“Bye!” They all seemed to sing in concert with just a few stragglers.
Mortal shock coursed through me at their audacity to watch him amble down the corridor and into his office. Thank goodness he didn’t proceed to the bedroom, which was at the far end of the hallway, prolonging their gaping.
“Ummm-hmmm!” I coughed in attempt to call their attention away from my man and back to their pending departure. “Ladies, it’s late and I know some of you have to travel further than others.” I shot LaWanda a look hoping she could help reel them back in. It took a minute for her to snap into action as she was fighting her good fight of faith, trying to crawl out of her bed of immoral thoughts that included Azmir as well.
“Oh! Yes, ladies, where were we?” LaWanda was a little disoriented.
“We were just about to ask is that your man or your gay roommate because if he’s your roommate, I can stay and lay hands on him to set him straight,” Rhonda bellowed.
“Rayna, you living in sin?” Lisa asked.
“Wouldn’t you if you could do it with that?” Sheila challenged.
“How tall is he?” Tanya asked.
“Oooh, did you hear the business he was talking on the phone? He was talking millions! What he do for a living, girl?” Karmen chimed in.
“All I’m asking is does he have a brother?” Trina asked.
All I could do was shake my head in disbelief. They somehow all quieted down to give me the opportunity to respond like earlier in the kitchen and I was nice then, but now I had to be a little more forceful.
“Ladies, this has been a wonderful meet. LaWanda, you were great this evening. As usual, I’ve learned quite a few things that I can pick up and take on my journey with me. Now, I’m going to have to say goodnight,” I said with all smiles, but a convincing enough tone that they understood they had to go without learning another detail of my life.
“Oh, okay…okay! I don’t want to not be invited again. I can take a hint,” Rhonda said as she began collecting the bags that she managed to drop on the floor when Azmir came in.
The others more or so repeated her expressions and filed out. LaWanda and Tanya slipped me their numbers offering up their friendship. I couldn’t fight the accusation of their motives that conjured in my mind. After seeing them out and locking the door I returned to the kitchen, drowning in exhaustion, to finish cleaning up. I knew Azmir relied totally upon his cleaning staff to tidy up this place, but I hadn’t become accustomed to it and wasn’t sure if I wanted to ever be.
While washing, sweeping, and organizing the trash I began to reflect on the lesson and attempted to apply the principles of the spirit of peace in my personal life. I quickly thought of several ways in which I didn’t actively pursue peace and how I could improve upon it. My thoughts were so deep and engaged that before I realized it, I had the living room, dining room, and kitchen back in place and spotless.
After turning off the lights, I sauntered back to the master suite feeling comatose. As I passed Azmir’s office door I saw it was almost closed and I was too tired to stop in so I kept my stride to the back. I was beyond thrilled that it was Friday and I didn’t have to get up so early the next morning.