Violation (9 page)

Deshawn joined us on the court with five minutes to spare.

“Dee you are always on CP time,” Lance yelled at Dee as he jogged toward us.

“Look man I’m on time.”

“Nah man you just made it. What happened Dee? Your dog ate your homework?”

“No, I got stuck in traffic. Nah, I’m lying. I got stuck in Vanessa.”

“TMI,” Lance grumbled. “You could have kept that bro'h.”

“Yes Lord I think I will keep that. I might have to get that girl a new car.”

“You need to stop spending money on these hoes,” Lance added.

“Look man, my bills are paid.”

“And so is hoe number one, hoe number two, hoe number, must I go on?”

“I played basketball my whole life so I always keep it gangsta.”
Deshawn turned his attention to me. “Why are you so quiet No-Hart?”

“I get quiet when I listen to bullshit,” I responded with a little enthusiasm. I hope not too much.

“Dee, you know you got to talk in code when you around Saint Noah.”

“Funny.” I faked a smile. I’m not a saint. I’m not even a good guy.

“Look No-Hart, I can get Vanessa to hook you up with one of her friends.”

“No bro, I don’t do video vixens.”

“Noah bro’h, she got white friends too.”

“I don’t do white video hoes. No hoes, no vixens, no strippers. No, no and no.”

Lance laughed out loud. “Dee you need to drag a nice woman out the Catholic Church for your boy No-Hart.”

“Yeah I bet he cry his Hart out after sex.” Dee joked.

Lance thought that was hilarious. I never get tired of the incessant Hart puns, sayings and quotes. I’ve heard them all my life.

“Dee and L you seen how I dunk. You seen that shit right?”

“We’ve seen it. What’s you point?” Deshawn muttered.

“When I dunk, I slam the ball inside in the hole and I hang on the rim for a few seconds. That’s how I treat the pussy. I slam my dick in and I hang inside for a minute. Now I know Lance cool but Dee if you want me to give Vanessa a Hart-to-Hart you can send her ass over to South Barrington. Take a chance bro, see if she comes back to you.”

“What up Dee?” Lance goaded. “Send Vanessa over to No-Hart, see what she does.” Lance egged on the ridiculous banter with ribbing of his own.

“C’mon Dee, let me give her a real Hart-Attack.”

“Damnnnnnnn Dee, you going to let him talk shit like that?”

“Look fool I ain’t crazy. I’m not sending my side-piece anywhere near your thirsty ass. You never get pussy so you might throw Vanessa’s back out. I ain’t that stupid.”

“Can we play some motherfucking ball?” I asked.

“Yeah let’s do this shit.”

“I hope y’all old ladies can keep up.” I jogged away from them before Coach Tucker could yell at us for goofing off.

I hit the drills hard at practice. I didn’t think of her once while I was on the court. Everything had gone right back to usual. Everything had appeared to return back to normal. I was back shooting the shit with Dee and Lance. It started off strange but I got my mind right. Now I can forget what I did. It will never happen again. I made a mistake and I’m sorry it ever happened.

TUESDAY

We played Houston. We were down in the first half but pulled it together and won. I was on fire tonight. I nearly hit every single shot I put up. I was unstoppable and so was Deshawn. He was the leading scorer tonight. I was the highest in assists, rebounds, and threes. I made sure I got him the ball and he took it to the hole. It was undoubtedly my guilt consuming me. I needed to make sure he had a good game. Tonight he had an excellent game.

Serena wasn’t in the lower level of the Stadium. I looked up in the skyboxes and she wasn’t there. She sometimes sat courtside but she wasn’t there either. I yearned to see her. That one overnight visit we shared would stay with me for a while. We fit together perfectly. Our sex was spicy and seasoned. It was like we had been together many times before. We didn’t stumble over each other’s bodies the way new lovers do.

The sex, it wasn’t awkward. It was seamless. We had an undeniable chemistry. Our bodies danced in a rhythm that I have never encountered before. It’s no fault of mine that I want to relive it, to feel it, to bask in it again. If only for one night.

I know the risk involved and the consequences but that didn’t stop the burning need. I hungered for that harmony, that intimate connection. I had been alone since my breakup with Shelley. Being with Serena made me feel less lonely. This is going to be harder than I thought. Letting go is tough.

After the game, some of my teammates were going out to celebrate, steak and lobster. Dee told me he was going to stay in the city with Vanessa. I’m sure that meant overnight. Dee had kept Vanessa around for a long time. They were two years strong. I don’t think it was because she was special. I assumed it was because she was hard to shake. She refused to stay in the background. She was the reason there were pictures of Dee and her floating around in cyberspace.

I didn’t want to go anywhere but home. I got in my Lambo and left the stadium. I arrived at home. I stepped into the foyer and dropped my gym bag on the floor. I disarmed my home alarm system. I hoped I could fall sleep without the endless daydreaming. It was happening so frequently as of late.

I made it upstairs. I walked into my bedroom and stopped in the doorway. There she was, lying in my bed under the sheet. Her hair was up in a high ponytail. It made her look ten years younger. I believed she was nude under the bed sheet. Or at least I hoped so.

My lips curled into a smile. She used my access codes. BUFFY. SPIKE. ANGEL. The greatest passwords in the history of passwords if you ask me.

“Surprise.”

“This is really a surprise.” I removed my Cavalier baseball cap. I tried to contain my elation.

“You look like a winner. I watched the game on TV.”

“I am a winner.” I walked over to her and placed my baseball cap on her head. “You can make me the MVP.”

“I can do that, if you give me what I need.” She flirted.

I pulled my t-shirt over my head and let it drift to the floor. Her eyes roamed my torso and kind of rested on my abs.

“I will give you exactly what you need.” I bent to pull my sweat pants off. Serena sat up in the bed to watch me. The bed sheet dropped exposing one of her breasts.

“Is it okay that I’m here?” She asked.

“You’re always welcome here. You have free reign.” I couldn’t believe I had just said that. I never said anything remotely close to that to any other woman. Why? Maybe I knew she had a life and wouldn’t be here all the time. I didn’t know what I was thinking but I sincerely meant it. She was allowed to come and go as much as she wanted. We fit together. That meant something to me.

I had rid myself of everything but my boxer briefs. I stood inches from her. I bent over the bed to plant a kiss on her waiting lips.

“Noah, did you miss me?”

She had no idea how much. Serena had been woven in and out my thoughts the entire weekend. I searched for her at the stadium tonight. She was missed the minute I was home in bed alone and I turned to drape my arm over her body and realized she was no longer there.

“Yes, I missed you. I’m glad you’re here now in this sexy state of undress.”

“I dreamt about you.”

“What did you dream?”

“I dreamt about your facial hair rubbing against my clit when you had your face in between my thighs.”

“I’ve had similar dreams since you left,” I smirked. She had no idea how I longed to hear something like that hail from her lips.

“No need to dream. I’m here. Do whatever you like.” She spread her legs under the bedsheet.

“Don’t say that?”

“I mean it. Do to me whatever you like.” She licked her lips and sent a telepathic surge right to my testicles.

I decided to throw caution to the wind and throw a few things out in the air.

“Bondage?”

“Tie me up.”

Okay, that was easy. “Spanking?”

“I have been a bad girl. I’m that nasty slut that is coming in between you and your best friend.”

Yes you are, nasty, slut, bad, yes.
“Anal?”

“Yes please.”

“You like it?”

“My husband won’t do that with me. I want you to force your way inside. I’m ready to try it with a person instead of a sex toy.” She was being honest. I could tell.

How the hell did I luck up on a virgin ass? Sex toys don’t count. Not in my book.

“What kind of sex toys?”

“Butt plug. It was really small.”

That was a great answer and an invitation to fill the backdoor with all my Hart. I can do that.

She was gone when I woke up at five in the morning. I was sure she knew what time her husband would come home from his exploits. I wasn’t living in a fantasy world. I knew these hookups were wrong for so many reasons. I think I want to believe that it’s because I’m alone. If I had a girlfriend I wouldn’t be doing this. I mean, I’m a man and I have needs. If there’s a beautiful naked woman in my bed, I have to sleep with her no matter who she is. Right?

I wasn’t in the mood to act responsible and mature. I was always Mr. Nice Guy. I was that boy next door turned into the man next door. I basked in my new bad boy status. How many guys on the team wanted to fuck Serena? How many times had they made little comments about her behind Deshawn’s back? Everybody thinks she’s hot. She is the sexiest wife and she wasn’t even a model, singer or dancer. She was just a regular person. She went to high school with Dee and then to college. She got pregnant and they got married before she was even twenty-one.

I had been a role model for so long I forgot how to be me. I was always doing the right and responsible thing. This was the first time I could go wild off the basketball court.

Maybe I was just being a spoiled, greedy, overgrown man. I accomplished all my professional goals. I did almost everything I set out to. Was Serena some hidden goal I had deep down inside? I don’t know. I don’t care. I just wish I didn’t think about her so much.

None of it mattered. I had another hour before I had to get up and run on the treadmill and weight train. I closed my eyes and lay there in perpetual thought.

I remembered the time I saved Dee’s Black Ferrari from taking a dirt nap. It was about one year ago. My cheek smiled at the memory of Serena behaving badly. It’s so funny thinking about it. She was like a docile Beyoncé turned into a raging Solange.

ONE YEAR AGO

I had just gotten off the elevator that led to the underground parking garage connected the stadium. I nodded at the burly security guard that stood at the entrance tunnel. He nodded back. I was always one of the first players to show up and one of the last to leave. I put in so much work because I needed to always improve my game. I had something to prove. I think a lot of the non-Black players felt that way. Black players dominated basketball. Your hoop skills had to be on point to get a fragment of respect in this industry.

There were a few cars left in the parking garage but it was mostly just vacant parking spaces. Suddenly I saw the figure move from behind a pillar. I was just a few feet away. I didn’t fear things. I was too big and much too strong to exhibit that useless emotion.

I could finally see that it was a woman. She had what appeared to be a red aluminum baseball bat in her hands. Still, I wasn’t afraid. I was confused. There aren’t any baseball bats at the basketball stadium. Why would there be? I kept walking trying to make sense of what I was seeing. It was clear she hadn’t noticed me.

“Hey!” I yelled out to her. She really didn’t take notice until I shouted. Her honey-colored eyes were unique and I recognized her right away.

“Serena!” She glared at me like an evil cat. She moved swiftly toward the Black Ferrari, Dee’s prized ride. My reflexes were still crisp from my performance out on the court tonight. I tipped my duffel bag off my shoulder and let it hit the ground. I sprinted into action. It only took a few long strides to catch up to her. She raised the bat high above her head. She was in the midst of sending an epic swing high into the driver’s side front window.

I caught the bat mid-air just as slugger took her swing back pass her shoulders. With force and a quick tilt of my wrist, I was able to remove the aluminum club from her blazing hands.

My quick snatch and grab happened with lightning speed. It occurred without her permission. Serena lingered in disbelief for a moment while she turned her anger toward me.

“NOAH!!!” She screamed my name so loud it echoed through the garage. “Give it to me!”

“No way.” I tried to sound authoritative.

Serena lunged toward me. She tried to grab the baseball bat from my firm grip. This was utterly impossible. She was about five-seven or eight and I was six feet six inches. She hopped up and down and tried to climb up my extended arm.

I tossed the bat across the pavement. It skidded across the concrete making an annoying sound. I cradled Serena in my arms when she tried to go after it. She was kicking and screaming obscenities at me. I lifted her off her feet. I hoped she wouldn’t kick me in my legs. I need my legs to run up and down the court.