Now after many apartments and roommates, Brooks was buying his first home at age twenty-eight. It boasted four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a pool and a dog name Rico, an a brand new all black, leather interior Tahoe truck that was parked in the garage. For Brooks, it was just the beginning, but for Trina it was the end to a very long chase. She was extremely proud of Brooks and all his accomplishment and was more than ready to control his entire life. Oddly enough, it seemed that Brooks didn’t mind her ambitions to tame him.
Trina and Brooks embraced joyfully acting as though they had been soul-mates from birth. Ivy sighed to herself. She knew that they would be arguing before the night was over. It was strange though, arguing didn’t seem to affect their willingness to forgive and forget. And that was something that she admired about them too.
“Ivy, what’s up girl,” Brooks said finally after making Trina feel overly welcomed.
“Nothing much. I just thought I would come out and enjoy your party for a while.” Ivy smiled.
“Well, it’s good to have you. Mi casa e tu casa.” Brooks grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and passed it to a lady officer who was hugging Trina. “I heard about what your fiancé did. That was messed up, but don’t worry. He’ll come back. We all do.”
“Brooks!” Trina snapped. “Why did you have to bring that up? She’s trying to have a good time here, not be reminded of the man.”
“Girl, mind your business. This conversation is between Ivy and me. Besides, bringing her here won’t make her forget about him. Am I right?” Brooks turned to Ivy, but she had already walked back into the crowded den. “Where did she go?”
“I don’t know. You probably ran her off,” Trina said shaking her head.
Ivy had to admit, Brooks had great taste. There was a beautiful bronze sculpture in the living room that resembled Trina and a Black art piece above the fireplace of a man holding up and woman on his shoulders. It appeared to be an original of the local African artist, Yrene. The entire downstairs had been tiled in mauve marble and accented with large area rugs and oversized contemporary furniture.
“Care to dance?” a voice said behind her. Ivy turned around to see a tall dark young man still in his uniform bottoms and a white undershirt holding a small tumbler of Jack and coke.
“Sure,” Ivy said taking his hand as he led her back down into the den where the rest of the guests were dancing.
Throwing her purse on the table, Ivy began to move from left to right following his body. He couldn’t stay on beat well, but he was great to look at going back in his dance repertoire to the butterfly. Oh God! Ivy thought to herself as he went down to the ground and came back up again gaining more momentum as the crowd cheered for him. She just moved to the beat afraid to do any more considering he was cutting a rug all by himself. Grabbing her by the waist, he gyrated uncontrollably causing Ivy to laugh aloud. He looked ridiculous, but she was having a ball! She danced nearly three straight songs with him before she retired to the kitchen to grab something to drink where Brooks and several other officers were engaged in a heated poker game.
“Where have you been?” Trina said putting down her drink.
“Dancing,” Ivy said wiping the sweat from her brow. “Brooks, where is your restroom?”
“There is one connected to the den, but you can go upstairs to the one in the hallway. I’m sure no one’s using it.”
“Thanks,” Ivy said grabbing a bottle of water from his refrigerator.
“Hey Brooks. Who is that?” Nicola asked watching Ivy as she walked out of the kitchen.
“Ivy. Trina’s best friend.” Brooks winked at Nicola suggestively.
“Ivy could definitely be my best friend,” Nicola said playing a card.
“She’s engaged.” Trina said sitting back down beside Brooks. “Sorry. You’ll have to find someone else to be your prey.”
“Yeah? Well, if she’s married then where’s the ring?” Nicola asked taking a sip of his beer.
“They broke up,” Brooks said looking at Trina. “She’s a free agent now. I’ll introduce you when she comes back down, Nicola. Trina can’t run everybody.” He kissed her playfully on her cheek.
When Ivy walked out of the bathroom, Trina met her at the stairwell with a small plate of spaghetti and a strange look in her eyes. Giving the plate to Ivy, she whispered in her friend’s ear.
“Brooks is about to introduce you to his partner, Nicola. Brace yourself for this one. He thinks that he’s smooth, but trust me. He ain’t shit.”
“Why does he want to meet me?” Ivy asked tasting the food. She didn’t realize how hungry she was until right then.
“He wants to add you to his collection, probably. Brooks told him you and Grey had broken up. Just smile, be cautious and brush him off afterwards. Do not take him serious. Now come on before they get suspicious. They’re alone in the living room.”
“Damn, they have it all planned out, don’t they?” Ivy said chuckling.
“Girl, you just don’t know. Just remember what I said.”
“Yeah…yeah. He’s not worth shit. Well, let’s play the game,” Ivy said throwing her hair off her shoulder. She might as well do something interesting; there was nothing else exciting in her life at the moment.
As the two entered the empty living room, Ivy was expecting to see a less than outstanding, cocky officer waiting for her to arrive like some co-ed call girl, but instead they were greeted by only Brooks, who was counting the money he had won only moments earlier in a shady game of spades.
“Where’s Nicola?” Trina asked as she
