Graham hailed a cab for Onika and opened the door for her. She gave him a chaste, sweet hug before she climbed into the backseat. Graham reached into his pocket and pulled out thirty dollars.
“This should be enough to get you anywhere in the DC area, plus a tip.”
“Thank you. I need your number again, though. I will call you as soon as I put minutes on my phone.”
“Last time I gave you my number, you threw it away. How do I know you’re going to call me this time?”
“You just have to trust me.”
Graham took another business card out of his jacket pocket. He grinned, kissed it, and handed it to Onika.
“Don’t on purpose lose this one.”
She didn’t reply. She kissed it back and tucked the card into her cleavage.
Graham’s heart raced; it threatened to burst right out of his rib cage as he watched the cab take off down the street.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Onika was in the greatest of moods when she went into Charmayne’s library to check her e-mail. She’d woken up late and was still in her pajamas and bunny slippers. She’d woken up with Graham on her mind.
He was everything she wanted except that he had a normal job with a normal income. This wasn’t everything, but it was something. Onika had become accustomed to a certain way of life, but how long could she hold onto that without sounding and seeming ridiculous? She was in a women’s shelter with a roommate who used to scam men when she needed money. Onika didn’t know where she found her audacity to dismiss Graham because of his lack of baller status.
The first e-mail was from her new job. Time to get into work mode. She was ready to know she had cash and a regular paycheck.
Onika nearly dropped her coffee mug when she saw the words “We regret to inform you.”
They had rescinded their offer. Through a haze of tears, Onika read that they had lost their grant funding and had to make budget cuts. She was welcome to apply again next year or try for a substitute position later in the year.
Onika didn’t realize how loud she was sobbing until Ty poked her head into the library.
“What’s wrong?”
Onika shook her head. She couldn’t articulate how desperate she felt. The job was her way out. With the beginning of the school year about to start, there was no way she’d be able to get a teaching job.
What was she going to do for a whole year?
Onika opened her mouth to speak, but Ty had disappeared. She returned a few moments later with Charmayne, who was still in her robe and head scarf.
“Honey, tell me what’s wrong.”
“The job fell through.”
Charmayne threw one hand in the air. “Is that all? I thought someone had died, the way Ty came running into the kitchen.”
“It sounded like someone died,” Ty said.
“Is that all? This job was everything! I can’t leave here without that job.”
“I know. We can work on that. It’s not the end of the world. You are still sitting here with activity in your limbs, so you still have time to figure it out.”
“Activity in her limbs?” Ty asked.
“Yeah, they say that at church. It just means you’re still alive,” Onika said. “Church folk love talking in riddles.”
“Do we? Well, riddle me this. Who isn’t getting any of these Belgian waffles I’m about to make?”
Ty laughed. “Her. I want food from the kitchen ministry. I’m not mad at Jesus.”
“I don’t want any,” Onika said, “and not ’cause I’m mad at Jesus. I have to find a job.”
“That can wait,” Charmayne said. “Come eat first.”
Charmayne’s tone was loving instead of mocking. Deep down, Onika knew she was right. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it sure felt like it. Although she was tempted to stay right there at the computer, Onika got up and followed Charmayne and Ty into the kitchen.
The ingredients spread out on the counter didn’t look like any kind of waffles Onika had ever had.
“I thought you were making Belgian waffles,” Onika said.
“I am. They’re my gluten-free, sugar-free, banana waffles.”
Onika rolled her eyes. She didn’t want anything healthy right now. She wanted something decadent. She wanted a crispy, golden, flaky, buttery waffle. Not this organic thing that was about to be assembled.
“I should’ve warned you,” Ty said. “She’s a health nut. She ropes you in on the first day with all that yummy food. When you get here, she gives you pastries, shrimp and grits, and all that, and then out come the vegan meat crumbles.”
“I’m not that bad, but I do it mostly for me. I used to be over three hundred pounds.”
Onika looked at Charmayne’s solid frame, which wasn’t thin but nowhere near fat. Onika couldn’t tell by looking at Charmayne that she used to be extremely large. It made sense that she was such a good cook then. All the big women Onika knew were good cooks.
“Sit down while I make the waffles. I want to tell you about a job opportunity that just came across my desk that is probably perfect for you, with your background in teaching.”
A job opportunity? Charmayne should’ve opened with this news. Then Onika wouldn’t have been so averse to the breakfast.
“What is the job?” Onika asked as she sat at the kitchen table.
“It’s a tutoring job, and it could turn permanent,” Charmayne said.
Onika’s spirits sank again. A tutoring job wasn’t going to pay enough money for her to move out of Charmayne’s house.
“How much does it pay?”
“Twenty dollars an hour, but you’ll have to tutor anyone who walks through the door. School kids, adults, some homeless . . .”
“Homeless people?” Onika asked with a bit of contempt in her tone.
She was contrite before she could even inhale her next breath. She was homeless. For a moment, the comforts of living in Charmayne’s home had made her forget her own plight.
“There but for the grace of God, go I,” Charmayne said.
Tears formed in Onika’s eyes. “What is wrong with me?”
“You forgot,” Ty said. “It’s easy to forget here with Charmayne. We’re not on the street. She’s an angel.”
“No. Not an angel,” Charmayne said. “Just someone who’s been broken before.”
Onika pulled herself together and wiped her eyes. “So, a tutoring job? What would I be expected to teach?”
“Some of the adults are studying to take their GED, and the children need help with their homework. A lot of the children are homeless, too. They live with their mothers in a hotel across the street that the city runs.”
“That sounds like a good job,” Ty said. “Let’s trade.”
Ty worked as a dishwasher in a church-run soul food restaurant. She worked from breakfast until early evening, and sometimes she didn’t just do dishes. She also cleaned the bathrooms and vacuumed the dining room.
“That would be a negative,” Onika said.
Ty sucked her teeth. “You’re a hater. I can tutor people. I know how to read and do math.”
“Not sure they’d hire you for this one,” Charmayne said.
“I know. My felonies are gonna haunt me forever, it seems,” Ty fussed, with her arms folded tightly across her chest. “Sometimes it just seems like it would be easier to go back to hustling. I’m not gonna do it, but I think it sometimes.”
“You don’t ever have to go back to that. And, I told you, we’re working on your record. You weren’t a juvenile, but you were so young. The lawyer said she may be able to convince the court that you were basically being trafficked and you did everything you did to survive.”
“That’s not a lie,” Ty said. “D’Angelo would’ve killed me if I didn’t run every scam I could on every john.”
“I’m praying about it, and God hears me when I pray,” Charmayne said. “You won’t be in that kitchen for long, but since you’re in my kitchen now, can you hand me the cinnamon out of the
cupboard?”
As Ty reached on a high shelf for the spice, her baby T-shirt rose up in the back, exposing an ugly, ropelike scar. Onika shuddered at the thought of what might’ve happened to Ty when she was selling her body. It made her think of Judy, which depressed her all over again.
“So you two went out last night, but came back separate. What was that about?” Charmayne asked.
“Nosy,” Ty said.
“She sure is,” Onika quipped. “We don’t ask her what she does with her time. Where she goes every Thursday night for a few hours. I suspect something boring like prayer time at the prayer house, but it could be a secret rendezvous.”
“A rendezvous with Jesus. You’re right, except it’s not prayer service; it’s women’s Bible study.”
“So you say,” Onika said. “I prefer to believe you have some hot, muscle-bound twentysomething providing you with the ultimate in stress relief.”
“No ma’am.” Charmayne waved a spoon at Onika and frowned. “There is nothing a man that young can do for me.”
“So her muscle-bound man is in his fifties then,” Ty said, joining in on the fun. “Is he fully gray or does he have salt-and-pepper hair?”
The corners of Charmayne’s mouth twitched with a faint smile, but she didn’t respond. She started loading ingredients into the blender.
“Oh, shoot. Ms. Charmayne has herself a church boo. Is he a health nut like you? If he isn’t, please don’t make him anything with twigs and berries. Make him some of those shrimp and grits.”
“I don’t have a church boo,” Charmayne said.
Onika nodded slowly. “Oh. She has a church crush, then. He just doesn’t know about it.”
“Enough of this. What happened with you two last night? My mama used to always tell me to stay with my girlfriends at the party or the club.”
Onika sighed when she could tell Ty was getting ready to tell Charmayne what went down. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to have Charmayne analyzing everything yet. Or if she wanted her to know about Graham at all.
Graham might be nothing. He could be an anomaly she’d never see again. She thought about his card tucked away in her purse. She wanted to call him but didn’t want to seem too pressed about it, so she’d decided to wait until the afternoon.
“I think Onika might have a new boyfriend,” Ty said. “She met the perfect guy in the Metro and ran into him again at the bar. He took her on a date right then. He wasn’t about to let her get away.”
“Really?” Charmayne asked.
“He was fine, too. All chocolate and buff. When he was walking up to us, I was hoping he was about to holla at me, and then he came through and swooped her up. Left me at the bar with his ole busted friend.”
Onika couldn’t help but laugh at Ty’s recollection of events. She still felt a little bad for leaving her with Lorne, but it worked out fine anyway.
“You didn’t like the friend?” Charmayne asked.
“Um, no. These two dudes don’t even seem like they should be friends. Graham, Onika’s guy, was super polite. She said he didn’t even try to kiss her at the end of the night. The one they left me with tried to get me to give him some in the bathroom.”
“Ugh, that’s disgusting,” Onika said. “You didn’t, right?”
“I can’t believe you just asked me that. Of course I did.”
“What?” Charmayne dropped her spoon on the floor.
Ty laughed so hard she cried. “I’m just playing y’all.”
Charmayne scowled at Ty as she retrieved the spoon from the floor and rinsed it. She sprayed oil on the waffle iron so that it could preheat. Onika was still skeptical that the bananas, eggs, coconut flour, and oats was going to make a good waffle.
“I’m not talking to her for the rest of the day,” Charmayne said. “Onika, what happened with your date?”
“It was nothing major. I met him in the Metro on the same day I came here. I was actually on my way. Threw his card away, because I really wasn’t in the mind-set for meeting a man. Then it was so weird to run into him again, so I gave it a shot. Nothing else to tell.”
“Are you going to see him again?”
“He says he’s taking me for pedicures. I haven’t called him yet, though.”
Ty shook her head. “Why haven’t you called him?”
“It’s morning. I had to check my e-mail, and now I have to figure out my life. I don’t have time to call a man.”
“That’s a pretty odd coincidence—to run into the same guy like that, in all of DC,” Charmayne said. “What does he do?”
“His business card says program analyst. I don’t know what that means, but he works for the government.”
“It means he probably gets paid a decent amount of money to do absolutely nothing. If I didn’t have these felonies, I’d try to get a government job,” Ty said. “Maybe he can hook you up.”
“Maybe.”
Onika hadn’t thought about Graham helping her get into government employment. She really did prefer to teach, but if he could get her a job to tide her over until the next school year, she’d gladly accept it. Especially if it paid more than substitute teaching and tutoring.
Charmayne poured some of the batter onto the sizzling waffle iron. “Did you like him, though? Would you care to see him again?”
Onika shrugged. “He was nice and everything, and we had a great time. I just . . . wouldn’t want to date him seriously right now. I have nothing, not even my own roof over my head.”
“Funny, he came along at this time, though,” Ty said. “You can’t ignore that. It could be the universe pulling you together.”
“I don’t know if I believe any of that. I just know that I enjoyed his company, and I haven’t decided if I’m going to call him. End of story.”
“No happily ever after?” Charmayne asked. “It would be nice to hear one of those for a change.”
“It would, wouldn’t it?”
Onika drew circles in a little pile of coconut flour that had landed on the counter. Her life probably wouldn’t have a happily ever anything, because it hadn’t started with “Once upon a time.” It had started with, “It was a dark and stormy night in the crack den.”
Calling Graham would just be inviting her catastrophic situation into someone else’s world. She’d be bringing her struggle into his boring, albeit peaceful life. Why should she do that to him? No, she wouldn’t call him.
Then she thought about how much fun they’d had in the drugstore picking out flip-flops. It was the dumbest thing ever, but it was so hilarious. She’d been so at ease with him in that moment. And he didn’t even flinch when she said she didn’t go to church, even though clearly he was a churchgoer. She didn’t feel the same judgment she felt with most Christians.
Graham was different. But even if he didn’t judge her for being homeless, Onika was embarrassed about it. A homeless Robinette. The alumnae circle would be ashamed of her. Mrs. Richard would probably faint right before going straight into cardiac arrest. Onika didn’t want to even think about her sorority. Her sisters would help her find a place to stay, because it would be the right thing to do, but then they’d shun her and suddenly stop inviting her to events.
“You do need a pedicure,” Ty said. “Your feet are busted. Maybe you should call him. He’s paying, right?”
Charmayne chuckled as she sat the first waffle in front of Onika. “Try it.”
Onika poured syrup on the waffle and dug in. She didn’t know what to expect when she put the first bite in her mouth. Actually, she did know what she expected. She’d thought it would be edible. Instead, it tasted like a coconut-flavored foot. A human foot that had been in a gym shoe for too long. Probably after it ran a marathon. Yes, it tasted like both feet of a marathon runner who’d just crossed the finish line.
Reflexively, and instinctively, Onika spit the mouthful of food back onto the plate. Her body knew it was being poisoned, and it threw all manners out the window to save her life.
“Why d
oes it taste like that?” Onika asked.
Charmayne gave Onika a worried glance. “Like what?”
“Like feet. Foot fungus. Why?”
Meanwhile, Ty was cracking up again. “I’m glad you were the guinea pig this time.”
“I’m sorry,” Charmayne said. “This was my first time making them. It was an experiment. Maybe it was the buckwheat. Maybe it was the lemongrass.”
“Didn’t you have a recipe?”
“No. I just went based on another recipe I had and did a couple substitutions.”
Ty took a fork and cut a piece of the waffle off for herself. When she bit it, her reaction was the same, if not worse.
“That waffle was an epic fail,” Ty said.
“No. A fail is never trying out something new. A fail is me sitting in my bed and wondering how a banana lemongrass waffle might taste without ever making it. An epic fail is doing nothing, but expecting your life to be incredible.”
“I feel like she’s turning this into a sneak lesson,” Ty said.
“I’m not sneaking at all. I’m telling you the truth.”
True or not, Onika was annoyed by Charmayne’s constant dispensing of mother wit. It seemed to be the price paid for living under this roof.
“Do you have children, Charmayne?” Onika asked, feeling sorry for the lectures they must’ve endured if she did.
“No, I’m afraid I don’t,” Charmayne replied.
This was the first time Onika noted a dejected look on Charmayne’s face. What was the story there? Had she given her child up for adoption? If she had, running her shelter must be penance for that. Onika had encountered very few people, if any, who were kind just for the sake of kindness. Most of them were making up for something. Repenting for something. Doing penance for their sins, and hoping their God forgave them.
“You’ve still got time,” Ty said. “You’re not that old.”
“I’m not old, but I’m too old for babies. I don’t want to be chasing around a teenager in my sixties. There’s no telling what kind of technology they’ll have then. I can barely keep up with Facebook.”
“So we’re it, huh? Or women like us who find ourselves in the most unfortunate circumstances,” Onika asked. “You’ve got a savior complex.”
Her Secret Life Page 15