“You better be celibate too, Arykah.”
“Girl, please.”
“Don’t girl please me. We always do things together.”
“Some things, not all things. Shopping, dieting, getting our hair and nails done are things we do together. But saying no to a gorgeous man? No way, sis. I can’t roll with you on that one.”
Monique laughed. “I can’t believe you said that.”
“I need deliverance, pray for me. What do you wanna eat tonight?”
“How about pizza?”
“Pizza, Monique? I told you I sold not one, but two houses, and you want pizza?”
“Well, since you got it like that, let’s go to Gibson’s Steak House on Rush Street.”
“Let’s do the darn thing.”
“So big spender, how much did the houses sell for?” Monique asked Arykah after the waiter had seated them in a booth.
“One estate in Olympia Fields sold for six hundred thousand, and the other in Orland Hills sold for four hundred-eighty thousand.”
“How much of that goes into your pocket?”
“Ten percent of each sale.”
Monique did the math. “So you’re one hundred eighty grand richer than you were on yesterday?”
“Give or take a few thousand, yes,” Arykah said proudly.
Monique snapped her fingers in the shape of the letter Z. “All right. Independent women are doing it for themselves. So when are you gonna settle down and share your wealth with a husband?”
“When one can match my income. I’m not taking care of a man; it’s his job to take care of me. What I want is a rich man who’s blind and deaf.”
“Arykah, that’s crazy,” Monique said.
“No, it’s not. I would love to have a husband who can’t hear me when I tell him I’m going to the mall or can’t see the Visa statement when it comes in the mail, but can afford to pay for my shopping spree.”
They were laughing when the waiter brought their drinks to the table. “Are you ladies ready to order?”
Arykah opted for a steak and lobster tail platter. On the menu, Monique saw that it cost $250. She was going to settle for the forty-five dollar chicken Caesar salad. She looked across the table at Arykah. “Uh, just so we’re clear, this is your treat, right?”
“Yes, it is.”
“I’ll have what she’s having,” Monique told the waiter.
When he walked away, Arykah buttered a hot roll and bit into it. “So how is Adonis?”
“Adonis is wonderful. He’s working in Detroit today.”
“Why Detroit?”
“A tornado ripped through the city yesterday and did a lot of damage. I saw it on the news this morning. Power lines are down all over the place.”
“Wow, he could be there for a while. Can you survive that?” Arykah asked.
“How many times do I have to tell you that Adonis ain’t—”
“My man.” Arykah finished Monique’s statement.
“That’s right, he’s not,” Monique confirmed.
“But does Adonis know he’s not your man? He may feel the amount of money he’s shelling out and all the time you spend with him constitutes as being your man.”
Monique rotated the diamond bracelet around her wrist. “Adonis and I have talked, and we have an understanding.”
The waiter brought their salads to them.
“So do you know if Boris went to Detroit too?” Arykah asked.
“Heck no, that fool didn’t go. He didn’t go to work today either.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I went to the house to get my date planner, and he was there. He was drunk and loaded.”
Arykah was in the midst of pouring blue cheese dressing onto her salad but paused. “What? He’s back on drugs?” Arykah had once been a witness to one of Boris’s mood swings when he was under the influence. “He clowned today, didn’t he?”
“Yep, he asked who put the rims on my car, then he grabbed my wrist and grilled me about this bracelet. I knew he was getting ready to snap, so I tried to get out of the bedroom, but he pinned me against the wall in the hallway. Then he started kissing me and saying how much he missed me, and he wanted me back home. He tried to unbutton my blouse, and that’s when I kneed him where it hurts.”
Arykah’s mouth was wide open listening to Monique. “Oh my God. What happened next?”
“I slapped his face. He apologized, then I left.”
“Thank God you were able to get away from him, but you know Boris is getting ready to flip the script, don’t you?”
“What do you mean?”
“The new rims and bracelet put something on his mind. Before today, Boris didn’t know another man existed in your life. He doesn’t have any solid proof, but trust me; he knows someone is sniffing you. That’s why he behaved the way he did today. I bet if you started paying attention and glance in your rearview mirror from time to time, you’ll see Boris’s Navigator at least two cars behind you. Get ready for the ‘I’m sorry’ phone calls.”
“You think so, Arykah?”
“Girl, I know so. Boris is a man, and they never vary from the ‘I’ll do anything to get you back’ script. Men can’t take the fact that even though they are the ones who messed up, the women they wronged are being treated right by another man.”
“That is so true. My Nana in Louisiana had a saying: ‘You don’t miss your water ‘til your well runs dry.’”
“Trust me, sis. Boris’s throat is feeling parched right about now. You and Adonis need to play it cool from now on, because Boris is gonna be on you like yellow on pee.”
Monique laughed out loud. “Arykah, your mouth is something else.”
Arykah paid no attention to what Monique had just said to her. She kept on talking. “And the fact that he tried to get some nooky from you tells you that everything between him and Kita ain’t peachy. You need to tell Adonis what Boris did to you today.”
“Uh-uh. I can’t tell Adonis that Boris put his hands on me.”
“Why not?” Arykah asked.
“Because Adonis will put a serious hurting him.”
Arykah put a forkful of salad into her mouth and shrugged her shoulders. “So what’s the problem?”
Kita answered a knock at the door. She taught summer school, but was home sick today. “Who is it?”
“Boris.”
She exhaled loudly and opened the door. “What do you want?”
“I called the school earlier and found out you were home. What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m dizzy, and I’m puking my guts out, but other than that, I’m just peachy,” she answered sarcastically.
Boris stepped into the living room and closed the door behind him. “Where’s Cherry?”
“She’s going to church straight from work. What do you want, Boris?”
“I just came by to see how you’re doing.”
Kita looked into his eyes. “Are you high? Why would you come to my house when you’re high?”
The effects of Boris’s visit to Bubblegum earlier that day had yet to wear off completely. “Ain’t nobody high.”
“I can tell by your eyes and you can hardly pronounce your words. Did you drive here like that?”
“I told you I’m not high.”
“You are high, and I’m not gonna deal with you when you’re like this. Get out,” Kita demanded.
“What?”
She stood in his face. “I didn’t stutter. I said, get out.”
Boris stood still. “Nah, I ain’t going nowhere.”
Kita placed her hands on her hips. “You ain’t going nowhere? Oh, we’re gonna see about this.” She walked to the telephone on the cocktail table and dialed 911, then looked at Boris. “You’re getting your drunk behind out of here.”
“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” the operator asked her.
“Can you send the police to—”
Boris snatched the telephone cord from the socket and procee
ded to hold Kita hostage. He sat on the floor with his back against her living room door. He refused to let her leave the apartment or use the telephone. Kita got up from the sofa and went to the bathroom.
Boris followed and pushed the door open when she tried to close it.
“I gotta pee, Boris.”
“So pee.”
“We’re on the third floor. You think I’m gonna jump out of the window?”
Boris didn’t respond. He leaned against the doorway and folded his arms across his chest. Kita was forced to relieve her bladder in his presence.
“You’re acting real stupid, Boris. You can’t hold me hostage forever. What are you gonna do when Cherry gets home?”
He watched as she flushed the toilet and washed her hands. “Tell me what I wanna know, and I’ll leave. Whose baby are you carrying and how long have you been messing with Bubblegum?”
“Who I’m pregnant by ain’t your business. Don’t concern yourself with an issue that has nothing to do with you.”
“How do you know it’s not my baby?”
Kita laughed in his face. “Because I’m three months along. And you can’t make me happy, let alone pregnant. You don’t satisfy me, Boris. As soon as you leave my bed, somebody else comes right over to finish what you couldn’t.”
“If you ain’t satisfied, why are you with me?”
“With you? I ain’t with you.”
Boris was getting hotter by the moment.
“I don’t want your drunken, crack head behind, Boris. You think I’m gonna get with you so you can do the same crap to me that you did to Monique? The only thing you can do for me is what you’ve been doing, paying my bills.”
That comment infuriated Boris, and it sent him into a rage. For the second time in one day, he wrapped his hands around a woman’s throat and pinned her against the wall. But unlike Monique, Kita was from the streets. As soon as Boris slammed her back against the wall, she swung her left fist at his eye. Immediately, he released her, but she kept swinging. The second punch was openhanded. Three of her acrylic coated fingernails left long scratches on Boris’s face. He yelled out in pain and felt the welts on his jaw.
He saw blood on his hand. “You crazy broad.” “Oh, I’m a broad today, huh? Well, I’ma show you just how crazy this broad is.” Kita ran into the kitchen and pulled a large butcher knife from the cutlery. By the time Boris caught up with her, she was standing flatfooted with the knife in her hand ready for him to make a move.
Boris looked at the knife and chuckled. “What are you gonna do, Kita, stab me?”
“I will dice up your crack head behind like bell pepper and onion. You wanna fight? Come on with it.”
After the early dinner with Monique, Arykah attended a finance meeting at the church. As she was leaving, she looked into the sanctuary and saw the praise dancers rehearsing. Cherry was conducting the routine, but her sidekick was nowhere to be seen. When Arykah turned to leave, she bumped into a woman who was coming out of the ladies room. “Excuse me . . . Tracy, right?”
“Yes, I’m Tracy, and you’re Erica?”
“Actually, it’s Arykah. It’s pronounced like Eureka, the vacuum, but it’s with an A. I was looking for Kita Mitchell. Is she rehearsing tonight?”
“Kita won’t be dancing or singing for a while.”
Arykah’s eyebrows rose. “Oh, really? Why is that?”
“She’s been sat down because uhh . . . ” Tracy paused, then made a gesture with her hands forming a bump on her belly.
“Tracy, it’s time for your dance solo,” Cherry announced sternly from the sanctuary door.
“It was nice talking to you, Arykah.” Tracy walked into the sanctuary.
Cherry stood with her arms folded across her chest, glaring at Arykah. Arykah turned the corners of her mouth upward in a slight sneer, indicating to Cherry that she didn’t get to Tracy fast enough. The beans had been spilled. Cherry watched as Arykah turned on her heels and sashayed out of the church.
Arykah couldn’t get all the way in her car before she dialed Monique’s hotel room. “Girl, are you sitting down?”
Monique lay across her huge bed watching television while enjoying a pint of Chunky Monkey ice cream. “Why do you ask?”
“I just had an interesting conversation with Tracy.”
“Who’s Tracy?”
“She’s the newest praise dancer. When I left the finance meeting I peeked in the sanctuary and noticed Kita wasn’t practicing with the other dancers, then I bumped into Tracy on my way out of the church. I asked if she knew where Kita was. She said Kita won’t be dancing or singing for a while.”
“Why?” Monique asked.
“She’s pregnant.”
“Did Cherry say anything to you?”
“That tramp knows better.”
“Humph, so Kita is pregnant, huh?” Monique was glad that she’d made the right decision to call off her wedding to Boris.
“Yep. That broad is pregnant,” Arykah said.
“I wonder if Boris knows.”
“Probably so. That could be the reason he was jacked up and acting crazy this morning.”
“You know what, Arykah? You could be right.”
“I’m willing to bet my commission check on it.”
Chapter 11
On Tuesday morning, Monique lay in her bed watching the six o’clock news. The anchorwoman on NBC Channel 5 announced that more than half of the city of Detroit was without electricity or telephone service. “If you look over my right shoulder, you will see a path of destruction the F4 twister left behind. Thousands are homeless; seventy-four people are confirmed dead, and that number is expected to rise due to the number of people who are still unaccounted for. President Obama has declared a state of emergency. Policemen, firefighters, as well as electricians from the entire state of Michigan and nearby states have volunteered their services. Rescue workers have labored all through the night and are still working tirelessly, cleaning up debris. These men and women of honor are going above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that every name among the missing persons list is accounted for. You are looking at approximately three million dollars worth of damage, and that number is expected to rise as well. It could be weeks before the city, affectionately known as Motown, is up and running again. Reporting live from Detroit, I’m Latricia Collins.”
Monique felt a queasiness rumbling through her abdomen. She silently prayed that God would bring healing to the city of Detroit. She couldn’t imagine having had her family and everything she’d built snatched away in the blink of an eye. Monique dialed Adonis’s cellular telephone, but was unsuccessful in reaching him. She thought about the conversation she had with Arykah on yesterday.
“Wow, he could be there for a while. Can you survive that?”
A few days without Adonis would be a piece of cake, but weeks without him was a different matter. Again, Monique dialed his cellular number and heard the familiar message. “Your call cannot be connected at this time. Please try your call again later.”
Monique sat up on the bed and exhaled. She didn’t know why she allowed herself to get so worked up over Adonis’s absence. They were only friends. She ran her fingers through her hair and spoke to herself. “Get a grip, Monique. He’s not your man.”
She got out of the bed and dragged her feet, which felt like twenty-pound weights, into the bathroom and started the water in the shower. While she was humming beneath the cascading water, she didn’t hear her telephone ring.
After a quick ten minute shower, Monique stepped from the tub and heard a familiar voice. Without even thinking of grabbing a towel, she ran and stood in front of the television soaking wet. Her heart pounded against the walls of her chest when she saw his face. She pressed the volume button on the remote control to hear him clearly.
“It grieves my heart deeply to see so many lives taken,” Adonis said.
The reporter spoke to him. “Tell me, Mr. Cortland, how has being here in the midst of destruction affe
cted you personally?”
“It has definitely humbled me. From day to day we take the gifts of life for granted. Being here watching these people search for their loved ones and reacting to their loss has shined a new light on how precious life is.”
“I’m sure Detroit appreciates your thoughtfulness and unselfishness in the part you’re playing to help make this place whole again.”
“I’m honored to have been asked to help.”
The reporter looked into the camera. “There you have it, folks. Adonis Cortland is an electrician who came all the way from Chicago, and he’s just one of many who volunteered his time. I’m Latricia Collins for Channel 5 News.”
Monique lowered the volume on the television and heard a beep come from her cellular telephone. She saw that someone had left a message. She prayed it was from Adonis as she dialed her voicemail.
“Good morning. I was wondering if you’d consider having dinner with me tonight. I’m on my way to work. Call me when you get this message. I love you, and I miss you.”
Disappointed that the caller wasn’t Adonis, Monique erased the message and threw the cellular phone on the bed. She went into the bathroom to dry off. “You must be out of your doggone mind, Boris.”
Arykah had a few choice words when Monique filled her in on Boris’s message. “Heck no, you won’t consider having dinner with him. Boris is a baby late and a diamond tennis bracelet short. You won’t even sit and fart with him, let alone eat with him. I’ll tell you what you need to consider, Monique. Consider the fact that Boris is quick to dismiss your feelings and only focuses on his own when he decides to ‘do tha fool’. Consider how he openly disrespects and embarrasses you in public. And consider how he conveniently gets his act together when he runs out of options. After you’ve considered all of that, call that fool and tell him that you will not have dinner with him.”
Just after lunchtime, Theresa set a bouquet of roses on Monique’s desk.
“Who are those from?” Monique asked.
“I didn’t steam the envelope open, but my guess is Adonis.”
Monique excitedly stood and sniffed a single rose as she tore open the envelope and pulled out the small card. Even during a crisis in Detroit, Adonis still found time to send her roses.
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