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  CHAPTER 13

  “Can I get a smile?” Matt asked Onika after relinquishing his credit card to the sales associate at Vanity Furniture Company.

  “Hell no!” Onika turned her nose up as if Matt were stinking up the furniture showroom. “Why you gotta be so damn cheap all the time?”

  “Cheap? I just forked over forty-six hundred dollars.”

  “So what,” she snarled. “The man told you he could have the furniture delivered tomorrow morning if you paid a little bit extra.”

  “Onika, why should I cough up almost three hundred dollars extra when I own a van and have access to a work crew who can deliver the furniture?” Matt asked, trying to appeal to Onika’s common sense. “Look, baby. I’ll take Cochise and the boys straight to the furniture store when I pick them up tomorrow. We’ll get all the furniture in here before I take them to the work site.”

  Giving Matt a hand flip, Onika snarled, “I’m not tryna hear that shit.” Rotating her neck, she continued, “I’m not lettin’ your raunchy workers put their hands on my new furniture. I want my shit delivered and set up by professionals.” Onika gave a heavy sigh, folded her arms defiantly, and rolled her eyes at Matt. “I can just see trifling-ass Theo and sick old Mr. Faison dropping my shit and fucking it up. And that hateful Cochise…” Onika sucked her teeth. “That evil-ass, Indian-looking mufucka would probably damage my nice furniture just for the hell of it. Fuck you, Mr. Wheeler, and fuck your work crew,” Onika said loudly, causing customers and sales associates to rear back in shock.

  “Lower your voice, sweetheart,” Matt said in a placating tone.

  “Fuck you,” she shouted with a nasty grimace in an even louder voice. “Take me home, asshole. I don’t need your stingy ass. I can get my own goddamn furniture.”

  Though Onika was lanky with no hips or behind to speak of, it didn’t matter to Matt. She was the sexiest woman he had ever encountered. Inexplicably, her anger and her insulting profanity made his small dick lengthen to what felt like at least two more inches as it hardened inside his pants. Without another word, Matt gave Onika a smile of concession. Resignedly, he walked over to the sales counter. “Listen, go ahead and add that delivery charge. My, uh, wife wants to get the furniture delivered tomorrow.” Matt and the sales associate gave Onika strained smiles.

  Onika put her hand on her hip and glared at the two men. “What y’all lookin’ at me for? Y’all need to hurry up and run that credit card. I’m not tryin’ to stand around here all day. I got shit to do.” She shifted impatiently from one foot to the other and blew out several furious bursts of air.

  Matt gave the sales associate an apologetic smile. “Could you speed it up a little, buddy? She’s not feeling well. I…uh, have to get her home.”

  “Sure, no problem.” The salesman, apparently unwilling to risk losing the sale, obliged with a widened grin and quickly punched the additional figures into the computer.

  Matt revved the engine happily. He’d bought Onika everything she’d asked for and despite the fact that she was sitting next to him looking unpleasant and grumpy, he was sure that when they got back to her apartment, his skillful tongue could lick her into a better mood.

  Five minutes after leaving the Claymont, Delaware, mall, they passed the WELCOME TO PENNSYLVANIA sign. Matt smiled to himself. They’d be in Chester soon. After splurging on furniture, he figured he’d earned the right to slip off her jeans and wrap his lips around her tasty clit the moment they stepped inside the apartment.

  Onika’s cell chimed. “Whaddup?” she barked, holding the handset to her ear. She listened briefly and then turned toward Matt. “Yo, why ain’t you get me a Bluetooth. It’s annoying holding this thing up to my ear,” she complained.

  “I’ll get you one,” Matt sadly obliged.

  “So, what’s the deal?” she asked, returning to the conversation on the phone.

  Matt could hear the urgent, high-pitched vocal tone of a female on the other end of the phone but he couldn’t make out what the woman was saying. His instincts told him that the caller’s dilemma didn’t bode well for him.

  Onika snapped her phone shut. “Swing by the womens’ Recovery House.”

  “What for?” he asked, shocked that she would want to go anywhere near that horribly crowded recovery place now that she had her own apartment.

  Onika gritted on Matt for a few seconds before speaking. “Not that it’s any of your business, but since you gotta be all up in my business, I have to make a quick stop and scoop up my girl, Puddin.”

  Matt wrinkled his face in annoyance. “I don’t have time to provide a taxi service for your drug-addict friends. I have to get back to the job and make sure my crew is doing what they should.”

  Onika’s face turned sour. “Screw you, asshole. You done lost your damn mind. How your old ass gon’ be complaining about giving one of my friends a damn ride?”

  Matt winced. He’d gotten used to being called an asshole. He’d begun to consider it a term of endearment, but being called old stung, particularly when Onika had insisted that she didn’t consider him old.

  “Onika, I’m still in my thirties. How can you call me old?” Matt asked, deeply wounded.

  “Nigga, you pushing forty. I’m only twenty years old. As far as I’m concerned, your ass is old as dirt!”

  “Why didn’t you admit your feelings in the beginning?” Matt wondered aloud in a pained, cracked voice.

  “Yo, I’m not debating the issue. I’m through talkin’ to your dumb ass, so drive, nigga. Take me the fuck home. And after you drop me off, you can just keep it movin’, ’cause it’s gon’ be a snowy mufuckin’ day in July before I let you taste this good pussy again!”

  In a panic, Matt blinked rapidly. Hooked on Onika’s womanly flavor, he had to honor her request if he wanted to continue lathering his lips with her nectar. “Okay, I’ll pick up your friend,” Matt said weakly, giving Onika a pained look.

  “Aiight, then. Don’t be staring at my face. You better keep your eyes on the road while you driving, nigga.”

  He quickly refocused his gaze. Worry crinkled his brow. He sure hoped Onika’s friend didn’t have to travel too far. He hadn’t planned on leaving his crew alone for more than an hour or two. Any thoughts of finally penetrating Onika flew out the window. For Matt to maintain an erection would require patience on Onika’s part, and she was clearly not feeling tolerant. Once again, Matt would have to jack himself off while dining between her legs.

  Looking on the bright side, he thought about tomorrow. He was confident that after the furniture was delivered and set up, Onika would be in the right frame of mind to enjoy intercourse with him.

  Pulling off I-95 at the Kerlin Street exit, Matt steered toward the Recovery House.

  CHAPTER 14

  Matt gave a mental sigh when he spotted the short, light-skinned, barrel-shaped young woman wearing a bright red jacket, black pants, and black ankle boots waiting outside the Recovery House. On the ground beside her boots was an oversized plastic trash bag. The trash bag could only mean trouble for Matt. Apparently, the girl was leaving the House and needed a lift to her next dwelling place.

  When Matt pulled his van up to the curb, the roly-poly girl picked up the trash bag and slung it over her shoulder. Approaching the van, looking like Mrs. Santa Claus, Onika’s girlfriend waved excitedly. She pulled open the door, climbed inside, and threw her trash bag in the back, and squeezed into the passenger seat with Onika. “Whaddup, Onika!”

  “Ain’t shit,” Onika said dryly.

  “Aw, don’t be acting all down and out on our first night as roomies.”

  Matt’s jaw dropped. “Onika, what’s she—”

  “There you go,” Onika spat. “Why you gotta be all up in my business?”

  “I have a right to know who—”

  “Nigga, you ain’t got a right to know nothing!”

  Puddin laughed. “Damn, Onika, didn’t your mother teach you to respect your elders?”

  “Yeah, but
I only give it when I get it,” Onika replied sullenly. “I think it’s disrespectful for a nigga to be trying to mind my business.”

  “You got a point,” Puddin agreed.

  “I’ve never disrespected you, Onika,” Matt declared, trying to ignore the fact that Puddin had referred to him as an elder. Since when did being thirty-nine years old equate to being an elder? Matt wondered, peeved. “How have I disrespected you?” he persisted.

  “Man, would you please pull off from in front of this damn Recovery House,” Onika spat. “Shit, I still owe room and board at that bitch.”

  Matt didn’t move. “I asked you how I’ve ever disrespected you.”

  Onika sucked her teeth. “Aiight, sit out here if you want to, but if the house manager or somebody tries to come at me, starting some shit about the rent, you better be prepared to come out of your pocket ’cause I ain’t giving up a damn thing.”

  Puddin fell out laughing and slapped Onika’s palm. “I know that’s right, girl. After they broke up the fight between me and that new chick, Miss Betina gon’ tell me I had to go, then she had the nerve to start adding up how much I owed. Now, you know I told her to kiss my big ass.”

  Onika chuckled briefly and then shot Puddin a curious look. “So, why was you and the new chick fighting?”

  Puddin dug inside her purse and opened her palm, revealing a handful of pills. “Bitch snuck some Oxycontin in the house and wasn’t trying to share. Now, you know I loves me some Oxy, so I burned her for all her shit. When she tried to accuse me of taking her shit, I busted her mouth.”

  Smiling, Onika shook her head as if Puddin was a mischievous four-year-old. Matt felt a dislike for Puddin that was so intense, he wanted to pull over and physically toss the pill-popping addict out of his van. He didn’t have time to compete for Onika’s attention. Now that he’d heard Puddin’s story, he knew the pudgy little freeloader would be hanging around forever. He wanted to kiss and make up with Onika as quickly as possible. He didn’t have all night. He had a job to do, and men to supervise and transport back to their group home. But with a third wheel in his and Onika’s love nest, diffusing his baby girl’s anger would take a lot more time and patience than he had tonight. He could only pray that Puddin would take every one of the stolen pills as soon as they returned to the apartment. He hoped Puddin would quickly nod off into oblivion, and give him and his baby girl the privacy they deserved. Who was he kidding? It would be too much like right for Onika’s ill-mannered friend to conveniently knock herself out.

  Instead of parking, Matt pulled up to the door of building G and sat behind the wheel, allowing the engine to idle while Puddin got out and retrieved her trash bag. Onika sat beside him, silent. “I’m going to give you some time to cool off, baby girl. I’ll give you a call early tomorrow morning.”

  “Oh, it’s like that, now?”

  “Like what?”

  “You just gon’ drop me off in front of the crib like you don’t give a damn how I feel?”

  Matt couldn’t win for losing. He was trying to give Onika the space she obviously needed and she still wasn’t satisfied. Not knowing what to say, Matt held out his hands and shrugged. He caught a glimpse of Puddin standing at the door of Onika’s apartment building and then he felt the buckle of Onika’s pocketbook as it crashed against the side of his face.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” he shouted, rubbing his palm across his cheek.

  “Why you looking out the window at Puddin? You tryin’ to get with my friend?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I just glanced out the window for a moment. I wasn’t paying any attention to Puddin.” Matt pulled the visor down to check the damage to his face. There was some swelling and redness near his cheekbone, which meant he’d have to concoct a believable story when his wife asked what happened.

  There was the sudden sound of Puddin banging on the passenger window. “I know that mufucka didn’t put his hands on you!”

  Onika slid down the window. “Nah, but I had to crack him upside his head—put that ass in check.” She turned to Matt. “Ain’t that right, baby?” she asked with a huge grin, as if being smacked with her pocketbook was something he should be proud of.

  Matt looked grim. How had he allowed his world to spin so badly out of control? It was possible that Onika was crazy. But what was his excuse for going along with her nuttiness? I’m pussy whipped, he solemnly admitted.

  “Answer me!” The humor had left Onika’s voice.

  Not wishing to provoke her again, Matt responded quickly. “Yeah, you keep me in check.” Ugh! He sounded like a wimp. He rubbed the tender area on his face. The pain was tolerable. He felt more humiliated than physically hurt. He was deeply ashamed that his weakness for Onika had been witnessed by a third party.

  He thought he’d made it clear that he didn’t mind getting cussed out or smacked around behind closed doors. But now Onika was acting out in front of Puddin. Clearly, Onika was out of control, and Matt didn’t know how to rein her back in. He yearned for the sweet, considerate young woman she’d been when he first developed an interest in her.

  Matt had to admit, though, that her bad behavior wasn’t entirely her fault. He’d spoiled Onika and turned her into the ornery, demanding monster she’d become.

  “Here you go.” Onika handed Puddin a set of keys. “Apartment 10. Go on in and make yourself at home. There’s a little bit of food in the fridge.” Onika nodded toward Matt. “This asshole’s been bringing me stuff to snack on instead of taking me to the supermarket to do some real grocery shopping.”

  Matt wanted to defend himself and explain to Onika that with all the furniture shopping they’d done and having to hold down two jobs, he hadn’t had the time to take her shopping for groceries. But he didn’t dare disagree with Onika. He sat quietly with his head in his hands.

  “But I got a little something, something…enough ham and cheese slices to make yourself a couple sandwiches.”

  “Ham and cheese!” Laughing, Puddin rubbed her plump tummy. “You ain’t gotta tell me twice.”

  “You crazy, girl,” Onika replied. “I’m gon sit in the van for a minute. Me and this dickhead gotta have a private conversation.”

  “Aiight. Holla if you need me,” Puddin said, narrowing an eye at Matt.

  “So what’s the deal with you?” Onika asked Matt after Puddin waddled off.

  “Nothing,” Matt muttered.

  “Nigga please. What’s your problem? Spit it out before I smack the shit outta you,” she said, raising her hand.

  Without a doubt, Matt could physically put a hurting on skinny little Onika if he chose to. But her emotional hold on him was so intense, he feared her. He was afraid of losing the woman whose mistreatment of him served as an aphrodisiac—the woman whose vaginal juices invigorated him like a double dose of Viagra. Matt took a deep breath. “Actually, there is something wrong. For one thing, I wish you wouldn’t talk to me with such blatant disrespect when other people are around. It’s degrading and I don’t appreciate it.” Matt took a deep breath and continued. “And secondly, I really wish you wouldn’t put your—”

  “Secondly, my ass!” Onika gripped Matt by the collar. “I don’t give a shit about what you wish!” She tightened her grip and pulled Matt closer, so close, he could feel her warm breath on his face. “Don’t make me bash your fuckin’ head against that window,” she threatened and then released him with a hard shove.

  Matt felt the hardening inside his pants. His eyes locked helplessly on Onika’s face.

  Recognizing the desire that shone in his eyes, Onika patted Matt’s crotch and then ran an open palm across the small bulge beneath the fabric. “Aw, my boo might not have to eat no pussy tonight,” she said with a smile. “Looks like you’re ready to get your fuck on.” Onika tenderly stroked the cheek she’d bruised a few minutes ago.

  Boo! Matt’s heart soared. He’d been feeling insecure lately, but those emotions evaporated as Onika caressed his cheek with one hand and massaged his p
enis with the other. She couldn’t help it if at times her bad temper got out of control. His poor little baby girl had had a hard life. Something really awful must have happened to her while she was out on the streets, he reasoned.

  “Come on, Mr. Wheeler. Let’s go in the crib so you can put some dick up in this pussy—like a real man.”

  Matt tried to fuck Onika like a real man, but he couldn’t. On the air mattress inside Onika’s empty bedroom, Matt’s manhood had deflated the moment it touched Onika’s pussy. “I can’t understand it,” he mumbled, pulling desperately on his limp penis. “I’m sorry, baby. You’re gonna have to sit on my face until I get myself together,” he said regretfully.

  “I’m not sitting on nothing but the driver’s seat of your van. You’re getting on my damn nerves.” Onika stood up and held out her hand. “Give me the keys to your van,” she demanded.

  “Don’t be like that, Onika,” Matt pleaded. “Come on, baby girl, let me give you some head. Don’t you want to cum all over daddy’s face?”

  “No! I want to cum on a goddamn dick. You got me frustrated,” Onika complained as she snatched Matt’s pants off the floor and shook his key ring out of a side pocket. “I’m starting to really wonder about you. Whassup, you gay or something, Mr. Wheeler?”

  “No!” Matt said vehemently. “You know I’m not a homosexual.”

  Onika shrugged. “So you say.” Dangling Matt’s key ring, she added, “I thought you were gonna serve up some hard dick tonight, but it seems like all you wanna do is tongue me to death.”

  Matt looked miserable. “I thought you enjoyed oral sex with me. Please, baby girl, sit on my face,” Matt pleaded and then reached for Onika’s hand.

  Onika jerked her hand from Matt’s. “Puddin!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

  Puddin hustled to the bedroom and burst through the door, clutching an unusually thick ham and cheese sandwich with mayonnaise oozing out the sides. “Did he hit you?” Puddin asked, balling her fists.