“It depends.” I blushed again. Buddy’s good humor was infectious.
“And she’s got some spice to her.” He winked at Jasmine. “I’ve got to go set up, but don’t you two beauties go anywhere. I want to get the chance to know this fine sister of yours,” he said.
“What’s up with him?” I asked as soon as he was out of earshot.
“Oh, just a toy. You can play with him if you want to because I’m done. As long as he continues to treat me right, he can still call himself my friend,” she said, looking around the club as it rapidly filled up.
“So, you won’t mind if I spend a little time with him?” I asked. I was feeling that charcoal brother.
“Naw, sis. He’s all yours; if you want him.”
She was discarding him way too quickly. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing. Buddy was a means to get here. I was never feeling him; only what he could do for me,” she said earnestly.
“Cool. We’ll see if he really wants to play,” I said.
“Shit, yeah, he’s old news. We haven’t been together in years, but he keeps extending invitations, trying to get me back, but I’ve moved on. Wait until you see my new man!” she stated confidently. I had forgotten all about Greg until she mentioned her date.
“Hey, let me take a stroll around the club. My friend Greg isn’t going to know to look for me hanging with the big dogs!”
She waved me away. “I hear ya. If you see a tall, brown-skinned man with short wavy hair and green eyes, tell him Jasmine is looking for him!”
“Hell, if I fall upon that nigga, I’m keeping him for myself!” I rushed away from the table with her in hot pursuit.
All eyes were on us when we left the VIP section, and I didn’t know if it was because we were actually looking good or because of where we were coming from. Jasmine went one way and I went the other, each of us looking for our man of the hour. I hadn’t traveled far before I ran up on Jasmine’s man.
“Jazz?” he asked when he grabbed my elbow in passing. I wasn’t even looking for him; I was so intent on finding Greg.
“Nope,” I said, pulling my arm away before I looked him in the face. “Oh, I’m sorry. You must be the man Jasmine is looking for. I’m her sister,” I said with pride.
He shook his head. “Damn, I didn’t even know she had a sister!”
“Neither did she,” I replied. “I know where she is, so follow me.” I continued walking around the club looking for Greg with Jasmine’s man in tow. I didn’t ask his name, and he didn’t bother to give it to me. We met Jasmine and Greg back where we first started, and we all burst out laughing. I hugged Greg, and she hugged her man.
“Sammie, meet Carlos,” she said, and I shook his offered hand. Turning to Greg, I said, “Greg, meet Jasmine, my sister, and her friend, Carlos.”
Bewildered, Greg shook Jasmine’s hand and nodded to Carlos. There was a tense moment of silence as the men eyed each other, and Jasmine and I could not help but to laugh. They were acting the same way Jazz and I had when we first met each other.
“We’re sitting over there,” Jasmine pointed, and I followed her lead; leaving the men to follow. Jasmine pulled me up close to her and said, “He’s cute.”
I struggled to keep from smiling.
“Gurl, if you weren’t my sister, I would’ve thrown Carlos down on the floor, and we’d be doing the nasty right now!” He was definitely a piece of eye candy. Although Greg was fine, he did not have the sleek confidence Carlos had.
As we sat down, the waitress came over to take our orders. I pulled my chair up closer to Greg, and he whispered in my ear.
“I didn’t know you had a sister. Damn. Ya’ll look just alike,” he said.
“There’s a lot about me you don’t know,” I said with a wink.
He placed his hands over mine. “I’m beginning to see.”
I looked across the table and winked at Jasmine. She was playing with Carlos under the table, and I could tell he was both loving it and hating it at the same time because we were there.
“Hey, do you want us to get our own table?” I asked them.
Carlos looked like he wanted to say yes, but Jasmine quickly spoke up. “Nonsense. We came out to be together, didn’t we?”
“Yes, we did!” I said excitedly, secretly pleased she would not put me on the back burner because her man had shown up. I would have to find out the details about him when we got back to my house.
When Carlos learned we were not going away, he decided to loosen up and enjoy himself. After the first ten minutes of utter silence, we all started to have a good time. It could have been the booze, but I think it was our wicked conversations and flirtation that finally melted the ice.
Jasmine introduced us to the entire cast from the Frank Ski and Wanda Morning Show. I was nervous about meeting on-air personalities, but they were really nice. They all seemed to know Jasmine, and I envied her. She was leading the life I always felt I should have but, for once, I put aside my envy and felt proud that she was my sister.
We danced the night away and, before I knew it, it was time to go home. If Greg expected to jump my bones, I dashed those hopes when I told him that I rode with Jasmine. As we were leaving the club, Buddy Love grabbed my arm.
“Hey, we didn’t get a chance to talk. Are you coming to the pajama party tomorrow, or should I say tonight?”
Surprised at his boldness, I tried to hide the blush that crept up to my cheeks. “Uh, yeah. Jasmine and I will be there.”
I could tell Greg was surprised by this admission, but he did not break his stride. The only indication I had that he was taken off guard was the raising of his eyebrows.
“Good, I’ll see you both then,” Buddy said.
“All right then,” I said and allowed Greg to escort me out of the club. Once outside, Greg let me know he was not happy about the latest turn of events.
“Damn, gurl; you are full of surprises,” he said, fighting to keep his voice down so that Jasmine and Carlos could not hear him.
“What?” I answered innocently.
“You…you…,” he stuttered.
“Spit it out,” I said, starting to get an attitude.
“Nothing,” he mumbled when he detected the tone of my voice. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to spend some quality time with you,” he said, trying to cover his real feelings.
“Hey, I’m sorry about tonight. By the time I got your call I had already made plans to hang out with Jasmine. I wanted to see you, too, so I thought I could combine the two.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m cool. When can I see you again?”
“Monday would be good. When we get back on Sunday I’m going to be bone tired.”
“I’ll bet.” I could tell he regretted saying it as soon as the words had left his lips.
“Excuse me?” I placed my hands on my hips.
“Nothing. Look, I had a good time. I’ll call you tomorrow.” He kissed me on the cheek and turned to leave.
“Bye, Greg!” Jasmine yelled to his retreating back.
He threw up his hand without turning around. Carlos had already left, and we waited until we got in the car before both of us fell out laughing.
“Gurl, that is one pissed-off nigga,” Jasmine said.
“You ain’t lying a bit,” I said, also laughing.
“Homeboy looked like he wanted to take out a chain and tie it around your neck,” she said as she started up the car. The annoying thing was that she was right.
“Gurl, it ain’t even like that. We just met; really. I don’t get with him that often.”
“Then you must have put it on his ass ’cause that nigga is sprung.”
“You think so?”
“No doubt. And you must have sparked some interest in Buddy ’cause he caught me going to the bathroom, asking me fifty thousand questions about you!”
“For real?”
“Yeah,” she responded.
“So, what’s up with that?”
“Girl, I done told ya; Buddy’s old news. If you like him, go for it. My feelings won’t be hurt in the least.”
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked again with renewed interest.
“Nothing, we simply met at the wrong time in our lives, and I don’t believe in going backward.”
“And you would be cool with it if I gave him a little play?”
“Hell yeah. He ain’t my man and never was. What are you going to do about Greg? He seems like he’s ready to fight for ya.”
“He don’t have no legs to stand on until he gets rid of his wife,” I said.
“Oh, I hear ya. Then go for yours,” she said.
We rode the rest of the way home in silence; each of us lost in our own thoughts. When she pulled up in front of my house, I was reluctant to get out.
“Jazz, you ain’t mad at me about dating a married man, are you?” I asked, nervous about her response.
“Hell no, Sammie. I ain’t into judging people. We all do things we feel we have to do, or want to do. Whatever happens, you’re my sister. Plus, Carlos is married, too,” she said, laughing. I gave her a hug, and we made plans to go to the store together to shop for our outfits for later on.
LEAH
The damn alarm clock ejected me from my peaceful slumber, and I fought to find the right button to turn it off.
“Good Lawd,” I said when I finally located the right button. I stretched sleepily and willed my body to an upright position. Today is my day. This would be the first day since the birth of my children—other than the weekend of my move—that I would be allowed to think only of myself, and I was looking forward to it. Mya was still in bed, and I left her there.
Racing out of the bed, I ran my shower and went to wake up Kayla to get her started getting dressed.
“Hey, sleepyhead. Wake up. Today is Keira’s birthday party,” I told her and, instead of complaining, she climbed right out of bed.
“Can we spend the night, Mommy?”
“Yes, you can,” I said, as happy as she was.
While she was taking her shower, I took my own. By the time I had my clothes on, it was time to wake up Malik. He also responded to my prompts about the party at his cousin’s and gave me no trouble getting dressed. I used the time while he was in the shower to put on my makeup and said a silent prayer that Mya would be as cooperative. As it turned out, she was still tired from yesterday, so she offered me no resistance while I bathed and clothed her.
I fed the kids a quick breakfast and ran around the house collecting the last-minute items that I needed to stuff in their bags. At seven-thirty we were ready to leave the house. I dropped Mya off first. She was sleeping off and on during the drive, and I prayed she would stay that way for most of the day. The last thing I wanted was to receive a frantic call from Momma urging me to come right away; especially since I did not know where Coy and I were going.
Momma was waiting in the living room when I turned the lock, and she took the sleeping Mya from my arms and put her into her bed.
“She looks worn out,” Momma said.
“She is. Hopefully she’ll have a good day. I don’t know where we’re going, but I promise I’ll have my cell phone on.”
“We’ll be okay.” She smiled. I kissed her on the cheek and thanked her again for giving up her day so I could have fun.
I quickly dropped off Kayla and Malik; promising to spend more time with them when I came to pick them up. I was still sticking to the lie that I had a meeting out of town that was driving me to hurry. Driving back home, I was a whirlwind of emotions. I was looking forward to my date but still apprehensive about Kayla and Malik being with my in-laws and Mya being at my mother’s. My apprehension disappeared when I saw Coy’s truck parked in my driveway.
“Hey, sunshine,” he said as he got out of the truck to greet me. He had on a pair of tight jeans with creases so sharp they could have cut butter. His thighs practically bulged out of them.
I planted a kiss on his lips. “Hey, yourself.”
“You ready?”
“I need to jet inside to get my bag and lock the house down,” I said, practically skipping inside. My fantasy date had begun.
He stood behind me as I locked up the house, and I got into his truck. Inside he had a pillow and blanket.
“Go to sleep,” he instructed and, at his command, I made myself comfortable. “We’ll stop in a couple of hours for breakfast.”
“A couple of hours? Where are we going?”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out!” He pulled the blanket up over my shoulders.
Surprisingly, I fell asleep. I woke when we pulled into a Waffle House. The clock on the dashboard said ten-thirty so I had been asleep for over two hours.
“Damn, baby, you were calling hogs like you haven’t slept in a week.” Coy laughed as he took the keys out of the ignition.
“No, I wasn’t! I don’t snore!”
“If you say so, but I had to turn up the radio to hear the announcer,” he said, still laughing.
I grabbed my purse, and we went inside the diner to eat.
“Where are we?” I asked, knowing full well he was not going to tell me.
“Waffle House,” he said with a smug smile.
“Oh, you got jokes, ha ha ha.”
He ordered for the both of us, and I was pleased with his selection, but I could not possibly eat it all. I also ordered a cup of coffee to clear the cobwebs from my brain. He was looking so handsome that I just wanted to dart into a motel room and quench the fire building inside of me.
He paid the check, and got back into the truck. Now I was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. He could not get me to go back to sleep unless he drugged me, so he had to contend with my questions for the duration of the ride. Coy had me puzzled. Despite the time I had spent with him, I didn’t know what he wanted from me. I wanted whatever he was offering and I allowed those things to endear him to me.
“I can’t figure you out,” I said with a sigh.
“What’s to figure?” he said, stealing a glance at me.
“What are we doing?”
“Going to have some fun and enjoy ourselves.”
“But, why me?” I asked, still perplexed.
“Why not you?” he answered.
“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?”
“Leah, relax and have fun. Don’t try to analyze things. Just go with it, okay?”
“Okay.”
We left the highway at an exit called Shorter. I still had no idea where we were going until we stopped at the dog track.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Have you ever been to the dog track?”
“No, what is it?” I was feeling disappointed because I didn’t think watching a bunch of dogs would be any fun. I thought a dog track was where owners went to show off their dogs.
“What about horse racing? Ever been there?”
“Never, but it sounds like fun,” I answered.
“Then you’ll enjoy this, too,” he said, undoing his seatbelt. I did the same and followed him to the gates for admission. I was looking around in shock. I never knew people raced dogs for money!
“Is this legal?” I whispered, preparing to hide my face from the camera mounted over the gate.
“Leah, shut your mouth. I’m a cop. What would I look like taking you somewhere that wasn’t legal? You’ll enjoy it, baby. Just sit back and watch a few races to get a feel for how it’s done, okay?”
“Okay,” I said as the announcer broadcast the first race. I could feel the excitement when the dogs pranced out on the field and we were given a chance to look at them.
“You okay?” he asked, wrapping his arms around my shoulders.
“Yeah, five, three, one,” I whispered in his ear.
“What is that, a bet?” he asked, stunned I was ready to bet so soon.
“I think so. I have a feeling,” I responded.
“I’ll be right back. I would let you place the bet,
but they can confuse you if you don’t know what you’re doing. The next one, I want you to go with me.”
“Okay.”
I watched the dogs being led to the starting gate with growing trepidation. I didn’t know what to expect. The people around me were all calling out their chosen dogs and I regretted saying my bet to Coy without listening to what seemed to be old pros at the betting process.
He came back with a large soda and a bag of popcorn; just as they announced final call for bets. Coy handed me a ticket, but I could not make heads or tails out of it. He held a similar ticket in his hands.
“Here comes Betty!” the announcer yelled, and I looked to Coy for an explanation since I had no clue who the fuck Betty was.
“See that little mechanical rabbit running around the track? That’s Betty.”
“Oh, I thought I was gonna have to fight a heifer,” I answered as the dogs flew from the starting gate. I found myself on the edge of the seat; alternating between looking to see who was in the lead and hiding my face in Coy’s shirt wanting to be surprised. It was a photo finish, and when it was all said and done, we had won $2,333.
“Damn, baby; you won! Look at the scoreboard!” he exclaimed.
I saw the numbers flash across the screen, but it was all Greek to me.
“How much did we win?” I asked, dumbly still trying to make out the board.
“You won $2,333!” he exclaimed.
“Wait, how could I win that much money, when I didn’t even bet?”
“Give me two dollars,” he instructed, and I pulled them from my battered wallet.
“It’s all yours! Go get your winnings,” he said happily and took me up to a window to collect on my ticket. The dogs finished in the exact order I had called them. I had to fill out forms so the IRS could tax the money, but I was not mad about it. I bet on several other races, but none of those winnings matched the first one. In the end I came home with about $2,800 and Coy won about $1,000. I was so excited I could barely contain myself.
“Is this money really mine?” I asked Coy once we were back inside his truck and headed home.
“They were your bets so, yes, sweetheart, it’s yours. I have to remember to bring you with me all the time because this is the most money I’ve ever won here or anywhere else,” he said, laughing.
Lawd, Mo' Drama Page 23
