His Last Name

by Daaimah S. Poole

  “Of course he matters. I just want to be happy.”

  “Does Kadir know about this?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Oh, my God. You have got to be the one to tell Kadir. Mo, you know I ride with you. But this isn’t right. Carl has been nothing but loyal to you and Kadir. And you, you are wrong. This is some fucked-up shit.”

  “How am I wrong? He’s grown and I’m grown. We are both single, consenting adults.”

  “Don’t you know you are just the girl of the moment? What would make you think he would want to be with a woman almost forty, when he could have someone younger?”

  “I didn’t start dating Dele until after Carl and I broke up, so that’s one. Two, age doesn’t matter with us. Three, the only person I have to make happy is myself. And four, me and Carl have outgrown each other. He left me. I didn’t leave him. It wasn’t enough anymore.”

  “Funny, he was enough all these years, and now that you have money, he’s not.”

  “It’s never been enough, I’ve always wanted more. I tried to make it work with him.”

  “Sure you did. I can’t believe you.”

  “Grandma Cee, I can’t believe you are being this damn judgmental.”

  “Yeah, I’m judging, but I know that D is good.” She gave me a half smile.

  “Girl, it is! It’s everything, but it’s more than the sex. He is just an all-around good guy.”

  “Well, tell Kadir before someone else does.”

  Right then my screen lit up and I saw Dele’s number on my phone. “We just spoke him up.”

  “Tell him I said hi.”

  “Hey, babe, what’s up? Oh, and CeCe says hi.”

  “You told her about us?” he asked excitedly.

  “Yes, and I made up with my mom. How are you?”

  “I’m good, but listen, Monique, I’m calling to tell you to have a conversation with Kadir. I’ve been in the league for five years, and I have never seen a player so hated.”

  “What did he do?”

  “His attitude is disgusting. He’s making demands and being rude. And he’s not talking to people who aren’t wealthy like him. He’s being very flashy and that is not okay. He had a few good games. But he said it’s his team and laughed about one of the guys not having any time on the court and said he would buy him some time and a new car.”

  “Oh, did he? I’m going to talk to him. Thanks for telling me, baby. I’ll see you as soon as you get back.” I ended the call and sighed. “My son has lost his mind.”

  “What did he say?” CeCe asked.

  “He said Kadir is being a cocky asshole. I’m going to call him now and straighten this all out.”

  I dialed Kadir on his cell. He answered with the music playing loudly in the background.

  “Yo, Ma.”

  “Kadir, are you for real? Do you like the life you’re living? Keep the dumb shit up and you will lose it all and be playing overseas or in the D-League somewhere if you don’t get your shit together.”

  “What’s wrong? What are you talking about, Mom?”

  “I’m talking about don’t get a big head. I better not hear again that the Hornets is your team. There are thirty teams and thirteen spots on each team and you better be thankful, Kadir, that you have one of them, because there are millions of boys that want to be where you’re at.”

  “Oh, you’re talking about me arguing with Smith. He was talking trash about me and I said something back. I told him to talk to me when he gets off the bench. How you know about that anyway?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Do better.”

  CHAPTER 41

  Adrienne

  I came to L.A. with a mission and it was time to get back to it. Plus, it was time for me to leave the nest of Mrs. Coleman aka Ms. Tucker and find my own way. She was on and off her meds and I couldn’t take much more.

  My goal was to try to schedule meetings. The first person on my list was Warren Michael Joseph. I whipped out the contact information I had taken and decided to give him a call.

  “Good morning. This is Adrienne Sheppard. I met you the other night at Morgan Tucker’s party.”

  “Yes, I remember. Is this her beautiful assistant?”

  I was caught off guard. “It is. I’m calling because I have a script that I wrote that you may be interested in. I wanted to meet up with you to discuss it.”

  “I’m available today. We can meet for coffee at two at Espresso House.”

  “Yes, I’ll see you then.”

  I didn’t know what to wear. I was so excited. I wanted to look sexy, but I wanted Mr. Joseph to know I meant business. I settled on something in between, a low-cut gray minidress with black pumps and a black blazer.

  I grabbed a table outside in the courtyard overlooking the street. I ordered a spinach salad and raspberry tea.

  “Sorry, I was running a little behind,” he said, walking in.

  “No problem.” The waitress took his order and I let him get settled in before I started my pitch.

  “So it’s good to see you again. Are you from here?”

  “No, originally from Philly, but I lived in Atlanta, and Miami also.”

  “What brings you to L.A.?” he asked.

  “The same thing as everyone else. I’m trying to make something happen. I have a script that I wrote, and I am trying to sell it.” I didn’t have any time to sugar-coat my intentions. He was either interested on not. “I think you would be interested in it. It’s called Falcon Hall Boys.”

  “What’s it about?”

  “It’s about five guys who all lived in the same dorm hall in college, Falcon Hall. They make a vow to each other that they will all graduate college no matter what. Their family, the streets, and other things try to keep them from reaching their goal of graduating. They pull each other up and become brothers along the way.”

  “Sounds interesting. Did you write it?”

  “Yeah, my ex-boyfriend told me about his experiences in college and I got the idea.”

  “I’m impressed. I thought you were going to try to sell me on a story about girlfriends trying to get married.”

  “No.” I felt the need to tell him that I wasn’t a bum and though I was Morgan Coleman’s personal assistant now, once upon a time I was successful.

  “I wrote Falcon Hall Boys and I’ve done a few other things. I was a nurse and then I opened a nightclub up two years ago. I invested all my savings. It is a long story, but my ex-fiancé was doing some crazy things that I didn’t know about and I lost everything. So now I’m out here rebuilding my life.”

  “Okay. So I would love to read your script.”

  “No problem. I brought it with me.” I took it out of my bag. Realizing I was becoming too anxious, I thought about it and said, “Or I could e-mail it to you.”

  “That would be better. So you do everything, club owner, natural beauty, script writer, and a nurse. What can’t you do?”

  “I’m just a regular girl trying to making it happen. Oh, and I have a five-year-old daughter. She’s in Atlanta with her father.”

  “You are far from regular, but I like natural. Your teeth and boobs are yours,” he said while glancing at my cleavage.

  I knew I had made the right call to go sexy professional with my outfit.

  “That’s hard to find out here. I know you have a man back home.”

  “No, I’ve been concentrating on my work.”

  “Yeah, I know about that. It’s hard to find a woman that can deal with my hectic schedule. I am gone for weeks at a time. My last girlfriend said she was always lonely and said the money wasn’t enough and she didn’t want me to rescue her. She wanted to make it on her own.”

  Money would be enough for me and I want to be rescued, too, I thought.

  “Everyone can’t deal with career-driven people. Can you?”

  “I don’t know; tell me a few things about yourself.”

  “What do you want to know? My real name is Warren Michael Joseph. I have three f
irst names just like my father, Warren Michael Joseph, Senior. I’m really a Junior, but that was too much.”

  “I agree.” I laughed.

  “What else. I’m from Memphis. My dad’s a preacher, my mom was a teacher and then she became a principal. So I couldn’t go anywhere and get peace. No kids like me. I was either at the church or school. I love my dad, but me and my dad don’t really get along. So I stayed busy.”

  “You don’t have a southern accent.”

  “I lost it when I went to college. You remind me of my college girlfriend a little.”

  “I do? What happened to her?”

  “She left me for my teammate. I was heartbroken.”

  “Damn, that’s not good. I don’t know if I want to remind you of her.”

  “No, it’s cool now. It was a long time ago. I’m over it. She was a self-entitled princess. You don’t seem that way. Plus, they got married and are happy.”

  After talking at the coffee shop for four hours, we moved our conversation to a Chinese restaurant called WP24 located on the twenty-fourth floor of the Ritz Carlton. Our business meeting was getting flirty, considering the skyline view and martinis in front of us. I would take business or pleasure, whichever one he was offering. Either would be beneficial to me.

  “This is my favorite place in L.A. and the sushi is really good. I like to chill out when I can. I have two movies coming out, one next month and the other at the beginning of the year. Now that I’m retired, I’ll have more time for acting, but football will always be my first love.”

  “What team did you play for?” I acted like I hadn’t done my research.

  “I played for the Carolina Panthers. I was with them for nine seasons.”

  “Okay, my ex-husband played for the Seahawks.”

  “You were married to an NFL player, too? What happened, you couldn’t take the lifestyle?”

  “No, we just fell out of love.”

  “Well, he must have been crazy to stop loving you.”

  After dinner, we sat poolside and took in the scenic view and talked for another two hours.

  “I can’t believe we’ve been out for eight hours.”

  “Good conversation, a beautiful, interesting date, and we handled a little business. I’ll say time well spent. Actually, I have a confession. When you called me I was like is she asking me on a date or does she want to do business.”

  “I was thinking business, but I guess this has turned into a date.”

  “So we are on a date, so that I’m clear.”

  “Yeah, we are.”

  “Well, now we know. No blurred lines. I’m very interested in you. You are so genuine. It’s hard to find that out here and I really I enjoyed your company all day.”

  “I enjoyed yours as well.”

  At the end of the night he gave me a sweet, simple, romantic but promising kiss on my lips.

  To say my first date was wonderful was an understatement. I was blown away. I came back to the house on a natural high, until I spotted Morgan sitting up on the sofa. She grimaced at me then at her phone. I felt like she was my mother and she caught me coming in late.

  “Where have you been?”

  “Out.”

  Who was she talking to?

  “Good night, Morgan,” was all I could manage to say. Before I said something a lot less pleasant, like kiss my ass.

  “Where have you been?” she asked again.

  “What I do when I’m not working for you is honestly none of your business.”

  “Yeah, that’s true, but this is my house and I don’t want anyone coming in my home after two a.m. When I close my eyes I like to feel secure and know that no one is running around my property.”

  “A curfew? You’re ridiculous, Morgan. Go to bed.”

  * * *

  The next morning I showered and came into the main house and saw an extremely large floral arrangement with combination of white, red, and yellow roses.

  “Nice flowers,” I said.

  “Thanks, but they’re yours. I suppose you got lucky last night. Don’t get sidetracked.”

  A text came through my phone.

  I sent you flowers and you couldn’t even send me a thank you?

  I texted back:

  Thank you. I just got up.

  He texted again:

  Are you free later this week for dinner?

  I waited ten minutes just to make him sweat a little, then texted:

  Yes.

  His response was:

  I’ll send a car. See you Thursday.

  CHAPTER 42

  Zakiya

  “Good afternoon, Zakiya, this is Sister Elise.”

  “Hi, Sister Elise. Yes, I’m coming to bible study today. I’m running a little behind. I have to bring my daughter with me, because my nanny couldn’t make it.”

  “Okay, that’s fine. I’ll see you when you get here, but I was calling you for two reasons.”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, the pastor and I have been talking. And after seeing you and your gorgeous, successful husband, we think you would be perfect for our ‘Blessed, Saved and Married’ conference.”

  “I don’t know. What would we have to do? My husband is out of town a lot and he doesn’t do much talking.”

  “It’s only four dates in Charlotte, Memphis, Little Rock, and Houston. We would like you to be guest speakers and talk about having God in your marriage and being a successful, happy couple. He wouldn’t have to speak.”

  “Can I think about it? I’ll need to ask Jabril. What was the second thing?’

  “Do you think you will be able to contribute money to get the church a van? We are going to buy a used van. Brother Miles said it will be about twenty thousand dollars. We are going to ask the congregation on Sunday for donations. Hopefully everyone will be generous, but I wanted to get a head start on the fund. How much do you think you can give?”

  “Twenty thousand dollars. Let me see. How much do you have now?”

  “Two thousand.”

  “Uhm. I can donate five thousand. I’ll write a check and bring it with me.”

  “Okay.”

  Pastor Elise had given me her address, but I wasn’t sure I had the right house, because I had pulled up to a mansion. I double-checked the address and it was correct. I parked in front of a large fountain. There was a silver two-door Bentley, a yellow Ferrari, and a gold Rolls Royce Phantom all parked on an angle in front of the house.

  I was greeted by a butler and maid. I saw Sister Elise and I waved to her. She came over to me and hugged me and Jabrilah.

  Walking into her grand home, I marveled at the winding double staircase and the huge picture of her and Pastor Richard that hung on the hallway wall.

  “What a beautiful home.”

  “Well, thank you. I’m sure you have seen better. Do you have the check?”

  “Yes, it’s right here.”

  “Thank you. It will help so much.”

  I came in and greeted all the other ladies, who ranged in age from teenager to senior citizen. I had a seat on her plush tan leather easy curved couch. I put Jabrilah and her bottle down on the sand-colored carpet and pulled out my bible. I saw Talisha and waved at her and began reading a selection in my bible.

  “You understand that version? I can’t get into all that thou and thee stuff. You should get you the NIV version. It is so much easier to understand,” Talisha said.

  “Thank you! I thought it was just me who was slow,” I said laughing.

  “Nope. girl.” We laughed and talked until Sister Elise interrupted us.

  “Get your baby and her bottle. I don’t want any dirt on my carpet.” I looked over to see Jabrilah was turning her bottle upside down.

  “I’m sorry.” I picked up my daughter and placed her on my lap.

  “Okay, ladies, let’s begin. We will be reading the Good Girls and Bad Girls of the Bible. It is important that we look at both. We are going to read it and analyze the text.”

  * * *


  After our bible study, Sister Elise’s maid and butler served us dinner in her extravagant dining room. The table was set with white plates with gold trim at formal place settings with name cards. I found my name and had a seat next to Sister Elise. I sat Jabrilah on my lap and began nibbling from the salad that was in front of me.

  They went over some official church business.

  Sister Elise stood up and said, “Okay, I know you’ve heard the rumors about Pastor Wyatt and his wife getting a divorce. A few women have come forward and said that they have had a sexual relationship with him. I don’t believe it, but that is between him and Sister Althea. I think these women are scum for ruining his marriage, but that’s my opinion. I just wanted to make you all aware of it. Any other business?” Sister Elise asked.

  “Yes,” an older sister name Joan said. “I want the choir to have a dress code. Sister Vanessa sings like an angel, but it is wasted, because she doesn’t like wearing underwear. She wears them thongs every week.”

  “What does that have to do with church business?” Sister Elise responded.

  “Well, it’s just disgusting. Her butt just shakes up and down and back and forth when she walks. And it’s distracting for the male members. How is a man not supposed to look at that?”

  “Sister, I don’t know, but that’s not important.”

  “It is important, because her first baby already don’t have no daddy and she don’t need another one. She should wear some real underwear in the house of the Lord.”

  “That’s true, but God does say come as you are. Anybody else have anything to add?”

  “Elise, don’t ignore me. Say something to these young girls. God wants you to cover your butt.”

  “That’s enough. Changing topics, I want everyone to welcome Sister Zakiya. Both she and her husband are going to be coming to our marriage conference. Zakiya’s husband plays for our Charlotte Hornets. Praise God. They are a dynamic young couple and I knew there was something special about her when we met.”

  I smiled at her but I was upset because I didn’t like being put on the spot, and I had told her I would let her know.

  For the rest of the night I enjoyed the fellowship with the other ladies. It was refreshing to be around other people who were on the same spiritual journey.