“Dang, girl.” Skeet chuckled, finishing the sandwich. “I told you to use that line when I’m
not
around. Come here.” He held his arms out for her.
“I forgot.” She clung to Skeet, taking his banana in the process. “Will you ride me to Auntie Genevieve’s? Mama said I could go.”
“Go get your bag.” He set her on the floor. “I’ll catch y’all later. Can you braid my hair tomorrow, Ebony?”
“I just braided it Saturday, Skeet. I’m back in school now.”
He pulled her over to him. “You don’t have class on Tuesdays. You have time to fix my hair.”
“Tuesday and Thursday are my study days.” She took the coffee out of the sack and placed it on the counter.
“You only been in class two weeks. You can’t have that much to do. Hell, you even wrote that thesis junk before the semester started.”
Hands on her hips, she reminded him, “My GPA is 4.0. I’d like to keep it that way.”
Ebony’s fire attracted Richard. He liked a woman who wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself. He looked at Trae, who was still sizing him up. He hadn’t noticed his green eyes before.
“So you gonna have a brotha walkin’ around with frizzy braids. You ain’t right.”
“My braids stay longer than three days. I’ll hook you up on Saturday, or you can have someone else do it.”
“Stop talkin’ crazy. You know I don’t let anyone else touch my hair.” Crystal ran out of the bedroom. “Dang, girl. Do you eva walk?” He took her bag, picked the child up and hugged Ebony. “Saturday.”
He tapped fists with Trae, then nodded at Richard. “Catch you later, Smoke.”
Richard frowned. He liked Skeet instantly, but didn’t understand why he called him Smoke. “Catch you later, Skeet.”
Trae stood at the counter, watching Ebony put away the groceries. He and Richard both smiled when she bent to open the fruit tray at the bottom of the refrigerator. Richard, sitting at the kitchen table, had a better view.
As if reading Richard’s mind, Trae stepped forward, obstructing his view. “If you don’t work for Dan, where did you meet Ebony? We don’t see people,” he paused, “dressed like you around these parts very often.”
Richard examined his designer tie, white dress shirt and dark gray Leonardo Valenti trousers. He had already taken off his suit jacket. “Dan’s not a cop, is he?”
Trae laughed. “Hell naw! He’s allergic to ’em.”
“We met on the train this morning,” Richard answered.
“What you doing taking the train?”
“Stop, Trae,” Ebony interrupted, as she unpacked the third sack of groceries.
Trae chewed on his inner jaw. A spark ignited his eyes. He reached into his parka pocket and pulled out a CD. “Guess what I have?” He placed the CD in the boom box on the counter. Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing” filled the kitchen.
Ebony’s face lit up. “You finally cut my oldies disc.”
“Sure thang.” He pulled her close, dancing and singing softly.
Feeling jealousy stirring, Richard longed to knock the stupid grin off Trae’s face.
Ebony calmly pulled away. “I need to finish putting these groceries away. Thanks for the music.”
“Come on. One dance.” He tried to kiss the back of her neck, but she moved.
“Stop or leave,” she warned. “How many times must we go through this?” She turned the player off.
The disgust on Trae’s face brought a smile to Richard’s. Trae reached into his pocket again, this time pulling out a form and a pen.
Richard shook his head and wondered what his bag of tricks had yielded this time.
“Sign here.” Trae handed Ebony the pen. She signed on the document without reading a word, then continued putting groceries away.
Richard couldn’t believe his eyes.
With a triumphant smirk, Trae leaned against the counter. “When we goin’ out, Ebony?”
“Have you seen the weather report, Richard?” Ebony asked.
He frowned. “There’s supposed to be another snow storm the day after tomorrow.”
Her lips tipped up at the corners, and devilment danced in her eyes. “So there was nothing about hell freezing over?” She winked.
“Checkmate!” Richard laughed.
Trae quickly stepped forward, setting off Richard’s danger alert. “That shit ain’t funny.” Trae grabbed Ebony’s arm. Richard hopped out of his chair.
Trae released her, then trained his enraged green eyes on Richard. “Oh, you stupid enough to think you can take me, Opie? This ain’t Mayberry. I’ll light yo’ ass up. This here is my woman.”
Ebony stood between the two. “It’s time for you to leave, Trae,” she said through clinched teeth.
“You pickin’ this limp-dicked mother over the father of your child. Hell naw!”
Richard began to intercede, but Ebony cut him off. “First, I am not your woman. Second, I know you
think
you are the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, but you are not my master. Third…”
Their verbal sparring allowed Richard to get a closer look at Trae, who had fine-textured hair, the same as Crystal’s.
Involvement with Ebony means dealing with Trae
, thought Richard.
“…And you may run the streets, but this is my turf—”
“Ebony, stop,” Trae interrupted.
“No, you stop! I’m sick of this.” She turned away, bumping into Richard.
Richard wanted to hold her, tell her everything would be all right, but he wasn’t sure they would be. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to deal with Trae, or why she didn’t take Crystal and run.
She lowered her head into her hands, massaging her temples. “I’m tired of this.”
Trae mouthed an expletive, then turned Ebony to face him. His gruff manner gone as he caressed her face. “You’re cheating.” He pressed her head to his shoulder.
Richard could now see Trae would never hurt Ebony. He loved her. He presumed they had Crystal as teens and were making the best of the situation.
“All’s fair in love and war,” she murmured.
“Okay, you win. I’ll back off.”
She hugged him tightly. “Thanks, Trae.”
“Lookie here, Smoke. You gonna hang around my girls, you gotta deal with me.” He released Ebony. “I won’t interfere in y’all’s game, but Crystal’s my daughter. You hear what I’m sayin’?”
“I hear you,” Richard answered, bracing himself for another surprise from Trae’s bag of tricks.
Trae then pulled out a wad of hundreds from his inner coat pocket. “Don’t have your nose stuck in them books all day.” He counted out a thousand. “Take Crystal shoe-shopping and buy yourself a little somethin’.” He nodded toward Richard. “And get Smoke a real coat while you’re out.”
“What are you talking about?” Ebony asked.
“They said some white dude was walkin’ around in a trench coat this morning without a hat or anything. The only reason he wasn’t jacked was they knew he must be crazy.”
“Great. First my car is stolen, now everyone thinks I’m a lunatic. Why do you and Skeet call me Smoke?”
“Oh, lawd, Ebony, you better school this boy if he’s gonna hang around here. I gotta go.” He handed her the money. “I’ll be out of town for a few days. I’ll be back in time for you to braid my hair.”
She tossed the money in a drawer. “Be safe, Trae.”
The two men nodded at each other as Trae left. Richard knew he hadn’t seen the last of Trae.
Gripped by apprehension, Ebony leaned against the bar that divided the kitchen from the dining room. “I’ll understand if you don’t call me once I get you home safely.” She chewed her bottom lip. “I have a lot of extra baggage.” She fidgeted, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
He wasn’t one to cut and run at the first sign of trouble. Anything worth having was worth fighting for. He held her soft hands. “I lost your phone number.” He pulled her close, savoring their first embrace. “People may think I’m crazy now, but I was ready to walk up the streets yelling your name.”
“You’re lying.”
She rested her head on his shoulder, and he knew he would never let her go. “Yeah, I’m lying. But what were the chances of us meeting—again? You saving me—again? And Nonno would disown me if I don’t at least give it a try.” He could feel her smiling on his shoulder. “Note to self: Keep Ebony and Nonno separated.”
“You’re a mess.”
“They say I’m just like him.”
“I love Trae,” she said as if she were trying to convince herself. “He’s a good father, but I’m not in love with him. I don’t want what he has to offer.”
He just saw her take money from the man, but he felt there was more to the story, that things couldn’t be as they appeared. Since she obviously wasn’t ready to open up completely, he would give her time to learn she could trust him, confide in him. “Yeah, I know,” he whispered. “He’s Crystal’s father. I wouldn’t expect any less.”
“It’s not just Crystal,” she continued. “Trae’s loyal, protective, loving,” she hunched her shoulders, “and a jerk. But he’s my friend. We grew up out there.” She motioned toward the window. “After my dad died, Trae helped me survive. I can’t just abandon him.”
He cut his portion of the sandwich in half, then they went into the living room and sat on the couch together. He knew Trae’s wad of cash wasn’t from a traditional nine to five. Instead of peppering her with questions, he decided to let her to tell all in her own time.
“After Dad died, Trae was the only one around for me. Our first winter alone, Mom had to choose between starving or freezing. I told Trae about our situation. He gave me the money. I tricked Mom into thinking I’d earned it running errands for the corner store. He taught me how to survive on the streets.”
Marissa had blamed Dan for her husband’s murder, so refused to allow him to help pay their expenses or have any contact. At the same time she fought to win over her drug addiction. It looked shaky for a while, but she came out triumphant, then worked two minimum wage paying jobs to keep a roof over Ebony’s head and save for beauty school.
“How old were you when your father passed?”
“I was twelve. Trae was fourteen, and not involved in the drug trade, but was a mean poker player. He taught me, and we made a few hundred every week easily. We basically became the man and woman of the house since Mom was having issues of her own and always gone.”
He gasped. “She let him move in?”
“At first Mom was too drugged out to realize what was happening, then she was hardly ever home and always exhausted. I was scared and alone, so I never asked. I just moved him in. And no, we weren’t having sex. I was only twelve.”
“You would be shocked at what some twelve-year-olds do.” He winked, trying to lighten the mood. “So why aren’t you and Trae married?”
“The cards could lead to so much more. In my teens I grew away from the street life, but Trae embraced it. But I’ll always have his back, and he’ll always have mine. I owe him.”
He would have preferred to hear her say she tolerated Trae for the sake of their child, yet still respected her honesty and loyalty. “Thanks for explaining. Now I understand why he’s so protective.”
The doorbell rang. “I’ll be right back.”
He took a bite of the turkey sub to ease his hunger headache.
“Come in, Stam. Sit on the couch with Richard.”
Richard hoped she wouldn’t have allowed the strange man into her home if he weren’t there. He took another bite of his sub. Stam stared at the sub.
“You want mine?” she asked, holding out her piece.
“N-no, Miss E-ebony. I just ain’t ate all day.”
“I’ll be right back.” She went into the kitchen.
“You the guy who g-got his car st-stole?”
“I’m afraid so.” He thought it odd Stam would ask a stranger for a quarter, but wouldn’t accept a free sandwich from an acquaintance.
“You Miss Ebony’s friend?”
“Yes, sir.”
Stam eyed him from head to toe. “You work for Dan?”
“Why does everyone think I work for Dan?”
Ebony returned with a ham and cheese sandwich wrapped in a paper towel on a plate and handed it to Stam. “So what did you find out?” She sat in the recliner.
“Thank you, Miss Ebony. Th-them Collins boys t-took his car for a joy ride, then b-burned it out. It’s in the alley behind Lockwood, r-right off Ferdinand.” He stuffed half of the sandwich into his mouth, practically choking himself. “This is good.”
“Is it drivable?” Richard asked.
“N-nope,” Stam said, spitting out food as he spoke. “They burnt it out.”
“You mean they literally torched my car?”
“These k-kids these days some bad-assed kids.” He finished his sandwich.
Ebony took the plate from Stam. “Thanks for the information. Do you have ten you can loan me, Smoke?”
“Sure.” Glad he had broken his fifty and she had Stam thinking she was broke, Richard handed her ten dollars.
“I can’t take your money, Miss Ebony. I told D-dan I’d do this for free.”
“I guess you better not tell him.” She stuffed the money into his hand. “Do you want a cream soda for the road?”
“I’m gonna have to pass.” He stood. “Thanks for the dinner.” He bowed slightly and left.