Thirsty 2 (13 page)

“That sounds good, except I want the turkey and bacon sandwich and the strawberry cheese cake,” Sapphire chimed in from behind, startling Carlos. She was sporting a gray button up jacket with brown slacks peeking underneath.  She was looking vibrant and alive, an indication of how well she was dealing with her loss. “My mama loved this place.”

 After her conversation with Carlos earlier, Justice called Sapphire and told her to meet them there. Justice wanted to use her as a mediator, so to speak. Carlos turned in surprise when he heard her voice. Disappointment was evident in his features because he thought he and Justice were about to be alone.

Carlos smiled to himself at Justice’s prowess as he placed their order while Sapphire showed Justice around. Justice took in the fact that every section of the restaurant was not only painted a different color, but was reminiscent of pre-World War II France. As they sat on the antique furniture, Justice observed the scenery and was completely taken away. She had passed this place a thousand times while riding through the North Davidson area, but had never stopped to come inside.

Carlos rejoined them and they began easing into light conversation before the food was brought out. Soon they were all reminiscing about the past and reacquainting themselves as if they were old friends. Not once did the conversation turn to the misunderstanding that had caused them all to part. It was true, what was understood did not need to be discussed.

Well into the conversation, Carlos took out his Dell laptop and started showing Justice the layout for the house he was having built. Justice was impressed with his preference of modern eclectic selections of mahogany and sable pieces. If Justice didn’t know any better, she’d think Carlos was showing signs of leaving the game behind and settling down for real. Moreover, she almost believed him, but years earlier when they had first met, Carlos had shown her a different layout of another beautiful house in Huntersville that she had fallen in love with when she thought she and Carlos would be a real couple. Nevertheless, it hadn’t worked out and they ended up as only sex partners whose hearts stayed close to one another even after their split.

When the server brought their sandwiches to the table, Justice was staggered when she saw Carlos bow his head and say blessings. Justice bit into her Portabella and leek tartine and liked the way the flavors attacked her taste buds.

As they continued to talk, Justice thought she saw a woman who looked familiar sitting at a table in the corner conversing with a handsome man in a business suit and tie. Seemed like every time Justice looked up, the woman would glance in their direction, and then go back to talking to the man who was sitting at the table with her.

Justice dismissed it as paranoia as she, Sapphire, and Carlos continued to catch up on each other’s lives while periodically taking a journey down memory lane. At times, she laughed so hard at past tales that she had to wipe tears from her eyes.

During the meal, she kept taking sneak peeks at Carlos and noticed he was still as handsome as ever. He even seemed to have a more calming aura about himself. She had to admit, if Carlos was trying to win his way back into her good graces, he was starting to succeed. She had to keep reminding herself that she only needed him so she could get to Tan. However, Justice always had a soft spot in her heart for the man sitting across from her, and just like the cheese on the toasted open-faced baguette she was eating; she felt her reserve starting to melt.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Marques leaned forward and whispered something freaky in To’Wanda’s ear and her boisterous laughter caused everyone in the back of Amélie’s to gaze in her direction. She smiled and put her hand up to her mouth in embarrassment.

 The bowl of legume soup on the table in front of her was almost empty and the only remnants left of the French baguette were the crumbs. To’Wanda was having a wonderful time with Marques, despite the unexpected visit of Justice, Sapphire, and Carlos. She knew that Justice and Sapphire didn’t recognize her, but Carlos definitely did but chose not to say anything. While she was entertaining Marques and making plans for more dates and more dick, she had discreetly taken a couple of pictures of the three of them enjoying their mid-day break.

***

Look at what the cat drug in!!

Tan read the text To’Wanda had sent along with the pictures. Moments before receiving the message, she was about to dial Loon’s number, but now that To’Wanda had confirmed that
that
bitch was out on the town, all hands were on deck. She wanted to body Justice so bad that she could envision herself shooting the bitch in the chest every time she blinked her eyes.

Tan picked up the phone and pressed TWO
on her speed dial.

“Hey baby,” To’Wanda cooed like a schoolgirl who’d been up to something mischievous.

“Are they still at Amélie’s?”

The pause between her question and To’Wanda’s answer confirmed what she already knew. She had missed the bitch. “No, they all left ‘bout an hour ago.” Tan could tell  To’Wanda was annoyed. “I tried callin’ you and I sent you numerous texts. You didn’t get them?”

A beeping sound rang in Tan’s ear, indicating that yet another message was coming through. She put To’Wanda on speaker and checked the late message from her that read:

Are you sure Carlos is on OUR team?

“I got them. I hate this fuckin’ phone. You sent the pictures an hour ago and I’m just now getting them!” She banged her fist on the table, pissed because of all days, her phone picked today to act retarded.

 She thought about To’Wanda’s inquisition for a minute and after looking at the pictures, she too began to silently question Carlos’ loyalty. While sitting idly thinking about the rising dilemma she was facing, she thought back to the incident from two years prior that continued to make her blood boil. She was thinking about what had happened between her and Monk. She had sent him to tango with Satan and she was determined to make Justice join him.

“Tomorrow, I’m switching to Sprint because this shit is ridiculous,” Tan told her girl and they ended the call.

Tan hung up the phone irritated and mad as hell. She wished she had listened to that little voice inside her head that told her to go with To’Wanda and Marques and she wouldn’t have missed Justice.

The phone rang and when she heard Loon’s ringtone, she got even more irritated. She picked up the phone with anticipation of giving Loon a good tongue-lashing, but she stopped short of that when she heard what sounded like a female’s voice on the other end.

“This Tan?” the woman was bold enough to speak her name with authority as if she was the creator and Tan were the clay.

“Depends on who this is and what you want. Matter of fact, bye bitch.” Tan looked at the phone and then shook her head because her first thought was that one of Loon’s tricks had the audacity to dial her number. That fat bastard was becoming a bigger problem than he was worth and whoever this woman was had sealed the deal.

Tan was about to hang up the phone when she heard the woman scream, “Wait! I need to talk to you.”

 Tan huffed, and then rubbed her temples. “Look, I ain’t fuckin Loon. Don’t want Loon. And couldn’t care less about who he fuckin’, so—”

The woman cut her off. “Nah, it ain’t ‘bout nuttin’ like dat, folk. I just wanted to let you know that nigga Red and some stick-up bitch is on they way to Charlotte from Atlanta.”

 At the mention of Red’s name Tan suddenly developed an interest in the mystery woman on the other line because Loon had not too long ago revealed that Red had been the one who had jacked him and Jo-Jo. Tan believed Loon could have long ago handled the situation, but she knew he was too soft to confront Red. She thought,
it always takes a bitch to do a man’s job
!

Tan knew that whomever the girl was she was speaking to was more than likely either a stripper or a prostitute of some sort because that fat muthafucka was always paying for some ass. Tan was getting even more heated by the fact that Loon had put some bitch in their business. In her eyes, Loon was already a corpse that refused to lie in the casket.

 “And why
you
tellin’ me this and not Loon?”

“Because I told Loon I wanted to be the one to tell you,” the girl stated with confidence. Tan thought maybe the bitch wanted money for her information and if that was the case, she concluded that Loon would definitely be the one to pay her ass.

As an afterthought, Tan questioned, “How you know he on his way up here anyway?”

“Just know that I’m
always
on top of my shit—always!” The girl bragged as she hung up the phone.

Tan remembered how Red had trailed Justice to Chicago two years ago and she knew that if he was coming to Charlotte, he was coming for Justice. She also knew that if he was the one who had robbed Loon like he’d told her a while back, he may as well had put his hand directly in her pocket.

“This is going to be easier than I thought,” Tan said aloud as she altered the plan in her mind. She remembered that Carlos had mentioned to her before that it was actually J. T., Cross, and this same nigga,
Red,
who had robbed his stash spot. Tan threw the phone on the bed and had to laugh aloud at how fuckin’ small the world was and how everything seemed to be coming back around, full circle.

 Red didn’t know it, but his plans to come back to Charlotte to seek revenge on Justice had just moved him up a couple of notches on Tan’s shit list.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Justice almost could not believe that she had agreed so easily to go with Carlos to Northlake Mall to see the latest Madea movie. She was even somewhat taken aback from the fact that he had been the one to suggest that movie, as it was one she could see herself watching with Sapphire or Toni on a girl’s night out type of deal. When Justice thought about it, it had been awhile since she had seen a movie in the theater because she had one helluva bootleg man in Chicago who had every movie on DVD before it hit the theaters.

Justice got out of the car and walked to the front of the theater when she saw him walking up. He was wearing a skullcap, a black form-fitting shirt with black jeans and Prada sneakers.

He look the way he did when I first met him,
Justice thought to herself as she walked closer to him. When she got closer to him, she appreciated the tantalizing scent of his Creed cologne.

“Lookin’ good, babe.” Carlos said while checking her out with inspecting eyes.

“Likewise.” Justice complimented back while giving him a friendly hug.

When they got to the ticket booth, Carlos paid for their tickets and they walked inside the lobby of the theater. After stopping at the concession stand for a large bucket of popcorn and some soft drinks, they entered the room where the movie was showing. As they entered, they noticed that the seating was light for the show they were viewing. They chose a spot in the back of the theater. They could see a few other couples sprinkled around the theater and groups of women who were having a girl’s night out thing going on.

“Soooo, yo man don’t mind you coming out with me?” Carlos asked as he dug into the bucket of popcorn.

“I haven’t had a “man” since—” Justice didn’t want to admit that J.T. was her last
man
nor did she want to relive the situation that surrounded it. Just the thought of it made her want to call “Earl.”

“It’s okay if the last time was wit’ me.” Carlos joked. Justice smiled to herself as she took a sip of her fruit juice drink. “Why we didn’t do shit like this back in the day? I’m talkin’ bout actually datin’ and shit.” Carlos added.

Justice looked at him.
Where is the
real
Carlos and who is this imposter sitting next to me?
She looked at his side profile again and she knew that she was sitting next to the real thing. She just couldn’t believe that she was seeing
this
side of him—who knew? “I didn’t know that this was a date.”

“I called you, I asked you out, we sittin’ up in the movies…. Sapphire ain’t around; it’s just the two of us—sounds like a date to me.”

“Point well taken.”

“We gonna grab somethin’ to eat and a drink after this wack ass movie” Carlos laughed.

“Wack? You the one who suggested it.” Justice laughed.

“I know y’all chicks like shit like this, that’s why I did it”.

The movie came on and within five minutes, the couple who had gotten cozy on the right side of the theater distracted her.

“I guess they couldn’t wait to get home.” Carlos leaned in and whispered in her ear, wishing it were the two of them who were getting it in.           

“Guess not.” She addressed as she continued to watch the movie. The plotline started to interest her so she kept her mind focused on that. After a few minutes, one of the movie attendants came down the aisle and the happy couple calmed their nerves.

“So what else didn’t we do back in the day?” Carlos asked. Justice knew that he wasn’t feeling the movie as much as she was.        

 “Join the Mile High Club.” Justice joked and covered it with a smile. “No, I’m just playing, we done a lot together, but some simple things like eating at a park, going on a joyride, going to church . . .”

“Whoa!” Carlos said loud enough to draw the attention of everyone in the theater. Justice laughed at him and everyone else had turned back around. “I didn’t know you went to church.”

“I go sometimes.” Justice told the truth. She meant to add only for weddings, funerals, Easter and Christmas service but he did not need to know all of that. After conversing further during the movie, Justice began to warm up to Carlos a little. However, an image of Monk kept flashing through her head and she knew that indirectly, Carlos was responsible for his demise. As they watched the rest of the movie, Justice pondered whether she could completely forgive and forget, but one thing she did know, Carlos was softening her heart one iota at a time—something she never thought would happen again.

***

Carlos was feeling good after he had spent time with Justice. She seemed to have forgiven him, or at least she acted as if she had. He figured he had already won Sapphire over, and with her help, he would win Justice over and everything would be as it was a few years ago with Justice by his side and him still on top of the game.