by Carl Weber
“You better.”
“I will. So what’d you end up getting into after Bingo?”
He didn’t give me an answer at first. He just broke into this goofy smile that raised a thousand flags in my mind.
“Nothin’ much.”
“Nothin’ much, like what? And why you grinning so much?” I studied his face. “What’re you up to?”
He gave me this innocent look. “What? I’m not up to nothin’. I was just thinking about something that happened last night.”
“Like what?” I was in interrogation mode now.
“None of your business. You have your secrets, I’ve got mine.” He reached for a platter and walked out of the room. He returned a few seconds later with the same goofy smile. Oh, there was no doubt in my mind something was going on and it was killing me not to know. I took a long look at my brother. There was a look about him that I hadn’t seen in a long time. A look that was familiar, but I just couldn’t quite put my finger on. Then it hit me.
“Oooh, Dante…you think you’re slick, don’t you?” I whispered.
“What?” He tried to look innocent.
“I haven’t seen you smile like that since you was knocking boots with Anita.” I put the spoon down and placed my hands on my hips, shaking my head. “You slept with her again, didn’t you? You slept with Anita!”
Dante raised his finger to his lips, shaking his head to quiet me. “No! Hell no. I ain’t messin’ with her,” he scolded through gritted teeth. “Look, sis, she’s married, so as far as I’m concerned, that woman is off-limits.”
“You sure? I know how you feel about her. They say love can make you do strange things.”
“Yeah, but I’m not the one you got to worry about. She’s the one chasing me. Last night when I got home, she was staked out in the bushes waiting for me.”
“For real? Why would she do that?” I asked, wide-eyed.
“Don’t ask me, but if she could, I think she would have raped me. That bitch is crazy, Donna. She’s obsessed.” From the look on his face I could tell he was concerned, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of Anita or himself.
“Is she? I know you have feelings for her. Are you sure your actions haven’t led to any of this?”
He hesitated. “I’m not gonna lie. I love Anita, Donna. I always will, but God hasn’t come up with the pu-pu that could make me play second fiddle to Deacon Emerson.” He picked up another platter and smiled. “Besides, I’m seeing someone else.”
“You are? Who is she? Don’t tell me it’s that Sherrie McDonald I saw you with last week. Oooo, Dante, didn’t you mess with her sister a while back?” Now I wanted all the details. Dante and I used to share all our secrets, but things had changed lately, ever since I had a secret too deep to share even with my brother.
“Oh, so you wanna know who I’m see but you’re not willing to tell me who you’ve been creeping with?”
I froze for a moment. I wanted to tell Dante, but I promised Terrance I wouldn’t say anything until he said the time was right. “Touché. You’re right. It’s none of my business.” To get Dante out of my Kool-Aid, I turned the tables back around on him. “Anyhow, I’m worried about you. You stay away from Anita. If she finds out about you dating someone else, she could be trouble.”
“She already has and already is.”
“Oh, Lord, what happened?”
“Nothin’ yet, but she made a lot of threats.”
“Dante, please be careful. Anita doesn’t sound too stable.”
“She isn’t.” He started to walk out the door with a platter and I grabbed his arm.
“Seriously, Deacon Emerson has a lot of guns in that house. If Anita’s as crazy as we think she is…”
Dante pulled his arm free as if he didn’t want to hear it. “I know, Donna. I’ve already thought about that, okay?”
“Sure, but when you come back, I need to ask you something.”
“Does it have to do with Anita?”
“No.”
“Good. I’ll be right back.” He walked out the door.
When he returned, I went straight to the point of what had been on my mind all night. “Can I ask you that question now?”
“Look, don’t take all day. We’ve got some hungry folks in there. The bishop and Reverend Reynolds look like they’re about to eat their napkins.”
“Don’t worry. This won’t take long.”
“Aw’ight, what’s the question?”
“How can a woman tell if a man loves her?”
“What?” A frown took over Dante’s face. “What you wanna know that for? You think you’re in love or something?”
“Maybe…or maybe I’m trying to find out if someone else is in love. Now can you just answer the question so we can go eat?”
He exhaled. “Hmmm. You can probably tell by how he treats you, not by what he says. Most men are willing to say anything to get some. It’s the ones who don’t push you that usually care.”
“So if a man asks for something, he usually doesn’t care?”
“Nah, I wouldn’t say that. I mean, wanting some pu-pu is a natural thing. I don’t care who he is, he could be the nicest guy in the world. He’s still gonna wanna get some ass. I guess it’s the way he goes about trying to get some that’s important.”
That made me feel a lot better. Terrance never pushed me when we first started to date. It was me who ended up giving him the condom.
“Well, let’s say the man has proven he loves the woman. Do you think a woman should do everything a man asks her to do?”
“Baby sister, it depends on what it is. You can’t just do anything a man asks. You have to use some common sense. Ain’t no man worth going to jail for.”
“What if it’s something in the bedroom? Should a woman do everything a man asks her to do in the bedroom?”
“Donna, this is not a conversation I wanna have with you.” He picked up the last platter.
“But…but I need some advice, Dante. Look, we been through a lot together. I’ve been there for you.”
“I can’t. This is something you need to talk to one of your girls or Mom about.”
“Mom? You know I can’t talk to her. She lost her virginity the night of her wedding.”
“Well, what about RaShanda? Why don’t you talk to her?”
“No. I want a man’s perspective.”
He exhaled again, this time louder. “Okay. Let me put it like this, and don’t ever forget this. If a woman gives a man everything he wants, he loses interest. Men are hunters. It’s just the nature of the beast.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, a lot of men like to go after women. They like the chase, the hunt. And women have to know how to give just enough, but not so much that the man gets bored. But a good man, he’ll be loyal and true to the one woman.”
“Like the bishop?”
“Yeah, like the bishop. Although, I think they mighta broke the mold when they made him. If you could find his clone, then that’s the man I’d want you to marry.”
I left the kitchen with a big smile on my face ’cause that’s the man I felt I had.
“Amen,” we all repeated as the bishop finally finished up his rather lengthy blessing of the food. Unlike most Sundays when our dinner table consisted of only Reverend Reynolds and my immediate family, today’s table had some extra last-minute guests. Right before we were about to sit down to eat, we received a visit from Deacon Emerson and my brother’s ex, Anita. Of course they apologized when they heard we were about to eat dinner, but they just happened to be in the neighborhood, the deacon explained, and decided to stop by. Now, I’ll give the deacon the benefit of the doubt, but Anita knew we always ate Sunday dinner between five-thirty and six o’clock so the bishop could watch his favorite show, 60 Minutes. The bishop, of course, said there was no reason for them to apologize and invited them to dinner. Anita, much to Dante’s chagrin, quickly accepted the invitation without even a glance at her husband. I wasn’t su
re what she was up to, but I was glad my mother didn’t place her next to Dante, because that woman had hands like an octopus.
Despite the obvious awkward situation for Dante, things were pretty decent for a while. I could tell that the food was good from the way all conversation stopped as everyone filled their plates and dug in. This was a relief to me because I was hoping to score a few brownie points with my mother since I was still not forgiven for missing Bingo the night before. As it turned out, Bingo was the last thing on anyone’s mind once my father noticed that my brother didn’t seem too happy.
“Dante,” the bishop called, “are you all right? You barely touched your candied yams. And we all know you love candied yams.”
Dante glanced in Anita’s direction then plastered a fake smile on his face as he answered. “I’m fine, Bishop.”
But I could tell he wasn’t fine. He did not want to be there.
“You sure? You look a little distant.”
“He must be thinking about that half-dressed woman who came looking for him at the church last night, Bishop Wilson,” Anita announced. I swear I thought that witch was about to cackle after she said it.
The room fell silent—no more silverware clinking against plates, not a word from anyone—as every person at the table turned toward Anita. Everyone but me, that is. I was looking at my brother, who was glaring at Anita, his eyes telling her everything he couldn’t say.
“What half-naked woman?” my mother asked.
“Dante’s new little girlfriend. Hasn’t he told you about her? Everyone at Bingo was talking about them. They really put on a show. Isn’t that right, Emerson?”
“I don’t know if I’d call it a show. They were just showing each other some affection.”
“Affection! In the church? Is this true, Dante?” my mother asked, continuing her interrogation. All eyes were now on my brother. I guess he wasn’t lying when he said he was seeing someone new. Now I wanted all the scoop.
“It’s not what you think, Ma,” Dante protested. “I just gave her a little kiss.”
“Just a little kiss? Hmph, it was more than a little kiss,” Anita corrected him. For anyone paying attention, her jealousy was transparent. “What’d you call it, Emerson? Young love. It was more like lust. Kissing on each other like they was married. I tried to tell them they were in the house of the Lord, but they wouldn’t listen to me.”
Now, ain’t that a bitch? She had the nerve to complain about Dante kissing in the Bingo hall when she and Dante probably screwed in every room of the church. And only the Lord knows what she and Deacon Emerson did.
“Who is this woman?” my mother asked. She was staring at Dante so hard she looked like she could see through him. “Do I know her? Is she a member of our congregation?”
“No. We just met a few days ago.”
“And you’re carrying on with her like that in the church? What is wrong with you? Don’t you have any shame?” I wasn’t used to hearing our mother get on Dante like this. Usually I was the one she felt she had to put in place.
“Ma, we were just kissing. Anita’s exaggerating. It wasn’t like we were doing anything X-rated.”
My mother gasped. “Don’t get fresh with me, young man. We may have guests but I’m still your mother, and you still live under my roof.” Now that was embarrassing. I could see Reverend Reynolds trying to hide a smirk.
Dante sighed but kept his mouth shut.
“Now, you need to thank Anita for bringing this to our attention. If you’re going to be a minister, you’ve got to watch these fast women. They don’t care about you, they—”
Dante cut her off. “Ma, she’s not fast.”
“Oh no? Well, it doesn’t sound that way to me.”
My father finally spoke up. “Son, how a woman presents herself is very important and is a direct reflection on you. Isn’t that right, Deacon Emerson?”
“Your father’s right, Dante. A woman can make a man or break a man.” He wrapped his good arm around Anita and beamed with pride. She had a smile on her face, but I knew that inside she was smirking. If only her husband knew what kind of woman she really was.
“What are y’all sweating me about?” Dante’s brow furled. “She wouldn’t have even been at the church if Donna had shown up for Bingo like she was supposed to.”
I kicked Dante under the table. Of course, now Mom turned her attention to me and pointed. “And you, I don’t even wanna talk about. What were you thinking last night?”
I heaved an exasperated sigh. “I said I was sorry. It won’t happen again.”
“It better not.” My mother turned back to my brother, never missing a beat. “Dante, we’re not trying to sweat you, as you put it. We’re just concerned. You’ve got so much potential. I don’t want to see it all go down the drain for a fifteen-minute thrill.”
“I know, Ma, but you and the bishop gotta trust me because I really like this girl.” I was the only one who noticed Anita rolling her eyes after Dante’s statement.
“Well, if you really like her, maybe we should meet this girl. When are you going to bring her by?” the bishop asked.
“Soon, I hope.”
10
Tanisha
“Why you so quiet?” Dante whispered in my ear.
I looked back at him and smiled. We’d just had dinner at Umberto’s, a seafood restaurant on the water in Bayville, Long Island. After we finished eating, we left the restaurant, walked over to the beach, and climbed up onto one of the lifeguard chairs. I was sitting between Dante’s legs and he had his arms wrapped around my waist as we gazed at the moonlight reflecting off the water and listened to the crashing waves. It was the most romantic moment I’d ever had, and I was utterly speechless.
Not that I’d said more than a few words since we arrived at the restaurant anyway. For the first time in my life I let someone else do most of the talking. In all honesty, I was afraid I might open my big mouth and say the wrong thing. I’d already done that once, right before we arrived at the restaurant, and I had no plans of making the same mistake twice. Especially since Dante had worked so hard to make sure everything about this evening was perfect. Now it seemed so stupid that I had gotten an attitude earlier when he told me we were going to Umberto’s instead of Red Lobster. I didn’t even give him a chance to explain before I started rolling my eyes and mumbling under my breath about how I hated cheap-ass niggas. I know I was acting ghetto, but at the time I was really looking forward to going to Red Lobster. Besides, I’d never even heard of Umberto’s. Not to mention the fact that I promised my mother I’d bring her home one of those fancy glasses Red Lobster gives you when you order one of their tropical drinks.
For a minute I was so angry I contemplated getting out of the car and telling Dante to shove Umberto’s up his ass, but in retrospect I’m glad I didn’t. Once we pulled in front of the restaurant, it didn’t take me long to figure out that Umberto’s was a big step up from Red Lobster and that the first thing I should order off the menu was some humble pie. Not only did they have valets who opened our doors like we were VIPs, but Dante had reserved a table outside overlooking the ocean. And the food—oh, my God, the food was da bomb. Dante even ordered a bottle of Moët and you know how much that must have cost him. If that wasn’t enough, the restaurant had a man playing the violin who went from table to table to serenade the customers. I’m not into that classical music stuff, but holding Dante’s hand, sipping on that expensive champagne, and hearing that music made me feel real special, like I was Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman and not just a girl from the projects. If this was what it was like to be Dante’s girl, then I knew why that chick Anita was fighting so hard to get him back. Not only was he cute, he had a lot more class than any man I’d ever dealt with.
“Hey, you okay? You’re not still upset about not going to Red Lobster, are you?”
I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not so I took hold of his arms, pulling them gently until he got the hint that I wanted him to hold me tighter.
“No, I’m not upset. I’m not upset at all. I’m just savoring the moment.” I hesitated, trying to find the words to express my feelings. “This place, this night…it’s perfect. I know I’m not supposed to say things like this but I like you, Dante. I like you a lot and I don’t think I ever want this date to end.”
“Good, ’cause I like you too, Tanisha, and believe me, this is just the beginning.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that.” I smiled, leaning back in hopes that he might kiss me.
“I hope you do.”
He pressed his soft lips on mine. I damn near melted in his arms when his tongue entered my mouth. If this was just the beginning, I was afraid to think of what he had planned next.
“Come on, let’s go.” He playfully nudged me from behind.
“Where we going?”
He kissed me again quickly then stood and jumped off the six-foot-high lifeguard chair, looking up at me when he landed on the sand.
“Come on. You’ll see.” He encouraged me to jump down. “I told you before, this is just the beginning.”
Just the beginning. Just the beginning of what? A thousand things ran through my mind but one stuck out. Did his words mean what I think they meant? Was he insinuating that we were going to make love that night? That he was gonna give me some of what my dreams had been filled with the past few nights? Well, if he was, then I was down for that, except for one problem. I was on my period.
Then again, maybe that was an omen. I had promised myself that I wasn’t gonna give him any for at least two weeks. I had a rule that if a guy stuck around two weeks, he was probably gonna stick around at least two more. There were exceptions to the rule, of course, but it had worked pretty well for me in the past. The way Dante was making me feel, though, I was gonna be hard-pressed to hold out the two weeks. And after all the money he had spent on our date, I doubted he planned on going home to take a cold shower. I can’t say that I blamed him, though. Anyone who’d gone to this much trouble to set up a date deserved to get a little somethin’.
