him down now. âOkay, Iâm on my way. How much is your bail?â
âA thousand dollars,â he said. My stomach tightened a little at the thought of putting out that much money. âBut this guy just told me you can get a bail bondsman and it will cost you only fifteen percent.â
âDonât worry. Iâll take care of that. Where are they holding you?â
âDanville city jail.â
âAll right. Iâm on my way.â
I was relieved to hear I would have to pay only fifteen percent, but the truth was I would have paid the whole thousand if need be. Guilt, fondness, loveâ¦I didnât quite know how to define what I was feeling, but I definitely cared about Ron, and I wanted to be there for him in his time of need.
Iâd just put my coat on and was about to head out the door when someone rang the doorbell. Without even looking through the peephole, I opened the door, and to my surprise saw Big Poppa standing there with a bottle of wine in one hand and a bag of groceries in the other. He had to pick now to apologize?
âGoing somewhere?â he asked.
âI have to go help a friend.â
âWell, Iâll be here when you get back.â He tried to step inside, but I blocked his way.
âNo, you wonât. I canât even believe you came over here after that shit you pulled. You didnât even call me and tell me you were leaving.â I was pissed.
âPlease, what did you expect me to do? Sit there and hold your hand? Those were two of my wifeâs friends, and I was supposed to be up in Charlottesville seeing my people. What the hell do you think they would think if they saw me sitting next to you sharing popcorn and a drink?â
âNothing!â I said adamantly. âWe were watching Iron Man 2, not Brokeback Mountain . You could have introduced me as your cousin. The least you could have done was circle back and pick my ass up.â
âYou know what, Jerome? Youâre right. I fucked up. Iâm sorry, okay? Iâm very, very sorry.â
âSorry ainât good enough this time.â I reached for the door.
âOkay, then, how about this? Will this make it up to you?â He held up the bottle. âYour favorite wine. And guess what?â He showed me the bag of groceries, then winked at me. âI got the little scallops you like.â He stepped closer to me. âIâm going to sauté them in a little olive oil, garlic, and butter and serve them over angel-hair pasta. And when we finish eatingâ¦â He smirked. âWell, do I have to say it? You know what I do best.â He started swerving his hips like an exotic dancer.
Shit. I almost dropped my keys. You know Iâd be lying if I said it didnât sound great. Big Poppa was a hell of a cook, and who doesnât know that thereâs no better sex than makeup sex?
âSeriously, Jerome, Iâm sorry. Can you let me make it up to you?â
I bit my lip and silently cursed. Why was it I could never say no to this man?
Ah, what the hell. An hour for dinner, fifteen or twenty minutes for a quickie, and I could still be in Danville in three hours.
âYou got a lot of making up to do. I hope youâre up to the challenge.â
He smiled broadly. âChallenge is my middle name.â
Â
I finally made it to the jail in Danville, only fifteen minutes before they shipped Ron over to County. I was thankful to have made it in one piece. Trust me, Iâd pushed my poor Lexus to the limit to make the drive in a little less than two hours. I normally didnât like to drive that fast, but Big Poppa had me leaving my place much later than I expected when he turned what should have been a quick blow job and a good-bye into a mini-marathon. He must have sensed something was wrong, because he didnât leave my house until sometime after four in the morning. He rarely ever did that unless his wife was out of town, and