by Hazel Mills
Chapter 12
Nikki
I had managed to stop worrying about Shannon so much. I took Sabrina’s advice and moved on. My sister thought she was grown and she flat out refused to listen to anything I had to say. After a couple of unreturned phone calls, I got the message loud and clear. When I spoke to my mom, she said Shannon had decided to move out of the dorm and into a friend’s apartment. She also said Shannon was going to take a semester off from school and work. I could smell that bullshit through the phone lines but if my parents bought it, who was I to object. I also knew it probably wouldn’t be long before this problem escalated out of control, but I continued to keep my mouth shut and mind my own business.
Business issue number one was Ahmad Jacobs and why he hadn’t called me yet. I could have sworn that we’d made a connection the night of the party but I hadn’t seen or spoken to him since.
“Girl, you know how ignorant some of these guys are. I wouldn’t worry about it too much if I were you,” Sabrina consoled.
I didn’t want to worry about it but I couldn’t get him off my mind.
It feels like I’ve fallen in love with a man that I really know nothing about. How childish is that?
“Let’s go get some dinner, Nikki. I’m starving,” Sabrina suggested, jolting me from my thoughts of Ahmad.
“Where are we going?”
“Let’s go to the mall and get some Sbarro’s.”
It was Saturday night and the mall was packed with teenaged shoppers and moviegoers. There was no place in the food court to sit. Why in the world Sabrina loved pizza from Sbarro’s so damn much was a mystery to me.
We could have stayed at the house and ordered Domino’s.
I’d hoped that as soon as she realized how long the line was, she would want to leave. I was wrong. We stood in line and waited for her favorite greasy ass pizza.
“Have you been hiding from me?” a voice asked from behind me. I turned to see whom the owner was and was pleasantly surprised to see Ahmad’s smile.
“I’m not the one who’s been hiding,” I answered as I turned back around. I was happy to see him but there was no way I was going to let him know that.
“Who are you talking too?” Sabrina asked, turning to see what was going on. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the illusive Mr. Jacobs,” she sang.
“Hello, Sabrina.”
“Don’t speak to me. I’m not the one who’s been sitting by the phone for days, waiting for you to call,” Sabrina said as she turned to me and winked her eye.
I can’t believe you’ve just said that out loud, Sabrina Jackson!
I could have choked the life from Sabrina’s chubby body. Although she was right about me waiting for Ahmad to call, she was equally wrong for telling him about it.
“So, you’ve been waiting for me to call?”
“Not really,” I lied. I had to try to save at least a shred of my dignity.
“Yeah, right,” Sabrina chimed.
Will you shut your damn mouth? You’ve said enough.
“I’ll have to figure out some way to make it up to you.”
“I guess you will.”
“How about right now?” Ahmad proposed.
“What?”
“This place is packed full of Negros and I could definitely do without this greasy shit pizza. Do you want to go and have some real food with me and talk about why I haven’t called?”
“Don’t diss Sbarro’s, Ahmad,” Sabrina turned and defended. “Some people like greasy shit pizza.”
“Well, I can’t just leave Sabrina. I mean I did ride here with her,” I said.
“Yeah, you rode with me. You didn’t drive. Go on with Ahmad.”
I really wanted to go and have dinner with Ahmad but I didn’t want to leave my friend hanging at the mall alone.
“Sabrina, will you be okay?”
“Nikki, I’m at the mall, not a Klan meeting. I’ll be fine. Go have dinner with Mr. Free Throw. He is paying, right?”
Sometimes, I couldn’t believe some of the things that my best friend would let escape her lips. I didn’t need Ahmad to pay for my dinner and I certainly didn’t want him to think that I was one of those gold-digging sisters just looking for a basketball playing sugar daddy.
“Of course, I’m paying. I asked her to join me, remember? And who are you, Sabrina? Nikki’s agent?” Ahmad joked.
“Yep. My commission is paid by knowing everything that goes on with you two,” Sabrina answered as she stepped up to the counter to place her order.
Ahmad and I left the food court and headed for Ruby Tuesday’s located at the less crowded end of the mall. Once we were seated at our table, Ahmad began to apologize profusely for not calling me. He explained that he had to rush back home to New York to deal with a family emergency.
“A family emergency? Yeah right. You can’t come up with a more original excuse than that? I’m disappointed.”
I laughed out loud but I soon realized that I was laughing alone. Ahmad was dead serious. He didn’t go into any detail about what happened but sadness on his face spoke volumes.
“Ahmad, I’m so sorry. I was joking. Is everything okay?”
“Well, not really but I’m dealing with it.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“You just did it by accepting my invitation to dinner,” Ahmad said, smiling.
Dinner with Ahmad was fun. We talked and laughed for hours. He was not the smug athlete I’d heard about. He really was easy to talk to and seemed genuinely interested in me. His caramel dimples made me want to giggle every time I looked at them.
Intermittently, the faint scent of his Polo cologne would dance across the table and tickle my nose. I hated to see the evening end.
“We must do this again,” he said as he pulled his car in front of the sorority house.
“Yes, we must. I had a great time. Thanks for dinner.”
“It was definitely better than Sbarro’s but don’t tell your girl that,” he joked. “Can I call you?”
“For real, this time, okay?”
“For real. I promise.”
I had barely got inside of the house and closed the front door behind me when Sabrina walked up on me like a night stalker in the dark.
“Well, how was it?”
“Damn, Sabrina! You scared me. Can I at least pee first?”
“Nope. You might forget something.”
She followed me to the first floor hall bathroom and leaned impatiently against the wall outside of the door.
“Did he say why he didn’t call?”
“Yeah. He had a family issue in New York.”
“Yeah, right.”
“No, Sabrina. I truly believe him. There was just something about the way he said it. He didn’t go into any real details about what happened but I don’t think he’s lying about it.”
“Humph, sounds like a lie to me but, okay, if you bought it.
Well, did he pay for dinner like he said he would?” “Yes, he paid,” I answered, flushing the toilet.
“You ordered anything you wanted or did he give you a cheap ass limit?”
“No. There was no limit. I ordered shrimp alfredo, a side salad, and a Coke.”
“What did he order?”
“A burger and fries.”
“When he dropped you off, did he try to kiss you?”
“No. He didn’t even look like he wanted to kiss me. We just talked about hooking up again soon and that was it,” I explained, drying my hands.
“He paid and he didn’t get a kiss? That’s a new one.”
“Yeah, I thought so, too. But, Sabrina, not every guy is after that. There are a few gentlemen out there, you know?”
I was actually glad that Ahmad did not try to kiss me. I don’t know what I would have done if he had.
Would I have kissed him back? It was like we were on an official date. I’m not sure if I’m ready for a kiss from Ahmad. I wanted us to be friends before moving into a serio
us relationship.
I opened the door and saw Sabrina still leaning against the wall, filing her nails.
“Honey, this ain’t Tara, Miss Scarlet. Gentlemen be damned. These fools around here are all after one thing and Ahmad Jacobs is no different. All I’m saying is that if he didn’t get a kiss tonight, your ass is indebted to him for one. He’ll get it next time y’all go out and maybe then some. Trust.”
As time went by, it turned out that Sabrina was right. The next time Ahmad and I went out, we shared a kiss. And what a wonderful kiss it was. The taste of his lips on mine was intoxicating. My body tingled all over as he held me tight in his arms. Our tongues snaked around each other as if we were fresh out of hibernation. When the weight of his kiss became more urgent and I felt his strong hands begin to crawl beneath my t-shirt, I knew we were on the threshold of going a lot farther than I was prepared to go. Sex with Ahmad, or with any other man, was something that I was definitely not ready to get into.
“What’s wrong?” Ahmad asked, as I broke our embrace.
“Nothing. I just think we should stop before we go too far.”
“What’s too far?”
“Ahmad, I’m just not ready to go there right now.”
“Okay. I can respect that,” he said. He then pulled me in for another kiss.
I was happy that he didn’t pressure me or ask questions as to why I wasn’t ready. The thought of having to tell him about my father’s abuse was frightening. Until now, I hadn’t told anyone about it. Not even Sabrina. It was hard to know whom to trust with something so personal and so embarrassing. I couldn’t handle the look of pity or the possibility of being avoided and seen as someone who was an emotional basket case.
“I can wait until you’re ready,” Ahmad reassured.
I was happy that Ahmad understood or that at least he pretended to.
I won’t be able to put him off forever if I want this relationship to go beyond the friendship realm. It is obvious that Ahmad wants more than friendship. My body is telling me that I do, too.
