Chapter Thirteen

Present

“Dwayne…, I guess there were checked out boxes, after all,” she scoffed at herself, sticking a cigar into her mouth and lighting it up as she recalled a fragment of that past. Visiting The Haven gave her a lot to remember even when she didn’t want to.

“You still think of him?” Feena asked. Pretty much concerned about how well she was healing if she was at all. She laughed softly at the thought of the question.

“At least he provided me a place to hide my tears and escape my fears”, she replied.

“Do you miss him?”

“Feena, would you miss someone who used you and discarded you at a time you were most vulnerable?” Her eyes still looked lost as they watched outside the window.

“It depends. If I really loved that person, perhaps I would still miss what it could have been”, she replied.

“Well…  all my life I’ve only truly had one person in my heart and that wasn’t Dwayne. Maybe that’s why I don’t miss him and I don’t feel so bad for how things turned out. I guess I was also with him for my own selfish reasons,” she puffed out some smoke.

“Really? But I remember you gave up so much for him. It was as if you two were inseparable”, 

“I did all that so I could pay for his kindness to me. At that point of my life, I was too desperate to win my mother’s favor. To make her see that I too was good for something. That’s why I joined his theatre crew, hoping to find myself in it which I thought I did. However, I forgot two things, that my mother would never be happy with anything I do and boys would always be boys…” she trailed off.

Feena drew closer to her and gently clamped her shoulder to comfort her. She was grateful to have a little longer conversation with her. She was getting sick of her cagey attitude.

“It must have been a rough weekend, seeing faces that only hurt you?” Feena uttered.

“If it helps, you can go ease up at Night’s Mare. You know that always works”, she gently tapped her shoulder.

“I miss the sun..” Keisha said, totally immersed in her mind.

“Perhaps the sun shines during the day so we could party at night. Like now.”, she took off shaking what her mama gave her.

A look at her and she knew Feena had no special reason for suggesting the sun therapy. She probably didn’t know what she was on to after all but she wasn’t going to bring that up. Now, she just had to appreciate that idea. Following her advice she decided to pick herself up to the only club on their streets.

“Where are you headed now?”

“To hell”, she brushed her off and walked into her room, slamming the door behind her.

“What did I say wrong?” Feena asked herself. She didn’t think she deserved that but then again, it was Keisha.

“I’ll be waiting for you at the patio downstairs, ” she yelled at the shut door and left. 

Ms Morrey’s grandkids had gotten used to the young ladies above them now. They had their itinerary drawn in their minds and no one had to tell them anything about them. The clothes they wore at different times did all the communication. Their grandmother strictly warned them, threatened even, to stay away from them or else she was going to go black with them till they turned white. Whatever that meant, she didn’t have to explain it twice, so they never mentioned them to her. One time, she had to cover both their eyes to keep them from seeing the abominations those two girls were wearing. Aiden sneaked a peek through and wished he didn’t, seeing how he ended up with a sorry-looking behind.

“The pretty miss must be coming next”, Aiden especially excited to see her. Almost too excited that they were going to get caught if they didn’t stay discreet. At the sound of the heels, they knew it was her. Albie and her brother craned their necks to have a full view of the pretty damsel decked in black through their kitchen window. This evening, she looked wild and dangerous. The kids couldn’t be bothered by what she was up to, they were just thrilled about the grown-up life.

“Growing up must be nice,” Albie thought out loud. Their feet were fairly able to keep them on their toes.

“And why would you say so?” a soft voice replied which got the hairs on their skin standing upright. It didn’t sound like Aiden and he was the only one in the room with her, or was. They slowly started to turn and there she was, their grandmother, standing before them with arms folded over a long face with creased eyes.

“G-Grandma?” they stuttered. 

“What are you busily staring at and what are you doing here?” 

“We erm… came to wash our hands and Aunt Marissa and Darren stopped to say hi when they got here?” Aiden cleverly explained although he wasn’t sure if his lie sounded convincing. Albie was impressed. Too impressed to play along with the lie.

“I see. You better not be lying to me!” Ms Morrey darted a finger at them and looked at them skeptically. 

“It’s past your bedtime, now move your little behinds to your beds. And make sure to recite Psalm 23 before bed!”

“Yes grandma”, they chorused. Grateful they made it out of that situation alive. They were especially grateful to David for writing that psalm. How would they have survived the night if they didn’t have to recite that at that moment? They hurriedly got to their rooms and knelt by their beds to pray.

****

The bar was funky tonight. Unlike other days, the music that filled the room were jazzy blues. It incited a feeling of nostalgia when she hoped for something wild.

“Looking forward to meeting the guy who brought you home that night?” Feena asked, slipping a few notes for her usual shots. 

“Not sure. Just curious to know who he is…” she didn’t want to add how disappointed she was about the fact that nothing happened. 

Feena gave her a glass of punch and raised a toast to her. It wasn’t long after that she spotted the one she came for. 

“I gotta go liven up this system. You have fun,” she winked at her friend and disappeared into the crowd. Keisha stroked her glass on the counter, still bothered about the note from that morning. Before she cooked up theories in her mind, someone sat by her and ordered a drink. It was his cologne that got her attention. She wanted to get a full smell of that but she had to do it without looking like a dog sniffing around. 

She leaned a little closer to him and drew in as much as air as she could. Now that smelt familiar, proud of herself to have achieved her goal but what next? Was she now going to interrogate him about that night like some desperate trull? She could have but not on a day she had dressed to kill. That role didn’t match the dress. She took short sips at her punch and the guy did same, his attention completely shifted elsewhere. 

What kind of guy wouldn’t notice her seated right next to him? She asked in her thoughts and smirked. 

“Obviously a guy who would leave a note”, she muttered, a little too audible that she was heard.

“Excuse me? Were you speaking to me?” He turned to her and looked a little surprised. She was doubtlessly stunning but he wasn’t going to entertain that thought.

“I wasn’t,” she tried hard to sound as she looks- prim and collected.

No wonder he feels like he’s all that, her thought continued. She felt very insulted at the thought of this guy feeling he’s too good for her. But what nipped at her gut was why this guy still stared at her. Was he now seeing what he had missed? She still thought. However the longer she stared back the more certain features of his looked familiar.

“Do you know me?” She asked him and that’s what broke the staring spell.

“… I suppose I do, do you?” He cleared his throat, trying to get himself as composed as earlier. Still staring long and hard, she got it.

“I think I do now… Dwayne’s troupe?” She said as if she’d tasted something bitter.

He bowed his head with a smirk and lifted a shot to her, impressed by her memory. But if her memory serves her better, she’d probably remember they weren’t the best of friends.

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