Hitta's Tea Maker

by Edwina Fort

  And then it was that time he’d shown up at the carnival that I’d taken my six-year-old niece to. She’d dragged me all over wanting this and that. And well, I was on a serious budget and could not afford to get any more tickets to get on any more rides.

  My God, the tickets were nearly five dollars apiece, and you needed at least three to get on each ride, which meant every ride was costing a whopping fifteen dollars for four minutes. And of course, like any kid her age who didn’t understand money, she started to have a fit on me.

  I know I need to be firmer with her, but the truth is, I didn’t have it in me…Both of her parents were drug addicts. The only time she got to be a kid free of worries is when she was with me.

  So there I stood in the middle of the carnival checking my bank account with my phone trying to see which account I could get away with pulling a few more dollars from when suddenly she went quiet and started thanking someone like crazy.

  I looked up to see her happily holding a hand full of tickets, so many tickets that it would take us the rest of the night of riding rides to use them all. My gaze rose to the crowd to try and see who the hell had just given her so many tickets when I saw Hitta’s muscled back walking away from us. And just like always, the crowd just automatically parted for him.

  Once again, I’d convinced myself that it was a coincidence and he was not following me. But I knew deep down that he was, which was confusing because he thought I dressed like a homeless person. Surely he wasn’t attracted to me. So why else was he following me?

  Anyway, I’d managed to avoid the gym and was doing a damn good job at it till today. Westly had been late on his half of the rent for the last three months and I’d had to pay the whole thing. Because of this, I’d fallen behind on a few things to do with my shop, like the insurance.

  Well, actually I’d lapsed on my insurance policy a few times, but it had never been an issue till now. My shop is in a very old building, only God knows when the last time the electric wiring had been updated.

  The fire started in the walls and did quite a bit of damage to my west wall. Because it happened during the time I’d let my insurance lapse, I was paying for the repairs out of pocket. With paying for that plus the rent on both the apartment and the shop, plus footing the bill for my niece’s schooling, because neither of her parents could do it, and I didn’t want her going to the school around her mother’s house, because it was a death trap. Just last week, three kids had gotten shot standing in front of the school…

  My money was extremely funny and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why. The tea shop wasn’t doing too badly. I was blocks away from a college campus, so I had a steady stream of customers… It was only me working there because I couldn’t afford to hire anyone, so it wasn’t like I was paying for labor…

  And yet here I stood outside my brother’s job broke and needing him to come through with some major funding.

  It was bad…

  Not only was my wall half repaired, but I was also behind on the rent for both the apartment and the shop…not to mention Jessie's tuition that will be due at the end of this month.

  I paced back and forward in front of the gym, trying to work up enough nerves to go in. The members who went in and out looked at me as if something was wrong with me, but I didn’t care, I was a nervous wreck.

  What if he was in there?

  What if he was standing right by the desk again?

  After a group of three guys came out, I walked to the door and stood on my toes to try and look into the round window. I had to clutch the handle and try and hoist myself up because I was still too short to see.

  As you guys may have guessed, I am vertically challenged in a world where everything was made for tall people. I think I stopped growing at twelve and a whopping 5’2.

  My arms strained as I finally got myself up high enough to peep in the window and smiled when I saw he wasn’t standing at the front desk. There was a pretty girl behind the cash register today.

  A squeak left my throat when right then my arms gave out causing me to fall back. I braced myself for the impact with the ground, but it never happened.

  I was caught by something hard, but it wasn’t the ground. My eyes widened when I saw that the muscled arm that was wrapped around my waist shamelessly holding me against an equally muscled body, said Hard. The other arm slowly joined it securing me completely, said Hitta.

  Dear God! I had fallen right into the brute’s arms. For a moment I didn’t move. He tightened his arms as he brought me even closer gently burying his face in my long braids at my neck. My lips parted in a gasp when I felt his mouth lightly brush my skin.

  The caress was barely there, but because I was super sensitive at that moment, I'd felt it. His lips made their way up to my ear.

  “Man, shawty…I want to f*** you so bad.” He whispered.

  His words that should have angered me caused an answering response in my center that surprised me.

  The emotions that were racing around inside of me were all brand new and for just a moment, I paused to try and understand them.

  Arousal I understood. Although it was true, I’d never felt it to this extent, it was a feeling I understood. It was the other thing he caused me to feel that stunned me.

  It felt really good being held in his arms. The top of my feet rested on his bigger ones… For the first time in my life, I felt… safe.

  I know I said earlier that Westly always protected me and he did, but his protection was as shaky as him. Even though he protected me from Kirk, I was still afraid. I was always afraid. The feeling that I felt now was different.

  I felt safety in Hard Hitta’s arms. That thought frightened me right out of the stupor I had fallen in and I scrambled away from him.

  “I’m so sorry!” I told him staring at the ground because I was not brave enough to look into his face.

  “You looking for somebody?” His voice was so very deep.

  I nodded pushing the braid that had fallen in my face back behind my ear. “Yeah, my brother.”

  “Why?”

  That made me look up at him startled. I can’t believe how rude he is. I opened my mouth to tell him off but changed my mind. Instead, I cleared my throat.

  “Nothing important, I just have to tell him something.”

  He took a step closer to me and I took another step back.

  “This the only time I’m going to let you lie to me. Consider this a warning. You lie to me again and I will have to punish you. You hear?”

  He growled those words at me. And I’m not going to lie, they scared the hell out of me. He’d just threatened to punish me. What the hell did that mean?

  He is so freaking mean!

  Not able to take his intense angry gaze any longer, I turned my head and nodded, looking at the cars that were passing. He was too intimidating. And to top it off, he was not moving to walk away, not getting the picture that I didn’t want to talk to him about it. He just stood patiently waiting for me to tell him my business.

  Tough Titty…I ain’t telling him nothing. I may not be brave enough to tell him off to his face, but I can give the silent treatment like nobody’s business.

  I folded my arms and looked down at my foot that I was using to gently kick a rock around. He chuckled before his muscled arm came toward me. I jumped away from him as if he was holding hot coals, but exhaled in relief when I saw he was only opening the door. He held it open for me and gestured for me to proceed.

  I did so quickly, practically running to the counter to ask the pretty girl if she could tell my brother I was here to see him, but she was only half listening to me. Her attention was on the big man that had followed me in.

  He walked behind the counter and picked up a pile of mail and began to look through it. He must have just gotten here because he carried a gym bag on his arm. She walked over to him and began to tell him something with a big flirty smile on her face, but he stopped her.

  “Get over there and hel
p the lady standing there?” He grumbled in his truly rude fashion.

  She turned red with embarrassment, for just a moment her mouth opened as if she couldn’t believe he’d talked to her that way. There was no doubt in my mind they were sleeping together.

  “I’m sorry, how can I help you?” She nearly snapped those words to me. She was not happy with me.

  Great! Now she hated me because of him. I smiled kindly at her, hoping to extend an olive branch. I didn’t want to make anything tough around here for Westly. He was doing so good.

  “Yes, may I speak with Westly Baker, please?” I repeated for the second time.

  She rolled her eyes and walked away to get him. This time I will not make the same mistake and stand here to be harassed by the mean guy. I turned and walked back out the door, Westly will know to look for me outside.

  A few minutes later he came out. “What’s going on, baby girl?”

  I groaned because he was high. I really wished he was sober so that he could know the severity of what I had to tell him.

  “West, I need your rent money for the last three months. Ms. Armstrong came by the shop again today. She’s threatening to put me out. Although the fire happened because of the wiring in her building, she still blaming me. She wants me gone! With me not having her rent money, this will be just the excuse she needs to put me out! West, you know I will go crazy if I lose my shop! Working with my teas is the only thing that brings me comf---”

  “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Angel, Damn! Calm down!” He took my arm and pulled me away from the gym doors. “Just relax, I’m going to have the money for you tonight.”

  Y’all see what I mean? That was the drug talking.

  I folded my arms across my chest. “Westly, I’m serious!”

  He chuckled, his eyes blinked so slowly it looked as if he was going to nod off any second. “And I’m serious too, baby girl. I’m going to have the money tonight.”

  “Where you gon’ get that kind of money from?”

  “A patna of mine just got back into town. He owes me some money from a job he and I did a few years ago.”

  See what I’m saying? I was in no mood for his crap. My brother may not steal from me, but he had no problem lying to me.

  “Westly, don’t you understand what I’m saying?! I’m getting ready to lose my shop!”

  “Hey! You ain’t gon’ lose nothing! Don’t I always come through? Now I told ya, a patna of mine is going to drop off a package to me tonight. I’m going to bring it home, just relax. You’ll be able to pay Ms. Armstrong worrisome a** in the morning.”

  I gave him a long look. He smiled at me with droopy eyes. “Relax…”

  Chapter 2

  You Belong to Me

  Angel

  “Oh, my God, West! Where did you get all of this money from?!”

  My brother had just walked through our front door and dumped about ten thousand dollars onto my lap. He chuckled as he headed into his bedroom. Our apartment wasn’t that big. The kitchen and living room were all in one space. My brother’s room, the bathroom, and my room were three doors connected to this space.

  There were no hallways or anything, so I could see him from where I sat on the couch clutching the rolls of money he’d just dropped in my lap. He had a nervous grin on his face as he hurriedly pulled some of his clothes out of his drawer and threw them into a plastic bag.

  It was that grin that concerned me. It said I can't believe I've done what I just did.

  “I told you, a patna of mine came into town and paid me for a job he and I worked on together a while back. That should be enough to cover our rent, your shop rent, and a couple of months of Jessie’s tuition. When I get back into town, I should have enough to cover a few more months.”

  I frowned as I watched him put his brush and pick in the plastic grocery bag.

  “Where are you going?”

  “My patna has another job for me that should pay as well as that one. But I have to leave out tonight.”

  Every cell in my body told me that he was lying to me. The fact that he has yet to make eye contact only verified it.

  “What kind of a job?”

  “He builds houses,” was all he said.

  I sat and waited for more, but nothing else came…

  Now the ball was in my court. I could do two things, return this money to him and demand he take it back to whoever he stole it from…and then lose my shop, thus losing the only perfect thing I’d ever done in life. I would also lose my apartment and wouldn’t be able to pay Jessie’s tuition, at which point, she would end up in the public school down the street from her house.

  Orrrr….

  I could turn a blind eye and take this money. West said he got it from helping his partner, whoever that was, build houses. Why not just believe him? Thus, keeping my shop, my apartment, and Jessie’s spot in that amazing school where she doesn’t have to worry about dodging bullets on the playground.

  Hmmmm…What is a girl to do?

  I grabbed Westly’s arm as he went to walk past me to the door. “Just promise me you didn’t take this from an orphanage or a hospital and that nobody is going to kick down my door looking for this money and blow my brains out because of it.”

  He squatted down next to me and smiled…and I remembered a time he was so handsome that it hurt to look at him. Now, he was only a ghost of the man he used to be.

  “Come on, baby girl… You know I wouldn’t put you in that situation. The money is good. I earned it…Every cent of it.” He leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead.

  “I have to go…I’ll be back in a few weeks.”

  “Be back from where?” I asked as he headed out the door.

  “California.”

  And then he was gone…

  I tossed and turned all night, conflicted. The next morning, I lay in bed and the battle I’d fought within myself continued. I knew the money was bogus. Westly ain’t ever had a job that paid that much. So, the fact is, he'd stolen the money. If I partake, then I'm stealing it too.

  But I also knew that if I didn’t pay the things that needed to be paid today, I would not only lose my livelihood but because my livelihood supported so many others, they would lose as well. Damn Westly for putting me in this situation.

  I thought about Jessie. I loved her like she was my own child. There is nothing that I wouldn’t do for her. If I lose the shop I couldn’t pay for her schooling, her clothes, hell…her food because God knows her mama and daddy borrowed from me often enough to feed her.

  By the time I’d finished my morning cup of tea, my mind was made up. And after praying that God forgave me, I paid the rent for my shop. I’d tried to get Ms. Armstrong to take one month’s rent, although I was behind on two, swiftly approaching my third.

  If I paid her for the two months, it would suck up more than half of the ten grand and I will still be in a tight spot once everything was paid.

  “Absolutely not!” She screeched. “I’ve been more than patient with you. First, you cause a fire inside my building—”

  “That fire was not my fault. The fire chief said it was because of the old wiring. Technically, you should be paying for the repairs.”

  She opened her mouth as if I’d slapped her. Ms. Armstrong was an old white woman, who believed in the traditional way…if you know what I mean. And you’re going to think I’m kidding, but she looked and acted just like the woman in the movie Driving Miss Daisy.

  Her racism wasn’t overly noticeable. Well, …at least not to her. She was what my great, great…heck, I don’t know how many greats, grandmother Tabitha would call an undercover racist.

  Now, I know you all are wondering how the world I knew what my great, great…I don’t know how many greats grandmother would call Ms. Armstrong. And the answer is simple…

  She told me.

  What I’ve just said has thrown many of you for a loop… But no worries, I will come back to this topic and explain that phenomenon a little later. Just know that it w
as because of Tabitha that I’d opened the tea shop at nineteen. It was she who taught me how to use the herbs to make teas for healing, taste, and overall well-being.

  “You don’t need to be talking to me that way, girlie! I’ve always been good to you people!” She was good and worked up into a frenzy now.

  “What way? I was just trying to explain…” The look in her eyes brought my explanation to a halt. It was time for my lease to be renewed, the last thing I wanted to do was get on this woman’s bad side.

  I exhaled.

  Well, that and…for some people, it was just a complete waste of time to try and reason with them. The sad part about the whole situation was that she didn’t even realize just how racist her statement was. She truly believed in her heart that she was a good person because she’d been good to us people.

  “You know what? You’re right, Ms. Armstrong, I will write you a check for both months’ rent. I owe it, it’s only right that I pay it. I really appreciate your being understanding these last few months.”

  She huffed as she held her head up as high as it would go on her little wrinkled neck.

  “That’s more like it. I don’t know what has gotten into you talking back to me like that. In my day, such a thing would have never been tolerated. My mother raised us to be kind to the colored…but it’s only so far kindness can go. I took a chance on you and let you rent this place because you seemed to be more put together than the rest--” She actually caught herself and after clearing her throat, continued her tirade.

  “I believe I’ve been more than patient with you.”

  “Yes, you have.”

  I ground down on my teeth and wrote her a check for seven thousand dollars. Remember Angel, you need her to agree to another two years on your lease.

  The things that we as a people had to put up with in order to compete in the race. I learned long ago that it did no good to complain. Complaining only gave folks an excuse to call you lazy and say you wanted a handout. The fact is, I owe her the money and I needed to pay it.