Read Online Torn Between Two Lovers by Carl Weber - Free Book Online Page B

signaling that someone was calling me from a restricted or private number. I almost never answer blocked calls, because it was usually my crazy-ass stalker Peter calling to harass me.
    The only reason I was reaching for my phone was because of the off chance it was Big Poppa calling from his house phone to apologize for the shit he pulled recently. I had finally convinced him that we needed to start spending time together outside of my house—hell, outside of my bedroom. I needed him to prove that, after all this time together, I was more than just a fuck to him. He had never agreed to go anywhere outside the gates of my community, and whether or not it meant ducking my crazy stalker to do it, I needed a date with Big Poppa to prove that our relationship was deeper than just the physical.
    Big Poppa agreed to go to the movies with me, but on one condition. He chose a theater way the hell out in Fredericksburg to be sure that we wouldn’t run into anyone who knew him. Well, I was so happy to finally be going out somewhere with him that I didn’t even complain. Besides, it gave us the opportunity to take a crazy-long route to get there so that if Peter did happen to be following us, we could lose him along the way.
    We reached the theater pretty certain that Peter was not around—I guess even stalkers take a day off once in a while—but Big Poppa’s plan to stay anonymous almost backfired on him in a big way. Would you believe he spotted a couple of his wife’s friends in the lobby? This motherfucker got so nervous that he ducked out on me. While I was standing in line to buy popcorn, he told me he was going to the men’s room, and that was the last I saw of him. The really messed up part about it was that he was the one driving, and I ended up stranded. Do you have any idea how much it costs to take a cab from Fredericksburg to the west end of Richmond? Eighty-one dollars and fifty cents, that’s how much. I knew this because that’s how much it cost me to get home. So it didn’t matter which one it was—Big Poppa or Peter, either one of them was going to get a piece of my mind.
    â€œWho is this?” I snapped.
    â€œJerome, I need your help, man.” I recognized the voice right away. It wasn’t Peter or Big Poppa; it was Ron, and he sounded distressed. I guess I thought him up, because he’d been weighing heavily on my mind since I called him by accident last week. Despite everything that had happened between us, I’d be fooling myself if I didn’t admit I cared for the man and felt responsible for his well-being. Especially since the way he was talking about dying and wanting to be dead seemed more like a cry for help than anything else. So, if he really needed me, I was going to be there for him. I owed him that much, since it was my fault he got shoved out of the closet.
    â€œRon, what’s the matter, man?”
    â€œJerome, I’m in trouble. I need your help bad.” He sounded like he was on the verge of tears.
    â€œJust tell me where you are and what you need.”
    â€œI need you to bail me out.”
    â€œBail you out of what? You’re not gambling, are you?” Ron liked to gamble. He’d shown me that side of himself the few times we’d snuck off to Atlantic City. But I’ll tell you now, if he wanted me to pay off his gambling debts, he was ass out.
    â€œNo. They arrested me.”
    â€œArrested you! Arrested you for what?”
    â€œAssault. I had a fight with a guy. Can you just come down here and bail me out? You’re the only one I can count on. They’re gonna send me to County if I don’t get bailed out soon.”
    Wow, I was blown away by what he’d said: I was the only one he could count on. I felt honored and a little guilty at the same time. I was pretty sure that before my stalker outed him, he had lots more people around who would have helped him. There was no way I could turn