Give Me Something I Can Feel

by B. Love

  How’s your client? Is she still giving you a hard time?

  I sent the text and put my phone on my lap. One of her new clients had a hard time admitting that she needed help. The only reason Charlie was there was because the woman’s husband hired her. She didn’t even want Charlie’s help. In front of her husband she acted cool with Charlie’s presence, but when he was gone she gave Charlie the hardest time.

  Charlie said she’d give it to the end of the week to see if she’d lighten up. If not she was going to return the husband’s money and quit.

  I didn’t blame her. The great thing about having your own business was that you chose who to do business with. All money ain’t good money. I refuse to let anybody disrespect me just because they think the money they’re paying me gives them the right to.

  I was proud of Charlie, though. When I first met her I thought she was this soft, cheerful little thing that would never even hurt a fly, but the more I got to know her the more I learned she had a little G about herself.

  Beauty: -_- She’s got my Holy Spirit all out of whack. I’m trying SO hard. SOOOO hard.

  “Who you texting? Better be Charlie since you over there smiling.”

  Harlem was leaning over the arm rest of my chair trying to look into my phone. I looked at her and smiled.

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but yes, I am texting Charlie.”

  “Umhm. Better be.”

  “Why do you like her so much anyway? You don’t like anyone.”

  “I don’t like the ones that aren’t any good for you. She is.”

  “But how do you know that?”

  Harlem shrugged and looked at the nurse as she opened the door.

  “I don’t know…”

  “Harlem Carver.”

  We all stood as Harlem continued.

  “Just something about her.”

  That was the same thing I’d said. I couldn’t quite place what it was about Charlie… but it was just something about her. We went back to the room, and instead of me standing next to her like I did the last time, I sat in the seat that was behind her and allowed Tage to stand next to her.

  It really didn’t do any good.

  The entire time her doctor talked to her and asked her questions he was in his phone or looking around the room.

  Doctor James put that sticky shit on her stomach for the ultrasound, and before she could pull my boy up Harlem was looking up at Tage with that look. That look that I’d been waiting for her to have when it came to him.

  “Tage, what’s the point of you being here, bruh? Seriously.”

  “What you mean?”

  “What do I mean? I mean you haven’t said anything to me the whole time you’ve been here. You’ve shown no interest in asking Dr. James anything. And she’s about to show you your baby and you’re in your fucking phone.”

  I opened my mouth to check her about cursing, but I smiled and sat back in my seat fully prepared to enjoy the show.

  “I’m here, Harlem. That’s not enough? This ain’t interesting to me. I don’t think I’ll be interested in none of this until he’s actually here.”

  “You know what? You can leave.”

  “Har–”

  “Goodbye, Tage.”

  I for sure thought he at least would have enough sense to try and fix his fuck up, but he didn’t. He turned around and left. Just like that. Harlem looked back at me as she inhaled deeply and tried not to cry. She held her hand out for me and I immediately stood and made my way over to her.

  “I’m proud of you,” I told her before kissing her forehead.

  “I’m proud of you. Thank you for not saying anything, Knight.”

  I nodded and turned my attention to the screen. His heartbeat filled the room and Harlem squeezed my hand as she smiled.

  “Well, Harlem, there’s your baby boy. Strong heartbeat. Let’s see if we can get some movement while we have him on the monitor,” Doctor James said.

  Harlem’s head shook and I looked down at her to make sure she was good.

  “How could he not want to be a part of this, Knight?” she looked up at me with tears raining down her cheeks. “Every time I see him and hear his heartbeat it’s even more real to me. How could he not want to be a part of this?”

  Doctor James put the probe down and stood.

  “I’m going to give you two some privacy.”

  Harlem’s arms were wrapping around me as she cried harder, and it messed with my mental because this was the first time I’d seen her cry in years. Had me wanting to run out to the parking lot and beat his ass, but I held her and tried to comfort her as best as I could instead.

  Food and shopping could always make Harlem feel better. We went to Osaka for food, then headed to the Wolfchase mall. About five stores in she was back to her normal happy self. On the ride there I questioned her to see where her head was at. She was cool, she just couldn’t understand how he could be so detached from the situation.

  I tried to get her to understand that she couldn’t force him to feel the way she did or desire to want to be involved. Trying to do so would hurt her and the baby in the long run. You can’t force a man to do or feel any type of way. If you want it to be genuine, you have to give him the space to get there on his own.

  She said she understood and would give him the space to work everything out on his own, and I was hoping she meant that.

  Harlem and I were headed to the movie theater inside of the mall when we spotted Charlie in the food court. She was all giggles and smiles with her arms wrapped around some dude’s arm. All hugged up against the side of him. My feet were moving towards them before I even had a clue of what I was going to say or do, and Harlem was right behind me.

  “Be nice about it,” she said as she grabbed the back of my shirt to slow me down.

  They sat down at a table and Charlie’s back was to us, but whoever she was with saw us walking towards them. My face must have expressed the way I felt on the inside because his face hardened at the sight of it. Sensing the change in his mood, Charlie turned around to see what he was looking at.

  She smiled even wider as she looked from me to Harlem. By the time we made it to their table she was on her feet with her arms open for Harlem.

  “Hey, sweetheart. How was your appointment?”

  Harlem hugged her and sighed. Charlie looked at me for an explanation, but I didn’t give her one as I returned my attention to the man she had way too close to her body for my liking. Harlem released her and made her way back to my side, and I wasted no time sitting the bags down, grabbing Charlie, and pulling her into me for a hug.

  She did this cute moan giggle before trying to remove herself from my chest, but I held on. I wanted it to be perfectly clear to ole boy that I didn’t give a damn what they had going on – she was mine. Charlie kept her right arm around me as she said…

  “Knight, this is my brother Rodney. Rodney, this is Knight and his sister Harlem.”

  Harlem waved as Rodney stood.

  “Nice to meet you,” Rodney said as he extended his hand for me.

  I shook it and said the same. He shook Harlem’s hand then sat back down. Feeling comfortable with letting her go, I released Charlie and she looked at me with a smirk before looking at Harlem.

  “How did the appointment go?” she asked again.

  “It was fine,” Harlem answered finally as she slipped back into her sadness.

  “Nope,” Charlie lifted her chin. “Keep that head up. Don’t let your crown fall. We’ll talk.”

  Harlem nodded and hugged Charlie from the side. Charlie wrapped her arm around Harlem and pulled her away from us – completely ignoring me and her brother to tend to a visibly hurting Harlem.

  “Have a seat,” Rodney offered.

  I waited until I couldn’t see Harlem and Charlie anymore before I took Charlie’s seat. This turned into some shit I wasn’t prepared for today. I wasn’t trying to meet the family and all of that.

  “You looked at
me like my sister was yours,” he observed. “But she hasn’t told me anything about you. How did you two meet?”

  I had no problem answering his questions because I would’ve wanted to know the same if it was Harlem or Carmen, but if Charlie hadn’t said anything about me to her family… maybe that was for a reason.

  “If she hasn’t said anything to you about me maybe she doesn’t want you to know. I’d feel more comfortable with you having this conversation with her, but I will admit to this – I do like your sister. Very much. And I looked at her like she was mine because, well, she is. I might not be hers. We might not be in a committed relationship. But she is mine.”

  Seemingly pleased with my answer, Rodney crossed his arms over his chest and smiled.

  “My sister is like fine china. Handle her well. If you break her, I’ll kill you.”

  Now that got a good hearty laugh out of me. I hadn’t been threatened by a big brother since I was in high school, but Charlie was worth it. This would be the first and only time he’d get away with this shit, though.

  “Trust me, I have no intentions of hurting her. She’s in good hands.”

  Hell, if anything, I was the one at risk of getting hurt. I had no problem at all taking things to the next level with Charlie, but she was holding back from me for whatever reason. It was like she was hiding something from me and whatever it was had guards up that I didn’t even know how to climb over.

  But then my nose caught her scent. And I looked to the right and saw her and Harlem walking over to us. And I saw the smile on her face. How it was like… the light of God captured in one place. And the desire to try and get her to open up to me and let me in grew even stronger.

  “Can you please tell me what room Evelyn Brown is in?” I asked the labor and delivery receptionist.

  In the midst of shopping for dresses for the gala and auction, Evelyn, a third time around client, called to let me know that her water broke and she couldn’t get in touch with her husband. At that moment, the fun that I was having with Rodney, Knight, and Harlem ceased and I had to go into servant mode.

  I hadn’t even planned on going to the mall with Rodney, but he called when I was on my way there and met me so we could spend some time together. When he found out what I was shopping for and realized he was in for an all-day thing he quickly tried to back out – didn’t work!

  I was kind of glad that he stayed since we ran into Knight and Harlem. He was the only person in my family that now knew about Knight, and I made no effort to try and deny the fact that I had feelings for him. It felt… good to express that to someone besides Deja. It felt… normal.

  “She’s in room 1094. Are you a member of the family?”

  “No, I’m her… I don’t know what you would call it…”

  “Are you Charlie White? She told us to send you back as soon as you got here.”

  “Yes. I am.”

  “Perfect. Head around the desk to the left and take the second right. Her room is to the left.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  I rushed back to Evelyn’s room, trying to get in touch with her husband for what felt like the millionth time, and yet again he didn’t answer. If you ask me… he was having an affair. The three times I had to go up to his job when he was supposed to be there he wasn’t. All of the calls to his cellphone were sent to his office during the day, and most men did the opposite. I felt like he was doing that to avoid having to talk to Evelyn, but whatever. That was none of my business.

  The closer I got to her room the louder yelling and crying sounded off. It didn’t sound like the type of yelling and crying that would come from a woman in labor. Especially a woman that was on her third baby. This sounded angry. I looked into the room before going in, and I saw Evelyn yelling at her husband, Adam.

  Unsure of if I should go in or not, I placed my forehead on the door and listened to Evelyn’s yelling.

  “You come up here smelling like another woman when I’m having your child? You got the bitch’s makeup on the collar of your shirt, Adam! Don’t try to make me out to be the crazy one!”

  “Mrs. Brown, please, try to calm down. Your blood pressure is elevating and we don’t want to stress the baby,” her doctor warned, and that was all I needed to hear.

  I walked in, grabbed Adam, and walked right back out.

  “Charlie…”

  “Listen to me; get your shit together, Adam. Do not stress her out any more than she already is. What the hell were you thinking come up here like this?”

  “I… I wasn’t thinking, Charlie. I didn’t want her to give birth without me being here. So I just left and came.”

  “But why were you even with another woman knowing your wife was going to go into labor at any moment?”

  Adam leaned against the wall and hung his head.

  “She was stressing me out, Charlie. Nagging me and complaining all the time. I just needed an escape.”

  “What did you just say?”

  His head hung lower. With a roll of my eyes I went back into the room to Evelyn’s side.

  “Tell me what you need, Evelyn. Do you want him in here? In the waiting room? At home? What?” I asked as she grabbed my hand.

  “I want him gone. He needs to go to my house, pack his shit, and make sure he’s gone by the time I leave. You’re going to stay here with me aren’t you, Charlie?”

  My smile was a bitter one as I ran my fingers through her hair.

  “Don’t I always? Let me go and get rid of him and I’ll be right back.”

  She nodded and released my hand, and I made my way outside of her room to tell Adam her decision.

  This was the evening I’d been waiting for. Yea, the golf tournament was cool, and I enjoyed playing basketball, but this… the evening of the auction… this was what I was looking forward to most. This was probably the only chance I had to have a date with Charlie without having the pressure of dating and relationship expectations and all of that shit along with it.

  I’d be able to take her out and enjoy her company one on one and not have to worry about things changing between us tomorrow morning – unless she wanted them to.

  With that thought in mind, I was more than willing to pay any amount of money to possess her for the night.

  “Well look at you,” Harlem said through her smile as she made her way into my room. “Looking all fly and shit.”

  “Harlem…”

  “I’m sorry. Stand over by the window so I can take a picture of you. You look so handsome, boo.”

  I looked myself over in the mirror once more. The Manhattan black & gold Brocade dinner jacket that I sported gave me a classic look. I paired it with a white button down and a pair of tailor-made black pants.

  “Are you nervous?”

  She would ask me that as she was about to take the picture. I wasn’t necessarily nervous, but I was unsure of how she would react to me winning the auction and spending the night with me. I knew Charlie was nervous about the whole thing, and I wanted to make her as comfortable as I possibly could, but I was going to take full advantage of tonight.

  “No. I’m not nervous. I’m just ready to get it over with. You make sure to text me and let me know when you’ve made it to Princess’s house tonight. I might not text you right back, but I need to know that you’ve made it safely.”

  “Fine. Send me a picture of her when you see her. I know she’s going to look beautiful.”

  I grabbed my keys and phone off the dresser and hugged Harlem before heading out. Yep, I was sure she was going to look beautiful too.

  “Good evening everyone, and welcome to our first annual charity auction. Our new committee came up with a different and exciting auction for us tonight, and I hope you men have your checkbooks out and ready!”

  Mrs. Berry, Doctor Berry’s wife clapped her hands, encouraging the crowd to clap, as she paused. Her eyes went to the left of the stage and she nodded before she spoke again.

  “Now, for those of you who filled out your car
ds to participate in the auction tonight, I’m going to give you a quick reminder of how this is going to work before we proceed.”

  OK. Maybe I was a little nervous. I slid down in my seat a little and released a quick breath as I ran my hand over my freshly chopped hair.

  “Everyone will be bidding on one woman. All of your bids will be given to the hospital at the end of the night, but only the man with the highest bid will receive a date with our treasure when tonight’s event is over.”

  Why was I nervous? She should want me to be the one to win. She knows me. We already spend time with each other, so it’s not like I’m a total stranger.

  “I called this young lady a treasure because that’s exactly what she is. I’ve known her for a little over half of her life, and any man that wins a date with her will truly be getting a prize. A vessel of wealth. Not financially, but emotionally and mentally. This young lady is a jewel.

  She has her own business. The heart of a servant. Her personality is warm and bubbly. Her smiles are bright and contagious. I just… can’t say enough about her. So, without further ado, I present to you…”

  This was it. This was it.

  “Charlie White.”

  The sight of her not only affected me, but a great deal of men in the room. Their claps went from normal and light to fast and heavy as gasps and cheers filled the room. I found myself sitting up in my seat trying to get a better view of Charlie.

  Her hair was flat ironed into a sleek, straight style with a part down the middle. Usually her makeup was natural if she wore any at all. Nothing special. She didn’t need anything heavy or special. But tonight her face glowed. It glowed. And the deep burgundy lipstick that she had on kept pulling my attention to her lips.

  That was… until I allowed my eyes to roam her body. The rose gold dress she had on complemented her beautiful brown skin perfectly. She looked beautiful. Classy. Elegant. Then she turned around and hugged Mrs. Berry and showed the backless design and added sexy to the list.