“Yeah, she knows him.” She shoved her way to the front of the crowd. “He’s my boyfriend. Now get the fuck off him unless you plan on going back upstate.”
Then she did exactly what I wish I could have done. She shoved Derrick out of the way and bent down to help Dylan.
“Get away from him!” she yelled at Derrick’s friends. I still hadn’t moved. I’m not sure if it was shock or alcohol, but I was stuck in my place.
“Dylan, are you all right? They’re not gonna bother you anymore, baby.” Sabrina cradled his head, and I felt a twinge of jealousy. That should have been me helping him, holding him. “I hope you’re fucking proud of yourself, asshole. You must really like it upstate. I hope they put your fucking ass under the jail for this!” she yelled at Derrick.
“That nigga was tryin’ to break into my car,” Derrick replied defensively, like that made what he did right.
“Oh, yeah? What was he trying to do, break the glass with roses?” Sabrina grabbed a handful of flowers off the ground and threw them at Derrick. Then she turned her eyes on me, but I couldn’t make eye contact.
“Yo, Jasmine. You need to keep your man in check or he’s gonna end up back in jail.” She sucked her teeth at me, then turned back to Dylan. I cringed as I watched her murmuring to him, stroking his hair. I wanted to strangle her when she kissed him, even if it was only for Derrick’s benefit. That’s when I knew I was in love with Dylan. Damn, was I in a bad situation.
27
“Young lady, that was a beautiful poem you read. I don’t think I’ve ever heard ‘Phenomenal Woman’ read so well,” Reverend Clarke complimented between bites of his fried chicken. We’d just returned from Nona’s funeral. I was trying to find Maleka so that I could get home to Travis when the preacher pulled me aside.
“Thank you, Reverend. It was one of Nana’s favorites, so I thought it would be appropriate.”
“And it was. It really was,” the preacher praised, then finished off the last of his chicken wing. “You know, we could use an orator like you in our church. Have you ever thought about going into the ministry? What church do you belong to?”
“Ah, well… I guess you could say I’m a member of Mount Olive Baptist-”
He cut me off. “What do you mean, you guess?” He looked at me with concern and I tried to avoid eye contact. The last thing I wanted to do was tell that man I hadn’t been to church since last Easter. Luckily, Miss Janet rescued me.
“Excuse me, Reverend,” she huffed, pulling on Maleka’s hand. “Stephanie, have you seen Malek?”
“No, ma’am. Not since we left the cemetery.”
“Well, will you go find him for me?”
“Do I have to, Miss Janet?” I whined. “You know me and Malek don’t get along.”
“I know that, Stephanie. But I got over forty people in this house. And I’m doin’ everything from meeting and greeting to servin’ the food. I ain’t got time to go lookin’ for that boy, and everyone in here’s been askin’ about him. Please do me this favor. All I want you to do is go find him and tell him I manna see him. That’s not too much to ask, is it?” she sighed.
“No, ma’am.” I replied weakly, and said good-bye to the preacher. I was happy to get away from him, but I really didn’t wanna go find Malek. I’d been avoiding him as best I could all day. After everything that happened with the VD, he was the last person I wanted to be around. Like Mary J. said, I don’t need no more drama in my life, and it seemed like every time I got near Malek, it followed me.
After I searched the first floor, I headed for Malek’s room in the basement. As soon as I opened the door, I was practically knocked over by a cloud of smoke. It smelled like someone was smoking a pound of weed down there.
“Malek,” I called. He didn’t answer, so I walked down the stairs. I found him sitting on his bed, smoking a blunt. He’d loosened his tie, but he was still wearing his suit.
“Your mother wants you. There’s a lot of people upstairs who wanna give their condolences.” He nodded his head and went right back to smoking his weed. I turned to walk back upstairs before I got high from all the smoke.
“Yo, Shorty. Lemme ask you a question.” I stopped and turned my head. “You think Nana’s in heaven?”
I smiled, stepping down from the stairs. “Yeah, Malek. I think she’s in heaven.”
“I sure hope so. If anyone deserves to be in heaven, Nana does.” His eyes had tears in them, and that surprised me. I couldn’t ever remember seeing Malek cry before.
“I miss her, Shorty. I miss her so much.”
“So do I, Malek. So do I.” I sat on the bed next to him. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and we cried together. The two of us had a good cry for a few minutes before he finally lightened the mood.
“She looked good in that casket, didn’t she?”
“She sure did.” I smiled and wiped away my tears. “She looked like her old self.”
Malek reached over and picked up the blunt from the ashtray. I watched him light it, then suck on it gently. When he finished, he gestured for me to take it. At first I hesitated. When I came downstairs, I had intended on giving Malek Miss Janet’s message and getting the hell away from him. Now here I was, all sentimental about Nana, sitting with Malek on his bed, about to smoke a blunt. I knew I was in dangerous waters once again, but Malek really looked like he needed some comforting. I took the blunt from him and inhaled deeply. Besides, I figured nothing could happen with all them folks upstairs, anyway.
“You know, Shorty, you was lookin’ mighty good today. I like it when you wear dresses.” He reached up and removed his tie completely.
“Thanks.” I smiled as I exhaled. My eyes roamed up and down his body. “You looked pretty good in that suit.”
I took another hit, then passed the blunt. I sighed as I watched him wrap his lips around the brown cigar paper and suck on it. An image of him sucking my breast popped into my mind, and I could feel myself getting moist. What the hell was it about this man that made me want him so bad? When he finished smoking, he handed me the blunt. I inhaled the weed for the third time, finally starting to feel its effects. Malek reached behind me and began to massage my shoulder. I thought about stopping him, but his hands felt so good around my neck and shoulders. He leaned over and blew in my ear.
“Stop it, Malek. You’re gonna get my panties all wet.” I turned my head and that made things worse because he started kissing my neck. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and I whispered, “You got any condoms?”
“Yeah,” he nodded excitedly. “I got condoms in here.”
He reached over to his night table drawer and pulled out an open three-pack of condoms. I took the box out of his hands and smiled.
“Come on.” I stood up and headed for the stairs.
“Where we goin’? To the motel?” He followed me eagerly.
“No. I told you before, your mother wants you. There are people upstairs who wanna see you.”
“But I thought we were gonna get busy.” He raised his eyebrows. “You said I was making you wet.”
“I am wet. And extremely horny,” I told him honestly.
“Then where you going? The hell with Momma. She can handle them old farts upstairs. I’m horny, too. Look at this.”
He reached down and grabbed himself, grinning. I made sure I was halfway up the stairs before I responded to him.
“Just because I’m horny doesn’t mean I’m gonna sleep with you, Malek.”
“Then why’d you ask me for the condoms?”
“Me and Travis ran out last night. And after smoking that blunt, I’m so horny I can’t wait to go home and fuck his brains out.”
“What? I don’t believe this shit!” Malek yelled. “Now that’s some real foul shit, Shorty! Some real foul shit!”