by Nicety
“Grams. Grams.” Goddess nudged. “We about to get ready and go to the burial. Didn’t you hear him announce it?”
“No…no.”
“Well, come on. Truth went to make sure the limo was out front.” Goddess helped Venus to her feet as she felt like she was too weak to even walk.
“I’m just tired, Goddess. So very tired.” Venus said shedding a few tears from her heavily painted eyes.
“I know Grams. We gon’ be alright…we gon’ be alright.” Goddess felt tears building in her eyes as well but she worked overtime to fight them.
The ride to Evergreen Cemetery was a short one as Goddess and Truth pulled Venus out of the car with her face drenched in sadness. The Chicago air was warm with a hint of winter breeze yet peaceful. At the burial plot, the pastor continued to speak attempting to uplift the grieving mourners’ spirits. Goddess could feel herself becoming virtually inconsolable. Her guilt is what ate her up the most. She started to cry so loudly that people began to whisper. Venus paid it no mind. She sat there as quiet as a mouse feeling her granddaughter had the right to be upset. The woman who gave her the very life she had was now gone. Who was she to stop her grieving? Goddess became hysterical dropping to her knees in front of the casket.
“Momma please don’t go, please!” She cried.
The pastor continued preaching as some distant cousins that hadn’t seen Goddess in years picked her up off of the ground returning her to her seat.
“Take your hands off me. Y’all didn’t care about my momma. None of you!”
Goddess straightened her tight black pinstriped pants suit scraping the wet snow off her knees. She dabbed her tears away with the same Kleenex she had been holding onto since the beginning of the ceremony. Venus took a cigarette out of her clutch and lit it despite the moans from the crowd behind her. The snow was now slush but the coldness in the wind was picking up. It was beginning to become brick ass outside as the wind slapped everyone in the face hard.
Solemn sobs and wind were prevalent as the men lowered the body into the ground. Venus and Goddess each picked up a red rose from the full cart next to the hole and tossed them down in the hole as the casket went down. Everyone else followed and began to dissipate returning to his or her respective cars and headed home. They were a little furious that Venus had refused to have a repast. She refused to mingle with a bunch of stuff shirt assholes that never gave a shit about them in the first place.
“Ugh, I’m so glad that’s over.” Venus exhaled as she turned the key to front door.
“You said it.” Truth said plopping down on the couch signaling for her company.
“I’m just gonna go take a shower and calm down for tomorrow.” Goddess said as she bolted upstairs without a trace.
“I’m exhausted from crying and I just wanna get out of these shoes and get blasted for the rest of the night.” Venus said walking from her bar to the large brown microfiber sofa Truth adorned.
“Vodka? It’s just barely making 2pm and you already starting on this?”
“Boy, don’t start acting like my daddy, now. I’m gon’ drink to my baby’s life and you either gon sit here and join me or you can get the fuck out.”
“Shit, I’m out, then. I’ll check on you later, you trippin’ man. And FYI the shit ain’t gon’ make her magically appear at the bottom of that damn bottle.” Truth blurted as he grabbed his jacket and slammed the door rather roughly behind him.
“Stupid motherfucka! I don’t need ya. I don’t need anybody!” Venus bellowed as she poured her warm shot into the glass then downed it like it was water.
Venus killed the entire bottle in under an hour then passed out into a drooling stupor. She was knocked out on the sofa with the bottle still in her hand with some of the vodka spilled on the floor. Goddess walked down the stairs rubbing her wet hair and rocking her tight plush Pynk shorts with matching tank.
She stared at her drunken grandmother shaking her head at her grief then turned to the wall with the thermostat, turning the heat on blast. She headed for the kitchen to fix her a sandwich and a glass of juice and think about how she was going to score a bag of weed in this town. She wasn’t too familiar with the hood having been gone for so long and knew she wasn’t about to roam the streets looking for it.
At that point, Goddess realized there was only one person who could possibly help her out with her problem. But she didn’t have his number or even knew if he would do it or not. She put her sandwich down and tiptoed back into the living room noticing that Venus hadn’t moved an inch. She carefully made her way to her coat pocket pulling out her T-Mobile Sidekick, toggling through the it then pressing the send button as she tipped back out of sight trying hard not to wake her grandmother.
“I knew you’d come around eventually. Sup baby momma?” Truth answered.
“Hey, um, Truth this is Goddess.” She whispered.
“Goddess? What you doing calling me?”
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to know if you knew where to get some green from out here.”
“You smoke, girl? Damn, I thought you was a good girl.” Truth laughed.
“I am a good girl…just in a bad sort of way.” Goddess retorted.
“Yeah, well what you tryin’ to get?”
“A dub.”
“Aight. I’ll grab that for you. You just pay me back when I get there. I’ll be there in fifteen.” Truth said as he hung up the phone.
Goddess scurried quietly back into the living room to return the phone to Venus’ coat pocket without a sound. She looked at her still passed out and walked up to her staring down at her hard. Venus’ mouth was open with a hint of drool sliding down the side of her chin. Goddess moved in close to her, breathing in the funk of vodka eroding from her breath. She clapped her hands loudly close to her face then snapped her fingers a few times but she never budged an inch.
“Damn shame.” Goddess chuckled as she headed back to the kitchen to finish her meal.
Truth pulled up in front of the house and made his way to the door taking out his key to open it. As he walked in, his focus went right on the sofa and disappointment quickly set in. Deep down inside he knew she would be there sprawled out on the sofa but he didn’t know in what condition. He quickly shut the door and looked away from the ghastly display unable to see her sprawled out that way. Goddess heard the door and rushed in.
“Hey. Thanks for showing up.” She said snatching the contents of his hand quickly sniffing it to check for its potency.
“Yeah, ay I’m hittin’ that too.” He said hanging his coat up and following her to the kitchen.
“Excuse me?”
“The green. I’m hittin’ the green.” He backpedaled realizing his comment was misconstrued.
“Ah. Okay, com’ on.” Goddess sat at the island on the bar stool and began breaking down the green.
“So what you doing smokin’ that icky, girl?”
“I got problems. You got a problem with that?” Goddess snarled, side eyeing him.
“Naw. I’m just saying a pretty young woman like yourself shouldn’t be polluting your body with that mess you know.” Truth responded staring firmly into her eyes.
“Hmm. Really? Then why do you smoke?” She asked.
“Women don’t do what men do. You all are supposed to be dainty and sophisticated. Beautiful and articulate. Not drugged up and whored out.” He said pulling his cell out checking his text messages.
“Seems like your woman on the couch up there didn’t get that memo.” Goddess laughed but quickly cut it short when she saw that he was serious.
She flamed up the blunt taking a few short pulls and then one long one before handing it to him. He snatched it up taking a couple of pulls hisself observing her demeanor the whole time. He put his head down shaking it in disappointment feeling like she was going to turn out just like her grandmother, addicted to self medication.
“So has your grandmother talked to you yet?” He aske
d handing her the blunt.
“About what?”
“Nothing. I guess when she’s ready, she’ll tell you.” He said taking a seat on a stool next to her.
“Ugh. You brought it up. Why can’t you tell me? And why are you even with my grandmother? She’s like forty years older than you. Are you using her for her money?” Goddess’ voice ran rampant with accusation.
“First of all, what’s going on between me and your grandmother is none of your damn business. I don’t remember her questioning your reasons for wanting to stay not once. Secondly, you don’t know anything about me or your grandmother for that matter. I’m out!” Truth snapped as he rose tossing the blunt in the ashtray still lit.
Goddess was taken by the passion in his words. She hadn’t experienced anything like that since Spliff used to check her for getting smart with him.
“Wait. Please. Don’t go. I…I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sorry.” Goddess apologized with puppy dog eyes crossing her smooth thick thighs.
She flicked her half dried hair then pushed the ashtray over to him. Truth looked up to see if she had an ounce of sincerity on her face before he gave into her. He reached down picking up the blunt hitting it a few times then handed it to her. He sat back down rubbing the top of his head attempting to get over the past few minutes. Neither of them could find the right words to say after that. The kitchen remained silent until the blunt went out.
“Do you wanna smoke the other one?” Goddess asked sweetly.
“It don’t matter.” Truth responded nonchalantly.
Truth watched as she pearled the blunt licking all around it with her wet pink tongue. It was seductively erotic the way it circled the blunt while his eyes could fixate on nothing else. The spark from the lighter as she blazed it up was the one thing that broke his trance. The smoke in the kitchen grew thick as the light coming from outside grew dark. They were high as kites laughing at how weird the shadows of knick-knacks on the counter looked to them.
“Well, I guess I’m about to be out. I got some things I need to do before I hit the crib.” Truth said rising to stretch.
“Okay. Thanks for bringing this for me. Oh, wait. I forgot to pay you.” She said rising with him.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m good.” He said batting her hand away playfully. “Let’s just say you owe me one.”
“Awe, thanks. Maybe I’ll cook you dinner or something one day.”
“That’s wassup.”
The two stood there gazing into each other’s twinkling eyes wondering what if anything was there. Goddess could hear the faint sounds of stirring in the distance but was compelled to ignore it unable to blink away from his breathtaking appearance. He licked his full brown lips so gently as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his slightly baggy jeans.
“Aight well I’m gon’ get up out of here. Tell Venus I…” He paused. “Better yet, let’s not tell her anything.”
“Tell her what? All you did was bring me some green. Right?” Her words melted in his ears.
“Fo’ sho’.” Truth replied reluctantly breaking his trance and walking towards the door.
Chapter 8
A good day?
“Alright guys. I think I’ve crammed enough information into your brains for today. I’ll see you back here tomorrow at the same time and remember training is only a week so you’d better study for your final test.” Cole recited as if he had said it a hundred times before.
“Hey, I wanna thank you again for getting me this job. You don’t know how much it means to me.” Goddess sauntered over to him displaying her best cheesy smile.
“Well don’t thank me yet. You still have to pass the test.” Cole chuckled as he gathered the group of manila folders on the table.
“Here let me help you with that.” Goddess leaned over to reveal just enough cleavage to give him a peek down her fitted black sweater.
She headed out of the training room and down the hall to his office leading the way in order to give him a bird’s eye view of her plumped cheeks in her snug pencil skirt. The door was locked when she reached it prompting her to lean, pressing her back firmly against it accentuating her lovely thick curves. Cole walked up to her standing closely allowing her to catch a bewitching whiff of his cologne, Givenchy. He popped the key in the door turning it with a solemn look on his face, pushing the door slightly open for her.
“I guess I should be going.” Goddess said as she bent over putting the heavy folders on his desk, feeling as though her little act wasn’t winning Cole over.
“Yeah, uh, maybe you should.” He responded taking a seat at his desk ignoring her display.
“See you tomorrow.”
But her words seemed to fall on deaf ears as she left the room shutting the door rather strongly behind her. She felt like a fool throwing herself at him like that but she hadn’t had sex in a long time and thought he felt the same way about her. It was clear to her that she needed to keep their relationship strictly professional before she risked the job she needed so badly. It was a shame since his body made her panties wet every time she laid her eyes on his bulky arms in those fitted long sleeve shirts he always wore.
****
“Today’s not a good day, Truth. I’m not feeling good and I don’t want you to see me like this.” Venus said curling up into a ball on her bed and coughing profusely.
“Babe, that shit don’t matter to me man. You know I barely get to see you during the days the shop is open. Com’ on now.” He snapped.
“You don’t have to be all up under me all the time, damn! I know you fucking other bitches so don’t sit here and try to make it seem like I’m your one and only.” Venus retorted becoming sick of the conversation.
“Woman. UGH! Why do you have to drive me crazy like this?” Truth shook his head as he pearled a blunt then stuck it in the ashtray of his Hybrid.
“Cause you like it. Now call me in a few days. I gotta get over this shit without you.”
“I’m coming to check on you later and I don’t wanna here shit about it.” He yelled.
“I don’t know how you getting’ in cause the doors will be locked. Goddess won’t be here.” Venus lied hoping he would back down.
“We’ll see about that.” He responded hanging up the phone on her.
Venus rolled over and snuggled up with the older salt and pepper bearded man lying next to her. He showed up early that morning just as Goddess was leaving out of the door and that was the only way he got in the house. He was her little moneybags so she couldn’t blow him off the way she did Truth.
After all, he made sure the bills were paid in the house so Venus could keep her money to herself. Truth was becoming to loving towards her, which was something she wasn’t used to. When they first got together they had the understanding that they wouldn’t allow feelings to become involved. It seemed he was breaking his half of the deal, making her uncomfortable.
“What little nigga was that on your phone?” The man mumbled half drunk and half sleep.
“What? Why are you questioning me? Go back to sleep old man.” She replied blowing him off.
“Yeah, okay. If I find out you got some little raggedy ass nigga in my bed your ass is cut off. Ya hear?”
“Oh please. You are in no position to send threats until you tell your wife of thirty years who’s bed your in right now motherfucka.” Venus smacked her lips together turning over digging in her nightstand drawer for a cigarette.
“You need to quit smokin’ them damn things. That’s what’s wrong with you now.” The man snickered as he rolled his protruding belly over turning his back towards her.
“No it’s not and I’d thank you to stay out of my damn business.” Venus replied as she sparked up her cigarette, taking a long hard drag and blew it right in his direction. "And pull ya boxers out ya ass. It looks nasty."
****
“Hey! You look cold out there. Want a ride?”
Truth ye
lled as he rolled the passenger side window down while pulling over. He peeked his head down a bit to get a good glimpse out of the window. He turned the volume down on the stereo in order to get a good listen to the response to his question.
“You think that’s cool?”
“Do you want a ride or not?” Truth yelled knowing he wouldn’t ask again.
“Yeah, shit. Fuck that, it’s cold as hell.” Goddess replied as she slid in on the passenger side.
“So…how was work?”
“It was okay, enough to keep me going back for a pay check. Did you just come from being with my grandmother?” Goddess replied taking a stick of WinterFresh Gum from her clutch and popping it in her mouth.
“Naw.” Truth responded as vague as possible keeping his eyes on the road. “I know you’re glad I pulled up though, huh?”
“Hell yeah. It’s brick ass out here. As soon as I save enough money I’m gonna buy me a car.”
“Yeah, gotta have that. Ay, you wanna go get something to eat?” Before he knew it the words were flying out of his mouth.
Goddess was stunned by the question. She didn’t know if it was appropriate for her to be going out to eat with someone who was dating someone who was blood. She thought about it for a few seconds figuring that as long as she wasn’t sleeping with him or touching him in any way that it wasn’t cheating. Eating wasn’t cheating in her book.
“Sure. You wanna stop at that Wendy’s up there on 55th and State?” Goddess asked.
“Huh? That was cute. No, we’re going somewhere I’m sure you will enjoy. The food is fantastic and they don’t have white paper bags.” Truth laughed.
“I just don’t think we should be going anywhere that feels like a date, Truth.” Goddess spat with a hint of worry in her voice.
“Why are you worried about that? Did I say anything about that?”
