Free Love, Lies and Scandal by Earl Sewell Page B

weren't my brother I'd beat your ass and I wouldn't feel guilty about you being in a wheelchair," Will said as he trailed behind him.

    "Yeah, whatever. Suck it up, congressman, and come on before someone recognizes you and starts asking too many damn questions," Smoky said as a woman held the door open so he could wheel himself out. "You know there's nothing like being with a handicapped man, baby," he said to the woman. She didn't respond, only smiled as Smoky continued on his way.

    "Why were you messing with that woman?" Will asked.

    "Because she was hot," Smoky answered. "Oh, by the way, I need you to run me by the barbershop so that I can get a haircut."

    "Who said that I wanted to drive you around all day? Maybe I've got other things to do," Will argued.

    "Your plans changed once you came and got me, so stop your bellyaching and take me to where I need to go." Smoky wheeled himself next to Will's passenger door. "You know that ever since I had my accident I've depended on you. Why do I have to continually go through this shit with you, man?"

    "Because you keep messing up the schedule I set up. I have everything scheduled for you. Your trips to the grocery store, visits to the doctor, all of that stuff."

    "You know that I don't like schedules."

    Will and Smoky were as different as night and day, but they hadn't always been so dissimilar. They were raised in a middleclass suburban home with both of their parents. Their father was an electrician and their mother was a top-selling real estate agent for a local agency. Their parents had them late in life; Smoky had come along when their mother, Vera, was thirty-seven years old and their father, Joe, was forty-four. Four years later, to their parents' surprise, Will was conceived.

    Both Will and Smoky were very smart, did well in school and were always very competitive with each other. After high school, Smoky went on to graduate from the University of California at Berkley with a degree in business. Will graduated from Morehouse College with a degree in political science.

    After losing both of their parents within two years, Will and Smoky became very close because they only had each other. Smoky worked as a real estate agent for the same company that his mother had worked for and eventually purchased the company. After college, Will landed a job working for his local congressmen.

    While vacationing in Lake Tahoe, California, six years ago, Smoky and a few of his friends got intoxicated and decided to go racing through the wilderness on their rented snowmobiles. Smoky lost control of his snow craft and had a horrible accident which left him without the use of his legs. After the accident, Smoky became deeply depressed. He began drinking heavily and experimenting with drugs. Eventually he lost his business, his home and his nest egg. Will stepped in and made sure that Smoky saw a therapist and signed him up for rehab, but none of his efforts helped. Smoky had decided that his lifeless legs gave him the right to abuse himself until he got too tired to continue.

    "How is that little girl that you have on the side treating you?" Smoky asked as Will lifted him out of his wheelchair and sat him inside the car.

    "She's doing fine."

    "Boy, that's a nice piece of ass you have there. Does she still do whatever you tell her to do?"

    "She doesn't give me any grief, if that's what you mean," Will said. He got in the car and began their journey back toward the barbershop.

    "See, that's the kind of woman I need. One who knows how to obey." Smoky laughed at his comment. "You'd better be careful though. Those young girls are kind of crazy. They'll turn on you in a New York minute."

    "I'm not worried about DaNikka doing anything. I have her exactly where I want her. She lives in public housing and I'm her last hope."

    "And what about Angela? You got her where you want her?" Smoky asked.

    "I know how to manage my women, Smoky. Angela knows that we're perfect for each other.