Mrs. Kaplan hugged her daughter. “That’s nice.” Mrs. Kaplan looked up at Adanya standing inside the doorway, surveying the touching scene. “Anaya, go to your room and change out of your clothes, honey.”
Anaya turned around and rushed into Adanya’s arms and squeezed her before she turned and dashed off to her room.
“‘Danya, I’m glad you’re spending as much time as you are with Anaya. She talks about you constantly. You’re really making a difference in her life.”
“Knowing she’s my mother, how can I not want to be around her? I need to know her as my mother and not my aunt. And I want her to know me; really get to know me as her daughter one day. I will never deprive her of my love. Gram, she’s amazing. I’m learning a lot from her. I thought I would be the one to teach her new things, but she’s bringing so much joy into my life.”
Gram laid her hand on Adanya’s shoulder. “’Danya, you don’t know how grateful I am to hear you say that.”
“It’s the truth. Well, I’ve got to get going. I’ll see y’all next weekend.” Adanya turned and walked outside toward her car.
“Are you coming to church tomorrow? Anaya would love that.”
“I think you already know the answer to that. Buh-bye, Gram.”
◊
Adanya and Snoopy walked around the tastefully landscaped grounds of her new home. She felt such an unbelievable sense of freedom.
“What’s his name?”
Adanya jumped, and whirled around at the sound of the male voice.
“Snoopy,” she instantly replied. It was Bleak, and he was standing next to her. Where had he come from and what was he doing in her complex?
Bleak snapped his fingers and spoke in a soothing voice. “Snoopy, how ya doing, boy?” Snoopy turned around and around on his leash. He jumped up on Bleak’s leg.
“Calm down, Snoopy.”
“Tell me the truth,” Bleak said.
Adanya forced herself to settle down. “Tell you the truth about what?”
“Are you stalking me?”
Adanya stopped suddenly and looked up into Bleak’s eyes. “Me? Stalking you? Don’t flatter yourself. The question is, why are you here? This isn’t funny. And it’s not a coincidence that you keep popping up wherever I am. Did my parents hire you to keep tabs on me? I should have guessed by now that they had something to do with this,” she rattled. “As if they haven’t done enough already to ruin my life.” She glared at him with burning, reproachful eyes.
“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I could be just as concerned about you. Why do you keep showing up in my life?”
“I do not. Adanya was both excited and aggravated at the same time. “I live here. What’s your excuse?”
“You,” he pointed a finger and looked around the grounds. “Live here?”
“Yes,” Adanya bit back with words that flew from her lips like stones.
Bleak chuckled. “God does have a sense of humor.”
“I don’t see the humor.”
“I do, because it just so happens I live here too.” He chuckled again.
Adanya gasped. “What?”
“Building E, right over there.” He pointed to the left of them. Adanya saw the large block-styled E on the side of the building. She lived in Building C.
“You must have known I lived here. Admit it. My parents are paying you, aren’t they?”
“Who are your parents? Some rich people who want to keep track of their little princess?”
“None of your business. Come on, Snoopy.”
“Hold up.” Bleak reached out toward her without touching her.
“What is it?”
“How long have you lived here?”
“Why? You want to move next door to me so you can hear me breathe?” She shot him a cold, callous look.
“Come on, now. Have I ever been mean to you like you are to me? So give a guy a break, will ya?”
Adanya thought about what he said. He had been nothing but polite to her every time she ran into him. She had no reason to treat him so mean. “I moved here a couple of weeks ago.”
“See now, was that so hard?”
Nervously, Adanya chewed on her bottom lip.
“Welcome to the neighborhood.”
“Thanks.” She looked away hastily to avoid his hypnotic eyes. “Maybe I could bring you and Snoopy a house warming gift after I come from church tomorrow?”
Her mouth dropped open. She stammered. “You go to church?”
“Is that strange or something?” He stretched both hands showing his palms.
“No, of course not.”
“You?”
“What?”
“Do you go to church?” Bleak stooped down to pet Snoopy.
“Yes. But I haven’t been lately.”
“So what about tomorrow after church? I promise not to wear out my welcome. I’ll bring you and Snoopy your gift, and I’ll be out of your hair.” The tenderness in his expression amazed her. She stared wordlessly. “I guess your silence means no.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I mean yes, but I don’t have everything together. I haven’t been over here that long.”
“No problem. I can help you get things sorted out. If you want me to. So how does four o’clock sound?”
“Four is good.”
“Are you going to let me get your number so I can call before I come?”
Adanya hesitated slightly. “I guess.” Adanya repeated her number and watched as he put it in his cell phone.
“Well, I’ll let you and Snoopy get back to your walk.” Bleak flashed a smile.
Adanya was tongue tied. The words, “See you tomorrow,” finally spilled out.
“I can’t wait,” he said and walked away in the direction of his building, leaving her with her breath caught in her lungs.
She and Snoopy finished their walk. Adanya stepped inside her apartment. A new and unexpected warmth came over her. “Of all people, he lives in this complex? How crazy is that, Snoopy?”
Adanya spent the remainder of the afternoon putting away some of the things she’d pulled from unpacked boxes. One of the pluses about her flat was that it had a detached garage, so she had plenty of storage space.
Nanette and Anaya had been a huge help with getting stuff unpacked and put away, but there were still clothes, books, and boxes that Adanya needed to sort through. Now that she was expecting her first official guest, she took extra precautions to make sure the space was as neat as possible. She thought about calling Nanette to come over and help her hang some of the pictures that she and Anaya had purchased earlier, but remembered that Nanette and Gerald were going on an outing with some friends.
◊
The following morning, streaks of sunlight filtered through her blinds and spilled into the bedroom, waking Adanya. Her usual, customary morning of getting ready for church caused her to reflect on the past seven weeks. She moseyed into the kitchen, looked inside her refrigerator, and basically the first thing her eyes zeroed in on was a bottle of vodka she had purchased the first night she moved into her new place. “Uh, uh.” She shook her head. “No more of you.” Without hesitation, she took it out of the refrigerator, opened it, and poured its contents down the sink.
“It’s time to get myself together and move on with my new life.” She hadn’t admitted it to anyone but Snoopy that she really did miss her church. After she walked Snoopy, fed him, and then fixed herself a blueberry bagel, she sat on the sofa in her den and turned on her television. There were a bevy of televangelists she had her pick of choosing to listen to, but she zoomed past all of them. Her relationship with God and the church had faltered, and Adanya felt somewhat guilty. She blamed God for her problems, but the more she thought about what she had experienced lately, the more she missed her one on one time with God.
Gram had told her that people at church had been asking about her. One of the ministers at the church had called her a couple of times too, but Adanya had brushed him off as well.
>
Adanya began to think about the relationship she and her father shared. Why things had to be different now, was beyond her comprehension. Even if she wanted to go to church, she wouldn’t be comfortable going to her home church. It was a small congregation where everybody knew everything about everybody else. She didn’t want to sit in church with family who had taken part in deceiving and betraying her.
She turned off the television, and went outside and stood on her patio. She carried her phone outside with her and texted Nanette. “Where are you?”
“At church. Will call when service ends” Adanya laughed. “This girl is texting me in church. Snoopy, what do you think about that?” Snoopy lay out on the patio on his doggie rug, popped up his head and then plopped it back down. “Some help you are.” Adanya continued laughing.
Forty minutes later, Nanette texted, “Out of church. What’s up?
“Guess who’s comin ovr?
“Parents?”
“Girl, naw.” Adanya texted. “Bleak.”
Adanya’s cell phone rang. “I knew you would call after reading that one.” Adanya laughed into the phone.
“Bleak, the mysterious, reappearing, he-so-fine, I-don’t-care-what- color-he-is, hunk from the deli, Bleak? How did he pull that off ?” Nanette asked with excitement resounding in her voice.
“You are one crazy chick. You have me busting my sides over here. But, yes, that’s the right Bleak. Girl, he lives over here. Can you believe it?”
“Oh my gosh,” squealed Nanette.
“He’s coming over at four to bring me and Snoopy a house warming gift.”
“What? A house warming gift? I can’t believe this. I go to church, come back, and all this has happened? You must be kidding.”
“No, I’m not, girl. See, I didn’t talk to you yesterday, but anyway, I was outside walking Snoopy and lo and behold, he pops up. I mean it’s sort of freaky that I keep bumping into this guy. But anyway, we talked for a while and then he asked if he could come over today after he got out of church.”
“He’s a church man too? See, Adanya, you’re going to have to get yourself together and get back in church.”
“Hold up, don’t start.”
“I’m not. I’m just saying that he might be a cool guy, and if he goes to church, he probably isn’t that bad.”
“It’s not like I’m in this for a love connection. He may be all right, and if he is, I’ll find out soon enough.”
“I hear what you’re saying. Look, Gerald and I are on our way to get something to eat. I sure wish you had come to church with us. Service was amazing. Anyway, call or text me later.”
“All right. Have fun.”
“Thanks, talk to you later.”
Adanya did a once over of her apartment. Everything looked pretty much together. She passed the remainder of the afternoon grading essays. When her phone started ringing, Adanya’s heart skipped a beat. She sighed deeply then answered.
“Hello.”
“Hi.”
“Hi,” she answered.
“It’s Bleak.”
“I know.”
“You haven’t changed your mind about me coming over have you?”
“No, I’m a woman of my word.”
“I like that. Well, I just made it home. What’s your apartment number?”
“201.”
“Got it. I’ll see you in a few. Is that cool?”
“Yeah, that’s cool. See you.”
No sooner than Adanya finished changing into a fresh outfit, she heard a knock at the front door. Snoopy started barking.
“It’s okay, Snoopy. Adanya went to the door and looked through the peephole. “Sit, Snoopy.” She opened the door and welcomed Bleak inside.
In his hands, he held a box and a brown paper bag. “Good afternoon.”
“Hi, come in.” Adanya stepped to the side.
Bleak walked inside. He looked around the space. “Nice.”
“Thank you. What’s that?” she asked and pointed to the items in his hand.
“I told you I was going to bring you and Snoopy a housewarming gift. Right?”
“Yeah,” answered Adanya. “May I sit?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Sure.” Adanya led him into the living room. “Sit wherever you’d like.” She pointed. Snoopy trailed.
He pat Snoopy on the head. “Hi, Snoopy,” Bleak said and sat the box on the table in front of him.
“How was church?” She twisted her hands in a nervous fashion and sat down in the chair caddy corner from Bleak.
“Good. And you?”
“You what?” asked Adanya.
“How was church for you today?”
“Uh, I didn’t make it.”
“Oh, I see, but you do go, right? At least I think you said that you did.”
“I wasn’t aware that you came here to discuss my religious preferences,” she retorted.
“No, not really.” He watched as Snoopy spread out on the floor next to Adanya. He opened the brown paper bag first. Snoopy’s head popped up. “I hope you give Snoopy the okay to have these.” Bleak laughed and then took out a plastic bag that held various sizes and colors of dog cookies.
“Oh my. Snoopy’s going to have to go on a doggy diet if he eats all of those. What kind are they?”
“Peanut butter. Does he do peanut butter?”
“Sure, he loves all flavors, don’t you, Snoopy.”
Bleak called Snoopy and the dog hurried and sat in front of him. He opened the bag of treats and gave one to the canine. Snoopy snapped his mouth around the jumbo treat and headed to the patio door.
Adanya stood up and walked to the door to let him out. “He’s going to nurse that cookie forever.” She stood at the door and watched him find a nice spot on the patio for himself and his cookie.
Adanya turned around. She stopped suddenly when she saw Bleak holding something in his outstretched hands.
“For me?” she asked and pointed to herself.
“Unless you want to trade with Snoopy,” he teased. “Of course it’s for you.”
She walked closer to him and he passed the box to her. Adanya opened it and a gasp escaped from her lips. “A Hope Chest. I haven’t seen one of these since I was about seven or eight years old.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a not so good thing,” commented Bleak in an uncertain tone. “If you don’t like it, I won’t be offended. I can take it back and get you something else.”
“No, you’ll do no such thing.” Adanya carefully inspected the square, gray, ceramic box with the word Hope imprinted in large letters on all sides, including the removable top. The chest had several Bible scriptures about hope engraved on it. She read one of the scriptures out loud. “But those that hope in the Lord will renew their strength…they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31.” Adanya paused and locked eyes with Bleak. “Thank you.”
Adanya studied the box for several more seconds before she looked around her living room. “I think for now I’ll sit it on, let’s see, I’ll sit it right here on my coffee table.” She smiled.
“I’m glad you like it. So, tell me do you have sisters, brothers?”
“No.” Adanya popped back. “And you?”
“Two little sisters. And…um, a twin sister. She’s married and lives in Cali.”
“A twin? My mother is an identical twin.”
“Seems like we have a few things in common. I like that,” said Bleak.
“I don’t know if we have that much in common.”
“Think about it. We live in the same complex. We frequent the same deli. I’m a twin.” Bleak pointed at himself. “And your mother is a twin. We love dogs. We both seem to be rather private people. Need I go on?”
“No. I get the message.” The conversation stalled. Adanya got up and went to the patio to check on Snoopy. It would give her time to regain her self-composure. There was something about Bleak that mad
e her jittery. Not a bad jittery, just jittery.
“How’s he doing out there?” Bleak asked. He stood behind her. So close that Adanya could feel the warmth of his breath on the back of her neck as he spoke.
“I don’t see the cookie.” She hoped he didn’t detect the nervousness in her voice. “I told you he would like it.”
“That you did.” Bleak stepped back. “I don’t want to wear out my welcome, so I think I’m going to bid you and Snoopy farewell.”
Adanya slowly turned. Bleak wasn’t as close but he was still within her personal space. She cleared her throat and zipped past him.
“Oh. Uh, if you have to.”
“I do. I have some work I need to finish.”
“What kind of work?”
“I’m a freelance graphics designer.”
“Nice.”
“And you. What’s your profession?” Bleak inquired.
Adanya smiled. “I’m an assistant professor of communications at Rhodes.”
“Ahhh, I can just see you. Standing rigid in front of your class room full of young men who can’t take their eyes off of you. Jealous girls that hate you because you’re stealing the attention away from them.”
That funny feeling began to form in her tummy again. Bleak’s eyes were glued on her. “Anyway,” she swiftly changed the direction of their conversation, “it was nice having you over. And the housewarming gifts, well, I love mine.”
Snoopy waddled back inside the house. He licked his lips several times. “Guess that’s his way of saying he likes his gift too.”
“Cool.” Bleak took a step closer to the door.
She moved ahead of him slightly and opened it. “Thank you again.” She stretched out her hand and he reciprocated. He completely caught her off guard when he held on to it, and leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
She blushed. “Goodbye, and don’t work too hard.”
He stepped outside and onto the porch. “Hey, would you mind if I call you sometime? I mean since we are neighbors, we can at least be civil to one another. If you need anything you can give me a call too.”
“Need anything like what?” She became curious.
“Like, like,” Bleak rubbed his chin. “dog sitting,” he blurted.
What's Blood Got to Do With It? Page 10
