I'll Settle for You

LYRIC ~ It Kills Me

©2012 by Lakeyta Lewis

“Romantic love is mental illness. But it’s a pleasurable one. It’s a drug. It distorts reality, and that’s the point of it. It would be impossible to fall in love with someone that you really saw.” ~Frank Lebowitz

“Just stuff this in your bra and keep your mouth shut!” He commanded as we watched the officer walk up to the rear of the car. I already knew the drill, so I didn’t know why he was trying to play me. We’d been through this what seemed like a thousand times before. I didn’t say anything though; I simply did as I was told.

“License and registration, please.” The officer asked, though his voice didn’t sound as kind as his words. Ray reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the papers. He looked at me before handed everything over to the officer.

“The license says Raymond Temple, but the car is registered to a Lyric Michaels.” The officer stated. It wasn’t a question, so Ray didn’t respond. “I’ll be back in a moment.”

“This car in order, Lyric?” Ray asked when the cop made it back to his car. I could see he was getting frustrated. Ray had some things on his record, but he’d managed to stay out of trouble the last past year.

“Of course, Ray.” I answered calmly. I knew how to take care of business; he was the one who taught me! He was acting like I was new to this.

“I’m not trying to go to jail over this bullshit!” He yelled.

“Bae, everything is okay. Just stay calm.” I assured him.

“Stay calm, my ass! You not the one facing time if this shit goes south!” He had a point there, but he couldn’t seriously believe that I would put him in a situation like that. We both remained silent as we waited for the officer to return.

“I take it that you’re Ms. Lyric Michaels?” The officer addressed me this time.

“That is correct. Can I ask why you stopped us?” I smiled sweetly.

“Yeah, you have a busted tail light. You need to get that fixed first thing in the morning.” He smiled back, not noticing the look on Ray’s face. “I’ll let you go with a warning this time.”

“Thank you so much, Officer…”

“Cox. And the pleasure was mine, ma’am.” He smiled once more. “Here you go.” He gave Ray back his license and my registration. Ray waited for the officer to return to his car before starting the engine and pulling off.

“So you think it’s cool to flirt with the officer? You just gone do that shit in my face, Lyric?” He yelled.

“What is the problem, Ray? You didn’t get arrested and I didn’t get a ticket. I don’t see what the big deal is?” I replied.

“The big deal is you need to show me some respect!” He shouted. Show him some respect? Really? This from the man who can’t keep his dick in his pants. I didn’t say anything about that though. I just apologized so we wouldn’t have an argument, and we rode the rest of the way home in silence. I just knew this was going to ruin the rest of my night. I hoped we could spend some quality time together, and now it looked like the time wouldn’t be so quality.

When he pulled into my driveway, Ray got out, went in the house and dialed a number on his phone. Within fifteen minutes, a car was blowing its horn in front of my house and he left without a word. It was almost three o’clock, so I figured I wouldn’t see him again for the rest of the night. Guess I’ll be alone; again. I went into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I started to strip and when I took off my bra, his sack dropped to the floor. I picked it up and put it on the counter before I finished taking off my clothes. I got into the hot shower and tried my best not to think about Ray.