Her Good Thing

by Vanessa Miller

  “Well, dear, the man clearly wants more from you than just a hook-up, as you young people say. And I certainly can’t be mad at him for that.”

  Danetta wanted to tell her aunt how she knew that that wasn’t true. Marshall didn’t mind hooking up with women. He just didn’t want any part of her. But that would have been more humiliation than she could stand.

  “I have always thought that you and Marshall would make a wonderful couple,” Sarah beamed.

  “It’s not going to happen, so you can get that out of your head. Marshall clearly wants nothing to do with me.”

  “I think you’re seeing this all wrong. Why don’t you pray for God to reveal Marshall’s true feelings for you?”

  Danetta balked. “Are you joking?”

  Sarah leaned back against her pillows. “No, I’m not. If Marshall doesn’t know what’s good for him by now, God can surely reveal it to him.”

  “Well I’m not about to pray to God for no man or anything else for that matter. I have taken care of myself for a long time now and I will take care of this problem without the help of some so-called supreme power, thank you very much.”

  The room went silent. Nothing but the beep of the monitors could be heard for a long while. After a moment, Sarah broke the silence. “In the book of Daniel, there are three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These three Hebrew boys loved God kinda the way you used to love Him before your mama went home. Anyway, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego wouldn’t bow down to the king nor would they worship the golden images the king thought were some kind of gods.

  “So, one day the king threatened to have them thrown into a fiery furnace unless they bowed down to him and his gods. The king told them that their God wouldn’t be able to rescue them from such a thing.”

  “I think I’ve heard this story before.”

  Aunt Sarah ignored her. “But those three Hebrew boys didn’t pay the king no mind. They told him that even if their God didn’t rescue them from the furnace, they still believed that He was able and that was good enough for them.”

  “So what’s your point, Auntie?”

  “My point is, you’ve lost your even-if-I-don’t-see-it-come-to-pass-I-still-believe-He’s-able kind of faith that causes God to move on your behalf.”

  What could she say? Her aunt was right. She hadn’t thought about God, the Bible or church for so long now that there was no way she could claim to have faith in anything but herself anymore. And truth be told, Danetta didn’t much care. She didn’t need some invisible God in the sky.

  “After I saw how much it bothered you to come into this hospital last night, I prayed and prayed, asking God why the hospital that was closest to my home had been filled to capacity, and therefore I had to be brought here. And after much prayer, I figured out why I’m here.”

  “You have three clogged arteries, that’s why you’re here,” Danetta told her, not wanting to listen to any more.

  “I know my arteries are clogged. I’m talking about the reason I’m at this particular hospital. It’s for you, Danetta.”

  “For me!” Danetta exploded at the ludicrous statement. “Exactly how much pain medicine do they have you on, Auntie?”

  “Not enough, however much it is. Now be quiet and let me tell you what I know.” She looked at Danetta with sorrowful eyes, as she said, “God showed me that you didn’t just lose your mother in this hospital...you lost your faith here also. And He’s going to use me and my situation to bring it back.”

  If anything, her aunt’s situation was making her angry at God all over again. Here He was, trying to take somebody else away from her, and her aunt thought that she was suddenly going to bow down and thank Him for this. The nurse came in to take her aunt’s temperature and blood pressure, saving her from having to respond to all the nonsense she’d just heard. She wanted to tell the nurse to ease up on the pain medication, but didn’t want to cause her aunt more pain, just to stop all the crazy talk.

  Danetta ate her brownies for breakfast. When it was time for lunch, she put her shades on to walk to the cafeteria, but Aunt Sarah asked if she would try to walk to the cafeteria without her shades. Danetta tried and succeeded. She ate her wheat donuts after lunch, so by three in the afternoon, she was in need of another sugar fix. Danetta left the hospital and stopped at the donut shop around the corner from her house. She was thankful that it was Friday so she didn’t have to worry about going to work and facing Marshall the next day.

  * * *

  Marshall knew he was in trouble the moment he saw the devastated look on Danetta’s face. He’d gotten out of his car and began walking to her car so that they could talk. He knew that she was thinking he had slept with Marissa, when nothing could be further from the truth. He and Marissa had such a good conversation on the way to pick up his car from Kevin’s house that he invited her to follow him home. He’d fixed burgers and fries for them and they’d continued talking.

  At no time during the night had he made a move to sleep with Marissa, nor had she tried anything with him. But something magical had happened last night; he and Marissa had become friends. She’d actually offered him and Danetta the chance to bid on an advertising project with her company. During the night he’d confessed to Marissa, and himself, that he felt as if he was falling in love with his business partner—why else would he have been so upset about the fact that she wasn’t interested in a commitment from him?

  Marissa had suggested that he tell Danetta how he felt, and Marshall had planned to do just that, but she drove like the devil himself was after her as he walked down his driveway toward her car. Marshall got in his car and drove to work, thinking that he would be able to talk to Danetta there, but just as he was about to knock on Danetta’s office door, Monica came back to her desk, cup of coffee in hand.

  “She’s not in.”

  “Is she running late?” Marshall asked casually.

  “No. She’s going to spend the day with her aunt at the hospital.”

  “Oh, okay,” Marshall said as he walked away. He didn’t want to call Aunt Sarah’s room and disturb her while she was trying to rest, so he called Danetta’s cell. It went straight to her voice mail. He called her cell ten times within a two-hour time span, but it continued to go straight to her voice mail. Marshall had left a few messages, but decided to stop after message number three.

  By the time he put his phone down and decided to concentrate on work, his secretary buzzed him. “What’s up, Stephanie?” he asked as he answered the intercom on his desk.

  “You have a visitor at the front desk.”

  “Who is it?”

  Sheepishly, Stephanie said, “The guard said it’s Veronica.”

  “Oh my lawd.” Marshall stood up. He rubbed his temples as he tried to decide what to do...call the police or confront his stalker. He was a man. He wasn’t going to just let some boo-boo the fool punk him out like this. Veronica might know how to act crazy...slashing tires and keying cars, but he had a few tricks of his own. He opened his office door and headed for the elevator like a man with a plan.

  When he made it to the lobby and Veronica was standing next to the guard’s desk holding up a picnic basket and a big smile, he halted his stride. Just how crazy was this woman?

  “Happy Friday,” she said in a singsong voice.

  Veronica used to bring him lunch on Fridays when they were dating. He’d greedily eaten every morsel of the food at that time, but now that he knew what he did about this woman, he’d sooner eat cat food than anything in that basket. “You do know that I have a restraining order against you, right?”

  “You still have to eat.” Her words were still singsongy.

  Whether he would admit it or not, Marshall’s knees were knocking together. At that moment he was thankful that he didn’t have a pet. Veronica probably would have boiled it up and then tried t
o serve his own pet to him for lunch. “I’m not hungry. And you need to get out of here before I call the police.”

  “Why so hostile, baby? Tell mama whatsamatter, so I can make it all better.”

  Marshall made eye contact with the guard and said, “Call 911.”

  The flashlight cop actually looked offended that Marshall hadn’t asked him to handle the situation. As he flexed his steroid biceps, he said, “I can take care of this, Mr. Windham.”

  Marshall spoke to the guard as if Veronica wasn’t standing right there holding up her picnic basket and smiling like she was in a Colgate commercial. “Look, Ronnie, I’m sure you’re very capable, but we’re dealing with a real live nutty-buddy right here. I need an officer with a gun and some handcuffs.”

  “Stop playing, Marshall. I’m sorry about slashing your tires.”

  “And keying my car?”

  “Yeah, that, too,” she said as if she’d just admitted to sneaking an extra cookie.

  “I see what you mean,” Ronnie said as he and his biceps went back behind the desk and picked up the phone.

  Veronica’s face dropped as she lowered the picnic basket. “Are you really going to let him call the police on me, baby?”

  “I’m not your baby. Don’t you get it? We are over. And if we hadn’t been over before, all this stalking you’ve been doing has surely made me think twice about ever getting involved with you again.”

  Tears streamed down Veronica’s face. “But we were good together.”

  Marshall shook his head. “Not that good.” Veronica had been a poor man’s substitute for Danetta. Like ordering chicken when you were hungry enough to eat steak and lobster, but couldn’t afford what your taste buds were screaming for. When Danetta had come to him back in college wanting to hook up, Marshall had known then that being with a woman like Danetta would cost him much more than he could afford to pay at that time. So, he’d spent a lifetime settling for less than what his heart really wanted.

  “B-but, but—”

  He held up a hand. “Look Veronica, I’m not trying to hurt you, but you really need to understand something. It is simply this...I will never take you back. It really has nothing to do with what you did to my car. The truth is, I just don’t want to be with you. And nothing you do is going to make me want you back. Do you understand?”

  As if a miracle was unfolding right before his eyes, Veronica’s eyes lit with understanding. She set the picnic basket on the guard’s desk and began walking to the door. She said, “I won’t bother you again.” Without looking back at him, she walked out of the door and out of his life.

  Marshall and Ronnie both let out a sigh.

  “Man, I thought she was going to pick up the letter opener on my desk and gut you. I wouldn’t have ever been that honest with a psycho crazy woman like that.” Ronnie said, while fist bumping Marshall, “You’re my new hero.”

  Marshall didn’t want to be anybody’s hero. He just wanted to be left alone. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. There was one woman in his life that he wanted to be bothered with every day from here until eternity. He made up his mind, right then and there, that he was going to clear up a few things on his desk and then go to Danetta’s house and sit and wait on her like a stalker. He just hoped that she loved him enough to listen to what he had to say.

  Chapter 15

  Danetta’s mouth was watering as she stood in line getting ready to order a half dozen brownies covered with chocolate icing and macadamia nuts sprinkled on top, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and found Stan the flex-hour man. He was wearing a suit and tie, holding on to a binder in one hand and a donut box in the other. Stan was looking so good to her, standing there in business attire, like a man with a plan rather than a man in need of health insurance that she forgot all about those chocolate goodies behind the donut counter and her mouth started watering for him. “Stan, what are you doing on this side of town?” she asked as she stepped out of line.

  “I had a meeting with a client. He lives on Nina Lee Lane, so he wanted to meet here.”

  “You’re kidding, I live on Nina Lee Lane,” Danetta said and then clamped her mouth shut. She couldn’t believe that she’d just told a guy she barely knew which street she lived on.

  “Hey, how’s your aunt doing?” Stan asked as he guided her over to an empty table.

  They sat down. “She needs surgery. It’s her heart.”

  “That’s too bad.” He shook his head at the sad news. “How are you holding up?”

  Stan was acting as if her issues mattered to him, and she liked that. Maybe she misjudged him during their first date. “To tell you the truth, I’m not doing so good. Having to see my aunt in that hospital bed is one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in a long while.”

  “Sounds like you need a sugar fix.” He lifted the box he’d been holding. “I have brownies and donuts.”

  Flirting a bit with her eyes, Danetta slung her hair back and asked, “Are you trying to get another date out of me?”

  He leaned in closer. “I’d love another date with you, especially since I’m celebrating.”

  “What are you celebrating?”

  “My client just signed off on the contract for a serious remodel to his house. So, the work will keep me busy for the next month.” Stan smiled at his good fortune, and his dimples did a little dance.

  This pretty boy had it going on. Dimples and a job...what else could she ask for? Although a date with Stan was sounding real good right about now, she just wasn’t up for it. “I’m exhausted right now and just want to go home and rest.” She stood up. “Why don’t you give me a call next week and we can go out to dinner or something.”

  “Or,” he said with those deep dimples showing again, “you could invite me over...offer me some coffee or tea and I’ll share my treats with you.” He shook the box in her face trying to entice her to seeing things his way

  His eyes told her that he was interested in more than health insurance today, and he suddenly looked quite irresistible. She threw caution to the wind, pointed to her car just outside the donut shop and said, “I have tea. Follow me home and make sure you bring those brownies with you.”

  “Well then, let’s get going.” He opened the door and held it as Danetta walked out of the donut shop.

  As Danetta pulled out of the parking lot, she began having second thoughts. Did she really want to hook up with Stan? She didn’t know much about Stan, and even though he acted as if he had sense today, she hadn’t been all that impressed with their first meeting. But then she thought about how Marshall rejected her. The sting of that rejection propelled her forward. She drove home with Stan following behind.

  * * *

  Marshall rarely left work early. He believed in playing hard, but working harder. However, the day had been a bust for him. He just hadn’t been able to get the look on Danetta’s face out of his mind. She appeared so wounded this morning after seeing him with Marissa. The worst part about the entire scene was that Danetta had it all wrong this time. He hadn’t been running around sowing his oats. He’d been making amends for the wrong he’d done to a really nice woman who, under other circumstances, he might be inclined to start up a relationship with.

  Right now all he wanted to do was clear the air with Danetta and help her to understand that he was not the same man who had turned her down in college. He had very different motives for what he said last night; Marshall just hoped that Danetta was in a listening mood. Shoot, who was he fooling, he really hoped that she was in the same mood she was in last night before he lost his mind and made a mess of everything.

  He pulled up in front of Danetta’s house and turned off his car. Marshall was prepared to wait a lifetime on Danetta if need be.

  * * *

  As Danetta pulled into her driveway, she noticed Marshall par
ked in front of her house. She saw the smile on his face as he got out of his SUV and began walking toward her. Then Stan pulled into the driveway behind her and the smile left Marshall’s face.

  He opened her car door and demanded, “What’s this dude doing here?”

  Defiantly, she said, “I invited him over. Why? Where’s the woman you were with this morning?”

  Reflexes curled Marshall’s fist as Stan got out of the car and headed toward Danetta. “What’s this supposed to be, some sort of revenge against what you think I did?”

  “Is everything all right, Danetta?” Stan asked as he approached.

  Marshall turned on him. “No, everything is not all right.”

  “Ignore him, Stan. Come on, let’s go in the house so we can get comfy.” Danetta made the word comfy sound X-rated as she grabbed Stan’s arm and walked him to the front door.

  Marshall buffed up and walked with them into the house. “Oh, well then we all must be about to get comfy in here. Because we are not about to play this game, D.”

  Danetta was still holding on to the doorknob as she tried to usher Marshall back out of the house. “Go home, Marshall. What I do with my personal life does not concern you.”

  Marshall harrumphed. “You’ve lost your mind if you believe that.” He pointed from Danetta to Stan and said, “This is not about to go down. Not before you hear me out.”

  “I don’t have anything to say to you, Marshall. Now please leave. I have company.”

  Stan lifted a hand as he began walking back toward the front door. “Look, obviously you two have some drama going on that needs to be resolved.” He stepped out of the door that Danetta had been holding open for Marshall. “Danetta, give me a call after you resolve...” he waved a finger between Danetta and Marshall, “whatever you’ve got going on here.”