“Get back to work and stop watchin that boy.” Her boss an overstuffed white man yelled from behind the counter. She jumped and rushed towards the soda fountain smiling while pouring their drinks.
*****
My mother stops her story and gets a far off look in her eyes. “So daddy was pretty cocky back in the day,” I say breaking her concentration.
“He was the most arrogant boy I’d ever met. It was that confidence that made him so attractive. And you know I’m an only child so once I met his family I was in love. They were the most loving, kind insane people I’d ever met. They instantly embraced me and you know the rest of the story. I got pregnant with Keisha before he left for the army. I turned eighteen. We got married and we’ve been together ever since.” She frowns and a deep wrinkle appears on her otherwise smooth forehead. “It hasn’t been easy. I’ve had to deal with things that could have destroyed our marriage but thank God we made it.”
There’s another knock on my door and grandma Bess, Keisha, Nickie and Sarah walk in.
“Where have you been all day,” I ask Sarah. “I thought for sure you’d come back here with your hair braided.”
“I’ve been talking to Lawrence. He’s such a nice guy.”
“Sarah he’s not a nice guy. We call him Nogood for a reason.”
“Leave that girl alone,” grandma Bess says plopping down on the foot of the bed. “Sometimes it takes the right woman to find the good in a man.”
“I must be the wrong woman for every man,” Nickie says. “I’m thinking about switching teams.”
“Girl stop feeling sorry for yourself,” Keisha says. “I saw how Mike’s been following you around like a little lost puppy.”
“He is way too handsome. He probably has about a million girls hanging around.”
“Maybe he just hasn’t met the right girl like grandma Bess said,” Sarah says. “Speaking of the wrong guy Riley asked about you.”
“I’m not interested in him either,” Nickie says.
“I think we all need a night out,” Keisha says. “Tomorrow is lady’s night at Club Vanguard in Hollywood.”
“I’ll sit this one out,” I say.
“You’re so old and boring,” Keisha says. “Tomorrow is your twenty-first birthday and we’re going to celebrate. So everybody come to the shop in the morning. I’ll do your hair and we’ll spend the day together.”
“Alright,” I say knowing that’s the only answer she’ll accept. I roll over and fall asleep with everyone talking around me. I wake up around 7 AM the next morning to the smell of fresh cut flowers. The attached card says, ‘You’re beautiful even though you fart in your sleep, happy birthday from Tuck.’ I shake my head climb out of bed and leave the room. Tucker and Mike are standing in the kitchen wearing work out gear. I think about turning around and going back to my room to brush my teeth and comb my hair but they both spot me.
“I was waiting for you to wake up,” Tucker says walking towards me. I put a hand over my mouth.
“You might not want to get too close. I haven’t brushed.”
“I don’t care,” he says lifting me off my feet and kissing me, “Happy birthday.”
“Thank you,” I say hugging him tightly. “I do not fart in my sleep,” I whisper in his ear.
“You so do and I love you in spite of it or maybe because of it. As far as I can see it’s your only flaw.” Hearing him say this makes me nervous. I am so far from perfect that it’s scary. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m a little neurotic.
“Are you two serious,” Mike says. “You saw each other a few hours ago.” We turn to look at him. “Leila go brush your teeth and fix your lopsided afro,” He says with a chuckle. Tucker puts me down and smacks my butt as I walk past him.
“Shut up,” Mike I say laughing. “Where did you guys stay last night?”
“Mike and Sarah checked into hotel rooms downtown. I stayed here in Nickie’s old room.”
“You should have wakened me. I missed having you next to me last night,” I say even though that’s not completely true. I slept like a baby in my bed alone. What I missed was good morning sex.
“Your father told me in no uncertain terms that I am not allowed to touch you.” I pick an apple from a bowl on the counter and bite into it.
“That’s just a suggestion,” I say flipping my hand. “Why are you guys up so early?”
“We’re all going to play basketball. Keisha said you guys are having a girl’s day and we’ll all meet up later tonight.”
My dad walks in wearing basketball shorts and a graphic t-shirt. If it wasn’t for a few smile lines around his eyes I would swear that he was the same age as Mike and Tucker. “Hey daddy,” I say walking over and standing on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
“Happy birthday baby,” he says patting my fluffy hair.
“You guys have fun. I’m going to change.” Tucker follows me.
“Keep that door open,” my dad yells as we walk towards the room.
Tucker sits on my bed and I plop down on his lap. This was the first night we’ve spent apart since we got married. I kiss his neck and he rubs my back. “I have something for you.”
“Good let me close the door,” I say standing. “I’m still on the rag but I’ll give it a go if you’re up for it.”
“No come here,” he says pulling me back onto his lap. “It’s not the rag that scares me it’s your father. I’m not having sex in his house.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out three credit cards.
“Are these my birthday presents?”
“Of course not I added your name to my account. This is your check card,” he says handing me a platinum card from a bank I’ve never heard of. He hands me an American Express Black, “This card is for major purchases.” The last one is a Masters card.
“What’s this one for?”
“Just to complete the set,” he says smiling. I look at the cards for a long time. “You don’t have to do this,” I say. “I don’t need your money.”
He frowns, “Why do you do that? Why won’t you let me give you anything?”
“Everyone thinks I’m a gold digger.”
He sighs, “We’re married. You can’t be a gold digger if you’re spending your own money.” He stands up sliding me off his lap and kisses the top of my head. “I have to get out of here before your father comes in with his shot gun. You’re driver will be here in an hour. Take your sisters shopping and enjoy your day.”
I sit down on the bed and look down at the cards. They all say Leila Bradley but my driver’s license still says Leila Peterson. I guess that’s one way to make me change my last name. “What’s my spending limit?” I say to Tucker as he heads towards the door. He pulls two pieces of paper out of his pocket and hands them to me. “Your names on everything and you have no limit baby. I love you,” He says and walks out the room. I open the papers. The first one is a copy of our marriage license. The second is a print out of all his assets. I read the combined total of Tucker’s accounts and nearly black out.
Chapter 21
Giving a girl a credit card with no spending limit probably isn’t the best idea no matter how rich you are. After Tucker leaves my room I place all three cards and the papers he gave me in my wallet. I shower quickly then slip into a yellow sun dress with a plunging neckline and a pair of flip flops. Visions of Jimmy Choo, Roberto Cavalli, Christian Louboutin, and Alexander McQueen shoes dance around in my head while I dress.
The call comes in from the dispatch office while I’m putting on make-up. I grab my purse and head for the front door without making my bed or doing my hair and it feels strangely liberating. I’m twenty-one today and I feel like its ok not to be perfect. I step out of my room into the warm dimly lit living room. This house is almost always filled with energy and movement but today it’s perfectly still. I haven’t seen or heard f
rom my mother all morning but I assume she’s somewhere around. I creep out the front door so that she doesn’t see the chauffer driven town car waiting in front of the house. I tread down the walkway with the hot sun beaming on my shoulders and my fluffy hair flowing behind me. There’s nothing like LA weather. It’s only 9 in the morning and already nearly eighty degrees.
Our neighbor Mr. Clayton is outside watering his lawn. He is probably the meanest man I’ve ever met. I remember when I was younger a troop of neighborhood girl scouts knocked on his door to sell cookies. Mr. Clayton looked out his second story window and saw them approaching but he refused to answer the door. Once they finally gave up and started walking away he opened his window and dumped out a huge bucket of what I hope was water onto their heads. I was around ten at the time and remember watching him look down and laugh at the girls like an evil gnome. I smile and wave hello when he looks my way. He frowns and turns his back as if he’s never seen me before in his life.
The driver is standing near the rear door with his large hands clasped in front of him. I approach the car hesitantly. He looks extremely menacing; more like a body guard than a chauffeur. He’s tall with jet black skin and his head appears to be sitting directly on his shoulders. “Hello Mrs. Bradley,” he says. His voice is quite a few octaves higher than I expect. He sounds a little like a twelve year old boy in the middle of puberty. I extend a hand and his meaty fingers enfold around mine. “I’m Charles,” he says looking at my breasts as he speaks. He has on the standard chauffeur’s attire, black pants, jacket and tie with a white button down shirt. “I’ve been instructed to take care of you today.” Something about how he says ‘Take care of you,’ gives me the hibbie jibbies. But I smile politely and wait for him to stop ogling my boobs long enough to open the car door.
I give Charles the address to Sarah’s hotel then I send her a text message while we drive. She’s waiting out front when we arrive. She’s wearing tan saddles with a tangerine shirt dress that stops about two inches below her behind. Her blond hair is pulled into a high ponytail and she looks young and bubbly. The car stops in front of her and she hops in before Charles has a chance to get out and open the door for her. I give him the next address and we merge onto the 405 freeway towards ‘Nappies Beauty Salon’ in Compton.
“You look happy,” I say to Sarah.
“I really like your cousin,” She says just bursting with chirpiness.
“Please don’t tell me he slept over.”
“No we sat in the lobby and talked until around 2 AM.”
“He’s a really smart guy. He has an AA degree in liberal studies and he’s training to become an EMT.”
“We’re still talking about my cousin Nogood right?”
“Lawrence,” Sarah says rolling her eyes. “We talked about our families and our futures. He was so thoughtful and attentive. I can’t wait to see him again.”
“I haven’t seen you this excited since you dated Kinsley.”
“I feel like myself with him.”
I want to ask her if she checked her wallet after he left last night but she seems so excited that I can’t bear to disappoint her. “I’m happy for you,” I say. We drive down the 405 to the 710 freeway in very light traffic for LA. We coast to a stop in front of Nappies. The place hasn’t changed a bit. The streets are lined with the same old buildings with iron gates covering the windows. A few of the businesses have shut down. I’m assuming due to the bad economy. Charles rustles around on the front seat for a few seconds. Sarah reaches to open the door.
“Please remain inside until I’ve secured the perimeter,” Charles says in his pubescent voice.
“What the fuck,” Sarah says looking around to see Charles exit the car with a Smith and Wesson tucked inside a gun holster.
“He was not wearing that when he picked me up.” He opens our door and stands near us looking intimidating while we gather out purses and climb out.
“Why are you wearing a gun,” I ask once out of the car.
“I’m an armed guard Mrs. Bradley. Carrying a gun is part of my job.”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Sarah says cracking up laughing. “Tucker hired a body guard? Where did he think we were going, Kuwait?
“I’m so embarrassed,” I say lowering my head and walking into the shop with Charles just inches from my heels. “You really don’t have to follow me. It’s my sister shop. I’ve been here a thousand times before.” He just stares at me. “Seriously it’s not dangerous as long as you don’t piss Keisha off.” He remains expressionless. I throw my hands in the air and march over to one of the salon chairs leaving Charles standing by the front door. He crosses his arms over his massive chest and stands stone faced like a British soldier at arms.
It’s before noon on a Monday and the shop is completely empty. It looks just like I remember it with marble counter tops at the stations and framed pictures of Madam CJ Walker on the walls. Keisha and Nickie emerge from the back of the shop. Keisha stops in her tracks and looks over at Charles. “Who the hell brought tiny Tim,” she says motioning her head towards the place where Charles stands frozen.
“Leila’s hubby hired a body guard,” Sarah says with a chuckle. Nickie laughs and Keisha just shakes her head.
“Did he think Compton was a war zone,” Nickie asks.
I rummage through my purse for my cell phone. This goes beyond being protective.
“Come on and let me start your hair girl,” Keisha says as I dial Tuckers cell. His phone goes straight to voice mail so I try again. “Momma told me he and daddy are playing basketball. He’s not going to hear the call so just let it go.”
I shove my phone back into my purse in a huff. “Really would you let it go if Doug did something this ridiculous,” I ask.
“Girl I would be thrilled if Doug showed that much interest in me.”
“Doug loves you. He’s just not smothering,” I say following her to the shampoo bowl.
“I just want you to appreciate the attention now because after you settle into your lives you tend to take each other for granted.” She drapes a cape around me and Nickie walks over to wash my hair.
“You haven’t said much about Tucker,” I yell out over the sound of the water. “What do you think of him?”
“We talked while you were sleeping last night. He’s a good guy. I like that he stood up to Momma. Not many people have the nerve to do that. No man’s perfect but I can tell that he loves you and that’s all that matters.”
“It doesn’t matter to you that he’s white?” Keisha gets all pissy every time she sees a black man with a white girl. She says there are so many single black women in the world and the brothah’s seem to be over looking them all.
“I knew he was white. You sent me wedding pictures remember. Besides, you can’t help who you love.”
“So where is everybody,” Sarah interrupts. “I was all set for beauty shop gossip.”
“The shop is technically closed today. I just opened it to do Leila’s hair for her birthday.”
“Speaking of good guys what’s up with you and Mike,” Sarah says to Nickie.
Nickie smiles and blushes a little. “I guess he wore me down. I agreed to meet him for drinks later tonight.”
“That’s great,” Sarah says. “I’m meeting Lawrence we should all hang out together.”
“We won’t be hanging out for a while. We have to go shopping. Tucker wants us all to have pretty new shoes for my birthday.”
*****
Tucker is sitting at a booth at Madison’s Bar and Grill with Xavier, Mike, and Pookie. They just finished playing basketball with the most brutal group of men Tucker has ever met. He took at least three elbows to the ribs and was called bitch more times than he could count. He didn’t want his new father-in-law to think he was weak so by the end of the game he was the one throwing elbows. His phone rings and he instinctiv
ely sends the call to voicemail. The threatening calls started before he left for LA. “Do you know where your wife is?” The caller would ask repeatedly in a disguised voice. He figured it was Amy trying to get back at him for breaking up with her. However, knowing his track record it could have been any number of women. He started to worry when the messages became more ominous. “I’ll take her away, I’ll make you pay,” A few of the calls said. The last call said, “I know where you are and I’m going to kill her.” He managed to get out a few threats of his own in response but the caller simply laughed and hung up.
He knew that Leila would never agree to stay home on her birthday so he hired someone to watch over her.
“Tucker,” Mike says. “Are you still with us? What do you want to drink?” Tucker looks up and sees their waiter patiently hovering over the table.
“I’m sorry I’ll just have water,” He says vacantly.
“You seem a little distracted,” Pookie says. “Is everything ok?”
“No,” He stammers. “I mean yeah I’m fine,” he says shaking his head. Mike looks at him suspiciously. He’s seen how often Tucker’s checked his phone and he suspects something’s wrong. Mike takes out his own cell phone.
“My battery’s low,” He lies. “Let me borrow yours.” Tucker absentmindedly shoves the phone into Mike’s hand then directs his attention to Leila’s father. Xavier has been quietly observing the whole scene.
“Mr. Peterson I want to ask you something,” Tucker says. Xavier looks serious. Tucker rubs his sweaty palms on his pants. The waiter brings over their drinks. Tucker grips the glass with white knuckles and takes the water down fast. “Um,” Tucker says tugging at his collar. “Wow it’s hot in here.” Tucker told Pookie that he wants to ask Xavier’s permission to marry Leila. He said he wants to give her a real wedding one with her whole family present. Pookie smiles at Tucker knowingly and raises his hand to get the waiters attention.
“He’s going to need something stronger than water. Bring us all shots of Patrone please.”
Mike excuses himself from the table and walks towards the bathroom. He scrolls through Tucker’s list of missed calls. They are all from private numbers. He presses the voicemail button and listens to the first message. “You think you can replace me? I’m going to take her away from you forever,” The caller screeches. Mike’s mouth goes dry. He listens to the next message, “Kill, kill, kill I’m going to kill her Tucker do you hear me that bitch is going to die,” the caller screams in a frenzy. A dull ache pulsates in his head as he listens to the next eighteen messages. Each new message is crazier and more manic than the last. Mike walks out the front door and dials Amy’s number.
A Love Like This (Book 1) Page 17