Chapter 10

“So, what did you have to do?”

“I had to take care of my father,” she said.

“What?”

“I had to finish what you started tonight.”

“What did you do to him?”

“I finished him off.”

She looked straight into my eyes and the shock of the potential meaning of her words chilled me.

“Kendi, you need to explain that.”

“I will.”

“You didn’t hurt him, did you?”

“No! What did you think I did, stand on his air hose?” She gave me a sly smile.

“You sounded kind of cold-hearted towards him today. I don’t know what to think.”

“You thought that I would kill him?”

“I tried to,” I said.

“But you are my savior and protector.”

“I’m just the fly.”

“And I am the spider?”

I smiled and patted her on the butt for the first time.

“Do you want to walk home or call a cab?” She asked.

“Cab.”

“Good. I want to get home and get to bed.”

“Who’s bed?”

“The one you own.”

‘She’ gave me that look.

We got into the cab and when we got to our home, we went up the elevator hand in hand. When Kendi opened the door, I lost my mind, again. I scooped her up in my arms and carried her into the condo.

“Does this mean what I think it means?”

“Kendi, it means that I have almost lost you twice today. I would very much like to move in here with you and make this OUR home. I am still not comfortable with the sleeping together thing. It still seems like I should know you better, here.” I tapped her on the chest between her breasts.

“The best way to do that is to do what we have been doing.”

“If you mean talking and cooking and showering together, I can live like that.”

“Can you handle it if I don’t always shower with you or I don’t always sleep with you?”

“If you give me a reason.”

“So, honey, I have a headache, is OK?”

“Only if you DO have a headache.”

“So, truth, all the time?”

“I would hope so.”

I woke again with my left arm under Kendi’s head and my erection seated between her round butt cheeks and my hand on her breast. Our clothes were still on. The big difference? We got up and went to the same bathroom together.

We took turns using the toilet. We showered together, but there was no sex, outside of the normal touching when she washed my penis and I washed her pucker. We enjoyed touching each other. As we walked around the condo naked, we would randomly touch each other.

A finger being lightly dragged across her round bottom was my favorite method to show her that I noticed her. She would flick my nipples and do the one thing that I could never resist. She would walk up to me and turn my back to her and then she would scratch my back. All the years alone. All the missed touches from someone you’ve loved for years. The touch I missed the most was a loving woman’s fingernails scratching my back.

It would cause me to shrug my shoulders and literally purr. If there was any one thing that Kendi did that pulled me to her, it was a nice back scratch.

We walked back to the farmers market on Saturday morning and we went to a movie on Saturday evening before going home and cuddling up in the big comfy chair listening to classical music.

We woke up Sunday morning to a thunderstorm, took a blanket and cuddled up on one of the patio chairs. Smelling the clean electric air and watched the light show as the sun slowly rose and the day became brighter. So many kisses were exchanged. Sunday morning breakfast was waffles with strawberries from the farmers market. Sunday afternoon football and hot dogs and Sunday night salad and avocado and more cuddling.

Now, the original plan was for me to spend the week and then decide what to do on Sunday. The original plan I had was to stay the week and then bail out. The plan changed to spending the week and then to stay as long as needed to keep Kendi safe from her father. On Sunday night, I packed my back packs and set them by the front door.

“What are you doing?” Kendi asked in a concerned tone.

“I am taking my stuff to my apartment in the morning.”

“I thought that we were doing good.”

“We have been. I need a day away. I want to think without being distracted by you.”

“I distract you?”

“Everything about you distracts me and I can’t think clearly when I see you or smell you or think about you. Please allow me this. I will be at the Bar on Monday night. Please join me. OK?”

“You know I am going to be there.”

“And do me a favor.”

“Anything, dear.”

“Wear something to distract me and request a song or two.”

“I know just what to wear and I have already been thinking what to request.”

“Don’t request a song from last week, OK?”

“No problem.”

‘She’ kissed me and gently fondled my testicles.

In the morning, I rose, showered and grabbing my backpacks and laptop bag, went to the garage and drove to my swim practice. The practice was the first after a week off and the kids were unfocused, but they are kids and I expected it and wrote a practice to bring them back into the training groove. We did a very long test set and set the tone for the start of this phase of training and competition.

After morning practice, I stopped at the fast food restaurant that I always went to for breakfast and found that the food I normally ate, tasted like shit compared to the previous week. The office work was still there and took my mind off of Kendi. We had competitions and travel trips coming, and I had a lot of admin work to do.

Practice on Monday afternoon was solid, and I took the time to work with one of our 8-year-old and younger practice groups. I taught them how to reach their arms and roll their bodies and how to breath to the left and the right sides. I enjoyed teaching the young ones as much as working with the fast kids.

I went home after practice and made a salad with chorizo and I had a glass of red wine. At about 8pm I took a shower and pulled on my favorite underwear and a pair of blue jeans and an old band t-shirt. I walked the 15 minutes to The Bar-Bar, walking in to be greeted like normal.

I went to Brody and made a list of songs. He kept looking at me and the cast on my hand strangely, before finally dropping the big question.

“What happened with you and the blonde?”

“Brody, you aren’t going to believe it.”

“You banged her?”

“Nope.”

“She turned out to be a guy?”

“Definitely not.”

“Come in, spill it.”

“I have been living with her all week.”

“Bullshit!”

“Nope. It has been an amazing week and I don’t have time to tell you everything that has happened. It has been the greatest and the worst week of my life.”

“The worst?” I turned to see Kendi.

“Hi dear.”

“The worst?” She asked with her eyebrows raised.

“Brody, this is Kendall Jackson.”

“Kendi, this is Brody.”

“Hi Brody.”

“Hi Kendall.”

“Please call me Kendi.”

“So, Mick. The worst?” She asked again.

“Well, turning down $100,000 to stay away from you. Getting into a fight at the farmers market, almost having you kidnapped, having a gun pulled on me, twice, and let’s not forget this hand.”

Brody’s mouth opened farther with each portion of my answer.

“I was going to ask about the hand. You have had a hell of a week.”

“Brody, he is my hero. He saved my life more times than I can count.”

“Oh bullshit. Oops, sorry. Pardon my language, hon.”

“I would have thought that you would have said Bull-fuckin’-shit!” Kendi smiled.

‘She’ is wonderful.

“So, all of that shit really happened this week?”

“And more Brody, and more. Tonight, is going to be a pivotal night for Mick and I.”

At that point, I pulled out a bar stool for myself and another for Kendi. That was the first time tonight I stopped to look at her below her eyes. She was wearing black tights and an emerald green half sweater like the red one last week. Just like last week, her nipples were screaming to be noticed.

This weeks’ sweater showed a bit more cleavage, but the thing that really made me stop breathing was the tights. They had a seam up the center back and the center front and that meant she was showing a fantastic camel toe.

“Kendi, you seem to be showing some, um, cleavage downstairs tonight.”

“You said that you wanted me to wear something to distract you.”

“Well done, my dear.”

“My dear?”

“Yes. MY dear. Mine.”

“Brody, this is going to be a fun night,” Kendi said and smiled.

Brody put out the call to sign up for karaoke and the line formed fast. My first song was already in and I would go first like always. I had asked Kendi to pick two songs for me to do that I had not done last week.

“Welcome to Monday Night Karaoke!” Brody yelled out and the crowd responded with a rowdy cheer.

“Let’s go over the rules!”

“Number 1. No sad songs. We are here to party and no one wants to hear that shit!”

The crowd cheered a little.

“Number 2. If it is not your turn, stay off the fucking stage.”

“Yeah!” a number of regular singers yelled.

“Number 3. If you are going to do a rap or hip-hop song know the song, not just the hook. No one wants to see you on stage reading badly.”

Everyone booed.

“Number 4. Keep your pants on when on stage. I’m serious. Y’all were not here that night!”

“It was not pretty!” one of the bartenders yelled.

“Number 5. The most important rule of them all. We are here to have a good time and party. So, DON’T BE A DICK!”

The entire crowd of regular customers, singers, security and bar staff all yelled at the same time, “DON”T BE A DICK!”

“So, our first singer, let’s get Mick to the mic!”

I kissed Kendi, much to Brody’s surprise, raised the mic stand and did BB King’s “Let The Good Times Roll”. The whole place was up and dancing. When I was done Brody was back on his mic.

“And THAT is how it is done! It is official! The party has started. Next up is...”

I turned to Kendi.

“How was that?”

“Great!”

After a short pause I took her hand.

“How was your Monday?”

“It sucked ass. It was empty and lonely and too fucking quiet. How was yours?”

“Pretty much the same, especially for the time I had to look at life without you.”

“And?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

“Oh no! I want some answers now.”

I kissed her and squeezed her hip and we continued to chat about general stuff. Her father was still in the hospital and still in critical condition. I guess the pool ball I hit him with had crushed the bone and sent slivers into his brain. The police were very interested in talking to him. His men had been arraigned and were being held over for trial. Kendi had called a lawyer today and was set to file civil charges for harassment and reckless endangerment if the DA did not bring criminal charges.

I told her about my practices and how all the little kids gave me wet swimmer hugs at the end of practice and about the travel meets I had planned. We listened to the singers and I sipped on Sambuca and she drank Guinness. My next song was approaching about 90 minutes later.

“OK, Kendi what is the first song I am singing to you?”

“To me? Not for me?’

“Well, last time it was ‘to you’ so I assumed.”

“Would you please sing “Unchain My Heart” by Joe Cocker?”

“I will. But the lyrics. Are you trying to tell me something?”

“I will tell you later.”

She kissed my cheek. Brody gave me the heads up that I would be up in two songs.

“Do I have time to go to the John?”

“Yeah.”

“Kendi, don’t follow me this time.”

“I won’t my love.”

Brody looked at me and smiled.

I peed and dabbed the tip of my penis with toilet paper, so I didn’t leave any spots on the front of my pants and washed my hands before returning to Kendi. Brody and Kendi were talking at a mile a minute. ‘She’ was fabulous, he was a good friend. I wondered if he did private karaoke parties or even weddings.