Abnormal Lives (7 page)

The day she walked into her grandmother's room after she'd just had a heart attack, Simone had cried out to God. She was so loud that Stefan had heard her and run up the stairs. He'd entered the room just as Simone had begun to perform CPR on their grandmother. Simone didn't know what she was doing. She did what she had seen on TV and it worked. By the time the ambulance arrived, their grandmother was breathing and conscious. Simone and Stefan rode the ambulance to the hospital with their grandmother and after sitting in the waiting room for two hours, the doctor gave them the okay to go back to her room. She'd seemed full of life. She'd told them that she expected to be home the next day, to clean up so she wouldn't be coming home to a messy house, and told Stefan to have a pot of turkey necks ready for her. They went home that night and did as their grandmother requested before going to bed. Early the next morning, before the sun rose, they'd received a call from the hospital saying that their grandmother had passed away.

Simone had gone into the bathroom to shower before they made their way to the hospital while Stefan made a few calls to their relatives so they could pass the word. Simone knelt in the center of the bathroom floor, naked and dripping with suds, crying out to God. Stefan banged on the bathroom door, asking her if she was alright. The thought of their grandmother was too much for her to endure and it was all she could think about during her shower. She got out of the shower to ask God why He'd reneged on her blessing, why He'd taken her grandmother. It was at that moment that Simone made up her mind about God. She thought God was undependable and didn't hesitate to snatch back what He had given. He was like a spoiled child who had given His toy to a friend and when He saw His friend taking pleasure in it, He snatched it back.

Despite her feelings about God, there she was with Stefan, on her knees, asking for God's assistance again. It took a couple of weeks but Stefan did get better. She walked up on him two weeks later in the bathroom, making up his face, bearing witness to cayenne pepper and salt water.

She looked at the bottom of the bottle. It read: “Original Fill Date September 6, 2010.” She sat there, struggling to pronounce the name of the medication, when she caught sight of a white man wearing sunglasses and a blue suit parked beside of her in a black BMW. He was gorgeous. He had deep, wavy, light brown hair like Matthew McConaughey and when he took his glasses off and they locked eyes, she swore he had the most seductive baby blue bedroom eyes she had ever seen.

The man lifted himself up in his seat to inspect her body. His eyes crept down the imprint of her breasts that protruded through her white satin cap-sleeve blouse, down to her dark gray miniskirt that stopped midway of her voluptuous thighs.

“Have you ever seen a cat clean itself?” the man asked.

Why would he ask me that?
Simone thought.
Something ain't right with his ass
. “I can't say that I have.”

“I just wanted to give you an idea of what I want to do to you,” the man said.

Stefan opened the car door, startling Simone. Simone quickly shoved his medication under her seat and looked up at him to see if he'd noticed. Stefan rolled his eyes and turned his head in the opposite direction.

Simone turned back around to her potential client and responded to his comment. “How much are you willing to pay to put your tongue on this?”

The man laughed. “I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement.”

Simone looked him over and then smiled. “How about I give you my number and you call me so we can work something out?”

The man picked up his cell phone and prepared to enter her number. “What's your name?”

“Mona,” Simone answered.

After giving him her name, she followed up with her number and they made plans to meet that night. Simone couldn't help but notice that Stefan hadn't looked in her direction since he'd gotten into the car. He seemed to want to distance himself from the situation. She thought it was because he had dressed in his boy clothes to attend the interview and felt insecure about his appearance. She didn't know why he would feel that way. Stefan carried himself in such a way that he rarely projected a masculine image. He was always pretty and feminine. His clothes didn't take away from that. His girl clothes merely enhanced those qualities like her girly clothes enhanced her feminine qualities. She figured that if a man wasn't attracted to him, it wasn't because they didn't find him good-looking; it would be because they didn't
play on that side of the field. She decided to ask if Stefan could accompany them that night.

“By the way!” Simone yelled, trying to catch her new client before he drove off. “What's your name?”

“Ivan,” the man answered.

“Ivan, do you mind if my cousin over here came along?”

Ivan paused to look at Stefan before he answered. “Of course not; I've got a friend that would be crazy about him.”

“Okay; we'll see you then.”

Ivan put his car in gear and drove off. Simone and Stefan didn't say a word to one another until Ivan was out of view.

Stefan grinned from ear to ear. “If a man that fine told me that he'd lick in my crevices like a cat, he would've been a freebie.”

“Well, I don't do freebies.”

“Now, if I had a man like that, I'd never leave the house.”

“Whatever; that's what you say.”

“Naw, that's what I mean. I wouldn't care if he was missing four teeth, strung out on crack, wouldn't do shit for me, and couldn't do shit else,” Stefan said. “As long as I could lie up in the house with him lapping on me all day, I'd be one raggedy bitch. I might even go out and suck some dick so his ass could get high.”

Simone shook her head. “Now you're tripping.”

Stefan laughed. “You're right; I
am
tripping.”

Simone got out of the car and straightened up her skirt. “Do I look okay?”

“You look fine,” Stefan said. “Maybe you'll pick up some more clients on your way in.”

“Maybe so,” Simone said, as she winked her eye and then made her way into the building for her interview.

6

S
imone stood in front of the mirror in the ladies dressing room of the Battery Park swimming pool, putting on sunscreen. She and Stefan were scrambling to join their crew outside.

“Can you rub some of this on my back?” Simone asked.

Stefan reached for the bottle of sunscreen and began to rub it onto Simone's back. “Let me ask you a question. Why were you snooping through my gym bag?”

“Snooping? I wasn't snooping. I was looking for some lotion.”

“Then how did my prescription fall into your clutches?”

“I found it in the compartment with the lotion,” Simone said. “You never mentioned not feeling well, or going to the doctor. I was wondering what it was for.”

“Well, if you must know, they're hormone pills.”

Simone was puzzled. “Hormone pills?”

“Yes, I finally decided that I want to have my operation,” Stefan said. “I mean, who would make a prettier woman than me?”

Simone hugged Stefan. “Aw, that's why you're so hung up on saving money. I can't wait. I'm so happy for you.”

They heard the sound of flip-flops coming toward them and turned around. It was Paris. He leaned against the wall, resting one foot on the other with his arms folded. He wore his long black micro-braids in a bun, showing off the beads dangling from the tie of his low-cut yellow swimsuit.

“What y'all doing in here?” Paris asked.

“What does it look like we're doing?” Stefan asked. “We're getting ready.”

“Y'all should've done that before y'all got here. Ain't no telling what might happen up in here,” Paris said. “Y'all will start getting dressed at home when one of y'all get y'all choke broke messing 'round up in here.”

“If that's the case, I see why you get dressed at home. As worn out as your ass is, you wouldn't know someone broke in it until you damn near made it home,” Stefan joked.

Paris stuck up his middle finger and made his way out of the dressing room.

When Simone and Stefan stepped out of the dressing room, Paris, Crystal, and Jewel were posted up against the wall with three others Simone had never met before. They all wore pastel-colored swimsuits. They either had on bikinis or halter-style swimsuits and everyone had a fresh manicure and pedicure with bold designs except for Simone, Stefan, and Paris, who always wore a French manicure. They thought multiple colors, candy paper, and cut-up dollar bills looked better scattered across the sidewalk than they did on their nails and swore never to wear that tacky shit. As soon as they all noticed Simone and Stefan, they walked forward, one behind the other, as if they were ready to strut down the runway in a fashion show.

Simone and Stefan slid in the middle of the group. As they entered the pool area, they received stares and smirks from all who were present, even the lifeguards. The guys began to jump out of the pool. One guy damn near knocked his girlfriend on the pavement, trying to get out of the pool before they could jump in and
taint
the water. Simone's heart began to race. The contempt in the men's eyes warned of what was about to go down.
The guys walked past them on their way out and the girls that were with the guys cackled. Jewel reached his trembling hands over to play with the ties hanging from Stefan's top. He complimented Stefan on how nice he looked. Jewel was trying not to notice the stares they received as the guys walked by. A guy name Calvin paused in front of them and eyed them.

“I hate y'all faggot muthafuckas,” Calvin spat, then spit on the ground near Stefan's feet.

“Hold the fuck up!” Crystal yelled.

Stefan kicked off his sandals, thrust his arm back, and delivered a blow that made Calvin's knees buckle. The brawl was on. Fists were flying so fast that Simone couldn't determine whose were whose. The girls that remained in the pool jumped out and the lifeguards left their posts to assemble around the fight. Calvin grabbed a handful of Stefan's dreads and banged Stefan's head against his knee. Stefan rammed Calvin into the wall and deluged his sides with punches. Paris and Jewel struggled to separate Stefan and Calvin. Simone decided to join them in their efforts. Simone grabbed Stefan's arm and was slung to the ground as he threw his next punch. Four of Calvin's friends, Robert, Gerald, Haywood, and Xavier, ran over to break up the fight. Robert and Gerald pulled Calvin away from Stefan, and Haywood and Xavier ran up on Paris and Crystal.

“Y'all can't be ganging up on my man like that. That shit ain't gonna ride,” Haywood spat.

Paris stood his ground and bucked back at Haywood. “We ain't got to gang up on your man. My nigga handled his business.”

“Your nigga?” Xavier said. “You mean your girl.”

Haywood laughed and dapped Xavier up, enlivened by his comment. Paris stood in silence, thinking of a comeback.

“Y'all walking 'round here like a bunch of bitches,” Haywood
snapped. “Switching and shit with y'all dicks bulging out y'all bikinis. People ain't trying to see that shit.”

“Ol' take-it-in-the-booty-ass niggas,” Xavier said before he and his friends walked off.

Stefan picked up one of his sandals and tossed it at Xavier, hitting him on his shoulder.

“What the fuck!” Xavier turned toward Stefan.

“Yeah, nigga!” Stefan shouted. “Fuck you gonna do?”

Paris stood beside Stefan with his hands on his hips, Jewel held onto Stefan's arm, and Crystal reached inside his top and inconspicuously pulled out his razor. Simone stood beside them thinking about how she was too delicate to be scuffling with a bunch of men. She hoped they would make their way out front before anything went down so she could get her hands on one of the loose bricks that laid beside the entrance and wallop the hell out of whomever came her way.