Sweet Heat

by Zuri Day

  “Can you bring me some water, please?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Marvin placed a hand on her waist as she walked past. “That wasn’t even an appetizer to what I plan on serving up later tonight,” he huskily whispered. “That was an amuse-bouche.”

  Dinner was sublime. Naomi whipped up a salad to start off the meal while Nana rang up their neighbor Miss J and invited her over. The four enjoyed lively conversation, with Nana and Miss J dissecting the sermon the preacher had delivered and sharing juicy church gossip that made Marvin and Naomi crack up. They retired from the dining room to the living room and were giving their food a chance to settle before enjoying Marvin’s sock-it-to-me dessert when someone rang the doorbell.

  “Who else did you invite?” Nana asked.

  “No one,” Naomi said, a slight frown accompanying her walk to the door. When she pulled aside the curtain and looked out the window, the frown deepened. She thought about not answering it, but the bell rang again, followed by knuckles on aluminum creating a loud knock.

  “Wait a minute,” Naomi demanded. She unlocked the door and jerked it open. “What do you want, Rodney? What are you doing at my house?”

  Rodney’s smile did not reach eyes that looked past Naomi into the living room. “Is that my favorite nana?” he called out.

  “Who’s that?” Nana asked, straining to see beyond the glass.

  “It’s Rodney, ma’am.” He opened the screen door and pulled a surprised Naomi into an embrace that looked casual but used arms of steel. “Hey, baby.”

  “Boy, get off me,” she said through gritted teeth. She pushed against his shoulders. “Let me go!”

  Rodney laughed as he stepped around her, then saw Marvin and stopped. “Oh, so this is why you’re trippin’?” he asked Naomi, without waiting for an answer.

  “How you doing, Nana?” He leaned down to hug her. “You still feeding the homeless, I see.”

  “Ain’t nobody round here homeless,” Nana said, slapping his shoulder. “Lessen it’s you. Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in years.”

  “Me and baby girl just reconnected,” he answered, making a move toward Naomi, who promptly joined Marvin on the couch.

  “He was at the party I went to, Nana,” Naomi explained. “We hardly reconnected.”

  “What did you call what we did for half the evening?” he asked, then sniffed. “That your food, Nana? Something sure smells good in here.”

  “Marvin cooked dinner,” Naomi said, happy to bring her man into the conversation. “Unlike you, he was invited over.”

  “Is that so?” Rodney laughed in a way that said he knew she was lying and made Naomi wonder just when Rodney had arrived at the house. Had he been there when she confronted Marvin outside?

  I guess Rodney’s hungry, too. He just pulled in a couple cars behind us.

  Zena’s observations now seemed haunting. Had he followed her home and been parked there since last night?

  “There’s plenty if you’re hungry,” Miss J offered, showing Naomi that not only was her neighbor nosy but presumptuous, too.

  “He won’t be staying,” Naomi replied.

  Rodney crossed to the couch and sat next to Naomi. “I am a little hungry, baby. Fix me a plate.”

  “I’m not fixing anything, Rodney. You need to leave.”

  “Ooh, Lord.” Miss J fanned her face with her hand, finally getting the message that this was not a friendly visit.

  Marvin leaned forward, his voice low and calm. “Did you hear her, homey? She said you need to leave.”

  Rodney jumped up, his demeanor going from friendly to fiery in less than two ticks. “Or what, fool?” His hands balled into fists. “I don’t know you and you sure don’t know me.”

  “Nor do I want to.”

  “This is my woman. Fuck what you heard.”

  “What’s wrong with you?” Naomi stood. “Are you high?”

  Rodney grabbed Naomi’s arm, which brought Marvin to his feet. Rodney pulled Naomi backwards, whispered something in her ear.

  “You’re crazy!” she told Rodney.

  “Crazy in love,” Rodney smoothly responded, his body language relaxed once again. “Go on, now. Tell this fool who’s welcome and who needs to leave.”

  “Who are you calling a fool? I’m not going anywhere.”

  Rodney’s grip tightened on Naomi’s arm, his harshly whispered threat of having a weapon and not being afraid to use it still ringing in her ears. Her eyes were pleading as she spoke to Marvin. “I’ll call you later, Marvin, okay?”

  “What? You want me to leave?”

  “No, but—”

  “That’s exactly what she wants,” Rodney said before she could finish.

  “Is that what you want?” Marvin asked again.

  Naomi nodded. “I’ll call you later.”

  Marvin looked at her for a long moment. “Don’t bother,” he said finally. “Miss J, Nana Carson, thanks for the company.”

  Naomi couldn’t bear to watch him leave. She heard footsteps, then silence, as she imagined a last look in her direction. The screen door opened and quietly closed. Just like that, Marvin had gone, and took part of her heart with him.

  Naomi tried to pull away from Rodney. His hold remained tight until the sound of a car starting was heard outside. Slowly, his hold on her arm loosened. She jerked away and began rubbing both the ache from his hold and the chill from Marvin’s absence.

  “Are you going to fix me a plate?” Rodney asked.

  “Sure, Rodney,” Naomi responded, thinking about her cell phone on the kitchen counter. “You want something to drink, too?”

  She watched a satisfied smile spread across his face as he returned to the couch. “Yeah, what you got?”

  “Tea or cola,” she replied.

  “Cola,” he said, and then to Nana, “It sure is good to see you again.”

  Naomi’s hands shook as she reached for a plastic cup in the cabinet, filled it with ice and poured in soda. She returned to the living room and handed Rodney the cup. “Anybody else want anything to drink?”

  “I’m fine, baby,” Nana said.

  “I could take a piece of that cake,” Miss J responded.

  Naomi returned to the kitchen, glad that the women suspected nothing and hoping that the police would arrive quickly. She waited until the conversation had resumed, moving plates and uncovering pots and pans more loudly than needed. She placed a plate full of food in the microwave.

  “Five minutes,” she said as she crossed the living room to the bathroom. “I’ll be right back.”

  Once inside the bathroom, she turned on the faucet and dialed 9-1-1.

  “Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”

  “I’m being held hostage by a man with a gun and have snuck into the bathroom to call you.” She gave the operator their home address. “He’s crazy. Please hurry. Come now!”

  There was a knock at the door. Naomi jumped. Her phone almost fell in the toilet.

  “Naomi! What are you doing?”

  “Just washing my hands, Rodney. Give me a minute!”

  “Let me in!”

  “Hold on.”

  Naomi hurriedly looked around, then silenced her phone and slid it inside her pants and between her legs.

  “Open the door!”

  She did. “What is wrong with you!”

  Rodney stormed past her and into the room. “Where’s your phone?”

  “In my car, why?”

  “Food’s ready,” Nana called from the living room. “I just heard the microwave go off.”

  Naomi left the bathroom but instead of turning left toward the kitchen she headed straight for the door and the sound of sirens that could be heard in the distance.

  Rodney reached her but too late, she’d already opened the door. She ran into the yard as the phone dislodged from her panties and slid down her leg.

  “You’d better run, Rodney,” she panted.

  The sirens grew louder.

/>   “You called the police?” he asked.

  “Yes, and I gave them your name, told them that if anything happened to me . . . you did it!”

  The wailing grew louder. Both turned to the sound of a car speeding down the block.

  “Bitch!” Rodney said, and took off running. He darted between two houses and disappeared.

  The police car stopped in front of her home. Naomi ran to the officer and collapsed in his arms. Rodney had always been weird. Now he appeared to be crazy, or on drugs, or both.

  35

  How did one go from the headiness of feeling that life was a chess board where you knew all the plays, to one where your queen may be holding court with a pawn? That’s the question Marvin asked himself as he lay on the couch in the family room, idly flipping channels. Several days had passed since crazy had shown up at Naomi’s front door and interrupted dinner with her and her grandmother. She’d called less than an hour after he’d left with an explanation as crazy as the dude’s sudden appearance. Could he really have threatened Naomi, made her kick Marvin out because Rodney said he had a gun? Possible, Marvin concluded, but unlikely. Stuff like that happened in movies, not in real life.

  Thinking about what may or may not have happened had given him a headache. Where was a dead-end job when you needed it? Where you project your bad mood onto the boss and spend ten hours over a flame so hot it burns up your thoughts? When his phone rang a few minutes later, he was glad for the distraction.

  “Hey, bro.”

  “What up, Marvin Gaze?”

  “You got it, Dougie Not-so-fresh,” Marvin said, reverting to the childhood names they called each other. “What’s going on with you?”

  “Jan and I are sitting here hungry, thinking about heading to the Spot, but only if you’re cooking.”

  “That would be a negative. I don’t work there anymore.”

  “What happened?”

  “Got tired of working two positions, mine and Don Jr.’s.”

  “The owner’s son?”

  “Exactly. He said the wrong thing at the wrong time, and I quit.” Marvin gave him a brief recap of his equally brief and anticlimactic exit from the Soul Spot.

  “It doesn’t matter. You’re getting ready to be your own boss.”

  “That’s what’s up. I’d planned to wait until the finals aired, but . . . I had to go.”

  “You sound a little down, bro. Is that why? You need anything?”

  “No, man. I’m good.”

  “Where’s your girl?”

  “What girl?”

  “Marv, are you high? Naomi.”

  “Yeah, about that.”

  “Uh-oh. A little trouble in paradise?”

  “Man, I almost went to jail yesterday.”

  “Hold on a sec.”

  Marvin rolled off the couch and walked into his bedroom.

  “Yo, Marv?”

  “What?”

  “Jan’s going to do something else right now. Why don’t you come over to the Indian Palace and grab a bite with me?”

  “Indian food?”

  “You always were bright. The title kind of gives it away, doesn’t it?”

  “Man, forget you. I’m just surprised you’re going for Indian food at this time of the morning.”

  “It’s going on ten thirty. That’s almost brunch. Besides, Indian breakfast food is some of the best.”

  “Said the postal worker to the chef.”

  “I’m heading out now. You’re meeting me, right?”

  “Yes, I’ll see you in about fifteen or twenty.”

  * * *

  Marvin entered the Indian restaurant and was immediately pleased with Doug’s dining choice. Hints of curry, cumin, coriander, and cloves tickled his nostrils. He inhaled deeply, looking across the dining room. Seeing Doug, he waved away the hostess and crossed the room.

  He clamped a hand on Doug’s shoulder. “Hey, bro.” He slid into the booth seat across from Doug. “Good choice. I haven’t eaten Indian food in a while.”

  “It’s one of Jan’s favorite restaurants. If left up to her, we’d eat here every other day.”

  Marvin picked up a menu. “Then you probably have a good idea of their best dishes.”

  “I’ve had almost all of the chicken dishes, a few of the lamb ones. Jan often eats off of the vegetarian menu. Personally, I don’t think you can go wrong.”

  The guys took a few moments to make their selections and place their orders. Doug handed his menu to the server and relaxed against the booth’s cushioned back. “What’s this about, you almost needing bail?”

  “Man.” Marvin shook his head. “The situation was crazy. So I decided to go over to my girl’s house the other day, Sunday.”

  “Naomi?”

  Marvin nodded. “We hadn’t seen each other much since the contest ended. I thought it would be nice to, you know, put together a nice little meal for her and her grandmother.”

  “Sounds like a good move.”

  “I get over there, nobody’s home.”

  “You didn’t call first?”

  “I’d called, but she hadn’t answered or returned the call. But we’d talked about getting together the day before, the day I came over for the meeting. You’ll remember I didn’t leave your house until late. That’s another reason I wanted to do something nice for her, because we’d talked about maybe getting together. Then you guys called the meeting. By the time I called she’d copped a little attitude and didn’t answer the phone. So anyway, yeah, I went over without calling, but no big deal, right? I mean, it’s just dinner.”

  “I don’t know, man. You go over to a chick’s house without calling, no telling what you’ll get.”

  Marvin huffed.

  “Is that what happened? You went over there and somebody else’s feet were already under the table?”

  “Not at first.”

  Marvin told Doug what happened. “She called me later and explained why she asked me to leave,” he finished. “Said the dude threatened her with a gun.”

  “You went up against bullets and steel, my brother?”

  “I never saw a gun. I’m not sure she did either.”

  “You don’t believe her?”

  “I don’t know what to believe.”

  “Who was the guy, did she tell you that?”

  “Rodney something or other, an ex—according to her—who she hadn’t dated or seen in the past few years.”

  “He just showed up all this time later?”

  “She said she ran into him at a party the night before, the night her and I were supposed to get together. She told me all they’d done was dance. He made it sound like way more happened, and acted that way, too. How many men would act that possessive over someone they just danced with?”

  Doug sighed. “I don’t know. Somebody crazy, maybe?”

  “That’s what she said.”

  “How’d he know where she lived?”

  “He knew her grandmother, who’s lived in that house for years, decades. Plus, Naomi said he followed her and the friend she rode with, and once she got in her own car believes he followed her home.”

  “I don’t know, Marv. It sounds too crazy, like a bunch of bullshit I’d be crazy to believe. Dang, you were really digging her. I liked her, too. The whole family did.”

  “Yeah, but sometimes what looks like a meal to keep you full is just a snack to tide you over until the next plate comes along.”

  “Only a cook would have come up with a metaphor like that.” The server delivered their first dishes. “Has she lied to you before?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “And you haven’t seen her since it happened?”

  “For what?”

  “What did she say happened after you left?”

  “She said she called 9-1-1 and the fool ran away. He looked like a coward, so that I can believe.”

  “I admit what happened sounds crazy, but stranger things have happened, bro. It’s hard to find a good woman these da
ys. I get that vibe from Naomi, from what I’ve seen in the short time I’ve known her. Don’t be so quick to throw something special away.”

  “Who’s talking trash?” Marvin saw Doug look beyond their booth just as Byron punched his arm and Barry slid into the booth next to Doug.

  He turned as Byron reached them. “What are you doing here?”

  “Came to talk to you about the Carter Collective.”

  “The who?” Marvin asked.

  “Carter Collective,” Bryon replied. “The name of our newly formed corporation.”

  After giving each brother a fist bump, Byron sat down. “We’re leaving here and heading over to an attorney friend’s office. Leimert is heating up, brothers. Folks are snatching up properties like Monopoly houses. I don’t want us to miss out on a golden opportunity because we’re too busy overthinking when we should be making a move.”

  Marvin caught Doug giving him a knowing look that had nothing to do with real estate.

  36

  Turns out that Marvin quitting the Soul Spot was perfect timing. He spent the next week in a crash course on real estate and looking at properties, mostly with Byron, but occasionally Doug or another brother would join them, too. When they walked up to a three-bed, two-bath gem hidden behind two palm trees, Byron and Marvin looked at each other and before even opening the door knew they were on to something. Once they stepped inside, it was a done deal. They’d called the other brothers while standing in the living room. Nelson was working and Barry was out of town, in Vegas. But Doug finished his bus route a couple hours later and gave the place his thumbs-up. While not closing the door to a commercial location, they all agreed this home was one they couldn’t pass up. They called the Realtor that night and made an offer that the seller couldn’t refuse.

  Because the brothers paid cash for the house, the deal was closed in three days. An interior designer was hired. The brothers decided that until they agreed on how they wanted to profit on their investment, that Marvin and Barry would live there. For Marvin, the chance to move came right on time and gave him somewhere else to place his focus besides Naomi. They’d talked a few times since the incident, but conversations were stilted and he hadn’t seen her since then. Everything about what happened with Rodney, the way Naomi had reacted, had been out of character. Or maybe it wasn’t. How did he know? He’d barely known her, what, three months? And most of that while competing head-to-head. Maybe the other Naomi had been the imposter and the real one just came out. He’d never given her a reason to doubt him, or feel insecure about her place in his life. But she’d acted suspicious when told he’d spent the entire evening with his brothers. Only for him to find out that she’d gone to a party and did something that caused a man to believe he could show up at her house. Like you did? Yeah, like he did. Again, he was thinking too much about Naomi when he should be thinking about his parents, and the conversation he was about to have with them.