“That’s cool.”
“Another bill, another magazine, oooh, Playgirl.” She took the plate from Debbie.
“Thanks. That’s fine, I haven‘t seen the girls in a while.”
“Sean’s still there, you know.”
“I know that, I said the girls.”
They laughed and ate breakfast, then headed down to the shop.
“It’s about time you guys came back. I was getting tired of playing the boss role. Not my type of role playing game, honey,” Sean said, with a flip of his hand.
“Boy, shut up,” Angel said, laughing. “We want to hear about the trip.”
“Is that all? I thought you guys might like to see the stuff we brought back for you,” Opal said chuckling.
“Hell yeah!” they yelled together, pulling and tugging on the bags, laughing. They passed out the souvenirs and gave them a quick briefing on their tripbefore going to see Jackie.
“Hi, guys. Welcome back,” Jackie said, opening the door.
“Hi Jackie. I hope this isn’t too early.” Opal hugged her and walked in. “How are you?”
“No, this is fine.” She closed the door behind them and shrugged. “I’m, you know, I’m ok. Please, sit down. I know you guys wanted to know if I found anything else out.”
On the coffee table, on top of beautiful white doilies were several small, framed pictures of Jackie and Robin, a picture of everyone in the shop with Miss Betty at a barbecue and one of Debbie, Opal and Pearl in front of the shop on their first year anniversary.
On the walls were pictures of young Robin and Jackie during their school years, Miss Betty with them and a family picture with a man who was obviously their father.
“This is Miss Betty’s house, right?” Debbie asked picking up the picture of them and passing it. “We’ve never been here.”
She nodded. “Yeah. We’ve been here since the funeral. It’s paid for, but we haven’t made up our minds what we’re going to do with it yet.”
“How’s your sister? Robin, right?”
Jackie nodded.
“How’s she doing? She looked pretty bad at the funeral.”
“Yeah, I know. She hasn’t come out of her room since. I take food to her and have to make her eat.” She sighed. “She blames herself for turning Mama on to the internet in the first place. ”
Pearl sat next to her. “So what did you find out?”
“Well, not much, but a few things make sense now.”
“Like what?”
“Well, a few people I didn’t know came to the funeral. They said they knew my mother from the St. Vincent’s Cancer Center.”
“Cancer!” they said in unison.
“Yeah. Of course I had no clue what they were talking about, but it bugged me, you know? So, I came here and started looking around. At first I didn’t know what I was looking for, but when I came across some pills in her purse and I knew I found something.”
“What was it?”
“Zofran.”
They looked at each other, shrugging.
She chuckled. “Yeah, I didn’t know what it was either so I looked it up on Google. Basically it’s a drug to help with the severe nausea, the kind that comes from doing chemo.” She let out a soft, sad laugh. “I guess that’s why she’s been running around like she’s crazy. She was doing all the stuff she’s always wanted to do…and she never said nothing to me...or my sister.” She sighed. “Anyway, we also found out who that man was, the one that was with her. His name was James Friedman. I spoke to his daughter last week. She said her mother died about ten years ago and he was going to retire next year from his job. He was the foreman of a construction company on the Southside. She said he was all excited about being able to spend a lot of his free time with this sweet old woman that he’d met online.”
The girls sat back and sighed sadly.
“But, enough of that. Tell me how your vacation in the big city went. I need some good news.” She forced a smile and wiped away a tear.
They talked with Jackie for a couple of hours and had a light lunch with her before returning home.
“Has anyone checked messages since we got home?” Opal asked walking in.
“I’ll check them.” Debbie walked to the living room.
“You have five messages! First message! Hi Opal, it’s Roy...”
Debbie pressed delete, shaking her head. “He knows he’s in violation when he calls here.”
“Next message! Hey boss ladies. We just wanted to say hey and let you now that Miss Betty’s daughter wanted you to stop by, in case you didn’t get her card. Sean may call me Ghetto Barbie, but I’m smarter than he thinks.” The chipper voice, chuckled. “It was my idea to leave you guys this message to remind you. Ok…so, what do I do now? Yeah, I left the message already.” She paused. “The problem is I don’t know how to turn it off? Just hang it up?” The laughter flared up in the background of the call. “Oh…”
She shook her head, laughing as she deleted the message. “Gotta love her.”
“Next message! Hey, Ladies! What’s up?” a happy male voice began. “I’m leaving this message is for my baby. Yeah Debbie, I’m talking about you girl, it’s Rakim. I know you guys know that already, but anyway, I just wanted to tell you that we talked to Jake and we’re now official members of the Jake fan club. We think he’s cool people. Well, I hope you’re having a good time, but could you hurry home? I miss you, girl. Call me when you get back, ok? Bye.”
She sighed and pushed delete.
“Next message! Good morning. This message is for Opal Jefferson, this is Susan calling from Bartledge,” a perky voice began. “This is a courtesy call to let you know that we had to return your check for insufficient funds. Please bring in a cash payment or send a money order at your earliest convenience to our office. Our office hours are…”
Debbie laughed, pressing delete.
“Next message! Pearl, it’s me. Baby, I can’t eat I can’t sleep and can’t even keep my mind on my job! That’s how much I miss you. Please call me.” The male voice was anguished and full of pain as he rushed his words out. “I can’t stand the thought of losing you. This has been the longest two weeks of my life. Please, Pearl, Please call me. I love you.”
“End of messages!”
Opal and Pearl came from the kitchen and handed her a bottle of Sprite.
“So, who we got?”
“Well, the check for your car payment bounced, so you’d better get on that.”
“Shit.”
She took a sip. “Rakim called. He says misses me and apparently he and Doug have started a Jake fan club. It would seem they’ve been hanging out with him and they like him.”
“That’s cool. Was that it?” She turned up her own bottle.
“Well…” She took another sip and pushed replay. “Jake left this message.”
Quietly they listened and turned to Pearl.
She sighed. “I miss him, too. He wasn’t there when I tried calling before.”
“Well, Pearl, damn, call him back already and make up, you know you want to.”
Debbie snickered and handed her the phone.
She took it and headed for the stairs.
“I think we should call the guys and meet them for lunch.”
“Lunch? Chica, we just ate lunch with Jackie.”
“Girl please. You didn’t really think that some chicken salad on some crackers and a little fruit was going to fill me, did you? It was good, but it was just an appetizer. You know better than that,” she said with a chuckle. “Get on your cell and let them know we’re back so we can hook up for some real food. Hmm, I think I feel like a margarita.”
Later that afternoon they met the guys in the Cantina at the Chi-Chi’s on 38th street, just off of High School Rd.
Doug spotted Opal quickly and walked straight to her with Rakim close behind. Smiling ear to ear he pulled her from the chair and swung her around, hugging her.
“I missed you, girl. I’m glad you’re back.” He let he
r go and sat across from her.
“What’s up, Debbie?”
Debbie smiled and waved. “Hi, Doug.”
“Yeah, I can tell you might have missed me a little. I brought you something back from New York.” She pulled a bag out from under the table.
Rakim stood next to the table with his arms open. “Can I get on for a hug? I haven’t seen you in over a week, you know.”
“Well, I guess I can do that.” Debbie smiled and walked into his arms.
He let her go and sat next to Doug, across from Debbie. “What’s up, Opal? Did you guys had a good time?”
“Yeah, we had a blast and we took about a zillion pictures, too.”
“That’s cool. Whatcha got, man?”
He dug through the bag. “Opal brought me a souvenir back from the big city.”
“Cool. Did you bring me something back, too, Deb?”
“Why would I do that?” she asked innocently.
“Oh, come on. You know you missed me.” He grabbed her hand and smiled.
“I’m wearing you down, remember?”
“Oh, whatever.” She snatched her hand back laughing and tossed a bag at him.
He caught it chuckling. “See, I knew you couldn’t resist me.”
“Oh brother. I can see what being with you is going to be like already.”
The waitress came over with the margaritas and the sample platter Opal and Debbie ordered.
“Can I get one of those? What about you, Ra?”
Rakim took a sip from Debbie’s glass. “Yup, me too.” He slid the glass across the table to her, smiling. “You know when you’re a couple you share a lot of things, not just drinks.”
“Whatever,” Debbie said under her breath and sipped her drink, while everyone laughed.
“So, do you still have the heart I sent you?” Doug asked holding a white Twin Towers memorial tee shirt against his chest.
“Of course. I got you a key chain, too. It’s in there somewhere. It’s not as nice as mine, but…”
He dug it out. “No, I like it. Thanks.” He attached the tiny Statue of Liberty to his keys. “What’d you get, man?”
“I got a Brooklyn Cyclone tee shirt. I’m assuming they’re a baseball team from the logo and I got an official Yankee’s hat because somebody remembered I like baseball.” He put the hat on. “Wow, it’s a bunch of stuff in here. I gotta check it out for real later.”
“What does that mean? You're not leaving, are you?"
He smiled. “Me? Leave you? Never. I just want to spend this time focusing on you and not the gifts. By the way, I could thank you for real, if you give me about, hmm, let's say, an hour and a half. Maybe two if I eat too much. I move a little slower on a full stomach.” He chuckled. “I’m not as young as I used to be.”
She tried to stop her laughter, but a few giggles slipped at as she spoke,
“Whatever, Rakim.”
“Ok, now that that’s settled, let’s eat,” Opal said moving Doug’s bag, giving the waitress room for the plates.
While they ate lunch, the girls told them the highlights of their trip. After, they sat back, drinking margaritas and catching up.
“So, what did you guys do while we were gone?”
Rakim smiled. “Well, you know how we do. We hit a few tittie bars, had a couple of wild parties, went to naked karaoke…”
“Yeah right!” Debbie laughed, playfully slapping his arm.
“Ok, ok, we didn’t, but we did spend a lot of time with Jake.”
“Really? You think he’s good for my sister?”
“I don’t know about all that, but I like him.”
“You like him, too?”
“Yeah, I think he’s cool. We were supposed to meet up Saturday, but he cancelled.
He said he and his sister were going to a funeral. A close family friend or something.”
“That’s messed up.”
“Yeah, it was on the news and everything.”
“You saw it?”
“Naa, not me, but Ra did.”
“So, what happened, Rakim?”
He shrugged. “They said a couple sat in the car outside the girlfriend’s house and someone shot them through the windshield at point blank range.”
“Damn.”
“Yup. The girl was the little sister of one of his brother’s best friends. He said they all grew up together.”
“They don’t know why it happened or who did it?”
“Nope, they just know they had just recently started dating. Just like us.”
“Like us? Rakim, we’re not dating.”
“Not technically, but we will be soon because I’m wearing you down.” He winked at her.
“You obviously were been drinking before you got here,” Debbie said giggling.
“Did you see his brother?”
“Nope, Jake said he’d be out of town for a while.”
“Good, can’t say that I’d miss him. He left a bad taste in my mouth on our last encounter.”
“Huh, on us all.” Opal agreed.
Rakim leaned across the table and whispered. “I would never leave a bad taste in your mouth…not if I can help it, that is.” He smiled and bounced his eyebrows.
Opal took a drink to help swallow back her laughter. “So, did you meet Jake’s sister?”
“Yeah, we did. She was nice.”
“Really? What’d she look like?”
“Ooo, I hope that’s a hint of jealousy I hear in your voice, Deb,” Rakim said, leaning across the table again.
Debbie elbowed Opal to stop her giggles. “Can’t I just ask a question? Why does it have to be jealousy?”
Doug chuckled. “Jake’s sister…”
Rakim laid a hand on his forearm to stop him and he sat back smiling.
“Jake’s sister is very nice and she’s pretty, too.”
“Really? How pretty?”
He smiled, pulling her hands to his lips. “Oh, I don’t know. Probably not as pretty as she used to be.” He kissed her fingers one at a time.
She tilted her head in confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That means I probably would have been more attracted to her about ten years ago, when she was around our age, but now…” he paused, shrugging. “She’s married with children, the appeal is kinda lost. Besides, I’m sure her husband still thinks she’s still fine as hell, but…” He resumed kissing her fingers. “She’s not my type.”
She leaned forward smirking. “I bet you thought that was funny, huh?”
He continued kissing her fingers and shrugged.
“Well…” she lowered her voice. “I had decided to take you up on your pushy offer and give us a try, but I can see you’re already looking to get beat up early in this relationship.” She smiled.
“Really?” he whispered and pulled her over the table a little closer to him.
“Well, maybe we’ll find out early in this relationship that I like shit like that.” He returned her smile.
Opal laughed, unable to hold back any longer. “Ok, guys, enough. That’s just way too much information. I just ate, for crying out loud.” She grabbed her purse off the arm of her chair. “Let’s go down to the canal and walk off this food.”
***
As Opal, Debbie, Rakim and Doug headed downtown to the canal, Pearl was pulling into Jake’s driveway. Before she could get her door opened, his front door swung open and he ran out to her car and swung her door open.
“Pearl! Boy, did I miss you.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her all over her face.
“I missed you, too,” she said between kisses. “Honey, please, can we go inside?”
He lifted her like a bride and carried her inside the house. They tripped over each other, trying to kiss and walk up the stairs at the same time. Barely able to restrain themselves, they pulled and tugged on each other’s clothes and fell onto the bed, laughing and kissing. Finally naked, they rolled over and over playfully. They quickly ran out of bed, and he
was on top of her.
He stroked her face lovingly. “I’m so sorry, Pearl. I missed you so much. I didn’t realize how much I loved you until I almost lost you. Don’t leave me like that again.”
“I won’t, Jake. I love you, too. I’m…”
Shaking his head, he put his finger to her lips. “No, don’t.”
Two tears dropped on her cheek as he lowered his face to kiss her. The passion behind his kiss erupted from his core, and he lifted her from the bed to seek more of it.
Her arms slid around his neck, automatically bringing him closer to her.
He drank her sweetness into his very soul, feeding off it, wanting to drown in it.
She was intoxicating him, drugging him with her love, and he couldn't get enough of her.
His body knew exactly what to do as it instinctively pressed itself into her warm, wet, inviting core. He fell into a primal rhythm that she matched thrust for thrust.
He moaned his pleasure out loud and ground her harder, delving deeper into her, wanting more of her. Again he moaned, as she lifted her pelvis to match his intense pace, move for move.
His breathing was labored when he spoke, “Pearl...I, I can't…”
Her voice was soft and hot in his ear, “It's ok, baby. Come for me, I'm ready.”
Her understanding and acceptance did more for him than any aphrodisiac could.
He rode the storm of ecstasy he was caught in to completion with an uninhibited cry of satisfaction. Gasping for air he, grasped her face and kissed it all over. After a while, he gathered her in his arms where they laid content and happy.
“I can’t tell you how hard these last two weeks have been without you. Not knowing if you would come back to me or not. Damn, it feels good to have you back in my arms.” He squeezed her.
“Jake, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t trying…”
He touched her lips, again. “Sweetheart, I’m not blaming you.” He kissed the top of her head and smiled. “I know this couldn’t have been easy for you either. My brother made it hard for us both. It was just an ugly situation.” He sighed. “My brother has changed, Pearl. He ain’t been right for a while.”
“What happened to him, Jake?”
He sighed again and stroked her head. “About two years ago he was gonna marry this girl name Roxanne, but she changed her mind and left him.”
The Yin Yang Effect Page 13
