Hitta's Tea Maker

by Edwina Fort

  I put my hand over my face shaking my head. “Wow!”

  A loan… Unbelievable. But then I asked him about her working for him.

  “But why do you have your ex-girlfriend working at your gym anyway. I’m not going to lie, that threw me.”

  He chuckled… “Why didn’t you say something, shawty? I would have kicked her a** to the curb a long time ago. For real… After she and I broke up, she came to me crying, asking me how she supposed to keep up with all the bills she acquired while we were together. Sh*t, I told her a** it ain’t my problem. But then she got to going on about how I was heartless and what not…and that I should help her ‘cause if not for me, these are bills she wouldn't have had on her own. And I thought about it…She was right. If not for me, she wouldn’t have gotten that nice a** whip…”

  For those of you out there who don’t speak Hitta, whip means car… LOL, over the last month, I’ve learned how to speak Hitta fluently like Wayne, something I’m very proud of…Anyway, back to the story.

  “If not for me, she wouldn’t have that nice a** apartment on the lake…so, I took pity on her and gave her a** a job.”

  At that point in the story, I was crying laughing because I thought he was going to say he paid off her car note or rent. Goodness, Hitta is a mess…

  “Little did I know, she was going to come in there trying to make me jealous by dressing all provocative and flirting with all my customers. But then I started seeing an influx in the numbers and realized…damn, she good fo’ business.”

  “How so?”

  He chuckled. “Let’s just say she keep all the fellas very happy and that keeps them coming back, which mean more money in my pocket.”

  My mouth opened in shock. “Hitta! That is so wrong. That makes you a pimp!”

  Of course, he took that as a compliment.

  He shrugged with fake humility. "Well, you know…somebody got to do it."

  He’d asked me if it would make me more comfortable if he fired her. And I’m telling y’all, it took everything I had in me to be the bigger woman and say no.

  The sad part about it was that she probably really did need that job. Like she told Hitta, she had to pay for all the stuff she acquired while they were together. Now many of you, like me, may ask…What kind of gold digger doesn’t get suspicious when the man that is supposed to be supporting you, sets up everything so that it's all in her name so that when he leaves, you’re left holding the torch?

  I know that I’m not the swiftest lady in the game…hell, I’d just lost my virginity a month ago. But to me, it doesn’t sound like she was that good of a gold digger…but I’m going to leave that alone. However, that brings me to the other reason that helped me be able to be the bigger woman and tell him I didn’t want him to fire her.

  And really, all it took was my emotions stabilizing enough for me to be able to look at Hitta's own actions to see how he felt about me and her.

  She walked around that gym half-naked and he didn’t blink an eye. That day, I had worn a whole dress with a strap that fell occasionally and a shawl and he’d acted like a little boy who didn’t want to share his toy. That spoke volumes.

  However, after I told him all what she’d said on the phone in the washroom, he got really angry and fired her anyway.

  And you know, although I was being the bigger woman and all…

  I was alright with his decision.

  The sound of his gentle snoring pulled me out of my thoughts. Poor baby could not fight that sleep any longer. I eased from under him, replacing my breasts with my pillow for his head.

  I looked down at him sleeping peacefully… He and I had been together going on two months and in that time, it felt like we've bonded together. I couldn’t imagine sleeping in a bed without him at night.

  Do you guys know that every morning I still wake up on top of his back clinging to him? Do y’all know that every night since coming to live with him, I’ve gotten a full night’s rest? My insomnia is gone… And it’s all because of him.

  Leaning down I gently kissed his head that smelled like my knockout herbal blend…Yeah, I loved my goon. I loved him very much…

  When he’d come into the shop today after my morning rush with his face distorted in pain, something shifted in me.

  You see, I’d studied his headaches and from what I could see, they came in three levels of intensity:

  Painful, which he said the tea I made him every morning to take to the gym normally took care of.

  Throbbing, which he said the tea did nothing for…Now, don’t laugh at my sweetheart when I tell y’all this, but remember I told y’all he can become a bit of a baby when he’s in pain. When his headache is throbbing, he comes and finds me, no matter where I am and press his face in some part of my body because he swears my scent make his headache go away.

  I don’t know if that’s true or not, but he seems to think so. The other day, I was at the shop and he walked in and pulled a chair to where I stood at the counter thumbing through the latest herb catalog from one of my favorite suppliers. He sat down behind me and wrapped his arm around my waist burying his face in my lower back.

  And I kid you not, he sat there till I feared he’d fallen asleep.

  Carmen laughed at him and told me that I had a giant baby attached to my hip…but he didn’t care, he didn’t move. And if we’re home, he would curl up and put his head in my lap.

  The other night while Jessie and I were watching The Gilmore Girls, Hitta lifted her and put her on the other side of me, then stretched out on the couch burying his face in my lap, seconds later he was asleep. So, I had to sit there and pretend that his deep breathing so close to my center was not driving me crazy.

  The third pain level was how he’d come in the shop today complaining that his head felt like it was going to explode. In the two months we’d been together, it had only happened once before, and the only thing I could think about doing was relaxing him in an herbal bath with my knockout blend.

  It had put him to sleep and he’d awakened pain-free. He’d been so grateful to me that he’d gotten Carmen to babysit and took me out for a night on the town, just him and I…which was a treat indeed.

  I prayed this time the same thing would happen and he wakes without the headache…but I feared his headaches were getting worse. I wish Greatie would come back so that I could ask her about them. The first month we were together, he could last the whole day on the tea I made him in the morning.

  Now, he came into the shop sometime after the afternoon rush for a refill. He’d become an official believer of my teas. He said everybody at the gym was talking about him behind his back because he was always walking around with the little flower teacup I’d given him in his hand, but he didn’t care. The only thing he cared about was living pain-free.

  I’d tried to give him another more masculine cup, but he wouldn’t take it.

  Anyway, I’d told him that story about king Saul for a reason. Not that I felt that God had rejected him like he did the old king…but to show him how God can allow evil spirits to plague us if we are not doing what pleases him. And somehow my tea is serving as a temporary fix, like King David’s musical instrument. But when he’s not drinking it, his pain comes right back.

  I don’t know if that’s the case…but I have a feeling that it’s something like that. Like I said, I wish Greatie would come back because that’s something that she would know.

  Carefully I eased out of the bed before texting Maddox and telling him that I was ready for him to pick me up and take me back to the shop.

  When Hitta had come in earlier complaining that his head felt like it was going to explode, I’d asked Summer if she would hold it down for me for a couple of hours while I drove him to the house and took care of him. She agreed but I knew she was a little leery because Hitta had handed me his truck keys to drive, which meant Maddox was going to be left there with her.

  Okay, so really quick, let me fill you guys in on a few more details about Summe
r. She wasn’t big on dealing with the men that hung around the shop. She understood that it was Hitta paying her check and although she was cordial with him, she didn’t’ speak to him much, but she spoke to him more than to the others because technically he was her boss.

  However, Wayne, Lannox, Maddox and the other fellas didn’t get so much as a hi or bye. Now, for the most part, they all were pretty cool about it, understanding that she'd obviously gone through something that had scarred her. Most of them didn’t push it.

  But Maddox…

  Maddox did not know what no meant…

  She takes the bus back and forth to work. Since most times he’s taking me home anyway, he’d offer to take her as well. She says no…

  Somehow, she ends up in the car with us anyway.

  Sometimes I’ll have lunch with Hitta, leaving her there alone and Maddox would ask her if she’d like for him to get her something to eat. She says no…

  Somehow, he ends up feeding her anyway.

  He asks her why she's crying, swearing that he will take care of whatever it is so that she doesn't have to cry anymore. She just rolls her eyes and pretends like he hasn't said anything at all…

  Hmmm… I don’t know this for sure, but something is telling me he’s going to follow through on that promise whether she wants him to or not. And just between you and me, I don’t think she’s as immune to his charm as she puts on.

  I think that smooth-talking Scottish man is breaking down her walls and she doesn’t know what to do about it.

  Over the last month, I’ve learned a lot about the twins, who are the head of Hitta’s security team. They may not be outward brutes like their boss… But they definitely had that killer instinct and it was clear Maddox was determined to get Summer…

  If he’s anything like his boss…It’s only a matter of time.

  However, that’s about all I can say on the matter. Outside of the fact that Summer, Carmen and I have grown really close…and that Summer Washington definitely has a story to tell…

  But she’s going to be the one to tell y’all, so be looking for that.

  **********

  “Checkmat---”

  “No!” I screeched practically throwing myself over the chess table to grab Hitta’s hand before he could knock down my king with his queen. “No, you’re cheating!”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, cuz I’m the one holding my hand trying to stop me from making my move.”

  “But I helped you! Because of me, you don’t have a headache anymore,” I whined like a little girl.

  He’d shown up shortly after my last customer in a great mood because he’d awakened with no headache. And just like he’d done the last time I helped him get rid of a splitting migraine, he’d gotten Carmen to come over and babysit Jessie so that he could take me out to dinner.

  I don’t know how he and I had ended up sitting in the two chairs before a roaring fire involved in an intense chess game.

  I pointed at him. “Don’t you say it!”

  He chuckled and put his queen down anyway, knocking my king to the side

  “Checkmate…”

  Still clutching his hand, I narrowed my eyes Clint Eastwood style and muttered, “Didn’t I tell you not to say that?”

  The cocky grin that came to his face was too much. “Baby, I can’t help it that I’m a better chess player than you. You supposed to say Checkmate…” He leaned closer and drawled the next words out in the most irritating way.

  “When you win the game…it’s the rules, I didn’t make it up.” His grin grew. “Hate the game, not the player, Teacup.” And then he winked.

  That was it! That was the icing on the cake. Before I knew what I was doing, I had his arm between my teeth and I was biting him hard.

  “Arghhh! Sh*t Angel!” he half yelled half laughed as he tried to pry his arm out of my mouth.

  I just bit down harder. I don’t know what had come over me. The only thing I knew is that I’d not been prepared to lose to him. I’d had this chessboard in the Tea Shop for nearly a year and a half, and in that time, I'd been challenged to thirty-six games…not once had I lost!

  Not once!

  And in one day, Hitta had broken my perfect record. I bit his arm harder.

  “Damn it, you savage a** girl!” he said before he curled his arm bringing my whole body crashing into his lap.

  Using his other hand, he tickled me until I released his arm due to my laughter.

  “You trying to hurt me?” he muttered in my ear continuing to tickle me until I was laughing so hard I couldn’t control the embarrassing snorting.

  “Stop, Hitta!” I cried trying to escape from his lap, but he only wrapped his arm around me keeping my back pinned to his front.

  I was so short that my legs were drawn up and I was able to rest my feet on his knees. Good thing I kicked off my shoes after I got the fire started.

  “How did you get so good?” I sulked sounding like a spoiled little girl.

  “Rome…”

  Ahh! His best friend who Hitta and his crew swear is a real-life genius.

  “That guy has been spanking me in chess for years. When we first started playing as kids, I used to win sometimes, but after he started playing with his angel, I couldn’t beat him again. But because I’m competitive as hell, I never gave up.”

  Resting my head on his big shoulder I looked up at him as he talked. Hitta loved Rome. When he spoke of him you could hear it in his tone. I wish I’d gotten a chance to meet him. Whenever I asked Hitta where he is, he simply says…

  “He’s not with us anymore.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that! How did he die?”

  And that’s the question he never answers, he just changes the subject. I’ve come to the conclusion that Rome wasn’t dead, but that maybe he and Hitta had some kind of falling out.

  The bell dinged on the shop door reminding me that I’d forgotten to lock it back after Hitta had come in earlier.

  I looked up and my stomach clenched in anguish at the sight of Stan walking through the door. His angry gaze went to Hitta’s arms that were wrapped around me and I went to try and stand, but Hitta only tightened his hold.

  “Don’t f***ing think about it,” he growled in my ear.

  Stan came to a stop looking down at us, waiting for me to get out of Hitta’s lap. When he saw that it was not going to happen, he cleared his throat in a way that let us know that he thought we were being rude.

  “Diana died earlier today,” he muttered, still eyeballing Hitta’s arms around me.

  “What?! Oh my God!” I put my hand over my mouth startled by the pain his words brought.

  It was true that Diana had been jealous of me because Stan couldn't keep his eyes or his hands to himself, but there were times that things were alright between us. There were times where it almost felt as if we had a mother-daughter relationship.

  I relaxed back into Hitta’s arms resting my head in the crevice of his neck, no longer wanting to look at Stan anymore. Because of him, poor Diana had died miserable. She had spent her whole life trying to live up to the image he’d set forth.

  She became obsessed with keeping up with the Joneses. We were the only black family in our neighborhood, and she wanted everybody to know that we deserved to be there. If someone down the way got a new pool, Diana would upgrade ours. If somebody hired a new lawn care service…she would hire a better one.

  Stan would show up at the house and tell her to prepare for guests within the hour.

  “Stan, why didn’t you call me sooner?” she would cry in panic.

  He’d just shrug and say, “Must have slipped my mind.”

  Then he’d go into his study and kick up his feet as she and I ripped and raced around the house trying to put together a small dinner party in only an hour.

  “You need to find Westly and let him know that his mother is gone and then the both of you need to come to the house and lend me a hand in planning her funeral.”

  His disgusted gaze f
ell back on Hitta’s hand that was now rubbing my back in a soothing matter.

  “Come alone—”

  “Man, you can kill that because it ain’t happening! How about you worry about getting yo’ wife buried rather than worrying about sh*t you can’t change?”

  Still without looking up at Stan I clutched Hitta’s shirt, so glad he was with me.

  Stan shuffled on his feet, taking a step back toward the door. The coward probably did it subconsciously.

  “I’ve already told you; you’re not welcomed in my home. You step one foot on my property and I will have you arrested so fast your head will spin.”

  “And I’ve already told you…Where Angel go, I go. If I’m not welcomed, then she ain’t coming either.”

  “I understand that you might be a big deal on the streets, but my reach goes higher than your little ghetto…You don’t want me as an enemy.”

  I closed my eyes at Stan’s threat. What I’d feared was happening.

  Hitta grunted, not in the least ruffled by Stan’s words. “I ain’t worried about it.”

  “Oh! But you should be!” Stan’s voice shook with his anger.

  “And you should think about leaving before I get up from this chair.”

  “Angel, do you have anything to say about this-this savage behavior?” Stan bit out.

  My grip tightened on Hitta’s shirt. “You heard him. You should think about leaving…now,” I muttered, still without looking up at him.

  Stan drew himself up. “I see…” He turned to head for the door. “I guess I will see you at the funeral then, don’t worry about helping out your family, we’ll manage.” And then he was gone.

  “Are you going to tell me about Stan?” Hitta asked quietly after he left.

  “Please…can you just hold me? I don’t feel like talking about it.”

  “Yeah, shawty…I’ll let it go for now. But I’ll give you till after the funeral, and then you and me is sitting down and having a little talk… period.”