Page 19 of Rejection Overruled

A little smile played on his lips and his eyes danced. “I know, but why don’t we start over. We’ll catch the movie on the weekend as agreed, but tonight is our first real dinner date.”

“What are you up to, Jamal Styles?”

He leaned close to me, his face barely an inch away. I thought he was going to kiss me and I swallowed hard, while my heart pummeled my ribcage. I closed my eyes, anticipating those luscious lips on mine. Nothing happened and I popped one eye open – just a slit.

Jamal had straightened and was watching me with a smirk. Annoyed, I made to move past him when he gently gripped my arm and pulled me up to him. My back hit his solid frame, his warmth driving into me. Heat spread through my body like wildfire. If I wasn’t certain that I wanted anything, I knew in that moment I wanted Jamal Styles.

Gentle breeze brushed my ears, sending ripples of pleasure through me. A soft whisper in my ear made my knees weak. Jamal caught me in my own trap of seduction and I had no clue how to detangle myself.

“Wouldn’t you like to know what it is I’m up to,” was his long awaited reply.

15 - Jamal

Brooke had me acting out of character. That immature stunt in the courtroom brought back high school memories. I was a competitor who thrived on challenges. I’d played soccer most of my high school and some college years. I knew what winning was all about.

With Brooke, the game was different. She was challenging my manhood. First she challenged me during our supposed blind date – I was still convinced she orchestrated the entire thing. Now she was challenging me again. I wasn’t about to let either slide. Moreover, she was slowly seeping under my skin. I wanted to prove to her, not because she challenged me, but because she was becoming my obsession.

Thinking about her gave me a rush, similar to what I would get whenever I was out on the soccer field. It was the most exhilarating feeling. Brooke was slowly doing that to me. I wasn’t surprised. Things happened back in high school that made me do what I did to her and I had lived with the guilt of it ever since.

Maybe it was my turn to be punished for my evil deeds. I’d been too much of a coward to do the right thing, especially when my own brother and my idol had been the president of our secret fraternity. His conversation about the girls I should be dating came rushing back to me.

“You’re now the most popular jock in school,” he said. “You know what that means for a black family?’

“You have to bring race into this?”

“It’s not about black against white, Jamal,” he said. “It’s about a black family from the ghetto bringing pride to the community. You’re gonna be a star and you gotta stop messing with these ghetto girls and start dating the upper class.”

“I don’t get you.”

“That girl from across town, Lena, you gotto do better than that.”

“There’s nothing wrong with Lena.”

Lena had been a girl from our old neighborhood who I liked. We got along fine and were good friends. We’d gone out a few times but nothing happened between us as there wasn’t any chemistry there.

“Look, I think you can do better and it’s not like you plan to marry her, do you?”

“Of course not.”

Robert had placed an arm around my shoulders then. “Look Jamal, I only want what’s best for you. And right now, the girls you date says a lot about you. You gotta move in the right circle, date girls from a certain class with a certain face and body. Look at you, you look like you jumped from the center spread of a sports magazine.”

“I’m a stud, I gotta admit that.” Even then, I was full of myself.

Robert nodded. “Damn right. The Styles men got style!”

We both laughed at his joke. But when he started talking again, he became quite serious.

“From now on, I don’t wanna see you dating no ghetto chick and they got to be girls that have a pretty face and sexy figure. No tom-boys, no fat asses and no girls with tattoos either.”

“What about piercings?”

“Would you bring home a girl like that to momma?”

“No.”

“Then if you can’t bring her home, don’t date her.”

I was young and stupid, not knowing that tattoos and piercings had nothing to do with character and that often, the girls with the pretty face and perfect bodies were she-devils. Thinking about Robert reminded me of Gwen, the girl with the tongue ring. She was nothing like the girls I’d been dating since Robert ‘enlightened’ me. She was a law student and it was Gwen who inspired me to study law.

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