"The Comfort Zone" Part 2

[Sweet Meat aka CC]

It had been months since Kim had been this exhausted, but relaxed. However, she was contemplating on what to do next. “I wonder…do I ask about this now or just go with the flow?!”, she thought to herself.

Finally deciding to go ahead and ask her question before leaving, Kim looked at Nokio and asked, “What just happened?”

“I’ll be happy to show you again”, he mumbled as he kissed her shoulder.

“Stop it! I’m serious!”, she said sitting up on one elbow. “I mean, where do we go from here? We’ve only been with each other a lil’ over 3 months, and I need to know where our relationship stands at this very moment.”

Looking up at the ceiling, Nokio placed his hands behind his head and simply stated, “I would like to go as far as love will take us.” Then he cut his eyes over to her along with a small smile.

Kim couldn’t believe what she had heard. She had to turn away from him to get herself together. “Is he saying that he loves me?”, she thought, as she grinned from ear-to-ear. “Oh, No---“

He sat upright in the bed and shouted, “What do you mean ‘oh no’?!”

She swung back around with a pillow to his face and giggled, “You so stupid! I was getting ready to say ‘Oh Nokio’ before I was so rudely interrupted.”

“Is that right?”, Nokio laughed as he pulled her down for “round two”.
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After coming in from a fun night out on the town, Woody and Tisha cuddled up together under a blanket on his loveseat to watch television. “Now is a good time as any to ask”, Woody thought to himself.

“W’sup with your girl, Lisa? My man Sco’ really likes her, but he said that it’s like she’s keepin’ a lil’ space in between them. He told me that they have a lot of fun togetha’, but it’s like she’s not really openin’ herself up to him.”

Turning in his arms to face him, Tisha told him the history behind Lisa. “It’s like this Wood. There was some sh!t that happened between her and her last boyfriend that I’m telling you about in the strictest of confidence. One year into their two-year relationship, he changed for the worse. He started cheatin’ on her left and right and even had a child with someone. Every time she tried to let him go, he would sweet talk his way back into her life. Until she made up her mind the last time to leave him for good. Last she heard, he was married to the chick that he had the kid by.”

Woody shook his head saying, “Damn! I’m sorry to hear that. But if she would give my man Sco’ a chance, she would see that he wouldn’t be like the last one.”

“I know right, but she’s just pacing herself. I can’t blame her for not wanting another heartbreak. That sh!t hurts!”, Tisha said settling back into Woody’s arms.
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Jazz, Scola, and Sisqo were at Sisqo’s house watching a basketball game and discussing their current relationships.

“Man, if it wasn’t for how she makes that booty work, I wouldn’t even be with her!”, Jazz laughed commenting on Maria.

“N***a, I’m feelin’ ya on that ghetto booty!”, Sisqo shouted reaching across the coffee table to give him a high-five. “It’s too much of it out here for me to waste Sisqo, Jr. on just one!”

But to himself, Sisqo thought, “Damn, a n***a’s missin’ Tasha though.” She was out of town on another assignment.

“The communication between us is f***ked up though! She’s just with me until I find the right one. I dunno man, she’s not anything that I thought she would be.”, Jazz said with a sour look. In his private thoughts, he knew that it was wrong to treat Maria this way.

“But this n***a here is in love, so he wouldn’t know nuttin’ ‘bout that”, Sisqo said pointing at Scola.

“What…eva, man!”, Scola said with a frown. “Yall 2 fools juss jealous because I found ‘the one’ for me and yall still searchin’.”

“Yeah, right!”, Sisqo said. “You prolly ain’t even got none yet.”

“Whoa, bro’!”, Jazz warned, shaking his head at Sisqo.

Scola stood up and proceeded to shout, “N***a that ain’t non-o-yo f***kin’ bizzness! And it wouldn’t matter if I did, because I don’t see Lisa in that way, only!!! Man, fo’get yall two! I’m outta here!” He stormed out of Sisqo’s house.

He was about to climb in his ride, when Sisqo ran up to him.

“Man, I’m sorry dawg! I let my mouth get ahead ‘o me sometimes. You know you my boy. I juss took things too far. We cool?”, he asked extending his fist to receive a pound.

“Yeah, man we cool!”, Scola smiled giving him a pound. “But really though, I do have to run.”

“Aight, and again, it was my bad and I apologize.”, Sisqo said with a smile before heading back to his house.
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[Sweet Meat aka CC]

Saturday morning, Lisa struggled to get out of the bed. She had told Scola on last night that she wasn’t feeling well. Actually, she just wanted to be alone. She even told Ms. Lucy the same thing so she wouldn’t be bothered by her.

After her shower, she pulled her microbraids up into a ponytail on top of her head and put on some jeans and a t-shirt to start tidying up her apartment a bit. She wasn’t sure if anyone would be by today, including Scola. When she went over to her record player to pull out her favorite Smokey Robinson album, she remembered that she had let her cousin hold it three years earlier and it hadn’t been returned. “Dammit! Now I can’t listen to my jam!”, she said aloud.

This gave her the perfect chance to get out of the house and go down to the oldies record store to see if they had a copy. She thought the fresh air would do her some good. “I’d betta’ call first before makin’ a trip for nothin’ though”, she thought.

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Woody called Scola after Tisha went home to tell him about Lisa even though he promised Tisha that he wouldn’t tell. But he felt like his friend needed to know so he would be aware of what was going on.

“Hello”, Scola answered in the middle of stretching.

“Hey man, how ya’ doin’? Are you busy?”, Woody asked.

“Nah, I’m just stretched out on the couch watchin’ TV. Why, w’sup?”

“I feel like I need to come by to talk with you about Lisa; it’s nothin’ bad though, but it’s juss somethin’ you need to know.”

“Fo’ real? Well, why can’t you juss tell me on the phone?”, Scola demanded.

“Because…man, I’m on my way. Bye!”, Woody replied before hanging up the phone.

After hearing what Woody had to say, Scola felt much better and felt like doing something nice for Lisa to see if she would open up some more to him.

“C’mon, man. Ride with me down to the oldies record store. I’ma get Lisa that Smokey Robinson album that she told me about. She said somethin’ about neva’ getting’ it back from her cuzzin’.”, Scola said.

“Aight, cool. Let’s go!”, Woody agreed.

When they reached the store, they were greeted by a hefty, middle-aged woman with missing teeth sitting at the cash register.

“How yall doin’ today?”, she asked with a wide smile.

Looking at Woody and trying not to laugh, Scola asked if she had the album by Smokey Robinson with “Tell Me Tomorrow” on it.

“Yeah, we got it, but someone called about it earlier and said she was on her way to come get it.”

“Damn! Well how much does it cost?”, Scola asked impatiently.

“It’s 15 dollas, but like I said…”

“I’ll give ya 25! Please Miss. It’s a special gift for a special person. She’s been dyin’ to have it and I wanna make her happy.”, Scola said with a look of hope on his face.

“Shiiiii…for 25, you got it!”, the clerk replied with a grin.

“Cool!”, Woody said with a smile giving Scola a nudge.

Meanwhile, Lisa was detoured on her way to the store by some construction work that was going on. “Man! I wanna just get my album and get back to the house!”, she said putting her head on the steering wheel. After about 15 minutes, traffic was finally moving again.

When she reached the store, Ms. Ruthie told her that someone else came in to buy the record for a bigger price.

“Ms. Ruthie, you supposed to be my girl! How you gon’ let somethin’ like this happen?!! “, Lisa wailed.

“Girl…I got bills to pay and anytime I see mo’ money flashed in front ‘o my face it does sumthin’ to me”, she tried to joke.

“I can’t believe you, Ms. Ruthie!!!”, Lisa said with a sad look. “Nor can I believe you ain’t got non-o-yo grill fixed with all the money you seem to make here, you gappy-mouf heifer!”, she mumbled under her breath as she left out the store.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Girl, I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure Woody won’t say anything about Lisa.”, Kim told Tisha as they walked through the mall, window shopping.

“Yeah, I know, but…well, I just wouldn’t want word to get back to her that I blabbed something that she told us in confidence. She’s already having a tough time putting her trust in a man. Imagine how she would feel if she knew she couldn’t trust me, her friend?”, Tisha replied.

Trying to get Tisha’s mind off of the situation, Kim saw a beautiful red sweater on a mannequin that she knew Tisha would like. “Look, maybe that sweater will take your mind off of Lisa!”

Giggling, Tisha took Kim’s hand and replied, “I think you’re right!” Tisha damn near dragged her as she ran in the store.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lisa noticed the postman leaving her building. “Oh goody! More bills for me to pay!”, she thought as she rolled her eyes. Sorting through her mail as she walked to her apartment, she came across a beige envelope from the ad agency uptown. She had an interview with them earlier in the week for the position of Art Assistant. Lisa silently prayed, “Lord I thank ya!” as she opened the letter. A minute later, she was squealing with joy after reading that she was offered the position. Her talent for drawing and painting, inherited from her father, had paid off. When she walked inside her apartment, she shouted, “Thank ya Jesus!” as she jumped up and down on her couch. “I gotta call my girls AND Scola to celebrate!”, she thought as she ran to the phone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Sweet Meat aka CC]

“I’m so happy for you! I’ll be by some time tonight. I have another surprise for ya!”, Scola said with a sly smile.

“What is it?! Please, tell me”, Lisa pleaded.

“Nooooo, you have to wait, Li.”, he laughed.

After he hung up the phone, Scola told Woody Lisa’s good news.

“That’s great!”, Woody said. “When you see her tonight, tell her I said congratulations!”

He and Scola decided to have lunch while they were out. To show that there were no hard feelings, Scola decided to drop by Sisqo’s place to invite him.

Walking up to his door, they noticed that there was another car in his driveway.

“I wonder whose car that is?”, Woody asked.

Scola rung the bell a few times. “I, guess he’s not home.”

He and Woody were about to leave when Sisqo opened the door.

They turned around and took one look at Sisqo and burst out laughing.

He was dressed in a pair of jeans that were undone and he unknowingly had some whip cream on the tip of his nose. It told the whole story of what was taking place.

“What the hell is so funny, yall?”, he barked.

Every time Woody tried to talk, he would start laughing again.

“C’mere man, I wanna show ya somethin’”, Scola said putting his arm around Sisqo’s shoulder while walking him back into the main hall of his house. He put Sisqo in front of a mirror.

When Sisqo saw what they were laughing at, he laughed, wiped his nose with his arm and said, “Yeah, well, um…Tasha came home a day early to surprise me.” He nodded his head back towards the stairs.

“My bad, man. I can see you’re busy.”, Scola said still snickering. “I just came by to see if you wanted to get a bite to eat with us.”

“Yeah, but, we’ll let you finish handlin’ yo’ bizzness”, Woody said leaning up against the doorframe still laughing.

“Whateva, yall”, Sisqo said giving them a pound. “I’ll catch up with yall lata’, though.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That evening as Ms. Lucy was leaving Lisa’s place, Tisha and Kim came in.

“Congratulations, gurrrrrrl!”, they both cheered as they gave Lisa a hug.

“What are we gonna do without you?”, Kim said pretending to cry.

“Don’t get me started!”, Lisa whined.

Lisa was in such a good mood that she and the girls decided to go out and bring some things back to make dinner. When they got back from the grocery store, Kim ran over to put on some food-making music.

“Girl, don’t you have anything besides this ol’ stuff like Usher, Cash Money, or Puffy?!”

Lisa ran out of the kitchen with a fork pointed at her and yelled, “How dare you mention them, in my house?! You know only real talent gets played in here!”

Tisha ran out pretending to grab Lisa to keep her from stabbing Kim.

“Yall are too foolish!”, Kim laughed. She decided to play India Arie’s “Acoustic Soul” CD.

During the making of their dinner of fried chicken, greens, cornbread, and macaroni and cheese, they talked about everything, including their men.

Tisha cut her eyes at Lisa and said, “So Kim, I’ve been meaning to ask…why are you glowin’ so bright today?”

“Say whut?!”, Lisa asked looking surprised, followed by her laughter.

“Yes, if you must KNOW! Nokio and I took it there!”, Kim said wiggling her hips.

“Ooooooohhhh, I’ma tell yo’ momma!”, Lisa replied giving her a swat with the dish towel.

“Well, Woody and I are in it for the long haul. It’ll make it even betta’, like that fine-ass Denzel in that movie, ‘Mo’ Betta Blues!”, Tisha said with a wink

“Look you slut puppies, there will be no talk of that in my kitchen around this food! Unda’stand?!”, Lisa demanded. “Nah, I’m glad that you and Noke finally got that thang goin’! But I agree with Tisha, I wanna see how long I can go without givin’ in. But damn…it’s hard yall; no pun intended, of course!”

“Now, who is the slut puppy?”, Tisha laughed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scola and Woody went by Jazz’s place to console him and his ego. He called Woody earlier that afternoon to tell him that Maria had broken up with him.

“I went by to see her today and she said she was tired of me using her.”, he said sadly.

“Well, I mean, did she make it clear to you what she wanted?”, Woody asked.

“Nah man, that was the problem! She didn’t know what she wanted. Everything I suggested, she didn’t want to do and everything she suggested, I didn’t want to do! The only thing that we ever really agreed on was sex. ”

“How did you expect the relationship to work then?”, Scola asked, even though he already knew the answer from the night before by Jazz’s own admission.

“I dunno man, I guess deep down inside I really wanted it to work, but I wasn’t willing to fight for it.”, Jazz mumbled.

“Man, it’ll be aight! Just give it some time.”, Woody said trying to cheer him up.

“Yeah, maybe your right.”
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“We’re gonna have to celebrate again real soon, yall!”, Lisa said as Tisha and Kim were leaving.

“I know girl! Well, I guess we’ll be going to give you enough time to pretty up for yo’ man!”, Kim teased. “Besides, I have to do the same for mine.”

“Oh shut up, trick!”, Lisa laughed.

“Well girl, it’s been fun. I’ll talk with ya tomorrow”, Tisha said as she and Kim hugged her goodbye.

“Aight yall; be safe!”

After closing the door, Lisa took a shower and put on her favorite lounging outfit. A pair of old shorts and an old Kobe Bryant jersey that she either slept in or wore around the house. The jersey was a birthday gift from Kim from a few years back. Kobe used to be her favorite player. Of course, it had seen its better days. The stitching around Kobe’s name and number had begun to unravel and the gold color was fading to a canary yellow shade. But hey, it was comfortable.

Looking in the mirror, she pulled her braids back into a bun. She figured since she wasn’t going anywhere, there was no need to do anything fancy to them.

She had been lying on her couch for about an hour or so, listening to an O’Jays album when her doorbell rang. It was Scola.

“Hey, Li!”, he said as he gave her a small kiss.

“Hey!”

Damn, he looked good. He was wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of Jordans. He was wearing a black and white bandana around his freshly done cornrows. “Whew, he smells good too!”, she thought as she hugged him.

When he walked in, she was reaching behind him to get whatever he was hiding.

“What’chu lookin’ for?”, he laughed.

“Boy, you betta’ quit playin’ with me! Give it here!”

Before he knew it, she had snatched the extra large gift bag from him. It was a pretty bag. It was white with gold music notes on it and the tissue paper was black.

“Girl---!”, he took off running behind her.

She was laughing and screaming as he chased her around the couch.

“Okay, okay here!”, she screamed as he tickled her mercilessly, when he caught her.

“I’ll give it to ya when the time is right”, he said with a wink.

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, really!”

He took her by the hand and they cuddled on the couch and watched tv for a while. When he felt like her mind was off of the gift, he asked if she would get him a bottle of water.

When she went into the kitchen, he ran over to the record player and pulled out the album and put it on.

While she was in the kitchen, she decided to put the last of the dishes from the dishwasher away in the cabinets. “I’ll be right back with your drink. I’m juss puttin’ a few dishes away.”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he turned up the volume on the stereo.

Lisa looked up and thought, “It can’t be…I know that ain’t…”

She ran out of the kitchen and Scola was standing there with a big smile and started singing the chorus, “Tell me tomorrow/tell me tomorrow/tell me tomorrow if you can’t be mine.”

She stood there frozen in her spot for a few seconds then she ran to him and hugged him and cried, “It was you who bought the record.”

“Yeah, I’m guilty.”, he laughed, as he wiped away her tears.

Before they knew what was happening, they were all over each other.

The next morning, Lisa rolled over and saw Scola sleeping peacefully. She kissed his cheek and got up and went in the living room. She couldn’t believe that he had bought her Smokey’s “Blame It On Love” album. She remembered when her grandmother had given it to her father as a gift. She was around 9 at the time. Her father gave it to her when she left home. He knew how much she loved to listen to that one song, growing up. Now this song held an even more precious memory: it was playing the first night that she and Scola made passionate love.

“Hey!”, Scola said shaking her out of her thoughts.

“You scared me”, Lisa said walking over to give him a hug.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to.”, he said rubbing her back.

“I know”, she said with a smile.