The Roof is on Fire Read online

  Dear Reader:

  In Brenda Hampton’s Hell House, she introduced us to six unique characters from some of her bestselling novels, placed them into a house and let the drama unfold.

  It’s reality television in book form, and readers will watch and guess which roommate is eliminated one by one. The author is a skilled storyteller who has entertained numerous fans with her tales, including more than twenty books. This is one hell house whose residents will surely bring pleasure with their survival tactics and cutthroat ways.

  And stay tuned for the finale in the trilogy, The Reunion Show, where a winner will be declared. See if you can figure out who will be the strongest and last one standing in this clever concept.

  If you haven’t caught the first title in the series, an excerpt is included after the end of this novel.

  As always, thanks for supporting the authors of Strebor Books. We always try to bring you groundbreaking, innovative stories that will entertain and enlighten. I can be located at www.facebook.com/AuthorZane or reached via email at [email protected].

  Blessings,

  Publisher

  Strebor Books

  www.simonandschuster.com

  The time was now. Somebody had to go. I suspected that it wouldn’t be me. The last thing I recalled was when Roc gave me Tylenol and a glass of water. That was when we heard someone enter through the front door. To our surprise, it was Jeff. He spoke to us, then found the others and asked them to gather around. I wondered what was going on, because he looked to have something heavy on his mind. Maybe there was no fucking allowed in this house and Jaylin and Sylvia were about to get booted out. The rules mentioned nothing about intimacy, though, so I really wasn’t sure why Jeff was here.

  Either way, we all spread out on the couch to listen in. Jeff scratched his head and raked his fingers through his blond hair.

  “The time has come for someone to be voted out of Hell House. There are six of you, and all six of you will decide who that person will be.”

  I shifted my eyes from one person to the next with much confusion on my face. All along, we thought that each person had to leave of their own free will, that no one could be voted out of here. This didn’t make sense. I guess the same concern was on everybody’s mind. We all spoke at once.

  “What the fuck?” Roc said out loud. “You didn’t say all of that from jump.”

  “I’m confused.” Chase shrugged. “Why vote?”

  “Trickery,” Prince added. “This shit happens all the time.”

  Jeff raised his hands to get our attention. “Okay, everyone. Calm down. From the beginning, we made it clear that there may be some twists and turns in this competition. This is one of them.”

  I cocked my head back. “Well, I hope you don’t decide to do a twist when it comes to uppin’ the money. If you do, be prepared for me to twist your fuckin’ neck. The one thing I don’t play with is money.”

  “Jada, the money situation is good.” Jeff cleared his throat. “But in order for you all to dwindle down to one, we must do it this way. So, take a minute to think about whom you all want voted out of here today.”

  “Today,” Sylvia shouted. “Why today? It would be nice if you could give us a little more time to think about this.”

  “Unfortunately not. You must decide immediately, and one-by-one, I need each of you to go over to the computer and email me the name of the person you want to leave. At 5:00 PM, I will email you that person’s profile and picture. Feel free to answer your fan mail before you leave, but after that, the person voted off must leave.”

  “This is terrible,” I said. “I feel like I got to backstab somebody, and y’all already know I don’t get down like that.”

  Jaylin stood and rubbed his hands together. “It’s the rules, baby. Learn to follow them.”

  Without hesitating, he walked over to the computer. Logged in and typed in somebody’s name.

  “Done,” he said, looking at Jeff.

  My mouth dropped open. “Damn, it was that easy for you?”

  He responded with a shrug. Afterward, Chase ran her trifling self over to the computer, logged in and did the same. She swiped her hands together and had the nerve to say, “Good riddance.”

  Then Sylvia almost broke her neck rushing to the computer to login. She typed in a name, then hit the backspace key to make a correction. “Oops, sorry,” she said. She logged out and moved away from the computer.

  “Y’all some cold muthafuckas.” Roc sat at the desk in deep thought. He pondered for a minute, then slowly typed in a name. He also appeared happy about his choice.

  Now, it was Prince’s turn. I hadn’t moved because these fools came off giddy about what they had to do. Prince laughed when he typed in a name, then said, “Done deal. Be gone, Biatch!”

  What the hell! Really? Like it or not, it was my turn. I moved slowly over to the computer desk with my lips poked out. After I sat at the desk, I tapped my leg, thinking hard about who I wanted to go home. I didn’t know whose name to type. I could think of at least one good reason why every person in this house should be sent packing. Some, I could think of several reasons. The decision didn’t come easy for me, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the money. Eventually, I forced myself to type in the name of the person I wanted to go home. I backed away feeling awkward, but hoping that the person leaving today wouldn’t be me.

  “Thank you, everyone,” Jeff said. “Enjoy the rest of your day and say your goodbyes to everyone, just in case.”

  No one said a word. The room fell silent and all we heard was the front door shut.

  “Well,” Jaylin said, standing up and stretching. “It was fun while it lasted.”

  Roc smiled and cocked his neck from side to side. “Yes it was, but somebody must go. Too bad it won’t be me.”

  Prince slapped his hand against Roc’s. “I second that motion, my nigga. Won’t be me either.”

  “What makes you all so sure?” Chase asked with a frown.

  Roc’s eyes shifted to Jaylin, and his eyes shifted to Prince. Neither of them said anything else, leaving some of us on pins and needles for most of the day.

  When five o’clock rolled around, we all surrounded the computer desk, gazing at the twenty-seven-inch monitor. The room was so quiet that the only thing you could hear was hearts beating. My palms were sweating and my stomach tightened when the person’s profile and picture came up on the screen. All eyes turned in the same direction. All I could say was, “Damn.” She ain’t have to go, but it was time for Sylvia to get the hell out of here!

  Tears rushed to the rim of her eyes. She hurried to smack away a slow tear that rolled over her cheek. She swallowed hard and everyone waited for her to speak. Her eyes said it all; she was fuming. Her eyes were locked with Jaylin’s, and neither of them broke their intense gaze. It was a nail-biting situation, so I took this as an opportunity to speak up.

  “Ooooo,” I said, looking at Jaylin with my hand on my hip. “After beatin’ her pussy like that, did you vote for her to leave?”

  His eyes shifted to me. The sly smirk on his face said it all. I had voted for Sylvia too, only because she was trifling. It was a tossup between her and Chase. I chose Sylvia because of her heated sex session in the closet with Jaylin. I didn’t want her to have no more access to his goods and baby-making gravy.

  While shaking my head, I pretended to be disgusted with Jaylin. “You did vote for her, didn’t you? Talk about dir-tee. Pussy don’t have no kind of value anymore. There was a time when a sista could get her mortgage paid for uppin’ it. Now, the goodies ain’t worth shit.”

  “Depends on whose pussy it is,” Chase said with snap in her voice. “Some women don’t have it like that, while others do. Unfortunately
, Sylvia, you don’t. So pack it up. You’re going home.”

  Prince cocked his head back and sucked his teeth. “Soon, all of you peasants will be gone, so don’t nobody get comfortable.”

  He walked away after Chase advised him to kiss her ass. She then cut her eyes at Sylvia. “Look. I voted for you as well, but don’t take it personal. You played yourself. I did my best to try and warn you about going there with Jaylin. You never should have trusted him.”

  Sylvia put up her hand near Chase’s face to silence her. “Chase, I don’t want to hear your mouth right now. You know what you can do for me? You can get the heck away from me and go figure out something else to do with your time left here, other than chase after dick around this house.”

  “Don’t be mad at me because playing by your own rules didn’t work out. I’m not going to argue with you. Doing so will only prolong your stay, so goodbye.”

  Chase stormed away. Sylvia went into the kitchen, where Jaylin had moved to. I followed to be nosey.

  “You voted for me?” she said with raised brows, directing her question to Jaylin.

  When an irritated look washed across his face, I could tell this conversation was about to get painful for her. I tried to help by adding my two cents again.

  “Duh, no. He voted for yo mama, not you. It’s all the same, Sylvia, so why don’t you stop embarrassin’ yourself and go.”

  She swung around and lashed out at me. “Stay out of this, Jada! Mind your own business. Please!”

  “Don’t raise your voice at me, heifer. I know you’re upset, but you’d better focus your anger on the man who broke yo back and now wants you out of the house! If anything, you need to stop searchin’ for answers and do your best to leave here with some kind of diggity.”

  “It’s dignity, you dumb, ghetto whore. I don’t need help from somebody like you, so go somewhere and stuff yourself with cheesecake and hot apple pie. I got this. Trust me, I do.”

  I tightened my fists, but before I could crack that bitch upside her head, Roc grabbed my waist, pulling me away from her. All I could do was swing at the air.

  “None of that, ma,” he said, “Chill out.”

  “You need to let her go.” Sylvia crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “She’s a lot of mouth with very little action. All that crap you’re doing doesn’t scare me, and if you wanted to break away from Roc you could.”

  I loved the feel of Roc’s strong arms secured around my waist. His touch made me relax a little. Besides, the real Sylvia was about to show up. The classy-lady act had flown out the window, and she was about to embarrass herself even more.

  I twisted and turned to get away from Roc, but his grip was too tight for real. All I wanted to do was smack Sylvia for being so stupid, but he was preventing that from happening.

  “You’re real lucky,” I hissed. “And only if I had a shoe.”

  Sylvia waved my threat off and looked at Roc. “I guess you voted for me too, huh?”

  He didn’t hesitate to answer. “Sorry, ma, but you made yourself an easy target. When I say don’t take it personal, I mean that shit. See you at the reunion show. I hope you don’t come strapped to that mutha.”

  Sylvia shrugged. “No need to. I guess you did what you felt you had to do.”

  Roc nodded and kept a tight hold on me as we made our way outside. I lifted my middle finger at Sylvia, positive that she knew what to do with it. She was now left to deal with Jaylin who had proven himself to be a plotting, cold motherfucker with no remorse.

  It was no secret that I felt betrayed. In no way did I see this coming—not from Jaylin anyway. I still couldn’t believe that he had voted for me to leave. I needed to hear it straight from his mouth if, indeed, that was the case. But after Jada and Roc left, Jaylin attempted to walk off. I reached out to grab his arm, giving it a light squeeze.

  “Did you?” I questioned. “Yes or no.”

  He glanced at my grip on his arm, then peeled my fingers away from it.

  “What difference does it make?” he said. “Jeff said no questions asked, you must go. I don’t feel—”

  “To hell with what Jeff said. I’m leaving, but I still want to know who you voted for. Why don’t you man up and tell me?”

  “Why don’t you woman up and face reality. Your time here is up, Sylvia. Peace.”

  He walked smoothly toward the bedroom. To say I was shocked by the whole thing would be an understatement. I expected for the others, especially the women to vote for me, but I thought Jaylin and I had made a connection last night. A friendly connection where he would look out for me, as I had done him. How could I have been so wrong?

  I charged after him as he went into the bedroom and sat shirtless on the bed. His fineness was being ignored because his piercing gray eyes were filled with animosity toward me. Why? I hadn’t a clue.

  I sat on another bed in front of him so he could face me. “You say I should woman up and face reality, but what is the reality of this situation? Am I missing something?”

  He got straight to the point and came off cold as ice. “The reality is you’re going home. I suspect that you only have a few more minutes to get packed before someone will be here to get you.”

  I swallowed the baseball-sized lump in my throat, barely able to reply. “I’m okay with going home. If that’s my reality, so be it. But my concern is with you. Why are you treating me as if last night never existed?”

  “Don’t concern yourself with last night. It was only sex between an eager man who needed to accomplish something and a horny-ass woman who got exactly what she wanted. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  My mouth was wide open. “Is that how you saw it? I found it to be much more than that. Horny or not, we made a connection. A connection that I, at least, thought would make me exempt from you casting a vote against me.”

  The gaze in Jaylin’s eyes showed that he didn’t care. He stroked his goatee, wet his lips, then elaborated more. “My vote was an easy one. I lost respect for you and wanted you to go. Boys will be boys, some friends will remain friends, but a woman who fucks them both doesn’t get much respect in my book. A connection we did not have and I reject your fantasy. The only thing we had was satisfying sex, so stop fooling yourself. If you thought that pussy would sway my vote, sorry, you were sadly mistaken. Pussy that belonged to my friend doesn’t move me like that, and the good and or bad of it don’t supersede my brainpower. My brain makes decisions for me, not my dick that you managed to wet so well. You satisfied my appetite momentarily, but get real and recognize that all good things do come to an end.”

  I was speechless. Did he really just go there? A big part of me wanted to drop back on the bed and cry. But there was no doubt that I could handle his harsh words that shook me to the core. I had to keep a straight face so Jaylin wouldn’t have the satisfaction of seeing me break down. For him to sit there and speak to me with so much coldness and cruelty, it said more about him than it did about me. The truth of the matter was…I was in a vulnerable state. I shouldn’t have put myself in a situation like this one, and I regretted it. How stupid of me to think we’d made a connection.

  Now that I had my answer, I got up from the bed and went to the closet to gather my things. I heard the bedroom door shut. I figured Jaylin had left the room. I closed my eyes, trying to fight back some of the hurt I felt inside. There was no doubt that I still had some work to do on myself. It started with getting my feelings under control, pertaining to Jonathan. It was because of him that I was here to begin with. It was because of him that I allowed Jaylin to go inside of me. I assumed that he would tell Jonathan everything that happened here, but at this point, so darn what. Girls will be girls, some friends will remain friends, and a real woman won’t deny when she’s had good dick inside of her. Jonathan would get an earful. I chuckled a bit from the thought, and after I packed, I sat at the computer desk to reply to the last piece of fan mail I’d gotten.

  Hi, Sylvia. My name is Sasha Sutton and I’m from Montgomer
y, Alabama. When I read about you in Slick, I could relate to your experience with Jonathan. I, too, fell for my friend’s boyfriend, but in the end, I wound up losing them both. They’re now back together. I wondered how you would feel if Jonathan and Dana ever remarried. Also, do you feel as used as I do?

  I adjusted the chair and placed my fingertips on the keyboard to respond to Sasha’s questions.

  I doubt that Jonathan and Dana would ever remarry. There was too much damage done. But if it somehow magically happened, I would be hurt. I get what you’re saying about feeling used, and even though I don’t want to seem like the victim here, I was put in a tricky situation. As my friend, Dana used me to lie for her. She often told Jonathan that she had been spending time with me, when in reality she was with her lover. She had no problem putting me in the middle of her lies, and I was put into a horrible situation where I had to lie to Jonathan when he asked about our whereabouts. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a good liar as she was, and he was able to see right through me. I hated lying to him because I loved him. But he also made me feel used. It was my shoulder that he cried on when Dana had hurt him. It was my pussy that he dove into when he didn’t have access to hers. I happened to be in the right place at the right time, but to this day, there is a part of me that still loves him. I’m aware that my lingering love really doesn’t matter and some things in life can never be. Then again, I’m not one who can ever predict the future, so who knows? Maybe that wedding of his won’t happen after all.

  I heard a horn blow. When I rushed to the window, I saw a yellow taxi parked in front of the house. I figured it was waiting for me, so without any further ado, I thanked Sasha for her question, logged off the computer and grabbed my bags. With my head held high, I sauntered by everyone sitting in the living room and slammed the door to Hell House on my way out.

  Simply put, women like Sylvia had to learn about men the hard way. I saw the setup coming a mile away. She seriously thought she had the upper hand when it came to men like Jaylin. I may have underestimated him too, but as soon as he came through the kitchen this morning and didn’t say two words to Sylvia, I knew it was a wrap for her.