Falling For Rome

by Edwina Fort

  But as for me, the majority of the time I was either working out to build my strength back up from my injury, playing with Giant, watching TV, playing Call of Duty or just outright napping. For the first time in my life, I felt like a pampered princess.

  Sometimes Rome would come home during the day to help some little one out with their homework; he didn’t turn anyone away. The other day, a little lady that had to be about seven, showed up with huge frustrated tears in her eyes because she couldn’t get divisions down.

  He’d patiently sat at his kitchen table and helped her until she got it. He never raised his voice or degraded her. In fact, twenty minutes after she arrived, he had her beaming with pride because he constantly told her how smart she was.

  The day after that, a law student showed up, and Rome helped him put together a mock case that was a part of an assignment of his.

  Just amazing…The man is amazing.

  He was also an amazing criminal.

  One night he came in with a beautiful dress for me and told me to get ready because he and I were having dinner with the mayor and his wife. At first, I didn’t believe him. But sure enough, we attended a private dinner at the mayor’s house.

  While his wife showed me her prized gardenia bushes, the mayor seemed to be discussing something very grave with Rome, who sat there and quietly listened, only nodding here and there to acknowledge that he was taking in the information.

  I wanted to be a little closer so that I could hear what they were saying, but Mrs. Wheatly kept me so far away that all I could do was try and read their body language. The mayor was good and worked up; whatever was going on had him very distraught, but Rome didn’t seem that worried about it.

  As we were leaving, he told the mayor to breathe easy, he would handle the situation.

  Later that night, I sat on the bed and watched enthralled as Rome worked. Overhead, Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 in C minor blared through the speakers. He stood in front of his computer, on one screen he was involved in a chess game that he’d been playing over the last week.

  Get this…he was playing the game with the world champion who he’d already beaten five times, but their games were lowkey. Rome didn’t play him in front of the world, because he didn’t want anyone to know about him.

  However, the champion knew and kept challenging Rome because he couldn’t accept the fact that although nobody else in the world knew it…he was really second best. Rome said that if the guy knew that he was a thug from the ghetto, he would probably go insane.

  Anyway…Rome is standing in front of the computer playing the game, Beethoven blasting overhead, while at the same time directing two of his men through the earpiece he wore to move through what looked like a closed office building.

  Their movements were up on the big screen. I wanted to ask him what they were doing, but didn’t want to break his concentration.

  He guided them to the buildings server room and walked them through planting his little bug.

  “Good job, fellas…get on out there.” He told them, going back to his chess game.

  His opponent typed in tons of questions, asking him to explain how he’d come up with a certain move, and where did he learn to play like that. But all his questions went unanswered. Rome said the little geek was always trying to get in his head.

  As he and I lay in each other’s arms that night, he explained to me that the mayor was being black-balled by someone that is trying to move in and push him out. Rome said he can’t let that happen because the mayor made sure he pretty much operated with immunity in Chicago.

  “So, what did you do about it?” I asked, curious as to what it is he actually did.

  “You’ll see…” was his only response as his hand lazily rubbed up and down my back, lulling me to sleep.

  The next day, he came home early with a long box in his hand. I had been sitting on the couch trying to teach Giant to fetch. Rome picked up the controller and turned on the television.

  Breaking news flashed across the screen. “This just in,” A beautiful news anchor said seeming to still be receiving the information.

  “A certain Chicago lawmaker’s house is being raided by the FBI after reports of collusion with a dangerous Italian Mob family have come to the surface.” She touched the device in her ear listening to whatever was being said to her.

  “Oh God! Although I-News is still receiving information, it appears as if documents may have been found tying Paul Graebel in with the death of porn star Pussy Willow who until now, cause of death had been labeled a suicide. Oh—Okay, the mayor is giving a press conference now, let’s see what he has to say about this.”

  The screen cut to the mayor that we’d just had dinner with standing in front of a podium. He looked very stressed, but I was able to see he was only acting. Last night he’d really been distraught. He held up his hands to try and calm down the barrage of questions that was being thrown his way.

  “My office just received the reports. We need to allow the FBI to do their job. But you don’t have to worry, I do not tolerate this kind of filth in my city. Fear not, if there needs to be cleaning in the house, then I will sweep it clean. Please…no further questions.”

  I turned to look at Rome, who winked at me as he sat on the couch next to me.

  “There are always skeletons in the closet. My job is either to expose them or if the dough is right, bury them a little deeper.”

  “Is that what you’re doing with Jo? Are you trying to expose him?”

  Just like he always does when I brought up my boss, he changed the subject.

  “I have a gift for you.” He said bringing the long box from behind his back.

  Giant instantly started to nibble on the ribbon, pulling it with his little head.

  “You know, you don’t have to keep buying me stuff.”

  He lifted his hand and gently pushed a loc of my hair back behind my ear. “If a man wants to deck his queen out in diamonds and gold, that’s his prerogative. Have you ever met a shabby queen?”

  I grinned. “No, I have not. But I’m not a queen either.”

  “Sure you are. You’re my queen. Open the box.”

  Feeling like a young girl, I tore into the box.

  “Oh my God, Romeo! Is this—”

  “Real?” He asked. “Yes, it is.”

  I lifted the beautiful bat out of the box. It was made of pure gold. Written on the side of it was, Minha Anjo. I was holding a small fortune in my hands.

  “I’d never seen anything as amazing as you beating the sh*t out of my men with that bat. It was poetry in motion. You call me a hero…” He shook his head.

  “You’re the real hero. F*** that, you’re a superhero. And every superhero has to have a powerful weapon. This one is yours.”

  I stared at him through tears. I could see it in his eyes that he truly believed I was a superhero. Gently, I placed the bat back in the box. And then I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck, hugging him as if I feared he would disappear if I didn’t.

  “I love you…” I told him…

  And it was true...I loved him with my whole heart and my whole soul. And I wasn’t scared to admit it anymore.

  He was amazing. But most importantly, he made me feel amazing. He made me feel like I was somebody. For the first time in my life, I had a name and a purpose.

  For the first time in my life, I felt loved.

  “I love you too, baby.” He told me, beaming that he’d gotten those words out of me. “I want you to try your best to stay out of trouble. Just because I’ve given you a superhero weapon doesn’t mean you should actually use it…”

  I chuckled, giving him the…Really look.

  “You know I have to tell you that. You’re prone to violence.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me. I won’t get into any trouble at all…”

  He looked as if he doubted that, but then I straddled his lap and kissed h
im. The toughest thing about being away from him all day is having to wait to make love to him. Now that he’s awakened the inner sex kitten in me, nothing can quiet it, and only he will do.

  I reached down and grabbed the hem of his t-shirt pulling it up and over his head and tossing it on the couch next to us. Poor Giant let out a little bark in protest, because I’d mistakenly tossed it on him.

  “I missed you today.” I told him as I kissed his strong neck. He always smelled so good. “Did you miss me?”

  “Mmmmhhhhmmm…” He responded settling back on the couch as my kisses trailed down to his muscled chest. I could feel his heartbeat increasing under my touch.

  Nossa! He always tasted so good.

  Slowly I slid off his lap and unto my knees between his legs. “I promise to be a very good girl.” I purred as I undid his belt.

  “Sh*t Nak! I don’t care, just…stop torturing me!”

  And I did...I put him out of his misery. However, the next day, he had to bail me out of jail.

  But before I tell you guys what happened, I just want to first say it wasn’t my fault.

  The day started off like any other. Rome had left shortly after breakfast and I had gotten a quick work out in while waiting for Happy to show up, so she can fill me in on the day’s gossip.

  But strangely she never showed. Rob came instead.

  “Ay, you want to see Rome’s angel?” He asked sticking his head inside the loft door.

  I sat at the kitchen table polishing my superhero bat, testing its weight in my hands and balancing it on my palms. Rome’s goldsmith must have created it. It’s perfect, and it felt as if it had been made just for my hands… I absolutely loooovvveed this thing.

  “What?! Is that real?” I asked him about Rome’s angel.

  Now that he mentioned it, I vaguely remember the doctor telling me something about an angel or something that Rome meets with to play chess.

  Rob threw up his hands. “I don’t know…but he thinks it is.”

  I stood sliding the bat in the shoulder sling Rome got designed for it.

  “Isn’t this cool?” I asked Rob.

  He chuckled. “You and my brother make a good couple. Y’all into the corniest sh*t.”

  “Whatever!” I told him bending down to pick Giant up in my arms. “Let’s see this angel.”

  Rob’s car was pretty cool too. It was a black Dodge Charger and just like his brother, he’d gotten it souped-up underneath it so that it rumbled really loud. We drove for about twenty minutes before he pulled into a park, bringing his car to a stop in back of Rome’s truck.

  “There they are.” He said killing the engine.

  I looked to where he was pointing and frowned at what I saw. Rome sat at a bench table with his fists pressed to his head as he stared down at the chessboard. It didn’t look as if he was winning. And it didn’t look as if he was handling not winning very well.

  But what caused me to frown was the fact that he was playing chess with a homeless man. At least he looked homeless. And he wasn’t wearing any shoes. While Rome looked very stressed out, the homeless man didn’t look bothered at all.

  In fact, it looked as if he was reading a newspaper. Rome put his hand on a piece, but then pulled it back before putting his hand on it, moving the piece. The man didn’t even look away from his newspaper as he reached over and moved a piece…

  “Checkmate…” I saw his lips move to say.

  Rome studied the board as if he couldn’t believe it.

  Rome

  “You can at least make me feel as if I gave you some kind of competition.” I growled.

  I hated losing!

  I really hated losing!

  The fact that I was forced to sit here and suffer through this week after week is what I hated the most.

  The man with no shoes…

  I’ve known him most of my life. He started visiting me and beating me in chess when I was seven years old. It was through losing to him that I learned how to play. It was also through losing to him that I’ve done all that I’ve done in life.

  He rarely talks during our visits. We just sit down and he defeats me in the game. It’s later, while I’m thinking about what move I could have made to have a different outcome that I know what it is I need to do.

  For example, the week Nak showed up, he beat me in three moves, and two of the moves were just using his queen. Later, when I went over the play, I realized that if I’d captured his queen with my second move, I would have prevented the loss, which is how I knew when I saw Nak, that I had to capture her.

  The week Jo showed up to get Journey, he’d checkmated me in a double move using his knight. Later, when I thought of how I could have prevented that, I realized a simple castling would have prevented it, which is why all that week I hung close to my mom’s place, avoiding my own.

  I know this sounds strange, but this is his and my relationship. I guess you can say in a way, he’s guided me through life. I was fourteen when I realized he wasn’t a man at all. And yeah, I know that sounds really strange.

  The thing is, we’ve been trained to believe in only what we can see, smell, taste, and touch, but that is looking at a multi-dimensional place through a one-dimensional lens. I remember this Scripture that my mom would always read to us.

  ‘Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.’ A Scripture she would always read before she took the little money we had and bought stuff to prepare bag lunches for the homeless.

  You see, she believed that although we didn’t have much, we had more than most, and it was our responsibility to share what we had. It didn’t matter if it was only two pieces of bread, we shared it.

  It was during one of these trips when I was seven years old, that I met the man with no shoes. I’d handed him a bag lunch and I’ll never forget what he said.

  “What do you call a man that gives when he doesn’t have much to give?”

  I’d shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Blessed…come back and visit with me Tuesday.”

  And I did, and every Tuesday following that.

  “Why would I pretend you are competition, when you’re not?” He spoke suddenly, surprising the hell out of me.

  I couldn’t remember the last time he did.

  “To preserve my feelings.” I told him sarcastically.

  “You mean to preserve your vanity.” All this he said without looking away from his paper.

  “I’m not vain.”

  He chuckled. “Sure you are.”

  “What’s so important in that paper anyway?” I asked changing the subject.

  “The warnings have begun to go forth, but mankind won’t see them, because the enemy is working overtime to keep them distracted. And because of it…mankind shall not repent. Tell me, young prince…have you seen it? Have you seen the shift in the times?”

  Yeah, I saw it, but I’ve been doing my best to ignore it. What I told Nak was true. I didn’t plan to be a heathen forever. It’s not my fate. There was something else out there calling me, I’ve heard it my whole life.

  “The world is growing colder.” He continued. “Can you see it?”

  I nodded. He continued to read his paper. “Woman cooks baby in the oven after getting into an argument with husband.” He read before turning the page.

  “Man shoots and kills child for playing music too loud in the car next to him.” He turned the page.

  “Man found eating the face of another man, shot to death.” He turned the page.

  “Twenty-six people shot dead in night club.” He turned the page.

  “In a fit of rage, woman drives car into a crowd of protesters, killing five. Teenage boy found in a garage eating husband and wife, feared to have been high on bath salts. However, when tested, no bath salts were found in his system. Woman sacrifices baby in ritual to Baal. Father stuffs cross down daughter’s throat, killing her. Wh
en asked why he did it, he responded, because she was possessed by the devil. Prisoner beats cellmate to death. When questioned about his actions, he stated that he had awakened to cellmate sitting on the toilet. He complained about a foul stench that was unlike anything he’d ever smelt. He claimed the man’s who sat on the toilet face had disappeared and a demon had taken his place. He proceeded to beat the man, fearing for his life. He claims the whole time he was hitting him, the demon laughed at him. When the guards finally made it to his cell, the man who sat on the toilet was dead and his cellmate’s hands were covered in his blood.”

  He turned to the front of the newspaper… “Meanwhile, Booty Black slapped Chocolate Blondie at Fashion Week in Paris, because Chocolate Blondie accused her of stealing the lyrics to her song…” He paused for a moment as if even he couldn’t believe what he was about to read.

  “King Shlung Dong…” His gaze came to mine. “That made the front page.”

  Carefully he folded his paper. “Do you think all of these people are crazy?”

  I opened my mouth to ask him, if he meant Booty Black and Chocolate Blondie, but before I could he spoke.

  “No, I don’t mean the distractions.”

  I shook my head. “No, I don’t think they’re crazy.”

  “Man is dying faster than they are being born. That makes man an endangered species.”

  I exhaled, turning my head to look into the crowd of children that played in the park.

  “But as you know, this has to happen. The Father has taken peace from the earth, son. The days are only going to get worse. You need to prepare yourself.”

  “Prepare for what?”

  “You’re going to be taken away from the place you’ve always known as home. Away from the men you have come to see as family. You will be guided to new family.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t like the way that sounds.”

  “It doesn’t matter. You and your new family have a job to do. One day soon, it will be made abundantly clear what it is. In one hour, life as man knows it is going to change. And you and your new family will find yourselves on a journey. It is during that journey that you will grow into the man you were meant to be.”