by Candice Dow
I went into the bedroom to check the closet. Her stuff was still there. Why was there no food in the house? Every thing in New Haven had shut down. Shit! I was about to starve. Damn! I forgot to call Taylor when I walked in the house. I rushed into the bedroom to find my cell phone. Then, I heard Akua’s key in the door. I rushed back to the living room. She limped in carrying a Styrofoam container. I stood in front of her like I had a right to inquire about her whereabouts. She sucked her teeth and brushed past me and stormed into the bedroom, taking her food with her. My stomach barked after the aroma lingering behind her. I knocked on the bedroom door.
“Hey, Ku.”
She didn’t answer, but I was determined to get her leftovers. I tried the door, but she’d locked it. “Where’s all the food?”
It sounded as if she laughed. I sucked up my anger and asked again, “What happened to the food?”
This time she made her humor known. In between chuckles, she said, “It left when you left.”
“C’mon. I’m starving.”
I heard her hopping around and suddenly the door swung open. When she tossed the food container at me, I cradled it. Before I could thank her, she slammed the door. She mumbled, “Next time make sure your bitch feeds you before you come home.”
I shrugged off her rude comment. Half of a grilled chicken breast and a small pile of mashed potatoes were inside. I rushed to the kitchen and gobbled down the food. Seconds passed and everything got hazy. I took deep breaths to revive myself. Suddenly, I began to feel nauseous. I ran to the bathroom. My head spun in circles as I kneeled by the toilet bowl, purging everything I’d just eaten. Maybe I’d eaten too fast. Too tired to investigate, I staggered into my room and closed my eyes. My mind called Taylor but my muscles were too weak to move. I knew she’d be upset but my eyelids lowered and lowered. I was out.
When loud music blasted throughout my apartment minutes later, I looked at the clock. 5:02 A.M. I lifted up to yell at her, but my head collapsed on the pillow. Despite the loud racket, I dozed off.
When my alarm clock rang in my ear, I pressed snooze. After my ten minute break, I looked up to find that it was after eight. Shit! I checked my alarm. It was set for 6:30. How did I sleep for an hour and a half with it buzzing in my ear? As I attempted to roll out of bed, my body was still sedated. When I finally found the shower, the water splashing in my face awoke my understanding. Akua intentionally tried to make me sick. I felt the same as I did when I’d taken Percocet after my tooth was extracted.
After I jumped out of the shower, I hunted for the painkillers. They weren’t in the medicine cabinet where I’d last seen the bottle. I rushed into her bedroom and looked in the nightstand. As I stood there with the bottle in my hand, I couldn’t believe she would stoop so low. Did she plan to do it or was it a last minute decision as I stood at her door begging for food. Whatever the case she was making my decision that much easier.
In the midst of my investigation, I remembered that I was almost two hours late for work. I rushed into my room. My pager buzzed on the desk. I didn’t check it because I knew it was the hospital. I searched for clean scrubs. Everything was dirty. I went back into Akua’s bedroom, hoping she’d inadvertently washed some of mine. Her scrubs were folded neatly at the top of the closet. I lifted each set and prayed I’d find a 2XL hidden in there somewhere. Nothing. I shook out my least soiled pair and sprayed some Febreze on them and left for work.
When I got to the hospital, I searched for Akua. Trying to suppress my anger, I calmly asked, “Did you put Percocet in the food I ate last night?”
She smirked. “Don’t ask stupid questions.”
“I know you did.”
“Dr. Evans, I’m on my way to surgery. Can we discuss your issues later?”
I said, “Ku. That’s some crazy stuff. Why did you stoop to that? I found them in your nightstand.”
She glared at me. “Did you ever think I needed them for my pain?”
I looked down at her bandaged foot and walked in the other direction. Maybe all of this drama was what was making me sick.
34
TAYLOR
Why does it seem that most of Scooter’s communication involves apologies? I looked at his text message: SORRY BABY. BY THE TIME I FINISHED MOVING THINGS INTO THE OTHER BEDROOM, IT WAS 2 LATE 2 CALL. WILL CALL U SOON. MISS U.
I huffed. How is it that when he is with me, I know he is sincere, but the second we part I question everything. As much as Akua’s phone call upset me, it confirmed Scooter’s honesty. Still, I was vexed.
Frustrated by my situation, I caught myself storming through the office with an attitude. I closed the door to my office just because I didn’t want to be bothered. My voice mail light blinked. I listened to my message. I was delighted to find there were no stalkers, but irritated to see it was now 10:00 and I hadn’t spoken to Scooter.
I opened Microsoft Outlook and noticed I had too much e-mail for a Monday morning. I looked at the subject to decide what I wanted to read first. The majority of the e-mail was work related. Then, “I Love My People” jumped out of the monitor. I love my people? Devin Patterson. Oh my goodness! The guy from the Congressional Black Caucus. I forgot about him.
I anxiously selected the message. He opened the message reintroducing himself and explaining that he gave his card to Courtney. I recalled her telling me that, but I was all preoccupied with my new boyfriend that it fell on deaf ears. He proceeded to ask me about Katherine. Katherine wanted me to meet him. He’s a union consultant. Okay, this was all too eerie.
Before responding, I went to find Katherine. I trapped her inside the break room. “Katherine, remember some months back. You were in that legislative meeting.”
She frowned. “Yeah and that fine New York attorney was there that I tried to hook you up with.”
“Do you know I met him? He just e-mailed me.”
Her eyes danced in her head. “And . . .”
“I’m wondering how he put two and two together. Have you talked to him since?”
“No. I didn’t exchange info with the man. I was trying to hook you up.”
I kidded. “For the record, I’m taken now. You don’t have to worry about hooking me up anymore.”
Knowing she’d follow, I turned to leave. “Who’s the lucky man?”
“Um. Remember I told you about Scooter?”
She nodded. I blushed. “Well.”
A huge smile spread across her face. Then, she immediately frowned. “I thought you said he had a girlfriend.”
“He left her.”
“Taylor, you’re lying.”
As she began to ask more questions about my situation, insecurity stormed into the room. As Katherine examined me, I began to feel silly.
Despite the nonsense answers I gave, I realized that people want to marry you off at all cost. She was onboard with my drama the second I told her that Scooter felt like I was the one.
When I got back into my office, I read Devin Patterson’s message again and decided to reply. A friendly message never hurt anyone. I told him that I, too, thought it was ironic that of all people at the caucus, we ran into one another when Katherine was so pressed to introduce us. I also mentioned how much I enjoyed dancing with him.
I called Courtney to tell her that Katherine was trying to hook me up with “I Love My People.” As we began to giggle about the irony of the meeting, she said, “He seems like a smooth dude.”
“Yeah, he seems cool.”
Disregarding the fact that I was really now in a relationship, she joked. “You better holla.”
My new message alert sounded. Devin Patterson. I laughed. “Girl, “I Love My People” just responded.”
“What did he say?”
I glanced at the message, skipping a few lines. In a nutshell, he wanted to hang out for drinks between now and Thursday. Courtney coaxed me to respond. I did and agreed to hang out tonight. When I pressed SEND, the new e-mail alert sounded simultaneously. Scooter. Oh yeah, I forgot I was
pissed off with him. An American Greeting has been sent to you.
I opened the greeting card. His ability to express himself so eloquently is a quality that few men possess. As I sat full of anger, his words dismantled my frustration. It was a thank you card. He told me how special he felt to have me in his world and despite our troubles he thanks God every morning for our reunion. XOXO.
Courtney chatted in my ear as I gazed at the greeting card. This is why I had to go and take Kuku’s man. How many men are so affectionate? Sorry Kuku. I’m in it to win it.
A new message from Devin popped up as I daydreamed about Scooter. He asked if I had a preference. I responded not really. He sent the agenda. He had tickets to a Wizards game and we’d eat at the DC Chophouse prior to the game. Wait! I thought we were just hanging out. Oh whatever. Dinner and a good game were always up my alley.
I left work early enough to change and get downtown by 6:00. As I ran around the house deciding what to wear, I took a deep breath. I have a man. And besides I had such a good time the night of the Black Party, Devin was a blur. I searched for an outfit that was not too sexy and not too conservative. If he wasn’t as fine as Courtney and Katherine claimed he was I didn’t want to be too provocative. Clothes were scattered all around my room. I checked the clock. I had forty-five minutes. When I turned on the shower, “Ring The Alarm” played on my cell phone. Shit! Trapped between my phone and the running water, I made the decision to call Scooter on my way to the restaurant.
I paged Scooter when I got in the car. He called right back. Excited about my outing, it slipped my mind that I was supposed to be mad. I picked up with the beat of the song ringing in my head. I sang, “I’ll be damn if I see another chick on your arm.”
He chuckled. “Hey baby.”
“So, you come here, sex me up. Have your girl calling my house and stuff. You leave and I don’t hear from you for twenty-four hours. What’s up with that?”
“Tay, you know it’s not like that. Right?”
“No, not really.”
He chuckled, but sounded more like he wanted to cry. “When I got home yesterday, she had moved all of my shit in the other room, taken all the food out of the house. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. This morning, I got to work late, because she woke up blasting music. It took me an hour to get back to sleep.” He huffed. “This shit is stressful.”
Yada. Yada. Yada. A part of me sympathized with him. The other part of me understood Akua. She wanted him to suffer. I wanted to be there to help, but he needed to man-up and figure out how to take care of himself again.
As I entered the restaurant, I still chatted on the phone. “Hey, baby, I’m going to dinner with Courtney. I’ll call you when I get in.”
“Okay, baby. Look forward to talking to you.”
“I love you.”
He coughed. “I love you, too. Talk to you later.”
I looked around and saw Devin. Damn. They were right. He was fine. His short hair cut and groomed six o’clock shadow made me blush. I walked toward him. He was a militant brother. He wore a black blazer with a black T-shirt underneath that had a red-and-green American flag with WE BUILT THIS underneath.
I smiled and said. “I like your T-shirt.”
He chuckled. “Déjà vu.”
“Could it be that you just wear shirts that strike up conversation?”
“It’s not intentional.”
“So, you’re trying to say that you don’t wear these shirts to grab attention.”
He raised his right hand. “I swear.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. You lie for a living, so you can do it with a straight face.”
We laughed. He extended his hand. “Let’s start again. Hi, Taylor. I’m Devin Patterson. It’s good to meet you.”
“Good to meet you, too.”
“Katherine spoke highly of you. I thought you were white, though.”
“Uh-huh. So, is that why you told Katherine you didn’t want to meet me? You’re prejudiced, huh?”
He chuckled. “Well, I know I don’t look like it, but my mother is white. I don’t have anything against white women, but I am more attracted to black women.” Smiling, he added, “Especially black women from the Maryland/DC, area.”
“Are you trying to flatter me?”
He chuckled. “Maybe just a little, but I think God sprinkled too much black beauty in this little area. It’s crazy.”
“You’re funny.”
“No. Actually, I’m very serious.”
As we diverted to the women in The District being attractive, it dawned on me what he said initially. My forehead wrinkled. “Did you say your mother was white?”
“Yep.”
I couldn’t see it, but I guess he had no reason to lie. My eyes must have twitched back and forth, searching for the slightest inkling of biracial decent. Recognizing my confusion, he chuckled. “I know. I don’t look like it, right?”
I smiled. He smiled. “It’s okay. I know.”
We were seated. After I browsed through the menu, I asked. “So do you live here or New York.”
“Both.”
I smirked. “Okay. That makes sense.”
“You’re funny. You know that, right?”
“If you say so. Why do you live in both places?”
“Well, I run two branches of the family law firm.”
“And what firm is that?”
“Patterson and Patterson.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of them.”
“Well, we’re just trying to make a presence in DC. This is primarily a personal venture for me. This branch is specially geared toward the legislative community. My New York branch is geared toward real estate, investments, and things of that sort.”
“So, you’re all over the place.”
“Nope, I have plans.”
The waiter came to take our order. I immediately returned to his plans. “So, what is your ultimate plan?”
“Ultimately, I’d like to be in the House of Congress.”
I smirked. “One of them, huh?”
We laughed. His admiration for me seemed to be growing. I found him quite charming, too. I asked, “So besides the professional Devin, what’s your story?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Whatever you want to tell me. Whatever you think defines you.”
“Why don’t you tell me your story and then I’ll know what it is you’re looking to hear.”
Without hesitation, I said. “I love life. I have two sisters. I fall in the middle. My father is a pastor of a huge Baptist church. I grew up in Bowie, Maryland. No kids.” I paused. Should I tell him about my man that was still living with his ex-girlfriend? Nah, I kept that to myself.
“Interesting.”
“Interesting?”
He nodded. “Yes, interesting. I assumed that maybe your wedding band was in the shop for a cleaning or something.”
I kidded. “So, do you usually take married women out to dinner?”
His flirtatious comment backfired. He chuckled. “Nah, actually, I don’t. I was just messing with you. I knew you weren’t married.”
“Are you married?”
“Yep.”
He smiled and reached in his back pocket for his wallet. He opened his wallet, and with pride he said, “Here’s my wife. Isn’t she beautiful?”
I peeped over at the picture and a beautiful little girl with a long, flowing pageboy smiled back at me. I smiled. “Is that your daughter? She is so beautiful.”
She looked more biracial than Devin. He took a look at the pretty little girl dressed in all white and smiled proudly. “That’s daddy’s little girl. Her name is Nicole.”
I admired the adoration twinkling in his eyes as he talked about Nicole. I sighed. “Aw.” I reached for his wallet again. “She is so adorable.” Trying to figure out the nationality of her mother, I commented, “Who does she look like?”
He tilted his head. “Me.”
“I guess I see a little of you in her.”
He laid the wallet on the bar. “A little?” He pointed. “She has my eyes.” He stretched his eyes open. His long lashes reached out and invited me in to fantasize the possibilities of us. “My nose. My lips.”
As he forced me to study his flawless features, I found myself grinning. So, I asked without being definitive, “And her mother?”
He smirked. “And her mother.” He chuckled. “We are good parents.” He paused. “She’s an attorney. We went to Columbia together. We got married in our second year.” He shook his head. “Big mistake.”
I wasn’t shocked that he got scooped up early, but I was curious what went wrong. My mind wandered. He probably cheated.
I asked, “What happened?”
“Are you sure you want to know?”
“Why not?”
“Well her mother . . .” He sighed. “My ex-wife was probably one of the sweetest people I’d ever met in my life.” I frowned, prepared to hear how he screwed up. Acknowledging my thoughts, he clarified. “I mean, at that time. That’s what I thought.”
We chuckled. He continued. “At that time in my life, I was coming to grips with Devin, with accepting my mother, and with managing a long-distance relationship.”
I frowned. He laughed. “It all relates. Give me a second.”
I nodded slowly as if I wasn’t sure he could combine all the variables.
“So, here I was twenty-three years old, madly in love with a beautiful young lady from Maryland and . . .”
I smiled, because I now understood his admiration for the women in the area. He smiled. “This young lady.” He paused as if he should give her an identity. “Clark. She was the love of my life, but she had a lot of insecurities that were triggered by my actions. So, I went through a period of thinking she needed to change, when I really needed to just grow up and stop blaming her for all of our issues. Then, in comes Jennifer.” He chuckled. “That’s Nicole’s mom. She was so laid back. She rarely raised her voice. She was just cool.” He nodded as he reminisced on the good times. “It was a welcomed diversion from the drama that came with Clark.” He smiled, obvious admiration for his ex-drama queen.
