Page 26 of Smoke N' Stroke

“Yeah. I didn’t even want to go in there after that. Not when she double-booked us. Wasn’t no way I’d want to go in there after him.”

This story was crazy but the nosy person inside of me wanted to know more.

“So what happened next?”

“He pulled out a blunt and offered me some,” he told me with a shrug. Our smiles held before he continued. “After a few hits, he asked me if I knew any place he could get into some dice games. He was only in town for a quick minute to see her and meet with a connect that would help him jump-start his weed business even though that was back before everything was on the up and up. I took the blunt and told him he could follow me to the spot I knew where they wouldn’t shoot you when they lost. We’ve been friends since then.”

“So you smoke weed?”

“Not really. Not anymore but mostly because I don’t have time and I don’t need it. My patients do, which is why they’re allowed to light up before and during a session.”

I hadn’t been speaking on it, but I still felt a tinge of anxiety related to the garage incident and maybe a puff would have helped me. All I knew was Zaire held me in my sleep even when I jerked out of it a few times a night.

“I guess I need to get with the program.”

“I admire you,” he surprised me by saying.

“You do?”

“Hell yeah. We don’t all have to do things the same way. There are different methods for a reason. You just need to be willing to try whatever it takes, within reason, to help your patients. If that’s weed, then so be it. How is it any different than aspirin or Xanax?”

“I guess it’s not.”

He remained silent.

“When’s the last time you saw, MJ?”

“He was in the Burgh just last month and we hooked up then, went to our same dice spot, and had a little fun. We’ve been playing dice around the country for years.”

“You’re kidding me.”

He laughed. “Nah, dead serious. Whenever I travel, I try to see what he’s up to. He has a club in Las Vegas, called Blunt Minded Joint, that I’ve played at.”

I looked at him with wonder. There were so many layers to him. How could I fit in the life of a man who lived so many lives, I wondered.

“When you think about it, that’s pretty dope that some chick you were both messing with brought you together.”

I knew if it had been the other way around, Iwould not be cool with no chick leaving my man’s house.

“It is. We get a laugh out of it all the time.”

That night at dinner we grew closer than ever, and I thought about Dr. Daniel’s advice. Getting to know himthrough himturned out to be the best thing I could do.

18

NALA

TWO WEEKS LATER

“How was the conference, Dr. Jackson? Dr. Booker?”

She gestured for us to follow her into her office and take a seat in the dark brown leather chairs facing her desk.

She and her husband stayed in the Poconos for a week before returning to Pittsburgh. Due to her trying to get caught up on her caseload and supervisory tasks, she was only now able to get a report on our experience. Neither of us complained about the delayed meeting. It gave us time to get our heads onstraight especially since we had been spending almost every day with each other after work whether it was me with him or him with me. No matter what, he would be inside of me, forcing his name out of my lips, forcing me to cum on his dick, forcing me to love him more. I tried my best to keep all of that away from the office and had done pretty good at it.

However, the time we were afforded to assure our stories were straight, seemed to go up in dust now that we were in Dr. Patton’s presence. Something about her brought out the truth.

“Have a seat and tell me all about it.”

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