“Hey, go easy on the brakes. She sputters but she still runs, okay?”
The valet at Dunn’s River Café frowned as I tossed him the keys to Honey, who was totally out of place in the parking lot of the city’s hottest new gathering spot. I’d been so happy to have my girl back I’d donned my bright yellow sundress and matching block-heeled sandals, and my halo of coils was pushed back with a yellow Ankara scarf. I felt like the goddess Oshun. It is an unmitigated fact that Black women of all shades look good in yellow. Melanin rich skin needed to be adorned by Mother Nature’s brightest color. Who was I to argue with Mother Nature?
As I walked into the restaurant, a classic Cutty Ranks jam was blasting through the speakers. I moved my shoulders to the beat as I looked at all the glamorous, chic, and upwardly mobile folks. Of course, Bella would pick this place. It had just the right amount of pretentiousness mixed with ratchetness that Bella loved.
I spotted Bella in a back booth near the long marble bar, looking amazingly chic as ever in a Carolina blue top and white skinny jeans, her hair in a sleek, low ponytail. Bella giddily waved me over. I looked around the restaurant. Only a few tables, all occupied. I groaned, anticipating the rather tight squeeze, boobs and gut smashed against the table, and the potential for a wrinkled dress. As I approached, I could see Bella downing the second glass of what appeared to be something fruity.
“So, you already got started, huh?” I asked with a teasing smile.
“Well, as soon as you said let’s do late lunch, I knew I didn’t have time to bullshit. I just threw this outfit on and grabbed my purse. Didn’t even say bye to the kids! I was pushing 80 on the highway. So, hell yeah, I started with drinks!”
I laughed as I looked her up and down. “Just threw that on, huh?” I slid into the tight-fitting booth as Bella signaled for the waiter. A tall, deep mahogany man with dreadlocks approached. The stark white of his uniform enhanced his skin. I immediately wondered how he kept his clothes so clean, surrounded by rich sauces and drinks. The man must have had an endless supply of bleach at home.
“Hello, miss, what can I get for you? Perhaps one of our famous rum runners to start?” he said with a slight accent from an island I couldn’t guess if I tried.
“Sure, I’ll have a rum runner,” I said, taking him up on the suggestion.
“Okay, gorgeous. I’ll get that going and come back for your order.” He smiled and looked me up and down like I was on the menu. After searing a hole through my dress with his dark brown eyes, the waiter quickly left to put in our drink orders. If I wasn’t swearing off all men, trying to focus on myself, then perhaps I would have taken the bait.
Bella raised her eyebrows, observing the exchange.
“You know island men like them some thick women, honey! You should get his number. Let someone rub up on that juicy, homegrown booty of yours. It’s been months.”
“One, that’s a stereotype. Two, it hasn’t been months!” I dramatically flipped open the menu, irritated. It had been months, and I didn’t want to think about it. Bella meant well, but I just wanted this lunch to be about eating some bomb curry shrimp and laughing with my girl. Unlike most of the women in this place, all scantily clad, I didn’t come here to find a date or hook a baller. I was too old for that. Besides, I didn’t want to add this waiter to my roster only to get bored a few weeks later.
“Bella, I’m not thinking about men. I just want to hang out. I rarely see you these days. Me with the new job. You with the kids.”
Bella sighed, slowly stirring the straw in her drink. “I know.” She grabbed my hand and dramatically held it against her cheek. “If you would just get a car that worked, we could see each other more often. Now, why didn’t you answer my texts last night?” She always had a flair for the dramatic. Everything was an event. Her new job suited her personality to the tee.
I playfully slapped her hand away. “I went out with my coworker after work and ran into Jamal Faulk from Hampton. Remember him? He asked about you. I’m shocked he remembered me, but of course, it was only because of you. He had a crush on you.”
Bella rolled her eyes as she downed the last sip of her drink. “Jamal was such a player. I think he screwed half the cheerleading squad and a couple of my line sisters. But...is he still fine though?”
“Unfortunately,” I said. “He’s still fine as hell.”
“Damn! I should have let him tap it before Zach locked it down.”
We both let out a hysterical laugh as the waiter brought over the drinks. Luckily for me, he got distracted by a customer and didn’t get a chance to eyeball my boobs a second time.
“So, did you get his number because I’m sure he was trying to get at you too,” said Bella.
“No, because...”
I hesitated. No because I was with a seemingly jealous Porter, with whom just a few hours later, I was locking lips. And I’m trying my darndest not to think about him so please don’t ask.
“No, because... I don’t want a guy who just wants to bone! Not anymore. I’m on a man fast.”
Bella cocked her head to the side in disbelief. “Man fast? Now that just sounds stupid. Come on, Ari! You’re too gorgeous to be home drinking wine and watching old white men make cabinets, or worse, dubbed-over Japanese cartoons, like you used to in college. We’re grown!”
Damn. Was I that predictable? Had my life not changed in almost twenty years? That’s pathetic.
As the music continued to thump, I moved uncomfortably in my seat, my body pushing up against the table. Bella put her hands on her chin, waiting for a response. I felt stuck in more ways than one. I took a sip of my rum runner and folded my hands in my lap.
“Is my life that pathetic, Bella?” I asked quietly. “Has it always been pathetic? Is that why Maurice...” I nervously fidgeted with my hands in my lap as the question still swirled in my head. Bella reached across the table and motioned for my hand. Reluctantly, I removed one hand from my lap and placed it on the table. Bella put her perfectly manicured hand on top of mine, her wedding ring looking like a meteor against her slender, deep brown fingers.
“Of course not, Ari. Maurice was a dick. But it’s time you found someone to be with. Give you some steady orgasms. Or babies. Or both. Not just someone you call when you have an itch. Someone to spend quality time with you. Have fun with! You don’t need to spend your weekends sitting in your gorgeous house doing renovations with an old but sweet Ecuadorian man as your only male company. And don’t think I didn’t hear you say you went out with a coworker? That Porter guy, I presume?”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Yes. Just to celebrate my time there. He’s my partner on the stadium project.”
“Hmpf,” said Bella with skepticism laced in her voice. She could always read me like a book.
The waiter came back to take our food order. He turned to Bella first, but kept his eye contact with me, mostly.
“For you, miss?”