Vexed Read online

  Zach didn’t realize he was crying until he tasted salty tears on his lips. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and leaned over to kiss Nahima one last time before he left her room. He smiled at what had become her late-night ritual as he closed the door quietly. He was willing to bet his whole paycheck that he would wake up with one of Nahima’s small feet in his face. It amazed him how much more he preferred that over one of Ayla’s professionally pedicured feet rubbing affectionately against his legs. She’d bugged him all day about them spending the weekend together. But Zach had told her the truth about his plans with his most favorite girl in the whole world, and it had pissed her off. It wasn’t like Ayla didn’t know the drill when it came to Nahima. He’d told her from the jump that no woman was allowed at his house whenever the little girl was there.

  * * *

  “Nah, nah, Ramona,” Zach said and waved her off. He threw his napkin over his empty plate. “I can’t eat anything else. I’m thirty-five now. My metabolism is on the decline. I have to hit the gym at least three times a week so I won’t grow hips and a bubble ass like your hubby.” He laughed hard at his own joke.

  Ramona rounded the table and kissed Dex softly on the lips. “I like a man with meat on his bones. No lightweight brother can handle all of this.” She placed the serving dish on the table and did a slow snakelike like move with her curvy, size fourteen hips. She blushed when Dex grabbed a handful of her big ass and squeezed it. She slapped his hand away and hurried into the kitchen to check on dessert.

  “I’m leaving.” Zach stood and frowned at Dex. “Why y’all gotta get all freaky while I’m here? I know Ramona still got stitches. You’re nasty. Keep it up. When she goes back for her six-week checkup, she’ll have another bun in the oven. Little Abriah Nicolette won’t like that very much. She’ll have a sibling before she can even walk.”

  “Shut up and sit your ass down! You know you ain’t going nowhere before dessert. Ramona baked that mixed fruit cobbler you like.”

  Zach sat back down. “I’m only staying to help you out. You don’t need to eat a lot of that cobbler, man. All the weight you gained while Ramona was pregnant ain’t sexy, Dex.”

  “Don’t worry about my weight. You’ve got problems of your own. I ran into Ayla today in the parking deck. She was pissed. Honey said you’ve been missing in action since you’ve been back from Jamaica. Is it true y’all have hooked up only twice over the past six weeks?”

  Zach nodded his head. “Yeah, she’s right. I’ve got a bunch of heavy shit on my mind, man. With Jay talking about moving back home and Venus calling me every day and tripping about it, I ain’t got time for Ayla. I get Nahima every weekend now, and she’s the best part of my life. Anyway, Wallace called.”

  “For real, Zach? How is he?”

  “He sounded good. He’s got a small church in Raleigh, North Carolina. I’m thinking about going up to visit him and his wife. I think it’s time for me to meet Wallace Junior. He’s six years old. Nahima and I sent him some gifts for his birthday.”

  Ramona came back into the dining room, carrying the piping hot cobbler in her mitten-covered hands. She sat it on the table and left, but returned quickly with a gallon of French vanilla ice cream and dessert bowls. She served her husband first and then Zach.

  “Does Jay or Aunt Jackie know you and Wallace keep in touch?” Dex asked.

  “Nope,” Zach said, scooping up a spoonful of cobbler and ice cream. “I’ll tell Auntie soon. I can’t keep it from her much longer. Jay and I aren’t on good terms right now. We haven’t spoken since I cussed her ass out three weeks ago. But she’s fine. She’s still going through the evaluation process for the job at the Georgia Global Cultural and Exchange Center. She made the top twenty-five candidates out of eight hundred and seventy-nine.”

  Dex shot Zach a suspicious look. “If y’all ain’t speaking, how do you know that?”

  “Jill told me.”

  “Mmm, so how often do you speak with Jill?”

  “What difference does it make? She calls sometimes, and we talk. What’s wrong with that?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with it if that’s all there is to it. But if you have any romantic or sexual feelings for this girl, Zach, it could be explosive.”

  “I don’t!”

  Dex kept a straight face. He knew Zach was lying through his teeth. His boy had the hots for Jill. Dex’s instincts told him so. He wasn’t sure what had taken place in Jamaica during Zach’s vacation, but something had definitely jumped off between him and the mysterious Jill. If Jay landed the job with the GGCEC and relocated her Jamaican lover to Atlanta with her, all hell was gonna break loose.

  “I hope you don’t,” Dex said a few seconds later. “I seriously hope you don’t.”

  * * *

  Zach’s friend and coworker Emily Anne spotted him through the window of the neonatal intensive care nursery. He was using a respiratory apparatus to carefully suction mucus from the nostrils of a tiny baby boy who had been born three months prematurely. The infant was battling pneumonia, and his prognosis was dim. Zach was determined to do all he could to make his life as comfortable as possible. The frail baby squirmed and cried as his dedicated nurse continued to clear his nasal passages.

  “Hold on, little dude. I’m almost finished. You’ll feel better when it’s all over.”

  “Hey,” Emily Anne said softly, walking up beside Zach. “There’s a phone call for you at NIC-five. The unit secretary said it’s an international call.”

  “Thank you, sweetie. I’ll be done here in a minute.”

  The blue-eyed nurse blushed at Zach’s innocent endearment. She and all the other nurses thought he was drop-dead gorgeous. She flung her blond locks over her shoulder and made goo-goo eyes at him. “You’re welcome.”

  Zach finished his task and left the warm, sterile nursery. He was anxious to know why Jill would be calling him at his job. He hoped nothing bad had happened to her or Jay. He picked up his pace as he rounded the corner. Ayla was standing near the nurses’ station, looking over a chart with another doctor and a nurse. She rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth after he acknowledged the group with a subtle smile and a slight nod of his head. Zach pressed the flashing light on the phone and lifted the receiver.

  “This is Zachary King.”

  “Zach, it’s me, Jay.”

  A pregnant pause filled the phone line before he was able to respond. “What’s going on, Jay? I can’t remember the last time you called me at work. Is something wrong?”

  “Nothing is wrong. In fact, things are quite well. I got the job, Zach. Jill and I are moving to Atlanta in two months. I know things are kinda crazy between us, but I need a favor.”

  With the shock still radiating through his body, Zach inhaled and exhaled slowly. “What do you need, Jay?”

  “I was hoping Jill and I could stay with you for a few weeks, until we can find a place.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Zach glanced down at the timer on the treadmill’s control board. He had four minutes and twenty-seven seconds left before he would complete his sixty-minute jog. Sweat poured down his face and body as his feet pounded hard against the rolling track. He had driven straight to the gym when he left the hospital, with the intention of working off some of the stress he was now under. In two months he, Jay, and Jill would be living under one roof, his roof, for an unspecified period of time. As if that wasn’t nerve-racking enough, Venus had asked him to be present on the day she told Charles the truth about herself, Nahima, and Jay. Zach hadn’t given her a definite answer, but he was pretty sure he would be there to hold her hand. He felt it was his duty to support Venus out of love for Nahima.

  The treadmill’s speed automatically decreased to cool-down mode. Zach grabbed the white towel from the safety rail and wiped his sweat-drenched face. His feet glided across the slow-moving rolling track with ease. He felt his cell phone vibrating inside his pocket, and he removed it to check the caller ID. It was Ayla.

  “Wh
at’s up, Doc?” he said when he picked up.

  “You have big nerve! We haven’t spent any time together in weeks. The only place I see you is at work. You could at least call me every now and then, Zach. That’s what friends do.”

  “I’m sorry, Doc. Let me make it up to you.”

  As much as she wanted to be mad at him, she softened under the sound of his sexy voice. Zach’s rich baritone timbre made Ayla’s nipples tingle. An instant pool of love juice saturated the crotch of her red lace panties, causing her to squirm on the sofa. Ayla crossed her legs against the dampness and her pulsating clit. “How do you plan to make it up to me? You’ve been ignoring me and Ms. Kitty too long, and we feel sad.”

  Zach smiled and jumped off the treadmill. He could hear Ayla’s rugged breathing. She wanted Ms. Kitty and Mr. Wonderful to have a coed slumber party. Zach was down with that, but it would have to take place at her town house, because he wasn’t in the mood for an all-nighter. He made it a practice never to spend the night at Ayla’s spot. The only reason he allowed her to stay overnight at his house was that he liked the French toast breakfast she always served him in bed the morning after.

  “I could be there in a half hour. Ask Ms. Kitty if that’s cool.”

  Ayla had already stripped off her clothes and was headed to the shower, grinning like she’d hit the lottery. “Ms. Kitty said she’d like that very much.”

  * * *

  Jill bounced Angelina on her knee and tried hard not to cry. Oliver had both his arms wrapped securely around her. Edgar, Christian, and Paul sat to her left on the old vinyl sofa, sobbing out loud.

  “Why must ya leave, Jillian?” her father asked. He and Faye were seated in a pair of folding chairs across from their six children in the hot sitting room.

  “I must go, Papa. Jay loves me, and she wants me to be with her wherever she goes. I can enroll in college in America and enhance my dance skills, like you and Mommy have always wanted. I will have a better life and will learn new things. There are no opportunities for me here. I can make money and send it to you to help the family.”

  “Keep ya bloody American money!” Orville Bessette shouted and sprang from his chair. “I forbid ya to leave this country with that sinful woman! It is humiliating enough that she makes ya lie with her in an ungodly and unnatural manner! You will not leave Jamaica with her!”

  Jill dropped her head and rocked Angelina in her arms. Her tears fell into the baby’s hair. Oliver was crying louder and still clinging to her. Jill leaned over and kissed him on his forehead.

  “Please don’t leave us, Jilly,” Edgar begged. “We love you.”

  Jay blew the horn, and everyone looked toward the window. All four of Jill’s brothers were now crying desperately. She pried Oliver’s hands away from her body and placed Angelina on her shoulder. Jill got down on her knees to face the boys.

  “I love you all so very much, but I must leave to be with Jay. She has a new job in America, and she wants me to go there to live with her. I will send you money and buy you lots of nice gifts, eh?”

  Jill kissed each boy and wiped their faces with the palm of her hand. Jay started blowing the horn aggressively. Jill knew it was time to end her visit. She had said what she’d come to say, and her family had reacted exactly the way she had expected them to. She stood and faced her parents. Her mother’s tears and her father’s anger broke Jill’s heart, but she loved Jay, and she was going to Atlanta with her. She crossed the small room to stand directly in front of her parents.

  “I will make a new life for myself in America and will make you very proud.” Jill handed Angelina to her mother. “I love you, Mommy and Papa.” She kissed her mother softly on her cheek. She wanted to touch her father, but the cold look in his eyes told her he wouldn’t allow it.

  * * *

  Aunt Jackie had prepared all Jay’s favorite dishes and had stored them in Tupperware bowls. Zach stacked them neatly in his new deep freezer. There had never been so much food in his house before. His kitchen smelled heavenly, with the scent of good Southern cooking wafting all around.

  “These are for you, Zach,” Aunt Jackie said, placing a medium-size bowl on the counter. “I know how much you love fresh turnips.”

  “Hell yeah, I do.”

  Aunt Jackie rolled her eyes and planted her hands on her wide hips. “Watch your mouth, Zachary King. You ain’t too old for me to whip your behind.”

  “Are you really gonna whip Uncle Z’s behind, Nana?” Nahima looked up at Aunt Jackie with worry in her eyes.

  “I won’t whip him this time, sweet pea, but I will if he doesn’t stop saying bad words.”

  “He won’t say any more bad words, Nana. I promise.”

  Zach pulled Nahima’s giant ponytail at the back of her head. “Why don’t you go to your room and play with your new dollhouse so I can talk to your nana in private?”

  “Okay.”

  When Zach and Aunt Jackie were alone in the kitchen, he told her all about his yearlong telephone relationship with his father. He showed her some pictures Wallace had sent of him and his family, and he told her he’d been thinking about visiting him in Raleigh. Zach said he thought it would be a good idea to take Nahima with him.

  “Are you okay, Auntie?”

  “I’m fine.” Aunt Jackie examined her fresh manicure. “I don’t hate your father, Zach, because I’m a Christian. God says I gotta love everybody, and that includes Wallace King.”

  “So you don’t mind that we’re in contact. But would you be upset if Nahima and I flew to Raleigh to visit him?”

  Aunt Jackie looked head-on at her nephew, whom she had raised as her son. “No, baby, I don’t mind that you and Wallace have a relationship. You should go and visit him. If Venus will approve of Nahima going with you, so will I. Now, I would like to know when you plan to tell Jay about your relationship with Wallace.”

  Zach snorted and rubbed his goatee. “I don’t think she can handle anything that heavy right now with all she’s got going on. After she gets settled here and at her new job, I’ll tell her. I’m not sure how she’ll react, but I’ll tell her anyway. She has a right to know.”

  “Wallace loved Belva. Never forget that, Zach. He adored her, and he was crazy about you and your sister. He’d heard rumors about your mother and other men before, but he had never taken them seriously. But when gossip about Belva and Claudius Henry started spreading like wildfire, your daddy got real suspicious.”

  “Did you know my mama was having an affair, Auntie?”

  “I think I did, but I just didn’t want to believe it. Claudius Henry had money, and my sister loved money. You wanted a green bicycle with a bell on it for your birthday. I’ll never forget it. Wallace was in seminary, working on his master’s degree. Money was tight. Belva must’ve made Claudius Henry speak in tongues in bed one day, because he bought you the most expensive green bike I’d ever seen. It was a Schwinn.”

  “I remember that bike. It was shiny and had a water bottle inside a holder under the handlebars. I was the coolest kid on the block because of that bike.”

  Aunt Jackie blew out a shaky breath at the memory and popped her lips. “Unfortunately, that same bike caused your daddy’s suspicions to go through the roof. He did a little digging around and found out Claudius Henry had bought that bike for you. The very next week Wallace brought you and Jay to my little old apartment and asked me to watch y’all while he ran some errands. Belva was supposed to have been at Clara Anne’s House of Curls, getting some finger waves. Even during his trial, Wallace never said how he’d found out where she actually was. Whoever tipped him off sent him flying over to that motel, and the rest is painful history.”

  “I’m gonna ask Wallace how he found out when I visit him. He promised to tell me anything I wanna know. I was a little boy when my mama died, and now I’m a man with serious commitment issues. I need answers and closure, Auntie, and only Wallace can help me with that.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Zach and Dex scann
ed the baggage claim area thoroughly. According to the flight schedule monitor, Jay and Jill’s flight had landed thirty minutes ago. Zach dialed his sister’s cell phone number again and got her voice mail. Dex pushed the luggage cart through the crowd and walked to the far end of the baggage area. Zach leaned on another cart right by the baggage carousel where Jay and Jill’s luggage was expected to come out.

  “Zachary! Zachary!” yelled the voice that invaded his dreams nightly. Jill was smiling and waving her hand. She looked like a fashion model in an orange sundress and strappy metallic gold sandals. Jay was dragging behind her in a pair of faded jeans, a white T-shirt, and an Atlanta Braves baseball cap.

  Dex was taking steps in Zach’s direction when Jill threw herself into his buddy’s arms and kissed him firmly on the lips. There wasn’t any tongue action in the kiss, but it lasted longer than a friendly peck. Zach’s hands rested comfortably in the arch of Jill’s back, inches above her ass. Dex closed his eyes, having witnessed the confirmation of what he’d hoped was just foolish speculation. All bets were off. Zach had a thing so powerful for Jill that Dex could smell the fragrance of lust in the air as he got closer to them. And Jill was smitten with Zach too, but she just didn’t know it yet.

  “What’s up, family?” Dex said, smiling from ear to ear. He grabbed Jay’s slender frame in a bear hug and then released her.

  “Dex, this is Jill.” Jay tossed her hand back and forth. “Baby, this is Dexter Cruz, Zach’s best friend. He’s like a big brother to me.”

  Jill was so excited. She flung her arms around Dex’s stocky body. “It is my pleasure to meet you, Dexter Cruz.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too, Jill. Please call me Dex.”

  The baggage carousel came to life and as it hummed, it began dispensing luggage of all shapes, colors, and sizes. Jay and Jill pointed out their many pieces, while Zach and Dex loaded them onto the carts.