The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (18 page)
“Let’s not play games, Mrs. Stanton. You’re neither middle-aged nor
very
married, if you’re here with me.”
“Sylvia Stanton was chilled to the bone by this observation, but maintained her composure by sipping her drink and staring at the band. Terrance knew what he’d said was risky, but he was not starving having just left a beautiful woman who wanted to be with him for one who was yet unsure of herself.
“Come here often, Mr. Daniels?”
“Not as often as I’d like, and please call me Terrance.”
“Likewise. Call me Sylvia.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Sylvia. Very nice, indeed.”
As they shook hands mockingly, the waiter approached.
“You okay ‘ma’am? Can I get you another of the same?”
Sylvia, already tipsy didn’t want to appear too cordial. “I think I’ll wait. I’m still feeling the last one.”
Turning to Terrance, the waiter’s expression took on a completely different cast.
“What’s up, Tee? Haven’t seen you in a month of Sundays. Where you been keeping yourself?”
“Working man, working. How you been. Jazz?”
“Coolin’, you know, just takin’ it easy,” Jazz said. “I called you a couple of weeks ago to see if you wanted to fly down to New Orleans to see Roy Ayers and Boney James. Man, the card was jam-packed and I had two free tickets and the rooms were paid for.”
The club was starting to fill up, now. Young men in suits and sport coats, women in pretty floral dresses and Jones of New York suits paraded through the doors. Young Black professionals streaming in like so many rays of sunshine. Good lookin’ Black people parading in looking like The Ebony Fashion Fair. The little trio was in a groove now; playing a piece by James Moody that sounded almost too good and the noise level was rising.
“Let me get to work, Terrance. People are spendin’ and I need to be earnin’. Whatcha gonna have? The usual? Killians with a twist of lemon and a double Jack on the side?”
“You got it, Tee,” Jazzy responded.
Sylvia looked hard at Terrance as Jazzy turned to leave.
“My fault, Sylvia. Jazzy, this is Mrs. Sylvia Stanton. Sylvia this is my good friend. Jazzy. I’ve got to be careful introducing beautiful women to Jazzy. He has a way with women, you know.” Sylvia smiled, her eyes never leaving Ter-rance.
Jazzy blushed. “He taught me everything I know,” replied Jazzy now on his way back to the bar.
“You know, for some reason that does not sound surprising. Sylvia smiled. Jazzy returned to the table in a matter of seconds. “It’s getting a little busy in here T. Don’t know if I’m gonna get a chance to get back here but if I don’t, just tell the waiter that Jazz’s got it. “Are you ready for that drink now, Ms. Stan-ton?”
“I believe I am. I’ll have the same as Mr. Daniels, uh, Terrance. Hold the Killians.” Turning to Terrance, she commented, “It must be nice to have friends in high places.”
“That’s why I’m trying to get on your good side. Rumor has it that you have clout in the school system.” Terrance smiled broadly.
“Let’s not talk about school tonight, Terrance.”
“Not a problem, Sylvia.”
“Care to dance?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
When she stood up, all Terrance could do was gasp.
“Mrs. Stanton? Are you the same Ms. Stanton who teaches at West Lansing?
She smiled, acknowledging his feeble attempts to cover his surprise.
“I do let my hair down on occasion, Mr. Daniels.”
“It’s not your hair I was referring to, Sylvia.”
They both laughed as they moved through the crowd and onto the dance floor. The music was hot now as several other musicians stepped up to the bandstand.
Midway through the set, the band, which now numbered eight or nine members with Jazzy accompanying on sax, broke into the very up-tempo
Mister Magic.
Moving self-consciously, Sylvia tugged on Terrance’s sleeve in a feeble effort to get off the dance floor. Terrance pulled her gently back on and she responded nicely.
One by one, the crowd of dancers gave way giving them the entire dance floor.
The usually reserved Mrs. Stanton was almost in full swing now. Terrance followed her lead as she broke into one smooth jazz step after another. Terrance tried to keep up but it was clear that the ever so reserved Mrs. Stanton was no novice on the dance floor. The band members, now numbering nine or ten noticed the couple drawing so much attention and picked up the rhythm. The crowd suddenly broke into chants of, “Go girl, go boy, go girl.” When the tempo slowed, Terrance didn’t have to be pulled off the floor this time, he led the way, the crowd clapping in appreciation. Jazzy had ordered another round in their absence. Terrance smiled.
Good ol’ Jazz. Always on time.
Terrance, perspiring profusely after the workout, excused himself and headed for the john to freshen up, making it a point to thank Jazzy along the way. “Good lookin’ out, Jazz.”
Jazz nodded. “You’ve really got something on your hands this time, Tee. Just hope you can handle it, baby.” He’d known Jazzy almost as long as he’d known himself and immediately knew Jazz was referring to Sylvia. This was Jazz’s way of complimenting him.
“I’ll do my part, if you do yours,” Terrence replied.
“Don’t worry drinks are on the house, but it’s gonna take more than a few drinks to get next to that. You got cash? Here, take this Benjamin just in case you hit pay dirt. When you gonna get a real job anyway? Everybody knows teachin’ don’t pay nothin’ and from the little I’ve seen of Ms. Stanton, you’re gonna need all the Benjamins you can lay your hands on. That right there is high maintenance, my brotha.”
Terrance brushed him off. “I’m straight. All I have to give is me and if she wants more than that she’s playin’ in the wrong ballpark. Know what I’m sayin’? I sure as hell ain’t trying to buy no woman. Too many of them out there for free. By the way, guess who just got in town and stopped by the house?”
“Who’s that?”
“Laura. Remember the dancer?”
“How can I forget? She was as fine as they come.”
“And trust me, Jazz, ain’t a whole lot changed in that regard. But anyway, let me get back to her before she thinks I’m missin’ in action.”
“Yeah okay but let me say this before you go. You know we’ve been friends a long time, Tee, and I’ve always tried to be on the level with you, dog. And from what I see, she’s either gonna be the best thing that’s ever happened to you or the worst. That right there is serious. I don’t think that’s anything to play with. I’ve seen men literally kill over women like that. So, go slow and be careful.”
Returning to the table as composed as ever, Terrance wondered how prophetic Jazzy was. He’d had those same thoughts when he first considered talking to Sylvia, but right now he was just glad to be in her company.
“Didn’t know you were such a good dancer, lady.”
“There are a lot of things you don’t know, Terrance.”
“Hopefully, you’ll give me the opportunity to answer some of my questions.”
Before she could answer, he noticed someone approaching rapidly from through the crowd. The sight sent chills through him. From the midst of a rather large entourage of women, looking even more ravishing than when he’d last seen her, in a gold and white tunic, white slacks and gold sandals, standing all of six feet was Laura.
Terrance swallowed the remainder of his drink, watching her intently as she approached the table. He could feel the beads of perspiration gathering on the bridge of his nose. At the table now, Terrance introduced the two women, took a swallow of beer and waited for the onslaught.
For Laura it was a Catch-22. If this woman meant anything to Terrance it wouldn’t pay to cause a scene. If she made no comment he’d figured her to be at his beck and call. That was certainly not the way for her to renew a relationship. She’d let him slip away once. But Lord knows if she had anything to do with it it wasn’t going to happen again,
“Will you join us, Laura?”
“No thanks, Terrance. I’m with some friends.” Laura smiled graciously knowing her mere presence was making him uncomfortable, but decided to make him suffer just a little while longer.
“Terrance honey, I didn’t know you were working with graduate students now.” Laura smiled, excused herself, and said, “Nice meeting you, Sylvia. You must call and tell me all about it sometime, Terrence. I may want to pick up a few credits.” She laughed before walking away, knowing full well that her attempt at sarcasm had hit home.
All Sylvia could do at this point was lower her head and grin.
“Moonlighting, Terrance?” she asked. “I didn’t know you taught grad school either. She’s a very attractive woman, Terrance. I wish I had her height. Another member of your fan club?”
“She used to be,” Terrance replied matter-of-factly. “Are you ready to get out of here?”
“Whenever you are,” she replied still smiling.
Sill slid out of her seat and Terrance escorted her out of the back door, nodding to Jazzy on the way, and making sure to circumvent Laura and her welcoming home party.
“What about the bill, Terrance?”
“It’s been taken care of,” he replied. “My place for a nightcap?”
Shortly thereafter, Terrance pulled into a group of moderately priced town-houses off of Village Drive. Sill had always wondered what they were like inside. Now she would have the chance to see first-hand.
Entering the townhouse, Sylvia’s heels sank deep into the plush, cream-colored carpeting causing her to lose her balance. Terrance caught her before she fell completely. Righting herself by grabbing a bookcase, she found herself face-to-face with Terrance. Facing him, she looked deeply into his eyes and felt a stirring for the first time in quite some time. There was little doubt that she found him physically attractive but.there were just so many
buts.
Terrance feeling no resistance to their closeness took this as a positive sign. Moving forward to kiss her, Sylvia suddenly turned away.
“Nice, very nice, Terrance,” she commented purposely ignoring his advances. Terrance turned the light switch on. Along with the lights came an almost ephemeral sound. No doubt music, but like nothing he’d ever heard before. Dimming the lights, he excused himself.
“Fix yourself a drink, Sylvia. The bar’s right through the door on the left. I’ll be there momentarily. You can change the music if you like. The remote’s on the coffee table.”
“No, I like it. What is it anyway?”
“His name is Andreas Vollenweider. He’s a German guy. Plays what they call New Age. It’s sort of a mixture of jazz and classical. I don’t know too much about it. I just know it’s relaxing. I can read with it on and it allows me to unwind after a rough day,” he said winking at her.
“Well. It’s quite nice. Kind of melodic. Sort of puts you in the mood.” Sylvia stopped realizing that it was more than just the music that had her going now. Not much of a liquor drinker the Jack Daniels mixed with the music was beginning to have its effect. That and the fact that she found Terrance to be more than a little attractive. He stirred something in her than hadn’t been stirred since her final night with Peter and that had been years ago.
Always observant, Sill noticed the two wine glasses on the living room table. One still had the remnants of woman’s lipstick on it and she quickly realized that she must have interrupted him earlier with her call since nothing else appeared in the apartment seemed out of place.
Fixing herself a drink, things started to come together and it dawned on her that Terrance must have been entertaining when she called and probably none other than the tall, shapely woman in the club. What was her name? Oh yeah, Laura.
Terrance had made light of his relationship with the tall, sultry woman in the club when she inquired, but there was obviously something there and Sylvia was certainly going to find out what and how much before she even considered getting involved...
Involved?
What was she thinking? She was still for all intents and purposes, a married woman.
Looking around the spacious home she couldn’t get over how tastefully decorated the townhouse was. What impressed her more than anything else were the rows and rows of books, which lined all of one wall. Almost all of the authors were African-American, except for a small segment of westerns by Louis L’Amour.
“You like to read, Sylvia?” Terrance asked, entering the room, catching her off-guard and deep in thought
“Oh, Terrance, you frightened me,” she answered, startled by his entrance. “Why, yes, I love to read, I just can’t find the time.”
“Same here, but I keep collecting with the hopes that one day I’ll find the time. I’ve got good intentions.”
As he dimmed the lights, the music seemed to increase in volume. The accumulation of drinks were definitely starting to take their toll on Sylvia, who sank down into the cream-colored leather sofa and nestled her head on the arm. Terrance cleared the wine glasses and went over the glass cocktail table with a damp rag, dried it, then offered her a coaster to put her drink on.
“Company?” she asked. Terrance reluctantly told her of his brief stint with Laura.
In spite of his confession, the atmosphere mellowed with the evening. Sylvia seemed relieved when the story was finally told. She could breathe deeper now and nestle into the sofa even more now than before.
“This has got to be one of the nicest townhouses I’ve ever been in. So tastefully decorated. I guess.well, I guess I underestimated you, Terrance. You know how some women are. One brother treats us badly and we’re skeptical of ‘em all. You certainly don’t fit the mold, though. I may have to give Miss Laura a run for her money.” The alcohol was definitely taking effect now and Sylvia knew it. “No, you’re definitely not typical by any stretch of the imagination,” she added, “but that’s not to say given an opportunity you wouldn’t try.. .God, that music sounds
good.
Tell me who it is again?” She was rambling badly now.
“You’re wrong, Sylvia,” Terrance owned up, “when I was a kid fresh out of the service, I might have tried to seduce you, but I’m thirty-four years old now. I’d like to think my priorities have changed some. Not to sound tactless, but I’ve been with enough women in my life to know that it takes more than looks to spur my interest over the long haul. However, in your case.”