He smiled. “I like it. And we both have to reach out, no matter who started it.”
“I can't promise I'm always going to cave in.”
“I don't need you to cave; I just need to communicate. You can't shut down on me. Let's make this promise; we'll trust each other. I won't blow up.”
“I won't play games.”
“I won't shut you out.”
“I won't shut down,” I promised. Teasing, I added, “These sure sound an awful lot like vows.”
He laughed. “True dat. Check itâI didn't freak out at your reference to marriage.”
I was starting to get the good vibe about us again. “So, we'll take it a day at a time.”
“A day at a time ... together.”
“Deal,” I agreed.
“Sealed with a kiss.” His lips grazed mine once.
Chase came running up. “Here's your water, Daddy. Whatcha doin'?”
“Forgetting where I am, son. I could sure use a cool drink.” He stood up and pulled me to my feet.
“You comin' home with us, Miss Joo-well? Daddy was gonna barbecue.” Chase held his hand out. Roman shifted his stuff to one hand and held out his.
“Now that's an offer I can't refuse.” I took both outstretched hands.
“We cool now?” Little Chase had a way of cutting to the heart of things. He got it from his dad.
I looked over at Roman and raised a brow. He nodded. So I answered, “Yeah. We cool.”
There was more to say and specifics to be settled, but for now, I was right back where I belonged.
34
Enough Is Enough
ReneeâMonday, June 13, 8:08 p.m.
Â
Â
T
hat settled it. I'd just gotten off the phone with Keisha. She said she and Arthur are talking about getting married. I'll be damned! It should have been me a week ago. Oh, I could just scream. I decided to call my homegirl for a little consolation.
“Hello?” Jew-Ro sounded all breathless.
“Jew-Ro, have you talked to Keisha?”
“Uh, yeah. I told her congratulations. What's up?”
“Wanted to see if you wanted to hang out this weekend.”
“Roman and I are taking Chase to SeaWorld this weekend, but next weekend is wide open. How are you doing?”
“A little down ... you know.”
“Renee, it's gonna take a little time for you to get back on track with everything.”
“I really blew everything the hell up, didn't I?”
“You did it up, girl. Big Willy style,” she said drily.
We paused for a minute and then we both started snickering. “Oh shit, I really did. God, it's good to laugh about it. Thanks for hanging with me, girl. I know I'm a handful.”
“Two handfuls and some still spills over, girl. But you my girl. As long as you don't drop the drama at my front door again, you and I are good.”
My girl, she'll back your play as long as you stick to her rules. Fair enough. “We cool, girl?”
“We cool. Listen, girl, I'm kinda in the middle of something. Can I call you back?” I heard her giggle and rolled my eyes before putting down the phone. Still didn't think Roman was the guy for her, but I've learned my lesson about getting in other folks' business.
Stacie was all geeked behind Trick's doggish ass and Tammy had whoever the freak of the week was. Roni, well, who knew what Roni was up to, but she looked so damn good lately, it made me sick.
I had to get my shit correct. How could this have come to pass? My program was NOT tight. Mere months ago, everyone was telling me how lucky I was, how I had it all. How far I had fallen. Sitting at home all the time, waiting on the “Cajun broke one” to remember he lived here. What was so great about great sex if immediately after you wanted to kick the guy out of bed and tell him to go away till next time? Oh yeah, something had to give around here. I needed to be back out, on the mac move. I couldn't go out weak like this behind Beau.
“Beau!” I called him from out of the bedroom. “Come here for a minute.”
“Eh, Renee?”
“Baby, it's time.”
“Time for what,
'tite chou
?”
“Time for all good things to come to an end. You got to rise up outta here.”
“Ah, but
douc
â”
“Nah, none of that shit. Pack up your fly gear and roll out. If you'd like, we can still swing a little episode every now and again.” I leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Bye, Beau.” Yes! I was back in control of my shit. I was strictly looking out for me. After all, if Renee didn't look out for Renee, who would? My problem was that I let that love and lust nonsense get in the way of my goal. Was trying to live large and get paid up in here.
Beau went back to the closet and started getting some stuff together. I already had my organizer out when he came back through with a garment bag and his shaving kit.
“It was real,
chére
. We get together from time to time for old times' sake, no?”
“Sure, why not?” I was scanning the Cs.
“I come back Friday and get the rest. We'll have a
petite
party; I'll bring champagne.” He set his key on the countertop and grinned. One thing was for sureâhis was a heart you didn't have to worry about breaking.
Ds, Es, Fs ... Franklin, Jhorry, attorney-at-law. Yeah, I wonder what he's up to nowadays? I sent Beau an absent smile as I reached for the phone. “Okay, baby, but call before you come over.”
“Always,” he said, and went on out the door.
As I locked the door behind him, the person I was calling picked up. “Hello?”
“Hello, is this Jhorry?”
“Yes.”
“This is Renee Nightingale. I don't know if you remember meâ”
“Oh, but I do, Renee. I never thought you'd call, though. I heard you were engaged to Gregory Samson.”
I laughed. “How do these rumors get started? No, no, I've been spending a lot of time working on getting myself together. I'm free as a bird. Just came across your number and thought I'd give you a call. Hope I'm not interrupting anything?” In other words, how single or need I skip to the Gs?
“No, no, I'm pretty much my own man these days. This must be my lucky night, huh?”
“Could be, Jhorry. Sure could be. So tell me, what've you been up to lately?”
I let brother man ramble on, and I started jotting notes down. You had to have a plan, right? You couldn't chew your cabbage twice and let the grass grow under your feet. It was dog-eat-dog out there, every sister for herself. I was just trying to get mine, know what I'm saying?
35
Takin' a Shot
GregoryâSaturday, June 18, 1:06 a.m.
Â
Â
“H
ello, you're on the air with Veronique on the Love Line. What can I help you with this evening?”
I smiled. “Hello, Veronique, I have a problem.”
“Okay, what's your name?”
“Well, you can just call me G.” I clicked off the lights around the room and lit some candles.
“G.” I could tell she recognized my voice by the way she said it. “What seems to be the problem, G?”
“Well, I've got this friend ...”
“Uh-huh. A male friend or a female friend?”
“Oh, she's very female.”
“Sounds interesting, tell us about it.”
“Well, see, I've known this lady for quite some time now.”
“Um-hmm.”
“We started out as casual acquaintances, and then we kind of fell into this attraction thing.”
“An attraction thing, G?”
“For lack of a better word. It just came upon me one day that she was sexy as all hell. Oh sorry, can I say
hell
on the radio?”
“This late at night, you sure can. Say anything you like; it's just starting to get interesting.”
“Anyway, I was involved with someone else at the time; the situation was complicated, and we never really did anything about it.”
“I still don't see the problem, G.”
I grinned. “Well, let me spell it out for you. Since then, we've gone into a friendship-like relationship. She saw me through some rough times and pretty much hung in there for me. Now, I appreciated that, but I needâI wantâmore.”
“More?” Her voice took on that molasses quality. I was gonna have to have this girl but soon.
“Much more. I want to be with her. Physically, emotionally, sexually. But she still wants to be buddies.”
When Roni spoke, she sounded kind of breathless. “Well, maybe she just needed to hear you say it.”
“Well, if she's listening, let me say it to her directly. I want you; you know who you are. I want youâin every way, as my friend, my lady, my lover.”
“Are you sure, G? This seems like a big step, especially based on your past history and all.”
“I know what I want. It's time to move on. You gotta either live today or sit thinking about what you missed tomorrow.”
“That's, uh”âshe stopped to clear her throatâ“that's very well put, G. I'm sure your lady friend is listening and appreciates the words.”
“I'd do a lot more than talk if I could see her tonight. Maybe she could come over and show her appreciation.”
“Maybe she could.” I could tell she was smiling by the sound of her voice. “Well, listeners, we're going to have a slight change in our programming for this evening. For the next hour, you will hear uninterrupted love songs for all you âCandlelight by Moonlight' lovers out there. After that, E. Z. Groove will be here to take you on into the wee hours. Live, love, and laugh, Dallas.”
She switched over to music and said into the phone, “Hold that thought. I'm on my way.”
“I can hardly wait.” I turned up the radio and smiled into the darkness.
36
Meeting in the Middle
Rome & JewelâSunday, June 26, 9:31 p.m.
Rome
Â
Â
I
t was a great day we had today. Went over to Moms and Pops for dinner and on the way home, I swung by this house. It was a big old rambling house, in need of some tender, loving care before it'll be all that. Right off of Central near Walnut Hill. Located almost exactly halfway between her house and mine. Pulled up in front the house and hopped out. Miss Jewel looked at me like I was crazy, so I opened up her door, took her hand, and pulled her out. We walked to the front door and I pushed it open. She stepped inside and stood there with her mouth open. I went on in and she followed behind me.
“It's beautiful!” she said as I showed her around.
“You like?” I asked as we stood in the kitchen, looking at what was once a beautiful hardwood floor.
“I love it. Whose is it?” She smiled at me.
“Ours,” I said smugly, and turned away to examine the moldings in the living room.
“Beg your pardon?”
“Ours if we want it, baby. Greg's got the papers ready for us to sign anytime we want.” I smiled. “We've been going out for just over a year. You mentioned a few times that I don't seem to compromise. How does this strike you?” With a smile, I headed up the stairs to let her take that in for a while.
Â
Â
Jewel
Did he say “ours”? As in together? I followed him up a majestic, wide staircase, which still had the original walnut banister intact.
“Roman, what are you talking about? I can't live with you.” He knew how I felt about that living-together thing. Not down with the shacking. You wanna live with me 24/7? Marry me.
“I didn't ask you to shack up with me, Miss Jewel.”
“So what are you asking?” I held my breath.
“Buy this house with me, let's fix it up together. By the time we get it in shape, it'll be a good time to start talking about that marriage thing.” He looked shy for the first time since I'd known him. “Whadaya say?”
I started smiling. “Let me see if I get this straightâwe're getting, um, engaged to be engaged sometime in the future?”
“We're engaged and married in eighteen months, Jewellen. Word is bond. I know you are not the string-along-shack-with-me girl. That's what I'm saying.”
“I see. Now, what happens if somewhere down the line, we fall out and decide it ain't gonna happen for us? What do we do with this house?”
“Sell it and split the profits down the middle. Uh, you planning on cutting out some time soon?”
“Just being prepared, playerâyou know how it is.”
“Oh, I know how you roll, Miss Jewel. Can a brother get an answer?”
Took a deep breath. What the hell. “I accept.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He slung an arm around my neck and pulled me close for a kiss. “You know what today is, doncha, Miss Jewel?”
“Are you going to say something corny like âthe first day of the rest of our lives'?”
“Actually, I was. Let a brother be sentimental up in here.”
I kissed his cheek. “Go ahead on.”
“I thought about getting you some bling, some of them slinky drawers you love so, maybe a vacation.”
“Instead, you've given me a promise for the future and half a house ... I like it.”
“I thought you would. Let's go back downstairs so I can carry you across the threshold. Might as well do it up right.”
As we headed downstairs, I had to grinâto think I thought chivalry was dead. Lucky for me, I got the last black Prince Charming on the face of the earth. Bet you half a house I keep him.