Restoration of Love (2 page)

     By the time Nikki finished reading Brandon’s card, the tears saturated her face but this time instead of trying to wipe them away, she let herself cry until there were no more tears. Then she did something she had not done in a very long time. She got down on her knees and she thanked God that he had brought her this far.

CHAPTER FIVE

     Nikki’s first night alone was much easier than she had imagined it would be. She passed the evening by talking on the phone to Tia, listening to her recap her latest dating escapade. As usual, in Tia’s mind, whomever she was dating at the moment was definitely ‘the one’.

     After washing her hair, Nikki decided that tomorrow she would make a hair appointment and update her look. She always kept her beautiful black hair up in a very conservative style. It was time for a change. Now that Brandon was gone, she was going to try to focus a little more on herself. She had even thought of updating her wardrobe. Tia would have to help her with that. She popped in a DVD and settled in front of the TV to watch a movie. She must have dozed off because she awoke to the ringing of the telephone.

     “Mom, it’s me,” Brandon’s voice said over the ancient remote recorder, “Pick up the phone if you’re there.”

     Still in a sleepy daze, Nikki almost broke her neck getting to the phone.

“Hello,” she said, trying not to sound like she just woke up.

     “I should have known you were there,” Brandon said, “Where else would you be?”

     “All right, smart mouth,” Nikki said playfully. “Brandon, is your plane just now landing? It’s way past two AM.”

     “No, Mom. We landed almost two hours ago. Dad picked me up at the airport and I meant to call you, but I was so excited about seeing Dad, and then we went to dinner and time just got away. I’m sorry.”

     “Brandon, let me speak to your father,” Nikki said with more annoyance in her voice then she meant to show.

     “Hello”, came Trent’s deep baritone voice over the phone.

     “Well, now you have what you always wanted…my son,” she snapped. “The least you could have done was been considerate enough to have him call me when he got off the plane.”

     “Well, hello to you, too, Nikki. I’m sorry he forgot to call you, but he isn’t a baby anymore. He’s almost eighteen years old. You’ve got to learn to cut those apron strings. Let him start experiencing life on his own. Oh and by the way, he’s
our
son.”

     “Is that what you did when you left, Trent,” she said sarcastically, “Experienced life on you own?”

     “Listen, Nikki,” Trent said, clearly irritated, “I’m not going to have this conversation with you again. I left a marriage that wasn’t working. I didn’t leave Brandon. Yes, you can call me a coward because it was easier for me just not to call there if I had to go round and round with you. But, I’ve stepped up now and I want to be a part of our son’s life. That’s why I wanted him to stay here with me and Tracy rather than living in some dorm room.”

     “Tracy. You just had to find a way to bring her name into the conversation, didn’t you?”

     “Look, Nikki, I’m tired. Brandon’s tired. We’re going to bed. I’ll tell Brandon to call you tomorrow.” With that Trent hung up before Nikki could say anything else.

     “Damn him. Damn him for thinking he could just steal my child out from under me.”

     When the phone rang again, Nikki picked it up quickly without looking at the caller I.D., assuming it was Brandon calling her back. After realizing who it was, Nikki wished she had let it ring. “Hello, Momma,” Nikki said wearily.

     “Nikki!” her mother screeched into the phone, “ I thought I told you that I wanted to go to the airport with you to see my only grandson off. I’ve been calling you all evening. Shame on you for keeping me up until this hour trying to reach you.”

     “Sorry, Momma. The ringer must have been turned off,” Nikki lied.

     Although she loved her mother, their relationship was not as close as Nikki would have liked. Her mother could be judgemental and without patience when it came to Nikki, but doted on Nikki’s younger sister, Gina. Gina was born with a slight limp in her right leg and to her mother it meant that Gina would be disabled for the rest of her life. Of course her mother made a big deal out of it as she did everything else that concerned Gina. Gina, however, actually did quite well for herself, becoming a high profile attorney, while Nikki opted to drop out of law school to become a legal assistant after marrying Trent. Additionally, Gina married an attorney with his own practice while Trent accepted a position in a small local law firm. In her mother’s eyes, Nikki had merely settled, both with her life and her career, and she never let Nikki forget it. Although Nikki’s father, God rest his soul, had worked as a machinist for some thirty years before retiring and her mother was a homemaker, Alma still set high standards for her two daughters. Two years after Nikki’s dad retired, he died suddenly, leaving her mother alone. In the twelve years that followed, her mother never even considered dating much less remarrying.

     “Sometimes I swear you have rocks for brains, Girl.” Her mother scolded, “If you didn’t want me to go with you tonight, the least you could have done was told me!”

     Nikki rolled her eyes to the ceiling thinking how her mother would react if she could see her. She had thought about calling her mother before she left, but she was already upset with Brandon’s leaving and didn’t need the additional stress of hearing her mother go on about how she should have tried harder to keep her marriage together so that Brandon would still be here in Texas where he belonged. Nikki distracted her mother by asking about her sister, Gina. If there was anything that her mother loved to talk about, it was Gina. Nikki listened to her mother rave about her sister for the next ten minutes and then yawned dramatically into the phone and saying she was tired and needed to get some rest.

CHAPTER SIX

     Time dragged on after Brandon left. It was almost a month and she was counting the days until Thanksgiving break. She spent most of her time doing exactly what Brandon told her not to do. She went to work, came home, watched TV and went to bed early.

     She liked being at the office. It kept her mind busy and helped get her through the day. She was going over some files and trying to finish up before the weekend when Tia poked her head around the partition.

     “So, Ms. Thang, what’s up with you tonight?” Tia asked while filing a broken nail?

     “Girl, didn’t I tell you that I’m going out with Ben and Jerry tonight?” Nikki said, laughing at her own joke.

     Tia, instead of laughing, put her hands on her hips and said, “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. The trouble with Ben and Jerry is that they come with a little extra weight.” She leaned over and patted Nikki’s mid-section. “All you’re doing is sitting around that house of yours, watching TV, eating, getting out of shape, and worrying about a grown-ass boy who ain’t worrying about you!”

     Nikki’s smile left her face. “Well, at least I’m not out chasing a dream, thinking that every man who smiles at me twice is ‘the one’.”

     “At least I have a dream,” Tia shot back, obviously hurt by Nikki’s words. “Look, Nikki, I am your best friend and a real friend will tell you the truth no matter how much it hurts. You spend all your time worrying about that boy, and again, he ain’t worried about you and that’s a
good
thing. He is doing exactly what he should be doing. He’s living his life. How many times has he called you since he left? How many, Nikki?” Tia continued when Nikki didn’t answer, “Yeah, I thought so. What are you afraid of? That you’re too old to start over? What if you are forty? No one would know unless you told them. You still look damn good, and believe me, coming from me that’s a real compliment. But, if you don’t pull yourself together, get out of that house, and have some fun once in awhile, you will end up old and lonely with ten damn cats and mad at the world!”

     Nikki couldn’t help but laugh at that image and the expression of sincerity on her friend’s face. “You know I don’t like cats,” she said attempting to diffuse the conversation. At that they both laughed and Nikki hugged her friend. “Thanks for caring,” she said warmly.

     Tia, seizing the moment, said, “Seriously, Nikki, why don’t you come out with me tonight? I was going to go out with Greg, but he’s so boring. I can ditch his ass and you and I can go to that new club off the Katy Freeway. Come on. I’ll come over to your place early and make sure you don’t dress like some Sunday School teacher. Hell, the last time you danced it was probably to New Edition’s Candy Girl!”

     Nikki laughed and imitated an old dance move.

     “And that’s exactly why I’m coming over to your place early,” Tia said, nodding her head.

CHAPTER SEVEN

     Sitting in the crowded club, Nikki wished that she had not agreed to go out with Tia. Not only was the club loud, smoky, and packed, but also Tia must have forgotten it was kiddy night. Most of the people there looked like they weren’t much older than Brandon. Tia, however, didn’t seem to notice. She headed for the dance floor as soon as they arrived and hadn’t come back since. Whatever was Nikki thinking when she agreed to this?

     Twice Nikki was asked to dance. Once by a man with a huge fake gold chain and a missing tooth and a second time by a guy with a wedding band. Nikki politely declined both, but smiled to herself as she thought of the scene in Waiting to Exhale where Loretta Devine’s character stated, “I could be home watching Good Times.” Exactly.

     “Care to let me in on what’s so amusing?” asked a strange voice. Startled, Nikki looked up and answered, “Just a thought I had.”

     The man stood there waiting for her to invite him to sit down. When she didn’t he asked, “Is anyone sitting here?”

     “Yes there is and she (
why did she say she?)
will be back any minute.”

     “Well, how about I keep you company until she comes back,” the stranger said as more of a statement than a question. He sat down before Nikki had a chance to respond.

     Nikki quickly studied this bold intruder. Even in the dark club she could see that he was quite handsome…and quite young. At first glance, he appeared to be African-American like her, but Nikki could tell from his accent that he was not. His hair was dark with ringlets that formed around his perfectly chiseled face. He wore a light colored shirt, open at the chest and dark pants. As young as he looked, Nikki still thought that milk really does do a body good and his body was banging.
Banging
? Where did she get that? Brandon would have laughed his head off at her trying to use words from his generation.

     “Would you like a drink?”

     “No, thank you,” she answered hoping he hadn’t noticed that she was checking out his body. “Look, you really have to leave. My friend will be back any minute.”

     “Come on, now,” he replied, looking into her eyes playfully, “I’ll bet that your friend is either out on the dance floor or in the ladies’ room. Either way, it gives me at least ten minutes to get to know you better.”

     “And who said I wanted to get to know you?” Nikki countered with a bravado she did not feel. She was so out of her comfort zone. What was she doing here?

     “Because I’ve been watching you for the last half hour and I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to come over here and say something and hoping you wouldn’t shoot me down,” he said with a puppy dog look on his face which made him look even younger, God forbid. “Look,” he continued, “there are four guys at the bar watching me.” He leaned closer to Nikki.  “They said that I wouldn’t get anywhere with a woman like you. Please don’t let me go back over there with my tail between my legs,” he pleaded.

     Nikki followed the direction of the stranger’s eyes and, indeed, there were four men staring at them from the bar. One of them was the man with the wedding ring that had approached her earlier. Nikki decided that she would play along with the young stranger to pass the time. “Okay, you can sit here, but only until my friend comes back.”

     “Yes, M’am,” he said, saluting Nikki.

     Nikki and the stranger made polite conversation, but she revealed very little about herself. She learned that his name was Carlos Ruiz and that he was going to school part time to become a counselor for teens. He told her that he loved R&B music and that, to Nikki’s dismay, he was only twenty-nine years old. Upon hearing that, Nikki’s stomach sank. She had hoped that maybe a dinner at least was in the making with this handsome guy, but at the age of twenty-nine dating him would definitely be out of the question. Of all the things Nikki thought she was, a cougar was not one of them. One thing Nikki really hated was people who didn’t know their age limitations. One reason she stayed away from the club scene after she and Trent divorced was because she couldn’t stand to see middle-aged, big bellied, balding men hitting on women young enough to be their granddaughters. It almost made Nikki sick to her stomach and yet, here she was with this man/boy coming on to her. Worse yet, she was actually enjoying the attention.

     Carlos Ruiz had been a welcome distraction, occupying most of her night at the club. When Nikki looked at her watch it was 1:15 AM and Tia had still not returned. She needed to get home. She had absent-mindedly left her cell phone on her kitchen counter and Brandon had probably tried to reach her a dozen times. He would be worried if she didn’t answer, especially on a Friday night.