This Can't be Life (22 page)

The smell of smoke was still fresh in the air when I got to what used to be the salon. For some reason, I felt nothing. I felt numb. This was my baby. How could I not cry? This was all I had. I stood across the street long enough to watch the firemen load their equipment onto the two fire trucks that were parked in front of the semi-scorched building.

I sat there on that curb for close to 30 minutes before I decided to head down to the precinct and find out how this happened.

“God, what is going on? I can’t take much more. I can’t take much more!” I found myself whispering aloud to no one in particular, because there was no one around. I probably looked like a damned crazy person as I walked back to my car talking to myself as the numbness I’d previously felt started to wear off.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I whispered, through clenched teeth as I felt warm tears roll down my cheeks. I was pissed off to say the least. I needed to figure out who did this, because whoever it was meant business. I couldn’t even think of anyone I knew who would do some shit like this. As far as I knew, Byron didn’t know a thing about what I was doing. Plus, I kept his ass out of jail and I should’ve burned down
his
house. As I drove to the precinct, I kept brainstorming, trying to think of anyone else that would do something like this to me. I kept drawing a blank until I thought of the Jamaican that came to the salon looking for Al. Before that, everything concerning my business was fine. That’s exactly what I planned to tell the detective. I wanted to find out who was responsible much more than they ever possibly could.

Talise

I can’t understand why Stacey would go to
Paris
with a man who has a girlfriend and claims he’s not gay! That just didn’t sound like the smart thing for him to be doing. Instead of moving forward, I feel like Stacey is moving backward. Something about this new relationship worries me a lot. More than anything, I want Stacey to be happy, but I don’t know if he could handle another heartbreak. Stacey was not Stacey for about two or three months after his last breakup, and to be honest, I’m not sure how he would hold up if it happened again. All I could do is just be there to help pick up the pieces if and when they fell.

I rolled over, figuring it had to be time to get out of bed and get ready to go into the office. I looked at my alarm clock sitting on my nightstand; it read
6:00
a.m
.
Up early and it didn’t surprise me nor piss me off this time. I looked to the other side of my bed, and my stomach fluttered at the sight of Malachi sleeping peacefully next to me. I kissed his forehead, rose from my bed, and walked into the kitchen to get a pot of coffee started. I picked up the phone to dial Stacey’s cell. I knew he would be up being that
Paris
was a good nine hours ahead of us. But, when I picked up the phone, there was no dial tone.

“Hello?” I questioned.

“Talise, it’s Simone. Are you awake?” Simone asked.

“Yeah, I’m up. I was about to call Stacey, but when I picked up the phone you were on the line. What’s up, girl? What’re you doing up so early?”

“I haven’t been to sleep all night. Someone burned down the salon this morning. They called me around
4:00
or so and I went down there. It was burned pretty badly. There’s a lot of damage.” Simone finished with a sigh.

“What? Do they know who did it?”

“No, they don’t, and I can only think of two people that would do this, and that’s Byron, which is highly unlikely, or that Jamaican man that came by looking for Al. I don’t know, Talise.”

“Do they know for sure it was arson?”

“They say it was definitely arson. I went to talk to the detective and he was acting like he thought I did it! He asked me about the deed to the building and how much insurance I had. He even had the nerve to say that it was a big coincidence that the salon burned down so soon after it was put in my name. I can’t believe this is happening. I don’t even care anymore. I’m just so  tired, Talise. One minute I feel like crying and the next, I feel emotionally numb. I don’t know what to think or how to feel to tell you the truth.”

“Damn! Have you talked to Stacey?” I asked.

“I’ll wait till he gets back. I don’t want to ruin his trip. You know what, Talise? I don’t even think I want to do hair anymore. I feel like my life is in limbo and nothing is going to go right until whatever else that has to go wrong goes wrong.”

“I’m so sorry, Monie. Has Deon called?”

“Fuck Deon, Talise! Don’t mention his name to me anymore. I told you he wasn’t about shit and I was right!” I could easily hear the pain in her voice, although she was trying to be tough. “I knew this shit would happen! I told you Talise. I haven’t heard from his ass and I don’t ever want to hear from him. I’m just tired, Talise. I’m so fucking tired.” I could tell she was crying and my heart was aching for her.

“What if something happened to him and…?”

She cut me off. “We’re talking about Deon Bradford, Talise. If anything would’ve happened to him, the whole world would know!”

“I just don’t understand why he would do that. He seemed so genuine,” I said, leaning up against the sink.

“He’s a man! He got some ass and now it’s on to the next chick, like the majority of these men do. I knew better so we shouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

“Not all men are like that, Simone.”

“Yeah, whatever, Talise. I’m really not trying to hear that shit right now.”

“Well, I’m about to come over there.”

“No, you’re not! I’m cool, Tali. I promise. I’m about to go through all this paper work and find this insurance info.”

“How much insurance did you have on the salon?” I asked.

“I don’t remember exactly but it’s something close to a million for the structure and a few hundred thousand for personal property. This shit has me looking real suspicious right now, too, but I don’t care because I didn’t do shit!”

“Damn, that’s a lot of money,” I said more to myself than to Simone. 

“I don’t even want to think about that right now, Tali. I’m just gonna find this paperwork and make the necessary calls. Then I have an appointment to see my shrink in a couple of hours.”

“I hope they catch who did this.”

“Me, too, but I doubt that they will. I’m gonna let you go so you can get back to what you were doing. I just wanted to let you know what’s going on,” she sighed.

“Damn, girl. I’m just blown away by all of this. I’ll be over there after I get off work, no matter what you want.”

“Okay, that’s cool.”

“Monie? Get some sleep, please. You can’t just stay up all night and keep going like this,” I told her, hoping she’d take my advice.

“I’ll try. I am feeling a little sleepy,” she replied, yawning.

“Okay, get some rest and remember, call me if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll see you when I get off. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

I hung up the phone and got back to making coffee when I heard Malachi coming down the hallway toward the kitchen. He stepped through the doorway wearing cotton drawstring pajama pants and no shirt; he looked good enough to eat. His hair had grown a bit and he was wearing it about an inch long. It was jet black, curly, and all over his head.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he sang, as he walked over and embraced me.

“Good morning. Did I wake you?” I asked, placing a kiss on his lips.

“Not really. I rolled over and you weren’t there. I didn’t want to waste another minute sleeping when I could be awake and all up in your face,” Malachi replied, smiling deviously.

“Oh, really? All up in my face doing what?” I asked, kissing his neck, and then nibbling his ear.

“Well, I didn’t really mean your face,” he said, kneeling down in front of me. He lifted the tee shirt that I’d slept in and began to kiss my belly button, slowly working his way down.

“Well, what did you mean?” I asked playing along and enjoying every minute of the attention he was paying me.

“Let me show you,” he replied, sliding my panties over my hips then down my thighs and legs. I lifted one foot off of the floor at a time so that he could get my panties from around my ankles. He put them in the pocket of his pajama pants, lifted my left leg, and draped it across his shoulder then buried his face between my legs.

“Oh, okay. That’s what you meant,” I moaned with a big smile on my face. Damn, should I consider this a good morning or a bad morning?

Deon

I walked into Spondivitz on
Virginia Ave
from the back entrance and proceeded to the bar. I saw her sitting alone, sipping a glass of water with her back toward me. I could pick her out of a crowd of a hundred even with her haircut short. I knew this woman like the back of my hand. I walked up behind my college sweetheart and kissed her on the cheek. She turned around, startled, as if she wasn’t expecting me.

“Hey, how are you?” Tonya asked, getting up to hug me.

“Better now. How are you?” I asked. It was a damned shame I didn’t even know how she was doing.

“I’m fine. It’s good to see you, D. How’s everything going? I see your butt on every damned thing now,” she said, smiling in my direction.

“Everything is cool, I guess. Just work, work, and more work. You know how it is. I like your hair like that. It looks real good on you.”

“Thanks. It’s convenient and I really wanted a change. I hope your mom isn’t mad at me for not showing up at the house the other day. Something came up.”

“Naw, she’s cool. She understands.” I wanted to say that I didn’t understand, but thought better to save it for later. “Do you want to get a table or sit here and eat?” I asked.

“Let’s get a table so we can have a little bit more privacy. You know everyone is always watching you these days.” We got up and asked the host for a booth for two and he sat us immediately in the back corner of the restaurant.

By the time our drinks arrived and our orders were placed, we had small talked enough. I decided to get right to the point and get all of my questions answered.

“So, what’s been going on with you, Tonya? Why have you been acting the way you have been toward me? What happened? You don’t love me no more? You found someone else?” I asked question after question before she could even answer the first one. They just all spilled out.

“Slow down, D. One question at a time please,” she replied, smiling.

“Well, first of all, you know that I love you and that I will always love you. But…sometimes people’s lives take different turns and end up going in completely different directions. I think that’s what happened here. When you moved away, I thought that I could deal with it and the pressures of your career. But it got harder and harder. I’d be standing in line at the grocery store, reading headlines about you dating this singer or that actress, and that really hurt.”

“You know you can’t believe that shit they print. I’ve told you that over and over!”  

“Wait, Deon, let me finish please,” she held up her hand, motioning for me to calm down.