“Hey, Jason. How’s it going?” Terrill reached out to his old friend in an attempt to get him to cool down and got a harsh stare and a sneer for the trouble. He felt his face heating and knew that the red undertones in his skin were probably lighting up like Rudolph’s nose on Christmas.
Damn Jason for still being so arrogant!
Terrill slanted his eyes and nodded a nod that he meant more as a promise: don’t-start-none-won’t-be-none.
Jason didn’t even pretend to acknowledge Terrill.
“You’re right, Penny. This isn’t the time or the place.” Jason gave her a once-over before walking away, and didn’t even bother looking at Terrill. “It wouldn’t even be worth it anyway.”
Terrill’s mood morphed from disappointed to angry in zero seconds flat when he saw the pained look on Penny’s face. He knew that if he wasn’t careful he wouldn’t be able to contain his emotions and he might be the one causing a scene instead of trying to prevent one.
Jason’s disdain was still palpable. The two men hadn’t been able to say a kind word to one another in fifteen years. But as far as Terrill was concerned that was Jason’s fault.
Terrill squeezed Penny’s shoulder. Terrill hoped that Penny knew he didn’t blame her for losing his other best friend.
Looking at the three of them now, no one would be able to tell people used to jokingly call them the Three Musketeers and tease them about being joined at the hips. They had been best friends since grade school and the friendship hadn’t changed when Jason and Penny became high school sweethearts. They hadn’t thought anything would be able to come between them. But they had been wrong.
Terrill shook his head. There was no use dwelling on it now. He’d made his decision on whom he would stand by in the middle of a difficult time. But if he had it to do all over again, he wouldn’t have let things get so out of control that two people who loved each other would stay apart for fifteen years.
Still, he needed at least to talk to Jason and make sure that he didn’t make things any harder for Penny when she was trying to cope with the loss of her beloved grandmother.
When he found Jason standing outside of the funeral home, he had to step to him even though it was clear the man was leaving.
If the inside of Lee’s Funeral Home seemed as if it were stuck in a time warp, the outside and surrounding neighborhood really were stuck. Besides the changes in hairstyles and the clothing people wore, he noticed the same things that had been prominent back in the day, girls playing double Dutch and brothers playing dice.
“This is a tough time for Penny, you know. Big Mama was the only person who had always been there for her no matter what. She’s taking it hard. You really need to lay off about the past.”
A wave of emotions came over Jason’s face at once and Terrill could see the exact moment when his ex-best friend’s shield went up and he decided to block the emotions.
Jason sneered. “Shouldn’t you be inside with her, then, if she’s so torn up? Isn’t that what lovers are supposed to do for one another? Comfort? Console? Why are you out here talking to me?”
Terrill let out an exasperated sigh. He wished he could just be done with this crap. Sure, maybe he and Penny were in the wrong for deceiving Jason, but he so wanted to tell the man that he was being an idiot by not finally making things right with the woman he loved.
Terrill knew without a doubt that if he had the chance to really have the woman he loved he would take it.
“I’m out here because despite what you think, I want what’s best for everyone involved. She doesn’t need the stress. It’s bad enough she has to deal with Carla and you know how that can be.” Terrill ran his hand through his hair. “You don’t need to be all hung up on a past you barely understand. There’s a lot you just don’t know, Jason. If I could tell you without breaking confidences, I would.”
Terrill was close to just telling Jason that he had never slept with Penny all those years ago and they hadn’t left for California as a couple. That they, in fact, had never been anything more than friends. And the only thing he was guilty of was being a good friend and looking out for the love of Jason’s life until they came to their senses and got back together.
But no matter what, he couldn’t tell her secret—that it was all a lie. He couldn’t do that to Penny, especially not now with all she was dealing with.
So he watched the kids ride their bikes down the crowded street along with the other hustle and bustle of an urban city on a spring evening. Paterson’s streets were full of life with a hint of danger pulsing underneath.
Please let this fool wise up! I am so tired of this!
“Oh! Now you have morals. Where were they fifteen years ago when you stole my girl?”
Terrill threw his hands up and shook his head. “I give up, man. I tried, but you’re stuck in the past. You need to let it go. And like I said, lay off with the guilt trips on Penny. She doesn’t need that right now.” Terrill walked away before he did something stupid—like sucker punch his ex-best friend who was now a cop—and ended up in jail.
He had more important things to think about. Like being there for Penny in her time of need and making it back to California to see where things stood with a certain feisty Afro-Latina woman that he had shared the most amazing, earth-shattering kiss with. He was sure that once she got over being stunned, she was going to be pissed.
Maritza found her right hand couldn’t stop trailing her lips. It was really hard to focus on work when she had done the stupidest thing she had ever done in her life.
She had kissed Terrill.
Or he had kissed her.
Whatever the case may be…
She had messed up.
Big time.
And now he was in New Jersey with Penny. Helping Penny deal with Big Mama’s death.
Like always he would be there for Penny whenever she needed him.
How did a woman allow herself to kiss a man who would drop everything in a heartbeat to run to the aid of another woman? Another woman who was her best friend and his? It was a soap opera waiting to happen if she ever saw one.
“I knew this was a bad idea! Are you even listening to me?” Lace Monroe, the video vixen formally known as Lil’ Freak and author of several scathing tell-all books in which she named just about every rapper, mogul, athlete, actor or singer she ever so much as blew a kiss at, let alone anything else, hopped her perky little behind out of the seat and in front of Maritza’s desk with enough attitude to loan some out and still have plenty to spare.
Maritza tried to remember that Lace was a prospective client that would need so much help she might just as well have “Made Out to Cash” stamped on her forehead. But she couldn’t keep her left eyebrow from arching and her head from tilting to the side. Blame it on her parents, but Maritza Morales had Black girl attitude and Latina heat in equal combinations. She certainly wasn’t the one to mess with.
Lace noted the change in Maritza’s demeanor and gave her a good once-over before much more calmly sitting her behind back down.
Lace wanted to use the hype and the buzz surrounding her books to go legit. And she wanted New Images by Keys and Morales to help her present a more suitable image.
Maritza put on her most professional smile and folded her hands in front of her, admiring the pop of color she gave to her clean, white, contemporary-style desk.
“It will take a lot to clean up the image you