Dating Games Read online

  “You most definitely did,” she said laughing, then said, “I’ll see you later.’

  “Wait, wait a minute,” Rafe said, climbing a stair to put him one below her, making them the same height. “Can’t I get a handshake, maybe a hug goodnight?”

  Henny gave Rafe a long look, then she leaned forward into him and wrapped her arms around him. He embraced her, and he had to have sworn it was the sweetest, softest hug he had ever received. He told himself to let go of her after a moment, but his arms wouldn’t move, and then he decided he wouldn’t pull away until he felt her hold on him start to loosen. It was another few seconds before any other movement was made, and then he felt her whispering in his ear.

  “That was very nice of you to walk me home. Thank you,” she said, sweetly, then gave him a soft kiss on the side of his face.

  Rafe didn’t know what to say, and after stumbling across several bad possibilities in his head, he decided that there was just nothing that should be said. He watched as she disappeared into the doors and around the corner, and after a moment of letting the good feeling sink in, he left.

  NINETEEN

  ALL THE WAY home from work, Livvy kept thinking about what Wade had told her the night they had gone out.

  “What if you don’t win the essay contest, Livvy?” he’d asked her, and she felt her very foundation shaking. The only thing she knew for sure was that if she didn’t win, she would be stuck at that job she was hating more and more every day.

  “Then you plan to go to nursing school anyway,” was his answer, and he was right. But that meant making changes, huge changes, changes that would affect everyone. But like Wade had said, her daughters would be eighteen in less than a month, legal adults, and it was now time for Livvy to start taking care of her own life.

  Livvy was exhausted when she got off the elevator from another hard day at work. She turned the key to her apartment and opened the door to find Alizé lounging on the sofa, her feet kicked up on the coffee table, the place a mess. It was the last thing Livvy needed to see, but it let her know that what Wade was saying was right and all the decisions she felt guilty about making were right as well.

  “Get your damn feet off that table, and turn off that TV,” Livvy snapped, slamming the door behind her.

  “If I was Henny, you wouldn’t be telling me to turn off the damn TV,” Ally said, slowly pulling her feet from off the table.

  “If you were Henny, I would know that you were watching TV to relax, because you’d worked all day, like I do, instead of sitting on your ass.”

  Ally didn’t move fast enough, so Livvy clicked off the TV as she walked past it into the kitchen. She stood there in the midst of all the left-out food containers, the dirty pots and pans that Ally must’ve used to cook her dinner, and Livvy just wanted to cry.

  “Get in here,” she demanded, trying not to scream at her daughter.

  “What?” Ally called from the sofa, sounding as if she was being needlessly bothered.

  “I said, get in here!” and this time Livvy did scream.

  Ally appeared in the doorway, looking less than enthused.

  “Look at this mess,” Livvy said, waving a hand over the destruction that had been done to her kitchen. “You did this?”

  “Yeah,” Ally agreed.

  “Then get in here and clean it up.”

  Ally sighed like she had a million better things to do, but walked past Livvy and started stacking dirty dishes under some running water.

  “I don’t know what to do with you, child. I go to work every day, provide for you, and look how you thank me. Your entire life, all I’ve done has been for you, and you can’t even keep the damn house clean. Just once, why can’t I come in here and see that you’ve cleaned up? You know after a long day I don’t want to come in here and see no mess, but that don’t even matter to you. All I’ve tried to do was bring you up the right way, give you all I could, and—”

  Ally turned around, dish suds climbing up her forearms. “Why you sayin’ me—me—me, like you haven’t done the same, if not more, for Henny. You actin’ like I’m the only one around here that you had to raise,” Ally charged.

  “At least Henny’s doing something with her life. She’s working. She’s going to college. What are you gonna do?”

  Ally had turned back around, was halfheartedly scrubbing dishes. She didn’t answer her mother.

  “Alizé, I said, What do you plan on doing with yourself at the end of this summer?”

  “I don’t know,” Ally shrugged, not turning around. “Ain’t gave it much thought.”

  “Well, you need to start thinking, because you never know when things might change.”

  “Whatever,” Ally muttered.

  “What did you say to me?” Livvy demanded, taking a step toward her daughter.

  “Nothing,” Ally said, still not facing her mother.

  Livvy was angry, angry as hell. She just stood there, staring at Ally standing at that sink, wearing tight thigh-high shorts and a cut-off T-shirt.

  “And you need to lose some weight off that ass off yours,” she said, just because she was angry with Ally.

  “Men like this ass of mine,” Ally smirked, seeming to simply dismiss her mother’s comment.

  “You need to be going running with Henny every morning. Lose some damn weight.”

  “Can we just stop talking about Henny for one minute?” Ally said, finally turning to look at her mother. “All right, I know she’s great. I know everybody should be just like her, but I’m me, and maybe one day, you can try accepting that.” Ally held her stare on her mother, then finally turned away when Livvy was silent.

  She was probably right, Livvy thought, but this definitely wasn’t the damn day.

  “I get any calls?” Livvy said, looking in the fridge for something light to eat. Either her daughter didn’t hear her, or she was ignoring her again.

  “I said, did I get any calls?”

  “Somebody named Wade called a million damn times.”

  “Anybody else?” Livvy said, pulling out a plate of pasta.

  “No, Carlos didn’t call,” and then mumbled, “You know he ain’t callin’ for at least a week after he fuck you.”

  Livvy froze. She was right behind Ally so she knew it was meant for her to hear it. But Livvy just stood there, holding the glass plate in her angrily trembling hands, trying to summon all her strength not to turn around and break the thing over Alizé’s ungrateful head.

  The front door opened, and Henny walked in, and with that, Livvy calmed some, telling herself that there was no need to stoop to Alizé’s level. Everything would be straightened out right now.

  “Hey, Mama. How was work?” Henny asked, giving Livvy a kiss as she came out of the kitchen.

  “The usual, baby. But that’s going to change. Ally, come out here,” Livvy called in a very businesslike voice.

  Ally came into the living room.

  “Girls, have a seat. I have something to tell you.”

  Henny and Ally sat down, looked at each other as if the other had done something terribly wrong.

  “What’s going on, Ma?” Henny asked.

  Livvy stood in front of her daughters, took a deep breath in, and let it go. “I hate my job. I’m a smart woman and should be doing more than what I am. So I’m entering this essay contest. I have to write about why a hospital employee wants to be a nurse, and if I win, they’ll give me a full scholarship to their nursing school. I’ll be able to do what I always wanted to do with my life.”

  “Mama!” Henny bounced up from the sofa, giving Livvy a huge hug. “That’s great! That’s great!” she said, calming herself enough to sit back down. “I’m so excited for you.”

  “Thank you, baby. But I’m going to need your help. You good at writing essays?”

  “The best, Mama. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

  Ally just looked away, her face in her hand, as if her mother had told them nothing more than what she was cooking for dinner to
morrow.

  “But there’s something else. There’s no guarantee that I’ll win. I could lose.”

  “Yeah, you could,” Ally finally chimed in.

  Livvy acknowledged her comment, but moved on. “So I have to prepare for that. Even if I do lose, I’m going to nursing school anyway, but I can’t do that working full time, so I’m going to cut my hours in half.”

  The smile still remained on Henny’s face, but on Ally’s face now was concern.

  “You can barely afford the bills and rent here now. How we gonna make it on you workin’ part time?” Ally asked.

  “Well, first off, Alizé, we ain’t never been makin’ it. It’s been me, making it for you. Second, you’re absolutely right. I can’t afford to live here once I cut my hours, so when Henny leaves for school, I’ll be moving to a one bedroom. I can afford that.”

  “A one bedroom.” Ally looked alarmed. She stood up. “Where am I gonna sleep?”

  “Well,” Livvy said, seeming not that bothered at all about the dilemma. “There’s always the sofa, and later on, if it’s ever in the budget, we may be able to buy you a let-out bed, and that may be a little more comfortable. Or …,” Livvy said, and this caught Ally’s attention, “… you may want to do something real crazy, like becoming responsible, getting a job, and finding your own place. Which I think is best, because one day, woman, you’re going to have to start acting like one and make a way for yourself, and stop expecting me to carry you.”

  Livvy said all this while smiling very sweetly, feeling very good about herself, experiencing only the slightest bit of guilt.

  “Any questions, ladies?”

  “I’m so proud of you, Mama,” Henny said.

  Ally just got up and headed for her room.

  Livvy watched as her daughter stormed out of the room, and a look of sadness all of a sudden covered her face. Henny stood, walked over to her mother, and gave her a hug.

  “Mama, don’t worry. It’s the right thing. It’s time for her to be pushed out of the nest. The baby birds have to learn how to fly some time.”

  “I know, but …,” Livvy tried to say.

  “But nothing,” Henny said, squeezing her harder. “I’m so proud of you. So proud.”

  When Henny walked into their bedroom, Ally was pacing the floor.

  “Ain’t sleepin’ on no let-out bed.”

  “Then you got to do what Mama said and get a job,” Henny said, sitting on the edge of Ally’s twin bed.

  “And do what? Flip burgers. ‘Welcome to McDonald’s: how may I help you?’ I ain’t qualified to do that shit. Besides, this body wasn’t made for no nine to five. I ain’t built that way.”

  “Then maybe you ought to think about rebuilding,” Henny said, chuckling some.

  Ally stopped just in front of her sister. “Hell wit’ you, Henny.”

  “Well, you got to do something, and do it fast. Summer’s almost over. So what’s it going to be?”

  “I don’t know. But I’ll think of something. Bet that,” Ally said, her mind already starting to work.

  TWENTY

  WADE pulled the Town Car in front of his house, or rather the house that he was renting a room in. He had just come from getting the car washed, and they did a decent job, but as he got out and took another walk around, he noticed a dull spot on his rear tire. He quickly opened his trunk, pulled out the bottle of Liquid Black Tire Shine, and squirted the gray area away, making it a shiny black.

  His car really didn’t need a wash. He could’ve gone another day, hell, maybe two. But sitting around his room wouldn’t clear his mind of the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about.

  He didn’t know what the deal with her was. He’d taken her out, shown her a good time. No spending limits, no time constraints. He took her to the nicer spots, even though, when he picked her up, he saw that she lived in the projects. Wade didn’t know exactly what she was accustomed to, but he was sure if he had just driven her around the corner to the chicken shack and ordered a three-piece dinner, she’d have been just as satisfied.

  But he didn’t do that, thinking that she would be worth the investment. And when Wade spent money, that’s how he had to view everything: as an investment. Every spare cent he made was put into his savings account so one day he could buy a house. He was tired of living in that one cramped room. But what other choice did he have, knowing how horrible his credit looked? With marks like that on his credit report, the only place that would rent to him would be somewhere deep in the ’hood, overrun by rats and roaches. A place he knew his car would be stolen only minutes after his stepping out of it, if they didn’t jack him while he was trying to park. And there was just no way he was trying to part with his car. No way.

  So he rented from the nice lady who said she didn’t bother about credit reports and things like that. She judged a man by the vibe she got from him, and she said she had gotten a great one from Wade. Paying her the four hundred dollars a month allowed him to stay in a beautiful neighborhood and save a decent amount of money to buy that house he always wanted. And then maybe, if he were lucky, that special woman would come along. It was the other reason he was sacrificing now, because when she finally did make herself known, Wade wanted somewhere nice that he could invite her to. And when their relationship finally got to the point where they decided to live together, he didn’t want there to be any talk about apartment living. He wanted to have a home so they could live the way he always wanted to live with that special person.

  The sad thing was, he thought that special person could’ve been Livvy, but after he showed her the town, opened up to her, and now after he had called her a thousand times, she didn’t even have the courtesy to call him back—even to say go to hell. Maybe he was too old for her, he thought. But of course he was too old for her. This was a convenience situation. He knew a woman like her was looking for a man to help her out financially, and he was sure she knew what he was looking for as well. But maybe she already had a sugar daddy. Wasn’t that what they called guys like him nowadays, sugar daddies? Whatever. He wouldn’t waste any more time thinking about it.

  Wade dropped the bottle of tire shine back in his trunk and slammed it shut. When he looked up, he saw a young man walking up the steps and heading toward the side door of the house. He recognized him as the guy who had moved in a couple of weeks ago. Wade made sure his car was locked, then went after the man, trying to catch up to him.

  By the time he caught up, he was at the door to his room, about to stick the key in. Wade walked up behind him.

  “How’s it going?” Wade said to the man’s back.

  Rafe didn’t completely turn around, just looked over his shoulder, nodded his head. “Whassup,” he said coolly, then went back to putting his key in the lock.

  “So you’re the new guy here?”

  “Yeah, guess so.”

  “How you liking the accommodations?”

  “Keeps the rain off my head,” Rafe said. He stood there a moment, hunched over the lock. Then when Wade didn’t walk away, Rafe turned around.

  “Can I help you with somethin’, man?”

  “Yeah. I’m Wade. Wade Williams,” he said, extending a hand.

  Rafe looked down at it for a moment, as if examining it to make sure it was clean, then shook it.

  “I’m sorry,” Wade said. “Didn’t catch your name.”

  “That’s because I ain’t thrown it.”

  “Oh, okay. Well, the old guy next door, Fredrick, has been asking about you. See, normally the woman downstairs doesn’t rent to anyone under fifty years old, so old Fredrick was wondering—”

  “It really ain’t none of your business, but Dorothy is my aunt. Does that answer the question?”

  “Sure, sure. I’ll let you get back to your business.” Wade turned around and headed toward his room, and only then did Rafe go back to trying to open his door. But just before he could walk in, Wade was behind him again.

  “You know, I got a bottle of something in my room
and a couple of glasses. You cool with having a shot or two with an old man?”

  Rafe looked down at the lock, which he was having trouble with anyway, then back at the man. “What the hell. Why not?”

  HALF OF the cognac was gone and both men were feeling quite relaxed when Rafe picked the bottle up and read the label aloud.

  “Hennessy. I know a girl wit’ that name.”

  “You do?” Wade took another sip from his glass. “What kind of woman would name her daughter after a bottle of liquor?”

  “That ain’t the worst of it. She got a twin sister named Alizé.”

  “What kind of woman would name her daughter after a bottle of cheap-ass liquor?” Wade said, and both men started to laugh. They both emptied their glasses, and Rafe poured them another generous shot, their fourth.

  “I don’t know what kinda woman, but she has to be fine, because her daughter sure is,” Rafe said, setting the bottle down. He brought his glass to his nose, and sniffed. “But she ain’t interested in me. And even if she was, once she finds out …” Rafe stopped himself and brought the glass to his lips, resting it there for a moment.

  “That you did time, she really won’t be interested,” Wade finished for him.

  Rafe brought the glass away from his mouth, looking at Wade oddly.

  “That’s what you were gonna say, right?”

  “But … how you know?”

  “Your arms,” Wade said, pointing to the tattoos running down the length of Rafe’s biceps and forearms. “Some of those are jail tats. My half-brother’s been in and out a zillion times. That’s how I know.” Wade pulled his eyes from Rafe and took a drink of his liquor.

  There was an awkward silence, but Wade broke it by saying, “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Things happen. I mean, you didn’t kill anyone, did you?”

  “Naw,” Rafe said, setting down his glass, rubbing both his palms over the tattoos on the opposite biceps. “Caught sellin’ weed. You know how it is.”

  “Yeah. I think most brothas know how it is. It’s no more dangerous than cigarettes or this shit we drinkin’ right here, but for weed, they’ll throw a man in prison. Doesn’t make much sense to me.”