by Dwan Abrams
“So what are you trying to say? You want me to wait around while you play the field?” Frown lines etched his forehead.
As difficult as it was for Bria to say this, she said, “First of all, I’m not playing the field. Let’s get that straight. Second, I’m not asking you to wait.”
Spade clenched his jaw and grinded his teeth. “If that’s how you want it . . .” He stood up. “There’s nothing left to say. I’m going to lie down.” He touched his temple.
“Is your head hurting?”
“Don’t worry about it.” He walked out, leaving her to unleash a new flood of tears.
The plane touched down in Atlanta at nine o’clock in the evening. The conversation with Spade had left Bria mentally drained. She couldn’t wait to get home and sleep in her bed.
They disembarked from the plane and a very pretty brown-skinned woman dressed in a skintight outfit that showed off all her assets and tattoos waved Spade over. Bria and Nya exchanged curious glances while their driver and Chance loaded the luggage in the car.
The mystery woman told Spade, “Welcome back! How was your trip?”
“It was cool,” he said as he stuffed his suitcase in the backseat of her Hummer.
The woman hugged him, and Bria felt an unfamiliar pang of jealousy.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend?” Nya asked.
Spade scratched his head. “This is Kola. She’s a singer. She performed a few of the hooks on some of my tracks.” He pointed at Nya. “This is my homegirl Nya.” He gestured toward Bria. “That’s Bria.”
Bria’s face dropped. She was offended that everyone except her received some sort of special introduction.
Kola extended her hand to Nya first, then Bria. “Nice to meet you.” She spoke with a Southern accent. She sounded like she’d been born and raised in Decatur, Georgia.
Chance came over and said to Spade, “Don’t forget about tomorrow, man. Make sure you bring the Dominos.”
“I got you,” Spade said.
“Sounds like fun,” Kola said. “I’m from Trinidad, and we used to play a lot of Dominos.”
“If you want to come and get smoked, come on,” Chance said. “The more the merrier.”
What? Bria thought. She felt like kicking Chance in the shin. He didn’t know this chick, yet he was inviting her to be a part of their Fourth of July tradition. The flight must’ve deprived his brain of oxygen.
“We’ll see,” she said. “It’s a holiday, but for an artist that doesn’t mean anything.” She smiled at Spade, revealing her porcelain veneers. “Isn’t that right, Spade?”
“That’s right,” he said. “We work all the time.”
“We’d better get going,” Bria said. “Have a good night,” she spoke directly to Kola.
“You too.” Kola dangled her key ring from her finger. “You want to drive?” she said to Spade.
Bria walked off; she didn’t wait for Spade to respond. Chance and Nya followed behind her. The driver was waiting for them and closed the doors when they got inside the car.
“What’s the matter with you?” Bria berated Chance.
“What are you talking about now?” He sounded exasperated.
“How are you going to invite someone you just met to spend the holiday with us?”
“I was being polite. What’s the big deal?”
“There isn’t one,” Nya interjected. “It’s not like Spade and Kola are dating. If they were, then you would’ve been out of line and insensitive.”
“Hold up,” Chance said. “You’re jealous.” He must’ve had an aha! moment. “Ol’ girl does have that Coke-bottle shape going on. I see how she got her name.”
“Shut your piehole,” Bria told him. And she wasn’t kidding.
“Just like a woman. You don’t want him, but you sure don’t want to see him with somebody else.”
They didn’t talk much after that during the rest of the ride. Bria sulked and couldn’t stop thinking about Spade. The driver dropped Bria off first. As soon as she got inside her house she inhaled the familiar potpourri scent that perfumed the air. She unpacked first, and then made a round of phone calls to Dani, her mom, and Kerryngton to let them know she had arrived home safely.
She then showered and put on her nightclothes. She contemplated whether she should even go over to Nya and Chance’s house tomorrow. She hadn’t gotten over feeling a certain kind of way toward Spade.
“Why should I stay home?” she said to herself. “Nya and Chance are my friends. Spade inherited them by default. Forget that. I’m going.”
Twenty-four
Bria showed up at Nya and Chance’s house with six bottles of Jamaican ginger beer, a nonalcoholic ginger-flavored soda.
Nya kissed her on the cheek. “Chance is in the backyard grilling,” she said as she ushered Bria inside.
Bria smirked. She set the bottles on the table. “Hold up. Why is Chance grilling? You know we get,” she counted off on her fingers, “slabs of ribs, rum-baked beans, potato salad, Brunswick stew, and lemonade from Fat Matt’s every Fourth.” Bria was about to get an attitude if they were breaking their tradition. They had gotten turned on to Fat Matt’s off Piedmont Road in Atlanta while in college. There would be a line of people standing outside waiting for the fall-off-the-bone tangy ribs. And the side items were always on point.
Nya laughed. “Now you know better. Chance already picked up the food. He just wanted to throw some salmon and barbecue chicken in the mix.”
“Oh, okay.” Bria calmed down.
The women decorated the dining-room table with a patriotic tablecloth and matching paper plates, cups, napkins, and plastic cutlery. When they finished, they went into the living room. The room appealed to all the senses. The space was dimly lit, just the way Bria and Nya preferred it. They both liked natural lighting. The room, while wildly eclectic for Bria’s taste, had a very strict color palette—white, black/charcoal, brown, rust, and blue. There was plenty going on, but not overwhelmingly. Somehow, it all came together.
Nya put on a Ken Ford CD that played in the background, and she lit some lavender incense. The sweet smell of lavender filled the air. Nya swore by lavender. She claimed it helped her relax and calm her nerves. At bedtime she put a few drops on her pillow to help her get a good night’s sleep. She even went as far as to put a few drops in a warm bath mixed with sea salts for a delicious spa bath. Lavender meant to Nya what fresh flowers meant to Bria.
“Spade called before you got here,” Nya told Bria. “He should be here any minute. He had to stop off and get the dessert.” She set out a deck of cards and stacked some board games on top of each other. “He’s bringing Kola. Not because he wanted to but because Chance offered and she accepted. He told me he didn’t want to be rude.”
“That’s fine. You want me to put out some potato chips and nuts?”
“Sure, but before Spade gets here, I need to know how you’re feeling about everything.”
“I’m okay. There’s a part of me that wants to get back together with Spade and act like none of this ever happened. I feel sad that he went through the cancer ordeal by himself. I wish I could’ve been there for him. And if he’s not out of the woods, I will be there for him. But he seems to be doing fine. I’ve been lifting him up in prayer, praying that he really was misdiagnosed and that he’s healthy.”
“Me too,” Nya added.
“Now that I’ve had time to think about it, I do understand why Spade kept his condition from me. I don’t agree, but that’s life. I’m sure we could move past it. It’s just that I like Kerryngton . . . a lot.”
“I know you do, but you can’t keep Spade dangling on a string. You know I’ve always been Team Spade. Even when he broke your heart, I didn’t say it, but I was hoping and praying the two of you would get back together. Then when I saw you catching feelings for Kerryngton . . .” Her voice trailed off. She held up a finger. “But I’ll tell you this. I saw the way you looked at Spade when you saw him with Kola.
You couldn’t hide your feelings. That’s when I realized you needed to be with Spade, because your heart belongs to him.”
“I can’t do that to Kerryngton. He doesn’t deserve it.”
Nya looked her in the eyes. “And Spade does?”
Bria turned her head away. “Neither one of them deserves it.”
Nya rested her chin on Bria’s shoulder and spoke to the side of her face. “Kerryngton has a lot going for him, professionally speaking. But Spade is your man. I don’t need to sell you on him because you already know what a jewel he is. He’s young, but he’s got his head on straight. Plus, he’s got skills that will definitely pay the bills.” She paused. “While you’re around here playin’, don’t mess around and let some other woman scoop up your man.”
The doorbell rang. Nya headed to the door while Bria went in the kitchen to wash her hands and prepare bowls of chips and nuts. She could hear Spade’s voice as soon as Nya let him in. She exhaled and carried the bowls into the living room where she set them on the coffee table.
“Hey,” Bria said to Spade and Kola, trying to sound chipper.
Spade eyed her up and down. “Hey. You look nice.”
She knew she looked good, because she took extra time to get ready. She wore her hair parted on the side and curled at the ends, just the way Spade liked it. She also wore a turquoise halter-style sundress that showed off her square shoulders, impressive cleavage, and smooth back. She wasn’t about to let Kola show her up. “Thanks. So do you.”
Nya took the store-bought red velvet cake he was carrying out of his hands and went into the kitchen.
“Glad you could make it,” Bria directed her comment to Kola. She caught a glimpse of Kola’s enormous booty. It looked big in the dark, but in the light, it took on a whole new dimension.
“Same here. You need help with anything?”
Bria shook her head. “No, we’re good. Chance is outside grilling some fish and chicken. Make yourself comfortable.”
“Fish and chicken?” Spade said. His expression revealed his surprise.
“Calm down,” she laughed. “Fat Matt’s is in the kitchen.”
“You already know what’s up,” he chuckled. “I was about to say.”
“I reacted the same way earlier.” She touched him and felt a slight static shock. As he looked down at her, she deliberately turned her face away.
Nya yelled from the kitchen, “Can I get anybody anything?”
Everyone declined.
Kola sat down, and Bria could’ve sworn she heard the couch ask for help. “I like this house.”
Bria thanked her on behalf of Nya who joined them in the living room.
“I’ll go see if my man Chance needs any help,” Spade said.
As soon as Spade walked out, the ladies started talking about reality TV shows and all the drama they entailed. They were laughing when the guys came back inside with aluminum pans filled with meat.
Chance wiped the dripping sweat from his brow. “I need to take a shower.”
“Yes, you do.” Bria pretended to fan away funk that she didn’t smell. “You’re assaulting my nostrils.”
“Shut it up before I cover your nose with my armpit.” He raised his arm and Bria got out of the way.
“You’d better not, stink boy.” She crinkled her nose.
Spade scooped a handful of mixed nuts and stuffed them in his mouth. “Bria, let me holla at you for a minute.”
“Okay.” She wondered what he wanted to talk about now. Hadn’t they already said everything? Bria got up and followed him outside. “What’s up?” she asked as she slowly closed the door behind them.
“We finished picking out the songs that are gonna make it onto my CD.”
She smiled at him. She knew how much this meant to him. “Congratulations. I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks.” He pulled his CD cover from his pocket and showed it to her. “Here’s my cover artwork.”
She studied it for a moment. She thought Spade looked extremely handsome and sexy in a wifebeater, showing his impressive pecs, abs, and biceps on the cover. “I really like it. This is hot.” She could tell her approval meant a lot to him.
“I’m having a CD release party, and I want you to come.”
Since she had been there with Spade since the beginning she wanted to be there to support him. He might not be her man right now, but she would always consider him to be her friend. She figured this could be their first step toward mending their broken relationship. A baby step, but nonetheless, it was still a step. If he was willing to extend her an olive branch, she was mature enough to accept it.
“That should be fine,” she told him. “We’d better go back inside before Nya puts out an APB on us.”
When they returned, Chance had freshened up and changed clothes. They were right on time for one of his corny jokes.
“Knock, knock,” Chance said.
“Who’s there?” Nya and Kola asked in unison.
“Doris.”
“Doris who?” they continued to indulge him.
“Doris locked; that’s why I’m knocking.”
As lame as Bria thought that was, Chance’s joke actually got a chuckle out of her.
“Ready to grub?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Bria answered, patting Chance’s oversized belly. “I can see that you’ve been doing a little bit too much grubbin’.”
“As long as my pookie butt likes it, it’s all good.” He gave Nya a hug and kiss on the cheek.
“Negro, please! Your plump behind better go to the gym before you run, I mean walk, around here looking as fat and bloated as the Goodyear Blimp,” Bria said.
“Are you going to let her talk to me like that?” he said to Nya. He turned his face up and stared at her.
“Just call me Switzerland. I’m neutral,” she said.
“That’s right, thickalicious.” She acted like he was the Pillsbury Doughboy and poked his belly with her finger. “Now what?”
“Why don’t you take the Tyson approach and bite me?”
“Too much grease and blubber is bad for my cholesterol. I’ll have to pass on biting you today. Thank you just the same.”
“Kids, kids, please,” Nya interjected.
Kola and Spade were busy cracking up laughing.
“Let’s eat,” Nya said.
They went in the kitchen and fixed their plates. The food smelled delectable. They said grace, and then ate until they got the “itis.” The food was so good that the only sounds being made were chewing and finger licking.
When Chance finished eating, he said, “Now I got the black people syndrome.” He rubbed his stomach.
They laughed and Spade added, “I feel ya.”
“Anybody want dessert?” Nya offered while clearing the table. She and Bria usually ate a scoop of vanilla ice cream after dinner.
“Not right now,” Chance said.
“None for me,” Spade echoed that sentiment.
“Whatcha got?” Kola asked.
“Ice cream or cake?” Nya told her.
“I’ll take a slice of cake, but I can get it.” She pushed her chair back and got up.
The ladies went in the kitchen and fixed their desserts. They returned to the table already eating their sweet treats.
“I don’t know how you all have the room,” Chance said. “I feel like a stuffed pig.”
“And you look like one too.” Bria couldn’t resist. She burst out laughing. In between laughs she managed to say, “I’m just kidding.” Bria realized that in the presence of a stranger her teasing may seem a bit harsh, but that’s just how she and Chance have always interacted.
Chance mean mugged her.
“You’ll get used to these two,” Nya said to Kola. “They act like a real brother and sister.”
Chance said, “So, Spade, how’s your CD coming along?”
“It’s finished.” He showed them the cover.
“That was fast,” Nya said.
“It might
seem that way, but the truth of the matter is that my CD was already recorded when I got the deal. We only had to record a few new songs and change out the music on some of the songs. That was it.”
“Don’t you write your own lyrics?” Chance asked.
“Definitely.” He rubbed his hands together. “Matter of fact, I wrote a new song during our flight. Want to hear it?”
“Yeah,” everyone said.
He cleared his throat and stood up. He started rapping about a lost love. Bria immediately knew he was talking about her, because he mentioned how he and the woman were best friends amongst other telling things like the way they used to just sit around and chill. He described Bria as his dream girl, but he messed up their almost perfect world. He broke her heart, and now he’s the one crying. The lyrics moved Bria emotionally. By the end of the song, she felt exposed, and, in an odd way, flattered.
“Wow,” Nya said. “That was deep.” She eyed Bria.
“I like it,” Kola said. “That was some LL Cool J ‘I Need Love’ stuff right there.”
They all laughed.
Chance said, “I guess it’s true . . . You can’t become a great artist until you’ve gone through some pain. I felt that, my brother.” He tapped two fingers over his heart.
“Let me know if you need me to sing the hook,” Kola offered. “You know I got you.” She batted her false eyelashes at him.
His gaze pierced Bria’s soul. “Did you like it?”
“I did,” Bria admitted. She scooped some ice cream in her mouth and licked her lips.
A loud pop sounded outdoors. People in the neighborhood were already setting off fireworks. They turned on the TV and tuned in to the Macy’s at Lenox Mall celebration to watch the fireworks.
The lyrics to Spade’s song stuck in Bria’s mind like gum to the bottom of a shoe. He had poured his heart into that song, and she found that very romantic. He had professed his love for her for everyone to hear. If he recorded that song, their love would be forever immortalized. How could she not want to be with a guy like that?
