Sweet Like Chocolate

Twenty

Nicole

I watched as Aubrey unbuckled his pants and slid them off. Edward's quickly face flashed through my head. God, was this the right move? Had I already gone too far? Something in me jumped. He watched me as I pulled his package from out of his pants. My eyes weren't nearly as surprised at his size compared to Edward... But slowly stroking his pole, I came to a stop after glancing at his worried expression.

"Wait. Stop."

I looked up at him and we stared at eachother for a minute. It long grew awkward.

"Yeah, this ain't feeling right." He said slowly.

He was right. This ain't feel like how I expected it to be. I sat up. "I'm with an amazing man. What am I thinking..."

He held his hand up. I watched him as he buckled his pants back up and rose from the couch. Still tipsy, I gathered myself together there as I climbed off the floor. The couch arm was my stability and comfort. I suddenly felt ashamed. This wasn't supposed to happen. How was I to let this happen? To Edward? I felt sick with myself. I wanted to feel sick with Aubrey but I didn't. It wasn't his fault that I threw myself on him, it was mine.

"Here." A large t-shirt was thrown on my lap. I looked at Aubrey, who had casually been stepping into a pair of basketball shorts and a Wizard's jersey right in front of me. "I'll drop you off at the hotel in the morning" was all he said before he disappeared into his room. I tossed the shirt on the carpet and stretched myself out on the couch.

Edward

I got up at ten in the morning and got the shower warm for Layla. She was laid out all over the bed, so comfortable that I barely had enough room last night. She didn't even want to get out of bed that morning. She tried to bargain another fifteen minutes, which she got easily using that puppy dog face that could cut a man's heart.

"Bacon or fruity pebbles?"

"Fruity pebbles."

Mama nodded. "That's what I like about this child. Plain and simple." She put the raw package of bacon strips back in the fridge and pulled out a gallon of two percent. I sat on the other end with a mug of coffee in one hand, the morning newspaper in the other. "Eddy loved cereal. That boy could survive and extra thirty days on that stuff alone." I tried to ignore her as Layla giggled on the other end of the table. "He'd say, 'hey Ma, can I get a sandwich bag of Golden Grams for the bus?' That boy loved him some Golden Grams."

"Ew, Golden Grams are nasty!" Layla chuckled as she scooped a spoonful in her mouth. I gave her a focused look. "They're delicious. Anyone with good tastebuds can attain to that,"

"Not as good as Fruity Pebbles, or Coco Pebbles, or Cap'n Crunch," Layla went on and on with the list of cereals. Mama took her bowl of Special K and grabbed a seat between us. Mama had on her lucky red bandanna around her honey blonde hair. I watched as my mother rubbed at her wrinkles and combed her hair back with her red fingernails. Her nose stuck out long and narrow. Her lips were thinning and pink. "I'd like to stick to my Special K diet." She said.

Layla took a look at the floating oats in the glass bowl. It got quiet for a quick second.

"Why do White people like all the plain cereal?" Layla suddenly asked. I caught my laugh in my mouth. "Special K tastes like cardboard." I choked. I'd been telling Ma that for years and she never listened... hearing it from Layla only made it funnier.

"Well, I like other cereals Layla. I bet your mom loves her some Special K."

"No. she likes Cinnamon Toast Crunch."