Life by Leo Sullivan Read Free Book Online

some rest. We got a long day tomorrow with the
    car and all.” His words were languid, he sounded tired. I just stood
    there, lost for words, not able to describe what I was feeling for
    this man. Maybe it was sympathy wrapped up in a big ole ball of
    sorrow.
    I was wearing practically nothing. My nightie was very trans-
    parent. It was made of sexy satin and lace, cut short way above the
    thigh. The cleavage was more than an eyeful since I wasn’t wear-
    ing a bra. I was about as nude as a woman could get except for my
    panties. Talk about a girl’s pride. “Can I have a drink?” I heard my
    voice say, husky with a feminine timber of boldness.
    “ Hope, I got a lot on my mind,” he said running his hand over
    his short cropped hair. “Get some rest, I’ll have breakfast waiting
    for you when you wake in the morning.”
    He just stared at something in the window. Something only he
    could see. I recognized the hur t on that man’s face, the way only a
    woman can. Barefooted, I padded across the shag carpeting and
    fixed myself a drink. He turned and looked at me annoyingly.
    “ Didn’t you hear what I just said, girl?” His voice was slightly
    slurred. I ignored him and bent down to retrieve a piece of ice that
    I intentionally dropped to the floor. I flirted just to get his atten-
    tion, to see his reaction. Ever since we met, he treated me like his
    little sister. The man never paid the slightest bit of attention to
    me. I wondered if there was such a thing as a gay thug. I sat down
    right in front of him, crossed my legs ladylike and took a swig of
    my drink. It burned in a nice way. Quiet engulfed us like a gentle
    storm. I was lost for words.
    What am I doing?
    I continued to ask
    myself.
    “ So what are you going to do when you get to Tallahassee?” I
    asked.
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    L i f e
    “ I dunno … I dunno …” he shook his head somberly. “Maybe
    find a job and save up some money to go to night school, get me
    a lawyer.”
    “ Yeah, that would be a good idea. You could use a good
    lawyer, because you damn sure know how to find trouble. You are
    a jinxy-ass man.” With that, he erupted in hilarious laughter, full
    and vibrant. The kind of hearty laughter that would stand out in
    a room full of people, loud and jovial. It reminded me of Eddie
    Murphy’s singsong cackle. Masculine and strong, I couldn’t help
    but smile, too as tears rolled down his cheeks as he continued to
    laugh. I poured myself another drink, a nightcap I told myself. I
    already had a buzz. I took a sip and raised up to stand, I slightly
    staggered but he did not notice. “I’m going to get some rest.
    Check out time is 11 o’clock and it’s just about 4 o’clock.” He just
    looked at me, his ebony eyes opaque slants, eyes that I couldn’t
    read. He stood. His bronze body was sculpted like one of them
    African statues of a warrior. His stomach was chiseled. His brawny
    chest was big and hairy. He wore a large platinum chain.
    The light from the swimming pool shimmered off our bodies.
    I bit down on my bottom lip as he walked toward me. No one can
    convince me that a man and a woman, in the solitude of the night,
    confronted by their riveting intimacy, do not produce a kind of
    celestial energy that holds them bound to the laws of nature. It’s
    fervid heat of unquenched passion. I felt my body tingling as if I
    were on fire. I knew that if he touched me we would both burn in
    a fahrenheit of passion. The Hennessy, mingled with his manly
    scent, was like an aphrodisiac to my feminine loins.
    “ Hope I’m sorry for everything that I’ve put you through. I
    can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done, and to be truthful
    with you, I’m really not a …not a …” he stammered and for some
    reason I felt my body leaning toward him like how gravity pulls.
    “ I’m really not a jinx,” he said awkwardly. This time I burst
    out in laughter spraying his face with spittle. For some reason, I
    was feeling giddy. I wiped his