Cutting Loose

by Dash, Jayson

  Once the song came to an end they stood in place, still holding onto each other. Sabrina stared into Brett’s eyes, contemplating what it would be like to kiss on his luscious lips all night long. The thought ran shivers through her body. Eventually they walked over to the bar and sat down. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

  Brett turned to her and asked, “Would it be too forward if I asked for your phone number?”

  “Well, I guess not,” she said happily before reciting her cell phone number to him and receiving his.

  “So, when will I be able to see you again?” he quizzed, tucking his cell phone into his back pocket.

  She was about to give him an answer when Larissa and Cassandra rushed to her side reeking of too much alcohol; thank goodness Sabrina was still sober.

  Larissa said, “You won’t believe me when I tell you I met this fine guy named Jordan from my job who wants to give me a ride home. I don’t know if I should trust him or not.”

  “You obviously can’t drive yourself home. And you say know him from work so go ahead.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you later.”

  Cassandra leaned her head on her shoulder. “I’m ready to hit my pillow for some much needed rest. How about you?”

  “Um I—”

  Before she had the chance to think about it, out of the corner of her eye she saw a figure that looked very familiar to her. She looked towards the direction of the figure, which took the form of Carl. Instantly, an alarm went off inside her brain that told her to quit whatever she was doing and get the hell out of there, even if it was just a figment of her imagination.

  She grabbed Cassandra by the wrist and said, “We have to go—like, now.” On her way to the door she yelled back to Brett, “I’ll call you soon.”

  She ran to the car, jumped in and sped to her house and called it a night. Her heart was still beating once she was able to lie down and pray that sleep would come and take over her.

  Chapter Six:

  Shooting the Breeze

  “Almost there,” cheered Sabrina to Cassandra as they sprinted towards the end of the track that they had been running their three and a half mile run on.

  “Whew! I needed that run,” exclaimed an out of breathe Cassandra when they began their cool down exercises. “Shit, I’m so out of shape it’s not even funny.”

  “Out of shape?” laughed Sabrina. “Girl, you are not out of shape.” She turned towards her right and said, “See that hot mess over there—that’s out of shape.”

  Cassandra exploded with laughter once she saw a guy as big as a house sitting on a nearby bench stuffing his face with a greasy hamburger from a fast food joint and sipping from a large cup in between bites.

  Cassandra said, “He is dead-wrong for eating that nasty-looking food as big as he is and at a damn park, no less!”

  “If I ever get like that, please put me out of my misery,” said Sabrina as she watched in disgust as the obese guy continued to indulge in his artery-clogging burger.

  Just looking at him made Sabrina cringe and made her stomach feel like it was turning into a knot. It wasn’t the simple fact that he was enjoying his food that annoyed her; it was the fact that he was clearly overweight and had the nerve to be eating it at a park where most people come to try to lose weight—not gain it. And he appeared to be in no position to lose weight, hell; he wasn’t even dressed to go walking in his orange t-shirt and black ketchup-stained jeans.

  “Rina, please. You don’t even have to worry about getting fat ‘cause it’s not in your genes to get fat; nobody from your family that I’ve met is fat so you straight. You don’t even need to work out with that killer body of yours; your arms are nice and toned like your cellulite-free thighs and your abs—plain and simple, you have an amazing body!”

  “Thanks,” said Sabrina. “If I didn’t know you like I do, I’d take you for a lesbian.”

  Cassandra gave her a tap on the shoulder and snapped, “Hey, I’m not a damn lesbian!” She crossed her arms over her chest and countered, “If I didn’t know you any better I’d think you were a thirty-two year old virgin.”

  Sabrina playfully bumped her shoulder. “Whatever. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

  “I’m just letting you know I’m not a lesbian. When was the last time you had any sex? Oh, let me see, months ago!” She laughed and added, “I know you probably got cobwebs down there.”

  “Well, that won’t be the case much longer, thank you very much.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Cassandra looking puzzled.

  “As of last night, I might be going off of the market.”

  Cassandra paused before she said, “Hold on a sec. You mean to tell me you met a guy and didn’t inform me?” She gasped dramatically. “My feelings are genuinely hurt.”

  “Come on, Casey. You and Larissa both were drunk off y’all behinds and were too damn busy dancing to notice. And y’all were all up in the man face, especially you. Asking him if he had a twin and comparing him to the actor Ryan Reynolds, which isn’t a bad comparison at all, now that I think about it.”

  Cassandra laughed and said, “Oh, wait a minute. I kind of remember you talking to some dude but that’s all. When I get hammered it’s hard to remember stuff the next day.”

  “I see. Anyways, let’s finish up so I can get home and take a shower and go shopping.”

  “Hold up I’m not done with you yet,” said Cassandra stepping in front of Sabrina. “So what is he like?”

  “Can we finish?”

  “If you promise to take me shopping with you and tell me all about your new guy, then yeah.”

  “Fine, fine.”

  “Yes!” squealed Cassandra as she jumped up and down in excitement. “This is going to be fun.”

  Once they finished their cool down exercises they went their separate ways to their houses to shower and change. Once out of the shower Sabrina threw on a shirt and a crisp pair of jeans and headed out of the house.

  She and Cassandra met up some twenty minutes later at the nearby mall and window shopped for a few minutes before taking a moment to grab a bite to eat. Sabrina figure that would distract Cassandra from asking her questions but of course, it didn’t happen like she wanted it to.

  “So, tell me about this guy you met last night. Was he the guy I asked if he had a twin?”

  “I thought you said you didn’t remember anything from last night?”

  “I didn’t until it just came back to me, well some of it. I just know I had a hell of a good time. Some fool was blowing up my cell phone all day today. Hold on.” She pulled out her cell phone and went to talk away from the table.

  Even though Cassandra was a good, loyal friend, Sabrina hesitated to tell her about her encounter with Brett just for the simple fact that she wasn’t sure how she would react to her dating Brett. Sabrina was never the type of person to judge a book by its cover because that was the way her mother and stepfather Sean raised her to live, and for the most part, it helped. But not everybody in today’s world was ready to see a black girl dating outside of the norm. She didn’t that much life experience to know what the backlash would be like. Plenty of her friends always deterred away from upsetting their families, especially the ones that came from conservative families. In her high school days there was plenty of interracial dating and had her mother not forbade her to date, there’s no telling how things would have changed for her.

  At this point in Sabrina’s life, she didn’t give a damn about what anybody else’s opinion on who she dated, rather it be a black guy with a criminal background or a white guy with a degree from Harvard; when it came down to it, Sabrina felt none of that mattered except what a person had in their heart, not where they came from or what color their skin was.

  She thought back her sophomore year in college and a sorority sister happened to be dating a black guy studying to be a doctor. All would have been fine with everybody if she weren’t a blond girl from a small neighborhood who liked
dating out of her race. Everybody called her a gold digger just because of the way she looked and it got so bad to the point where she and the guy she was dating decided to switch schools to get away from the scrutiny and everybody’s criticism.

  Truth be told, Sabrina considered herself a strong women, but she didn’t think she was strong enough to endure the emotional roller coaster that her mother would send her on if she learned Sabrina was even interested in dating outside of her race. She would never hear the end of it.

  She brought herself from her thoughts where Cassandra was saying something. She hadn’t even noticed her friend had come back.

  “Earth to Sabrina!” she said, waving her hands in front of Sabrina’s face. “Snap out of it.”

  “My bad,” Sabrina said coolly. “I was thinking about some stuff.”

  “Stuff like what?”

  “Nothing really.”

  “Sure. So are you going to tell me about this new guy like you promised me?”

  “Yeah, yeah. He’s nice. I first met him at the grocery store when I was buying some stuff and the funniest thing happened which was rare. I forgot my purse in the car and he loaned me some money to pay for my groceries and next thing you know I accidentally bumped my cart into his car and scratched it a little bit. He gave me his business card and I wasn’t feeling him at first and then I ran into him again last night at the club.”

  “That sounds like fate to me. And trust me, I know all about fate. Girl, if you needed me to hook you up with somebody all you had to was say the word.”

  “No, thanks, Ms. Love Doctor. But I’m not so sure if I should consider dating him.”

  “Why not? Was there any chemistry between you and him?”

  “Yeah. The chemistry was there and everything but there’s something that might pose as a problem.”

  Cassandra waited a moment. “Don’t even start with the excuses. I see it every day; we always say we want a good man but when he comes along and there’s a flaw, we want to make up excuses. It can’t be that bad.”

  “No, not really. You know how certain individuals like to look at people who date outside their race with disdain and say it’s bad?”

  “I see what this is about. You thinking about taking that fine ass white guy you met at the club last night for a spin, aren’t you? No shame.” She giggled and leaned close. “I can’t believe I didn’t spot him before you. Actually, I did see him getting busy on the dance floor. Oh my God!” She clapped her hands together all excited and looked like her eyes were about to pop from their sockets.

  Sabrina couldn’t help but smile. She was surprised to see Cassandra react so nicely about it.

  “Just don’t tell Larissa yet, okay?”

  “How come?”

  “I don’t want to tell her just yet and I don’t think she will be as forgiving as you are; you’re a self-proclaimed matchmaker so you see this type of stuff all the time. Larissa on the other hand has this mindset that we black folks should stay in our own racial group and only date black people.”

  “Rina, what have I told you before about worrying about other people’s opinions? Just because she might think it is wrong to date outside your race doesn’t make her right or wrong; what matters most is your own opinion and how you feel about the person you are dating. In the end, you are going to be the one kissing and holding his hands—not Larissa or anybody else for that matter; who gives a fuck about what they think? I don’t.”

  Sabrina felt like a total idiot for doubting Cassandra in the beginning. But she loved her and the moral support she was able to offer at the best of times.

  There were many things Sabrina admired about Cassandra, but her wisdom for a person of her young age stood out the most. Also was the fact that Cassandra was always there first when things were going bad and she didn’t have anybody to turn to.

  Sabrina said, “That’s so true. But she wouldn’t understand. I mean, it’s not like she’s my mother. Speaking of which, I haven’t even told her yet. But there really isn’t anything to tell at this point. He called me at work and asked me if I was interested in going out with him this weekend for a date but I haven’t called him back yet.”

  “What are you waiting for? If it’s about the whole skin color issue, you need to just let that shit go. If you’re nervous about going on a date since it’s been a while, just take the jitters off. I’m sure once you get to know him, I’m sure he’ll win your heart over.” She reached into her purse and said, “You should take a look at this and it should help you out a lot.”

  Cassandra handed Sabrina a pamphlet that read: “Cassandra’s Do’s and Don’ts on Your First Date.”

  “This should be fun,” said Sabrina sarcastically. She opened the pamphlet and scanned the paragraphs. “What is the success rate with this thing you created?”

  “Four out of five clients found the information very useful.”

  “Good to know. But if it’s so useful, how come you don’t use it for yourself?”

  Cassandra waited a beat and said, “I do use it. But not religiously, you know?”

  “Well how come you keep chasing after these no-good men and keep ending up getting hurt?”

  “I wish I knew my damn self.”

  “Don’t worry, Casey. You will find somebody. Trust me, if I can start dating after what I’ve been through, you will find a man too.”

  Cassandra smiled. “I know. But I’m surprised you’re handling things so well after two years of romance with the guy you thought you were destined to be with. But I told you Carl was no good when y’all first got together. But you wanted to listen to that deranged mother of yours and look where it got you. And just to think, that idiot is getting married in a couple of months to that…bitch. If that was me, I would have chopped off his penis and killed the bitch he cheated with.”

  Sabrina laughed her ass off. “I’m not the love-struck teenager I was back in high school. Plus, he apologized and whatnot and he had the nerve to invite me to his wedding.”

  “Are you going?”

  “I don’t know. Should I?”

  “Why not go? Especially with this new guy you are dating; I’m sure Carl is going to be boiling with envy once he sees that you’ve moved on.”

  “That’s true. I don’t even miss that fool. Hell, the sex was terrible!”

  Cassandra laughed her ass off and said, “What? I thought you were always saying how good he was?”

  Sabrina laughed. “Hell no—it was all lies!”

  “So now the truth comes out,” said Cassandra coolly. “That’s a damn shame. Well in that case, I don’t see why that heifer wanted him so bad. If it wasn’t the sex, she must have been desperate. Or something else could be reason enough. Or she’s gold digging’ on his ass.”

  Sabrina paused. She and Cassandra both exchanged empty looks before she quizzed, “You don’t think he got that bitch pregnant and decided to leave me so he can marry that bitch so he wouldn’t look bad?”

  Cassandra chuckled and said, “Actually that’s sounds about right. What a moron!”

  It hit her so hard she had to take a moment to breathe. She refused to think about Carl and his bullshit. She was completely over him.

  “That’s fucked up but oh well. I guess I’ll call Brett when I get home and tell him I’m interested in a date.”

  “That’s good. I love that name, it sounds like it belongs to a handsome guy. You better get the ball rolling if you plan on having any children—you’ll be thirty-three in a few months.”

  “Please don’t remind me.” She looked at her watch and said, “Well, it’s getting close to dinner time and I’m hungry as hell.”

  “Me, too. I love this little thing we did. We should do it more often and next time maybe we should invite Larissa.”

  “Maybe,” said Sabrina, rising to her feet. “I’ll call you and tell you how things went if the date ever happens.”

  “What you mean ‘if’? Sabrina, you better stop playing games and get your man before anot
her bitch does!”

  “I’ll be damned!” She grabbed her purse and said, “While I’m here I might as well buy some new clothes for my date. And you can help me pick out something—but it has to be classy!”

  “Hey, you don’t have to worry, I’m a pro when it comes to this stuff. I’ll hook you up with the VIP treatment.”

  “Okay. I’ll take your word for it.”

  They stood up and began the search for the perfect outfit for Sabrina’s future date with Brett that Sabrina was sure to be interesting to every extent.

  Chapter Seven:

  Family Dinner

  Sabrina Evans loved Friday’s. It was probably because she knew at the end of the day her hard-earned paycheck would be in the bank account just waiting for her to go blow it all on bills and whatever she had left would go to a new pair of shoes or a new hairdo, basically whichever one she was in need of the most. So as Friday morning came and went; Sabrina already knew what time it was and couldn’t wait to get her bills out of the way and hit the mall.

  Once she was done at the office dealing with Camille’s bullshit all day, she headed home and jumped in the shower and readied herself to go out and blow the remainder of her paycheck on food for the house and decided to put the rest in the savings account that had been collecting and building for a plethora of years she only used for emergencies or rainy days that came by more often than she expected.

  She enjoyed shopping with her girls Larissa and Cassandra, but she enjoyed shopping alone, mostly in part because she could go crazy and buy up the whole store.

  She was too busy worrying about other things she didn’t even realize her mother had left a message on the answering machine until she checked it, only to find that she wanted her to come over for dinner because she missed her and was in the mood to cook a big meal with the whole family in one room.