Polo and Charlotte

                Charlotte jumped in her truck.  I have to break this thing off with Duke.  I can’t take this sneaking around anymore.  I headed up 95 S to make it to Woodbridge.  This was the last time I would be taking this drive to see Duke.  I don’t know what it was but he had me wrapped around his finger and it was going to stop.  I have a faithful man at home who doesn’t have a clue about all the things I do when I leave his sight or our beautiful estate.  He is in love; no, we are in love with one another but there were things about our relationship that lacked a little luster.  I had a freaky side to me that my Husband didn’t see the need to nurture and that’s how I got all caught up with Duke.

 One night I went to Fast Eddie’s in Alexandria for Ladies night which was on a Thursday.  For some reason whether people had to work or not on Friday was of no concern, because that place stayed packed after midnight.  My girl Lish and I had just won $200 off these bum dudes who thought that girls didn’t know how to shoot pool.  “Ha,” I taunted.  After we finished talking trash to the guys we just whipped, we walked towards the ladies room and I ran smack dab into him as he was coming through the door.  He was gorgeous, gorgeous and more gorgeous and it was like everything for me morphed into slow motion and I knew I stared like five seconds too long.  He looked at me, smiled and said “I’m sorry sweetheart.”   “No problem, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”  He nodded and walked on ahead to catch up with his friends.  “Girl, I thought you was gon kiss that nigga the way you was staring at him,” Lish said with a huge smile on her face.  “Girl please, I got a man and he treats me just right,” mostly trying to convince myself.  I knew that if the opportunity presented itself I was going to fuck him.  When I ran into him, my hands touched his crotch and my head went right into his robust chest.  He stood at least three or four inches above me and his smile displayed the pearliest white teeth I’d ever seen.  His mustache and goatee were on point and his skin looked like chocolate milk.  I knew I would see him again but for now I was gon' avoid him like the plague. We finally left the ladies room and headed to the dance floor. They were playing our jam, 'Wait’ by the Ying Yang Twins…”Wait to you see my…” we sang along to the song and we couldn't help but get down on the floor. You would have thought that we created the damn song.  We sweated a bit and some cutie came over and asked Lish if he she wanted to dance so I headed outside for some air and let her finish getting her groove on. I walked to my truck, and guess who was leaning on it, making love to the phone, the handsome stranger I bumped into.  He told the person he was talking to to hold on and apologized for leaning on my Crystal Blue Range Rover.  I accepted and got inside my truck to turn on the air.  To my surprise he turned around and stared at me as he continued talking but I wasn't biting just yet.  I just didn't want him thinking I was on him like that even though I was already mesmerized; not to mention, opportunity reared its fateful head.  Then a group of girls got out of a car and when they saw him they started gawking at him, but he kindly brushed them off.   He told them that his Wifey was in the truck and pointed at me.  I smiled at him and the girls and they all nodded at me and put their hands up as a sign of respect.  He got off the phone and came to my window.  I cracked it a little and asked him, “Why did you lie to them girls?”  He grinned and chuckled, "What’s your name sweetheart?"  I said, "Charlotte, what's yours?"  "I'm Duke.  You are hella gorgeous," he said.  I thanked him and before I knew it we had been talking for an hour.  Our conversation was interrupted by Lish and the guy she was dancing with coming over to the truck.  She wanted to know where the hell I’d been at for the past hour.  With that answered, she told me she was going to the Ihop with ole boy she was dancing with and he was going to take her home.  I gave her a kiss and a hug and warned her friend that he'd better take her home too, and this was after I looked at his driver’s license and wrote down the information along with his license plate.  ‘Fuck that, she was my best-friend and I wasn’t one to cock-block, but I wasn’t going to just let her go without knowing some fucking information first.  “Mike; 6 feet, brown skin, pug nose, 185 lbs, wearing a tan linen suit made by Kenneth Cole.”  He smiled and said, “That’s what up,” respecting my actions. 

They left and we continued to talk until the place closed.  Lucky for me my Husband was out of town on business so I didn’t have to rush home.  As we talked, we were both very honest with one another and he knew I was married with no kids.  I found out that his girlfriend was hit by a drunk driver and died two years ago while delivering their baby at eight months pregnant.  Thank God the beautiful baby boy he showed me a picture of was healthy, alive, and his deceased girlfriend's sister helps to care for him.  She lived in his house with him and she had been his best friend since they were six.  "You will get the chance to meet them both when you come for dinner tomorrow.  You know you wanna say yes," he said as he stared directly into my eyes.  I looked at him and told him I couldn't do what he was asking me to do because I had never cheated on my Husband and I didn't want to start something I couldn't deal with emotionally.  Who was I fooling, I knew as soon as I saw him that if we were ever alone, that would be the end to my faithfulness; honestly, he just took my breath away with his whole demeanor.  I told him I couldn't live with the guilt that would eat me up inside.  Of course he pretended to understand and then he tried another approach.  He said, "Well, who's talking about cheating I am talking about becoming friends and getting to know each other."  "Duke, be for real!  We both know where this could lead to and it could get ugly.  I'll start spending time with you and your family and next thing we know we'll be struggling with our feelings for one another and I can't do that."   As I kept explaining the reasons why I couldn't be his friend, I knew deep down inside that I would be at his house for dinner.  That was five years ago and now I've got two babies, a girl and a boy and I know my baby girl is his and so does his family.  I tried to convince him that she wasn't but when he pulled out his baby picture and Caleb’s baby picture and compared it to Kayla's, there was no denying that she belonged to Duke.  The good thing is that she looked like me as well so my Husband didn’t have a clue and was in proud ‘Daddy Heaven’.  Recently my husband took my babies to the Rain Forest Cafe and it so happened that Duke was there with his son, who had just turned seven.  I almost died when Polo told me about the incident in which he deemed the cutest thing.  He said when Kayla saw Duke that she ran to him and said “Daddy.”  He just laughed it off and said he apologized to the nice gentleman and then something else caught Kayla’s eyes and she was off to the other side of the room.  I laughed with him and blew it off, but I was kind of pissed.  I know Duke ate every bit of it up.  I had to let this thing go.

 I turned off on my exit and after a few lights and turns I was pulling in Duke’s driveway.  His car was the only one parked outside so I knew we would be alone to talk.  He must have seen me from the window because he came to the door and opened it and kissed me as if he hadn’t seen me in years.  It was the same kissing style from the day we began to be intimate.  He always kissed me with such feverish passion.  I loved it and at the same time I felt guilty as hell.  “Hey Char-bird,” he said as he smiled at me.  “Duke, we really need to talk.  I heard you saw Kayla at the Rain Forest Café and she ran to you and said Daddy.  This is not going to work; this is the last time that you are going to see me.  I can’t do this with you anymore.  This has to end now; tonight!”  “So, you can just take my love and break my heart Charlotte; is that what you’re saying to me?”  He said in such a calm voice and he gave me the saddest eyes.  The one thing about Duke is that he never asked or tried to force me to choose between him and my Husband but he refused to let me go as well.  He moved closer to me and I tried to turn around and leave but he caught me at the door and it was all over after that.  He pinned me against the door and everything in my hands, my purse, my keys, they all just hit the floor.  He reached under my skirt and started massaging my goodness and I was instantly wet.  He whispered in my ear that sweet, freaky shit that I didn’t get at home and that I so crucially liked.  He undid my skirt, took the band out of my hair, and started kissing my left ear.  He seduced me every time and I could not escape.  I tried my hardest to fight him, did I really, but it didn’t work.  Before I knew it we were in the living room and he was between my legs tasting the sweetness of my goodies and he was so good at it.  I moaned in delight and in between the licks and the sucking of my juices he kept telling me how much he loves me and never wants me to leave him.  When he finally came up top he lifted my cheeks up off the couch and picked me up in the air and pinned me against the wall.  When he inserted himself inside me the explosion between my thighs happened instantaneously.  I could no longer deny that I was in just as much in Love with Duke as I was with Polo.   When we finished making love, we took a shower together and we talked further.  "Duke we can't continue like this.  I told you it was going to be like this." Duke grabbed both my hands and looked directly into my eyes and said, "Char-bird, you’re happy when you’re with me.  I never asked you to leave your Husband and I don't demand or expect more time of you than you can give, so what's the problem?"  What he was not getting was that the emotions were wearing me out.  There were times when Polo and I made love and all I wanted was for it to be Duke.  I tried explaining it to him over and over again but he wasn’t listening.  It ended up with me promising to come back over there later on that night; I couldn’t win with him.  As I was about to leave, Duke’s son came in and ran to me and hugged me so tightly.  He is such a cute little boy and I love him so much.  He looked at me and said, “Auntie Charlotte!”  “Hi baby, how was school today?”  “It was good Auntie; Auntie Kira took me to get my new football because I got all A’s on my report card.”  “Oh wow, how cool is that.  I am so proud of you…I have to go now but I will be back soon ok.”  “Ok…love you, bye” and just like that he finally released me and went upstairs.  I said my goodbyes to Duke and Kira and I was out the door headed home. 

As I drove back down 95 I thought that the only way to stay away from him was to not answer his calls or just not go back; but again who was I fooling.  Next thing you know my cell phone was ringing.  “Hello,” I said.  “Charlotte, I love you and I don’t want to put any pressure on you but you telling me that this is it; I can’t accept it.  For the past five years, you have been the only Woman in my life and you’re not someone that one could easily get over,” Duke said these words with such sadness and sincerity.  I just sighed and let him do all the talking and my heart was filled with joy and sadness at the same time.  Here was this man pouring his soul out to me and I was non-responsive.  He noticed my quietness and said, “Charlotte, are you listening to me?”  I responded, “Yes I am but I don’t know what to say Duke.  I love you too but I have a family at home and I can’t teach them morality when I’m doing immoral things.  Besides, my Husband is good to me and he trusts me and he loves me.  He would probably have a heart-attack if he ever found out, and that incident at the restaurant was a wakeup call.”  I don’t know what Duke was thinking but he sighed heavily and then said, “so, you just gon’ take my baby girl from me; just like that?  How do you think that would make Kayla feel not seeing her Father?  I need my girls Charlotte; I need both of you.”  “I don’t know what you want me to do Duke; I am between a rock and a hard place.  Can you give me some time to think?  Can I get some space?”  “Well, how much time and space do you need,” he asked.  “I really don’t know; just give me some time.”  “Ok, if that’s what you want.”  “Yes, that is what I want.  I have to go because Polo is on the other line.”  I told him to call me later but not before he told me he loved me.  I switched over to the other line, “Hey Babes, what’s up?” I asked.  Polo took a deep breath and said, “Charlotte, don’t panic while you’re driving, but I need you to come to Children’s Hospital.”  “What, what the hell is going on at Children’s Hospital?” I was now frightened.  “Its Kayla, the baby-sitter got into an accident and Kayla was hurt real bad to the point where she needs blood.  Just get here now and bring Duke with you.”  I was shocked to hear what he just told me and I said, “What, what do you mean?”  “Charlotte now is not the time, but PJ and I are not matches for Kayla’s blood type.   Just get here to be with our daughter.”  He hung up the phone and I don’t know what I was I in shock about the most; the fact that my daughter was in the hospital with serious injuries or the fact that my Husband now knew that Kayla was not his baby. 

                After I hung up the phone, I immediately called Duke.  The loud sobs coming from me made it hard for him to hear what I was saying but apparently I must have told him and I heard him say, “We’re on our way.”  I pulled into the parking garage and ran to the emergency room area and asked for Kayla Johnson.  The nurse pointed me in the right direction and there I saw my Husband.  Just then PJ ran to me and jumped in my arms and he was crying and I could see that Polo had been crying.  “Polo, where’s Kayla?” I asked.  Polo looked at me with Love, Hurt, and Confusion in his eyes and said, “She’s getting some x-rays done and her blood type is AB negative and both you and I are B positive and so is PJ.  The silence spoke volumes and at the same time it was the sound of nothingness.  Then, strangely he said, “Let’s just worry about Kayla right now.”  Just then the Doctor came out and he said that Kayla was bleeding in her abdomen and she had to have surgery right away.  He asked had I given blood yet and instructed me to see the nurse if I didn’t.  I told him that my blood type doesn’t match hers and we will have to wait until her Father gets here.  It killed me to say those words while Polo was standing by my side.  The Doctor said that they didn’t have enough stock of AB negative blood and they had already made calls to have some delivered but they desperately needed a family member with her blood type now.  He said they would have to open her up and if they can stop the bleeding now and make sure that it hadn’t spread to her lungs, hopefully then they may be able to keep her uterus in place so that she may one day be able to bear children.  I nearly passed out and Polo and the Doctor had to hold me up.  “Mrs. Johnson, are you going to be alright?  I know this is difficult but I need you to be as strong as possible for Kayla.  She needs you more than ever right now.”  The Doctor spoke with such concern and care.  I nodded my head to let him know that I understood.  The Doctor left us there and I could tell that Polo didn’t know what to do.  Sometimes he would rub my back or touch my hand and then he’d just back off.  He is such a good man.  How could I do this to him?  There were so many things running through my mind and I just couldn’t think about it anymore.  I sat there with tears running down my face trying to control the sobs that threaten to overtake me.  I looked down the hallway and Duke, Kira, his son, his Mother, one of his cousins and his best-friend were coming towards me.  It was more than awkward and there were no words that I could think of to describe the tension in that room.  Duke’s Mother, Mother James was the first to greet me and Polo.  Thank the Lord an Old Soul always knew what to say and do.  “Everybody sit on down now!  Honey I’m sorry but we were on our way out to dinner and we all love Kayla so we all came as soon as we heard.  We gon’ just sit down here on the other end and just be here if y’all need us.”  She looked at Polo affectionately and said, “I’m Mother James, Duke’s mother.  We will try to stay out of your way,” and she patted Polo on the hands and walked over to where Duke and everybody else was sitting.  Polo thanked Mother James for her concern and respect.  I asked Polo was he ok and he nodded yes and got up and went over and asked Duke to come to where we were.  Polo and Duke were face to face standing in front of me.  My nerves were jumping sky high.  Polo said, “Look man, Kayla needs your blood.  Me, PJ, and Charlotte’s blood type do not match hers and we need all of you and your family to be tested so that Kayla can be saved.  The donor blood they sent for won’t be here for another two hours, so she doesn’t have that many options right now.  I am not going to concern myself with the how’s and the why’s, because Kayla need us all right now.  Please see the Nurse at the desk over there and she will direct you from there.  The fact that you’re here and you’re family is with you means a whole lot.  Let’s just stay focused on Kayla and later we can all have a sit down when Kayla is home safe and sound.  Cool?”  Duke stretched out his hand and said, “Thanks man, I agree completely.”  They shook hands and Duke walked over to his family and conveyed what Polo said and everybody except Mother James and Duke’s son Caleb, followed the Nurse to the back.  Duke turned and looked at me and mouthed the words I love you and the door closed behind him.  Polo looked at me and asked me to sit down.  He told me that he and Duke had a chance to talk more at the restaurant but he needed time to process the discussion they’d had.  He said he found it cute at first when Kayla ran to him and called him Daddy Duke, but then he took a look at his son and Kayla and they looked almost identical.  Also, he said Kayla acted as if she already knew his son and then his mind began to wonder.  He said he remembered seeing Duke leave the hospital the day we brought Kayla home.  Clearly, he knew more than what I could have imagined him knowing but what could I do.  He told me how much he Loved me and our kids, our life and how he would never give that up in a million years, but right now, he was confused and on one hand he wanted to whip my ass and on the other he blamed himself.  He said he realized that maybe he worked a little more than he had to but it was all worth it for his family to have everything they needed and wanted.  He said he couldn’t imagine life without us and he knew that he was Blessed to find such a loving and devoted wife.  I sat there in disbelief at this man I chose to marry.  He was remarkable and wonderful and I felt like a fucking whore.