Chapter IV-Shakespeare in Lust
Chapter IV
The Mercutio State University Theater Department fit it at least one performance of a Shakespeare play every semester. Sometimes, if they were lucky, they could fit in two of the Bard’s plays. Mercutio State, in its infancy, was a private institution that was a historically Caucasian campus before the political and social turmoil of the 1960s and early 1970s. Once the school was integrated in the early 1970s, a lot of funding for many programs started lessening. Alumni, bred from the traditional Southern way of doing things, still donated funds to the university but they preferred not to be seen to do business with a *beep* campus. The little town of Mercutio thrived, however, with its lumber yard and bottling plant as Mercutio seemed to drag itself into the new millennium.
One of its last legs of credibility was its theater program. The few students who made it into the program gave it their all even though attendance was limited to their parents, most of which were alumni, and a few critics from Shreveport, Baton Rouge, and even New Orleans. On this night, the performance was of Shakespeare’s most famous and well known play, Hamlet, featuring an African American senior and prodigy, Marlon Keaton, in the title role. The original lead actor, senior Jake Crohn, had taken ill with pneumonia and Director Burton had decided to give the one time understudy a shot as his performances in the previous semester’s productions of Othello in the title role, Walter Lee Younger in A Raisin in the Sun, and even a turn as Mark Anthony in Julius Caesar had gotten him some fairly reasonable notices. The feelings Sherri had for him could not be accurately described as a crush as she was dedicated to Wade. Also, she developed an appreciation for Shakespeare at an early age. Seeing a Black actor as the lead in a college production of Hamlet was unprecedented, even for 2005.
So, it was with great pride that as an African American woman and Shakespeare aficionado that she asked Wade to accompany her to the performance. Wade, however, was less than thrilled to be going to some *beep* white man’s play. What the hell had Shakespeare ever done for the ghetto? Marlon Keaton was from Prominence Falls, too, and since he always acted like his *beep* did not stank, why should he even be supporting him? Besides, Wade had more important things on his mind, like getting to Texas for the marijuana and Ecstasy that would pay for the doctors to go ahead and cut the tumor out of his Grandma. Also, this rumor about Sherri and his nemesis, Michael Torrance still gnawed on his mind, just as if it were a tick. The walk from Sherri’s room to the campus auditorium was a tense one to say the least.
“So what’s up with you an’ that fool Torrance?” Wade opened bitterly after walking for a few moments in silence.
“What are you talking about?”
“Word goin’ round my campus that you spent the night wit ‘em. What’s up wit that?”
“I’m not gonna dignify that with a response, Wade. You and Alex run a hoe house over there in Berkeley and you got the audacity to accuse me of cheating?”
“I jus’ wanna know what happened. I know you been hearin’ a lot of mess bout us. No girl could keep on hearin’ mess without doin’ somethin’ bout it.”
“Well, I don’t know what kind of bitches you’ve been around but I ain’t the one, man! You coming at me with a rumor and everybody know that bitch Amelia sniffing her ass around all the time.”
“I done told you, girl, that’s Alex friend, not mine. I’m the man on this here campus! I can’t stop bitches from tryin’ to git at me.”
“You the man! You the man! That’s all I keep hearing from you. Is your rep so important you willing to risk what we got? I’m always straight with you, Wade. Why can’t you trust me?”
“I don’t know. That rich bastard been on my radar since he tried to *beep* Erin last semester an’ almost broke my man’s arm. That *beep* shady. He got a lil money an’ thank he run *beep* I don’t trust him.”
“Listen to yourself, Wade. You just described a crazy person to me. If I was gonna cheat, don’t’cha think I’d find someone better that that?”
“I grew up round a lotta angry broads. My Pops left my Momma an’ she turned *beep* over *beep* for they money till she got strung out on that *beep* My boys’ mammies was schemin’ *beep* too. My aunties’ too. Most of the girls I graduated wit was hoes. Grandma the only woman I trust. She always kept it one hundred wit me.”
“So all women ain’t *beep* ‘cause of your momma and the other women from that cesspool you call home, Prominence Falls?”
“Hey, don’t disrespect the ‘Falls.’ It ain’t *beep* but it’s still home. Watch yo mouth.”
“I don’t get you, man. You’re like a ping pong ball. One minute, Prominence Falls and the women ain’t *beep* the next, Prominence Falls is home. What the hell’s wrong with you?”
What was wrong with him? In the back of Wade’s mind, it was simple. It had nothing to do with Prominence Falls or some Freudian issue with his drug addict mother. It was plain old fashioned guilt, with a hint of jealousy for good measure. Amelia had gone down on him one night at one of their many parties and while as a man, he wanted to turn her every which way but loose, he resisted. Then, there was his rep. Since the age of sixteen, no one had ever questioned his street credibility. How was it going to look if the ghetto shepherd of Mercutio State University had lost his girl to some silver spoon in the mouth sellout? No, there was no way Michael Torrance was going to take his girl. So, he made his decision right then and there. After he and Alex made this money off of the Texas deal, he was getting out of the game. Sherri was the only woman he trusted deep down besides his grandmother. Like Duke said, she was not worth losing, especially over a rumor.
“Say baby, you right. We got too much goin’ for us to be fightin’ over some stankin’ assed rumor. This argument never happened, all right?”
“Sure, man.”
When they made it to the auditorium, it was a surprising sight as there were more students, alumni, and spectators as usual for the performance. The buzz around Marlon Keaton was definitely heating up and those closest to the production said he had the potential to be just as big as, if not bigger than Denzel. It was a bold statement but exaggeration sold tickets and making money was always the name of the game. From the moment the young actor took the stage, Sherri was mesmerized. She hung on his every word and even found herself repeating some of the lines out loud with Keaton, much to the dismay of some of the spectators around her who motioned “Shh!” with their fingers to their lips and loud groans and sighs.
Of course, she did not mean anything by her actions; she was just caught up in the play and was oblivious to their protests. In a world where Blacks were being defined by street credibility, or how long of a prison term they had served, Marlon Keaton performing Shakespeare was a breath of fresh air to her. Wade paid little to no attention to Keaton’s performance or the agitated spectators. In his eyes, Marlon Keaton was as much a sellout as Michael Torrance. A book reading Uncle Tom who embraced the white man’s culture for no other reason to satisfy their lack of street credibility and to make up for all the women they couldn’t have, all in some pathetic effort to trick White folks and themselves into thinking they were not Black.
As far as Wade was concerned, Marlon Keaton and Michael Torrance could read the white man’s books, they could sing his songs, and even dress in his clothes if they wanted to. Nothing could change the fact that they were *beep* Nothing. Until they accepted that, there would never be any peace for them. Sherri had begun to hold his hand soon after the play began but when Marlon began the infamous “to be or not to be” soliloquy, she unzipped her pants and placed his hand inside her panties. Whatever disgust at Michael or Marlon or whoever Wade was feeling immediately dissipated into confusion. Here they were in a crowded auditorium and his girl was horny all of a sudden. As confused as he was, that did not stop him from being a man so he started massaging her, up and down at first, then in circles. There were a lot of men who would say what they would and would not do but when put on the spot, it simply goes down. Sherri made no noise and guided his hand with her own alternating with speed and steadiness so as to not arouse the attention of the spectators around them. When her thighs contracted and his fingers dripped, indicating she had reached her climax, she placed his hand back in his own lap and zipped her pants up, followed by kissing him on the neck.
Wade felt like a little boy. In his lifetime, he had had girls in the shower, gotten many blowjobs, had had sex in many positions, both when he was high and when he was lucid. Never had he done something like this in a public place. He was in an undiscovered country and all he could think of was what his Ace, Alex, was going to think of his newest adventure. Alex had made Erin perform oral sex in bathrooms all over the campus, cheated on her with his baby’s mother in Club Dingies, where everybody hung out on weekends when there was no partying on campus. Alex got off on sex in public places but Wade felt different. After the play concluded, they both stood with the rest of the audience and gave Marlon and the rest of the cast a standing ovation. The cheers for Marlon were loudest of all. They walked back to her dormitory, his mind buzzing. A ghetto shepherd was not supposed to feel excited and embarrassed at the same time. He did not appreciate Sherri going to these lengths to alleviate the growing tension between them but at the same time, it pleased him to know that she was willing to experiment. She truly was ride or die. Any doubt he had about her love was obliterated and he knew he loved her, too. But still, he was a man, so he decided he should spend the night.
“So, you gonna send Erin over to me an’ Alex’s room so we can finish what we started?”
“We didn’t start anything,” she glibly remarked as she walked into her room and closed the door in his face.
Wade stood at her door for a full thirty seconds before his mind processed what had just happened.
He thought, “What the hell was that *beep* bout? What the hell is she on? She gon’ tease me like that an’ shut the door in a *beep* face? What the hell goin’ on? What kinda game she runnin’? Should I cuss her ass out through this door? I should find Amelia fine ass an’ do somethin’ bout this throbbin’ hard on! I’ma man first, dammit! Who this bitch thank she is? I jus’ decided that she was my reason for gittin’ out the game! But if she gon’ be playin’ games like the other hoes, I need to cut her loose! Where is her head at? Naw, *beep* naw. *beep* it, I gotta git my mind on this hustle. Grandma the only woman I trust an’ I ain’t gon’ lose her over this cancer *beep* He finally left from in front of her door and started back towards his own dorm. He speed dialed Alex on his cell phone.
“Man, make it quick,” Alex answered, out of breath. “Me an’ Amelia *beep*
“We still on for tomorrow, right?”
“Y’know we are, man. Why you ask some silly *beep* like that?”
“Fool, you won’t believe this *beep* This broad done let me finger her at this whack ass play tonight.”
“Fool, you lyin!”
“Man, I *beep* you not!”
Sherri watched through her blinds as he walked away, still on the phone. Erin was sleeping so she decided to make a phone call herself, slightly shaking.
“H-Hullo?” answered Dylan groggily.
“S-Speak to Michael.”
“Oh sure, Sherri, hold on.”
“How did it go, my love?” Michael answered less than five seconds later.
“T-Think it pissed him off something awful.”
“That’s the point, my love. We are teaching him how to commit.”
“I-I still don’t know about all of this. I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“Did you come?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Was he on hard?”
“I-I guess so.”
“Then you did what you needed to do. That hip hop Neanderthal is going to be eating out of your hand when it’s all said and done.”
“But I love him, Michael.”
“He who the Lord loveth, he also chastiseth. Go to bed, Sherita, you’ll feel better in the morning.”
“O-Okay. See you,” Sherri ended as she sat on the side of her bed and contemplated waking Erin up. What was she bothering Erin for? Erin had her hands full with Alex so she did not need to be listening to her woes right about now.
Back in Michael’s room, Dylan built up the courage to question Michael, who was staring at the ceiling with a smile on his face.
“Why’d you take her call, man? Didn’t you believe me when I told you that I watched them the whole time?”
“I don’t trust a piece of slime walking the face of this earth. That’s not the point, though. The point is that I’m *beep* them. All you need to do is sit back and enjoy the ride. Romeo and Juliet are gonna fall and when they do, this entire wasteland of a campus will learn the meaning of hypocrisy.”
“I don’t understand, man.”
“You don’t have the mental capacity to understand, my friend. Now stop pestering me and go to bed so you can get up early and finish that paper so I can rewrite it.”
“I-I only asked you to proofread it. I-I can do it m-myself. Just tell me what to do.”
“Just do what I said, youngster. You’ll get a lot farther in life if you listened instead of questioned.”
To Be Continued
Who does God really favor in the web?
The Spider or the Fly?