Talk a Good Game (24 page)

I laughed as I strutted toward the
door. “I
’
m getting ready to walk into the
store now. Where you at?”

“
Right behind you.”

I swung around and as soon as I spotted Frankie
jumping out his Sequoia, I ended the call and smiled. He was
wearing blue jeans and a crisp white t-shirt. That brotha was fine
as he wanted to be.

“
Damn girl, yo man let you come
out looking like that?” he joked although I noticed his eyes were
traveling over every last one of my curves.

I brought my hands to my hips,
making sure he didn’t miss anything. “Whatever. No man tells me how
to dress.”

“
I see that.”

I winked and fell into step beside
him but noticed I was looking over my shoulder making sure Kaleb
wasn’t somewhere lurking around. As jealous as he was I didn’t put
anything past him.

We stepped into
Macy
’s
together and I caught our
reflection in the glass and was stunned at how good the two of us
looked together. Too bad I was already in a
relationship.

We walked over to the
women
’s
department and I headed
straight for the dresses. “What occasion are we shopping
for?”

“
She
’s
has a woman
’s
day
conference next month and she likes to dress to impress.” He walked
over to the rack beside me as he explained. “I need a hat, shoes,
and all the accessories.”

“
You
’
re such a good son,” I teased. “I
got my mom some roses for her birthday to brighten up that dreary
house.” Although nothing could do that other than gutting it and
starting over.

“
How
’s
your mom
doing?”

I glanced over at him and
shrugged. “Uh… I guess she
’s
okay. Losing her leg
last year has been pretty hard for her.”

He nodded. “No doubt. Nam told me
she had to have one amputated. I
’
m gonna have to
get by there to see her.”

“
She
’
d like that.” Mommy had always
been fond of Frankie. It had been my father who
’
d had
the problem with him or any other boy for that
matter.

I never forget that afternoon when
he had caught me and Frankie in his treehouse. Dad tried to beat
the black off of me. And that
’s
hard to do considering
how dark I am. The worst part, he scared Frankie so bad, he never
came over to my house again.

My father had always been controlling and crazy.

Just like Kaleb.

I brushed that ridiculous thoughts aside and went
back to looking through the racks. My cellphone started chirping
again. I retrieved my phone and noticed I had a text message from
CJ.

Ms. Jae, are you coming back tonight?

Goodness, the kid was starting to get attached
already.

ME: No, your dad and I are having problems.

I hit Send and he immediately hit me right back.

CJ:
I don
’t
want anyone else to be my
stepmother but you.

I wasn’t sure why he liked me but
then I was lovable even to the kids.

ME: Don’t
worry
I’m
going to be your stepmother.

CJ: I hope so. I love you

There was something about this kid telling me he
loved me that messed with me.

ME: Luv u 2

I put my phone away. The last thing I wanted was to
start getting attached to some needy kid but I guess if I planned
to eventually marry his father, I had to maintain some type of
relationship.

“
How you doing over there?”
Frankie asked.

“
How about this one?” I held up a
black dress that gathered at the waist and had a white lapel. It
screamed Lorraine Simmons.

Frankie came over, took it from my
hand and started grinning. “Oh yeah, I could see her wearing
this.”

“
Of course you could. You know I
know fashion.”

“
And
that
’s
why I asked for your
help.”

Smiling, I signaled for him to
follow. “Come on. Let
’s
go find her some
shoes.”

I managed to find myself a slamming pair as well and
then we went over to G&D Steakhouse and had dinner. I was
really enjoying myself. I mean really enjoying myself for the first
time in months. Sometimes it takes being with friends to feel
relaxed.

“
You seen
Connie
’s
crazy ass since you been back?”
I asked as I bit into my Texas toast.

“
Hell no,
” he managed
between chews. “But she knows I
’
m here.
Mom
’s
says she
’s
been calling the house
looking for me.”

I gave a rude snort. “You know how
this place is. It doesn’t take long for the word to get
out.”

Frankie poured A-1 on his steak
while he shook his head. “That relationship is in the past.
I
’
m ready for a real woman
who
’s
gonna hold a nigga down. Not that
crap.”

I
laughed.
“I was hoping you weren’t
planning on hooking up with her ratchet-ass again.”

He pointed his fork at me. “So
who
’s
the lucky dude?”

While we ate I told him about Kaleb Kerrington.

“
Sounds to me life you hit the
lottery.”

“
I
’
m not one to brag,” I said with a
saucy grin.

“
But are you happy?”

Did he hear a word I said?
I
’
m marrying a millionaire. “Whadda
you mean? Of course I
’
m happy.
”

While stroking his chin, Frankie
explained. “What I mean is you got the nice new ride, you telling
me about all the things dude’s doing for you, but does he make you
happy?”

I took a sip of my diet Pepsi
because I wasn’t sure how to answer that. “Yeah, I guess he
does.”

Frankie stared at me. “So
you
’
re saying you love
him?”

Where was he going with this?
“Yes, I love him.”

He shook his head. “Uh-huh, your
mouth says one thing but your eyes are saying another.”

“
What are you getting at?” I
didn’t like where this conversation was going.

Frankie cut his steak as he
replied, “
See
the problem with you is that
you
’ve
always been in love with the
idea of being in love.”

My brow went up.
“That
’s
not true.”

He pointed his knife at me. “Yes,
it is. We used to spend hours in my treehouse. All you talked about
was falling in love with a man who was so rich you never had to
come back home.”

I just chewed my steak and waited for him to
continue.

“
See you forget I grew up right
next door to you. I heard what went on in your house, even
witnessed it a few occasions.”

“
You did?” My hand was trembling
as I lowered the fork to the table.

He nodded and then reached for my
hand. “I know your old man used to beat the shit outta you. We all
did. But Pops used to say it was none of our business.”

So the neighborhood had known what had gone on in
our house. Yet no one did anything to stop him.

I snatched my hand away. “My dad
was an ass,” I said and tried to act like it was old
news.

“
Hell yeah. He had the whole
neighborhood shook. But he was a cop, so what could anyone
do?”

“
Nothing. The same thing my mom
used to say after he got done knocking her head into a wall.” Mommy
had been a scared, weak woman. Anybody who let a man beat her
children was a coward. As much as I loved her she had always
represented everything I didn’t want to be.

I pushed my plate aside. Suddenly, I lost my
appetite.

Frankie leaned over the table,
staring at me. “Hey, I understand what you went
through.”

I gave a rude snort. “What… your
dad used to beat you too?”

He hesitated. “No but I felt your
pain. Every time I saw the bruises you tried to hide, I felt it. I
just wished you had talked to me about it.”

“
What good would
that have done? My own mother couldn’t protect me. The only peace I
had was going to my grandmother
’s
house.” After
Granby had passed away no one had been there to protect us.
“Remember that was the only way we could be
friends?”

He swallowed and there was this
faraway look in his eyes. “I remember.”

My phone chirped and I sighed and
tossed the napkin onto the table. “My dad is dead now so enough of
the depressing shit. I heard your father bought a brand new
Caddy.”

For a moment it looked like
Frankie wanted to say something to me, but then thought better of
it and reached for his iced tea. “Yeah, Ol
’
Man is
profiling in his new whip!”

I
smiled.
“I
definitely have to get by and see him.”

After we got done eating, I went by Tropical
Liqueurs for the best frozen Long Island iced tea and sipped it all
the way home.

I showered, put on my favorite pajamas—boy shorts
and a sports bra—then went downstairs and got comfortable on my new
sofa. Last fall I decided to give my living room a new look and had
the room painted a yellow and bought a white couch and accessorized
the entire room in dramatic shades of blue. The room was definitely
making a statement.

A quick glance at the clock and I realized Scandal
was getting ready to come on in ten minutes. I sprang from the sofa
and went into the kitchen. There was no way I could watch without
my own glass of red wine. I removed a brand new bottle from the
frig, popped the cork and poured a small glass. I made it back to
my spot with just a minute before the drama began to unfold.

Knock! Knock!

“
Damn,” I scowled and hurried to
the door before I missed much. I should have known it was Kaleb. He
was standing there with his hands in the pockets of a pair of
stone-washed jeans. The red Sean John t-shirt he was wearing looked
so good on him.

I rolled my eyes. “What do you
want?”

“
Can we talk?
”

He didn’t even wait for me to
invite him inside. He brushed past and waddled in. I rolled my
eyes, shut the door then swung around with straight attitude. “What
do you wanna talk about?”

He held his hands up in surrender.
“Babe… listen to me.”

“
I really don’t want to hear
anything you have to say.” I walked over to the television and hit
Record on the DVR. Damn, why couldn’t he have waited another
hour?

“
Babe… I just want five minutes of
your time.” There was that rejected look about him—shoulders
slouched, pitiful look on his face.

I folded my arms across my chest.
“What do you want?” Damn, Scandal is on!

“
Babe…
I
’
m stupid. I do dumb
stuff.”

Okay, tell me something I don’t
know.

“
I was worried. I didn’t know if
you had made it back or what? Did you get my messages?”

“
Yep, all five hundred calls and
text messages,” I said icily.

“
You could have at least let me
know you were okay.” He had the nerve to have an
attitude!

“
As you can see I am fine. Now
leave.” I didn’t really want him to go but it was part of the
performance. I headed toward the door.

“
Babe… Please. Just hear me
out.”

I made sure the smirk was gone
before I swung around. “I
’
m listening, but I don’t
hear anything coming out of your mouth.”

A brief look of panic crossed his
face. “Babe, I
’
m telling you
I
’
m stupid! I do and say stupid
stuff. I don’t know why. All I know is I love you more than life
itself.”

I sucked my teeth and tried to
curb my attitude. “You sure gotta helluva way of showing
it.”

“
I know and
I
’
m sorry. I just go crazy when I
think of some other man being with you.”

He took a step forward and as he closed in I knew I
was going to forgive him. Kaleb took my hands in his and gazed down
into my eyes. There it was—jealousy, uncertainty and something
else.

“
Come home, babe. I miss you. CJ
misses you like crazy. He told me I better go and get you back.” He
pulled me toward him until our foreheads were touching.