“You and Stenton ain’t sleeping together?” Her already slanted eyes, contracted even more.
“No!” I snorted. “Stenton and I haven’t been together in ages.”
“I’m sure since the baby…”
I shook my head. Not that I was exactly comfortable with sharing about my sex life or lack thereof, but I felt I could be candid with Tynisha. She was a celebrity herself. What public figure didn’t appreciate confidence?
“No. I haven’t been with him since well before I had Jordan.”
“You better be careful. I know Stenton’s a freak. I’ve heard he’s into that kinky shit…chains and whips and shit.”
I let out a small chuckle as I shook my head at her musing.
“Damn, he is! Isn’t he?” she blurted in a revelatory manner, lustful even.
“I didn’t say that.”
Tynisha continued her examining, staring at me. “You didn’t have to. The color in your cheeks is telling me that he is. Not only that, but look at how hard your nipples are all of a sudden.” I re-draped my silk—and apparently thin—robe. “What the hell’s going on, Mascot? Okay, you guys haven’t exactly been in an official relationship. I can’t judge that. Look at Alton and me: we’ve been engaged for three years and have as many kids and all we have to show for it is countless scandals.” She took a breath. “But you two… Stenton’s never wavered in his feelings for you. It’s clear that he’s crazy about you.”
I huffed. “Well, I can’t tell.”
“Well, yeah, because men can be so fucking retarded with the way they express themselves. But trust me, I know. That’s why I’ve been chilling with you. Not because you’re my speed. He’s made it clear that you should be treated as a part of the circle.” She shrugged again. “I don’t know…” She then went back to her footage.
That only lasted a few seconds. Tynisha popped her head back up toward me as I stood over the table, folding and sorting.
“Mascot, you’re here with the baby. He comes by and you guys don’t go at it?”
“No. He spends time with his son. He has a room in the back for when he can’t come until late at night, and even when that happens, he takes the night shift to let me sleep. We’ve been doing a much better job at co-parenting since the christening.”
What a fiasco that was. It was hard coming back from that. Stenton would still come over for Jordan, but hardly looked at me, much less conversed with me. It took some time for me to officially apologize and offer to do better at including him in all decisions made regarding Jordan. I’d tried to play it safe with Stenton since then.
“I’m just so damn confused.” Tynisha wouldn’t drop the subject.
“About what? What’s the confusion?” I returned with just as much frustration, and snorted, “If he wanted me, he would’ve made that clear long ago, and we’d be together. I respect his wishes and will give him time to decide what he wants. Life goes on, right?”
In all honesty, I was simply happy to be in a better place from the breakup that occurred nearly a year ago when he dropped me off and said goodbye for no reason at all. Being pregnant with Jordan eclipsed that, and having him around pushed it to the back burner, but there was still an ache in my chest from his decision.
Tynisha shook her head. “You around here doing laundry…first of all, you need to start with getting a damn maid, then a nanny.” She snatched a few items from the laundry basket. “Then you need to get your back blown out. There’s no way a woman can function if she’s connected to Stenton Rogers, but not being taken care of. He’s running around here flossing it up for everybody else, but you ain’t getting a piece of the pie. You young girls need to learn how it’s done. Because I guarantee you if he was getting some of that snatch, there wouldn’t be any confusion in your relationship. You, unlike my dumb ass, would probably be married by now.”