Page 8

The sound of the phone ringing under the empty beer cans threatened to make Jermaine’s head explode. The vibration of the phone against the cans seemed to make the entire house shake.

Any sound other than silence was just too much for his spinning head. The hangover he was nursing was not a fan of loud noises. He prayed that when his phone rang it’d be his wife, but he knew her, so he knew better.

“God, if you bring Eden back, I’ll never drink or cheat again,” Jermaine said as he felt around the cluttered table to find the ringing phone.

He tried to locate the phone by feeling around on the coffee table. Getting up, even opening his eyes, seemed impossible. Bright lights were as much his enemy as sound. For the past two weeks, drinking had been his only companion.

Trying to drink his depression away had taken a toll on him. While in college he could drink all day and night and be up for his 8am class with no problem. He was a kid then, now he was a mess of a man, and he knew it .

Jermaine hoped his companionship with Heineken, Hennessy, and Casamigos would help him forget his stupidity; it hadn’t. His choice of friends only highlighted why he was alone.

“Why did I fuck my life up like this?” Jermaine thought as he ignored his ringing phone and scratched the side of his face.

The sound and feel of coarse hair under his fingertips didn’t surprise him. Personal grooming had taken a backseat to his misery. His normally well-groomed face was covered with dry patchy facial hair. So many nights he prayed for a do-over or a lie he could use to save himself.

“When you tell one lie, you have to tell several others to keep up with the first lie. It’s best to just tell the truth,” His mother’s wise words rang in his ear.

He missed her, and addition to that, the excessive lying and manipulating reminded him of the one person he hated: his father Jerry Shelton. In his opinion, Jerry had been the worst type of man. As a child, Jermaine made a promise to himself to treat women, especially the woman he made his wife, with the utmost respect. The hell he was in was proof that he hadn’t lived up to the rules he set for himself.

“This was the worst thing I could’ve done.” Jermaine said to himself .

He frowned in disgust when the foul scent of unbrushed teeth, alcohol and regret slapped him in the face.

“Goddamn, is that my breath?” Jermaine asked as he cupped his hand over his mouth and blew into it. He gagged.

“I’m falling apart without you. This wasn’t supposed to happen to us,” Jermaine said as he stared at his and Eden’s wedding photo. With a heavy heart, Jermaine smiled as he thought back to his and Eden’s first encounter.

“Eve, I need your notes for the-”

Jermaine’s mouth dropped to the floor at the sight of the woman talking to his friend. The sight of her, light brown eyes, afro puff ponytail, and wide hips made him stumble. As cliché as it sounded, Jermaine couldn’t remember ever seeing a woman more attractive than the woman standing with Eve.

“Close your mouth. You act like you ain’t never seen a bad bitch before,” Eve joked.

“My mouth wasn’t open,” Jermaine lied.

“You know we can see you, right?” The woman joked making Eve burst into laughter. Jermaine joined in with the laughter because he knew the lie was pointless .

“Edy, this is Jermaine Shelton. He’s in my Hospitality and Tourism Management Class. Jermaine, this is my sister Eden, but we call her Edy,”

Jermaine shook his head. That simple conversation and interaction had brought the most amazing woman into his life. But his selfish ways now had him in shambles. He had messed up in more ways than one. He and Eve were genuine friends before he even met his wife, now their friendship was on the rocks because of this Envy situation.

“I should’ve known better than to fuck a bitch named Envy. Who would name their child Envy anyway. I messed my marriage up for some loose pus…What the fuck?!” Jermaine exclaimed when he caught a glimpse of his face in the mirrored picture frame. His appearance nearly sent him into cardiac arrest.

He knew that he hadn’t been tending to himself. He could feel the unusual roughness on his face, but seeing it was an entirely different story. He didn’t recognize this version of himself. Jermaine silently screamed as he stared at what he had become.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Raising his hand slowly, he touched his face. He didn’t want to believe that the face in the mirror was his, but he couldn’t deny that it was him, when he watched the man mimicking his every move .

His reflection horrified him. The face with droopy bloodshot eyes, heavy bags, and a struggle beard was a far contrast from the smooth-shaven polished man in the wedding photo. It had only been two weeks since Eden left and from the looks of things, he had fallen apart without her.

“I gotta get my wife back. When I tell Eden how things happened, she’ll understand that I never meant to hurt her. We can recover from this,” he said as he reached for the phone to plead his case.

He knew Eden didn’t have any words for him, but he had them for her. Jermaine planned to fight tooth and nail to get his marriage back to where it once was.

“I gotta show my wife that our marriage is worth saving. I’m human, I made a simple mistake. I love her too much to lose her for good.”

RING!

The sound of the ringing phone made him jump. He ran to the phone hoping it was Eden, but when he looked at the unsaved number, he knew it wasn’t his wife. The number hadn’t been a saved contact, but he had sent enough illicit text messages and photos to the number to recognize who was calling.

Jermaine sighed .

He didn’t want to speak, but he knew that if he didn’t answer she’d keep calling just to be annoying.

“What do you want?” He asked dryly.

“I miss you so much,” Envy said animatedly.

From the simple four words that fell from Jermaine’s mouth she knew he didn’t want to speak. The irritation in his voice was evident. She wanted to laugh at his lovesick ass. His misery was brightening her day.

“Envy, stop playing with me. I told you I was done with this shit. I should’ve never started dealing with you. Now because of you, my life has gone to Hell. Stop calling and texting me. You’re loose and all over the place. I don’t want you and you never wanted me,” Jermaine yelled.

He was so angry that his hands began to shake. He couldn’t say that he was mad at Envy, she was who she was. He was mad at himself for taking the bait. Envy was a mistake that spiraled out of control.

“I find it so funny how men will rearrange their entire schedule and even their life, become an entire trick, pay bills, eat ass, and the moment their ol’lady finds out about their dick slinging, the pus is now loose. You are such a clown,” Envy laughed .

Marriage, family, and loyalty were a joke to her. She knew firsthand that the people that were closest to a person were normally their betrayers. She proved that when Jermaine made excuses not to go home so he could put his penis in every hole of her body.

Her words butchered him because it was the truth. Before Eden discovered his infidelity, he had been doing a lot for Envy. It was wrong, but sadly, the thrill and good sex, kept him on the hook.

“Look, we crossed a line that we should’ve never even gotten close too. From the time we met, I’ve never lost contact with Eden. These past two weeks without her have been torture. I’m fucked up. I need my wife back. You and I both knew it was a fling. It was sex and lies, nothing more, nothing less,” He admitted.

Envy rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know why you’re so broken up over Eden’s ass. I’d think you’d be glad to get rid of her. I mean you said she was boring and-”

“I never said she was boring.” Jermaine interjected.

A heatwave of embarrassment hit him. He had said she was boring, but his words had been taken out of context. He spoke with no malice, but he should’ve known that saying anything that could be perceived as negative to Envy was a horrible idea. Jermaine shook his head as he thought back to the day, he and Envy crossed the line.

****

“I’ve walked around this big ass house five times. Where is Eden? I need to borrow some money,” Envy said when she walked into Jermaine’s office unannounced.

The sound of Envy’s voice made him jump. He knew that Eden had left for her weekly spa visit, and he had no idea that anyone, especially the sister that Eden wasn’t fond of, had entered their home.

“Envy? How the hell did you get in here and what are you doing here?” Jermaine asked as he stared at his sister-in-law.

“Did you not hear me? I said I need to borrow some money. Where is Eden?” She ignored the “How’d you get in here” question because there was no need to tell him that she made a copy of Eden’s key.

“Eden is out doing whatever boring task makes her happy. She could be at the library reading a book, at the community garden planting roses, or teaching a course at the community college. It’s the weekend, she could be anywhere. She should be back in a few hours. I’ll tell her to call you.” Jermaine said. He hoped that she’d get the hint and leave .

“Well, I still need to borrow some money. Call her and tell her to wire me $3,200 and hurry up, I need to catch a flight to Vegas,”

Jermaine’s jaw tensed. He wasn’t used to the mouthy way that Envy spoke. His mother had never spoken so brazenly, and Eden would never disrespect him by speaking to him as if he weren’t a man.

“Envy, watch your mouth when you’re talking to me. Borrowing money means you intend on paying it back. We both know you don’t plan to do that. Eden and I aren’t your personal ATM. Your Vegas trip won’t be sponsored by us.”

Envy picked up on the flash of anger that flashed in Jermaine’s eyes. The sight of his jaw flexing as he tried to remain calm instantly made her wet.

“Time to kill two birds with one stone,” She thought as she watched her brother-in-law’s shoulders stiffen in anger.

“Watch how I talk to you? You ain’t my daddy, so I’ll talk to you however I want to. Now, call Eden so I can get some money. I don’t want to call her because I don’t want her to have my new number. That’s why I came by instead. And like I said hurry up. I’m behind on time.”

Jermaine’s penis stiffened .

“What the fuck?” He thought as he stared down at his third leg standing at full attention.

Envy was gorgeous, but he had never been physically or sexually attracted to her. He despised her. So, he couldn’t understand why his penis was as hard as a cinder block. The sight of his pulsating hardness distracted him so much that he hadn’t noticed Envy sizing him up like prey.

As she approached him, she licked her lips seductively. She could taste the betrayal they were about to indulge in. Her excitement dripped down her thighs.

“You must be happy to see me,” Envy purred as she lightly squeezed the hardness between Jermaine’s legs.

Jermaine jumped as if he were just awakened from a trance. He blinked rapidly to clear the haze from his mind. His heart seized when he realized that Envy’s hand was caressing him. He wanted to push her away, scream for her to get out, do anything that would signify that he didn’t appreciate what she was doing. But he hadn’t. He couldn’t. He was genuinely paralyzed as he stared down at the red polish of Envy’s long stiletto nails as it gripped his hardness .

“Get her out of here.” Jermaine thought as he watched his dick throb so violently that it appeared to be shaking Envy’s hand.

“I always knew you had a big dick. Eden’s not handling you the right way. She’s too submissive to break you in properly. I’ma fuck the common sense out of you,” Envy said before dropping to her knees and pulling down his gray sweatpants. His dick popped out as if it were spring loaded and Envy swallowed the entire length. There was no sensuality, no caressing, no love. It was the XXX porn quality that Jermaine longed for.

He cried out in ecstasy. The sound that escaped his lips was foreign to his ears as his wife’s nemesis ate his entire erection.

Envy held Jermaine’s gaze as his thick eight inches disappeared down her throat. She wanted him to know that she was well aware of what she was doing. She also wanted him to know that she knew that he was enjoying it; and he was.

He wanted her to stop but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her to do so. Her skills were too impeccable. Jermaine leaned against his desk and enjoyed the sight and feel of his sister-in-law slobbering over his entire shaft. Envy gave messy head, and he loved it. The spit that coated her face and mouth excited him so much that he started spilling truths.

“My dick ain’t never been sucked like this before. Eden ain’t never sucked my dick like this. Don’t stop Envy, goddamn, please don’t stop.” Jermaine groaned as he fisted Envy’s thick hair and pummeled her mouth.

Envy moaned. She was so wet that her juices dripped to the floor and pooled at her feet. Aggressive head turned her on, but what really had her as wet as a pool was the fact that she was on her knees in front of her sister’s husband.

“Time to get paid,” Envy thought as she stopped sucking and stood up.

“What? Why’d you-” Jermaine swallowed his words when Envy stuck her tongue in his mouth to shut him up.

“You said we got a few hours before she gets back. That means you got a couple of hours to make me cum. Look at how wet you got me. Fuck me Jermaine,” Envy said as she sat atop his desk and spread her legs in the perfect V.

The sight of how wet she was made Jermaine truly lose his common sense. As if he were in a trance, Jermaine guided his condomless shaft into Envy’s slit without a second thought of his wife.

*** *

“Do you hear me talking to you?”

Envy’s loud shrill voice snapped him back to the present. Jermaine shuttered as he recalled the first time he and Envy had sex. The memory was so vivid that he could feel his stiffness turning his basketball shorts into a tent. Jermaine laid pipe that night like a man fresh out of prison.

The sex was so good that he had given her the $3,200. Hush money he claimed. He didn’t want to admit that the sex was so good that he paid for it. Jermaine squeezed his hardness in anger. He had been a fool for Envy, now he was fucked up because of her. Her feisty attitude and their arguments turned him on, so he knew the best way to handle this conversation was to remain calm to get her off his line.

“What did you say? And wrap this up. I got things to do,” Jermaine sighed.

“I said you might as well get over my sister’s self-centered ass and acknowledge that I saved you from a life of mediocracy. You should repay me for a job well done. You should come over here and award my hard work,” Envy said seductively as she sat in front of her bedroom mirror completely nude.

She couldn’t lie, she wanted it badly. The downfall of her sister’s marriage, Eden losing her baby, and Jermaine tussling with the bottle excited her. Envy moaned at the thought of Jermaine, but he hadn’t heard anything she said after ‘self-centered.’

He was just hard as a brick. Now he was as limp as a noodle. It was the simple lie that made him feel worse than he already had. Eden was not self-centered. She was the most selfless person that he had ever met, and he had fucked it up.

“Fuck you Envy.” He said quickly before ending the call. He knew he needed to speak to his wife. A sense of urgency gripped him as he dialed Eden’s number.

“The number you have dialed has been changed, disconnected, or no longer in service.”

“Fuck!!” Jermaine screamed when the automated out of service message began to play.

“Eden, I’m sorry Baby. I don’t know what I was thinking. I just need another chance to-”

The monologue Jermaine was on the verge of beginning stopped when he saw Eve’s number. His heart stalled. Eve had made it clear that she didn’t want anything to do with him, and she had always been a woman of her word. He knew that if she was calling that something had to be wrong with Eden .

“Eve, what’s wrong? Is Edy ok?” The concern and panic in his voice was apparent.

“It’s me. Can we talk?”