“You did too. Come on, let’s shower; then we can go to breakfast.”
They held each other for what felt like an hour and then quickly washed. Joy was still drying off when Kevin handed her a pair of his boxers and sweatpants. She put them on along with the shirt and hooded top she had worn the day before.
“Where should we go?” Kevin asked.
“Don’t matter. Where you want to go?”
“We could go to IHOP or something, if you want.”
“We shouldn’t go far, because Septa sucks.”
“That’s right, we met at the bus stop. We can take my car,” he said simply.
“Your car? Why was you at the bus stop if you have a car?” she said, thinking he was playing.
“I let my cousin hold it. He was supposed to bring it back before my shop closed at seven, but he didn’t. I got tired of waiting for him so I went to his house, but he wasn’t
there. I was coming back when I saw you and decided to wait at that bus stop instead of the stop near the Chinese store. By the time I got back, my cousin was waiting for me, mad because he had to wait. Then he wanted me to drive him all the way out southwest to take him to his baby mom’s house, ” he explained, shaking his head at the memory.
She smiled. “Okay, let’s go, then.”
They went out a side door that Joy hadn’t noticed before, emerging at the back of the building. There was a blue Acura SUV parked there. Though there were a few other cars out there, for some reason it seemed to fit Kevin. Once at the bottom of the stairs, he began walking straight to the car she had guessed was his.
“I knew it,” she said out loud, smiling.
“You knew what?” he said, stopping momentarily to look at her, then following her gaze to his car.
“That this was your car. It fits you somehow.”
“Oh, you’re right about that. I knew I wanted it as soon as I saw it,” he said as he held the door open for her. “Did you decide?” he then asked after getting in on his side.
“Yeah, IHOP.”
“IHOP it is.”
“When we get to the restaurant, we have to talk,” he told her, a serious look on his face.
“About what?” she asked, faking like she was clueless.
They were both silent for the rest of the ride up Roosevelt Blvd. Five minutes later, they arrived. As soon as they went in, they were greeted and immediately shown to a table. Joy looked at Kevin over the top of her menu. He was looking at his menu in deep concentration but looked up when he felt her eyes on him. They locked eyes and smiled.
“Are you ready to order?” the waiter asked, breaking the moment.
“Yeah,” Kevin said, then motioned to Joy to go first.
“Can I have three pancakes and a side of sausage and orange juice?” said Joy.
“I’ll have the same thing,” said Kevin.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” Joy asked, preparing herself for the questions she knew was coming.
“Okay, how old are you?” he asked, clearly worried.
“Don’t worry, I’m eighteen,” she said, laughing at the relief that came over Kevin’s face.
“I’m twenty-two. Are you still in school?”
“Yeah, my last year.”
“Your parents let you just skip school and stay out all night with dudes?”
“First of all, I don’t usually be with guys, and this is the first time I stayed out all night. They don’t care about me, anyway. They’re always fighting. My mother is a crazy bitch and my father doesn’t do nothing but work. And when he’s not doing that he spends his time in the basement doing God-knows-what. I don’t know why they got married or even had me. Enough about me, what about you?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything, everything.”
“I live alone, I don’t have any kids. All I do is work, and I rarely go out. My mother abandoned me when I was two and I never known my father. My grandma raised me. Let’s see, I’m a pretty simple dude. I went to CCP, got my associate degree in photography. I started a business using Myspace and then when I had enough clients I opened up a store.”
“Here you go,” said the waiter, placing their food it front of them.
“That’s pretty much it,” Kevin continued once the waiter had left.
“Let me ask you this, Joy—why did you show up at my shop?”
“Umm, I don’t know exactly,” she said after chewing a bite of pancake.
Kevin didn’t respond. He continued to eat his food, deep in thought. Joy did the same. She wanted to be honest with him about her original intentions but didn’t want to mess up the vibe they had going. Though she had just met Kevin, it felt like she had known him longer. He seemed like a nice dude, and she wanted to get to know him. He could definitely take her mind off some of the shit that was going on at home. She cringed just thinking about having to go back.
“What’s wrong?” Kevin asked, noticing her cringe.
“Nothing. Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”
“Okay, but you can talk about it. I know we just met, but I want us to really get to know each other. You can be honest with me about anything. I like you, and you seem cool. This may sound strange, but I felt a connection to you from the moment I saw you.” He spoke with a serious look on his face.
“Not to co-sign, but I feel the same way,” she said, smiling, for the moment forgetting about her parents.
They ate silently for a while, occasionally looking up and smiling at each other.
“Do you want me to drop you off?” Kevin asked, breaking the silence.
“No. Can I chill with you a little longer? That is, if I not in the way.” She silently prayed he would say she wasn’t.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but shouldn’t you go home? Not that I don’t want to spend time with you; but we got time for that later,” he continued.
“Yeah, you right. I just don’t want to go home,” she said, clearly disappointed. “You done?” he asked, looking at her plate, which was almost empty.
“Pretty much. You can just drop me at a 18 bus stop,” she said, not looking at him.
“You mad? I’ma take you,” he said, laughing.
“What’s so funny?” she asked, getting mad.
“You. Sitting there wit’ your lip poked out, pouting,” he said, laughing harder.
“Very funny,” she said, starting to laugh too.
“You can chill wit’ me this weekend. I just don’t want you to get in any trouble.” He was serious now.
After they had both finished, Kevin paid and they headed back to his apartment. Kevin’s shop was closed on the weekends, when he usually took photos at weddings, birthday parties, etc. During the week, the clients came in to pick up their pictures, DVDs, etc. and pick out frames and such. He had a wedding to do at three but said it was cool for Joy to chill there while he was gone.
Chapter Four
Joy walked around Kevin’s spacious apartment wearing one of Kevin’s wife beaters and nothing else. She looked at the photos on the wall. Though she didn’t know much about photography, she was mesmerized by them. After she’d satisfied her curiosity, she went back into the bedroom and laid down on the bed. Memories of the sex they’d had before Kevin left floated in her mind. She wished he was there so that she could feel him again. Touching her lips, remembering the taste and feel of his lips, sent chills through her body. She squeezed her legs together and wrapped herself in the comforter.
The sound of her cell phone ringing broke Joy’s good mood. The only person she wanted to hear from was Kevin; and she knew it wasn’t him, because he didn’t even have her cell number yet. She looked at the screen anyway.
“Shit. What does he want?” Joy said to herself, debating whether to answer or not. “Yeah?” she said, finally deciding to take the call.
“Wassup? Why you answer the phone like that?” Josh asked.
“Look, what do you want?”
“I want to see you. I’m coming down there to chill at my aunt’s house for a couple days.”
“Yeah? Well, what that got to do with me?” Joy said, wishing she hadn’t answered.
“What you mean? I said I wanted to see you,” he said, irritation in his voice.
“Well, I don’t want to see you,” Joy said, really meaning it.
“Where are you?”
“Home,” she lied, not really knowing why.
“You’re lying. I called your house and nobody answered. Now, I gonna ask you again—where da fuck are you?” he yelled.
“You know what? I don’t have to listen to your bullshit. I’m hanging up,” she said, but didn’t make a move to do so.
“I tell you this, you better not be fucking nobody, because if you are, I won’t want you no more,” Josh said before hanging up.
Joy threw her phone across the room, not caring that it broke. She pressed her face into the pillow and cried. She trembled as she felt the pain spread from her heart throughout her entire body. Spending four years with somebody didn’t mean you knew them. Josh clearly showed her that by his actions. When she first met him, she thought he was the sweetest person. But he was also moody and unstable. Pulling the covers over her head, she closed her eyes tight. She wanted everything to go away—her parents, Josh, and the dumb bitches at Germantown High School.
…………
She remembered the day she met Josh. It was her first year of high school and her first day at James Madison High. She went to her scheduled home room and saw him as soon as she walked in. He looked good as shit, his skin the color of caramel. He had a little acne, but that didn’t take away from his looks. His eyes were light brown and his hair short and curly. He was sitting in the second row. There were a few other people in the room, but she barely glanced in their direction. He smiled at her and motioned for her to sit next to him. She followed his direction and sat down in the seat next to him. The teacher was doing roll call. Joy listened for her name. “Joy Williams, Joshua Wright.” When she saw him raise his hand to the name called right after hers, she looked at him and smiled.
They sat there for about ten minutes while the teacher went over where the lunch room and different areas of the school were. This all went in one ear and out the other as Joy kept stealing glances at Josh out of the corner of her eye. Soon the bell rang and it was time for first period. Joy stood up and grabbed her bag. Josh waited patiently for her and they both walked out together.
Once in the hall, Josh introduced himself. “What’s really good, Ma? I’m Josh.”
“Joy,” she replied shyly.
“What you got first?”
“Computer foundations,” she said.
“Me too,” he said, grinning.
“Really?” Joy said, not really believing him.
“Yeah.”
They walked to their first class together. It was no trouble finding it because she had taken a tour of the school at orientation the day before. Joy found it hard to concentrate all through the class. She kept glancing at Josh, but he was totally paying attention and didn’t look her way once.
After the class was over, Josh was the first one out but waited for her near the door.
“That class seems like it’s interesting,” he said with excitement.
“Yeah.”
“Let me see your roster,” he said, grabbing it out of her hand before she could give it to him.