The Sweet Revenge……………. The end

Then she glanced down at the jewel-encrusted watch around her wrist and added, "It's almost time; we need to get going. Give me exactly thirty minutes." With that, she went out the door, got in her car and drove away.

I stood there for a minute and then made a decision. Latifah and I hadn't talked about this and I hoped I didn't screw everything up, but I had to take that risk. I pulled out my phone.

She must have recognized my number. "Femi, why are you calling at this hour?"

"Kike, I'm about to ask you the biggest favor of my life. Please, please, don't ask any questions. Just meet me at the clubhouse in thirty minutes."

"What's going on, Femi? What's this all about?"

"Please, Kike," I begged, "I don't have time to explain. Please trust me. Just come in thirty minutes. I'm sorry, I have to go now." I hung up.

As I set out walking toward the clubhouse, I wondered if she would come. It was a slim chance, but I figured it was the only chance I had.

When I reached the parking lot, there were two cars parked there. I pulled out my phone again and made another call.

"Dele?" came Fidelia's angry voice through the phone, "where are you?"

"It's not Dele," I said, "it's Femi."

"Femi! What do you want, and why are you calling so late?" she demanded.

"I'm calling because I know where Dele is. He's with Latifah."

"What!" she shrieked. "Where are they?"

"Listen," I said, "just meet me at the clubhouse as fast as you can." Then I hung up.

Dele's house was several blocks away from the clubhouse, but she must have sprinted because I soon spotted her running through someone's back yard. I intercepted her before she reached the clubhouse.

"Where is he?" she raged.

"Quiet!" I commanded, grabbing her wrist. "You've got to be quiet so we can catch them."

I led her to the door to the clubhouse, which was unlocked, and we stepped across the threshold on tiptoes. As we walked into the lounge, we could hear murmurs and the rustling of clothing. By the dim light filtering through the windows I could see Fidelia's eyes grow wide. Quickly I put my hand over her mouth to keep her silent, and then pointed to the light switch on the wall. She nodded her understanding and we tiptoed over to it. I flipped on the switch and the room was instantly flooded with light.

With a startled yell, Dele tried to spring up, but with his pants around his knees he tripped and fell on the floor. He scrambled to his feet again, frantically pulling his pants up.

Behind him, Latifah sprang up from where she'd been lying on the couch. Her dress was draped over the back of the sofa, and as she arose, she pulled her bra back over her exposed breast. She stood there dressed only in her outrageous underwear, and there could be no doubt in anyone's mind what had been going on.

I had to hold Fidelia back as she began to scream at Dele. "You bastard, how could you do this to me? We're supposed to get married!"

Latifah clung to Dele's arm, cowering behind him in the face of Fidelia's wrath. Now that he had his pants on, Dele's confidence returned. He glanced boldly at me and then turned to Latifah and asked her, "What do you want to do now, baby?"

"Oh, Dele," she replied in a little girl's voice, "I just want to be with you." As she clung tightly to him, he put his arm around her protectively. Then he turned back to face us. Despite Fidelia's distress, his first words were addressed to me.

"Well, Femi, it looks like you've lost another woman."

I didn't say a word, but Fidelia shrieked. "What about us, Dele? What about us?"

The big man turned to her. "Listen, Fidelia, we had a good thing for a while, but it would never have lasted. Now I've found someone better and I'm going to be devoting all my time to her."

He glanced back at Latifah and then turned to Fidelia. "You can't blame a guy for wanting to trade up, can you?"

Even in her pain and anger, Fidelia couldn't help but glance guiltily at me when she heard those words.

Latifah turned around and deftly slipped on her dress. Then she turned back and put her arms around Dele's neck. He bent over and kissed her. "Come on, baby, let's get out of here," he said, tugging her toward the door.

"You go ahead, Dele," she said, "I have a few things I need to say to Femi. Besides I don't want to leave my car here. Look, meet me at this bar." She reached into her purse, pulled out a slip of paper and hastily wrote down an address. "I'll be right behind you, honey," she added, stroking the front of his pants and giving him a passionate kiss.

He looked at her doubtfully. "Are you sure you're going to be OK?" He asked.

"I'm sure, honey. Femi won't hurt me; he's not that kind of guy."

"Yeah," Dele chuckled, "I guess you're right." With that he headed out the door, and we heard him drive away.

While our attention was on Dele, Fidelia managed to wriggle out of my grasp. She screamed, "You bitch!" and ran at Latifah with her claws extended. Instead of flinching, Latifah calmly stood her ground. When Fidelia reached her, Latifah took a quick step to the side, grabbed one Fidelia's outstretched arms and fluidly twisted it behind her back.

She winked at me. "I knew that self-defense class would come in handy." When Fidelia continued to struggle, Latifah told her harshly, "If you don't calm down, I'll be forced to dislocate your shoulder."

Fidelia stopped fighting and Latifah pushed her away to face her. "Listen, Fidelia, there are a few things you need to know," she said. "I could care less about your dumb ex-fiancé, and I have absolutely no intention of joining him at the bar where he's headed."

Fidelia was dumbfounded. "But, but why . . .?"

"Why did I seduce him? Because that's my profession: I'm a paid escort. I've been with dozens of guys like Dele. They all think they're God's gift to women, and they're always on the lookout for the next piece of ass. Do you think he loved you? The only thing he really loved was the chance to finally beat Femi at something. I'm sure he loved screwing you, but he loved screwing Femi over even more. So Femi hired me to get a little payback from Dele, and at the same time to show you how it feels when a lover is unfaithful. It hurts, doesn't it?"

Fidelia screamed at that, and then lunged for me. But before I could react, a figure flashed in front of me and shouldered Fidelia off her feet. She sprawled awkwardly on the floor. Kike stood over her with her hands clenched. "You deserve that, Fidelia. After what you did to Femi, you deserve a lot more." Fidelia just lay there and began to sob. It looked to me like her feelings were hurt more than her body.

Kike turned to face me, and I saw that tears were running down her face. "Is that really true?" she asked me. "Is she really not your girlfriend?"

"No," I told her solemnly, "she was my partner in the sweet revenge we set for Dele and Fidelia, but nothing more."

"But she's so beautiful," Kike protested. "I could never compete with someone like her."

Latifah walked over and put her hands on Kike's shoulders. "You silly girl, I was the one who never had a chance. He only had eyes for you."

Kike looked over at me again. "You mean you never even . . ."

Latifah interceded again. "No, Kike, he never did. I could never get his mind off you long enough to get his hands on me. And believe me, I gave him the opportunity."

Kike didn't say anything, but she looked at me with shining eyes.

Latifah grinned at us both. "I think it's time I got out of here. I've had harder assignments than this, but somehow this one has worn me out."

At that moment, Fidelia picked herself up off the floor. "What about me? Where do I go? I can't go back to Dele's house, not after what's happened."

Kike looked at her thoughtfully. "I don't know what you're going to do tomorrow, but you can sleep at my house tonight. I'm going to go home with Femi." With that she kissed me soundly. I took her hand and decided not to let it go.

But something was bugging me, and I turned back to Latifah. "What about Dele? Where did you send him anyway?"

She laughed. "That was the address of a gay bar I know. I wonder how long he'll stay there before he realizes I'm not coming?"

Then her face lost its smile and she looked at me intently. "Good luck, Femi. You're a special man, and I won't forget you." She leaned forward and gave me a gentle kiss. I felt Kike grip my hand even tighter.

Then Latifah turned to Kike, and her face assumed a fierce expression. "You treat him right, you understand me? If I ever hear you haven't, I'll come back, and this time I won't take no for an answer."

The fierce expression left her face, to be replaced by a look I later realized was sadness. She reached out and patted my cheek. "But I don't think I'm going to get that lucky."

Then she reached into her purse and stuffed something in my hand. "Goodbye," she said, and then turned and walked out the door, her hips swiveling magnificently. I looked down at my hand. It held four unopened envelopes.

The end