Ex-girl to the Next Girl (5 page)

“She'll get herself together,” I said.

“When? She can't decide on a man, a career, or anything else,” she said, loud enough for Toya to hear her.

The kids ran back into the living room. They climbed up my Aunt Connie's legs. Monet had silver caps on her front teeth—too much sugar and drinking a bottle for too long. She had red, green, and yellow barrettes in her hair, and they clapped as she ran over to Aunt Connie. The girls gave us an impromptu booty dance. They were doing the tick and popping and locking. “I ain't no holler-back girl,” they said as Monet did half of a flip. She was trying to follow her sister.

“Stop, Monet, before you break your neck,” Aunt Connie shouted.

“Y'all were good,” I said as I applauded them.

“Very good, now sit y'all butts down and watch TV.” The kids had a seat and we continued to wait for Toya.

Finally Toya walked in the room with a tiny t-shirt that looked like it belonged to Monet. She didn't have a bra on, and was trying to put her hair in a ponytail.

“Where are you going with that t-shirt on?”

“What's wrong with my shirt?”

“You are not going out with me looking like that. Go put on a bra, and hurry up! I would like to leave!” Aunt Connie yelled.

Toya changed her shirt and put her little bomber jacket on. As we headed for the door, Destiny started crying. “I go with you, Granma.”

“No, I'm going bye-bye,” Aunt Connie said.

“Nate, come grab her—I'm trying to go to the store with my mom,” Toya said. Nate came out with his boxer shorts on and said, “How you doing?,” grabbed Destiny, and shut the door.

We all got in the car.

“Where we going?” Toya asked. Aunt Connie didn't want to tell her she had money, but somehow Toya already knew.

“Mom, can I borrow, like, a hundred dollars?”

“No!”

“Mom, why you frontin'? You know you got money.”

“How you know I have money?”

“You gave Ariel a hundred dollars.”

“So what? Ariel is thirteen. How are you going shopping if you don't have any money?” It was obvious that Toya was on her freebie mission. Whenever one of us got money, we would always treat to a restaurant or a little shopping trip. It was mostly me and my aunt taking each other out and Toya coming along for the ride.

“Is there a Wachovia Bank around here?” Aunt Connie asked.

“Why?”

“Because I need to use the ATM machine to get more money.”

“There is an ATM machine right there in that gas station,” I pointed out.

“I'm not using another bank—they are going to charge two dollars!” I looked at my aunt like she was crazy. “You're going to spend two dollars' worth of gas riding over to the bank.”

“I just don't like giving my money away,” she insisted.

“I think they take only fifty cents.” She went into the gas station and came out scratching a lottery ticket. She had no problem giving her money away to the lottery, though.

We went to the King of Prussia Mall. I didn't need anything else, but I still found myself in the shoe department of Bloomingdale's. Sometimes I don't like shopping with my aunt because she was always trying to search and dig for sales. I don't have any time for the clearance rack. I like this-season clothes and shoes. I'm going to spend this two-hundred-plus to do some damage to my credit cards.

We took the shopping experience down a notch and hit the Target. I loved Target; they had everything. I bought towels and a digital camera. After Target, it was on to my other favorite store: the dollar store. This was a place I loved and hated. I loved that everything was so cheap and that you could walk out of the store with a lot of bags and only spend twenty-five dollars, but I hated the fact that some people thought it was the damn supermarket. Spending a hundred dollars in the dollar store and tying the line up. Toya filled her cart up. I didn't say anything. I wasn't paying for her stuff.

“Mom, I need some more money.”

“What, you mean to tell me you been laying up with that man and don't have money to get something out the dollar store?”

“Mom.”

“Don't Mom me. You ask me, you ask your father and everybody else for something. But scared to ask that man you sleep with.”

“Mom, stop playing.”

“I'm not playing with you. If you don't have a dollar you better get it. Shit, when I was single and young, I didn't play that shit. A man couldn't even be in my face without some money.”

“We just paid the rent, Mom,” Toya whined.

“Girl, you owe me,” she said as she placed a fifty in her hand.

After shopping, I went home by myself. My house was a spacious, two-bedroom house. It was a three bedroom house, but the previous owner knocked the dividing wall out for extra space. One room was my office/dressing room/closet. I kept all my grades, my computer, my rows and rows of shoes in there. I ran out of closet space, so I had to buy extra portable closets. I took off my clothes and ran a hot bath. I checked my voice mail—Erick was on there a few times telling me how much he loved me and didn't want us to be over. I erased them. I was already just enjoying being alone. It felt so good to have all my pillows to myself. I spread my legs across the bed and stretched my legs wide open. I was single and loving it. And now that I'm single, I can go out and have fun and not check in with anyone. I'm beautiful, fun, sexy, and I don't mind paying for a date with a guy I like. So I should have no problem finding Erick's replacement.

T
ae called me up and asked me did I want to go out with her to get garlic Dungeness crabs from this bar around her way called Scooter's.

“No, Malik wants to chill—we went to the movies the other night.”

“Yo, you tripping. I would not be staying in the house for no man.”

“He ain't
some man
. Let me talk to you later, okay?” I said, irritated as I disconnected the call. Tae is so jealous of my relationship with Malik. She really misses our days going out. I missed them, too, but she had to understand that I have a man and every time there was a party, I couldn't just jump up and go. She goes out all the time, but once she gets a man she won't be worried about me. She is going through a little drought; I need to find her a man. Then she will understand that I can't run the street like I used to. I felt a little guilty for not being there for my girl, though. She was always there for me when I needed her. I didn't want to completely neglect her. It was still early, only eight o'clock. Malik wasn't here yet, and Bree was with Brian. Maybe I could go out with her real fast. I looked real quick at the clock in the kitchen. Even though I was really tired, I called Tae back and told her I would go. She was so happy. If I go out with her, she'll find a man and won't be mad at me. Then I called Malik to fill him in on my plans.

“Malik, what you about to do?” I asked.

“I was going to hang out with Jarrod for a minute. Why?”

“I think I'm about to go out with Tae real quick. Okay?”

“Go ahead. I'll see you in the house later on,” he said.

“I love you, baby,” I said.

“Love you, too!”

I met up with Tae at her mom's house. I beeped the horn once and Tae came out in jeans, timbs, and a black leather jacket. She had a sandy brown short weave that went with her complexion.

“I just need to meet a man. I want to be in love. I want to get married,” she said, once in my car.

“What, get married?”

“Yeah, girl, it's time. I need to settle down.”

“It will happen. You got to take your time.”

“It's not happening fast enough,” she pouted.

“You weren't like this before. What is happening to you? Why are you so caught up with having a man?” I asked, looking over at her.

“I don't know. I just want a husband. I'm looking around and all my friends are settling down.”

“Well, calm down—maybe you'll meet your husband tonight.”

 

 

Judging by the bar scene, Tae was probably not going to meet her man. It was a bunch of regulars hanging around on a Wednesday night. I don't know how many new people Tae thought she might run into in a neighborhood bar. Everybody in the bar was real laid-back—smoking cigarettes and eating fried fish and Dungeness garlic crabs. I wasn't drinking since I had to work in the morning, so I ordered a Coke with lemon. An older man with gray hair and young clothes on approached Tae. I knew she was about to shoot him down real fast. But to my surprise, she gave him conversation.

“How are you, sexy?” he asked by sliding up beside us.

“I'm fine,” Tae smiled. Why Tae was giving that Pop-Pop the time of day, I didn't know. He was old and disgusting with a big, gray beard. He looked like Papa Smurf. He pulled out his cell phone and began to enter the telephone number Tae had given him. When he walked away, I said, “Tae, I know you gave him the wrong number.”

“No, I gave him the right one.”

“What? That old man?” I said, turning my lips up.

“Look, maybe that's what I need, a sugar daddy to take care of me,” she said, sipping a piña colada.

“You are tripping,” I said in disgust.

“No, I'm not. That old man might teach me something. Or I might teach him something new, like some butt action.”

“I'll be twenty-eight and I never took it there.”

“You don't know what you missing, girl. Don't knock it till you try it.”

“That's so nasty. I'm not missing nothing,” I said.

“Girl, it feels better than the front.”

“I won't ever find out.” I began to clench my cheeks together at the thought.

 

 

Once again I was at work trying to summon some business. “Hi, this is Shonda Robinson from Mancinni Ford. I was calling to tell you that you are approved for a new car.” The customer on the other end of the phone said thanks, but they already had a car. Then I saw Mr. Rivera, my customer from the other day, and he didn't look happy. He approached me so fast I couldn't get up and run to the bathroom.

“Yeah, Shonda, you sold me this car and my engine went last night!” he shouted across the showroom floor.

I walked over to him. “Please have a seat and let me find my manager,” I said, looking around for help.

“My engine is done. And you want to know the reason I didn't know it? Huh? You want to know why I didn't know something was wrong with my car? I'll tell you why. Because your mechanic took out the bulb for the check-engine light,” he screamed to the top of his lungs. He ranted on and on, shouting, “I called Saturday and you were closed.” All the customers were listening to what Mr. Rivera said, rethinking their decision to buy a car from us. I tried to calm Mr. Rivera down and do damage control. He was fuming mad and I didn't know what to do. I went to get management so they could sort everything out. Lester came out and took him in his office. I can't keep going through this kind of drama on a daily basis. I sighed.

“Shonda Robinson, you have a call on line four.” I picked up the phone, and it was Brianna.

“Hi, Mommy.”

“Hi, Bree.”

“Mom, Daddy said I'm coming home tonight, but I want to stay with him. Andrea is going to take me to the pet store. They are buying me a dog.”

“You don't want to come home with me?”

“No, I want to get my dog, Mommy. Please. Please.”

“All right. Well, I'll see you tomorrow,” I said, disappointed my daughter was choosing a dog over me.

“Okay, bye, Mommy. I love you.”

 

 

Today was my day off. I didn't have to get Bree ready for school, and Malik had already left for work. I snuggled under the covers since I had nowhere to be today, and I couldn't have been happier. I'd probably clean the house and go to the market and catch up on my laundry. I hated cleaning, cooking, and all that domesticated stuff. I wish I had a maid. Instead of wishing, I took a load out of the dryer and put one in. While folding my clothes, the phone rang. I ran upstairs to answer it.

“What you doing today?” Tae asked

“Nothing. Why, what's up?” I asked.

“Ride with me downtown.”

“Why? Where you going?”

“To pick up this application, and I don't feel like paying for parking or getting a ticket.”

“All right, come and get me,” I said.

 

 

Tae picked me up in a new Toyota Solara.

“Tae, this is nice. I didn't know you rented a car.”

“You like it?”

“Yeah, this is real cute. How long you keeping it to?”

“It's mine.”

“Really?”

“Yup—you remember Pop-Pop from the bar last week?”

“Yeah.”

“He gave me the down payment. And he is going to pay the $479 a month.”

“And what if he doesn't pay for it?” I asked.

“He is going to pay for it—he is crazy about me.”

“Why didn't you come and get a car from me?”

“It was spur-of-the-moment. He took me to the Toyota dealership and was, like
Pick out a car
.”

“Okay, baller.”

“Plus, I don't want one of those lemons you be selling.”

“So where are you trying to work at anyway?” I questioned Tae as we exited the Schuylkill Expressway.

“Working at the prison.”

“Doing what?” I asked as I rifled her CD collection. I found an Amerie CD and put number six on.

“As a guard.”

“A prison guard? You not going to be scared?”

“No, Donate's girlfriend said you make good money and you can get overtime.”

“I need to put in an application, too! Because I hate my job. Working on commission is starting to become the worst. I got deals falling through and customers looking for me.”

Tae laughed and said, “Well, as far as I know, it is sweet. You just got to take a test—then they call you back and you go for training for six weeks.”

“It's paid training?”

“Yup, and your benefits begin after sixty days.”

I decided I was going to apply, too.

We entered the Municipal Service Building across from City Hall. We had to fill the applications out right there. Tae went and put a few more quarters in our parking meter. I sat down and began filling out the application. I had to lie on a couple of answers. I didn't remember any of my previous jobs' dates or I wasn't there long enough for them to count. The next question was, Could we contact your current employer?
Hell no,
I thought. I looked up and saw that Tae was still filling out her name and address. Ten minutes later, I completed my application and handed it in. The woman said I should receive something in the mail about the testing process. I told Tae I would go check the meter to make sure she didn't get a ticket. Too late—she already had one.