The Fallen

Nina Compton had perfect, buttermilk yellow skin and a pair of light brown eyes that matched her two-grades-away-from-being Caucasian shoulder length hair. And she had this tight sexy body that made you want to put on some Marvin Gaye tunes and get a healthy prescription of some sexual healing. But for all of Nina's flawless good looks she was like a moth being perpetually drawn to the brightest and hottest flames, and her most recent boyfriend Eddie Styles was no exception. He was the self-proclaimed hustler-slash-player who chased after more skirts than a New Yorker chased after taxis with his cinnamon brown skin and GQ good looks. And when he wasn't trying to seduce some woman out of her Victoria's Secret he could be found selling fifty dollar parcels of powdered cocaine to all of his friends and associates for a guy nicknamed Blow. And Eddie sold plenty of coke, but he used his fair share, too. See, he was one of those superficial men that coveted the title of being the man opposed to being the man working for the man. So whenever Eddie stepped into a party or nightclub he'd play the part of the munificent host and set out his consignment coke like Martha Stewart hosting a gala event. And he'd always have some snazzy, colloquial and colorful come on line to accommodate his winsome smile as he doled out Blow's coke while springing for expensive rounds of Remy Martin and magnums of champagne.

But Eddie's ego and indulgences came with a price and would always leave him a few hundred to a few thousand dollars short, but he didn't sweat this because he fancied himself as being a quick thinker and top-notch gambler. So whenever he'd fall short, he'd go to an all-night gambling spot on Richmond's south side where a craps game would be held for a crew of young drug dealers and other street hustlers with a mouth full of gold teeth and pockets full of money. Large wads of money with wide rubber bands around them would be won and lost on a single roll as desperate men walked in with their rent money and walked out with enough hundred dollar bills to choke a horse. That's if they were lucky. Most of the time they'd leave with a pocket full of fabric dust and feeling like a horse's cousin—a jackass.

While gambling, Eddie was a slick, trash-talking, very gracious winner that picked up piles of money like an octopus, but he could never master that same level of graciousness as a loser. His mood and temperament would often become erratic and desperate. He'd be so broke that he wouldn't have enough money to buy a greasy chicken and biscuit plate, let along put fuel in his rimmed-up Nissan 300ZX that he'd won and lost a dozen of times over the years. And whenever he got like this, he'd lie, cheat, and steal for enough money to buy time with Blow. And usually, this larceny and deceit would come at the expense of some gullible woman living in the projects under section-eight housing guidelines with her small children. Eddie would come smooth-talking his way in, roll a joint, and be butt-naked and in the sack by the time they'd finish smoking it. He'd do a bit of kissing and fondling, perhaps some cunnilingus before hitting a few powerful up and down strokes. And while his female mark would still be lying entwined in her crumpled sheets, sexually intoxicated and silly out of her mind, full of Eddie's impotent come, he'd be clipping her for all of her money and food stamps. And by the time the woman realized what went down, Eddie would be back over at Nina's soaking in a hot bathtub of water and feasting on groceries he hadn't paid for.

So quite naturally, a man like Eddie's heart wasn't fully committed to Nina, despite the fact that he was known around town as being her man. But that was no great big consolation prize because on any given night he could be found shacked-up playing house with some other spicy dish. His relationship of semi-cohabitation with Nina was purely an accidental situation of convenience that happened three years earlier because he had just gotten kicked out of his own place and needed somewhere to stay. And Nina was so damn fine, and the sex was so damn good that he ended up weaseling his way in with his two suitcases full of clothes and he never left. He started off by laying his mack down nightly, and he even drove Nina back and forth to work and broke her off a piece of money from time to time. But the moment he discovered he had himself an I-need-a-man, emotionally dependent sap he stopped. And that's when the game changed, and so did he.