three women had known each other since they were teens, attending the same private school. Melinda and Simone had been friends before Lilliana came along in the tenth grade. She’d received a scholarship to attend St. Mary’s Catholic School. Well, that’s what they’d called it, a scholarship. It was a more polite way of phrasing what it really was: a handout. The only qualification for the “scholarship” had been based on financial hardship.
In other words, for broke folks.
But she’d been glad to get away from the public school she’d attended in her own neighborhood. St. Mary’s was a far cry from West Central, where she’d attended her freshman year of high school. At Saint Mary’s all-girls academy, she didn’t have to worry about being harassed by the older boys, teased because of the size of her breasts and told what they’d like to do with them and her.
Lilliana had always been slightly uncomfortable with her large breasts and tended to slump forward to hide them. Her own mother had teased her relentlessly about them, saying that was all a man would want from her. It had taken until recently before she’d finally kicked the ugly habit of hiding her body. But even now, she’d catch herself slumping and Simone would bust her out every time.
Her gaze traveled over her friends as they discussed the pros and cons of tits versus ass.
Simone was beautiful, vivacious and didn’t give a damn what anyone thought of her. She spoke her mind without being mean, although sometimes Lilliana wondered how much was bravado and how much was real. No matter what, the woman had it going on. She loved her girl and although she didn’t feel jealous of her, Lilliana wished she had a tenth of Simone’s sheer nerve.
Simone wore her hair long, relaxed and blond. Bold. Just like she was. The color complemented her caramel skin and chestnut-colored eyes. It worked for her. Like Lilliana, she was short. Actually, Simone was petite, with nice firm breasts and butt, but she was thin. She often tried to hide her actual height, Lilliana rarely saw her wear shoes with a heel less than three inches.
On the other hand, Lilliana didn’t consider herself petite, although she was short, and she had never been thin at only five feet three inches tall. The difference between her and Simone was that she was curvy all over. Her waist was small, but that was it. Thighs, hips, behind and tits…nothing but curves.
Where she and Simone were shorter in stature, Melinda was tall and thin. But no matter how thin she was, sista girl still had an ass. Not as much as Simone, and nothing compared to hers, but she wasn’t flat by any stretch of the imagination.
Before Melinda divorced Edmond, she too wore her hair long and relaxed as did Simone…and fake. But unlike Simone, Melinda wore her additions to please her husband.
Although Lilliana lived her life by the motto “to each his own” she liked that her friend now wore her own hair short and twisted. In Lilliana’s opinion it suited Melinda much better than all that fake stuff she used to sport.
Lilliana had worn her hair natural most of her life and had no desire to relax it. She’d used a relaxer once as a teenager and when all her hair fell out, that ended her desire to straighten her nappy kinks. If she didn’t have it braided she usually wore it as she had it now, big and nappy all over her head, she thought with a laugh.
“Are you listening, Lilly? What do you think?”
“I think that’s cool,” she said, although she didn’t know what in the world they were talking about.
Lilliana turned her attention back to her friends and hid her embarrassment. She’d developed the habit of going into her own world and thoughts as a teenager when her mother went on one of her rants, cussing her out for some perceived slight or other. The habit had been strengthened during her twelve years with Marcus, when he’d done the same thing to her.
“Are you serious? You want to do it? Okay, Melinda, that means you’re going to be left out, girl! Come on, it’ll be funny as hell if nothing else. Just think if someone actually answers the ad! Damn!”
“What ad?” Lilliana asked.
“What ad? You just said you thought it was cool! I knew you weren’t paying attention. The ad we’re going to take out to find a man who knows how to handle a big spankable ass! While you were spacing out, we were talking about taking out an ad…”
“You were talking about taking out an ad,” Melinda quickly interjected.
“Fine, I was talking about taking out an ad in the Reader to try and find a man who knows how to, uh…” Simone hesitated.
“Don’t act shy now, “Melinda laughed.
“I’m not shy about it! To try and find a man who knows what he’s doing in bed. One who knows exactly how to please a woman,” Simone said and paused to take a sip of her drink.
“Wait a minute. First off, are you serious? An ad in the Reader looking for a man? And how many of those have you had?” Lilliana asked, referring to the oversized margarita in Simone’s hand.
“This is my third…I think,” Simone disregarded the question with a wave of her French manicured hand and continued. “And not just any man. We want one who knows how to—”
“Yeah, I got that! One who knows how to handle a big spankable ass! Girl, what?” Lilliana started chuckling and before they knew it all three women were cracking up with laughter.
“Hold up, hold up! I’m serious!”
“Okay, so explain this to me. Ooh, Lord. Simone, you are nuts!” Lilliana gasped trying to get her laughter in check.
“Welll…” Simone started and dragged the word out. “We’ve all been complaining lately about not getting any good loving. I, for one, am tired as hell of relying on my vibrator for relief. I’m also tired of being alone and my love life sucks serious monkey balls. The brothas I’ve been dealing with lately are working my last nerve! The latest one lost his job and his erection! I can deal with one, but I damn sure am not dealing with both! I tried my damnedest to be sympathetic but when he started taking it out on me, that’s where I draw the line! I want a living, breathing, man. A real man. I want to try things I’ve never tried before. I want adventure. I want a man to lay it on me. I want him to spank my fat ass…and make me like it,” Simone paused and looked directly at Lilliana.
Lilliana felt like a deer caught in the headlights.
“How about you, Lil? Aren’t you tired of the game? Are you with me? What better way to find exactly what we’re looking for than to advertise? Are you both with me?”
Simone sat back in the booth. With one eyebrow raised and a half-smile on her face, she slowly raised her margarita high in the air and waited.
“Here’s the rules,” she continued when her friends didn’t answer. “First date in public. During the day. No exchanging personal info until we check the man out. No hopping into a stranger’s car. Keep it safe—and then go crazy.”
Lilliana felt a curious excitement settle in her lower belly. The kind of tingle that meant she was going to do something bold, crazy, and unlike anything she probably would have thought of on her own. She laughed out loud.
“Hell yes, girl…count me in!” She raised her glass and they both turned to Melinda.
Melinda
