by Sequaia
“So, what’s the special occasion?”
“Since when does it have to be a special occasion for us to hang out?”
“It doesn’t, you’re right,” she mumbled.
“Aúrea.” My tone was intended to get her to look at me, not frighten her, which obviously it had because she jumped. This was the most I’d seen her so jumpy since the day she came back, and I wondered why. Right now, the only conclusion I could come to was her new houseguest. Nijah seemed cool and all, but I didn’t know her. She also didn’t know me, and if she were the reason for this little shift in Aúrea, she’d get a first-class view of the bottom of the Pacific.
“Yes?”
“What’s wrong with you? Did I do something wrong?”
“No. No, I have a lot on my mind.”
“You ready for your houseguest to go and don’t know how to tell her? If that’s it, you know I’m a pro at sending females on they way.”
“Not at all. So you bet not try to send her off.” She waved her finger at me.
Speaking as gently as possible while I reached across the table to take her hands, I requested, “Then tell me what’s up with you. I can tell something is bothering you. I need to know something, preferably the truth, though, A, ’cause whatever is bothering you is written all over your face.”
She accepted the invitation, taking my hands, looking me in the eyes, and smiling.
“Can we just talk about it later? Let’s enjoy dinner first, please?”
Nodding, I released her hands.
The cook finished our food, and we ate mostly in silence. Occasionally, I’d ask some corny-ass question, but for the most part, we were both in our own world. So far, shit wasn’t going how I planned for tonight, and Aúrea’s mood wasn’t the most inviting for the kind of intimate conversation I wanted to have.
“Are we going straight to my place when we leave here?” she asked.
“That’s up to you.”
“Well, I promised to tell you what’s been up with me when we leave here, but my place isn’t where I wanna have the conversation, though.”
“All right, I have a place in mind we can go.”
“Okay.” She gave me a closed smile as I stood up, walking over to her, extending my hand to help her up. We exited, and I brought her into my car before getting in and driving off.
Soft music played in the background. Since Aúrea had been driving my car, her phone connected automatically, and she had some soft-ass playlist going.
“Who is this singing?” This song was pretty dope, the lyrics anyway. I wasn’t too much into R&B unless it was baby-making joints, so for this to catch my ear said something.
“Oh, it’s Jhené Aiko.”
Nodding, I turned the radio up a little more. The vibe was good and relaxing, even though on one of the songs, baby girl was talking shit.
“Wow, I haven’t been here in forever.” Aúrea laughed when she noticed where I parked the car.
“Me either,” I told her honestly.
We were parked at Chill Cliff, as the teenagers liked to call it now. Shit, we did too, growing up. It was a spot way outside of town that overlooked the city and the water. It was dark out, so only the establishments that were open and a few streetlights lit up the city. The view was dope, though.
“The view of the city is beautiful. Always has been, I guess. Just can appreciate it more now that I’m older,” she confessed, looking straight ahead.
I removed my seat belt, then pushed the seat back as far as it would go, and turned to face her as best as I could.
My Tesla was a nice-sized car and roomy, but I was a tall dude, so getting completely comfortable wasn’t an option. This would work, though.
“Did tonight seem like a date?”
She turned and looked at me, seemingly confused by my question.
“I mean, I guess it could’ve been considered that or just two friends hanging out.”
“What if—?”
“L.A. was everything but roses for me, Prentice,” she spoke, cutting me off. She paused, I guess, to see if I was going to start talking again or shit, I’m not sure. So I pressed my lips together, waiting for her to finish.
“My first year in L.A. I was homeless. Even though shortly after getting there, I met Nijah, who took me in. I still hadn’t had my own place, so to me, I was homeless with a place to stay.” She paused again, taking a deep breath.
“When I got comfortable with her, I started looking into acting and landed a commercial. That was honestly the happiest time of my life, well, since I got there.”
I wondered if it was the commercial I saw since she spoke openly right now, but I wasn’t going to interrupt to ask. I’d find out later.
“I thought I was the shit after that and went on more auditions for parts I didn’t get. Still, my determination didn’t waver, so I kept trying. One day, I was at an audition for a modeling gig for a magazine ad, or maybe it was a commercial. Anyway, there was this guy who intrigued me.”
My fist balled and opened. My mood shifted almost instantly when she said that. Hearing about her feeling another nigga wasn’t something I was feeling nor wanted to hear.
“So, he approached me and told me he had these connections and was an agent. He dressed the part and had a few gorgeous women with him, so there was no reason to think he was lying.”
She looked away, wiped her eyes, then looked back at me. I was doing my best not to show the anger slowly brewing, not just because I was a bit jealous of her speaking of another nigga, but also because Stevie Wonder could see this wasn’t a good recap of what she dealt with in L.A.
“I fell for what he told me and eventually fell for him. By the time I realized he wasn’t going to help make me a star, I was already stuck and in love.
“Everything was good. I moved in with him against Nijah’s wishes, of course. Then it all went bad. First, he was verbally abusive. Then he cheated a lot. Well, he always cheated. He just stopped caring to hide it once he knew I wasn’t going to leave him. After that, he started hitting me and forcing me to do—” She stopped, shaking her head as if she were trying to erase a horrible memory, and I felt my blood boil.
“Where this nigga at, Aúrea, and what’s his name?” I’d heard enough. Her admitting that he put his hands on her left nothing else for her to tell me, except what I needed to go and handle his ass.
“Prentice, no. I left, and he’s way in L.A.—”
“Just take me to the nigga, Aúrea, or give me his information.”
“Why?”
She sat back, folding her arms across her chest in defiance, and all I could do was chuckle. This shit wasn’t up for debate. I had no problem answering her question, though.
“So I can handle him. You can’t tell me no shit like that and not expect me to want to go and see dude,” I seethed.
“You wanted me to be honest with you about my life out there, so that’s what I was doing. I didn’t do it because I wanted you to put your life and freedom on the line for me. I don’t need saving,” she yelled as tears fell from her eyes.
It hurt to see her cry. But my anger was more prominent than her hurt feelings. My pride and love for her wouldn’t allow me to know another nigga had violated her and me not move on it. The promise I kept to myself to nip shit in the bud quickly when it came to her and anyone causing her harm was more critical than her begging me to leave the shit alone or any later consequences I may face.
“I’m not giving you that information, Prentice, so let it go.”
There was finality in her tone. Had I been the Prentice she knew five years ago, that may have meant something. The man who I am now let what she said roll right off my shoulders.
“He’s going to get handled, Aúrea.” The finality in my tone matched hers, possibly exceeded it because she couldn’t keep me from going to L.A. to get his ass.
“Who are you?” She looked at me as if she were searching for the answer.
“I’m still Prentice May
or.”
“No, you’re not the same.”
“I’m not, Aúrea. The Prentice you knew five years ago before you left couldn’t protect you. The one in front of you can. Ask Von’s bitch ass.” My emotions were all over the place, and once the words left my mouth, I wanted to punch the shit out of myself.
Fuck.
“You didn’t?”
Not able to look at her, I turned my head, looking out the front window. Lying to her wasn’t an option, and confirming my little slipup wasn’t one either. The less she knew, the less she could tell if ever the shit came up in a court of law.
“Prentice, you don’t have to protect me. Never did. That’s why I left you. You had so much going for you, and my only plan was to chase a dream and get away from my abusive foster father.”
“You made a choice for me that wasn’t cool to me; yet, you thought it was best. Don’t condemn me for doing the same on your behalf.” My eyes were back on her.
“Okay,” she conceded, catching me off guard.
“I sell weed and pills.” Drugs didn’t carry as much time as murder, so I figured telling her that would take her mind off my dumb-ass confession.
“Prentice.”
“It’s not something I’m gonna do forever, A.”
She sat up in her seat, damn near climbing over to me, taking my face into her hands.
“You’re my best friend. I just got you back in my life, and I don’t want to lose you behind revenge or your current occupation.”
I felt my eyes moving rapidly, following the movement of hers. Oddly, we were both searching for something within the eyes of the other.
“I’m good, A, on both ends. The shit I’m doin’ already has a deadline, and a trip to L.A. ain’t on my schedule anytime soon, so you don’t have to trip.” Slowly, I removed my face from her hands. Her friend-zoning my ass for what seemed like the hundredth time cut me kinda deep. Tonight absolutely wasn’t going as planned. Her being my woman anytime soon also didn’t look like it would happen soon.
She sat back in her seat, staring out the window as I started up the car.
“We’re leaving?”
“Yeah, it’s late, and I have to go help my mom in the morning.” I told half of the truth.
“I ruined our date, huh?” She released an uneasy chuckle.
“Not at all. It wasn’t a date, and I got exactly what I needed from you tonight. You opened up to me and finally told me what life was like for you over the last few years. Not that I like what I heard, but I can understand you better and why you prefer the single life.”
“It’s not that I prefer the single life. I don’t want to ruin our friendship, and I also need to continue working on me.”
Smiling, I didn’t even feel the need to reply. I hadn’t said anything about a relationship with me. So that meant I needed to prove I could be her man and best friend.
22
Aúrea
I had never been a big Monday person. Today, I looked forward to it. It was the first day of classes, and I was overly excited. So excited that Nijah practically put me out of my own house because my anxiousness was getting on her last nerve. She was still staying with me and had been at my place going on two weeks. I knew when she got ready to leave, I would be heartbroken.
From Superman: Have a good first day of school.
I smiled, reading the text message from Prentice. I found the nickname fitting, given all he tried and wanted to do for me. Even me giving him a hard time, he still made me a priority. Regardless of whether I wanted him to be, he was my superman.
Since the night I told him almost everything about my time in L.A., including my relationship with Adrian, things between us started to get a little weird. Well, mainly on my part because I tried avoiding him, too embarrassed to face him after indirectly saying I didn’t want a relationship with him. Even though that wasn’t the truth because I wasn’t sure what I wanted, then admitting to sticking with a guy who kicked my ass made me feel dumber than I had been for sticking around. Had I revealed all that I’d done for Adrian, I was sure he’d want to kill him and look at me differently. What also ate at my conscience was his confession of hurting Von. Not that I was mad at him for it. Von got what he deserved. I was angry that he put his life and freedom on the line to avenge something that happened to me years ago.
To Superman: Thank You.
* * *
I replied to him, then threw my backpack over my shoulder. For some reason, my mind drifted to the last time I tricked off in the club. I guess it was the guilt of not telling Prentice, feeling embarrassed, or both.
Quickly, I wiped the tears that fell from my eyes as I shook off the memory. My attempted rape was the only thing Adrian seemed to sympathize with me about, at least I thought so. But maybe it wasn’t sympathy. It was his way of reminding me how he had saved me. His acting as if he cared was only his way to make me remember that I owed him.
“Okay, Aúrea, it’s okay. Leave the past in the past,” I spoke, forcing myself to suppress the memory.
Today was supposed to be a good day. It was going to be a good day, and I would leave the past in the past. I opened the school’s app on my phone, locating the campus map to find my class. After discovering it, I rushed to the other side of campus. The walk was cool. Now that I knew which building my class was in, I’d be parking much closer. The class was held in the campus theater room.
“Welcome to Theater 101. I am Professor Mack. Nice to meet you all.”
I took my seat right as the teacher introduced himself. He was a tall and scrawny white man with glasses. Though he looked a little nerdy, there was also some character to him. He looked like he could switch up his look in a heartbeat if he had to. Guess that’s why he was the teacher. The stage lights were shining, and he spoke with a mic. The room was huge, and I doubted his voice would carry way to the back by the entrance.
After we went around the room introducing ourselves, he split us up in pairs to do monologues. There was an even number of males and females, so that’s how we were paired. Boy, girl, boy, girl.
We stood in a circle on the stage.
My partner was this white kid who was cute in a young ’N Sync Justin Timberlake kind of way. We went over our lines and were applauded. And it felt good. Just like that, I was back in my element.
“And your name is . . .?”
My ears perked up at the sound of a raspy yet sexy voice. Slowly, my head moved, and my eyes landed on the chocolate cutie across from me.
Damn, how did I miss him? I wondered. He wasn’t cute. Homeboy was fine. I had been floating from the feeling of acting out. My lines had to have been the reason I missed out on seeing him. My eyes were damn sure glued to him now. He wasn’t Prentice by far but still fine in his own right. He had to feel me watching him because he looked in my direction and winked before I shyly turned away.
Professor Mack directed a few more monologues before dismissing the class. I couldn’t wait for Wednesday as I looked forward to coming back.
“Excuse me.” A light tap on my shoulder halted my steps and forced me to turn around. I had barely made it to the middle of campus when I was stopped.
“He-hey,” I spoke, shocked to see the dark-skinned cutie from my class.
“I’m Damian. We just got out of class together.”
“I know. I’m Aúrea,” I smiled.
“Pretty name for a pretty woman.”
“Thank you.”
“So, if I’m too straightforward, you can let me know. I was wondering if you didn’t have another class, could I treat you to lunch?” He smiled, and damn if it wasn’t beautiful. There was something about a chocolate man with straight white teeth.
“Uh, I . . . uh . . .”
“It’s just lunch. I mean, unless you’ve eaten already. If so, we could do dinner later.” He put his hands in the pockets of his navy-blue Abercrombie joggers and shrugged his shoulders up innocently, grinning like he knew I couldn’t deny him.
&nbs
p; “Where would we go for lunch?” A quick meal wouldn’t hurt, and all I was doing was having food with a classmate. Besides, it felt good having a guy other than Prentice swoon after me, and it had been way too long since I’d been intimate . . . not saying Damian was about to get my goods, though. But it was a possibility if he played his cards right and we got to know each other.
“There’s a little diner right across from campus. We can walk there.”
“Okay. I’m new here, so do you mind leading the way?”
“Not at all.”
Damian reached his hand out to me, and I frowned.
“I’ll carry your bag. It’s a little soon for the holding hands part, ain’t it?” he laughed.
“Oh, shoot. I’m sorry.” Quickly, I removed my backpack from my left shoulder and gave it to him, feeling dumb as hell. One thing my ass knew how to jump to lately was conclusions.
“It’s cool. Come on.” He smiled, easing the tension.
As we walked, I slipped my hand into his, catching him by surprise. He looked at me with raised brows, and I smiled.
“How many classes are you taking?”
“Just one for now. I’m trying to get back into the swing of things, so taking this short-term class is my way of doing so. Eventually, I’ll enroll full time.”
“That’s dope. Here’s the place right here.”
We walked into a place called JJ’s Diner, and the smell of barbecue hit my nose as soon as the door opened.
“Something smells so good.”
“Everything here is pretty good. My favorite is the tri-tip sandwich. That’s what you smell. They smoke it out back for hours.”
“I may try it.” We sat down, looking around, and I opened my menu. The place was nice, decorated in orange, purple, and white, the same colors as the school mascot. There was only a couple of waitresses, which was why we seated ourselves, and the menus were waiting at the table.
“It’s always my go-to. If you want, you can try some of mine and choose something else for yourself.”
“That’s sweet of you.” My cheeks heated up. Damn, I’m blushing.
“So, this what we doing, A?” Slowly, I turned my head to look behind me because I just knew I had to be tripping. Sure enough, when my eyes landed on Prentice looking like a tall glass of ice water on a hot-ass day, I knew I wasn’t tripping. His hair was freshly lined, face smooth and moisturized like he sweated cocoa butter, and bushy eyebrows intact over his brown eyes underneath his lashes that I would pay to have on my face. He was dressed casually yet expensive as always in a black Fendi T-shirt, blue jeans, and black-and-white retro 13 Jordans. I think they were . . . Yep, I had just taken all of him in that fast because there was no way to look at Prentice and not observe all of him before going back to his face. A full view of Prentice was never disappointing.
