by Mary Monroe
“I agree with that,” Bo said, giving me an affectionate look.
“Well, I’m all right now. How is that security guard doing? Is he going to be okay too?”
“What do you mean?”
“He didn’t get hurt trying to protect me, did he?”
“Oh no! Curtis is a big, strapping dude. He’s a youngblood, like you. It would take a lot to hurt him. He’s just fine.” Bo laughed. “I sure would hate to tangle with that brother!”
“I’d like to thank him in person.”
“I think that’s a great idea. As soon as you get out of this hospital, we’ll have him over for dinner.”
I couldn’t wait to meet the man who had possibly saved me from a much worse fate. I didn’t think I could wait until I got home. And I didn’t have to. Shortly after Bo left, a nurse ducked into my room.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Harper. There’s a gentleman here to see you, but he wanted to make sure you’re up to more company today,” she told me.
“Yeah, I guess. Who is it?” I was almost feeling like my old self again, so I was sitting up in bed watching a Deal or No Deal rerun. I had finished the beer that Cash had snuck in for me, and I’d wrapped the bottle in some newspaper and dropped it into the trash can. I was glad I had rinsed my mouth out thoroughly with Listerine a few minutes ago. The last thing I needed was for the hospital staff to be buzzing about me having alcohol on my breath.
“It’s the security guard who came to your assistance,” the nurse told me, waving a tall handsome black man in a gray uniform into my room.
“Hello, Mrs. Harper,” he said in a voice that seemed too gentle to belong to such a husky man. He had gentle eyes, too, and he was built like Mike Tyson. His eyes were the most dazzling thing about him. They were almond shaped and a light shade of hazel with long, jet-black lashes. His beautiful smile revealed bright white teeth. With his wavy dark brown hair parted on the side, he looked more like a TV soap opera heartthrob than a security guard. “I’m Curtis Thompson.” He set a vase of red roses on my nightstand. The nurse gave me a big smile before she left the room.
“Oh,” I mumbled. “Well, uh, I thank the good Lord you were at the store that day, Curtis.”
“I thank the good Lord that I hadn’t left at my regular time.” He sucked in some air and then pulled a chair over to the side of my bed. “My shift had ended and I was supposed to meet some friends for drinks. But Mr. Harper asked me to work a little later to help move some equipment around in the storeroom. Had I left at my regular time . . .” His voice faded out.
“Thank you again, Curtis.” I stared into those hazel eyes and felt warm all over. This man may have saved my life, so he would always have a special place in my heart now. “Uh, you look real familiar. Have we met before?”
Curtis nodded. “A real long time ago. We were both in Mrs. Grant’s English class in ninth grade. Morgan High.”
“Oh yeah! You didn’t come back after the Christmas holiday.”
“Well, I had to drop out and go to work to help Mama with the bills.”
“A lot of kids had to do that.”
“I see you did all right for yourself, though. I used to wonder what happened to you.”
“I guess I did do all right,” I said shyly. “Uh, my husband said we’re going to have you over for dinner when I get home. We have a cook from El Salvador. My daddy, my husband, and my stepmother like to have her cook up a lot of weird exotic stuff. There’s no telling what kind of bizarre concoction they’ll have her prepare when you come to dinner.” I smiled and gave Curtis a conspiratorial wink. “You know how some black folks get when they get money.”
He nodded and snickered. “Tell me about it. But I’m pretty flexible when it comes to food. When I was eight, the neighborhood bullies made me eat a live grasshopper, so I’ll eat just about anything now.” Curtis made a face and then he snickered again. He had such a jolly laugh. Just being in his presence made me feel so much better....
“But if you don’t mind, I’d like to treat you to a nice lunch or dinner on my own too.” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “I hope you like that rib joint on McInnis.”
“I do,” he whispered back.
CHAPTER 39
VERA
BO WAS REALLY UPSET ABOUT THE LOSS OF HIS SON, BUT KENNETH was almost inconsolable. It was bad enough he was on bed rest, but in some ways he had become like a baby to me. He even had to be spoon-fed and he didn’t want me out of his sight for one minute. He balked when I told him that I was going to hire a temporary nurse, but I hired one anyway. There was no way I could do it all by myself.
“VERA!” Kenneth yelled my name every time I left his sight, even when the nurse was standing by the bed. I had just left the room to go use the bathroom. I had postponed all of my regular daily activities and a few appointments for the rest of the week and I didn’t like that at all. One of my breast implants had shifted and roamed almost up under my armpit. I had made an appointment for this Wednesday to have it repositioned. But because Kenneth had so many demands, I had to postpone that appointment too. I was not happy about having to walk around with a lopsided breast. The bottom line was, when Kenneth was awake, the only place I could go without him throwing a hissy fit was to the hospital to visit Sarah.
I finished my business in the bathroom and trotted back out into the bedroom.
“Vera, baby, don’t leave me alone,” he blubbered, drool sliding down the side of his mouth, tears rolling down his cheeks. Traces of fresh puke, snot, and tears covered the front of his nightshirt. I had already cleaned him up and dressed him in fresh bedclothes three times since I got out of bed that morning.
“I’m right here,” I said with a heavy sigh, rushing over to the bed on wobbly legs. I was dog tired, but I tried not to show it. I’d been running back and forth for one reason or another for hours.
“I opened my eyes and you were gone! I don’t like being alone!” he wailed, ignoring the big Jamaican nurse I’d hired standing by the side of the bed, looking bored.
“I won’t leave you alone, baby,” I assured him. I snatched a Kleenex out of the box on the nightstand and wiped his face.
The weary look on my face was more for my benefit than his. I couldn’t wait for Sarah to come home so she could help share the load. Since Kenneth didn’t like the nurse and refused to let her bathe him or help him use the bedpan, I had to do it. I had not washed somebody’s ass, other than my own, since I had been forced to take care of my younger sisters. But bathing toddlers was nothing compared to bathing a grown-ass, overweight man who was as fussy as a toddler and as clumsy as an ox. My marriage had become a nightmare within a nightmare.
A few minutes after I had returned to the room, Kenneth motioned for the bedpan. The nurse and I managed to hoist him onto it in the nick of time before his bowels moved and all hell broke loose. I had to run back to the bathroom to puke.
I had no idea how long this situation would last or how much more I could stand before I snapped.
They released Sarah the following Wednesday. Just having her back in the house was like an elixir to Kenneth. That same day he got up and took a shower on his own. That Thursday morning he went back to the office and worked almost ten hours. The only reason he came home at a decent hour on Friday was because that security guard who had helped Sarah was having dinner with us.
“I hope you like crabmeat,” I said, looking at Curtis. He occupied a chair next to Sarah. Bo was on her other side. One thing Kenneth and Bo apparently forgot to mention to Curtis was that we dressed for dinner. I wore one of my most beautiful and expensive hostess gowns. Curtis was still in the dull gray uniform Kenneth’s security guards wore. A toothpick was dangling from the corner of his mouth. It didn’t even move when he spoke. He tucked his napkin into the collar of his shirt, used the wrong utensils at the wrong time, and he chewed like a billy goat. The boy was ghetto to the bone. Oh well. He didn’t know any better. Despite his crudeness, I gave Curtis the benefit of the doubt. I liked him
anyway and since I would never have to “socialize” with him again, I figured I could survive this one event intact.
“My family is from New Orleans, so I grew up eating a lot of seafood,” Curtis told us, looking around the table. He rested his eyes on Sarah, too long in my opinion. And it looked like Bo felt the same way. He raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat. Then he draped his arm around Sarah’s shoulder as if to mark his territory.
“Curtis, I can’t thank you enough for coming to my wife’s aid,” Bo said, putting so much emphasis on each word you would have thought he was reciting a speech. “I’ve entered a letter of commendation in your file and I’ve initiated a generous bonus that will appear on your next paycheck.” Bo looked at Kenneth for approval. From the surprised look on Kenneth’s face, I figured the bonus was a decision that Bo had made on his own. But since Kenneth nodded and smiled, he obviously approved of Bo’s actions.
“Aw shucks. I appreciate that and I sure could use the money, but you didn’t have to do all that. I was just doing my job,” Curtis said, glancing at Collette. I didn’t like the look in her eyes. She was looking at Curtis like he was something good to eat. And I could see why. He made my pussy itch and I planned to sneak out of the house and get it “scratched” again as soon as Kenneth fell asleep tonight. Despite Curtis’s crudeness, he still looked delicious. Just the type I liked. But he was certainly off-limits to me. Not only did I have too much to lose, but I was also happy with my current boy toy. I assumed Curtis had a few women already and probably more babies than he could afford to support. “I’m just so sorry about Mrs. Harper losing her baby. I know how important a first child is. My son died with his mama during Hurricane Katrina. He was three.”
Everybody at the table gasped at the same time. “My goodness, Curtis! That’s a damn shame!” I wailed, giving him a mournful look for good measure.
“Do you have any family still down there?” Sarah asked.
Curtis shook his head. “After Katrina, none of my folks wanted to stay in New Orleans any longer. They had lost everything anyway, so there was nothing to keep them there. They live all over the place now—Frisco, Detroit, Brooklyn, and one of my cousins even moved up to Vancouver, Canada.”
“Do you like living in California, son?” Kenneth asked.
Curtis let out a loud sigh before answering. And then a look came over his face that I will never forget. He looked like a man who had lost his will to live. “Yes, I do, sir. I’ve been here since I was nine. I’ll like it even more when I can afford to move into a better neighborhood.” He stopped talking long enough to let out another sigh. The next thing I knew, he began to regale us with some of the most frightening information I’d ever heard. “I spent two years in Iraq when I was in the army. I dodged a lot of bullets. One day I almost stepped on a land mine, but a buddy pushed me out of the way in the nick of time. I saw men get blown to bits and pieces. Somehow, I made it back home in one piece. The same day I got back to Frisco, two dudes robbed me at gunpoint on the street right in front of the building I live in now. A month after that, somebody broke in on me and my mama in the middle of the night and pistol-whipped me because I wouldn’t turn over the drugs they thought I had—which I didn’t have. I don’t mess with drugs. Not long after that, somebody attacked me from behind with a blunt instrument that left me unconscious for two days.” Curtis paused and looked around the table. “I have a few enemies in the hood. I’m one of the few residents brave enough to speak out against the drug dealers and other criminals. I was a witness in a trial a couple of weeks ago. I testified against four brothers who had broken into the apartment of the young single mother next door to me. They shot and killed her dog, locked her kids in the bathroom, tied sister girl up, and raped her. I was coming home from work as they were running out the girl’s front door, laughing and covered in her blood. I was able to identify them and I called the cops right away. From that day on, I received telephone death threats until I changed my number. Now I get the threats in writing. Two days ago somebody slipped a note under my front door telling me my days were numbered.”
“My Lord,” Kenneth exclaimed. “How can people live in an environment like that?”
“Some of us don’t have a choice,” Curtis pointed out. “I’m good with my hands when it comes to cars. I work a part-time job helping a friend who owns a body shop. Someday I hope to own my own shop and have a bunch of mechanics working for me. My mama works the nightshift in a furniture warehouse. We’re able to sock away a few dollars every week. Hopefully, by this time next year, we’ll have enough to move to a safer location.” When Curtis paused this time, he chuckled. “If I live that long.”
“What do you mean by that?” Sarah asked.
“The boys in the Hunters Point district don’t play. Pissing them off is like signing your own death warrant. I’ve been to a lot of funerals for the people who stood up against the gangsters like I’m doing now. Just last Friday night after I’d called the cops and ratted out the dealers selling crack in front of my building, somebody slashed the tires on my car. And they wrote ‘you next’ on the windshield in black spray paint. Sarah, I’m sure you haven’t forgotten how it was when you lived out there.”
“And I hope I never will forget,” Sarah responded, blinking hard in Curtis’s direction. “I went to quite a few funerals of murdered friends myself.”
“Hey! Let me stop talking about this gloomy stuff. I don’t want to put a damper on this lovely dinner! I’m sorry.” Curtis’s decision came a few minutes too late. His grim report had already put a damper on our “lovely dinner.” I was sorry I had encouraged Kenneth and Bo to bring him to dinner. I decided right then and there that if Kenneth or Bo ever mentioned inviting this man into our home again, I would not allow it.
The room had become uncomfortably quiet. From the expressions on each face, you would have thought we were at a funeral. I decided to steer the conversation in a more pleasant direction. “How many other babies do you have, Curtis?” I asked.
He didn’t waste any time responding to my question. “None.” Then he chortled. “At least none that I know of.”
“I feel you on that one,” Cash said with a sheepish look on his face. Collette shot him a scathing look, but she wasted no time turning her attention back to Curtis and plastering a smile on her face.
“Are you married now, Curtis?” Sarah asked. All eyes went to her. Why she was interested in his marital status was a mystery to me.
“No, not anymore,” Curtis replied dryly. “I’m single and looking . . .”
I didn’t like the smug look on Sarah’s face as she gazed at him. I could feel the vibes between the two of them. I had an ominous feeling about Sarah’s obvious fascination with this man.
Curtis was a nice enough young man, but he didn’t have a goddamn thing to offer. He was just a security guard—a dead-end-ass job if ever there was one. The man had no class, no money, and he lived in one of the most run-down and dangerous areas in San Francisco with his mama. He drove a Ford Escort that was almost as old as he was. I didn’t know jalopies like that were still on the road! It was in the shop, so he had come over on the bus and that was how I assumed he was going to go home. After we had finished dinner and enjoyed a few highballs, Sarah volunteered to give Curtis a ride home since she was the only one who had not drunk any alcohol. I was horrified. But for some strange reason, Bo and Kenneth thought it was a great idea.
“You need to get back into the swing of things, baby. The fresh air will do you good,” Bo said, vigorously shaking Curtis’s calloused hand like it was going to be the last time and thanking him again for being so helpful to Sarah.
“Yeah, you do need to get some fresh air and get your bearings back. And Bo and I need to spend a couple of hours together in my study to go over a few new contracts,” Kenneth said, coughing. He rose from the table and shook Curtis’s hand, too, and clapped him on the back. “You’re a real asset to the store, son. I hope you’ll be with us for a long time to
come.” Then Kenneth turned to Sarah. She looked as gleeful as a cheerleader. “You drive carefully now, honey.”
“I’ll go with her,” Collette volunteered, jumping up out of her chair so fast it almost fell over. “If you don’t mind, Sarah. I was going to run out to Walgreens to get a few things anyway.”
“No, I don’t mind at all.” Sarah grinned. Even though the baby was no longer in her belly, she was still quite round around her middle. And her legs and ankles were still kind of thick. But she looked good in her loose black dress with her hair in a French twist. The way Curtis was looking at her made me uncomfortable. But since Bo didn’t seem to notice or care, I set my feelings aside.
After everybody had left the dining room, I padded into the kitchen and dialed Ricky’s number. He answered on the first ring. “I’m coming to see you tonight. I need to pick up some condoms—in a store across town, of course—so give me an hour or so,” I told him. I never asked him if he wanted company or even if he had company already. When I wanted to see him, that was all that mattered to me. I always got what I paid for.
“I’ll be naked when you get here,” he told me.
It was no wonder I loved this sweet young thing so much! We were always on the same page.
I was going to hold on to this one for a little longer than I’d kept my other boy toys.
Maybe even permanently.
CHAPTER 40
SARAH
THERE WERE SEVERAL WALGREENS BETWEEN MY HOUSE AND CURTIS’S apartment. But I stopped at one downtown because it was big and always busy. Collette claimed she only needed to pick up a few items. But because of the mob of other customers and the slow cashiers, I knew she’d be in the checkout line for a while. That would give me more time to talk to Curtis without her listening in on our conversation. There were things I wanted to say to him that needed to be said in private.
I waited until Collette had entered the store before I said anything to Curtis. He occupied the backseat directly behind me. “So,” I began with caution, turning around so I could see him better, “when can I take you to lunch or dinner, Curtis?”
