Free Let's Play Ball by Lolah Lace

she was really engrossed in this stupid reality TV
show.
    “ Kari, what happened at the
ballpark?”
    She lowered the volume on the TV.
“Nothing happened.”
    “ Were you going to go for a
drink with Jack?”
    “ I don’t know.”
    “ What the fuck?” My temper
was on an elevator going up to the top floor. “He wants to fuck
you.”
    “ So what?”
    My fist balled. “So what?”
    “ I can’t control what he
wants to do? I can’t control what he thinks or says or does.” Her
voice was so calm and this only made me angrier.
    “ Do you think you can go out
on dates when you’re with me?”
    “ Meeting someone out at a
bar is not a date.” She shrugged.
    “ Jack is
married.”
    “ Seriously Mason, isn’t that
the pot calling the kettle, weed? You’re married and you don’t own
me.”
    “ What are you talking
about?” The pot, kettle, weed, what the fuck. Is she stealing these
lines from Kanye.
    “ I would never sleep with
Jack but you can’t dictate who I date. I mean in your position you
have a lot of goddamn nerve.”
    “ You can’t date anybody. You
can’t date period. You’re mine.”
    “ Oh really? Mason, you are a
hot mess.”
    “ No listen you’re mine. I
don’t share.”
    “ Seriously, you don’t pay no
motherfuckin’bills up in here.” She spewed the truth with pure
venom. She had her hands on her hips. I had inadvertently pushed
her ghetto button. I had only seen her get extra black as she
called one other time. It didn’t scare me.
    I stood up and turned. I used my
excessive height to peer down at her. “So what bills do I have to
pay to own you?”
    “ Slavery is over. You can’t
own me.”
    “ Fuck that liberal top hat
wearing bastard motherfucker Abraham Lincoln. I say you’re my
slave. I own you.” Did I just say that?
    Kari was trying desperately to hold in
her laugh. “Mason.” Kari scooted off the bed. She started walking
toward me with that playful sexy look in her eyes. She wrapped her
arms around my neck.
    “ No, don’t Mason me.” I
removed her arms and placed then at her sides. I looked down on
her. I wanted her to take me seriously. “I will do whatever I have
to do to keep you. Your mortgage couldn’t be that high. You barely
go to work.”
    She stuck her middle finger up at me
and plopped down on the edge of the bed.
    “ Hello Kari, I’m serious.
How much money do you need to make this work?”
    “ I’m not a
prostitute.”
    “ Really.” I joked. She
didn’t think it was funny. Her faced conveyed that much. “I’m just
kidding.” I grabbed her hands and pulled her to standing. “Kari, I
want to take care of you. I, I, I have grown quite fond of you.” I
chickened out. I couldn’t say the ‘L’ word. I lost my
nerve.
    “ Mason I’m sorry. If you
thought anything, I would never sleep with Jack. There is only
you.” She embraced me and pushed her face into the flesh of my
chest. I reached behind her and cupped her nice round ass in the
palms of my hands.
    “ Do you keep your bills in
that file cabinet in the extra room?”
    “ Yeah,” She frowned,
confused by my question.
    “ I’m going to go take a
look. I will be right back.”
    “ That’s my personal
stuff.”
    “ You don’t trust
me?”
    “ No it’s not that.
I--”
    “ Listen, we have to trust
each other. So what I see some account numbers. You know where I
live. You can just drive up to my house and mess my shit up. I
trust that you won’t do that to me. Now you have to trust me.” I
kissed her glossy lips.
    I went into her spare bedroom. It was
like a little den office space. There was a desk, a chair, and
walled book shelves filled with books. Kari was smart. She
pretended to be ill equipped but I knew better. I opened the metal
file cabinet and started pulling her utility bills out one at a
time. I looked at her bank statements and I saw that her child
support was a joke. She never talked about Trey’s father but he was
a cheap douchebag that was never around for