Pred. & Preach. Daughter - Ch. 9
The following weekend, Marjorie invited Chasity back to her home for a pool party that she was giving the kids before they returned to school for the fall term. Although Chasity knew that Marcos would be there as well, the fact that the house would be full of people, including many from the neighborhood, did a lot to appease her mind that there would not be a repeat of that intimate encounter they’d had last weekend.
Mindful of her generous curves and of the fact that she didn’t want to incite any kind of desire within Marcos, Chasity did not wear or bring a swimsuit today. She would have preferred to wear one of her more conservative pantsuits, but she had no idea that Georgia summers could still be so hot in late August and therefore opted to wear a gold halter-style skirt set that stopped right above her knees and allowed what little air there was to cool off her arms and shoulders.
As soon as Marcos saw Chasity in that outfit, his ebony eyes bucked with extreme delight while his heart and loins stirred with excitement. The bashful Chasity from long ago had been a modest dresser who would never have shown her shoulders or that much of her legs in public. She hadn’t even worn makeup back then. Somehow over the years she’d come out of her shell a bit and was even wearing lipstick and eye shadow these days. Whether Marcos was responsible for that or not, he didn’t know, but he sure liked the change in her. But then again, he’d liked seeing the radiance of Chasity’s natural beauty, too, and had thrived on the challenge of trying to get under those long, yesteryear, granny skirts she used to wear.
After watching Chasity interact with his family and friends without so much as a hello to him for almost an hour, Marcos decided to make himself known to her. Leaving the area where he was conversing with the men tending to the grill on the wooden patio, he walked towards the area where the mother of his child was.
Halfway there, one of Marjorie’s late arriving neighbors from across the street approached him. Unfortunately, that neighbor was one of the women Marcos had recently dropped socially. Of equal misfortune is the fact that this woman refused to stay dropped, even showing up at his home last night for a little rendezvous. Fortunately, Marcos had the good sense to turn her away.
“Hello, stranger,” Karis Gentry purred as she blocked the way of the pecan-tan man that had been her on-again, off-again lover for the past year and a half. Incidentally, the only reason she’d remained in Marcos’ life this long was because she had a sexually adventuresome side that often matched his own.
Karis had hoped that the successful architect would one day realize and appreciate how compatible they were in the bedroom and marry her. Unfortunately, that hadn’t happened yet. And just last weekend, Marcos had called and broken things off with Karis for good. He even refused her advances last night and that had really wounded her pride. Afterwards, Karis had gone back home and cried silent tears in her private bedroom at the house that she lived in with her mother and her six-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.
Unfortunately, Karis didn’t realize that Marcos could never marry a woman like her, despite their sexual compatibility. He was the type of man that always had to be presented with new challenges and that needed to be stimulated on multiple levels. His relationship with Karis stayed strictly on a physical level and did not offer him many challenges or opportunities for personal growth, whereas a certain quiet preacher’s daughter could challenge and stimulate him on so many levels, too many to count.
Marcos forced a smile upon his face in order to hide his frustration at being distracted from his mission, even if that distraction was dressed in a leopard print bikini-styled top and a matching sarong. “Hello, Karis. And it hasn’t been that long for you to think of me as a stranger. I’d hoped we could still be friends.”
Karis put a pout on her full, kissable lips, recalling how Marcos always found that adorable. “We might as well be strangers, because friendship isn’t enough for me. I want more.” Placing her hands on her hips, she stood with her right leg in front of her left in order to give Marcos a delectable glimpse of her smooth mocha thigh. For her slender frame, Karis was quite shapely.
“I can’t give you more. I told you that.” Marcos looked beyond Karis’ curly black head of hair and frowned when he realized that he’d somehow lost sight of Chasity during the course of the conversation.
Although frustrated with her failed attempt to draw his eyes to certain parts of her body, Karis took advantage of Marcos’ preoccupation with something in the distance and draped both of her arms around his neck. Before he knew it she’d moved closer and was whispering in his ear, causing many curious eyes to look their way and assume what used to be the truth. Marcos and Karis used to be lovers, but no more.
“Why don’t you let me give you a few things then,” Karis volunteered. She had firsthand knowledge of Marcos’ somewhat eccentric bedroom preferences and definitely wouldn’t mind adding a few things to his extensive repertoire. Tonight, if he liked. In an effort to send her message louder and clearer, Karis slipped her soft manicured hands underneath Marcos’ sky-blue knit shirt and caressed his washboard stomach. Oh how she loved feeling those rippling muscles beneath her fingertips.
Just then, Marcos spotted Chasity coming from around the left corner of the house, engrossed in a lively conversation with La’Charity, who was wearing a cool yellow and navy-blue sundress with yellow sandals today. Nakiya, dressed in a purple and fuchsia-colored Adidas short-set, was fast on their trail. All three females had hot dogs and drinks in their hands and were headed towards one of the picnic tables on the east side of the large backyard, a safe distance away from the fenced-in, above-ground pool.
I can’t believe this timing, Marcos mused, feeling as if he’d just been caught cheating. However, as soon as he saw the quick look of disdain cross Chasity’s features, he knew that he’d had nothing to worry about in that department. It was obvious that she didn’t care who he dated and that bothered him. That really bothered him.
Having to practically peel Karis off of him, Marcos put some physical distance between them by taking two steps backwards near the picnic table area on the west side of the backyard. As much as she had turned him on in the past, he was equally, if not more turned off by her now. Clingy women didn’t appeal to him whatsoever. Never had.
“Karis, remember this is a kids’ party,” Marcos said, looking around and wondering where the woman’s own child was since that was obviously the excuse she’d used to come over today. One look towards the pool where Marjorie was serving as lifeguard and he saw Karis’ daughter, Terrika, happily splashing with some of the other kids.
“Besides, I told you that I was in love with someone else,” Marcos continued in a low tone, for Karis’ ears only. He was trying to be discreet and trying to keep his promise of ‘never be deceitful to another woman’ at the same time. Over the past seven years, Marcos let all of his women know that he was not looking for a commitment. Ironically, that particular statement was no longer true since the mother of his child arrived in town. Marcos would love to commit to Chasity, and to know that he had exclusive rights to her heart and body would be like a dream come true.
“And I told you that I didn’t believe you,” Karis replied, refuting his previous statement. Even now she looked at him with disbelief, thinking that he was just running scare because she’d started to push for commitment lately. A man like Marcos was never ruled by his heart. Either his head or his loins ruled him.
“Whether you believe me or not, it’s true,” Marcos insisted, knowing within himself that he was telling the truth. He loved Chasity with all of his heart and theirs had been the only romantic relationship he’d ever looked back upon with longing and regret. In fact, if it weren’t for those private pictures he kept, Marcos probably would have forgotten that some of his other relationships had ever even existed.
Now let me see how fast I can get rid of Karis, Marcos thought, ready to forget all about the woman in his face now and return to his original plan of trying to talk to Chasity alone.
********
Yeah right, he’s still in love with me. If he was, he wouldn’t be hugging another woman in front of me, Chasity thought from her seat at the first picnic table on the east side of the yard, trying not to be too affected by what she’d just seen. Wonder what lie he told to get her, she mused, thinking that for Marcos ‘honesty’ was simply a three-species plant that bloomed in May and June and was not a sign of good character at all.
“Miss Chasity, will you teach me how to make a terrarium for my aunt?” La’Charity asked, interrupting her biological mother’s thoughts. She had yet to be told what Marcos and Chasity’s real relation to her was. The adults agreed to take things slowly in that department, even though Marcos and Chasity had both recently taken paternity tests for verification purposes per Marjorie’s request.
“Of course, honey,” Chasity replied, already thinking of what they would include in the indoor garden-in-a-glass. Club moss and definitely hepatica, she mused, very fond of the latter with its three-lobed leaves and white or sometimes lavender flowers.
Then not wanting to leave any interested child out, Chasity turned to the older child at the table on her left. “Would you like to learn how to make a terrarium, too, Nakiya?” She took a sip from the white Styrofoam cup she held as she waited for the child’s answer. Marjorie’s fruit punch had a lemony taste to it and gave the drink an extra something special, which is why it was being consumed so fast among today’s guests.
Nakiya turned up her cute button nose in distaste as she swallowed the remaining bit of hotdog in her mouth. “No, I don’t like playing in the dirt. I like to keep my hands, nails and clothes clean,” she replied, revealing her snooty side in that answer. Then showing off her materialistic side, Nakiya took a moment to brush an imaginary piece of lint from the tank top of her designer short-set and to reposition the matching barrettes on her long braided ponytail.
Chasity chuckled, not offended at all by Nakiya’s haughtiness. She still thought the young lass to be simply adorable and delightfully candid. “I understand. Well, I guess it’ll just be La’Charity and me then.”
La’Charity’s eyes lit up at that prospect and she stopped mid-bite of her coleslaw laden hotdog. She liked Miss Chasity and would love to do a special project just between the two of them. Quickly chewing the food in her mouth and swallowing, she exclaimed, “I can’t wait!”
Chasity traced the bridge of her daughter’s perky nose with her index finger. “I can hardly wait, either, honey,” she said with an abundance of love flowing through her voice and eyes. Then reaching for one of the white napkins she’d brought from the house, Chasity proceeded to wipe the corners of La’Charity’s mouth where some of the coleslaw had not quite made it all the way in.
“Now about this terrarium, we do put the water in the glass bowl after we put in the pebbles and all the other stuff, right?” La’Charity asked, just getting geared up for another question and answer time. Inwardly, her heart sang at the tenderness at which she’d just been shown. She’d felt precious when Miss Chasity wiped her mouth just then and her pleasure was evident by the lovely smile resting upon her pretty little face.
Nakiya sat silently eating and watching the other two people at the table with envy now pricking at her heart. Now she was sorry that she refused Miss Chasity’s invitation to make a terrarium. Already she could tell that they were going to have so much fun. La’Charity always gets to do the best things, Nakiya mused, forgetting that only a moment ago she’d turned her nose up at the very idea of ‘playing in the dirt’.
Then turning away from the two people at the table with her, the nine-year-old spotted her adopted father placing a book of matches in his back pocket and realized that she suddenly needed a hug of reassurance from him. Jaleel always made Nakiya feel special and that was just one of the things she wanted from him right now.
Mindful of her generous curves and of the fact that she didn’t want to incite any kind of desire within Marcos, Chasity did not wear or bring a swimsuit today. She would have preferred to wear one of her more conservative pantsuits, but she had no idea that Georgia summers could still be so hot in late August and therefore opted to wear a gold halter-style skirt set that stopped right above her knees and allowed what little air there was to cool off her arms and shoulders.
As soon as Marcos saw Chasity in that outfit, his ebony eyes bucked with extreme delight while his heart and loins stirred with excitement. The bashful Chasity from long ago had been a modest dresser who would never have shown her shoulders or that much of her legs in public. She hadn’t even worn makeup back then. Somehow over the years she’d come out of her shell a bit and was even wearing lipstick and eye shadow these days. Whether Marcos was responsible for that or not, he didn’t know, but he sure liked the change in her. But then again, he’d liked seeing the radiance of Chasity’s natural beauty, too, and had thrived on the challenge of trying to get under those long, yesteryear, granny skirts she used to wear.
After watching Chasity interact with his family and friends without so much as a hello to him for almost an hour, Marcos decided to make himself known to her. Leaving the area where he was conversing with the men tending to the grill on the wooden patio, he walked towards the area where the mother of his child was.
Halfway there, one of Marjorie’s late arriving neighbors from across the street approached him. Unfortunately, that neighbor was one of the women Marcos had recently dropped socially. Of equal misfortune is the fact that this woman refused to stay dropped, even showing up at his home last night for a little rendezvous. Fortunately, Marcos had the good sense to turn her away.
“Hello, stranger,” Karis Gentry purred as she blocked the way of the pecan-tan man that had been her on-again, off-again lover for the past year and a half. Incidentally, the only reason she’d remained in Marcos’ life this long was because she had a sexually adventuresome side that often matched his own.
Karis had hoped that the successful architect would one day realize and appreciate how compatible they were in the bedroom and marry her. Unfortunately, that hadn’t happened yet. And just last weekend, Marcos had called and broken things off with Karis for good. He even refused her advances last night and that had really wounded her pride. Afterwards, Karis had gone back home and cried silent tears in her private bedroom at the house that she lived in with her mother and her six-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.
Unfortunately, Karis didn’t realize that Marcos could never marry a woman like her, despite their sexual compatibility. He was the type of man that always had to be presented with new challenges and that needed to be stimulated on multiple levels. His relationship with Karis stayed strictly on a physical level and did not offer him many challenges or opportunities for personal growth, whereas a certain quiet preacher’s daughter could challenge and stimulate him on so many levels, too many to count.
Marcos forced a smile upon his face in order to hide his frustration at being distracted from his mission, even if that distraction was dressed in a leopard print bikini-styled top and a matching sarong. “Hello, Karis. And it hasn’t been that long for you to think of me as a stranger. I’d hoped we could still be friends.”
Karis put a pout on her full, kissable lips, recalling how Marcos always found that adorable. “We might as well be strangers, because friendship isn’t enough for me. I want more.” Placing her hands on her hips, she stood with her right leg in front of her left in order to give Marcos a delectable glimpse of her smooth mocha thigh. For her slender frame, Karis was quite shapely.
“I can’t give you more. I told you that.” Marcos looked beyond Karis’ curly black head of hair and frowned when he realized that he’d somehow lost sight of Chasity during the course of the conversation.
Although frustrated with her failed attempt to draw his eyes to certain parts of her body, Karis took advantage of Marcos’ preoccupation with something in the distance and draped both of her arms around his neck. Before he knew it she’d moved closer and was whispering in his ear, causing many curious eyes to look their way and assume what used to be the truth. Marcos and Karis used to be lovers, but no more.
“Why don’t you let me give you a few things then,” Karis volunteered. She had firsthand knowledge of Marcos’ somewhat eccentric bedroom preferences and definitely wouldn’t mind adding a few things to his extensive repertoire. Tonight, if he liked. In an effort to send her message louder and clearer, Karis slipped her soft manicured hands underneath Marcos’ sky-blue knit shirt and caressed his washboard stomach. Oh how she loved feeling those rippling muscles beneath her fingertips.
Just then, Marcos spotted Chasity coming from around the left corner of the house, engrossed in a lively conversation with La’Charity, who was wearing a cool yellow and navy-blue sundress with yellow sandals today. Nakiya, dressed in a purple and fuchsia-colored Adidas short-set, was fast on their trail. All three females had hot dogs and drinks in their hands and were headed towards one of the picnic tables on the east side of the large backyard, a safe distance away from the fenced-in, above-ground pool.
I can’t believe this timing, Marcos mused, feeling as if he’d just been caught cheating. However, as soon as he saw the quick look of disdain cross Chasity’s features, he knew that he’d had nothing to worry about in that department. It was obvious that she didn’t care who he dated and that bothered him. That really bothered him.
Having to practically peel Karis off of him, Marcos put some physical distance between them by taking two steps backwards near the picnic table area on the west side of the backyard. As much as she had turned him on in the past, he was equally, if not more turned off by her now. Clingy women didn’t appeal to him whatsoever. Never had.
“Karis, remember this is a kids’ party,” Marcos said, looking around and wondering where the woman’s own child was since that was obviously the excuse she’d used to come over today. One look towards the pool where Marjorie was serving as lifeguard and he saw Karis’ daughter, Terrika, happily splashing with some of the other kids.
“Besides, I told you that I was in love with someone else,” Marcos continued in a low tone, for Karis’ ears only. He was trying to be discreet and trying to keep his promise of ‘never be deceitful to another woman’ at the same time. Over the past seven years, Marcos let all of his women know that he was not looking for a commitment. Ironically, that particular statement was no longer true since the mother of his child arrived in town. Marcos would love to commit to Chasity, and to know that he had exclusive rights to her heart and body would be like a dream come true.
“And I told you that I didn’t believe you,” Karis replied, refuting his previous statement. Even now she looked at him with disbelief, thinking that he was just running scare because she’d started to push for commitment lately. A man like Marcos was never ruled by his heart. Either his head or his loins ruled him.
“Whether you believe me or not, it’s true,” Marcos insisted, knowing within himself that he was telling the truth. He loved Chasity with all of his heart and theirs had been the only romantic relationship he’d ever looked back upon with longing and regret. In fact, if it weren’t for those private pictures he kept, Marcos probably would have forgotten that some of his other relationships had ever even existed.
Now let me see how fast I can get rid of Karis, Marcos thought, ready to forget all about the woman in his face now and return to his original plan of trying to talk to Chasity alone.
********
Yeah right, he’s still in love with me. If he was, he wouldn’t be hugging another woman in front of me, Chasity thought from her seat at the first picnic table on the east side of the yard, trying not to be too affected by what she’d just seen. Wonder what lie he told to get her, she mused, thinking that for Marcos ‘honesty’ was simply a three-species plant that bloomed in May and June and was not a sign of good character at all.
“Miss Chasity, will you teach me how to make a terrarium for my aunt?” La’Charity asked, interrupting her biological mother’s thoughts. She had yet to be told what Marcos and Chasity’s real relation to her was. The adults agreed to take things slowly in that department, even though Marcos and Chasity had both recently taken paternity tests for verification purposes per Marjorie’s request.
“Of course, honey,” Chasity replied, already thinking of what they would include in the indoor garden-in-a-glass. Club moss and definitely hepatica, she mused, very fond of the latter with its three-lobed leaves and white or sometimes lavender flowers.
Then not wanting to leave any interested child out, Chasity turned to the older child at the table on her left. “Would you like to learn how to make a terrarium, too, Nakiya?” She took a sip from the white Styrofoam cup she held as she waited for the child’s answer. Marjorie’s fruit punch had a lemony taste to it and gave the drink an extra something special, which is why it was being consumed so fast among today’s guests.
Nakiya turned up her cute button nose in distaste as she swallowed the remaining bit of hotdog in her mouth. “No, I don’t like playing in the dirt. I like to keep my hands, nails and clothes clean,” she replied, revealing her snooty side in that answer. Then showing off her materialistic side, Nakiya took a moment to brush an imaginary piece of lint from the tank top of her designer short-set and to reposition the matching barrettes on her long braided ponytail.
Chasity chuckled, not offended at all by Nakiya’s haughtiness. She still thought the young lass to be simply adorable and delightfully candid. “I understand. Well, I guess it’ll just be La’Charity and me then.”
La’Charity’s eyes lit up at that prospect and she stopped mid-bite of her coleslaw laden hotdog. She liked Miss Chasity and would love to do a special project just between the two of them. Quickly chewing the food in her mouth and swallowing, she exclaimed, “I can’t wait!”
Chasity traced the bridge of her daughter’s perky nose with her index finger. “I can hardly wait, either, honey,” she said with an abundance of love flowing through her voice and eyes. Then reaching for one of the white napkins she’d brought from the house, Chasity proceeded to wipe the corners of La’Charity’s mouth where some of the coleslaw had not quite made it all the way in.
“Now about this terrarium, we do put the water in the glass bowl after we put in the pebbles and all the other stuff, right?” La’Charity asked, just getting geared up for another question and answer time. Inwardly, her heart sang at the tenderness at which she’d just been shown. She’d felt precious when Miss Chasity wiped her mouth just then and her pleasure was evident by the lovely smile resting upon her pretty little face.
Nakiya sat silently eating and watching the other two people at the table with envy now pricking at her heart. Now she was sorry that she refused Miss Chasity’s invitation to make a terrarium. Already she could tell that they were going to have so much fun. La’Charity always gets to do the best things, Nakiya mused, forgetting that only a moment ago she’d turned her nose up at the very idea of ‘playing in the dirt’.
Then turning away from the two people at the table with her, the nine-year-old spotted her adopted father placing a book of matches in his back pocket and realized that she suddenly needed a hug of reassurance from him. Jaleel always made Nakiya feel special and that was just one of the things she wanted from him right now.
© 2006 Suprina Frazier
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