“No, I have a new baby.”
“I don’t smoke either. It’s just funny the way you said that. How old is your baby?”
“Nine months.”
“How long y’all staying?”
“Until Monday.”
“We got drinks, food, and everything in between if you want something.”
“Thank you, I’ll think about it,” I said and opened the door and went into the room and began to unpack. I hung up my clothes and put all of my toiletries in the bathroom. This room was bigger. There were two beds and a sofa bed.
Tanya came back into the room and said, “Those broke niggas better get out my face. Please. They wish I would waste my time with them. He asked did I want something to eat or drink and I said maybe we can go out later, right? Then he said, ‘No, I got drinks in my room.’ I looked at his ass like he was crazy.”
“They seem nice, but they weren’t my type either. The guy Todd asked me too!” I said. “Well, let’s walk around and see what’s going on,” I suggested.
Tanya looked down at my hand and said, “What are you going to do about your wedding ring? You need to take it off.”
“I’m not taking it off. I didn’t come down here to meet anybody. I just want to have a good time and for Anthony to appreciate me a little more.”
“Whatever. You need to leave him. You need to meet a baller down here and kick his ass to the curb.”
“A baller isn’t going to solve everything,” I said as I shook my head.
I don’t know what is wrong with Tanya, but she is so dumb. I don’t know what happened to her. She didn’t used to think so stupid. Everything that comes out of her mouth is baller, get money, get paid. We unpacked a little more and then went outside. It wasn’t really crowded yet. Tanya said that everything would start jumping tomorrow. We didn’t do much. We walked around, got something to eat, and chilled. Tanya met this little short dude who invited us to this mansion party. He was old, had teeth missing, and thinning hair with spaced-out braids, trying to smoke on a cigar. He was claiming to be this important guy. He looked too old to be partying. I don’t know why men think they can keep going out at forty and still be able to pick up somebody.
Friday morning we woke up and walked down the South Beach strip again. Everybody must have arrived this morning and late last night. Never in my life have I seen so many good-looking guys. And every girl was dressed as if they were in a music video. All I saw was short, tight skirts and high-heeled sandals. I felt overdressed in my knee-length jean skirt. It was so warm outside. It felt good getting attention. Guys were grabbing our hands and flirting.
“I told you everybody was going to get here,” Tanya said excitedly. As soon as she said that, this drunk, short, ugly guy with dreads grabbed my arm, tried to spin me around, and said, “Ay, yo, Ma. You look good. I like your donkey.”
“What?” I said, annoyed, as I stared at him.
“You got a fat ass,” he said. I guess he was referring to my butt. Was I supposed to say thank you? Then he said, “I like big butts and I cannot lie.” At this point, I wasn’t even offended. I was laughing at his stumbling drunk ass. The guy was falling every which way trying to maintain his balance. “So what’s up? Can I holla at you?” he asked.
“I’m married,” I said as I flashed my ring and kept walking.
Then his friend caught up with us. He was a little chubby. “Sorry, my man don’t have any sense. How ya nice ladies doing?” he said politely.
“Okay,” Tanya said.
“I’m Monte and this my boy Tony. You got to excuse him. We from the Durdy. Where y’all from?”
“Philly. Where’s the Durdy?”
“St. Louis. Y’all got to really excuse my partner, he’s drunk,” Monte said.
“How he going to be drunk already and it’s only noon?” Tanya laughed.
“He never stopped drinking since last night.” We all started laughing. “Y’all didn’t party last night?”
“No, we had hotel drama, switching rooms and shit. Then before that, our connecting flight in Charlotte was late. We got here last night and chilled,” Tanya said. Then she asked them if they were driving and told them how we had to pick Janelle up from the airport.
“Y’all want us to take you?”
“Yeah. Could you please?” she said, batting her eyes, then turned and asked me, “What time her flight get in?”
“Like one or two-thirty.”
“Like one, that’s cool. We’ll meet y’all like quarter to. Is that cool?” the guy Monte said.
“We about to go get something to eat. Y’all want to go?” Tanya asked as she flirted with Monte and touched his hands.
“Naw, I got to get him back to his room, but I’ll treat y’all,” he said, as he wrote his number on a crisp fifty-dollar bill. He placed the money in Tanya’s hand. We just both looked at each other and said thank you.
“Make sure you call me. We can pick your girl up from the airport,” he said.
“You call me too!” the drunk guy said.
We walked away and agreed that Monte was trying to show us he had money. He validated our thoughts seconds later when he yelled from halfway down the street, “There’s more where that came from.” We didn’t care about Monte or his friend, but we were about to have lunch on him and a ride to the airport to get Janelle.
I hadn’t been out in such a long time it felt a little strange. When I get home, I’m going to get out more. I’m young, I need to do stuff and have fun. I have been with Anthony forever, and he is my baby, but if I wasn’t married. I certainly would have met me a husband down here.
Tanya and I went and had lunch at Fridays with the fifty dollars Monte gave us. The restaurant was crowded. We sat down and waited for our name to be called. I had time to think and then I began to feel guilty about all the fun I was having. I called home again. The phone just rang and rang and then I finally hung up.
“Stop calling home, Nat. Make the best of the situation. You’re on vacation. Act like it,” Tanya said as she attempted to take my cell phone from me. She then tried to convince me to have a good time. No matter what she said, I was starting to think I might have made a mistake by coming. I was feeling guilty for having fun. I missed my baby and my man. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have left them, not like this. I needed to check and make sure they were okay.
“I feel bad, Tanya.”
“I don’t know why, girl. Please! You need a break, girl. He don’t do shit. Let him take care of the baby.”
“You’re right,” I said as I put my cell back in my pocketbook and contemplated my choices.
“I be right back. I got to go to the bathroom,” Tanya said. As soon as she walked away, I called Anthony again. This time he answered.
“Hello, babe,” I stuttered.
“Where are you, Natalie? Are you okay? I have been calling and looking for you. I called your mother. I was about to call the cops, but your dad told me not to. What’s going on? Me and the baby went to the market searching for you.”
“Yes, Anthony, I am okay. Um, Anthony, I am in Miami. . . on vacation—”
“Miami where?” he yelled before I finished.
“Miami, Florida. Anthony, I needed a break.”
“Natalie, you got to be fucking kidding me. I got stuff to do and who is going to watch baby Anthony?”
“He’s your son too, Anthony. You are going to watch him. Take him to day care or your mother,” I said.
“I don’t believe you, Natalie! Who are you with?” he yelled even louder.
“Janelle and Tanya.”
“Your cousin and that slut Tanya,” Anthony said angrily.
“Tanya is not a slut,” I said defensively. “I’ll be home on Tuesday. Okay?” I was trying to calm him down.
“Natalie, we won’t be here when you get back,” he snapped.
“Where will you be then?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about it.” Anthony hung up the telephone on me. Now I really felt
bad for leaving my baby and husband. I hope this weekend is going to be worth it. I put my phone away before Tanya got back.
I will have to talk to Janelle about everything when she gets here. She always has good advice. Tanya can’t give me any advice. She can’t even advise herself. My cousin Janelle and I are close. We have the same grandfather. My father is Janelle’s mother’s half brother. My grandpop was married to Janelle’s grandmom and cheated on the side with my grandmom and had my dad. Our parents didn’t meet until they were teenagers. My grandmother and Janelle’s grandmother kept them apart. But when they got older they met and made sure their kids knew each other.
My mother owns a hair salon in the basement of her house. I always tell her she needs to take a refresher course because she’s in a time warp with her hairstyles. But she doesn’t listen. She has an older clientele, so I guess it doesn’t matter. I still let her do my perm, from time to time. She tries to get mad at me when I go to another stylist. My mom and me are like best friends. I can tell her anything. We have the best relationship. My mom always talked to me about my body, love, and life. Because of my mom, I didn’t lose my virginity until I was with Anthony and I ran right home and told her.
Chapter Six
Janelle
I was curling my hair. I had just had it dyed wine red a few days ago. At first I thought it was too much, but when I went to work the next day, I got so many compliments. I have a few weave tracks that blend right in. The color goes great with my cocoa-brown skin and dark brown eyes.
“Mom, have you seen my suitcase?” I screamed from the bathroom. I don’t know why I waited until the last minute to pack. I wanted to take everything, but I couldn’t.
“It’s in the closet. Ted said be ready, he is on his way,” my mom yelled from the kitchen.
I searched in the closet and found my blue suitcase. I rubbed the dust off it. I opened my suitcase and dumped all Jamal’s Hot Wheels cars and coloring books onto the floor. I threw all my clothes in. Then I ran into the bathroom, grabbed my toothbrush, and went into the living room to get my other bag. I checked off all my stuff on the list I made to remind myself of things to pack. If I didn’t write my list I would forget just about everything. I ran back into the room to grab my contacts and solution. I definitely needed them. I wasn’t blind, but at night I couldn’t see far away. My mother handed me a bagel for the road. She was dressed in a black pantsuit and had her hair in a short layered Cleopatra bob. She looked really nice. “Mom, thanks for the bagel, you look nice. Do you have an interview today?”
“Yes, downtown at a school. Cross your fingers for me.”
“I will. Well, good luck,” I said as I left out the door. I hope she gets a job so she can move the hell out, I thought.
As I opened the door my uncle was coming up the apartment steps. My uncle was light skin, is about five ten, with a little protruding belly. He was wearing brown slacks and brown loafers and a cream rayon shirt. He kept a toothpick hanging out of his mouth and a pair of sunglasses on. I gave him my first suitcase. Then I went and grabbed my other bag.
“How long are you going for?”
“Until Tuesday.”
“Why do you have so many bags?”
“I haven’t decided exactly what I am wearing, so I got to bring everything.”
“Niecey, you’re going to have my back hurting.”
The ride in my uncle’s Cadillac was smooth. You couldn’t feel any potholes or bumps, and it smelled like strawberries. He kept it washed and waxed. My uncle was listening to sports radio. He was a big baseball fan. I hated listening to that station. We pulled up to the terminal and my uncle got my luggage out of his trunk.
“Do you have everything?” he asked.
“Yeah, I got everything. I can always use some more money.”
“How much we up to now?” he asked as he went into his wallet.
“I don’t know.”
“Janelle, you lucky you’re my favorite niece. Here, I want my money as soon as you get back,” he said as he placed the money in my hand.
“I got you. Thank you, Unc,” I said as I gave him a hug and walked to the curbside check-in. I checked in my luggage and headed for the terminal. My flight was on time and I didn’t have to wait. I called Natalie to let her know I was on my way and the flight would be on time.
“What’s up, girl? You down here?” Natalie asked.
“No, not yet, I’m about to get on my flight. Are y’all still going to meet me at the airport?”
“Yeah, you got to get down here. It is so nice and the weather is beautiful. Hold on, Tanya wants to talk to you.”
“What’s up?” Tanya asked.
“Nothing, on my way.”
“Well, you better get you ass down here now. It is the fuck off the hook, let me tell you. I seen players from the Heat and Fat Joe already,” Tanya said, all excited.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, girl, it is like that. Niggas is writing their number on fifty-dollar bills. Here go Natalie.”
“Hello. Oh, by the way, we switched hotels,” Natalie said.
“When y’all do that?”
“Long story. I’ll tell you later. We’re staying at the Penguin on Tenth and Ocean Avenue. We are in room 417 right across the street from the beach. You know, Tanya got like eight numbers already. I even got a few numbers. I threw them away though. Some guy invited us to a mansion party tonight.”
She was trying to tell me everything all in one breath. I wrote the name of the hotel and the room number down.
“Save some friends for me and come meet me at baggage claim for American Airlines at one p.m. That’s when my flight comes in, don’t forget.”
“I won’t. See you later. We’ll get these guys we met to bring us to the airport.”
Once I arrived in Miami I was like a little kid in a candy store. This was my first time passing Virginia Beach. My mom didn’t have any money to take us anywhere. I never could afford to take myself anywhere before now. The only time I ever saw Miami was when I was a kid watching the television show Miami Vice. I couldn’t wait to lay eyes on the pretty people, palm trees, and fast cars.
The Miami airport was so-so. I was actually not impressed yet. I got my baggage and needed help outside. An older Latin gentleman came up to me and said, “Ayuda?”
Of course I didn’t have any idea what he meant. But he seemed nice and placed my luggage on his cart. I assumed he wanted to help me. I told him I needed to go outside to pickup and he said, “No hablo inglés.”
I nodded and said, “Gracias.” That’s all I could remember from Spanish class. We went outside to arrivals. I didn’t see Tanya and Nat yet, so I tipped the man and had a seat. I sat outside in the heat. Fifteen minutes had gone by and I was still waiting. Damn, Miami is hot and everybody was getting picked up but me. I called Natalie’s cell phone. I got her voice mail. Where was she? She was supposed to be here. I left a message on her phone.
I then went back inside and walked over to the information desk. I asked one of the ladies sitting there in the dark blue uniforms how far I was from South Beach. She told me at least twenty-five minutes; with traffic, maybe thirty to forty minutes. I asked the woman if I could catch a cab and how much it would cost. She handed me a sheet with the prices. I didn’t have much money to begin with, so I decided not to waste any money on a cab and just waited for them.
I looked down at my watch again and it was 2:00 p.m. I wanted to get a snack, but I couldn’t because I didn’t want to miss them. So I pulled out the half-eaten bagel from this morning. Then I called Tanya. Her phone said something about this subscriber is out of the service area and could not accept calls.
I really didn’t care too much for Tanya. We got along sometimes. She was my cousin Natalie’s friend. They were total opposites. Natalie was married, a good girl, and somewhat quiet. Tanya, on the other hand, would fuck anything walking as long as they gave her some money. Tanya’s mom was on drugs. She lived with her grandmom
, had two kids, and never finished school. Natalie always had a job. How they maintain a friendship, I don’t know. I guess opposites attract. They met back in middle school. My aunt took Tanya in when her mom was in rehab. I can tell that Tanya is jealous of me. She always looking me up and down and staring. She think she is the shit and can’t handle competition. I guess I’m going to have to put up with her ass, at least for the weekend.
I looked down at my watch again, it was almost two-thirty. They really must have forgotten me. I decided just to catch a cab. I went into my pocketbook and got the name and address of the hotel where we were staying. I got in a cab and gave him the address to the Penguin. He loaded my luggage into his trunk. He was playing this crazy music I never heard before. It wasn’t Latin or reggae. It sounded like both fused together; I don’t know. I wasn’t feeling it, but he seemed to enjoy it because he sang along. I was relieved to be in the cab, but I was upset once I realized my taxi driver was pretending to be lost. I saw a sign to South Beach pointing in the other direction. I didn’t have enough money to play games with him. I tapped the driver on his shoulder and said, “South Beach is that way.”
The driver said, “Sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking.” He got off at the next exit and turned around. Once we were in the right direction, I took in all the sights. I rolled down the window and a warm breeze hit my face. We went over this long bridge. I could see yachts, the ocean waves, and oceanfront houses. It was beautiful. At the end of the bridge, we began running into traffic. I saw so many cars and people. Hummers, Benzes, and even a Bentley. We sat on one block for about ten minutes. My bill was thirty-one dollars. I asked the cab driver how much farther I was from my hotel. He said about four blocks, so I decided to walk the rest of the way. I paid him and began to walk.
I had two pieces of luggage, I was not dressed, and did not feel cute at all. But guys were still beeping their horns up and down the street. By the time I reached the hotel I was sweaty, my hair was looking a mess, my spiral curls were gone, and I needed something to drink. I called Natalie’s cell again. I heard her answer, but she didn’t say anything.
What's Real Page 4