The Christmas Quilts

by Olivia Gaines

  “Anything she can do, I would appreciate,” Cody said, feeling better about his prospects and life. Antoine made the call and Bisa’s voice could be heard through the phone. A sweet, thoughtful sort of tone which almost sounded more melodic than vocal. It wasn’t his intention, but Cody eavesdropped on the call as Antoine phoned the quilt shop.

  Listening in, Cody picked up on several very important details. The shop closed at six. Antoine could not make it over tonight since he had to work late, and he closed the call telling the woman he cherished her. The sound of Bisa’s voice through the thin cubicle wall and the disappointment in her words were very clear to Cody. So were a few other things.

  One, Antoine didn’t have to work late. Two, he was taking Felicity in Procurement out for drinks tonight. Three, Antoine was cheating on this woman. The last one Cody didn’t need to speculate on; he knew it for a fact as Antoine constantly bragged on his weekend conquests. The name Bisa had never come up in their Monday conversations of his hi-jinx that seemed to fill his Friday nights. He must only spend time with this Bisa during the week and on Sundays for dinner.

  None of which were his business or his concern.

  His focus was on the quilts and getting them done by Christmas.

  “Dude, she is working late this evening, but she lives above the shop, so she’s gonna be there. I told her to expect you,” he said.

  “Hey, snap a picture of me and send it to her,” Cody suggested.

  “Why? You trying to make a move on my girl?” Antoine asked, jokingly.

  “No, for safety. Just so she can know that I am who I say I am when I come to her shop and that you sent me,” he said, peeking his head around the corner of the cubicle.

  “Fine, whatever,” Antoine said, pulling out his cell. “Smile.”

  Cody’s arms were crossed as he looked at the phone and Antoine with a bit of contempt. He didn’t care for dishonesty, whether it was sneaking off for drinks with the office vixen or telling someone you cherished them when you aren’t sure you meant it is not the kind of way to have a lasting relationship.

  “It’s none of your business, Cody,” Cody said softly.

  “What are you getting on about now, Cody?” Antoine asked.

  “Nothing, you just told her you were working late when you are taking Felicity out for drinks,” Cody said, feeling stupid for commenting.

  “I am taking Felicity out to get in good with her to make sure I get what I need for this next project in a timely manner,” Antoine said.

  “Oh,” Cody replied. “So you are working late.”

  “Yeah, Bisa doesn’t really understand corporate life. She’s always been involved as some form of self-employed fabric artist. Her world is different. I am trying to make some moves here, move up the ladder,” he said with a smile too charming for it to be sincere.

  From what Cody knew of the man, his climb up the ladder seemed to come from making moves on the female co-workers in the office. Had he not overheard the conversation, he would have never guessed that Antoine was in a relationship with anyone other than himself. For the oddest reason, the sound of this Bisa’s disappointed voice through the phone bothered him.

  I will go with a peace offering. Maybe it will better my chances of getting the quilts done. Bisa. What kind of name is that?

  “Hey Antoine, would it be okay if I went with a peace offering of dinner since you can’t take her out tonight? You know, strengthen my chances of getting her help with these quilts?” Cody said, wondering why the heck he was asking Antione’s permission.

  “That would be cool. I would appreciate it as well. That way it reduces the amount of pissed-offness she will have with me for missing another date,” Antoine said.

  “Maybe I should get on her good side by bringing some Chinese food or something, I mean, since you are not going to make dinner. What do you think?”

  “Chinese food! No pork. She doesn’t eat pork, gluten, or anything with MSG in it,” he said. “As a matter of fact, a bowl of lettuce with three twigs in, drizzled in a balsamic glaze, covered in fairy dust would be more to her liking. She has worrisome eating habits which make dining out or a meal a pain in my butt. Sometimes you just want a pizza and some wings, not a lecture on the amount of food resting in my colon until the day I die.”

  “Got it,” Cody said to Antoine, one eye brow raised at his diatribe. “Pork, gluten, MSG.”

  “And red meat. She doesn’t eat red meat,” Antoine added. “Good Lord, the lecture she gives you on red meat makes you want to swear off a hamburger for the rest of your life. Shrimp. I ain’t eating nothing which poops in its own shell.’”

  He added no red meat to his list as Antoine stood there mimicking his girlfriend with his hand on hips looking totally ridiculous. Cody dismissed his rantings, focusing instead on his own plans for the evening. This was going to make dinner selection tough, but he was never one to back away from a challenge. A second odd feeling came over him which surprised Cody Richardson. He was excited.

  Challenges always excited him.

  Bisa Washington was going to provide Cody with one of the most unusual challenges he had ever faced in his entire life.

  Chapter Two – Gathering the Tools

  The six o’clock hour approached as Cody sat impatiently waiting for Mr. Huang to complete his dinner orders. Evidently, ordering food with no gluten or MSG in it took more time than usual in a Chinese take-out joint, giving Cody pause to consider what he was putting in his body. An order of chicken with vegetables in brown sauce and a side of white rice and rice noodles were the menu for the night. He preferred a bowl of hot and sour soup, but he didn’t want to order something the lady wouldn’t be able to enjoy. The last thing he wanted to do was to eat food in front of her which she couldn’t sample but he was ordering the shrimp. If she didn’t eat shellfish, he didn’t care. I like shrimp.

  I also like fried rice.

  With the MSG.

  That, he wanted to order separately, but refrained.

  In some ways, he wished he’d gotten her number, but he did have the name of the shop. If he found himself running later than planned, he would use an APP on his phone to search for the business and make the call. Antoine mentioned she lived above the shop, so hopefully, being a little late wouldn’t leave him standing out in the cold holding the bag, so to speak, of cold Chinese takeout with no real flavor.

  He arrived at The Quilting B right at 6:30. The lights were still on and a few people sat around a large work table. Using his knuckles, he created a light tap on the glass door, causing every head at the corner table to turn with all eyes focused on him. He waved with his free hand.

  Idiot. You sent a picture of yourself, but didn’t ask for one of the lady you are set to meet. It never occurred to him that others would be in the shop. Antoine was African American, but his tastes in woman varied, so assuming Bisa was also the same would have been stupid. At least three of the women at the table could have been the owner of the shop. Two other elderly ladies he ruled out, then shook his head at the idea of Antoine dating a cougar.

  A statuesque African American woman with coiled strands of hair came to the door with a warm smile.

  “Hi, I’m Cody Richardson. Antoine called you about me,” he said, waiting for her to open the door wider.

  “Of course. I am Bisa, come in,” she said with a melodic voice. “I am wrapping up our Friday Quilt Club and a few final details before tomorrow’s exhibit at the museum.”

  “Museum?” he asked, confused.

  “Yes, the Annual Quilt Exhibit opened today at the Aiken Museum. Our quilting bee, or rather our guild, has two quilts on display this year. We are very proud of the work we produced,” she said, ushering him inside. “You brought food?”

  Bisa’s eyes were on the bags as the smell of the food reminded her of an empty stomach.

  “I hope this was okay. Antoine mentioned you had dinner plans that he had to cancel, so I brought dinner. Besides, I thought that if I came
with food it would better my chances of getting your help,” he said with a straight face. Striking. Exotic. Attractive. Three words that popped into his head when he gazed at her full on.

  “That is sweet, but I have some dietary restrictions,” she said softly, wishing she could eat the food. Tonight would be a late night and she didn’t have time to cook nor go out and pick up something.

  “I have chicken with vegetables in a brown sauce, white rice, no MSG, no gluten, and rice noodles with more veggies,” he said. “I did not bring any dessert, though.”

  “Wow, okay...that works,” she said, looking at the bags again, then at the table of folks. “Let me close this out and we can eat, chat, and I can see what I can do to assist you with your dilemma.”

  Two years. Two years she’d been dating Antoine and he had never shown up with food that she could nor would want to eat. She pointed to her work space, which was clear, indicating he could place the food there.

  “Okay everyone. I think we all have our marching instructions for the weekend. Thank you for all your hard work on this year’s quilts, and I am proud that we have two that we were able to enter in the 2017 exhibit,” Bisa told the ladies. “I look forward to seeing most of you at some point tomorrow. Don’t forget to log your volunteer hours.”

  Most of the group rose, collecting their belongings and heading out the side door to the parking lot. A few gave him a side eye glance as they said their goodnights. One older lady had not moved from the table. Cody’s attention was now focused on her. Maybe her Mom?

  I think I have enough food.

  Why would it matter if she stayed or not?

  I might have to grovel. I don’t want her to see me grovel. Leave lady. Get your little bag of needle and thread and leave.

  “Whatchu staring at me for? You tryna rush me out the door so you can be alone with Bisa, ain’t you?” she said loudly to Cody.

  His eyebrows shot up, his mouth dropped open at being caught in his thoughts. Cody swallowed hard.

  “No Ma’am, I am not trying to rush you out. I’m certain Bisa has had a full day, she is starving, and tomorrow is going to be a long day at the museum. I’m worried that already, I am taking up her valuable time,” he said.

  “Oh, hogwash and poppycock. A man comes through the door carrying that much food, he is ready to start a relationship,” she said.

  “Really? A relationship?” Cody said, almost blushing.

  “Yep. If she eats all that food, ain’t no way either of you gon’ be trying to do anything else. Nobody wants to get sexy with a full belly,” Clara said with her lip twisted.

  “What if the food is for after we work up an appetite?” Cody said and kicked himself in the butt mentally for even implying such a thing.

  “Then you would be two steps ahead of that current loser she is seeing,” Clara said, standing slowing. The sound of her old joints creaked in protest as she got to her feet. “That sad sack of nonsense comes through the door every week with empty arms looking for something to eat. I ain’t ever seen that thang bring her anything to eat that she didn’t need to cook.”

  Cody didn’t know why she was telling him all of this. His face said as much as he watched a cute little red sports car pull up to the front door. Bisa was still saying farewell to the customers going out the side. He was grateful that she hadn’t heard his comment. It wouldn’t bode well in his desire to get her help.

  “I see that look on your face, and you wondering why I'm saying all this you," Clara added. “I’m saying it because it is my prayer that you show her how a man treats a woman of quality. Right now, she is so busy, she is just accepting his treatment because she ain’t got nobody else."

  “Are you her mother?”

  “No, I ain’t no kin to that child, but it doesn’t stop me from caring about her,” she told him.

  “Her world is the better for having you in it,” he said with a smile.

  “If you are a part of the plans for bettering her world, I look forward to seeing where this goes,” she said, patting his arm as she walked past.

  Cody didn't have any plans for Antoine's girlfriend other than getting her help to make his Nana's quilts by next Christmas. True, Antoine was a bit of a snake when it came to women, but he was also transparent. In Cody’s mind, any woman choosing to rest her head beside a snake had no right to complain if it bit her on the lips.

  He ate his words along with the non-MSG coated dinner as he spent nearly two hours in the company of Bisa Washington, a quilter with big interwoven dreams of fabric greatness. A dream that could not be seen by the likes of a self-centered man like Antoine Sharps, whose focus was on getting ahead in the game by using any woman he deemed necessary. Cody admonished himself for being so judgmental before the woman even had a conversation with him. However, something about her soft ways he appreciated as she set a mock table for dinner for the two of them on the corner of her desk. The old woman Clara’s protectiveness made him want to do the same. By the end of the evening, he was starting to agree with the insightful old woman. Bisa was too busy to see how poisonous the smooth-talking Antoine was, and the lady deserved better.

  THE FEW TIMES ANTOINE mentioned his “girl” in conversation to him, he’d painted his girlfriend as a clingy woman who was artsy-fartsy with odd eating habits. The woman in front of him was warm and cordial, and it was a delight to be in her company. He truly hoped she would be able to help him, not just in getting the quilts completed, because Cody wanted to know more about her.

  “Tell me Cody, how may I help you? If not help you, at least pay you back for feeding me tonight. We are at the height of quilting season with last minute touches on Christmas presents, women wanting to get back to making crafts for their homes, or teaching the next generation a time-honored craft,” Bisa said.

  “Christmas presents are the main reason I am here. My grandmother Lily Rose has been quilting for years. Unfortunately, she only makes the tops. There are twenty-four tops made for each member of our family. Her 90th birthday is next Christmas Eve and she tasked me with getting the tops made into quilts,” he said. He scrunched his nose at the shrimp which at first seemed like a good idea, but now, they were just stinking up the quaint shop.

  “By next Christmas is going to be a tall order,” Bisa told him.

  “Bisa...may I call you Bisa?”

  “Of course,” she said, nibbling on a sliver of carrot.

  “Bisa, my Nana is quite possibly the sweetest woman on this earth. She gave birth to four children, one of which is my dad, who was named after my grandfather, Big Bart. She never asks for anything from anyone. Nana asked me to get this done. I brought dinner in hopes of maybe worming my way into your good graces and you would help me,” Cody said, looking her in the eyes.

  “Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, and getting my business off the ground, I could use the revenue, but when we are looking at the timetable, I can’t meet your deadline,” she told him.

  “May I ask why?”

  She blushed slightly as she stood. “I need something to drink. Can I get you a cup of tea?”

  “Hot or cold?”

  “Hot,” she said smiling. “It is better for you.”

  “No thanks,” he said. Cody prepared himself to meet the woman Antoine complained about. The idea that the nice woman whom he shared a meal with was going to vanish and a neck-rolling stereotype was going to come out, put him on edge.

  “Okay, I have a pitcher of cold tea in the fridge. Help yourself,” she said with a smile.

  He slowly went to the fridge, opening the door to find a rainbow of vegetables, fruits, and items he didn’t recognize. Everything looked appealing as he reached for the pitcher of tea filled with chunks of peach, rosemary, and orange slices. Grabbing a cup, he poured a little, sipping it, surprised at how delicious the elixir felt rolling across his tongue.

  “This is awesome,” he said, pouring full glass.

  “It has no sugar,” she told him.

  “Color
me impressed,” he said.

  “I will make you a container to go,” she said. “But, back to the quilts. Two per month is tough, especially with my schedule.”

  “You have a lot of classes coming up?”

  “I am working on obtaining my Master Quilter Certification. I am making a queen-sized quilt from scratch and I am submitting it in October in Paducah, Kentucky for judging. It has to be perfect,” she said. “Almost every free moment will be spent working on it, so making your Grandmother’s quilts in that time frame, I can’t do.”

  “So, you are saying I am pretty much out of luck,” he mumbled, squeezing the glass in his hand.

  “Or, I could teach you to quilt and you do the work yourself,” she said.

  Chapter Three – The Set Up

  The glass nearly cracked in his hands. Surely, she doesn’t expect me to come sit in her shop with a bunch of old women, holding a needle and thread putting together little squares of fabric? He sat the glass down, crossing his arms over his midsection, staring at her like she’d just wrecked his car.

  “Oh, don’t give me that look. There are many men who quilt, knit, cross-stitch, and more to decompress and relieve stress. I suggested it because that is the only way you are going to get 24 quilts made by next Christmas unless you are planning to drop a grand a piece per quilt,” she told him. “Even if I called in favors, I could only get it down to maybe $800 per quilt and that is still cheap.”

  “How much would it cost if you did them, if you had the time?”

  “I would only charge you $500 per quilt, since you are local,” she said. “Still that is a lot of money. If you think about it, Cody, the quilts would mean so much more to both you and your Nana, if you put in the work. I am willing to teach you how.”

  The Chinese food was sitting like a lump in his stomach. He looked around the shop at the colorful quilt blocks hanging on the walls. On a rack were tools for measuring, cutting, and creating designs. This was a whole new world to him. I will feel like a fool or rather a guppy sitting in a cup watching the sharks swim in a tank.