Heat

by Geneva Holliday

  I stretched my legs out, put my head back, and closed my eyes.

  “Spare some change, miss?”

  I parted my eyelids. In front of me stood a woman. Her lips were bloated, her eyes red, her clothes grimy and tattered.

  She held a filthy palm under my nose.

  “Change?” she said again when I opened my eyes the whole way.

  I didn’t have much, but the few dollars I did have I pressed into her palm.

  The block was quiet except for a few young adults hanging out on the stoop next door to Noah’s house.

  They gave me an odd look and then whispered behind their palms.

  Climbing the stairs to the front door, I began to feel a bit nervous. My hands were shaking when I tried to fit the key into the lock.

  “Damn, he changed the locks,” I murmured to myself.

  I straightened my shoulders, smoothed my hair back into place, and held my head high as I brought my finger up and pressed the bell.

  Crystal

  kendrick called. To tell you the truth, I’d forgotten all about him.

  “Hey, Crystal. I’m just calling to see if you’re feeling better?”

  “I’m feeling fine—thanks for asking, Kendrick.”

  I sounded so formal. This wasn’t going to be easy.

  “Um, well…can I come by and see you?”

  I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly before I began.

  “Kendrick, you’re a really good guy. You’ve pulled yourself together, and—”

  “Are you breaking up with me?”

  “C’mon, Kendrick, were we really officially back together?”

  “Crystal, we—we made love. Didn’t that mean anything to you?”

  “It did. It meant the world to me, and I thank you for sharing yourself with—”

  “You thank me? What’s going on with you…? We talked about our futures.”

  “That’s before I knew I was pregnant, Kendrick.”

  The line went dead silent.

  “You’re pregnant?”

  “Yeah, two months.”

  “Wow. I guess congratulations are in order.”

  “Thank you, Kendrick.”

  “Crystal?”

  “Yes?”

  “Do you love him…the father?”

  “I love him in a way that I don’t think you can understand, because I don’t even understand it.”

  “That’s deep.”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “So, um, hey—don’t be a stranger, okay?”

  “Of course not. There’s someone out there for you, Kendrick.”

  “Yeah, there is, but she just told me she’s pregnant with another man’s child.”

  A soft click followed those last words, and then a blaring dial tone.

  Geneva

  i spent five days in detox at New York Hospital.

  I don’t remember most of what went on with me while I was on the Biothin. But from the stories I’ve heard, I’m not very proud of myself.

  My nurses thought I was some kind of celebrity because of all the flowers I received. Deeka and Eric alone filled up that room like the botanical gardens.

  Eric brought flowers for me every day, and Deeka, well, he just had them delivered on a daily basis because he never left my side.

  When Crystal came to visit me, she was glowing, and I knew before she even told me that she was expecting. We held each other and cried. I apologized for whatever it was I said and did to her while I was under the influence.

  She told me that apologies weren’t necessary; all I needed to do was agree to be the godmother of her child. I told her that nothing but death would keep me from it.

  I almost didn’t know Chevy when she walked in the door. She looked thinner, and that edge she’d always had about her was gone. She was all soft curves now.

  I’d heard from Crystal that she’d been through some stuff, most of which she wasn’t ready to talk about, and I didn’t press her. I just wrapped my arms around her and hugged tight.

  When she told me that I looked good, I knew for sure a new day had dawned. Chevy never, ever paid me a compliment, not in all the years we’d known each other.

  I said, “You look good too, girl.” And Chevy actually blushed!

  Noah followed not too much later, Zahn by his side, and both carried large brown shopping bags. They were grinning like Cheshire cats. I figured whatever news they had must be huge.

  My eyes swung to Crystal, then Chevy, but they all averted their eyes. No one was going to give me a hint.

  “What’s going on?”

  How the hospital had allowed it, I don’t know—all the people in that room must have had some sort of influence over somebody—but in walked two little girls. One of which was my daughter Charlie.

  The other one, I thought I knew, because her face seemed so familiar to me.

  “Hey, baby,” I called to my daughter. “Who’s your friend?”

  “This is Destiny,” Charlie said. “Destiny, this is my mommy.”

  Destiny waved shyly at me.

  I looked at Noah, who looked as if he was going to burst.

  “Okay, I give. Who is—” I started to speak and then stopped. It was like I’d been struck.

  “Oh, shit!” I yelled, and popped straight up in my hospital bed.

  “That’s a potty word, Mommy!” Charlie yelled.

  “S-sorry, baby,” I said, my eyes swinging between Destiny and Noah.

  “Is this—”

  I couldn’t even get the words out of my mouth before Noah yelled, “My daughter!” and then he glanced at Zahn and said, “Our daughter.”

  Someone could have knocked me over with a feather.

  I called both little ones to me, pulled them up onto the bed, and covered their tiny, beautiful faces with kisses.

  “Gosh,” I sighed, looking around at all my friends, “our family just keeps growing, doesn’t it?”

  Everybody nodded in agreement.

  “I don’t know how much more news I could take,” I said, pressing my hand against my heart.

  “Well,” Crystal started, coming to sit on the bed, “I’ve decided that I’m going to move.”

  That made sense; she always had a love for the country. She was probably going up to Westchester…That wasn’t too far. I could catch Metro-North up to see her.

  “Where?”

  “Antigua.”

  I just blinked.

  “Antigua?”

  “I’ve had a enough of New York, Geneva. I hate my job, I hate the crime and the dirt…I don’t want to raise my child here. I want him or her to be able to breathe fresh air, eat fresh fruit, and swim in the ocean all year round. I want Neville and me to raise our child together.”

  I will not cry. I will not cry.

  “Sure, sure, I understand,” I said, forcing myself to sound happy.

  “That’s wonderful, Crystal girl,” Noah said. “Destiny can come and spend the summers with you!”

  “Sure, she can,” Crystal said, giving the little girl a quick tweak on her nose. “Antigua is a popular vacation spot for the British.”

  I looked at Noah and asked, “You’re going back to England?”

  Noah sighed. “Yes, that’s were Zahn’s work is, Geneva.”

  I looked over at Chevy, who had been the quietest I’d ever seen her.

  “And you, Chevy, where are you going?”

  Chevy smiled. “I’m going to my mother’s.”

  “In Pittsburgh!” we all said in unison.

  “Girl, you must have had a session with Jesus himself. I can’t imagine you in Pittsburgh!” Noah laughed and he and Crystal did a high-five.

  “I know. It may just be for a little while. I don’t know…I have some things to sort out.”

  “Good for you,” I said, and then, “Well, is that it? Is there more?” I looked around at the faces looking back at me.

  Deeka stepped through. His expression was as serious as I’d ever seen it. My body began to
shake, and I just knew this man was going to announce right in front of all my friends that he was leaving me.

  “’Neva.”

  “Y-yes, Deeka.”

  Well, I’d put him through a lot, hadn’t I? He was a young man and probably didn’t expect all this drama from a mature woman like myself. I wouldn’t try to stop him if he wanted to go. I would wish him well and just be happy for the year we had together. I would handle this like a real woman should.

  “I love you with all of my being. I’ve loved you from the first time I walked into the diner and laid eyes on you. I have never ever felt this way about any other woman that’s been in my life—that’s how I know that what I feel for you is real.

  “I wanted to take you somewhere romantic and propose marriage to you, but here and now with all of your friends—I mean our friends—seems more than perfect for a time and place.”

  The tears were spilling from my eyes so fast that my entire face was wet.

  “I want to ask you, the love of my heart, my best friend, my lover, if you will also be my wife?”

  And with those final words, Deeka took my hand and slipped the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen onto my finger.

  Noah leaned over, made an approving sound in his throat, and then said, “Yellow sapphires and diamonds—man, you got taste!”

  I hadn’t answered. I was too busy crying and kissing my man.

  “Answer him, Mommy, answer him!”

  “Yes, yes, yes!”

  Chevy

  i decided that Pittsburgh really wasn’t all that bad. It wasn’t New York, but that was okay.

  I took a job working alongside my mother at her hair salon. It’s harder than it looks—I’m on my feet for twelve, sometimes fourteen hours, and not every customer is a dream to work with, if you know what I mean.

  But at the end of the day, it’s an honest living and an honest dollar—not as much as I’m used to making, but enough to keep me humble.

  I’m staying with my mother and am in no hurry to move. She’s teaching me how to cook and sew and knit—if you can believe it. And I’m getting pretty good at all three.

  My time away from her made me forget just how much I need her in my life.

  She’s a pretty hip chick, to tell you the truth, and we’ve been having a ball hanging out together.

  I’m seeing somebody too.

  His name is Chet and he’s a mechanic. Okay, “mechanic” is a bit of a stretch—he’s a gas station attendant.

  I know—who would have thought it—Chevanese Cambridge dating a gas station attendant?

  Hey, people change.

  We’re all going down to Geneva and Deeka’s wedding—and you want another shocker? I bought Chet’s ticket!

  What happened to Anja?

  Well, Anja is no more.

  Someone started circulating on the Internet a picture taken of her in a compromising position.

  I read in the paper that when she left work one day, a crowd was waiting for her, shouting: “Show us your dick!”

  After weeks of denying that she was in fact a man, Anja finally came out of the closet—so to speak—and admitted it.

  What followed was more humiliating than having his cover blown. Someone dropped a serious dime that La Fleur Industries was not only the parent company to Anja’s popular media organization but the front for Freaks R Us escort service.

  Anja, aka Andre, had been the head pimp/madam in charge!

  The feds swooped in and shut down the entire operation. Last time I heard, La Fleur Industries’ stock had plummeted from sixty-five dollars a share down to a buck and a quarter!

  And Anja, aka Andre, was out on a $300,000 bail, awaiting trial.

  Noah

  destiny adapted real well to the preschool here. She’s as smart as a whip, and every day she makes me proud.

  Zahn is as much in love with her as I am. We’ve already started looking for a house—the toys and stuffed animals we’ve bought for her need their own zip code!

  I send money to Merriwether every month, and we bought her a computer, complete with a videoconference camera so that she and Destiny can see and speak to each other anytime they want.

  I sold my house and walked away with a very tidy little sum of money. I was able to start Destiny’s trust fund and put some down on one of those new condo apartments they’ve built in Bed-Stuy.

  What, did you think I was never coming back?

  What are you, crazy? I love New York and simply adore Brooklyn!

  I heard through the grapevine that one morning a dozen undercover cops showed up at Cupcake’s front door, warrant in hand, and found a shitload of cocaine in her basement.

  I wonder if she’ll be roasting a hog on cellblock C?

  Crystal

  i sublet my apartment but cleaned out my 401(k).

  I bought the most adorable house in Antigua. It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and an ocean view, and best of all, it’s right down the road from Neville.

  Our son, Javid, was born on December 20, one month ahead of schedule.

  He is perfect. I can’t imagine that I lived all those years without him.

  Neville is the proudest papa I’ve ever known—not counting Noah, of course. Javid and I see him twice a day, and sometimes he even spends the night.

  I’m not working, but I have been thinking about starting my own little business down here.

  Wedding planning.

  I so enjoyed helping Geneva plan her wedding, and Noah said when he and Zahn agree on the date for their commitment ceremony he wants me to do the same for him.

  Geneva

  when Crystal suggested that I get married in Antigua, I was all for it and agreed that we would before I’d even discussed it with Deeka.

  Thank God he loved the idea.

  Now here I stand, my first plane ride under my belt, my gorgeous son at my side, Charlie and Destiny floating ahead of me, dropping hibiscus petals along the carpet of sea grass that’s stretched out before me and across the sand.

  Yes, a beach wedding, and at sunset, no less!

  The steel band begins to play the wedding march and I hear my mother, Doris B., begin to cry.

  “You ready, Mom?” Eric asks.

  “I think I finally am,” I say, and link my arm with his.

  I move as if in a dream. My bridesmaids, Chevy and Noah—yes, Noah—smile at me as I float by them.

  Crystal, my maid of honor, kisses me lovingly on my cheek, her own cheeks wet with tears, as I hand her my bouquet.

  I turn to face my lover, my friend, my soul mate, and future. Our hands lock and we gaze lovingly into each other’s eyes as the minister begins…

  “Do you, Geneva Lillian Holliday, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband…?”

  You’re still reading, so you must be looking for more.

  You’re smart; you know that it’s not really over until the fat lady sings. So let me steal a line from that soulful group the Delfonics to let you know just how much I appreciate you.

  (throat clearing)

  Here goes:

  “La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, laaaa, la, means I love you…”

  Gratitude…

  this has been such a fun ride!

  I am most grateful to the universe, my wonderful editor Phyllis Grann, and my equally fabulous publicist Laura Pillar, as well as everyone at Broadway Books who worked so hard to make the Groove series a success.

  A big thank-you to my family, friends, readers, fellow authors, and book clubs—all of whom continue to support me on so many different levels. Many thanks to my #1 fan in St. Louis, Evan Hilliard—who has shown me nothing but love from day one!

  And last but far from least—thank you to my beautiful daughter, R’yane Azsa, who continues to make me proud.

  Good things,

  Geneva

  Also by Geneva Holliday

  Groove

  Fever

  WRITING AS BERNICE L. MCFADDEN

  Sugarr />
  The Warmest December

  This Bitter Earth

  Loving Donovan

  Camilla’s Roses

  Nowhere Is a Place

  PUBLISHED BY BROADWAY BOOKS

  Copyright © 2007 by Bernice McFadden

  All Rights Reserved

  Published in the United States by Broadway Books, an imprint of The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  www.broadwaybooks.com

  BROADWAY BOOKS and its logo, a letter B bisected on the diagonal, are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Holliday, Geneva.

  Heat /Geneva Holliday.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  1. African American women—Fiction. 2. Female friendship—Fiction. 3. New York (N.Y.)—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3608.O4847H43 2007

  813'.6—dc22

  2007006231

  eISBN: 978-0-7679-2789-5

  v3.0