Wednesday at Noon

by Teneka Woods

  Tora wanted to leave. She hated feeling like she was the cause of another argument between his family.

  Nate said, “Mama, is it really that big of a deal? It’s not like we don’t have extra chairs in this house. Do you want me to bring in one from the library for Levi?”

  “You are not removing my chairs from the library, son—”

  “Then he can sit at the bar in the kitchen. Or will that be a problem? Better yet, me and Tora will take our plates to the kitchen. We’ll eat in there. Come on, baby,” he said, and Tora was glad to go.

  “Sit down,” Victoria yelled. “Both of you.”

  Tora eased back into her seat, her eyes on the table as if she had just been reprimanded by her own mother.

  “I swear, Nate, you’re really being dramatic right now.”

  “I’m being dramatic?”

  Tora wanted to shake him and tell him to just let it go. She glanced at his father, who gave her a look as if to say he was just as embarrassed as she was.

  “Sit down, son,” Victoria said again. “All of us eat together. As a family. You know this.”

  His brothers and sisters-in-law never said a word.

  Nate finally plopped down in his seat. He pointed a finger and said, “Mind your business, Kaneesa.”

  Kaneesa pushed back from the table and rushed out of the room.

  * * *

  Tora lay in bed waiting for Nate. He was in the kitchen cooking breakfast for her. It was a little after two in the morning and she woke up hungry. The atmosphere at the Walkers’ Sunday dinner was tense the entire time—for her especially—and she’d lost her appetite and couldn’t eat. It all started when Nate’s sister and her fiancé finally arrived. Kaneesa found her way back to the dinner table and took the opportunity to badger Nate again. And it seemed she couldn’t wait to rehash Tora’s lack of professionalism at Sunny’s engagement party, which prompted Victoria to question her work ethics as well. Nate came to her defense and reminded them it was his idea to leave the party early, and that if they didn’t see a problem with Levi’s absence for the majority of the engagement, they should have nothing to say about his and Tora’s leave. Levi didn’t like this, however, and it led to a heated exchange between him and Nate.

  Tora sat there dumbfounded, disbelieving that all the chaos began over a seat at the dinner table.

  Mr. Walker was finally able to calm everybody down and Tora took a bite of food just to do something with her hands.

  Mrs. Walker’s cornbread dressing was full of onion and celery. Tora tolerated celery, but she flat-out detested onion. The raw smell of them, the taste of them always nauseated her. Perhaps Mrs. Walker sensed her disgust because she glanced at Tora at the precise moment she’d gagged and spit the dressing into Mrs. Walker’s platinum-colored paisley cloth napkin.

  —Is there a problem with the food?

  Tora felt like a cat caught with the family’s pet bird in her mouth.

  All of them were looking at her.

  She couldn’t admit she disliked the dressing due to the onion, because to say that would have been the equivalent of saying she didn’t like Mrs. Walker’s cooking. So she said the first thing that came to mind.

  —I thought there was a hair.

  Mrs. Walker stared at her a moment before turning to her husband:

  —Gerald, in the thirty-five years I have been cooking for you, have you ever had a hair in your food?

  Mr. Walker shook his head no. Then Mrs. Walker went around the table asking each one if they’d ever encountered a strand in all the years they dined at her table.

  Tora felt herself sinking with embarrassment, wanting to disappear into the wall.

  “Of all the things I could’ve said, why would I say something like that?” She sat up in the bed when Nate entered the room. “Why couldn’t I just tell the truth and say I don’t like no freakin’ onions?” She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

  “You’re really making a big deal out of nothing, babe. I told you it’s nothing to worry about.” He handed her the plate and set a glass of water on the nightstand.

  “I didn’t mean to insult her,” Tora sighed.

  “Will you stop? You did not insult her. You thought there was a hair in your food, so—”

  “But it wasn’t!”

  “Okay, but it can happen. No big deal,” he shrugged and climbed in bed beside her.

  She appreciated that he was trying to make her feel better about the situation, but it also frustrated her at the same time because he didn’t understand how much of an embarrassment it was.

  He kissed the side of her arm and said, “I can get used to this.”

  “To what?” she asked.

  “Breakfast in bed with you. Can I have a bite?”

  She rolled her eyes playfully. “Why didn’t you make enough to have a plate of your own?” She fed him a forkful of the blueberry pancakes.

  “I don’t eat this late.” He laid back on his pillows and watched her as she ate. “There’s something I gotta tell you,” he said after a while.

  She scraped the last bit of crumbs into her mouth and set the plate on the nightstand. She took a drink of water. “Okay?” she said.

  “Me and Kaneesa hooked up.”

  She turned to him, an eyebrow raised.

  “I just wanted you to hear it straight from me first.”

  “What do you mean you hooked up? When did this happen?”

  “Last Christmas. At our Christmas party.”

  “Oh. So y’all used to date?”

  “No. We were just good friends for a very long time.”

  “I see,” she nodded. “Friends with benefits?”

  “Not even that. We hooked up just that one time. I was drunk.”

  Tora rolled her eyes. “Now it all makes sense. Now I know why it seems she has a problem with me. What did you do to her?”

  “I didn’t do anything. I mean… I told her where we stand, that we can’t have anything going on. Sunny and my mama think we’re perfect for each other though. Not me. She’s like my sister.”

  Tora twisted her lips.

  “Seriously. And I regret we did it because now she hates my guts.”

  “The awkwardness of it all,” she groaned, and settled underneath the covers. “I guess I won’t make it in Mrs. Walker’s good graces, either.”

  He pulled her close to lay on his chest.

  “I don’t want any drama, Nate,” she nudged his side.

  “What?”

  “From Kaneesa. Or you. Or anybody else.”

  “There won’t be any drama. What are you talking about, woman?”

  “I’m just letting you know.”

  “C’mon,” he chuckled, and kissed her forehead. “We need to get some sleep for our workout in a few hours. I let you off the hook these past couple of weeks, but we gotta get back at it. My alarm is set for seven.”

  “Please,” she said. “You can work out all you want to, but when that alarm goes off you better not disturb my sleep if you know what’s best for you. I’ll be here when you get back.” She ignored the stunned look on his face and closed her eyes as she snuggled closer to him.

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  It was a rare thing for Geo to send a text message; even rarer for him to make a phone call, so when Nate glanced at his smartphone to check the time while Vaughn performed leg curls he was surprised to see both a text and missed call from his brother. He knew it had to be something major.

  Have you talked to Sunny? read the text message.

  Nate texted him back. No. why what’s up?

  Geo’s response came ten minutes later. The wedding is off. Levi did something stupid. I’ll call you after my workshop.

  It was the wrong thing to tell Nate because now his mind was racing, wondering what exactly Geo was talking about. What did Levi do?

  He couldn’t stop thinking about it as he coached Vaughn through some weighted squats, and he considered leaving Vaughn alone while he snuck away to make
a call to Sunny, but he wouldn’t walk away from his client unless there was an absolute emergency. Geo would have mentioned it if Sunny was hurt.

  At least, Nate hoped he would.

  “I’m taking him shopping for school clothes this weekend,” Leticia said when they all sat down at Nate’s desk. “He’s excited about that because his old clothes are so loose on him now.”

  Nate nodded at Vaughn, who sat trying to be cool and not blush. “I’m excited for you, man. You worked hard these past few weeks. I’m really proud that you’ve been keeping up a routine on the days we don’t see each other. It’s gonna be tough now that you’re going back to school, with your new schedule and everything, so I want you to come up with a plan to still get some exercise in. After school, maybe.”

  Leticia said, “You’ll see us around. He asked me to add him to my membership. I was surprised he wanted to join me on a walk around the neighborhood yesterday.”

  “That’s the way to do it. It makes exercise fun sometimes when you have a partner.” Nate was truly proud to see Vaughn making changes, and the way Leticia beamed at her son he knew she was, too. His phone vibrated in his pocket. “Unless you need anything else from me we can call it a wrap.”

  They stood and Nate walked them to the door. “See you tomorrow,” Leticia said, giving him a brief hug.

  He made a mental note to ask her at their next session how her date went.

  Back at his desk, he returned Geo’s call. “What’s up, G? What’s going on with Sunny and Levi?”

  “Actually, Bryan is the one who told me about it. He said he called Pop about something and Pop told him. Supposedly Levi is caught up in some kinda gambling scheme and owe some people some money. Pop said like ten grand—”

  “Ten grand?!” Nate said. “Who the fuck would loan Levi ten thousand dollars?”

  “That’s what we all wanna know, but Bryan said Pop told him Sunny called Ma all upset because Levi is supposedly receiving threatening phone calls, and he let Sunny listen to one of the messages, and so now she’s all upset and worried. She told Ma she had about thirty-five hundred in savings, and asked if she and Pop could loan them the rest.”

  Nate shook his head in disgust. He knew early in his sister’s relationship she was dealing with a trifling man, but he never imagined Levi would have her involved in something like this.

  Geo said, “So Sunny told Ma they need to just cancel the wedding altogether, and of course this pissed Ma off because of all the money they spent on everything and she already sent out the invitations—”

  “This is so fucked up, man,” Nate shook his head again, “but I’m glad she canceled that shit to be honest. What the hell is Levi doing gambling if he don’t even have a job? Was he taking money out of Sunny’s account or some shit?”

  “I have no idea about that, but this is crazy. Ten grand?” Geo whistled. “How can you owe someone ten grand? Wouldn’t you stop lending them money after they didn’t pay back the first grand? The first one hundred?”

  “Something’s not right,” Nate said. “And what’s really fucked up is how Sunny has to cover for him.”

  * * *

  “What are you sitting there looking mad about?”

  He didn’t realize his feelings showed on his face. He smiled despite how pissed he was. Seeing Tora lifted his mood a little. “I was pouting because I came home and you weren’t here.”

  She dropped her purse and tote bag on the floor and rushed over to the couch, hopping onto his lap.

  “Girl?!” She laughed and kissed him softly and he decided it didn’t matter that she’d just body-dived on top of his penis.

  “I had to go home and check on my babies,” she said. “It’s bad enough I leave them alone and I’m spending so much time here with you. Silk followed me around, whining the whole time I was packing my overnight bag. I think he knew I wasn’t coming back home for the night.”

  “You’re gonna have to get rid of your cats.”

  She looked at him as if he’d told her to hose them down with water before electrocuting them. “Are you outta your mind? I’m not getting rid of my cats!”

  “Chill, babe,” he chuckled, “I’m only joking.”

  “Don’t play with me about my babies, okay?”

  “So how are we gonna do this? You know I can’t stay at your place. And I like the idea of coming home to you every day.”

  She tilted her head to consider it, then said, “I don’t know what we’re gonna do, Nate, but my cats ain’t going nowhere that’s for sure.”

  “Well I guess you’ll be driving home every day after work to check on them before coming here.”

  “You are crazy!”

  He leaned forward and kissed her neck. His lower half throbbed in response to her straddling his lap.

  “Seriously though… why were you looking so mean when I walked in?” Tora asked.

  His mood quickly deflated. “I was just thinking about my sister and her stupid-ass boyfriend. That’s all. Oh… and the wedding’s off.”

  “Oh my god. Why? What happened?” She slid out of his lap and sat beside him.

  “The guy is in some kind of financial trouble, owing somebody thousands of dollars, and he got my sister involved trying to bail his ass out of the situation.”

  “That’s terrible. Who does he owe money to?”

  “I have no idea. I tried calling my sister after I left the gym to find out what’s going on, but she didn’t answer my call.”

  Tora shook her head.

  “It’s fucked up. She don’t need to be dealing with this type of shit while she’s pregnant.”

  “Exactly,” Tora said.

  “Anyway….” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed the side of her face. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore because it just pisses me off. What do you want for dinner? Should we order in or do you wanna go out?”

  “Oooh… I could use a margarita right now. Let’s go out.”

  Nate got up from the sofa to grab his keys from the bar counter. “A spontaneous dinner out with my lady on a weeknight? This is what I live for now,” he smiled, and followed her outside.

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  Maybe it was her body’s need to make up for lost time, or maybe it was just that he turned her on, but the pulsing between her legs made her roll over on top of him for the third time.

  “Again?” he said, smiling up at her.

  Tora leaned forward and kissed him in response, her hand moving down between them for his penis. She guided him inside. She straightened her back and began to roll her hips. It took only a second before his flesh swelled to its full length, sending ripples of ecstasy up her spine at the feel of it sliding in and out of her. No matter how many times they made love she was always anticipating the next time.

  Her pace quickened and soon her body was slick with perspiration. Sweat trickled down behind her ears and down her neck onto her chest.

  Nate palmed her breasts, firmly squeezing them as if they were his anchor for the wild ride she was giving him. His breath came out in sharp gasps as Tora rode him faster and faster, the bed screeching in rhythm with her movements.

  She closed her eyes and threw her head back. No other man’s body melded so perfectly with hers. No one else had felt this good.

  Tora reached back and gripped his knees with her hands as she bucked her hips with unbridled fervor.

  “Get up.”

  Her body sizzled. Every nerve was on fire.

  “Get up,” she heard him say again. But she couldn’t get up. Not when she was in a state of heated passion, just on the verge of euphoria. Tora leaned forward, planted her hands on his chest, and began to bounce her hips. Nate sucked in deep breaths, and Tora felt his legs tighten beneath her.

  Sweat rolled down her forehead, stinging her eyes, but not even the irritation could slow her down. She squeezed her eyes closed, giving in to the forceful climax overtaking her body.

  Nate’s outcry, the liquid warmth of his satis
faction, mingled with her own.

  * * *

  The apartment reeked of hot garbage when she entered it two days later. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she’d taken the trash out, but that was the least of her worries because her kittens came trotting out from her bedroom when they heard the jingle of her keys, mewing loudly as if they hadn’t seen her in ages.

  “Hi,” Tora cooed. “I missed you, too.” She picked them up and carried them over to the sofa and sat down. Whoever said they preferred dogs above cats because cats are not affectionate just didn’t know her cats. She giggled as Mink and Silk appeared to be in competition with each other to see who could give her the most licks and headbutts. And she welcomed all of that love because she had no plans to see Nate later that evening.

  “You wanna go outside? We can go outside,” she told them. It was a gorgeous day and she figured they could use some sun. After gathering the trash to take to the dumpster, she put Mink on a leash and carried Silk in the sling tote.

  Once outdoors, she took her time walking to the trash receptacles since Mink was her usual curious self and wanted to sniff every bush and caress every flower along the way. They turned a corner and had to step around two young men carrying a sofa. She was a few feet past them when she heard one of the guys say:

  —Dude, you see that shit? She’s carrying that cat like it’s a baby. A fuckin’ baby! And what’s up with the one on the leash? That bitch is confused!

  Tora rolled her eyes and kept walking. It was too beautiful a day to let a manchild spoil her mood.

  She tossed the trash at the dumpster site and then led Mink towards the courtyard. A woman and young girl around the age of four were sitting at one of the tables enjoying ice cream cones. Suddenly Tora wanted an ice cream cone. A chocolate fudge-dipped one from Dairy Queen.

  “Mom, look! Kitties!” the girl said, leaving her cone on the table and hopping down from the bench before her mother had a chance to stop her. She ran right up to Mink and dropped to her knees.

  “Harley, no!” her mother shouted.

  “It’s okay,” Tora laughed as the girl roughed Mink’s head.