The BOOK of RENEE Ch. 01

"Anything you wanna know, you can ask me." His attention was diverted back to the defacto matriarch walking towards the table with a pan full of succulent barbecue.

"Well, I don't know, you don't seem to want me to know nothing."

"Sometimes you find out you really don't wanna know shit after you thought you did, Jaquan. Hey, don't get it twisted when all I'm trying to do is teach these girls some common etiquette; one day you'll do the same for your daughter."

"Or son."

"Is that what you think?" Daisy Mae set the pan on the table standing over him with a hand on her hip. There was this pervasive sense of intrusion that seemed to radiate from her body as he took a drink from his bottle.

"I love Renee."

"Sure, you do, bright eyes."

"Did Renee uhm, say something?" Jaquan was weighing his options as she inched closer staring intently.

"If she did, what're you gonna do about it?" Daisy Mae cocked her head to the side with a smile, then glanced over at Honey who watched from the grill. Jaquan started to follow her gaze, but she got in his field of vision a little too close for comfort.

"I just wanna know if everything is okay." He backed off the threat as softly as he could knowing he was out of his element, again cursing himself for not packing his weapon. Daisy Mae chortled sounding playful for the first time since she laid eyes on him, glancing over at Honey who was doing the same.

"Do you really wanna know, Jaquan?" Daisy Mae reached down grabbing a handful of her rayon skirt drawing it up exposing her thick, juicy looking thighs. Jaquan gulped, instantly feeling stupid when she straddled the picnic table bench, he was sitting on, facing his profile.

"Uhm..." He was even more intimidated and didn't know why, but mentally acknowledged it was like the first few months he was with Renee until he started to get used to her continued presence in his life. Jaquan wondered if he was used to Renee, or if she'd softened for him, instead. Daisy Mae sat with both hands grabbing the ends of the bench making no bones about looking him over raising an upturned palm.

"Give me your hand."

Jaquan hesitated making Daisy Mae chortle and glanced over at Honey again, before she spoke.

"Give me your dominant hand; the one you use for everything over the other."

"Why?" Jaquan hesitated again knowing full well what Daisy Mae was going to do. Instead, she offered her upturned palm, smiling wide enough to make dimples appear at the corners of her lips. Her slanted lime green eyes were at once enchanting and unsettling.

"Okay, why don't you look at mine, Jaquan."

"I don't know how to do that."

"But you know that is what I was going to do because you've experienced it before, with Renee, right?" He was caught up in a bit of word play exposing himself, knowing full well Renee used the same technique on him as sort of an organic lie detector test in the past.

"Take my hand."

He always thought it was a mind game to play on his guilty consciousness, but sometimes he didn't know what she saw in his palm. Right before they slept together for the first time, Renee peered into his palm then told him she was meant for him. She added for a little while, insinuating a time limit on their future that made him anxious.

"Take my hand, Jaquan." Daisy Mae insisted again, inching closer.

When he acquiesced, she instead captured his wrist in what felt like an ironclad grasp almost forcibly turning his palm upward peering intently into it. His brow furrowed as she added the other hand locking down the tops of his fingers. Her slanted eyes narrowed becoming slits, then widened as her own furrowed brow softened.

"Yup." Daisy Mae released his hand dismissively, getting up as Honey approached with a plate appearing as if she were going to set it down in front of him, but instead having a seat opposite him at the table.

"What?" Jaquan asked, favoring his hand as she picked at some meat on Honey's plate.

"Nothing, it's just as I thought." She turned around bending over retrieving a bottle of beer from the cooler. There was no doubt Daisy Mae knew her huge ass was staring him right in the face. He got an eyeful, then noticed the freckled sun kissed redbone sitting across from him, biting her bottom lip to keep from laughing. She opted to stuff her face with chunks of meat pinched from a chicken thigh.

"So, I saw you a few miles back at the last gas station rest stop."

"And?!" Honey continued chewing voraciously, staring deep into his eyes with her own noticeable kinda darker green eyes, no less slanted. There seemed to be this lime outline to them brought out more by this messy eyeliner. Honey was sporting a visible bruise outside of her left eye.

"What happened?" Jaquan ignored her taunt, motioning toward his left temple as he inquired about the bruise both knew came from one of Daisy Mae's fists. Her face dropped as she lowered the partially eaten chicken thigh held between both hands.

"Ain't you a nosey fucker, huh?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know I got clopped upside the head, so you're trying it with me; hey cutie, you REALLY wanna try it with me? Seems like you in need, am I right?"

"I'm with Renee."

"Where is she right now, bright boy?"

"Over there in the cabin."

"Then you ain't with nobody, sheesh; man, you menfolk are all the same and it makes me sick, okay? You wanna bring up that fucking gas station because you were all burning a hole in my ass, just like a little while ago. So, you trying to be funny cause I know you don't give a fuck about me getting smacked and ain't no way you gonna white knight this shit, especially when Daisy Mae right there! She'll fuck you up quick and go right back to grilling up that meat for our customers."

"Ain't nobody sweating you; I've had plenty of bitches on my tip and you wouldn't be no different, if I wasn't with my woman. You're the one trying to carjack a nigga for some dick with your fucking pants falling off that ass! So, unless we're doing something back here in the sticks, I can hit up a Best Western motel five miles back and pick Renee up later!"

"Shit, you mad?"

"No, but I'm tired of people taking potshots at me for no reason."

"Sounds mad to me." Daisy Mae added at the grill without looking in their direction as Honey perked up, straightening her back.

"Who hurt you?" Honey asked with a wide smile, making his brow furrow.

"Oh, don't even go there with this guy; we'll all end up chunking it out if I press." Daisy Mae continued, still facing away. She shared more than looks with Renee and Honey making it seem as if she had eyes in the back of her head.

"Really, was it that delicious?" Honey carried on with her assumed older sibling, partially ignoring Jaquan.

"Oh yeah, he's a breeder with some juicy bits, girl." Daisy Mae walked over to the table setting a packed paper plate in front of Jaquan, resuming her former posture straddling the picnic seat facing his profile.

"Ladies' man?"

Daisy Mae stuck out her hand making a dismissive gesture.

"He's holding for sure, but I don't wanna get slapped up again; you know, a girl's gotta have a bit of self-control. Can't be taking all these pretty niggas back there in the bushes."

"Like you could." Jaquan shot back making both women doubletake as if he'd done something egregious, before bursting into uproarious laughter.

"Oh, I like him, Daisy Mae; think the golden child will let me have a piece?"

"Cut the shit Honey; ain't fair since she's knocked up. What do you think Renee would do to you if she wasn't? I mean, he's awful pretty, all shiny with some nice muscles. You'd better watch them hands." Daisy Mae pushed the plate under his nose with her pointer finger using her other to caress the back of his shaved noggin.

"Cut it out." Jaquan lightly complained, noticing her raise a brow with a half smirk on her face. The way they talked around him felt disrespectful leaving the man somewhat infantilized.

"You scared she gonna whup you just cause I'm rubbing the back of your fucking melon?"

"Well, we're together, miss."

"Damn baby, somebody needs to check the record because I think the needle is stuck. He's keeps saying that shit like we're supposed to believe it." Honey commented, snacking on a barbecued chicken wing.

"I think he needs to believe it." Daisy Mae replied.

"He'd better believe it!" Renee's voice came out of nowhere. Jaquan looked back towards the cabin finding his pregnant girlfriend standing in the backdoor peering at his interaction with her family members. Her expression was unchanged from the last time he beheld it.

"OH HEY!! I'M JUST...!!"

"Bring me that plate, nigga." Jaquan glanced down realizing she was talking about his as the women burst into harpy like laughter, enjoying his predicament.

"BETTER WATCH OUT CUZ, HE THINKING ABOUT LEAVING YOU HERE AND CHECKING INTO THAT OLD MOTEL DOWN THE WAY!!" Honey shouted after Jaquan as he trudged to the back screen door expecting to be wearing the contents of his paper plate in short order.

"He ain't going nowhere but into that bedroom to rub my fucking feet." Renee replied almost snarling as she opened the screen door wider to allow her tall boyfriend inside. The plate was unceremoniously snatched from his hands as she slammed the screen door behind them leaving the laughing women behind.

"I was gonna come check on you, but Carlie wouldn't let me." Jaquan half stammered as Renee started to snack on bits of barbecued meat picking up the fork digging into some potato salad.

"Five eleven, barely a buck five soaking wet, right; having fun out there?" Renee walked directly behind him, sort of bodied into his back.

"Come on bae; you know it ain't like that."

"Shut up fool, and you need a bath, you stink." Jaquan turned around exasperated with Renee and her family.

"Want me to go check into that motel?"

"Do you want to go check into that motel, nigga?" Renee snarled, starting to flush as these dimples appeared at the corners of her nose. He knew that only happened when she was about to go nuclear.

"Look, we've been clashing, and it seems like they don't want me here."

"So, your first thought on how to fix things is to walk out on me, huh?" Renee took a bite of potato salad.

"NO!"

"Okay, then what do you wanna do about this shit; I want a fucking answer right now!" Renee put the plate on top of the kitchenette counter, eating without looking at his face as Jaquan had a silent conniption. She rolled her slanted eyes in the opposite direction starting to tear up in front of him.

"I wanna be with you. I want-I want to have this baby with you and raise it; you know, make a real family with you, bae. I love you, Renee."

"Do you?" A single tear ran down her pale cheek as he rushed to catch it with his pointer finger. Jaquan hated seeing her upset, even more when Renee cried, which was extremely rare.

"You know I do; I want this with you." He carefully palmed her swollen belly, cupping her cheek with the other hand.

"Even though I'm fat and ugly, now?!" Renee started to sob, but he wrapped his arms around her giving the insecure woman a kiss on the forehead.

They shared a nice soulful kiss as the screen door opened revealing Daisy Mae.

"My, you do have one hell of a silver tongue on you." Jaquan bristled at the jovial sound of her voice, giving Renee an additional peck on the forehead. She shoved an elbow into his stomach walking off with the plate as Daisy Mae looked on approvingly.

"Come on here, Jaquan!"

"Hey, I'm gonna borrow your wheels to run this food over to the community center for a girl scout meeting, we were hired to cater. You don't mind, do you?" Daisy Mae eyed Jaquan.

"Sorry, I don't have no insurance for anybody outside of the driver."

"Take it." Renee cut into his response making the large curvy woman, chortle.

"BAE!!" Jaquan was pissed.

"Go take a shower; you really stink!" Renee ordered.

"FUCK!!" Jaquan stormed into the bedroom slamming the door behind himself hard enough to make the door frame shake.

He stripped off his tank top seething with righteous indignation at Renee's perceived grandstanding in front of her family who obviously had a problem with him. He opened the bathroom door finding a modest affair with a transom type window high above the tiled wall above the vintage shower. He finished getting nude, almost unable to think coherently because of the constant digs and passive aggression directed at him since arriving. He finished stripping down, finding some solace under the steaming spray.

He reasoned Renee had likely been running him down to her family members for some time now. Jaquan felt that her hyper emotional state prompted Renee to initiate the trip knowing full well that her people would give him the business. She'd rifled through his phone finding all the proof she needed of his various infidelities and remnants of a sexual history long since muted when she came into his life. The certified lothario put those other women on the back burner for a while to pursue and win, Renee.

The stinging spray was therapeutic along with the humidity and heat of the shower. Jaquan leaned forward palms flat against the shower wall letting the water cascade down his chiseled body, continuously replaying everything since he'd arrived. His thoughts drifted first to Honey and what he'd actually do to her sexually. Renee got the clean version after much brow beating and sexual coercion. After meeting her in earnest out of the blue, Jaquan knew he would sexually ragdoll the backwoods beauty and destroy that monster donk with the business end of his mean twelve inches of meat.

When his thoughts centered on Daisy Mae, Jaquan felt differently but figured she was probably a damn good lay between the sheets. There was an intensity in her eyes not lost on Jaquan who made internal comparisons to his future baby mama #2. Her freckle sprinkled visage and beauty along with some subtly defined cheekbones placed the woman between Renee and Honey, visually. The abundant curves were off the charts, but her confidence brought it all together in one scintillating package.

Both women bared their butts, trolling him.

"Shit!" Jaquan leaned against the wall palm flattened supporting his weight at an angle.

His fist was wrapped around his manhood, just above the base pointed at the tiled shower wall. He was rock hard with a throbbing erection that demanded attention. The brief glimpse of those women was the culprit as his endowment pulsed. There was no denying he would've jumped both if things were different, he was single without Renee. She was the crown jewel in his body count, a queen no one could deny whenever she appeared. Sometimes Jaquan had to run away glad handers looking to ingratiate themselves to the couple, a few just trying to make small conversation. He wasn't fooled.

Jaquan thought about the first time he'd ever seen Renee Kelly in the nude. His reactions to her in those early days were borderline primal to say the least. He couldn't forget the sexual high that first time in an expensive hotel suite the night of her prom. It felt like a honeymoon as he devoured her over and over again, making the exotic pale beauty his. A full night and morning gave way to the rest of the weekend before they got into a noxious argument which ended with her ghosting him. Jaquan thought it was over when Renee appeared again with no explanation, falling pregnant soon after.

He stayed under the spray just letting it run over his body, then started lathering up washing in earnest. Renee Kelly seemed like the finished version after Daisy Mae and Honey with Carlie not even in the running. He thought about how different she looked form the other two and his woman, basically just normal despite her heritage. Carlie's presence there and her respectful tone provided Jaquan with a modicum of comfort in his own skin. The others seemed intent on pushing his buttons.

"Huh?" Jaquan got out of the shower when the water started to run cold, wrapping a towel around his waist. He emerged from the bathroom to find the bedroom empty. The cabin was still, quiet as he cracked the door peering outside into the empty space. He pulled on a pair of men's athletic shorts and a workout tank top, stepping into some sandals for comfort. Jaquan didn't know what to expect stepping into the main part of the small cabin. He walked to the back door peering into the yard.

"Aw, Hell Nall!" He walked to the still ajar front door peering outside finding his rental car missing.

Jaquan snapped up his phone dialing up Renee but found no signal.

"Shit!" He tried a few more times but got the same result, before storming out onto the front porch of the cabin intent on finding a stronger signal. He figured Renee had been snapped up by her relatives and spirited away after his outburst. Jaquan started going through the five stages of grief worried he might be looking at local law enforcement if he didn't get a handle on the situation. He wandered around the outside of the cabin to the rear area finding most of the food packed up and missing. Daisy Mae mentioned taking the food down to some community center, which explained things somewhat.

"Aw shit, I need a signal." Jaquan started walking further solely focused on his phone intent on finding a signal. He barely stopped at the edge of a sewage ditch, almost slipping into the fowl smelling green muck. Jaquan managed a signal dialing up Renee, but it ended before the call was completed. He pointed the phone towards the heavy wooded area finding the faint signal got stronger.

"Aw fuck, man." Jaquan glanced up from the face of his phone finding a half knocked over sign obscured by the wooded overgrowth and tall thick bushes covered in these greenish berries. The bottom of the yellow sign was submerged in the moss-covered goop. He tried texting, but the messages didn't make it. Jaquan stepped a few feet over finding the beginnings of a path shrouded from sight by the greenery.

"This is fucked up; bitch got me out here on some ole Friday the 13th type shit; probably left me here to get my ass kicked by these weird ass hillbillies, out here!" He was fit to be tied with an obvious choice whether to follow the path and get some kind of signal or go back and sit in a cabin alone until Renee popped up, again. Jaquan bristled, fingering the gold chain around his neck thinking of the woman who'd gifted it to him to seal the deal of a relationship between the two.

"SHIT!!" Jaquan looked over his shoulder at the empty cabin knowing he might not be able to control himself if he chose the option of sitting inside it until the women returned. There was still the specter of a probable confrontation that would obviously include Daisy Mae, and possibly Honey. He didn't want to give them an opportunity to trap him in what he usually referred to as a "bitch-quake" which was two hysterically angry women windmilling and throwing haymakers with some guy trapped between them.

"This is some messed up shit." Jaquan waded into the overgrown path stopped a good five feet inside looking for a signal which remained faint.

"Man, this is some bullshit." He grumbled talking to himself more to steel his nerves than anything else as his mind replayed that very first Friday the 13th movie in his head. He chuckled nervously wondering faux playfully which version of Jason Vorhees would pop out from behind a tree to behead him.

Jaquan tensed up continually looking back over his shoulder content that he could still see the cabin, until he couldn't. Images of some lonely rednecks toting rifles ran through his mind eventually replaced with Klan members draped in white and red made him antsy and fidgety.

"AAHHH!!" He was surprised by the ringing of his phone quickly answering it.