Nasty
focus and attention.
    But that wasn’t the real reason.
    In all his twenty-five years on the planet, Carlos had never had a crush or the slightest desire for what the poets or crazy R&B songs called romance. When puberty had set in and his loins had demanded something other than his hand for pleasure, he had felt betrayed. He knew he had to be with the opposite sex or he would explode in a million different pieces.
    At six feet, he was considered tall, trim and terribly fine. With his clean-shaven head, an ever present diamond stud in his left ear, and designer suits that showed off his lean muscular build, women came easy to him; way too easy. He quickly figured outearly in the game that females would let him have his way with them. He was even upfront about his non-intentions and still they laid down, still thinking that wrapping his dick up in their tight little juicy vaults of desire would make him lose his mind.
    But all it ever did was make him come hard and dump the woman as soon as he detected even the slightest inkling that she wanted more than he was ever going to give. And he always wrapped it up tight; real tight. He wasn’t bringing any baby Carlos’s in the world. One was enough.
    And that’s why the cute plus-sized freak had gotten her walking papers that morning. Not only did she profess her love for him, she had wanted him to meet her mother.
What the hell for
? he thought. He had a mama; he didn’t need to know hers. What was he gonna say when he met her?
Hello, my name is Carlos. I only want to fuck your fat ass daughter’s brains out.
    No, there was no reason to meet the family or keep the relationship in “active” status. It was easier to drop her off in front of McDonald’s and refuse to answer any of her calls. It was actually the humane thing to do, and Carlos was all about being the humane kind of brother.
    He glanced at the clock.
Good
, he thought. There was plenty time to run some errands in Greenwich Village and pick up his brother, Jonathan, at JFK airport. His seven-foot sibling was returning from a trip to California, where he had visited the college he was attending in the fall. A star athlete while in high school, Jonathan had won an opportunity to participate in an elite NBA summer camp held in Harlem.
    After Pops died, Carlos had made a special note to spend extra time with Jonathan. This summer was the time to do it. It would take some serious schedule juggling, but he had made a graveside promise to Pops to take care of him.Pops and Mama Ophelia had adopted Carlos when his parents died. He was only seven when he moved from Florida to Brooklyn. From day one, they had treated him just like their natural son. They had made him feel right at home. The added bonus was that Carlos had always wanted brothers, and both Tarik and Jonathan fit the bill.
    Carlos never looked back at his life with his parents in Florida. He loved his new family; his real family. He had no desire to start his own either. A confirmed childless bachelor, he laughed every time Mama Ophelia threatened that one day he’d meet someone who’d change his mind. There was no chance of that happening. As far as Carlos was concerned, there was no need to complicate things and upset what he knew was a damn near perfect life.
    Carlos smiled. For once, the traffic and parking spot gods were shining on him. He made it downtown in record time and got a parking spot right in front of the café where he, Pops, and Tarik used to hang out at before they caught a jazz set at the Blue Note. He loved the Village; especially in the summer.
    He entered a small shop at the corner of Fourth Street where Mrs. Doutrelle, a gifted tailor from Senegal, greeted him warmly. Close to seventy, she kissed him on both cheeks. She did wonderful things for his clothing. He always looked sharp. She handed him his new suit.
    “How’s ze record business, Monsieur?”
    “Oh, better every day. Better every day.”
    And he wasn’t lying. All

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