Wednesday at Noon

by Teneka Woods

  “I know,” Whitney groaned.

  “I’m going to send this to your mother, too, so she sees what she’s missing out on.”

  “Oh god, Dad, just let it go already.”

  Tora returned her supplies to her bag and packed up the sewing machine.

  “How much do I owe you?” Eric asked.

  “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I didn’t mind doing this for her.”

  “Awww… thank you so much, Tora,” Whitney said and came over and wrapped her arms around Tora again. “I love it.”

  Eric said, “Why don’t you stay and have dinner with us then? We’re going to order in.”

  “Yes!” Whitney exclaimed. “That would be cool. And me and Faye can show you the dance routine we choreographed.”

  Eric nodded. “Oh yeah, Tora, you definitely have to see this. These girls have been working hard on this routine. They are amazing.”

  All three of them stared back at her expectantly, both Whitney and Faye with proud grins on their faces, waiting for her to tell them she would love to stay and see their remarkable dance routine.

  She smiled. “I’m sorry girls, but I can’t stay. I have somewhere else to go in a few minutes.”

  “It’ll only take five minutes,” Eric told her. “You have to stay and see this.”

  “Yeah, just five minutes,” Whitney agreed with a cheeky smile. “Just let me go and take off my dress!”

  Whitney was smooth, but Faye definitely had better timing and energy. Tora sat on the couch wide-eyed, watching as they pop-locked and snaked and rolled.

  “She gets her dancing skills from her father,” Eric said.

  Tora clapped her hands when the song ended and the girls stood there in their defiant poses. “Check y’all out! That was really good!”

  Breathless, Whitney said, “Thanks. We love dancing.”

  “Maybe you should invite Tora to see your dance competition next month,” Eric said to Whitney.

  Tora shook her head. “Eric, stop doing that. I have so much going on, and between working most weekends and volunteer obligations, I don’t know what my schedule is gonna be like.” She didn’t need him trying to include her in anymore of his plans.

  “Are you sure you can’t stay and have dinner with us?” he asked as she grabbed her things to go.

  “Yes. I’m on my way to meet a friend.”

  Whitney hugged and thanked her once more.

  “It was good seeing you again, Whitney,” she told her. “Nice meeting you, Faye. I hope you guys have fun at the party.”

  She ignored the bitter look on Eric’s face as she walked out the door.

  * * *

  Seeing him was like a breath of fresh air. She’d texted him when she arrived at the restaurant and he walked outside to meet her.

  “It’s packed in there,” he said.

  “I can tell. I was worried I wouldn’t find a parking space.”

  “It’s always like this when the ‘Stros play. You know how that goes. Wait… you’re from Pittsburgh, I forgot. So…”

  She rolled her eyes with a sly grin. “Don’t you even try to start some mess today.”

  He chuckled and held the restaurant door for her. “My partners are already at a table. They were giving me a hard time when I told them you were coming.”

  “Oh really? Should I leave?”

  “Naw… they were just talking smack.”

  Nate’s friends’ expressions were not anything she hadn’t experienced before. She was used to the curious stares wherever she went. If it wasn’t the way she occupied so much vertical space in a room, it was her wild makeup and sexy attire. She wasn’t expecting Nate to ask her to meet him before she made it back to their side of the city, so she had to make do with the baggy jeans and T-shirt she’d thrown on to go to Eric’s place. On her way to Bombshells she’d stopped at a Wendy’s for a restroom stall to apply some makeup, cuff her jeans, and knot the blue T-shirt behind her back—a habit she’d started ever since she got her torso tattooed. In the trunk of her jeep were the orange pumps she had been intending to take to the shoe doctor to get the tips repaired. She figured they could survive one more day of wear.

  Kevin was the first one Nate introduced her to—a beautiful bald brother with a killer smile. A spectacled and plump Jamal held her hand between the both of his as he bowed his head and introduced himself. And then there was Chauncey—a rival of Nate’s in the looks department—whose gaze lingered on her a little bit too long, forcing her to look away.

  Nate stole a stool from a nearby table and placed it next to hers. “You hungry?” he asked. “I can get you something.”

  She looked at the loaded plate in front of Jamal. “I want whatever that is.”

  “It’s pulled pork nachos,” Jamal said. “They’re really good, too.” He pushed his plate towards her. “Try one.”

  She did. It felt strange how they were all watching her as if she were a judge and they the contestants of a cooking show waiting with bated breath to see if their dish would receive her approval. “Yep,” she said, licking sour cream off her thumb, “that’s what I want.”

  Nate and Jamal laughed and Nate beckoned a waiter.

  Twenty minutes later she was drinking a cold beer and eating the best nachos she’d ever had, enjoying the lively atmosphere around her as the sports fans shouted with glee or groaned in frustration at the television monitors. On more than one occasion Nate got excited at a play and his thigh bumped against hers underneath the table, or he relaxed on his stool and rested his arm across the back of her stool.

  She knew he was just caught up in the game and didn’t realize what he was doing.

  “Everything cool?” he asked after a while.

  Tora nodded her head and smiled. “I’m cool.”

  She couldn’t believe she’d eaten the entire platter of nachos and was looking down at the plate, scraping the remaining ingredients on her last chip when she heard someone approach the table with, “Hey fellas. How y’all doing?”

  She looked up to see Eric extending his hand to Chauncey but looking right at her as he went around the table shaking the guys’ hands.

  “I noticed this beautiful lady, Tora, here sitting with a group of guys and had to come over and introduce myself. Which one is the friend you said you were coming here to meet?” he asked her.

  Tora’s blood boiled. How dare he come to their table questioning her? What the hell was he doing there anyway she wondered. Had he followed her to the restaurant?

  Nate’s friends were looking at her with curious expressions while Nate studied Eric. She was too heated to say anything.

  Eric looked at Nate again and appeared to take notice of how closely he sat next to her, his arm across her chair. “She and I have been spending the last few weeks trying to get to know each other,” he said to Nate. “Just thought I’d stop by and meet her friend, that’s all.”

  Nodding his head, Nate said, “I gotcha.”

  Tora glared at Eric.

  Eric glanced at one of the overhead TV screens. “What’s the score?” he asked to no one in particular.

  And no one answered. Kevin and Jamal and Chauncey were still trying to figure out what—if anything—was transpiring in front of them.

  The last thing Tora wanted was to cause a scene, but she needed Eric to go about his business and leave her alone.

  He finally turned back to her. “The girls are in the car waiting for me. I’m gonna tell Whitney I saw you in here.”

  It was only after he turned and walked away from the table she noticed the to-go bag he carried in his hand.

  * * *

  “So your man caught you on site.”

  “Please… he is not my man,” Tora said. She pulled out her keys as she and Nate approached the space where she’d parked.

  “I don’t know about that. He seemed pretty upset to see you sitting next to me.”

  “He’s just a guy
I went out with a couple times, which I now realize was a huge mistake.”

  Nate nodded. “Oh. I see.” He glanced around the parking lot.

  Tora noticed Eric had left her a voicemail message. She settled in the driver’s seat and cranked the engine. “Thanks for inviting me,” she looked up at Nate. “I don’t even like baseball, but the drinks and food were good.”

  “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  She laughed. “It’s cool. Like I said… the food was very good. And you seemed to really enjoy the game.”

  He smiled. “Be safe going home,” he told her and stood waiting until she pulled away.

  Tora pressed the button to listen to the voicemail from Eric once she was on Highway 45 headed south:

  “I really can’t believe you would lie to me and my daughter like you did. But I shouldn’t be surprised. So was that guy really your friend or is that just the crap you told us? Better yet, what type of woman would be hanging out the way you were with a bunch of men drinking beer and watching sports? Are you really a lesbian or are you screwing all four of them?…”

  Tora overheated. She took the next exit off the freeway and pulled into the entrance of a car dealership lot. She pressed the button to call back Eric, her eyes blurry from anger. “You have completely lost your fucking mind!” she yelled as soon as he answered. “What the hell is wrong with you calling my phone leaving a stupid message like that? Just who the fuck do you think you are?!”

  “Whitney was really disappointed when she found out you lied to—”

  “Cut the shit, Eric,” she said hotly. “Leave your daughter out of this!”

  “Here I am trying to get to know you, but you won’t give me a chance all because of one simple mistake. It’s a damn shame. I see you had no problem getting chummy with those guys.”

  “Are you really that stupid and sexist?”

  “I just found what I witnessed today very interesting. Call me old-fashioned, but a woman hanging out with a group of men and no other woman in sight is just not a good look.”

  “I don’t give a damn about looks or what you think, Eric.”

  He chuckled. “You are completely out of line.”

  “Lose my number,” she said, and hung up.

  She was still fuming when she made it back to her apartment. After taking a shower she called her mother and told her everything. They talked for two hours. When she finally hung up with Sharon she listened to the voicemail from Nate that she’d ignored as she was on the line with her mother. He wanted to know if she’d made it home safely.

  She texted her reply: I did. Thanks.

  TWENTY-SEVEN

  Nate sat at his computer setting up weekly automatic payment drafts to be transferred to his mother’s bank account every Monday. Money would definitely be tight now that he had to shell out three hundred extra dollars per month. On top of his monthly living expenses he also paid a fee to the gym for use of the facility to train his private clients.

  Maybe he would need to cancel his cable TV service and stop going to bars with the guys he thought. But he couldn’t imagine a life without ESPN. And, as far as saving money on entertainment and dining out, he could always host a game night at his apartment and invite Kevin and Jamal and Chauncey. His fitness podcast was only a couple years old and not yet bringing in substantial income, but he wasn’t about to give it up. His number of subscribers was steadily growing and he loved engaging his listeners.

  He clicked the button to shut down the computer after he was done and folded the paper with his mother’s account information, placing it back in his wallet for safekeeping. Tora’s business card was tucked in the bills slot. He pulled it out and stared at her picture. He hadn’t spoken to her since Wednesday night. After she’d left the restaurant that night and he returned to the table with the guys, Kevin and Jamal warned him to stay away from her:

  —I knew she had a man. There’s no way a woman that fine is single.

  —You definitely got to leave this chick alone, Nate. That ain’t nothing but trouble.

  —She told me he’s just somebody she went out with a few times.

  —Naw, that dude came over here mean-mugging us like we were chillin’ with his wife. She’s lying to you.

  —I believe her. Why would she have to lie about something like this?

  —Fool, are you crazy? Women lie about shit like that all the time! Now you know why she was giving you a hard time, talking about she wasn’t a good fit for you. It’s because she already had a man.

  —Exactly!

  —Or if he’s not her man then he’s her sugar daddy.

  * * *

  Nate could tell by the look on Vaughn’s face it was going to be a difficult training session. Leticia looked just as perturbed as her son. She eyed Vaughn as he exited the vehicle before turning to Nate where he stood on the curb.

  “Let me know if he gives you any trouble today because he definitely tried my patience this morning. I’ll be back in an hour.”

  Nate held out his hand to Vaughn for a shake after Leticia drove off. “What’s up, man? How you feeling?”

  Vaughn shrugged and walked ahead of him.

  He decided to dismiss the kid’s attitude and just let him have his moment. “We’re gonna do a HIIT workout today,” Nate told him. “You ever heard of it? High-intensity Interval Training. And what that means is we’re gonna do an exercise, go hard at it for thirty seconds, and then rest for fifteen seconds, then go right into another rep. I’ll be doing it with you, so you’re not working out by yourself today.”

  It was eight-thirty in the morning and already eighty degrees outside, yet Vaughn sported his usual hoodie. He was making Nate feel hot just looking at him.

  “Let’s start with a warm-up. We’ll jog in place and do some high-knees to get our heart rate up. Ready?” Nate was set to start the timer on his stopwatch, but Vaughn shook his head and stood with his hands loosely at his hips. “What’s up? You giving me a hard time today? How about you call your mama right now and tell her to come back and pick you up since you don’t wanna work out. How about that?”

  Vaughn shook his head again and looked away from him. Nate noticed the sadness in his eyes. He wasn’t just being defiant this morning, Nate thought. Something deeper was going on with him.

  “You got something you need to talk about?” Nate asked cautiously.

  Vaughn rested his arms on the top of his head, looked up at the sky.

  “Let’s go over here and sit down a minute.” Nate led him over to the bleachers and they sat. “Everything okay? Tell me what’s going on.”

  Vaughn sucked his teeth and continued to shake his head. “I’m just tired of the shit,” he finally said.

  “What happened?”

  “Them stupid dudes down the street, man.”

  “Down what street? By your house?”

  “Yeah,” Vaughn answered. “They always talking shit to me. And I’m tired of it. It’s stupid.”

  Nate waited for Vaughn to expound further, but he fell quiet for a couple minutes until Nate asked, “What did they do?”

  “I was jogging down the street yesterday, doing my exercise, when Rashad and Zack drove by. I had my ear buds in, so I didn’t hear them at first, but then Rashad blew his horn. They said something stupid like, ‘It’s about time you got some exercise, you fat fuck.’ And then Zack ol’ stupid-ass tell me I need a bra because I have big titties like a girl.”

  Nate shook his head in disgust. “You didn’t respond to them, did you?”

  “No,” Vaughn said. “I just stopped running, but I didn’t say nothing to them. Rashad drove off and I thought they were gone. I started jogging again, but they came back. And Zack started throwing shit at me out the window. I looked down and it was tomatoes and apples and shit.”

  “That’s crazy, man. Did you get hurt?”

  “Hell no. Zack can’t throw for shit. And when I started running towards the car Rashad burned off.”

  Nate shook his
head again. “People like that… you just have to ignore them. They got nothing better to do with their time.”

  “Easy for you to say,” Vaughn grunted. “I’m tired of them. Next time I see Zack I’m gonna punch his ass in the mouth. Rashad, too!”

  “Naw, naw. You don’t wanna do anything like that. It’s not worth having a fight on your record. Just let it go. As long as they don’t put their hands on you, then all they can do is talk. Just be the bigger person and walk away.”

  “Man, do you know how long I’ve been walking away?! I told you they’re always saying crap to me! Ever since seventh grade!”

  Nate looked over at Vaughn. This was the most verbal he had ever been in the entire month and a half he’d been working out with him. Frustration and desperation reddened the kid’s face and Nate watched as his jaw twitched with anger.

  “Were these guys in your class at school?”

  “Zack was. Me and him had the same English class. Rashad is in a higher grade, but we all catch the same school bus. That’s where that shit started. On the school bus when Rashad started calling me Big Bird. Zack is his sidekick and always following him around.”

  “I can understand it makes you mad, man. Remember I told you I dealt with the same type of crap when I was in school? Eventually they stopped messing with me once they realized I wasn’t fazed by what they were doing. And, look at it this way… what Rashad and Zack did only proves the punks they really are by their reaction when you ran up to the car. It was two of them against you, but you see how they ran off? That lets you know right there they ain’t nothing but a bunch of talk.” Vaughn nodded his head, but Nate wasn’t sure if he was taking what he said to heart. He held his hand out to him, “All seriousness aside, I’m glad you were out getting your jog on. You’re down twelve pounds, so that tells me you’re doing something right. So how about we go ahead and get this workout over with before your mom comes back to pick you up?”

  * * *

  He couldn’t help himself. He needed to see her again. It was a few minutes past twelve o’ clock in the afternoon as he sat on his couch feeling energized after the morning session with Vaughn. It was the first time he’d ever worked out hard while training a client at the same time. He encouraged Vaughn to channel all his frustration into the workout and to forget about Rashad and Zack’s stupidity.