his erection while still holding my hands firmly in the other hand, and rocked the head of his erection against my clit. “Nikki,” he charged in a throaty whisper.

“I won't touch myself,” I stated quickly through a whisper.

His eyes blazed as he abruptly grabbed me by the crown of my hair, jerking my head back.

“I’ll be a good girl for you,” I rasped.

“Very…good.” He searched my eyes with a mischievous sneer. Abruptly, he lifted away from me. He shoved his erection back down in his pants before I got a chance to take in the view. 
His expression completely changed. It was as if the most sexually agonizing seven minutes of my life never happened. “Can’t stay. Have to get to work in an hour. Dinner at my place tomorrow. Eight-thirty. Be on time.” He leaned down, kissed me briefly and was out the door.

I finally took a breath. While thumbing my sore mouth, I crossed my legs to fight against the deeper throb there. I grabbed a silk pillow from the couch and screamed the full extent of my agony into it.

Maisha’s short angry barks woke me up in the middle of the night. Underneath the loud proclamation of her annoyance, I heard a commotion emulate from next door. Groggily, I slipped out of bed. A few cars were parked in Eric’s driveway. Three men walked with Estelle as she sauntered up the walk. A man came behind her and grabbed her by the hair. Another stood in front of her, grabbed her neck and kissed her. The man behind her lifted the back of her dress and spanked her behind with a harsh openhanded slap. There was something around her neck that allowed the man kissing her to drag her inside the house.

All three disappeared inside the house with a slam of the door.

I slipped back into bed, more confused than ever about what really went on next door.

She had a feeding tube, a catheter, and a breathing tube connected to a ventilator. She could barely open her eyes when I called her name. Her hand jerked, but barely lifted from the bed.

The sinking feeling in my chest told me that what we so cavalierly planned for needed to occur. The time came for my promise to her to be fulfilled.

No. This is too soon. I thought I was prepared. I thought I could handle it but—no this can’t happen now. Not yet. Not now. I still…need her.
“S-she was fine yesterday. W-what happened to her?” I asked Janet through heavy sobs. “Janet?” I clutched my mother’s hand as the tears fell.

Janet was so quiet, she drew my eye. She stood in the doorway with tears streaming down her cheeks. “She…had problems breathing last night…Nikki, it’s time to prepare,” she said quietly.

“P-prepare for what?”

She looked at my mother like I was supposed to read through her cryptic words.

I finally did. She knew what my mother and I had planned. “No. I’m not ready. I…I just talked to her yesterday. She might wake up tomorrow. We have to wait. She has to wait. She thought he would help her, but he won’t. He’s not the right one. It’s not time to prepare for anything. Not until I get her home. She can’t die here. I promised I wouldn’t let her.” I talked quickly through a perceptible effusion.

“With his uncle’s colon cancer, we thought he would do what he—never mind. Just...let me talk to him. I’ll make this right. What I can make right.” She gave me a nod and left me alone with my mother.

I dropped the copies of
Agent & Broker
on the floor. I grabbed her frail hand and kissed the back of it. “Mom? Mommy, please, don’t go. I’m not ready. I know I said I could handle this but I—please, don’t leave me. I can’t do this life without you. I’m sorry I left. I’m sorry. Please, just…c-come back.” Everything I held back, bubbled to the surface. The sadness was palpable. I’d never felt more….alone.

I couldn’t stop crying.

The only reason I left my mother’s bedside was because I was made to. Worries that something would happen to her (while I couldn’t be there), motivated my stay. I wanted her to wake up. I wanted her to become coherent just one more time, so I could tell her all the things I hadn’t before—things I wasn’t sure if she ever knew about.