by Pace, Pepper
She repaired the cake so that it didn’t look like it had ever had candles in it and then she carried it to the car. Derrick and Leslie owned a condo that was center of a hip and trendy neighborhood where more and more wealthier blacks frequented in order to enjoy the jazz clubs, restaurants and art galleries.
She was intrigued as she parked in front of, what looked like an old warehouse. As she approached the building she could see large wrought iron balconies. She rang the bell within an artfully decorated entryway and heard Derrick’s masculine voice over the intercom telling her to come up. The security locks released and she stepped into a nice lobby. She pressed the button for the elevator after checking for the location of Missy and Derrick’s condo. When the doors opened again, it led directly into Missy and Derrick’s home. She was impressed. It was modern and tastefully decorated. They obviously had money. She knew that Derrick wasn’t a knucklehead. He was standing there holding the prettiest, plumpest baby with glistening black curls and huge dark eyes. Leslie didn’t know who to look at first; Derrick or the baby.
“Derrick.” She smiled shyly. “Hi.”
“I can’t believe that you look exactly the same.” He seemed amazed as he stared at her.
She touched her lip with her fingertip. “Well no Mohawks or British Knights.”
He smiled. “Come on in. Missy is buttering the rolls. This is Natasha.” She could tell that Derrick was completely enamored by his baby girl. For a moment she felt sad. Had things been different then maybe this could have been her life…
“She’s adorable. May I hold her?”
“Sure. Let’s trade packages.” He took the small boxed cake and passed the fat little infant to her. She felt such a rush of love overcome her at the sight of the little being that the love between Missy and Derrick had created. Would she ever have something like this? She held the baby close as Derrick led her back through the amazing condo to the kitchen.
Missy was carrying a basket of hot rolls to the dining room and she almost dropped them when she saw Leslie. Missy was now plump and pretty.
“Leslie!!!!” She ran over and hugged Leslie and the baby! The baby was evidently used to Missy’s bear hugs because she didn’t appear phased. Derrick swooped down and rescued her while the two old friends hugged.
Missy was laughing but her eyes were bright. “This reminds me of The Color Purple when Celie and Nettie see each other for the first time after all those years.”
Damn, Leslie thought, now tears had sprouted in her eyes. “And they started singing that song about sisters.”
And of course Missy started singing it and tears started flowing for real, and then Leslie joined in and they started laughing. Derrick watched them as if they were both stone crazy and then he carried the baby out of the room so that they could get caught up.
Missy reached out and touched Leslie’s face with gentle fingers and Leslie looked down. “I pulled them out when my grandmother died.” She explained. She gave her friend a crooked smile. “No more bone nose.” Missy just looked sad.
“Is it that bad?” Leslie half joked, referring to her torn face.
“No, it’s not that. Even with those scars you look beautiful; you still look like Lisa Bonet. The scars make you seem…I don’t know, mysterious maybe.” Leslie gave her an uncomfortable look.
“I…don’t feel very beautiful. Never have, actually.” That wasn’t exactly true…she had felt beautiful in her dreams.” She moved to sit in one of the breakfast bars that overlooked the open kitchen. Missy sat next to her. “Remember my Uncle?”
Missy’s lip curled up in distaste. “Yeah I remember that snake.”
“He’s in jail.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.” She recounted the events after the funeral and how her uncle had tried to set her up, and then later when the detectives had uncovered that he had actually been selling Grandmama’s drugs. The kicker is, because she’d brought charges against her Uncle, then other family members came forward. He was charged with much more than her molestation, including fraud and had been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.
“He got raped in prison, too.” Leslie added.
“Good!” Missy shouted.
“He sent me a letter telling me that as a part of his rehabilitation he has to write a letter apologizing for his crimes and even though he didn’t have to mail it, he needed to. He told me that he knew that he was wrong and it wasn’t my fault-”
“As if!”
“…and that he knows what it’s like to have someone take you against your will since it’s happened to him in jail-”
“Hope they make him into a punk!”
“…and that he didn’t expect me to ever forgive him because he would never forgive himself.”
Missy grew quiet. “Do you? Forgive him?”
A momentary shadow crossed her face. “Hell no.” She hated him. There was no forgiveness for all that he had taken from her. He was an opportunistic, sick bastard that had not only raped her, but had then tried to set her up to go to jail in a revenge plot that ended up getting him in trouble. Leslie folded her hands in front of her. “But I don’t let what happened dictate who I am any longer.” Derrick returned to the room then.
“Okay ladies, I put the baby down for a nap, and dinner’s getting cold. Let’s eat!” He grinned and slapped his hands together. Instead of eating in the formal dining room, Leslie insisted that they eat right at the bar and then wouldn’t have to move everything back and forth.
She had fun with Missy and Derrick. She could plainly see the love that they had for each other in so many ways. They didn’t have to touch and kiss, their feelings were easy to see just by the exchange of looks or the completion of the other’s sentences. Derrick explained that after college he had become a graphic designer for a company that made web pages. Leslie hadn’t gone to college but had landed a job in collections at one of the major credit card companies.
“We always have overtime. I think there will always be job security for me. Oh, and guess who I saw the other day?! April, and she is engaged to a white man.”
Leslie chuckled. “All that talk she used to do about white people this and white people that.”
“So you’re single?” Missy asked.
She nodded feeling her once succulent pork chop turn to sawdust in her mouth. “Yeah. I’m pretty busy. That’s not easy, right now.”
“You know, Derrick and I have some very cool friends; professional brothers-”
“Ohhh…” Leslie made a face. “Not really into blind dates.” She fumbled with her napkin. “I guess I’m the type that has to find a guy on my own…and take it from there.”
Derrick tilted his head. “I have a colleague that is very down to earth, I’m sure you would like him. You should let me introduce you two.”
She sighed. “I’ll think about it.”
After dinner they had coffee and Leslie’s cake. Missy oohed and ahhed over how pretty it was, but when she tasted it, her eyes literally crossed.
“This is the best cake that I’ve ever had in my life!”
Leslie grinned shyly. “It’s a French recipe but I’ll take all of the credit.”
“Oh my god! You have to make Natasha’s birthday cake!”
“Of course. No one else better dare touch making her first birthday cake!”
When Leslie went home that night she felt very good for the first time in so long. Only one thing could make it better.
Chapter 9
~1999~
Leslie placed the eighth candle on the birthday cake. This year it was purple with fondant balloons pressed onto the oblong sides. The top was layered with faux balloons, the surface appeared to be a sculpture and in fact it was. She had cut the shape of a balloon onto the cake. Some might consider it wasteful but it was one of the more amazing cakes she’d ever made. Several customers had seen her decorating it and had ordered similar ones and James had taken a picture of it to put into their catalogue.
&nb
sp; She lit the candles and smiled wistfully at how beautiful it looked.
“Happy Birthday, Angel. You are eight years old today. You must feel like a big boy. I bet you are rough and tumble with scars and bruises to prove it. I’m sure your mother kisses away all of your boo boos. In school you probably hate doing your English work but you probably love science and maybe even reading. I bet you are thin and perhaps your Mom has cut back your curls so that you will look like a big boy.” She smiled again. “Don’t forget me my sweet Angel. I love you now and forever.”
Leslie blew out the candles and she took a small slice and ate it as she thought of all of the things that she and Angel had done together; while she was a child as well as when she was an adult. The memory of him was tarnished now, but she never forgot the way he looked. That image was seared into her brain.
She did the dishes and finished packing. She was moving. For the first time in over twenty years she would live someplace other than the house that had been her and Grandmama’s. But she was twenty-eight, single, and had enough cash to live wherever she wanted. For now, she was moving to France to research some of the bistros for ideas. She didn’t know how long she’d be away and it seemed the perfect time for her to let go of her old home.
The bakery had become so successful that they’d opened two more stores. Missy, who had gained an extra fifteen pounds over the years, had also garnered an appreciation of Leslie’s pastries and so Leslie had given her a job of managing one of the stores. Their friendship had grown and blossomed and when Derrick and Missy had given birth to a second baby, she had been given the name Leslie.
Leslie’s love life was still non-existent. Both of her friends had tried setting her up with eligible and handsome bachelors, and for the most part she liked them, but they weren’t Angel. She wasn’t even sure what quality they lacked, it just seemed that there was nothing dynamic about them. They went about their day to day lives with little flair. She’d dated a musician once and he had been exciting but he didn’t turn her on.
She wasn’t sure if she was exactly waiting for Angel to come of age. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but her life was definitely on hold. Missy had mentioned once that Derrick had made a comment about how it did his ego good to know that he was not the only one that Leslie had dumped with little to no reason. The women had cracked up laughing and Leslie had apologetically explained that maybe she was just meant to be single.
Her phone rang as she taped up the last of her dishes. She would place her personal items in storage and be in France at the end of the week. She hurried to the phone.
“Leslie!” She grinned. Her friend never just said Hello.
“Hey Missy. What’s up?”
“Oooh, I got something for you. Call it your going away present.”
“Ok. What is it?”
“I’m on my way now!” The phone went dead in her hand. Leslie had a moment of nostalgia and she looked over her shoulder in the direction of her Grandmother’s bedroom. She held her breath and listened…then the moment passed and she put the phone back on its cradle.
Fifteen minutes later Missy was ringing the doorbell. “It’s opened. Come in.” Leslie called from the kitchen. Missy came rushing in and stared with interest at the pretty purple cake.
“Who’s birthday cake?”
Leslie almost dropped the armful of can goods that she was going to drop off to the free store. “Oh…an experiment. Just to see how candles look on it. Grab a slice, it’s good. There are paper plates and plastic utensils on the shelf.”
“No, I’ve had way too much to eat today.” Her eyes twinkled as she held up an object in her hand. It looked like a CD.
“What is that?”
“A CD. Remember that Bobby Caldwell song you used to like? And we were at April’s party that time and you got up and started singing and dancing to it. Hell, girl, I think that’s the moment my husband fell in love with your ass.”
Leslie scowled. “Yeah. I remember, what of it?”
“Voila!” She handed her the CD. “It’s an underground by that rapper; Common. He did a remake of Open Your Eyes. You gotta hear it! You will love it!” She slipped the CD from her friend’s hands and moved to the living room where she placed it into the CD player.
A mellow beat came over the system and Missy turned it up and began moving to the music.
Leslie sat on the couch. She hadn’t played that song in years. She blinked at her friend who was going on and on about how dope the song was.
“Don’t you love it?!”
“It’s…I do.” She smiled.
Missy stopped dancing and turned down the music. “Well, why do you look like you’re about to cry then?”
She chuckled and wiped at her wet eyes. “You know how I am; sentimental.” Missy sat down on the couch beside her and hugged her.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking about how this is your last few days in your grandmother’s house. I’m a damn fool. I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m only going to be gone a couple months.”
“Do you think you’ll be back by the New Year? We gotta bring in the millennium together!”
“Of course!”
~September 11, 2001~
“Leslie, you need to come home!”
“I know I’ve been trying to get a flight out. It’s almost impossible. I have a friend here who will pack my things and ship them for me. And I’m going to drive to London and fly out of Heathrow tomorrow.
Missy sighed in relief. “Good. Let us know when your flight lands and Derrick and I’ll be there to pick you up from the airport.”
“No, don’t do that. I’ll take a cab.”
“Ok, but don’t you dare stay at a hotel, I need you here at the house.”
Leslie could hear the near hysteria in her friend’s voice. “Hey, it’s okay. I’ll be there before you know it.”
“You know, you’re like my sister and when I heard about how American’s are being targeted all over the world…it scared me to death. I’m just so happy that we don’t have anyone over in New York City.”
Leslie fidgeted with the phone wire. Yeah, perhaps, except that Angel had a New York accent… “I better get packed. Everyone is making a mad dash and I’m not sure I’ll be able to get a rental if I don’t get started.”
“Okay, go, go. Call me!”
“I will, love you.”
“I love you, too!” Leslie hung up the phone and with shaky hands looked around her small home. Where did she begin? She just packed the essentials into two big suitcases and then rang her friend and told her where to find the keys and money to get her things shipped.
Hours later, as she drove her rental towards London she listened to The Light by Common and thought of a nine year old boy with brown curls, very scared as he wonders about the nature of the world and why someone would want to take out their vengeance on the innocent. If he is a New Yorker he was certainly in the midst of all of the madness to locate lost friends and loved ones. He is nine and he is likely very scared.
~June 2002~
“Happy Birthday!” Leslie leaned forward and blew out the thirty candles that had been piled onto her cake. She couldn’t believe that she had been so thoroughly surprised by the party. She would have never thought that anyone would care enough to try to usher her into this next decade of her life with a party…it certainly wasn’t something she wanted.