I kept walking as I heard the bedroom door close behind me. Have patience, have patience, I repeated as I continued on into the den. I called Carol down the street, who is our regular baby-sitter—she agreed to come by at around seven o’clock.
By the time I gave Brandon his bath and got dressed, Carol was at my door. I put on my makeup and left for the night.
CHAPTER 4
Mya
I jumped in the shower before heading to the mall. Macy’s-Rich’s was having a sale, and since I hadn’t been to a club in a while, I needed something more in line with today’s fashion and appropriate for the cool night air.
The store was filled with people aggressively walking from rack to rack, picking out clothes. All I was trying to find was a pair of black pants to wear with my black leather boots.
For hours I went back and forth to the dressing room, trying on one pair of pants after the other, until I found a really nice pair that matched a pretty blouse on the rack directly across from it. This would blend in well with my golden-colored hair hanging past my shoulders.
I walked through the rest of the mall looking in stores to see if I could find a matching scarf or something that I could wear to accentuate my outfit. Finally, after the fourth store with no luck, I found myself near the food court. My stomach began to growl at the smell of the different foods being prepared by the fast-food restaurants. I walked over to the Chik-Fil-A, where the line wasn’t as long, and stood to the side of the register looking at the menu. Hmm, the grilled chicken sandwich looks good, I thought.
“Excuse me, are you in line?” a deep voice sounded from behind.
“Well, no, I—”
As I turned around there was a small-framed, light-skinned brother standing behind me with gold teeth that had the initials L.J. on the front two staring at me, smiling from ear-to-ear.
“No, you can go ahead—I’m still trying to decide,” I replied with a slight frown.
“Still can’t decide, huh? I get that way, too. The chicken salad samich is good.”
I covered my mouth with my right hand. Samich, I thought. Oh my God, no—he didn’t just say “samich” in this day and age. “Oh really,” I frowned.
“Yeah, oh, uh. My name is Larry Jenkins, by the way. My peoples call me L.J.,” he said with a smile.
I wanted to say, “I see,” looking at his teeth. “Hi. I’m Mya,” I said.
“Mya,” he replied as his eyebrows arched. “Uh-oh, my love is like woe, my touch is like woe,” he said, snapping his fingers and laughing.
“Huh?” I replied with a confused look.
“You know—the song by Mya the singer.”
“Oh, yeah, right,” I replied as I turned toward the cashier at the register.
“Hi, ma’am. May I take your order, please?” she asked politely.
“Yes, can I get the grilled chicken sandwich with a small lemonade?”
L.J., or should I say Larry, walked to the next available cashier and placed his order.
I got my sandwich and walked to the table in the middle of the food court and sat down.
Before I began to eat, I could see Larry staring at me from the corner of my eye. I slowly turned my head away and began eating. Moments into it, Larry came to my table, still smiling and showing off his gold initials. “You mind if I sit wit ya, Mya?” he asked.
I didn’t want to seem rude in a public place and besides, I only had a sandwich to finish and could take the lemonade with me. “Uh, no, not at all.”
Out of all the chairs at the table he had to sit in the one closest to me. Instead of taking my time eating like I would normally do, I was stuffing my mouth with every bite. He sat down and got comfortable as he began eating what looked to be a chicken salad sandwich. I took another huge bite and began chewing faster, then took a gulp of lemonade. Larry smiled as the marinade from his chicken salad sandwich covered the “J” on the gold initials in his mouth. Uhhh, I thought. I turned my head before I threw up or lost my appetite.
“So, what kind of work do you do?” he asked with a mouthful of food.
“I’m a schoolteacher,” I replied with my head down.
“Do you have a biness card or something?”
“Huh?” I replied.
“A biness card—you know—wit all your numbers or something on it?” he repeated.
“Well, I’m a schoolteacher. I don’t really have any use for business cards.”
“Okay, the reason I was asking ’cause I’d like to call you sometime, you know what I’m sayin, maybe we could—”
“Well, look, Larry,” I interrupted.
“No, its L.J.—call me L.J., sweetheart.”
“Look, I don’t mean to seem rude, but I’m kind of in the middle of something with someone right now and I don’t think it would be a good idea to give you my number.”
“I see,” he smiled. “Say no more, say no more, I understand.”
“Thanks—well, look,” I replied as I crumpled the leftover sandwich and placed it in the bag. “It was really nice meeting you.”
“Likewise, Mya. Uh, I do hope we meet again someday. Next time I hope you’re single,” he replied with his arm extended to shake my hand.
I reached over to touch his hand and his fingernails were filthy. He had dirt logged deep into the nail. I slightly closed my eyes and shook his hand. Uhhh, I thought. They were rough and sticky. When our hands touched I cringed as he firmly squeezed. I then gave him a hard smile and walked off, heading straight to the nearest bathroom to wash them. While inside I beat what looked to be an empty soap dispenser to get a drop out while waiting on the water to get piping hot to scrub my hands clean. When I walked outside the bathroom I saw Larry standing with a group of guys, talking. To avoid another encounter with him I walked away in the opposite direction, cutting through the north end of the mall before making it to my car and driving off.
When I got home, I ironed my new outfit and placed it on a hanger in my closet. I ran some hot bathwater and mixed it with scented gel beads and soaked while I listened to soft jazz. My mind drifted like it always does when I’m relaxed and thinking about being married with kids in a big house, or cuddled up on the floor near a fireplace with my toes rubbing together with my special someone.
Later that night, Tangie and Stephanie came over as I rushed to get ready for the club. Stephanie was in the bathroom getting her makeup together when Tangie walked into my bedroom with a glass of wine.
“I’ll be ready in a minute—I just have to put on some lipstick,” I said in a rush.
“Take your time,” Tangie said as she took a seat on the bed. “It’s only nine-thirty. I don’t want to get there until eleven, anyway.”
“Why so late?” Stephanie asked from the bathroom.
“Yeah, all the good men will be taken by then,” I said.
“Girl, trust me. If you got it, you got it. The brothers will still be there. Besides, if they want you they will leave whoever they’re with to be with you,” Tangie replied before sipping her wine.
She did make a good point. I was just anxious to get there. “So did Todd come over last night?” I asked.
Tangie blushed. “Yeah, you know he did, and he put it down, too.