Unwrapping Jordan

by Tiana Laveen

  He slowly got to his feet and looked up the road. In the distance, two people were walking their small brown dog, one of the couple shorter than the other, both bundled up in thick coats. A wave of warm and cold air washed over him, all mixed together.

  Walking in the snow, just like that… Egypt and I.

  Hey, Dad, I ran into Andre the other day. Wow, a blast from the past. You remember Andre. I wanted to ask him about Egypt. I never told you about her. I didn’t tell anyone. It was a girl from high school. One year under me. I liked her… as more than a friend. Anyway, I wanted to ask Andre, you know, like, has he seen her? How’s she doing? They were good friends after all. I figured maybe they still kept in touch. We used to walk out here, on this very street, my street, on our way to school.

  The couple was now walking past him in the opposite direction.

  She lived out this way for a bit, temporarily, with her aunt. No, it was her cousin. Yeah… her parents had had that house fire so she had to move here for a little while. She’d always gone to my school, but I’d never seen her before then. I miss those walks… The leaves crunching beneath our steps. Then the snow. The way our hands used to brush against one another’s. She always smelled good. Like cinnamon and vanilla.

  I knew she liked me as much as I liked her. I didn’t do what I should’ve done though, Dad. Told her the truth. My pride, I guess. Didn’t want anyone to know I found this so-called chubby Black girl cute… and I dug ’er. I dug her a whole fuckin’ lot. You would’ve had something to say, too, something I wasn’t tryna hear, but I shouldn’t have cared. It was all about what I thought, what I liked. Nobody else should’ve mattered. She was pretty, ya know? Funny, too. Smart. She, uh… she wasn’t like us, though. A wave of shame washed over him, at how he used to be. Back then was different… it was a different time. We really didn’t sit together, shit like that. I don’t know why; it was just the way it was. Well, it’s not like that anymore, now is it? He stepped closer to the front door, then slid his cell phone out of his pocket. He logged onto social media as he exhaled frosty air from cracked lips, on the hunt for Egypt Callahan.

  I’m really tryna shoot for a star here. She’s probably saddled with kids and a husband by now. Hell, she might not even remember me. Please don’t let her be married. Please don’t let her be fuckin’ married.

  His lips curled in hedonistic appreciation, sadness, and so much more as he clicked on her profile picture.

  Yeah, this definitely has to be her. Not too many chicks named Egypt. Time sure has been good to ya, E. Jesus, you haven’t aged a bit. You’re even more beautiful than when we were teenagers. He couldn’t see much of her profile information, her page was private, but he stared at her picture for a long while before he opened Messenger to type out a few lines to her. He kept messing up the letters; his fingers were so cold and stiff, he could barely get one sentence out that was free of spelling errors.

  Fuck this. Let me just use the audio voice feature:

  “Hey, Egypt, it’s me, Jordan DeMarco from high school. I’m pretty sure this is the same Egypt Callahan I used to walk to school with on Tremlett Street. Hey, uh, I moved to California to go to UCLA but, uh, since it’s Thanksgiving and all, I’m in town for a few days. You crossed my mind. Actually, I’ve thought about ya a lot over the years and…and I’m tired of just thinking about you. I wanna see you. Maybe we can get some coffee if you’re not too busy? Call me at 310-555-8795. Thanks.”

  He hit send, then walked back inside. Hit by a bunch of protests, he embraced the fact that people were now cursing him out, wondering where’d he’d gone off to. He threw up his hands and laughed.

  “Heeey, settle down! I’m back, baby! Turn the music up. I’m ready to party!”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  If the Truth be Known

  “Hey, can I call you back?” Egypt clutched her laptop, the phone nearly slipping out of her hand.

  “Oh, yeah… okay.”

  She disconnected the call from a man she’d met online a few weeks prior. He wasn’t her type, but he seemed nice enough. She’d made it clear she only wanted to be friends.

  Enough of his ass, though. There were more pressing issues at hand. Like a message from Jordan DeMarco. She’d tried to get him out of her mind after Andre had brought him up, but now, he’d reached out and touched base with her.

  She checked the time stamp on his message. Oh, he sent this last night. He must’ve used the microphone to text feature. She giggled at the ‘uhs’ in his message. How did I not see this yesterday? She’d missed it somehow while she celebrated Thanksgiving with her family.

  Clicking on his page, she couldn’t see anything beyond his profile picture. His page was private, like hers. Damn, he still looks good… better than good. She re-read the message and her heart nearly caught in her damn throat. He said he’s been thinking about me… Okay, I have to calm down. Just because I didn’t think he’d try to contact me doesn’t mean anything. Obviously, he proved me wrong. I’m just shocked is all.

  All of those old feelings came rushing within her. The resentment and pain she’d experienced after he left didn’t feel as sharp at that moment. Perhaps it was just the surprise of it all. After taking a deep breath, she stretched her legs, covered in long Johns, and typed out a reply:

  She included her photo for good measure, hit send, then closed her computer…

  “Thanks for meeting me here.” He slid the hoodie off his head and raked his fingers through his hair to smooth out the rumpled tresses. His heart was thumping like a damn jackrabbit as he looked into Egypt’s beautiful dark brown eyes.

  “Yeah, well, thanks for reaching out so we can catch up.” She stood before him right outside the restaurant. He’d gotten there early and watched her park. He couldn’t wait to see her, and now that he was looking at her face to face, his entire world exploded inside his mind.

  “Damn. You haven’t changed a bit, Egypt.”

  “Well, there’s a little less of me now.” She winked. “Still could stand to shed a few more pounds.”

  “Nah, you were good then and you’re good now. You’re perfect the way ya are, no changes needed. Ya still got that pretty smile, too.” She blushed at his words.

  “Where would it go?” She shrugged. “I carry it with me wherever I go.”

  “There’s a table right ova here.” Jordan pointed to a spot inside CoCo Leaf Dessert Café as he held the door open for her. “Have a seat and I’ll put your order in.” Entering the establishment, she pointed beyond the long line of patrons towards the menu up high on the wall.

  “I’ll have the CHÈ LYCHEE, and a passion berry crepe. My usual.”

  “Got it.” He watched as she made her way to the recently vacated table, then stood in line to place their orders. It was sunny outside, causing some of the ice and snow to melt away, making a slick mess of the sidewalks and roads. He crossed his arms and read the menu, wondering why they didn’t just offer plain ol’ coffee at this place.

  When she’d contacted him back, he’d been pleasantly surprised. He’d held little hope of hearing from her, and he’d half expected her to delete and block him. But later, he’d been so damn surprised and elated that she’d called back and they’d discussed a meeting place over the phone. If she’d said she wanted to go to the circus and he had to dress as a fucking clown, he’d have done that, too.

  “Hey, yeah, this is Vietnamese stuff, right?” The woman behind the counter smiled and nodded. “All right, let me get the CHÈ LYCHEE, hope I’m saying that right, and passion berry crepe for my friend here, and uh, let’s see, for me, let me try the coconut smoothie and… oh, wait, scratch that coconut smoothie. Wait a minute. Ya got espressos and cappuccinos I see, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right, now we’re talkin’.” He rubbed his hands together. “Let me get a large espresso. Yeah, one of those. Reg. That’ll be it for me.” He completed the order, paid, and stepped aside as it was being made. Soon, he had a tray and made his
way to Egypt, finding her with her head down, looking at her phone.

  He paused dead in his tracks. I just wanna take this in. She’s sitting there, smiling, reading something… It’s really her. It’s Egypt. I’m on a date with Egypt Callahan. Jesus, she looks friggin’ amazing. She was like, seventeen when I last saw her. She’s definitely all woman now. She slowly lifted her head and their eyes locked. He started to approach her once again, hoping she didn’t question why he’d been just standing there like a deer caught in headlights.

  “Here ya go.” He set her items down, rounded the table, and cleared the tray. “This looks good.” He sat down across from her and spread out the extra napkins.

  “You should try their food, too, Jordan. It’s excellent.”

  He tasted his expresso. It wasn’t half bad.

  “Egypt, I’m gonna get right to the point.” Her brow rose as she reached for her crepe and bit into it. “I’m not the kinda guy to beat around the bush, all right? You may or may not remember that about me.”

  “I do. Okay, what is it?” She was rather hard to read as she swallowed, then made a move for her drink.

  “I left for college and didn’t tell ya. I mean, you knew I had been accepted into UCLA and that I was leaving, but naturally, you would’ve expected me to stop by or something, and tell you goodbye. I didn’t. I just left. That was a messed up thing to do.”

  “It was.” She smiled, and oddly enough, it looked sincere.

  “I did it because I didn’t wanna say goodbye to you. I didn’t wanna feel that… I didn’t wanna have to look at cha.”

  “Wow. Thanks.” She chortled.

  “You know what the hell I mean. It was cowardly on my part, out of character. But, it was easier than saying goodbye and knowing it was for the final time. I knew that when I returned for visits, I wouldn’t come after ya. I’d made up my mind. You want to know why?”

  “I wanted to know why at the time. Now? Not as much.”

  “Well, I deserve that response, but I’m going to tell you anyway. I felt like… well, it was more like I convinced myself that what we had wasn’t real. It was just somethin’ interesting, different to do. I’d never been attracted to Black girls. Well, one that wasn’t a celebrity. I thought Robin Givens and Halle Berry were real nice lookin’ and—”

  “Technically, Halle Berry is biracial. Half Black, half White. She identifies as African American, but ethnically, she is only partially Black.”

  “Yeah? Well, me and my friends thought she was Black.”

  “Well, now you’ve said that, it changes everything. Since you went straight to the source of the gym locker-room commonwealth, the place where all verified information is intellectually sanctioned, I stand corrected. Please, though, don’t let me interrupt. Tell me more about how I wasn’t usually your type.” They stared at one another, and she burst out laughing. “Would you relax, Jordan? I’m just messing with you. Seriously, continue.”

  He didn’t know if she was kidding or not, and he was certain his expression said just that.

  “Anyway, the point is, I just never paid much attention to the Black girls who went to our high school. There wasn’t a whole lot of ya at the time, and the school is closed now, so I can’t say what the demographic would be this year or recent years past, but the whole problem was that I had convinced myself that you were just an experiment, or something that happened that I wasn’t prepared for. ’Cause honestly? I wasn’t prepared for it at all.”

  Her smile slowly paled. Long, elegant fingers reached for a napkin and tapped it along the sides of her glossy mouth. She looked away, lashes fluttering, then she glanced down, and around, before facing him once again.

  “I’m sorry, Egypt. I owe you a big ass apology.”

  “Okay. I accept your apology. So, you stated that you had recently traveled to London on business. That’s ironic because at work we’ve been having some—”

  “That’s it?” He threw up his hands, a crawling, itching, pain growing inside of him. One that born so long ago and now reignited. “That’s all you have to say? ‘Okay?’”

  “What would you prefer me to say, Jordan?” Her voice was dry. Sucked of essence and vitality. Her eyes were devoid of emotion – dark brown abysses with no life lighting the edges of mahogany tones and golden full moons. Gone were the candlelit flickers that had made his heart skip so many times before.

  “Yell at me. Cuss me out, shit, throw ya drink at me. That’s the only thing I couldn’t stand about ya, Egypt.” He snatched his napkin and balled it up tight in his fist. “The madder you were, the quieter you became. It was the fuckin’ worst!” People began to turn in his direction. One guy kept on ogling, his jaws stretched wide like a chipmunks with a jaw full of nuts. “What are ya lookin’ at, huh? Chowdahead, I’m not talkin’ to you! Bust a u-ey and turn tha fuck around.”

  The man rolled his eyes and grunted.

  “Well, that was sweet. I see you’re still a hot head.” She sipped on her drink, then drummed her oval-shaped pink panted nails against the table. “Look, I’m not going to waste my breath yelling at you, Jordan. It’s a waste of energy. You know what you did was wrong. I definitely know what you did was wrong. We were kids then, so less in the know of how to handle awkward situations. Therefore, I tried to cut you some slack. Yes, it hurt. Yes, I was upset. Yes, I didn’t want to talk to you for a long time – even if you’d tried to talk to me. Which ya didn’t, but I digress. I felt like you were ashamed of me. You’ve all but confirmed it. Except for that one time when you left, I could at least always count on you to be honest. I had said that you were—”

  “E, listen to me.” He reached across the table and grabbed her hands, squeezing them tight. He stared into her soulful eyes and about died. I can’t lie to these eyes. This is why I couldn’t even tell her goodbye. “Ya think I’m proud of what I did? I’m not. You were the only one who didn’t wanna be around me because I was popular, or because of superficial shit. You liked me for me. Hell, you didn’t even know I was on the football team until ya saw my cleats in my bag that day.” She lowered her gaze for a spell then looked back up at him. “You hung with a different circle of friends. Shit’s crazy, right?” He managed a slight smile, though his soul was burning at each word he uttered, the unforgiving veracity tumbling forward.

  “Egypt… the plan was to see ya, take you out for a drink, have a nice, light-hearted conversation, let bygones be bygones. As a bonus, you’d help absolve me of guilt, ya know, in this head movie of mine, and then I’d give ya a hug and kiss on the cheek goodbye, and off I’d go. But fuck if this shit didn’t backfire.” Her lips curved in a smile. “When I heard ya on the phone, you sounded so good. The shyness was gone, and all that was left was this sultry, sexy voice. We talked a bit, caught up, made these plans to see each other in person. I saw you pull up, park, get out cha car, and then you walked up to me with that long white coat swinging, diamonds around ya sunglasses, and this thick mane of fuckin’ jet black curly hair. I stared at you in those jeans and heeled boots, gold around ya neck like you’re some movie star, and with just that one look at cha, my mouth watered and my dick got hard.”

  He could tell she was trying to keep from laughing, but he was dead serious.

  “And crazier than that is, my heart is still like beating tha shit outta me, baby. It’s pumpin’ hard like I’m at the gym tryna break a record. This has all gone wrong, or maybe, just maybe, it’s all gone right.” He squeezed her hands again, and they were quiet as they regarded one another. “I need to hear it before I make a fool of myself.”

  “Hear what?”

  “What I believe is true, but I need to hear it come out of your mouth with my own two ears. I need ya to tell me that you cared about me. I need to see you react, Egypt. Show some emotions. This should’ve never happened. I know that. We should’ve remained friends, at the very least, and then perhaps, when we got older, this would’ve been a seamless transition. Not one season has gone past where you haven’t cro
ssed my mind since I’ve been gone. Even when I’d come into town every now and again, I’d think about you. I never pulled the trigger until now. I need some fucking fire from you… like the first time I kissed you…”

  “You want to see emotion from me? You want proof that I cared?”

  “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”

  “Fine. Here it is, Jordan, in black and white, but first,” she put her finger up to stress her point, “you have to promise to take me back, walk us back to that time and space so long ago. I want to know why you let our situation go down like this. Tell me everything, Jordan. I want the damn truth. I want you to reach in deep and tell me the whole story. How did this happen? How could you do something like that?!”

  “I promise to tell you every fuckin’ thing you ask.”

  She narrowed her eyes, her expression suspicious. He couldn’t say he blamed her.

  “Jordan, you and I were friends, damn good friends. I deserved better than that, but ya know what? So did you!” A wave of shame rushed over him once again. His face heated at her words. “You went off to college and I never heard another word from you. Not even a letter. I was confused! I felt rejected. I wondered for the longest if I had done something wrong. You knew how I struggled in high school. You knew it hadn’t been easy for me. Yes, I had a lot of friends. I was a part of various groups and programs. On the outside, things looked normal, but damn it, you knew my story.”

  He could tell she was fighting herself – fighting those emotions. “My family was great, too, but I was still that fat girl who heard jokes about herself, even from people who loved me. It wasn’t funny. It hurt, but I’d laugh right along with them. Do you know how humiliating that was? I was still that Black girl in a majority White school. I deserved to be in those special classes. I was in the honors and exceptional program for a reason!