by Roy Glenn
“So, what ever happened to Ricardo?” Juanita asked.
“We broke up. He was an asshole.”
“Really, I thought he was nice.”
“Just another liar from start to finish.”
“Give it up, girl. Don’t leave me hanging.”
“All right, all right.”
So Shy proceeded to tell Juanita a bit more animated version of the story she told Black. How Ricardo told her he had been seeing someone else and that they were getting married the following week.
“I said, this bitch mutha fucka gonna marry some other bitch and wants me to be his toy. Girl, what I wanna say that for. Jack snatched his ass up out of his chair. And they started to beat his ass. Then Jack and Tony dragged his sorry ass outside, and they beat that ass some more. I never heard from him again.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t press charges.”
“Not a chance. If he called the cops, the case would have gone to court. I can see it now, him and Ms. Thang sitting there looking pitiful. Then I take the stand crying. Yes your Honor, for three years I thought he was being faithful to me, but he was engaged to her the whole time. Missy starts tripping, yelling she’s lying. No, he wasn’t going to say anything.”
“If I said it once, I said it a million times, all men ain’t shit. All of them are liars.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Most of them are pretty bad.”
“Not most of them, all men.
“I hope not. There has to be a good one out there for me.”
“Yeah, but he’s with some white woman, or he’s doing time or worse, he was a good man until he met that man, now he’s a good woman,” Juanita said.
“You sound like you planning on switching. So which way you going; white men or women?”
“You know white men can’t jump. And women, ain’t that much licking in the world. No, Shy I got to have a nice stiff one. As sorry as black men are, they are still the only game in town for me.”
“I know that’s right. I met this guy last week; he might be all right.”
“Don’t bank on it.”
“I’m serious. This one has potential.”
“Is he rich?”
“Yeah, you can say that.”
“They’re worse. Men with money think they can lie or buy his way out of anything.”
Shy laughed. “That’s because they can afford it.”
“So, what’s he like?”
“He’s very romantic. He cooked a candlelight dinner for me at his club. He had a band playing just for us. Then one night we took a helicopter to Atlantic City for dinner. He is very attentive, and he is fascinating to talk to. And that’s what I like most is that he is so easy to talk to. Romantic, funny and on top of that, he is so fine.”
“Give him time. He’ll start dogging you soon.”
“I hope not. To his credit, he has been honest with me, more honest than he really needed to be. Because you know I questioned him, with my nosey ass.”
“What you talking about? I haven’t met an honest man yet. That’s actually a contradiction in terms.” Juanita tooted up her nose. “Huh, honest … man. No such thing,” she shot back.
“I don’t know now. Like he didn’t have to tell me all about the woman he’s messing with. I didn’t need to hear that, but I’m glad he told me. He’s told me things about himself.” She didn’t think Juanita needed to know about how he killed André. “And I’m talking about some serious stuff.”
“He has a motive. They all do. There is something he wants.”
“He already got it,” Shy smiled.
“And,” Juanita said, leaning forward in her chair.
Shy picked up her napkin, leaned back in her chair, and began to fan herself. “Girl,” she said shaking her head, “let’s just say I was mad at myself for leaving him last night before I got some.”
“Oh, so he’s all that,” Juanita said with much attitude.
“All that!” Shy said with authority.
“So what’s his name?”
“Mike Black.”
“Vicious Black? You’re seeing Vicious Black? You come a long way from Ricardo.”
“I guess you know him.”
“Well, kinda. I went to one of his parties a long time ago. It was out on the Island at somebody’s mansion. That was the wildest party I ever went to. Plenty of food, plenty of liquor, sex, drugs, fine ass men. The only thing missing was the drunk swinging from the chandelier,” Juanita joked. “You know he use to mess with Sheila’s cousin Dez. She used to talk about him all the time.”
“I never met her.”
“You didn’t miss anything. Nasty bitch.”
“Were they close?” Shy asked, hoping she’d say no.
“No. That’s why I never met him. If he was at the party, she never saw him. She hung out with us the whole night. She disappeared for about an hour, but when she came back she said she still hadn’t seen him.”
“When was this?” Shy asked.
“One summer I came home from college, ah, after our sophomore year. See what you missed going to summer school every year,” Juanita replied. Shy wondered if she had met him back then would they have fallen in love with each other.
Probably not.
She did the math. As near as she could figure, that would have been some time after Black killed André. He was with Regina, messing around with Dez and God only knows who else. She wouldn’t have been able to stand him.
“Shy! Where are you, girl? Thinking about that man? Well woman, let me give you a bit of advice. Take it slow with him, watch him. All men are dogs. And men who are all that, —know they’re all that … and like as many women as possible to know that they’re all that,” Juanita cautioned.
“I know that, Juanita. That’s my only concern about him, women. I just hope he’s serious.”
“Look at the time. I gotta get back to work. When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow, Wednesday max,” Shy replied.
“Well, give me a call before you go. And let’s not let so much time pass between calls.”
“You could bring your ass to New York sometime,” Shy said as she got up to say good-bye to Juanita.
So Shy was left alone with her thoughts. Gazing out the window at the wharf, her mind drifted to thoughts of Black. She really wasn’t all that concerned about who or how many people Black had killed. It didn’t bother her. She was raised around all types of the criminal element: gangsters, hustlers, and dealers. She laid on the ground and watched him kill her attacker.
So I know he doesn’t have a problem with killing. After all, people in his line of work aren’t choirboys.
She on the other hand considered herself a businesswoman with no interest at all in the violent side of her business. Shy had never killed anyone. She was good at pulling her gun, but before last Thursday she had only needed to use it twice over the years. Shy had shot at people not knowing if she hit anyone. But she wasn’t sure if she could stand in front of someone, look them in the eyes, and pull the trigger. The closest she had come to killing someone was Ricardo.
Him, I could kill.
No, her concern was women. After being played by Ricardo the way she had been, her biggest fear in dealing with Black was, all of a sudden, she would find, he had another someone. Black had told her about Melinda. We’ll see what that’s gonna be about. He had also left the door open for her to speculate about Tara.
It wouldn’t be as easy for him to play her, being as high profile as he is. Ricardo on the other hand was able to live his double life without her knowing because they ran in different circles. She never wanted to go with Ricardo to any of his company functions. For his part, Ricardo never quite fit in when he hung out with her.
But she and Black were on the same track, knew most of the same people. It was a small wonder that they hadn’t met sooner. All she knew was that the last week had been wonderful. Not that they had spent that much time together, but all the attention felt great.
After lunch, she drove around, calling herself doing a little sightseeing in the Capital District. Finally, she ended up in Virginia at the Mall. Historically, any time she was depressed or felt bad she would have what she called a ‘Be Kind To Shy Day’. Shy shopped for hours like it was going out of style.
Later in the day, she got a call from Randy; he asked if she would mind meeting them at Christi’s at eight because he was going to ask Renée to marry him before dinner.
“No, Randy, I don’t mind, but y’all should be alone, you know, to celebrate.”
“Come on, sis. I want you to meet her, help us celebrate,” Randy pleaded.
Reluctantly, Shy agreed to meet them there at eight. With a new theme for the evening, Shy decided that she would need something special to wear.
“Any excuse.”
Shy finished her shopping and returned to the apartment to prepare for dinner with Randy and Renée. While she dressed, her phone rang. Shy checked to see who it was, hoping it was Black. And it was. She smiled but continued to get ready. Shy had bought a black suit that she was going to wear, but she changed her mind.
“Na, the green one will do nicely.”
Shy wanted to give Randy and Renée some time to be alone, so she arrived at the restaurant about eight thirty. “Will you be dining alone this evening?” the Maitre d’ asked.
“No, my name is Cassandra Sims. I’m meeting Randy Sims and his guest here.”
The Maitre d’ checked his list and had Shy escorted to the table where the newly-engaged sipped champagne and awaited her arrival.
“Here she comes now,” Randy said as he stood up the greet her. “Hello Shy. I would like you to meet the future Mrs. Sims, Renée Grant. Renée this is my sister Shy.”
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Randy talks about you all the time,” Renée said as Shy sat down at the table. Randy poured his sister a glass of champagne and handed it to her. Refilled Renée’s glass as well as his own.
“It’s good to meet you too. And congratulations to you both. I hope you will have a very long and very happy life together,” Shy said, lifting her glass to toast them.
“Thank you, Shy. I know that we will,” Renée said.
“And I owe it all to you Shy,” Randy said.
“Stop it, Randy. You’re embarrassing me,” Shy said.
“Don’t be embarrassed. He says that all the time. Randy told me that you put him through med school. If it wasn’t for that we would have never met,” Renée said, squeezing Randy’s hand.
My God he’s got her brainwashed already, Shy thought.
“Yeah, I’d probably still be working at the same restaurant.”
“No you wouldn’t,” Shy said.
“I probably would have moved up to the grill by now, but I’d still be there,” Randy said to Shy, but his eyes were focused on Renée.
“Yeah, well, you still don’t have to thank me,” Shy said modestly.
Dinner was ordered and subsequently served. Throughout the evening, Shy felt like the third wheel. Although they tried to make her feel comfortable, Randy and Renée would laugh about private jokes between them and would have to explain it to Shy. Watching them together made her miss Black even more.
After dinner, Renée said to Shy, “Randy said that you were bringing a friend with you. I was hoping to meet him tonight too.”
“He had some business to take care of today,” Shy said, looking at Randy.
“What’s his name?” Renée asked, as Randy held his breath.
“Are you from New York?” Shy asked.
“No.”
“His name is Mike Black,” Shy said, and she winked at Randy.
“Have you two known each other long?”
“A little more than a week. It just seems longer.”
“She’s in love with him.” Randy added.
“Let her speak for herself, Randy.”
“That’s right. How do you know that I’m in love with him?” Shy asked.
“Renée, we’ve been having these reunions since our mother moved here eight years ago. Shy has only brought two people with her. Last year she showed up with one of her flunkies, but that was just for moral support. And this year she brought Mike.”
“That doesn’t prove anything,” Renée said.
“Well, it may be a little early, but yeah, I am kinda fond of him.”
“He loves her. He got up in front of a room full of men, beat his chest and told us how he’s been in love with her since the first time he saw her,” Randy said.
“That is so romantic. A man who’s not afraid to show his feelings.” Renée lifted her glass. “Well, here’s hoping that it all works out for you.”
“Thank you, I think it will. Even though I haven’t had much success with men, I’m hoping this one works out.”
“Had some losers, huh?”
“You just don’t know.” She looked at Randy. “Or maybe you do. Randy never could keep anything.”
“Okay, so I told her about Ricardo.”
“See,” Shy said.
“Yeah, he told me. There are hundreds of studies on why men cheat, and hundreds of different conclusions have been drawn from them. It’s been my experience both personally and professionally that men will only do what we let them do. Get to know him, see what kind of person he is. Become his friend. See what he looking for in a woman. If a man doesn’t see what he’s looking for, he will go looking for what he needs and he’ll find it,” Renée said.
“What type of medicine do you practice, Renée?” Shy asked.
“Behavioral Psychology,” Renée replied.
“Good, that’s what we need. We are such a dysfunctional family,” Shy joked.
Renée laughed, and then she continued. “I’ll give you an example. Randy used to mess with this girl he met while he was in med school. After we got together he stopped seeing her, or at least that’s what I thought.”
“I did.” Randy proclaimed.
Renée held up her hand. “Spare me, Randy. Anyway, for a while I was really busy and I just didn’t have a lot of time to spend with Randy. He would call me and I would play him off. This went on for weeks. I remember this one night Randy called me. He wanted me to meet him for dinner. I was working on a profile, so I told him that I couldn’t go. Now I never told Randy this, but later that night after I got finished I wanted a drink. I went to this restaurant and what do I see? Randy all up in this woman’s face.” Randy looked at Renée in shock. “I couldn’t get too mad at him, even though I did. Randy had been calling and calling me, and I was too busy for him. So I left some room for her to exist. So I tightened up, and now I got the rock,” Renée said, proudly displaying her ring.
“I see your point,” Shy said. “Randy wanted some attention. So when he couldn’t get it, he went looking for what he couldn’t get from you.”
“Right.”
“Wait a minute,” Randy said, and he and Renée proceeded to quietly debate the pros and cons of her statement, not to mention Renée’s revelation that he had cheated on her.
Shy thought about what Renée had said. It made sense. From the way he described her, Ricardo’s girlfriend Susan wasn’t exactly miss excitement. Many times he commented on how Shy and her lifestyle fascinated him. So he was looking to her for excitement.
What about Black?
The reality of the situation was that Black was Melinda’s man and he was cheating on her.
So what is it he sees in me that he doesn’t see in her? Shy thought.
After a bit more small talk, Shy said her good-byes to the happy couple. “Renée, Randy, I’m going to leave you two to celebrate. Once again, congratulations.”
“Are you sure you have to go?” Renée asked.
“Yeah, I gotta go see a man about a dog,” Shy said.
She told Randy where she would leave the key. She thanked them both again for inviting her and left the restaurant. Shy arrived at Randy’s apartment and began to pack her things. Once she f
inished packing she took a deep breath and laid down on the couch to call Black. He answered.
“Hello.”
“Hi, baby.”
“Hello, stranger.”
“What are you doing?” Shy asked.
“Missing you.”
“I miss you too. How was your day? Did you take care of your business?”
“Yes. Tomorrow morning Jamaica will have a probation hearing and be released into Wanda’s custody. Wednesday he’ll be assigned a new probation officer in New York.”
“Any problems?”
“Not really, a few phone calls were made. But no problems.”
“Good. You gonna be up for a while?”
“Yeah, this couch ain’t the most comfortable,” Mike said.
“I’m on the couch too. I’ll call you back in an hour,” Shy said, and then she hung up the phone. She got in her car and drove to the hotel, Shy had never checked out of the room she had reserved when she left on Sunday. She went into the room and called Mike.
“Hello.”
“I’m in room 319. If you’re not busy, come by.”
“Five minutes,” Mike said. He got off the couch and put on a shirt. He left a note, which read: I’m in 319. Call and wake me up; then he left the room.
As promised, five minutes later, Mike was knocking at 319. Shy opened the door to let him in the dimly lit room.
“Hi, baby. I missed you,” she said as she kissed him.
“I missed you too,” Mike said as he sat down on the couch. Shy sat in the chair directly across from him. “And I’m sorry about Wanda going off on you.”
“It’s okay, baby. I wasn’t really mad at her. I just thought it was ironic.”
“What do you mean?”
“I just thought it was ironic that my family thinks I should stay away from you because … because of your rep really. My mom’s is worried that I’ll be around when somebody tries to kill you.”
“Tell moms not to worry. I have no enemies.”
“They’re all dead, aren’t they?”
“Yes.”
“You’re kind of a legend in the Bronx, aren’t you? I mean my whole family and even one of my girlfriends have Vicious Black stories.”