I paused, trying to figure out a way to say no in my fake, high-pitched voice so I wouldn’t offend her.
“I’m going to paint this one for my mother, this one for my cousin, and this for my daddy,” she continued as she displayed each picture.
When she said daddy, I got a hot flash and instantly my mind rewound back to how fine her dad’s ass looked walking through the door the other day.
“Uh, sure, Tina. I’ll help you paint.” I had a huge smile on my face.
I pulled up a chair and sat down next to Tina as she took off the caps on the paint. When I grabbed a paintbrush, I reached over the open paint to soak it in the water.
“Ms. Jackson, your bracelet is getting into the paint,” Tina said, concerned. I looked down and noticed that my favorite diamond bracelet was about to be covered in green paint.
“Oh, shi-shoot,” I replied as I moved my arm away quickly. “I’d better take this off and put it to the side. This is my favorite bracelet and I would die if I got paint all on it.”
As I took it off and placed it on the table between Tina and me, she picked it up, admiring it. “Is this real?” she asked.
“Absolutely—I wouldn’t wear anything that wasn’t.”
“Can I try it on?” she asked.
“Sure, but just don’t get any paint on it.”
Tina tried on the bracelet—it hung loosely around her bony little arms. She held it up with a look of admiration in her eyes. “I really like you, Ms. Jackson,” she said, staring up at me while placing the bracelet back on the table and continuing her painting.
I smiled at the compliment. “You do?”
“Yes, I want to be a teacher just like you when I grow up. I tell my parents all the time that I want to be a teacher.”
“And why is that?” I asked.
“Well, I like to read, and I like to paint. Plus, teaching is fun,” she continued.
When Tina and I finished her paintings, we left them out to dry. She discussed her family at great length, then talked about the other schools she attended prior to Stephenson Elementary. That gave me an idea for my class’s next history assignment. Since we’re learning about ancestors, I asked each student to create a collage about their family. I wanted them to gather pictures and put them on construction paper to display to the class. Maybe Tina could bring in some pictures of her dad for me to admire.
As the day went on, I watched as Tina interacted with the other students. The way she smiled or held her head a certain way, I could see her father’s features—it made my mind suddenly drift away and picture him walking through the door of my classroom once more. I tried to block him out but visions of him kept reappearing out of nowhere.
Later that night Todd came over in a really good mood as he entered my apartment, holding a medium-sized brown paper bag. “Hey, baby,” he said and kissed my lips.
“What are you smiling about?” I asked as I closed the door behind him. He pulled out two twelve-count boxes of magnum condoms. “From now on, condoms won’t be an issue when I come over.”
He took a seat in the den and continued talking as he slowly took off his shoes and socks. I walked into my bedroom and turned on some music and lit a few candles. After waiting for what seemed like ten minutes, I went back in the den where Todd was just pulling off his pants. “Todd, would you hurry the hell up?” I yelled.
He looked up as I took off my robe and let it drop to the floor. I walked back into the bedroom and lay across the edge of my bed on my stomach with my naked ass in the air.
Seconds later, Todd appeared, standing over me. “Let me jump in the shower first.” He pulled off his underwear and walked in the bathroom.
Todd closed the door behind him and I heard the shower come on. After five minutes of lying there waiting on him, he finally came out with a condom on. “It’s about fucking time,” I said as I got under the covers.
Todd turned off the lights, joined me in bed, and quickly put his face between my legs. I bit down on my lips as the pleasure of his motion made my body weak. He climbed on top and penetrated me. I could tell he missed me by the aggressive way he moved his body. My legs were pushed back behind my ears as he dug deep inside of me. I was enjoying every stroke as I moaned in rhythm with his movements. “Ain’t nobody gonna give it to you like me,” he whispered as his body moved faster. Normally I would have responded but for some reason Tina’s dad popped up in my mind as Todd’s movements made me wetter. I tried to focus on the moment with Todd but I had a clear color picture of Tina’s dad on top, fucking me. I felt myself about to climax as Todd kept his rhythm going. I was losing control, trying not to come until I saw Todd’s face, but couldn’t get a vivid picture of him through the candlelit darkness. Suddenly Todd gave a hard thrust that made me explode. “Ooooooooh, shit.” I yelled as I closed my eyes at the pleasure of my climax. Tina’s dad’s face appeared in my mind once again with that cute-ass smile of his. I felt myself short of breath as the pleasure continued for several seconds until Todd finally climaxed and collapsed on top of me. What the fuck was that all about? I thought as I opened my eyes. Out of all the times Todd made me climax, this was the first time I’d had an orgasm that lasted this long. Todd continued to kiss and caress my body, but my mind was in deep thought trying to figure out why the fuck Tina’s dad appeared in my head like that.
Todd got up and turned on the light. “Damn, I don’t know what you did tonight, but that was some intense fucking.”
I smiled in agreement. It was some intense fucking all right, but he shouldn’t pat himself on the back for all the credit.
Todd and I held each other for a few more minutes until he climbed on top of me for round two. This time the sex took longer, but once again all I thought about was Tina’s dad on top of me, which made being with Todd more pleasant. Todd was talking, but I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. After a while I rolled Todd over and let my thoughts of Tina’s dad go to work in my mind. I rode Todd until the beads of sweat rolled to the tip of my nose and fell on Todd’s face.
Todd stared in my eyes. “You really do miss me, don’t you?”
“I’m not going to lie. I do miss these moments.”
“Yeah, I can tell.” He caressed my back.
In the midst of our cuddling and caressing, Todd looked at the clock and noticed the time and slowly rolled over, getting out of bed. He leaned back and kissed my forehead with a look of confidence in his eyes like he was in total control of my emotions. I pulled the covers over my naked body and stared up at the ceiling. Todd came back into the room, fully dressed. “Hey, I’m leaving. Do you want me to lock up behind me?”
I turned my head in his direction. “Yeah,” I replied softly.
When Todd left I took a long, hot shower, asking myself questions, one being my fixation on Tina’s dad, Walter. It was strange, because I hadn’t had feelings like this since my first crush.
CHAPTER 11
Stephanie
In the midst of unpacking the groceries, I received a call from Reggie that Brandon’s baptism was approved by the bishop and was scheduled to take place in three weeks. In order for me to gain membership at the church I had to attend Bible study and a retreat. Reggie volunteered to be my sponsor, and we agreed to meet for about thirty minutes after Bible study as part of my preparation for membership. Things were happening fast, considering I had just turned in the applications last week. Curtis’s application for membership was still on the coffee table in the den under some empty beer bottles he’d left last night after drinking with his buddies. I had given up on trying to force him to join the church and decided to try and lead by example. I figured if he saw how much I was doing at the church he would eventually