Bronxwood

by Coe Booth

  “Then how ’bout Sunday? Me and you, and I can ask Cal and Tina too. And why don’t you bring Asia, and I’ll get my boy Patrick to come and we could try and set them two up.”

  Adonna shake her head. “Asia?”

  “Yeah. What?”

  “I don’t know about that,” Adonna go. “I mean, about bringing Asia.”

  “Y’all not still friends or something?” I know girls go in and outta being friends with other girls real fast, but damn, last week they was tight.

  “We’re still friends. It’s just, I don’t like bringing other girls around guys I like. I been through some stuff, you know, trusting girls around guys and—” She just shake her head. “I don’t know.”

  What I’m really getting from her is that she like me. And that’s all I need to get. “I hear you,” I say. “You wanna get me alone. Am I right?”

  Adonna look down for a minute. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

  “I know what you saying. And you don’t gotta even think ’bout me looking at no Asia. I’m only looking at you and thinking ’bout you. Asia a’ight, but she ain’t you, know what I’m saying?”

  Adonna look up at me, in my eyes, like she trying to read me or something. But I’m for real. I’m putting a lot of time and money into getting with Adonna. Nothing gonna keep me from closing this deal. Definitely not Asia. Shit, when I got my mind on something, I don’t let nothing get in the way.

  “Okay,” she say. “Sunday.”

  We kiss some more and hang out and I’m really having a good time with this girl. I mean, I ain’t gonna say that in the back of my mind I ain’t still thinking ’bout how broke I am and how fucked up Novisha was acting. Adonna almost take my mind off all that. And she probably the only girl that can.

  SUNDAY, AUGUST 10

  NINETEEN

  Sunday morning, me and Patrick meet up with Adonna and Asia in front of the girls building. Cal went to get Tina and they gonna meet us at the beach. It’s something after eight o’clock, but it’s gonna be a nice day and we ain’t the only ones in the Bronx planning to go to Orchard Beach today, that’s for damn sure. We gotta get there early.

  Adonna looking good in a white sundress and sandals. And she wearing sunglasses even though the sun ain’t hardly out yet, so I can’t see her eyes, but I can tell she ain’t acting like herself for some reason.

  The whole time we outside waiting for the cab, Adonna and Asia is off to theyself, talking ’bout something. I can tell Asia trying to get Adonna to let something go and have fun, but it ain’t working. Not yet. I hope Adonna ain’t gonna be like this the whole time we at the beach, ’cause the whole reason for me bringing her there is to get close to her and have fun. Let her know I’m a good guy that she could trust.

  The beach ain’t all that crowded when we get there, so we get to choose where we wanna be. I’m looking for a spot on the sand that’s kinda outta the way so me and Adonna could spend some time getting to know each other better, but the girls wanna be close to the food stands. So we find a spot somewhere in the middle and I text Cal to let him know where we at.

  It’s nice being out here this early. Even the water don’t look too nasty today. A couple hours from now, there ain’t gonna be no space left, not only on the beach side, but over by the grass too. Folks is gonna be setting up they grills and shit, and whole families is gonna be out here playing loud merengue and reggae and hip-hop music, all at the same fucking time. A day like this, it’s gonna feel like the whole Bronx is here.

  Since we ain’t gonna have it like this forever, after we put down our blankets and shit, I grab hold of Adonna hand and we take a walk together down near the water, like the way they do in them movies females be watching over and over. I’m hoping the water remind Adonna of the other night and how long we stood there kissing on the pier.

  Only thing messing it up now is the fact that Patrick brung this big-ass old-skool boom box with him, and we can hear his music blasting all the way ’cross the beach. Dude getting to spend time with Asia by hisself and he busy playing music so loud he can’t even talk to the girl.

  For a while, me and Adonna walk and don’t say nothing. I just wait for her to feel comfortable with me and tell me what’s on her mind. ’Cause I need her to get past it and have some fun, or this gonna be one long-ass boring day.

  After ’bout five minutes I ask her if she okay.

  She shrug.

  “’Cause you could tell me anything,” I say. “I don’t know if you know this, but I’m one of them sensitive brothas.” Adonna give me a half smile.

  We still holding hands, and I’m taking that as a good sign that she okay being with me and maybe she starting to feel close to me now.

  “I’m not like most of the guys out here,” I tell her, all serious. “Them dudes only talk to females ’cause they trying to get with them, but me, I’m different. I like talking to girls. Y’all deep.”

  What I’m saying must be working, ’cause her smile get bigger and she finally start talking to me. “This doesn’t really have anything to do with you,” she say. “I like being with you, Tyrell. I’m just upset, from yesterday.”

  I wait for her to keep talking.

  “I told you my father was gonna pick me up and take me shopping, but …”

  “He ain’t show up, right?”

  She sigh real heavy. “He said he didn’t know the date was ’official.’”

  “Damn. That’s messed up.”

  She stop walking. “That’s the thing. Yeah, it’s messed up, but that’s the way he always is. I haven’t seen him in, like, a year. No, more than a year. He keeps promising this and that—” She shakes her head. “I don’t know why I keep letting him get to me.”

  “He your pops. Course you gonna get mad when he don’t do what he s’posed to do.” I wanna say he ain’t the only pops that be like that, but I don’t wanna make this ’bout me. I wanna let Adonna know she the only one on my mind right ’bout now.

  Me and her stand there for a while talking. I let her get it all out her system and then I tell her her pops is stupid ’cause he missing out on having a real nice daughter. She tell me she know and then we end up hugging and shit. It’s all good.

  We walk down the beach a little more, real slow, talking some more. Then Adonna say she wanna go back to our blankets and relax. “A’ight,” I say. Then ask her, “When you gonna put on your bathing suit?”

  “I have it on under this.” She smile all sexy and whatnot. She know what she doing to me. “Wait ’til you see it.”

  Then she start walking away, shaking her ass more than she do already, and I’m chasing after her, going, “It ain’t too early to show it to me now. The sun out. It’s hot.” But she just laughing at me.

  Seriously, females got all the power, and they know it too.

  When we get back, Patrick and Asia is on they blankets, not even talking or nothing. Matter of fact, Asia ’sleep, all covered up and shit. Patrick turned the boom box down low, but all he doing is sitting there eating some leftover cold fried chicken his moms packed in foil for him before he left. Like her baby was gonna starve out here. The girl he was s’posed to be trying to make a play for is ’sleep and he eating chicken. Dude gonna be more work than I thought he was.

  Cal and Tina is there. They blanket is right next to where me and Adonna set our blankets up, and they just starting to get comfortable, with Tina laying in his arms, when Cal ask her what time her moms is gonna watch CJ ’til. And that’s all it take to set her off.

  “Don’t ask me,” she say. “Why you always asking questions that don’t have nothing to do with you?”

  Cal look over to me, like he wanna know if he crazy or if it’s Tina. I just shake my head ’cause I wanna stay outta it.

  “CJ my kid,” Cal tell her. “Why I can’t ask you ’bout him?”

  “You wanna know? Okay. I didn’t tell my mother I was coming out here with you today. Why? Because I didn’t wanna hear her mouth. I knew she was gonna
be all like, take the baby with you, and I didn’t feel like it. I’m tired. So I told her I was going to the nail place. And when I ain’t back in a couple hours, she gonna call me and I ain’t gonna answer.”

  “Why you do that?” Cal raise his voice high, but I can’t tell if he mad or just don’t get her. “We shoulda just brung CJ with us, then.”

  “You gonna take care of him?”

  “I could help.”

  “Not the same thing, Cal. Who wants to come to the beach with a baby?”

  “I woulda played with him in the water and on the sand. He pro’ly woulda liked that shit.”

  “Fuck you, Cal,” Tina say, and she turn on her side, away from him.

  Cal look like he don’t know what to do, so I say, “Let’s go get something to eat.” Give him time to cool down.

  I give Patrick the sign, and all three of us head over to the food stands. Cal is mumbling some shit under his breath the whole way, like he fighting with hisself. Dude ’bout to blow. For real.

  It’s too early for burgers and pizza, so we buy biscuits with sausage and egg, and some donuts and juice, enough for everybody, and on the way back to our blankets, I try and help Patrick ’cause he need it. “You gonna sit there the whole time we here and not say shit to Asia? You had her all to yourself and you musta bored the shit outta her for her to crash like that.”

  “I don’t know,” he say. “A girl like that, man. Why you couldn’t pick a regular girl for me?”

  “You dumb, you know that, right? She a regular girl. She just a fine regular girl. And you ain’t no ugly dude. You could get her.”

  I can’t believe the shit that’s coming out my mouth, but as long as Patrick can’t tell I’m lying, that’s alright by me. Yeah, Asia probably ain’t gonna get down with nobody like Patrick, but he could man up and get some confidence. He need to start walking ’round like he be collecting females and she lucky to be one of them. I mean, he don’t gotta be no pimp or nothing, but nobody gotta know all he do is sit in his moms apartment all day.

  Females can smell a virgin.

  “What I’m supposed to say to her?” Patrick ask me.

  “Ask her what kinda music she like, something you can talk to her ’bout. And when she tell you, tell her you gonna mix some cds, just for her.”

  “And I could get her back to my place to pick them up, right?” He all proud of hisself for figuring it out.

  “Yeah? But go slow with her. You gonna hafta work her. And you gonna hafta spend some money on her too. She a nice girl, but she could get anyone.”

  “That’s what I’m saying. Why she gonna wanna be with me, then?”

  I don’t answer. I can’t do everything for Patrick. He gonna hafta learn something for hisself.

  Cal walking behind us. He ain’t mumbling no more, but he look like he don’t wanna get back to Tina too fast. I still gotta blame Cal for his own situation. He knew Tina only got interested in him when he started making money. I ain’t saying she a gold digger, but if Cal was still a broke nigga, he wouldn’t have no kid by her.

  We get back to the girls, and Asia awake now. Adonna on her knees behind Asia, putting her hair in one big braid, and she whispering something in Asia ear. I thought Adonna woulda took off her sundress by now so I could see her bathing suit, but that ain’t happen.

  “Food!” Asia say, smiling, when she see us. “I’m so hungry.”

  I elbow Patrick in the ribs. “Me too,” he go. I give him a look like I could punch him. Dude just ate half a chicken. How the fuck he hungry? He must catch my drift, ’cause he go, “Asia, I got you breakfast and some chocolate milk.”

  “Wow, thanks, Patrick.”

  I give him a nod and he go give her the food and sit down next to her. Okay, he doing his thing.

  I sit on my blanket close to where mines and Adonna blankets is touching and put our food down. Adonna smiling now. “Oh, you got me a Sprite.”

  “I know what you like.”

  Right away, she start greasing. Call me crazy, but watching her eat is hot as hell. Like she hungry for more than just food.

  ’Bout eleven o’clock the sun really start to get hot, and Adonna and Asia finally get outta them dresses, and I’ma tell you, it was worth waiting for. They both got on bikinis, but I’m only checking out Adonna ’cause, man, she fill hers out real good. She don’t got real big titties or nothing, but she got more than I need. Anyway, to be honest, I’ma ass man. The bikini bottom she wearing is one of them little shorts with the ass cheeks hanging out the sides. And damn, looking at that ass, I know where all them buttered rolls and sausage biscuits be going.

  Adonna take out a bottle of Hawaiian Tropic oil from her bag and start putting it on, nice and slow. Her and Asia is taking turns with the bottle, acting like they don’t know me and Patrick is watching them. But they gotta see how we drooling and shit.

  When Adonna finish oiling all the parts of her she can reach, I’m quick. “Let me put it on your back for you.”

  She eye me, suspicious. “You sure?”

  “I got this,” I tell her. “Watch. I’ma put it on nice and even, and your tan gonna be beautiful. Trust me.”

  I don’t know why, but she lay down on her stomach and let me rub oil all over her back. It feel good too. Her skin is smooth like butter. I put the oil all ’round her bikini top and even slip my hands under the bows. Them girls in the movies be taking off they bikini tops when they lay on they stomachs, but Adonna ain’t like that. After I get her all relaxed and shit, I start getting lower and lower, and finally I’m putting that oil on the sides of them ass cheeks and acting like it ain’t no thing.

  She chillin’ so hard, it take her a minute to catch on to what I’m doing. When she do, she turn over on her side and face me. “Don’t tell me. You were using your bad hand again, weren’t you?”

  I smile. “How you know?”

  She snatch the bottle from me. “I’m gonna keep my eyes on that hand.”

  “And I’ma keep my eyes on that ass. Damn, girl!”

  She slap my shoulder, and I gotta say, I like when she do that. ’Cause I know she don’t mean it. She like me.

  A couple minutes later, Adonna is laying on her stomach reading a book, and Asia laying next to her listening to her iPod. Both they asses is up in the air with the sun shining on them and it’s a beautiful thing. I look over at Patrick and he grinning like a damn fool. But probably so am I.

  The whole day is getting good. Even Cal and Tina ain’t fighting no more. They musta made up ’cause they laying on they blanket all close, kissing every couple minutes. I don’t know how long this gonna last though.

  I lay down next to Adonna on my back and look at the cover of the book she reading, something called Thugs and Lovers, Book 3. “Book three?” I ask her.

  “It’s a series,” she say.

  “I can’t stand when girls read them books ’cause y’all start thinking all guys is like the dudes in the book, treating they girlfriends bad and cheating on them.”

  “You don’t cheat?” she ask. “Nah, I ain’t like that.”

  She turn over to look at me. “You never cheated on Novisha?”

  “I told you. I ain’t like that.” My mind go to Jasmine for, like, half a second, and I think ’bout all the shit me and her did while I was with Novisha. But still, we never hooked up. Came damn close, but not all the way.

  Adonna looking at me like she don’t really believe me. “Then why did you and her break up?”

  “Me and her, I don’t know, it just—” I shrug. “It just stopped working, you know what I mean?” I don’t like talking ’bout what happened between me and Novisha, not to no one, ’specially another female that live in the same building as Novisha do. I mean, I could tell Adonna that Novisha was the one that was with another guy, but I don’t. It ain’t like I wanna protect Novisha or anything. Not anymore. But still, why I need to blow up all Novisha business for?

  It look like Adonna waiting for me to say more, but what can
I say? That’s it. She open her book again, but I don’t wanna stop talking to her. “What’s the book ’bout?”

  “Some girl with a lot of guy problems and family drama.”

  “Which one you got?”

  “Well, I already told you about my jacked-up family. And I don’t have a man.”

  I look her in the eyes. “You want a man?”

  She smile and look me up and down. “Maybe.”

  I lean in close to her. “You beautiful,” I whisper, just focusing in on her. “Everything ’bout you is so beautiful.” We kiss.

  I put my hand on her oily back and pull her closer to me. It’s nice, but I wish me and her was alone now. I know I’m trying to take it slow with her so she know I’m for real, but it’s hard. Real hard.

  The beach day turn out real good, ’specially for me and Adonna. I can’t say the same thing for Patrick and Asia. They talking, but she stay, like, two feet away from him the whole time. It look to me like she ain’t really feeling him, but she just trying to be nice. After a while, he take her over to the other side of the beach where they got rides and games and shit. I’m hoping Adonna don’t want me to win her one of them stuffed animals ’cause the way they make them games, no matter how good you are, you gotta keep playing over and over to get the big animals. Shit cost you, like, eighty dollars by the time you finished. And you gotta go for it ’cause your girl ain’t gonna walk ’round with no little shit neither.

  So me and Adonna stay on the blanket and kiss and talk. After a while, I end up telling her ’bout my pops being back and how I hope he ain’t gonna try and make me leave Bronxwood ’cause I’m having a good time being my own man. Even while I’m talking, I’m thinking ’bout what I’m not telling her, like how my pops ain’t even ask me to move back home. And how I don’t know if he want me back there. I don’t even know why I brung him up, but Adonna talk to me some more ’bout her father and I’m glad I did talk ’bout my pops ’cause it’s something me and her have in common. The way we connecting, I know it ain’t gonna be long before she let me in them pants.