The Company We Keep

by Mary Monroe

  “The kids are in their rooms where they are supposed to be,” Carla reminded her husband. “And if I catch you with another drink in your hand, that’s where you’ll be, too,” she threatened.

  Reuben looked at her as if he didn’t know what she was talking about. Then he turned to Eric. “Brother, can you stay around for a while? As soon as the crowd thins out enough, I want to bring the kids down. If I don’t let them get a few pictures with Dwight I will never hear the end of it.”

  “Since you are paying me by the hour, I’ll stay all night if you want me to,” Eric said with a chuckle. He didn’t even have to look at Yvette to know the expression on her face. She looked as if she wanted to skin him alive.

  “Tell you what,” Eric said to Reuben, looking at his watch. “Why don’t you bring the kids down in about twenty minutes. I will personally hold Dwight in place until we get as many shots as you want.” Eric looked at Teri. “In the meantime, I could get a few shots of some of the other guests.” He looked past Teri at Harrison. “My man, how about a few shots of you and Teri? Two of my most favorite people.”

  Before Teri could protest, Harrison had his arm around her and was grinning like Chuck E. Cheese. “It would be my pleasure,” he said, meaning it in more ways than one.

  “Get a little closer,” Eric directed. Harrison pulled Teri so close to him she could feel his breath on her face. He smelled like cinnamon and some exotic spice that she could not identify. And coming from him, the aroma was erotic. She rubbed the back of her neck. It felt as if her neck hair had risen like the quills on a porcupine. Being in his arms again, even though it was for something as casual as taking a picture, brought back some excruciating memories of ecstasy. She felt like a criminal. What was going through her mind had to be against the law. Had she been made of wax, she would have been flowing to the floor like lava by now. She could only stand still long enough for three quick shots.

  “That was nice, Teri. Thanks,” Harrison said, kissing her lightly on her cheek. “You know, one thing I always regretted was the fact that I never got a single picture of you,” he admitted. Why did he have to look at her like that? She felt as though he were looking clean through her.

  Teri blinked and nodded. She cleared her throat to speak again. But before she could open her mouth, Mia slid back onto the scene. Teri could not have felt colder if somebody had flung a bucket of iced water in her face. Her lust had been reduced to a nagging pain in the ass and its name was Mia.

  “Eric, how about a few shots with me and Harrison Starr,” Mia purred, sucking on her capped teeth as she looked up at Harrison. “Your show is the only one I listen to,” she said, lying. She would have said anything to make an impression on him, or any other man at the party for that matter. That cheesy-ass motherfucker Dwight didn’t know how lucky he was to be her date, she said to herself. From the time they had arrived, he had spent most of his time skinning and grinning in every woman’s face except hers—telling more of his lies, no doubt. Well, fuck him, she thought. Did that damn fool think his shit didn’t stink? As far as she was concerned, there were much bigger fish to fry at the party than Dwight. All she had to do was reel one in.

  There was a helpless look on Harrison’s face as Mia wrapped her arm around his waist. He twisted his neck around and looked at Teri. She had no idea why he looked at her the way he did. He looked like he wanted to cry like a baby. What confused her was the fact that he made no attempt to escape from Mia’s presence, or her embrace. If anything, the way he suddenly started to grin and blink, he was enjoying her attention.

  When Teri started to walk away, Harrison grabbed her arm. “Is your phone number still the same?” he asked, his goofy grin gone. He looked more serious than she had ever seen him look.

  “Yes, it is. Why?” Her eyes were on Mia, who still had her arm around Harrison’s waist.

  “Do you mind if I call you?”

  Teri didn’t know what to think. Here was the only man in the vicinity that she was truly interested in, being hugged by another woman, asking if he could call her. Did men have no shame? She gasped and looked him straight in the eye. “Honey, you can do whatever you want to do. Excuse me,” she mouthed, strutting away like an ostrich.

  Teri stumbled and stepped on the foot of a man she had danced with earlier. He was glad to see her, and even though he had a face like a baboon and the breath of a moose, she was glad to see him, too.

  She danced three songs straight with the same man and was pleased that another one was waiting to dance with her afterward. She saw Harrison watching from across the room, even though Mia was still in his face. Teri forced herself to pay more attention to everything else around her except Harrison.

  Reuben and Carla were dancing cheek to cheek and grinding against each other—even though “Billie Jean” was playing. Other guests were egging them on and yelling, “Get a room, y’all!”

  Nicole was dancing next to Teri. Her partner was a man with so many gold teeth and so many gold chains around his neck he was glowing. His conversation was about as lame and tacky as he was.

  “I’d like to cover your body with whipped cream, baby. Then I’d like to lick it off,” he said in a hoarse voice. He was the only person present wearing dark glasses.

  “If you step on my foot again the only thing you’ll be licking is your wounds after I coldcock you.” Nicole didn’t like to chastise grown men but when she needed to do it, she didn’t hesitate.

  “Sister, that sure is cold,” her partner told her with a contrite look on his face. “But I like you anyway. I love a spunky woman. If I wasn’t already spoken for, I wouldn’t stop ’til I got you…”

  Nicole looked at Teri and shook her head. More than a dozen men, most of them with dates, had attempted to make a date with Nicole and she had declined them all. Other than Eric, she didn’t see anybody else she’d like to get closer to. She hadn’t seen Eric in a while, but he was on her mind.

  Eric was busy. Somehow, Yvette had lured him to the downstairs bathroom near Carla’s study, locked the door, and was slamming her body against his so hard against the wall that the mirror above the sink rattled.

  “Yvette, didn’t I tell you…I…I told you we should wait ’til we get home,” Eric stammered, enjoying every thrust.

  “I know you did,” she replied, huffing and puffing. Her hands held his hips in place as she slammed against him. Eric’s pants were down around his ankles, but she was completely naked. “I bet you don’t care about trying to keep Teri happy now, huh?”

  Eric’s mouth was open but he couldn’t respond. All he could do was grunt and moan, but a little louder than he meant to. When somebody suddenly knocked on the door his breath caught in his throat. He froze and gripped Yvette by her shoulders and held her in place.

  “Shit!” Yvette hissed.

  “Everything all right in there?” a woman’s voice on the other side of the door asked. It was Carla’s voice, but Eric didn’t recognize it at the moment. “It sounded like somebody was hurt.”

  “Uh…uh, everything’s cool,” Eric managed. He waited, and held onto Yvette until he heard Carla leave. “Where was I?” he asked, breathing hard through his mouth.

  “Right where you’re supposed to be,” Yvette told him, pulling him deeper inside her.

  CHAPTER 20

  “The company we keep…” Carla muttered, speaking in a low voice as if she was speaking to herself. “I don’t even want to know what’s going on back there in my bathroom,” she said to Nicole as they entered her study. She shook her head, waved her hands in the air and chuckled.

  “All I can say is, you and Rueben sure know how to throw a party,” Nicole told her.

  Carla was the first psychiatrist Nicole had ever met. And she was nothing like Nicole had expected. Instead of being one of those stiff, highfalutin bourgie sisters with an attitude, Carla wasn’t that much different from the rest of the females she knew. Despite the fact that Carla was well educated and had class to spare, underneath it
all she still had a down-home attitude that only black people could see in each other.

  “Have a seat and we’ll get started,” Carla told Nicole, glancing at a large round clock on the wood-paneled wall. Carla plopped down into a high-back leather chair at a small oak desk and focused her attention on Nicole. Her gaze was so intense it made Nicole squirm. “Let’s see what the future holds for you.”

  “Something good, I hope,” Nicole said, easing down into the chair facing Carla, crossing her legs to keep them from trembling. She didn’t want Carla to know, but she was just a little bit frightened. “Is this where you work all the time?”

  “I had an office on Wilshire when I first got started. But that was a high-rent area that got to be a little too high rent for me over the years. My patients seem more comfortable here and I certainly do. There is nothing like working from home.”

  Carla nodded as she slid a stack of documents to the side of the desk.

  The room was small compared to the other rooms in Carla’s spacious house. Family pictures dominated one wall. An assortment of impressive-looking certificates almost covered another wall. Nicole wondered why professional people displayed their degrees, licenses, and all kinds of other documentation so prominently. And all that paperwork didn’t really mean shit anyway. Anybody could get a phony diploma or award printed up at Kinko’s. Just like a bogus plastic surgeon she’d seen profiled on the Discovery Channel.

  Nicole’s eyes quickly scanned the room. Venetian blinds covered each window. She could not see the backyard pool, the Jacuzzi, the lawn furniture, more citrus fruit trees, and the barbeque grill that Teri had told her about.

  “You look frightened,” Carla noticed, studying Nicole’s face. “You don’t need to be.”

  “I’m all right,” Nicole told her. She uncrossed her legs and shuffled in her seat.

  “Are you sure you’re ready for this? Have you ever done this before?”

  Nicole gave Carla a thoughtful look. “I’ve made a few calls to a few psychic hotlines. Why? Is it important if I have or have not?”

  “Not really.” Carla reared back in her chair and glanced at the door, which she had locked behind her. “I know that you and Teri are very close and I don’t care what you share with her. But if you want some good advice, don’t tell too many people about this. I take this part of my practice very seriously and I always have.”

  For about half a second Nicole almost changed her mind. The last thing she wanted people to know about her was that she’d got caught up in some hocus-pocus parlor game with a woman she hardly knew. But she trusted Teri’s judgment more than anyone’s. And Carla Andrews was one of the most prominent people in L.A.’s African American community. However, Nicole had to wonder how many of them knew about Carla’s special gift.

  Teri had met Carla at a Jesse Jackson function and they’d hit it off immediately. She had told Nicole that a lot of other people she knew were either Carla’s friends or patients. One thing Teri didn’t know was that Carla had more men as patients than women. And Harrison Starr was one of them.

  “We haven’t discussed money,” Nicole said, squeezing her legs together to keep them from shaking.

  “What about it?” Carla scratched her chin. “Who said anything about money?”

  “How much is this reading going to cost me?”

  “I don’t do this for profit, Nicole.” Carla was proud that she could make such a claim. “I don’t need the money, and even if I did, I’d have a difficult time taking money for something I’ve been blessed with.” She sniffed and smiled. “Will you please relax?” Carla looked toward the door again and glanced at the large clock on the wall behind Nicole. “I don’t want to be missed, so let’s do this now.”

  Nicole closed her eyes, massaged her temples, and held her breath for a moment. When she opened her eyes, Carla was staring directly into them.

  “What’s the matter?” Nicole wanted to know, ready to leave before the reading even got started. “I don’t like the look on your face. If you don’t see something good in my future, either tell me a lie or don’t tell me shit,” Nicole told her, holding up her hand. “Because if I’ve got some deadly disease, or if a bus is going to smash my ass into the ground, I don’t want to know.” She paused and sniffed. “Not unless I can do something about it.”

  “I don’t see all of life’s events, Nicole.” Then Carla started speaking with her eyes closed. “I see a young boy. Watch over him, tell him everything is all right. He worries about you.” Carla opened her eyes.

  “That’s my son, Chris. He’s five,” Nicole got misty eyed just thinking about her only child. “I’m not that close to my family so Chris means a lot to me.”

  “There is a man in your life.” Carla paused and gave Nicole a guarded look. “In some ways, he’s still a little boy, too. A lot of unnecessary drama seems to follow him everywhere he goes.”

  “That would be my ex. Gregory.” Nicole said her ex-husband’s name as if it were something obscene.

  “It’s not him,” Carla said firmly, shaking her head. “You don’t know this man that well…yet.”

  “Oh?” This piece of information peaked Nicole’s interest.

  “He’s in your future,” Carla said, confirming it with a hearty nod. She paused and looked into Nicole’s eyes some more, making Nicole’s eyes water.

  Nicole blinked and gave Carla an inquisitive look. “I haven’t been in a steady relationship for a while now. Do I already know this man?”

  “That’s something I choose not to answer. I don’t think it would do you much good if I gave you too much information. That would limit your choices and possibly have a negative impact on your judgment.”

  “I see. Then what about my job?”

  “You’re in a very secure position right now. And as long as Teri is in the position she’s in, you’ll be fine.” Carla rose.

  “Is the reading over? Is that all you can see about me?” Nicole asked, disappointed.

  “Readings are never over, per se. One thing I don’t do is reveal more information to a subject than he or she needs to know at the time.” Carla gave Nicole a warm smile. “Now if I told you everything I knew, you wouldn’t have much to look forward to.”

  Carla remained in her office to make a few phone calls. Nicole shut the door on her way out and was so deep in thought as she made her way down the hall, she almost collided with Eric as he was coming out of the bathroom. Yvette was still inside, washing love juice off her throbbing body and touching up her makeup.

  “Excuse me, Eric,” Nicole mumbled, feeling and looking as flustered as he did. “I didn’t know you were still here. I hadn’t seen you in a while.” She glanced toward the bathroom door. Before Eric could respond, Yvette pranced out, patting her hair and adjusting the straps on her dress. Nicole ignored Yvette. “I hope you will be working with Teri and me a lot, Eric,” Nicole said with an infectious smile. It made him smile, too. He hadn’t noticed how pretty she was until now.

  “I hope I will, too,” Eric told her.

  CHAPTER 21

  “Oh no he didn’t!” Yvette said under her breath. No, Eric didn’t flirt with that bitch right in front of her! But that was exactly what he’d done.

  As far as Yvette was concerned, Nicole was one of the plainest bitches she’d ever seen in her life. She had a face like a pie pan! But the way Eric was looking at her, it was obvious that he didn’t think so. “By the way, I noticed how you tore up that dance floor a few times. I hope you saved a few moves for me,” Eric told Nicole, offering a playful wink.

  “Anytime,” Nicole assured him in a suggestive tone. She was preoccupied with a lot of other thoughts dancing around inside her head. But she could not ignore Eric and the way he was looking at her. She couldn’t remember the last time a man looked at her with such adoration. She barely noticed Yvette standing next to him clinging to his arm like poison ivy.

  Teri was more than ready to call it a night. It had been more than four hours since she’d
arrived at Carla’s party. She hadn’t chatted with Nicole in a while. She was anxious to hear what Carla had revealed to her in her reading. But she promised herself that she wouldn’t bring it up unless Nicole did. There were some things that a sister had to keep to herself. She could recall a thing or two that she’d shared with some of her friends in the past that had come back to haunt her. The worst being an abortion during her senior year in high school, which even the baby’s father didn’t know about. She’d told one person and within a week almost everybody in her senior class was discussing it. She had kept her relationship with Harrison a secret from Nicole until that night at Young Rahim’s New Year’s Eve party. She regretted that she had shared that information with Nicole. Now Nicole had something else to meddle her about. And the way she bristled so easily these days, she didn’t know if her ego could take too much more.

  Even slightly tipsy, she still couldn’t think of a man she’d rather be with more than Harrison. For a while, she had thought that there was a chance that they would rekindle their relationship tonight. Unfortunately, from the looks of things, it wasn’t going to happen. She had Mia to thank for that.

  From the way Mia was hanging on to Harrison, and the way he was sopping it up, you would have thought that Harrison had brought her to the party, not Dwight. But she had to admit that Dwight didn’t seem to mind what Mia was doing. He had more than enough attention to keep him busy. However, he still found time to pester her again.

  “I let you get away from me earlier,” he began.

  Her jaw dropped and she shot him a hot look. “You let me get away? You make me sound like a runaway bride,” she quipped, turning her back to him. He liked the way she looked when she displayed her emotions.

  Dwight chuckled. “That was a good one. One of the things I really miss about you is your dry sense of humor. You know, Carla told me I’d see you tonight,” he told her, speaking to Teri from behind. “That’s the main reason I decided to come here,” he admitted.