One fine Saturday morning, substitute teacher Mark Cooper lay on the couch, watching a rerun of The Cosby Show. A former professional basketball player turned substitute teacher, the tall and lean, thirty-something black man still looked like he could still play for any number of top notch teams in the NBA. A dream whose time has come and gone, as far as Mark Cooper was concerned.
On that particular morning, Cooper was savoring the three-day weekend. As much as he liked teaching, he actually needed, no, badly wanted a break from the classroom. Brother needs some time to himself, that's all. His roommate Vanessa Russell was gone for a while, traveling to Los Angeles with her boyfriend of the month. This left Cooper in the house all by his lonesome...almost.
As part of their agreement long ago, Mark Cooper shared the beautiful Oakland townhouse with two female roommates, his lifelong best friend Robin Dumars, and her gal pal, secretary/fashionista and all-around social butterfly Vanessa Russell. A nice arrangement, to be sure, but there were days when a brother wanted his privacy, and be by himself. This was one of those moments...
"This is the life for me," Cooper said to himself, watching The Cosby Show, just relaxing and chilling. Nothing like doing nothing, especially when one is accustomed to dealing with all kinds of hassles. Being a teacher to a cadre of African American students in the inner city took a lot of work. With his charm, wit and uber-Coolness, Cooper could relate to his students, making him a well-liked teacher.
"Mark, have you seen my sneakers?" came a feminine voice, and Cooper looked up to see his lifelong best friend Robin Dumars stride into the living room, clad in a blue sweatshirt and booty shorts. The tall, athletic yet curvy, tomboyish African American gal walked on by, her soulful brown eyes darting left and right. Robin is on her fitness deal again, Cooper thought.
"Look by the vestibule," Cooper said, and Robin nodded, then went over there, bending down to check under a pile of clothes that he discarded there. Cooper had always been messy and Robin bugged him about it from time to time, but thankfully not as much as their other roommate Vanessa Russell did. Grinning, Robin held her shoes in one hand and a dirty sweatshirt in the other.
"Mark Cooper, you're still a mess," Robin said, laughing, and she tossed the clothes his way. Cooper caught it, and laughed. Robin stood there, looking at him, hands on her hips. Cooper looked her up and down, and then, something unexpected happened. He felt a stir down below, and it surprised him because he never thought of Robin like that.
"Crazy woman, you know you love me," Cooper hollered back, hoping that Robin hadn't seen the bulge growing in his pants. Robin walked away, and Cooper's eyes zeroed in on her big round bum, which he'd seen a thousand times but never really, really noticed. How come I never noticed that fine ass on Robin all those damn years? Cooper wondered, puzzled.
"Alright, crazy man, I'm off to take a shower," Robin hollered, and with that, she ran up the stairs. Cooper's eyes followed her every move in a way they never had before. Robin has some kind of ass on her, Cooper thought. He shook his head, chastising himself for thinking such weird thought about Robin, the woman who'd been in his life ever since he could remember...
