The very same weekend that I’d seen DJ in Times Square acting like a total idiot, I decided that we needed some quality time to concentrate on her school shit. At the very least, I needed her to act like she was interested.
It was a fairly warm and sunny Sunday afternoon when Dawn and I were perched on the floor at the opening of my balcony door, reading through the piles of interview guides, law school instruction manuals, and the most important documentation of all “ the sports section. So there was no baseball to look forward to “ the Patriots have been kicking NY Giant ass.
Night was slowly approaching and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that was bored to death with skimming though all these lame books. As the coldness of the November evening began to put a chill on the apartment, I watched as Dawn suddenly rose from the floor, shut the terrace door, ran upstairs to belligerently steal one of my sweatshirts and trample back down here to reassume her cross-legged form on the hardwood floor across from me. I gazed at her amongst her chaos up until she finally stopped, sighing, and leaned against the dim glass of the balcony’s sliding portal.
“I’m hungry,” she abruptly announced.
I didn’t realize that we’d been sitting there for hours and had consumed nothing but random handfuls of Wheat Thins and sips of Cherry Coke. “Well we have our usual choices of Chinese and Italian,” I beamed.
“Eh.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I want something new.”
“Does Sylvia’s deliver?”
She grabbed my wrist and glanced at my watch, scoffing. “Not at all. And they’re not even open this late on Sunday for pickup.”
“Well damn, isn’t Sunday night supposed to be soul food night?”
“Yeah, that’s when people make their shit at home,” she laughed.
“Well I guess that’s out ‘cause I can’t cook to save my life.”
“Well”“
“And I know you can’t do shit in the kitchen,” I added.
“And just how do you know that?” she said loudly.
“For Christ’s sake, Dawn, you couldn’t even turn on the oven.”
“It’s a very technologically advanced oven! At my house, you turn a knob to the temperature you want. I don’t have all those buttons and digital numbers to fuck with.”
“Oh, yeah like you really use your oven,” I smirked. “Try again.”
“Fuck you!”
“Gladly.”
“Grow up,” she quipped, rolling her eyes and rising from the floor once again. “And gimme some money.”
“Nah, I’m not falling for that shit again. You gotta fuck me first.”
“You’re gross.” She held out her hand to me, presumably waiting for money for some cause unbeknownst to me. Instead, I planned to use it as leverage for assistance from my seat on the floor. “Try again,” she laughed, snatching her hand from my grasp. We both cackled enthusiastically when I fell back to the floor landing on my ass, right where I started.
“I really ought to kick your ass,” I informed her, sprawling out across the floor.
She moved towards me so that her tall form towered over my flat one. “Give. Me. Some money.”
“Give me some help.” I waited for her to offer her genuine assistance while she simply stared down at me, grinning gleefully. “Dawn, help me off the floor.”
“Just so you can pull me down with you? I’m thinking, no,” she responded, beginning to walk away.
Before she could move totally out of my grasp, I took notice of her bare feet that were positioned about two inches from my hand. Just as she picked up her left foot to turn, I grabbed it, sending her crashing to the floor on top of me.
Once our second consecutive laugh at the near identical incident subsided, she resolved to kick me in amusement and then roll over me to claim her own position on the hard floor. “You’re a wicked moron,” she proclaimed, imitating the proud people of Boston and its boastful SNL sketch.
“You are,” I shot back. We somehow resisted the urge to pull a Sully and Diane, but we did manage to stare at one another longer than we should have.
“So seriously, Justin, I wanted to go to the supermarket and buy some shit for dinner, so if you could dish out some dollars…”
I suddenly got the inspiration to up the ante on DJ and mock the New York dialect. “Yo, that’s mad shady, son. How you tryin’ to play me like that, mami?”
I’ll admit that I was proud of myself when Dawn positively cracked up. That’s really the first time I’ve ever seen someone literally roll on the floor with laughter. “I guess I’ll just have to remember that I stahted this, eh?”
“Yo, it’s all good, son. Nothin’ but love.”
We continued to laugh our way out of the apartment and over to Food Emporium to do some much-needed grocery shopping. I swear, searching for eggs, milk and cheese has never been so much fun. When we finally returned to my place, arms worn out from toting heavy bags, we were still full of laughter.
We’d unloaded the five or six full bags when I stood back and watched in confusion as she bustled through the kitchen cabinets for only God knows what. “Dawn, would you like to inform me of what you’re about to pretend you know how to make?”
“Yeah, sure,” she replied, still moving. “We’re making fried catfish, coleslaw and hushpuppies.”
We who? “You’re kidding, right?”
“Not at all.”
“DJ, you were born and bred in the South Bronx, not South Georgia. What do you think you’re doing?”
“Bitch, I know how to cook.” She pulled my sweatshirt from over her own shirt and began to wash her hands. “Now get over here and start cleaning this fish.”
Is she out of her goddamn mind? I’m not touching some dead fish. “Dawn, I don’t think I should be a part this.”
She glared at me, sprayed some water in my direction, and proceeded to pull pots and pans from the wall-mount. “That’s cool. I thought you were hungry, but I guess I’ll be the only one eating tonight, huh?”
Well, fuck. I guess Queen Dawn has spoken. Silently, I pulled the package of catfish fillets from the island counter and brought them with me to the sink. At the slowest possible pace, one by one, I removed the slices of fish and rinsed them in disgust. Eventually, my very own kitchen’s aroma resembled that of Sylvia’s, and more than that, I was incredibly surprised, and at the same time, proud to have had a part in that. Under DJ’s strict instruction, I’d cleaned and seasoned the fish, chopped cabbage and carrots into pieces so small, they were nearing invisibility, and I even fried up a few rolls of cornbread.
What was supposed to be a study-session kind of thing turned into, as much as I really hate to admit it, a romantic dinner for two. The food may not have been better than Sylvia’s, but the aura certainly was. We did it Japanese style “ sitting on the floor at the coffee table and barefoot “ watching a rerun of Inside The Actor’s Studio “ the one with Jennifer Lopez. We sat in amazement, fascinated by her answers. She’s so damn smart, man.
“I remember her when she was just Jenny from the block,” Dawn commented evenly.
“What?”
“What?”
“Who?” I asked.
“Jennifer Lopez. I grew up around the corner from her.”
“You’re shittin’ me.”
“Oh, I shit you not. We all went to P.S. 122 together.”
“You liar.”
“What? I can’t be childhood friends with an Oscar-winning actress?”
“That’s not what I’m saying. But I mean, it’s Jennifer Lopez.”
“And?”
“And so she’s so ““
“She’s just Jenny from the block,” she repeated.
“I got it, Dawn. Jenny from the block. Go write a song about it.”
“Yo, what’s with the attitude?”
As the credits rolled down the screen, I hopped up from the floor, taking the empty dishes with me. “I don’t have one. Now get your ass up and clean my kitchen.”
“Come on,” she groaned. “No more work.”
I laughed at her feigned fatigue and kicked her backside, waiting for her to get up. “Yo, you best to raise up, son.”
Cackling, she finally relented and picked herself up from the floor to bring the empty Kool-Aid jug and glasses to the kitchen. “You wash, I’ll dry?” she asked hopefully.
“Try again,” I said.
“Fine. I’ll dry, you wash.”
“Deal.” I looked at her carefully as she snickered and moved out of the way of the sink, grabbing a dishtowel and staring at me. “Dawn, what the fuck are you doing?”
“We agreed that you’d wash and I’d dry.”
“No we didn’t.”
“Yes we did,” she smiled.
“No. You just said, and I quote, ‘I’ll dry, you”“ I paused when realization hit me like a fuckin’ big red brick. “You tricked me.”
“Now Justin, we spent all afternoon reading about this “ what’s the first rule in litigation?”
“Pay attention to detail,” I answered slowly, sounding like a recording.
“So get to washin’, homeboy.”
Heh, that’s supposed to be some shit I’d pull on her. “When I come to your house, I’m gonna fuck up your kitchen and then make you clean the shit up.”
“I’ll be waiting,” she replied, awkwardly chuckling.
I watched indulgently as she sauntered out of the kitchen area before I turned on the water. It wasn’t long before the sound of the television was gone and the beats of The Love Below echoed throughout the apartment.
I hope that you’re the one
If not, you are the prototype
I smiled at the words to the song, despite the fact that I was stuck washing a pile of fucking dirty dishes. In some way, I guess it’s a small price to pay for such a perfect dinner.
I think I’m in love…again
After a few minutes of me acting like I was working, DJ finally made her reappearance into the kitchen to commence her coveted task of drying these shits. “I think it’s only fair that you warn me of the repercussions before you volunteer my kitchen for something like this.”
She looked at me and playfully shook her head in pity. “Justin, I swear if you don’t quit complaining.”
“It was a lot of fuckin’ dishes!” I whined.
“And you’re almost completely finished.”
“But still. It’s… the principle.”
“The principle is that you’re a lazy motherfucker and you need to quit complaining.” We stood at the sink a little while longer, resembling a happily married couple before Dawn got sick of my pouting and gave in “ just as the wife always should. “Okay, you big ass baby.”
“What?” I asked.
“Get out.” She used her hips to bump me out of the way without having to utilize her wet hands and willed me out of the kitchen. “I’ll finish.”
I looked down at her in surprise, pretending that I didn’t understand what was going on. “But what did I do?”
“Just get out,” she repeated.
I strutted out in satisfaction, smugly ecstatic that I’d essentially won. I sat in the living room, enjoying the music and listening to the sound of the water running with the clank of cookware being thrown around.
It wasn’t long before I got bored and the urge to bother Dawn struck me again. I headed right back for the kitchen, created a seat on the counter behind the sink and decided to study her every move “ the contraction of her shoulders every time her arms reached for a dish; the curve of her long bowlegs through her drawstring pants; the beautiful contrast of the light brown highlights in her dark brown hair. Everything.
Either my nerve, which I have a lot of, or my nerves, which are nearing a deficit in my stream of consciousness, got the best of me, but something within me quelled, and I couldn’t stand it any longer. Just… watching was making me crazy. “Hey,” I declared, causing her to jump.
“I thought I told you to get out, bitch.”
“Turn around.”
“Justin, unless you wanna finish the kitchen duty, I suggest you leave me the hell alone.”
Okay, that’s it. I jumped down from the counter and walked up to Dawn where she stood at the sink.
“Boy, you best to back up,” she maintained, still shuffling dishes.
I emphatically turned off the running water from behind her, and before she could protest, I placed my lips along her jawline, subliminally smiling at the fact that my touch turned her into butter on a hot knife. My arms snuck around her waist and her whole body relaxed into mine at the sense of my one hot breath against her cheek.
“What are you doing?” she asked softly.
Between kisses against her neck, I replied, “I’m falling in love.”
“Justin,” she started, attempting to pull me out of my fantasy, “we have to talk.”
“Later. Just live with me in this moment with you. Because it’s not gonna last forever.”
She eventually turned around to face me and let her eyes fall shut with a closed-mouth smile. “You amaze me,” she replied, slowly reopening her chocolate orbs.
“Well I’ve been trying to impress you for weeks now.”
A heartfelt smile overtook her face and she tilted her head to the right to stare at me. “What do you want from me, Mr. Timberlake?”
“Well, Miss James, I don’t want anything from you. I just want you.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I wanna feel you. I wanna taste you. I wanna see you.”
Baby take off your cool. I wanna see you.
Baby, don’t be so cool. I wanna see you.
Baby, take off your cool. I want to get to know you.
“When’d you get so cool?” she beamed.
“When I met you,” I answered without a second thought. For the first time ever in my life, I discovered a feeling of authentic adulation for a woman that made me want to kiss her because of something more than a physical connection. It’s true what I said, too. Yeah, our first meeting started off with an argument, but it’s what sent my head spinning, and it hasn’t stopped since then, either.
In the midst of my daydreaming, the touch of Dawn’s lips once again, took me by total surprise. She’d taken my hand into her grasp and helped them encounter her mouth. Intertwining her fingers with mine, she delicately kissed each of them and brought hers up to me to do the same. “See me, Justin.” She sensually rolled my entire hand over her lips, letting them caress her elegant face and linger over her neck. “And make it last forever.”
There is only one for me
You have made that a possibility
We can take that step to see if this is really gonna be
All you gotta do is say yes
She allowed me to let go of her hand and hold on to her waist again, slowly tasting her lips. There were remnants of strawberry Kool-Aid on them, making me want to laugh, but the overwhelming feeling of joy that found me hedged that urge. My lips moved away from hers and towards her stunning brown skin, exploring the depths of the clefts of her neck and shoulders while she did the same to me.
We only pulled apart to remove her shirt and mine before continuing to explore one another’s bodies with our tongues. I picked her up by the base of her hips, turning around and tenderly placed her on the counter behind us, not wanting to break contact with her skin. I rolled my lips across her bare, taut stomach while her presence was felt on my naked back.
All you gotta do is say yes
Don’t deny what you feel, let me undress you, baby
Open up your mind, just rest
No words were uttered between us at this point “ simply raw emotion. My lips explored her torso, my nose engaged in her delectable vanilla scent, and when her smooth, soft skin came into contact with mine, it were as though I’d been thrust into complete reverie. I was entering a stage of total utopia, and I wasn’t willing to exit without her.
She closed her eyes again and I knew she felt the same. We both allowed our other four senses to take control, seeing through touch, feeling through smell, hearing through taste. The beauty of the moment was tremendous. I never knew that one person could elicit so much unadulterated sentiment from another one. But I thought about how much Dawn had shown me; how much of herself she’d given before I was even willing to let her in. I realized just how perfect a moment we were in, and I knew that it didn’t need to last forever.
Loving you has taken time
But I always knew you could be mine
This amazing array of thoughts came crashing through to my brain, and as I stood in front of her, kissing every inch of her, removing her bra strap from her shoulder to experience the full effect of her unmitigated nakedness, I opened my eyes to see a teardrop fall from one of them. It raced from my eye, quickly, in some sort of perfected solitude. I didn’t bother to wipe it away, though. I’ve been devoid of emotion for too long now, and if there’s anyone that I’d allow to recognize it, it would be Dawn.
I recognize the butterflies inside me
Eventually, Dawn had her legs wrapped around my waist and had pushed my sweatpants down with her toes. Now I’ve done this plenty of times before, but never once has a woman managed to undress me with her feet “ just another example of how I continue to be amazed by this woman. In the meantime, I’d rolled her oversized pants down her hips and fingered them off of her ankles as I continued to kiss her.
Sense is gonna be made tonight
My lips seemed to unearth parts of her perfect body that shouldn’t even be allowed to exist. I traveled from the ins and outs of her thighs, up past her navel and to the valley between her breasts. I finally landed back at her lips, taking an immense amount of pleasure in their lusciousness. I shut my eyes again, and indulged in the sensation of her pussy, perfectly hot and wet, contracting over my dick in an exact fit. She wrapped her arms around the back of my neck and moaned in delight at every motion. I rolled my hips into her, completing a rotation of rapture with every thrust, continuing to taste her skin in any opportune moment. Her warm breath against the side of my face coerced me to quicken my steady pace and sent her sensual moaning into overdrive.
Soon, the whole experience became too brilliantly stimulating for words to describe, but I found that it was becoming something more than my heart could handle. I never considered sex to be any kind of life-altering course of events. It was always… just sex. But as Dawn has shown me, life is never just anything “ particularly when it comes to her.
I’m about to let you know…
The physical ecstasy began to dwindle as both of us found fulfillment in the exchange almost in unison, but I knew that the extent of my emotional bliss had just begun. I opened my eyes to the most gorgeous company to ever stumble upon my world. I stared at her immaculate chocolate coffee face, wishing I could just inhale her breathtaking aura. I internally smiled at the fact that tears were streaming down her face. I internally smiled at the notion that we could make us cry. And ultimately, I externally smiled at the thought of the splendor that we’d just shared. Shit, Dawn, I’m pretty sure you just stole my heart. And the funny thing is, I don’t want it back.
Lyrics: “Protoype” “ Outkast (The Love Below)
“Take Off Your Cool” “ Outkast ft. Norah Jones (The Love Below)
“Say Yes” “ Floetry (Floetic)
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