by Nana Malone
Laughter escaped Deja. Dee came over and took her hand. “Say hi to the baby.”
“Hi, little one!” Deja said and rubbed Dee’s tummy. “You be a good girl for Mommy and Daddy until your birthday. You can raise plenty of hell when you get here.”
The baby kicked. Dee laughed. “Stay, Deja. That’s an order!”
“I have to go. Not just because of Jon. I just... I have work, you know,” Deja lied.
Her sister gave her a disappointed pout. “Okay. I’ll arrange the private jet to take you back to Miami. Promise me you will talk to Jon before you leave.”
Deja winked. And Dee was gone. Her sister was right. She did purposefully push people away when they disappointed her. However, her little sister was wrong about her reasons. It wasn’t because she was like her mother. It was because she was afraid of being hurt when rejection came. Risking her heart just never seemed to bring about any reward.
* * *
Jon felt better after a shower. He bounded down the steps rolling up his sleeves. He saw Dee first. She stood near the concierge desk. Several of the staff were touching and talking to her round belly. He found it weird how silly adults could be when near a pregnant woman or newborn baby. He shook his head, amused. Earlier he’d visited Deja’s room. She was gone. Maybe her sister would know where she was hiding.
“Dee?” he said. She turned around and smiled at him. He walked toward her. “I thought you weren’t supposed to be on your feet?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m fine. The doctor said some light walking was okay. And yesterday your brother nearly carried me around the island.”
He smiled. He loved her humor. “I guess you heard about me and Deja.”
She gave him a single nod. The staff dispersed, leaving her to him. “I want to explain. I shouldn’t have tricked her.”
“Why did you?” Dee asked.
He took her by the arm and helped her to the nearest lounge chair to sit. He took the seat across from her. “I guess you could say it’s in my nature to do things the hard way. I really like her. Was hoping I could explain myself.”
“Well, you better hurry,” Dee said and checked her watch. “She’s already left for the airport.”
“Left?” he shot to his feet. He looked to the door and panic seized him. “When? How long?”
“Thirty minutes ago. Cliff arranged for a charter plane to take her back to Miami and then she will fly to...”
He was out the door before she could finish. He grabbed the keys to a passenger van from a passing valet and clicked the lock release on the key. The van to the far left flashed its headlights. Once behind the wheel he cursed himself and his late attempt to set things right with Deja. If he messed this up he would never forgive himself.
* * *
“Ma’am, the pilot is ready for you,” a tall dark-skinned man said to her. Deja smiled her gratitude and shut off her phone. She was able to rebook an earlier flight with Delta Airlines into New York. She’d have to catch the red-eye but that didn’t matter. She just wanted off the island. Tonight she’d call her father and apologize for not being there when he arrived.
Deja wheeled her carry-on bag with her. The heavy luggage she had brought was checked in when she first arrived. At the very small private end of the airport she had to walk outside of the terminal across the runway to the Cessna parked and waiting. Halfway there she heard the loud sound of a car engine’s fast approach. When she glanced over the top of her sunglasses in the direction of the noise she saw it was a passenger van. It was very similar to the one that had brought her there.
And the van sped straight for her. Afraid of its high-speed approach she froze near the wing of the airplane. And as soon as it came to a stop she saw the driver. Deja shook her head and started toward the ladder. The flight attendant stood ready to help her board.
“Wait! Wait!” Jon yelled running after her. “Wait, damn it!” he demanded and grabbed her arm.
She snatched away from him.
“Sweetheart. Let me explain.”
“I don’t want to hear your explanation. No need for drama about this, Jon.” She stepped closer to him and lowered her voice. “You had your fun. It’s over.”
“Like that? Just like that you’re going to dismiss me? Us?”
She looked him in the eye and made no attempt to reveal her emotions. Her sunglasses helped conceal her true feelings. “You humiliated me. No! I humiliated me. I looked like a fool to everyone babbling that we were marooned on an island. Believing we were!” she shouted at him. “I don’t have time for games.”
“Is that really why you’re leaving?” He blocked her from accessing the plane. “Or am I your excuse?”
“I told you I don’t need one!”
“Of course you do,” he rasped softly. “Blame me, blame statistics on how you and I could never be anything, blame the man on the moon. But never blame Deja. Because to blame yourself, sweetheart, means you have to admit the truth. You’re scared. I get it. I don’t like trusting people, either. Sometimes, very rare times, you have to.”
Shame, guilt, regret shivered through her. She closed her eyes and tried to force his truth from her heart. Nothing she could say could counter her truth. She’d already shared and told him too much. When his lips touched hers she could do nothing but open her heart to him. It was happening faster than she could’ve expected. When did fantasizing about this man turn to love? She lifted her arms and soon they were circling his neck as she returned his passion. He let her go. But not before she too claimed him, kissed him, felt what they shared again.
“Stay,” he said softly.
Deja blinked awake from his seduction. Her heart sang yes. Saying yes was what she always did for men who never sacrificed anything in return. He was no different. She was no different. This time what she needed more than his touch and empty promises was for things to really be different.
“You told me that everything beautiful between us begins with a kiss,” he said. “Can this one be about second chances? Give me a few more days. I want to make it up to you.”
She shook her head no. “You told me that you would earn my trust, Jon. That you’d do whatever is necessary to prove we deserve that chance. Prove it. Prove to me you’re the man I think you are.”
He frowned, not sure of her meaning. She wouldn’t give him any further explanation. She grabbed the handle of her carry-on luggage and wheeled it to the plane. She handed it to the flight attendant and then glanced back at Jon. He watched her with his hands in his pockets. She smiled at him. To her relief he smiled back. Maybe she was wrong about him. Maybe they all were. Only time would tell.
Epilogue
Let’s Do It Again
“Okay, everyone, please, please take a seat!” Deja clapped her hands at the noisy cloud of students arriving. She had an auditorium of close to two hundred students and only fifty minutes to introduce her lecture and objectives. The students shuffled about hugging and greeting each other after such a long summer break. “Class! Your seats please!” she called out to them again by cupping her hands like a bullhorn so her voice reached above the noise.
She walked to the whiteboard and removed a marker. She wrote “African-American Studies 101” and her name underneath. She wasn’t due back in the classroom until next quarter, but when she got the call to fill an open slot on the curriculum she’d jumped at the chance. Three weeks of moping in her apartment had been far too long.
When she left the island she had expected him to follow. He had the money and the means. She wanted the courtship. A grand gesture to prove he indeed was her superhero. When she searched every gossip site and blog for updates on his fast lifestyle they came up empty. She even broke down and called her sister who was expected to deliver the baby any day now. Dee told her they hadn’t seen or heard from Jon since the party in Aba
co. The game was over.
“My name is Dr. Deja Jones. I want to welcome you all to African-American Studies 101. I have a PhD in psychology and behavioral science. Show of hands for those who have been forced to take this class because they needed an elective?” she asked.
The students exchanged looks but only a few dared to raise their hands. Deja chuckled. “It’s okay. In here we can be honest. We will discuss everything in this classroom and I will help you separate facts from fiction. Best way to do that is to do away with the stereotypes, the tropes, the myths and prejudices. Now. Anyone care to give me a stereotype for Africans brought to the Americas?”
No one responded.
“Oh, c’mon. Don’t be shy. What is a prevalent stereotype that you hear about African-Americans?”
A hand went up. She pointed at the girl in the center of the room. “Go ahead.”
“Black people are lazy,” she said.
Deja nodded. “That is a nasty generalization. One of the worst. And it’s evolved within American culture all the way back to the colonial years of settlement. If any of you have read the teachings of Dr. Patricia A. Turner she explores at length the origins of stigma in pop culture. In this class we’ll delve into the cultural influence and achievements of people of color in America. From the teachings of Marcus Garvey, to the love of the n-word in your favorite rap songs. We’ll cover it all. So those of you who were forced into taking an elective you should be happy you chose the right one.”
Several students clapped.
Deja smiled. She turned to the whiteboard.
“What about black women!” a man called out.
She paused and looked back to the class. “Who said that?”
A hand went up to the back of the classroom. She tried to see the person’s face and could not. The man wore a baseball cap pulled low to his brow.
“Okay? Do you have something to add?”
“Yes. What about the stereotype of black women?”
“Which stereotype are we speaking of?” she asked.
The class went silent. No one dared speak. Deja squinted to get a good look at the student.
“I hear they aren’t really popular in the dating game. Last to marry. You know the statistics and stuff.”
“Aha? Statistics?” Deja felt her anger rise. She had opened the can of worms on stereotypes so she couldn’t very well get defensive now. But there was always one student in every class that aggravated her nerves.
“Black women being unwed is a very exaggerated generalization when you hold these studies up to the divorce rate amongst all women,” she said, preferring not to go any deeper. She turned back to the board.
“Really? So are you? Are you married, professor?”
Several students turned around in their seats to see who spoke. Deja, too, was caught by surprise. She again stepped away from the white board.
“That is not open for discussion!” she said.
“I’m curious.”
“I said—”
“Because I don’t believe it, Doc,” he said over her objection. The man who spoke stood from his seat. Deja dropped the marker from her hand. He stepped out of the back aisle seat and turned his baseball cap backward so she could see him. Jon wore jeans and a white-collar shirt. He started down the stairs toward her. “I believe in what I know.”
“And what is it the great Jon Hendrix thinks he knows?” she replied.
“I know that a woman as special as you deserves a ring.”
“This is my class,” she said. “Don’t do this here. Please.”
The eyes of her students were focused on them. She felt their curious stares. Heard the silent whispers. Instead of giving her space he stepped closer. He stood directly in front of her. “Don’t do this. I could get in trouble,” she pleaded.
He looked her over. Deja bent down to check herself. She was wearing a very conservative blazer over a dark blue silk shirt and matching slacks. Nothing about her resembled the exotic flair of the women she believed he courted. Still his gaze roamed over her in appreciation as if he found her nude. And he touched her. His hand grazed her cheek. “Trouble?” he asked.
She nodded.
“You’re already in trouble. Nowhere to run to, Doc. So what are you going to do now?”
“I—”
“Don’t fight me.”
“Jon.”
“Don’t fight me,” he said softly.
She looked beyond him to her students and then back up into his eyes.
“Why don’t we make a few new stereotypes of our own?”
Deja laughed. She dropped her head, smiling. “Where have you been? It’s been weeks and you haven’t called. No one has heard from you.”
“Moving,” he smiled.
“Huh?” He had her attention. She stepped to him. She put her hands at his waist before she realized it. “Moving where?”
“After your class is over I’ll tell you everything,” he whispered in her ear. Before he turned to walk away she grabbed his sides to keep him with her.
He looked at her with a question in his eyes. It was now or never. She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. She wanted him to know that she did want a do-over. She wanted the messy risks, and the soul-endearing rewards that a girl found with new love.
“What is it, Doc?” He lifted her chin and looked directly into her eyes. “Say it.”
Deja cleared her throat. “You told me that everything between us always starts with a kiss?” she whispered up to him as her gaze zeroed in on his lips.
He nodded.
“Then kiss me, Mr. Hendrix.”
“Aren’t you afraid?” he drawled.
She arched a brow. “Of who? You?”
He chuckled. “Of having an audience. Everyone will see you, and they’ll judge you. Make assumptions about us both.”
Deja looked around his arm and saw a couple of students with their cell phones trained on them, filming their reunion. She didn’t care.
“Try me,” she said to Jon.
Slowly he drew her up in his arms until she was standing on her toes in her four-inch heels. He turned them sideways in a fluid movement so the class could get a good look at them. Deja’s excitement was so intense she didn’t know how she managed to suppress a squeal of delight. She lifted her arms to hold him. The class applauded. A few whooped at them. The noise was as thunderous as her heart. The kiss was a beginning. A new one. She didn’t care about perfection or what others thought. She didn’t care about the statistics. All she cared about was that moment. And that man. Her man. His tongue swept in and hers melted around it. She went weak in his arms as he kissed her deeply and she dug her nails into broad shoulders when she lost the ability to breathe. He tore his mouth from hers and she smiled up at him.
“I’ll meet you after class,” he whispered in her ear. She let him go and stumbled back as he turned and walked out. Deja laughed and shook her head, smiling. How the hell would she get through the rest of the day?
* * *
The New York midday blared with the noise of traffic. The weather was crisp and the sky clear of clouds. Jon waited. He watched the front of the building with growing impatience as students and professors came and went. His hopes for a quick and exciting reunion were dashed when it dawned on him he’d have to wait for her to finish her day. At first he circled the campus. When the wait became too long he parked illegally and prayed he’d didn’t caught. He’d spent weeks preparing for this day and he’d wait even longer to have her again. However, each passing minute felt like torture.
After a while, Deja walked out the front doors. She glanced left and right with her curly locks swept across her face from the wind. Jon smiled. He expected her to dress sensibly considering her job as a college professor. Yet Deja was the kind of
woman that could make a plain shirt and slacks sexy. Before she spotted him he observed her beauty and recommitted himself to his mission. The past few days without her had taught him a lot. He wanted a woman who challenged him and made him a stronger and better man. Dr. Deja Jones was one of a kind.
Soon her gaze landed on him. Her eyes were wide and sparkling with expectation. Deja approached with her laptop bag on her shoulder and her eyes never leaving him. He greeted her once more with a kiss.
“I’m sorry I made you wait so long. I had to get through class and then wrap up a few things.”
“Get in,” he said.
“In?” she asked. She glanced behind him to the car he leaned on. “Where are we going?”
“Somewhere private. We need to talk.” He reached and opened the door. She kissed his lips and then got inside. He closed the door and went around to get in on the driver side. His sports car only sat two. Once inside the car he felt a sense of calm. He’d rehearsed this moment over in his head for weeks.
“What’s with all the mystery?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t call it mystery,” he said. “How about we say adventure?”
“Adventure? Oh, really?” she said, laughing. “You show up in my class after close to two months and then...”
“And then what?” he asked.
“And I want to know why now. It’s been weeks, Jon,” she said.
He nodded. It was a fair question. He gazed ahead as he navigated through traffic. “Back in Abaco, what I did, I...”
“Don’t apologize again. It was my fault for jumping to conclusions. Hell, I even caused the accident,” she said.
He glanced over to her. “I wasn’t going to apologize. I’m not sorry for it. The time we spent together. I’ve had women, lovers, some of them even friends, but never anyone like you, Deja.”
She glanced away and a nervous smile flickered across her lips. Jon returned his eyes to the road. “You told me that I should earn your trust. That’s why I didn’t call you at first. I needed to get my head together.” He let out a deep sigh. “And my life.”
