Soul Dancing

by Arlene Brathwaite

  “I took your advice. I spoke to her like she was a grown woman, and I apologized for treating her like a kid.”

  “Whoa, somebody call the Guinness Book of World Records. Nevel Dupree apologized,” Wayne joked.

  “Yeah we had a long talk, me, her, and your mother. I had to bite my tongue this morning when I saw her leaving the house with a tight ass button up shirt. I can’t believe how fast she grew up. One day, her chest is flatter than mine. Then, I’m watching her breasts damn near tumbling out of her shirt. She'd better not be fucking. That, I’m not going to tolerate.”

  “Okay, Dad. I don’t’ need to hear what my sister may or may not be doing.”

  “If you see her hanging with anyone of these dingy-ass, pissy-ass motherfuc—”

  “Dad! I’m hot, I stink, I just want to get home and take a shower. I just wanted to know if you and Alisa are on speaking terms,”

  “Yes, we are,” Nevel said, and then got quiet.

  “Glad to hear that.”

  They got out of the truck and started heading their separate ways. “See you tomorrow, Dad,” Wayne said, locking the truck doors.

  “Yeah, tomorrow,” Nevel grumbled.

  Wayne was so engrossed in the conversation that he didn’t see the unmarked car parked three houses down, nor did he see when Detective Harris stepped out of it.

  “Nice house you got here,” Harris said, walking up on Wayne.

  Wayne spun around. “What are you doing here?”

  “Went crying to my mother, huh?”

  “Crying?”

  “Yeah, snitched me right out.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about Detective Harr—”

  “Spare me the bullshit. Here’s the deal. I don’t care which lawyer your friend gets to represent her; she’s going down. It’s tough as fuck to beat a conspiracy charge. So, not only is she going to do time, but whoever she gets for a lawyer is going to suck her bank account dry.”

  The hairs on the back of Wayne’s neck bristled as Harris reached into his jacket pocket, and handed him a piece of paper. As Wayne started to unfold it, Harris stopped him.

  “Before you look at that, keep this in mind. It’s a onetime offer, and it’s non-negotiable.”

  Wayne unfolded the piece of paper and almost passed out. “Ten thousand dollars?”

  “In my hand by Friday morning, and the charges against your friend will be dropped just like that.” Harris snapped his fingers.

  “How do I know you’re not trying to scam me or—”

  “I didn’t come here to play games. What’s it gonna be, yes or no?”

  “I’m going to have to get back to you.”

  “Give me an answer, now, or we’re done.”

  Wayne closed his eyes. There was no way he could get ten thousand dollars by Friday. Then again, between him, Taz, Jenna, Reese, Liana and Nana it might be possible. Nah, fuck that. I’m not giving my hard earned money to this corrupt pig. Wayne shook his head, knowing that, in spite of how Elizabeth felt about him, he would never be able to live with himself if he didn’t do all that he could to help her. “Okay.”

  Harris smiled. “See you Friday morning, ten o’clock.”

  “Where?”

  “Where are you supposed to be Friday at ten o’clock?”

  “Humph.” Wayne shook his head. “Cutting your mother’s lawn.”

  “See you then.”

  ***

  “He wants what?”

  Wayne had to pull his ear away from the phone. “If I repeat it, I’m going to throw up.”

  “Fuck that cracker motherfucker,” Taz spat into the phone.

  “How much can you give me, Taz?”

  “Not a fucking dime.”

  “I’m going to pay you back.”

  “Fuck that motherfucker. He couldn’t get the sweat off my balls if he was in the middle of the Sahara desert dying of thirst.”

  “It’s not about him, Taz. We’re talking about getting Elizabeth out of doing prison time. This shit has to be serious because the judge refused to grant her bail.”

  “I tried to tell her that motherfucker, Indio, was no good, but she swears she’s a know it all. Maybe she needs to do some time to humble her high yellow ass.”

  “How much can you give me, Taz?”

  “I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? Why can’t you tell me now?”

  “Because I don’t have anything, right now! I’ll call you tomorrow.” Taz hung up, leaving Wayne more stressed out than when he called.

  “Wayne!” Tammy called his name as soon as she walked through the front door. She jumped into his arms and kissed him. “Oh my God, I’m sooo happy.” She hugged him as hard as she could.

  “Had a good day at the gym, huh?”

  “Good isn’t even the word. Try great, stupendous, the best. I got a call from Ursula Mack. She’s Akirah’s manager.”

  “Who’s that?” Wayne asked.

  “Who’s that? Akirah, the model/actress?”

  Wayne shrugged.

  “God, Wayne, you’re so out of touch. Anyway, she’s going to be starring in a movie where she’s going to be a female assassin.”

  “Okay, that’s great, stupendous, the best.”

  “No, silly. What’s great is Ursula wants to hire me to be Akirah’s personal trainer.” Tammy wrapped her arms around his neck again, and hugged the life out of him. “They’re shooting most of the movie in Florence.”

  “Florence? Florence, Italy?” Wayne stated, wondering if there was a Florence in New York State that he didn’t know about.

  “Where else, silly? The job’s for six months, all expenses paid for two.”

  “Two?”

  “You didn’t think I was going without my man, did you?”

  “I’m not going to Italy for six months, Tammy.”

  “But—”

  “But nothing. Six months? Who’s going to run my business?”

  “Your dad can—”

  “For six months? No, I don’t think so.”

  “But Wayne, you said you would always support me when it came to my career.”

  “And I will, but I don’t have to go to Italy to do it.”

  Tammy started walking toward the phone.

  “Who are you calling?” Wayne asked.

  “Hi, can I speak to Miss Ursula Mack please? Yes, I’ll hold.”

  Wayne walked toward her. “Tammy hang up the phone and let’s talk about this.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about. If you’re not going with me, I’m not taking the job.”

  “Whatever. Don’t take it,” Wayne said, pretending not to care.

  “Hi, Miss Mack,” Tammy said when Ursula came on the line. “Yes, I’m calling about the job you offered me. I—”

  “I’ll think about it,” Wayne blurted out.

  Tammy’s face lit up. “Uh… yes, Miss Mack about the job. I just wanted to thank you again. Thank you so very much.”

  “I didn’t say yes,” Wayne said, as Tammy covered his face with kisses.

  “You went from no to I’ll think about it.” She ran her finger along his jaw. “If there’s anything I can do, and I mean anything, to convince you to say yes don’t hesitate to ask. Your wish is my command.” She bowed her head before him.

  “Anything, huh?”

  Tammy opened her arms, “Anything.”

  I wonder if this is how guys get their girls to agree to threesomes? Wayne’s wicked side questioned. He imagined being in bed with Tammy and Liana. He blinked away the fantasy when he felt himself starting to rise.

  “What’s on your mind, dirty man?” Tammy said in a low seductive voice.

  “You don’t want to know,” Wayne said, heading to the den to watch TV.

  ***

  When Tammy went upstairs to take a shower, Wayne called Liana.

  “What do you want?” Liana said in a hostile tone

  “Who you think you’re talking to like that?” Wayne respond
ed just as hostile.

  “Nobody, because I’m about to hung up if you don’t tell me what you want.”

  “I got some good news and some bad news about Elizabeth.”

  “What is it?” Liana sat up straight in her chair.

  “I can’t talk to you about it over the phone.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’ll be there around eight o’clock,” Wayne said, looking at his watch.

  “Should I call Jenna and Reese over?”

  “No! This is for your ears only.”

  “You’re freaking me out, Wayne.”

  “Just be on the porch at eight o’clock.”

  ***

  “He wants what?” Liana shouted.

  “Shh, you trying to let the whole neighborhood know our business?” Wayne said, moving closer to her.

  “I can’t believe it. You only see that type of shit in the movies.”

  “This ain’t no movie.”

  Liana thought for a moment. “You know what? If I had it, I would pay it.”

  “I know you didn’t go through all that money that Ron left you.”

  “No, I allowed Derrick to invest it for me.”

  “How much did you allow him to invest?”

  “All of it.”

  “Damn! Everything?” Wayne asked.

  “It’s a good investment. I walk away every month with no less than a grand.”

  “So, what can you get your hands on by tomorrow?”

  Liana sighed. “All I have is the twenty-five hundred Rasheem gave me for Elizabeth’s lawyer. But I know Jenna and Reese—”

  “No! No Jenna and Reese. The last thing we need is them running their mouths, and putting me under the gun with Harris, literally.”

  “So, how do you expect us to get the rest?”

  “I got four, Rasheem gave you twenty-five, so that’s sixty-five. Taz is going to call me tomorrow.”

  “Taz isn’t going to have thirty-five hundred dollars, Wayne.”

  “Try and hit Rasheem up for another thousand. It’s the least he can do.”

  “I don’t know,” Liana said. She somehow felt that she was never going to hear from him again.

  “Why not?”

  “I’ve been calling him since yesterday, and he’s not answering his phone.”

  “Keep calling him.”

  “I will.”

  Wayne raked his fingers through his hair and then clasped his hands behind his neck.

  “What’s on your mind?” Liana asked feeling just as frustrated as Wayne.

  “I’m trying to figure out how the hell I got dragged into this.”

  “I’ll get the money back to you, Wayne, don’t worry about it.”

  “I’m not just talking about the money. I’m talking about everything that’s happened to me. I’ve had more fights in this past year than I’ve had in my whole life. I’ve gotten myself involved with a crooked cop, I’m with a woman who I can never love the way she loves me, and now she wants me to go with her to Italy for six months.”

  “Italy?” Liana said stunned.

  “She’s got a job being some movie star’s personal trainer.”

  “Are you going to go?”

  “If I had to choose, hell no, but it’s not just about me.”

  “So, when I suggested that we move out of Albany when we were engaged, you were saying that I was just thinking about me?”

  “Not tonight, Liana, please.”

  “And it just so happens that you didn’t get into all of this drama until I came back to Albany.”

  “Yeah, that’s it. Blame yourself, carry the cross, be everybody’s scape goat.”

  “You know what’s funny? You wouldn’t leave Albany for your fiancée, but you’re willing to go to a whole other country for your girlfriend.”

  Wayne took a step back. “Number one, it’s not permanent. It’s for six months. Number two, if I choose not to go, she’s not going to hook up with somebody else and take off.”

  “That’s what I did? I hooked up with somebody and just took off? Fuck you, Wayne.”

  “No! Fuck you, Liana. I’m out of here. I’ll come by tomorrow afternoon to take whatever money you can scrape up.”

  “Fine!” Liana stormed off, not bothering to look back.

  ***

  “How much you got?” Taz said, after he took a pull off the blunt he had camouflaged in his hand.

  “I got four Grand, plus the twenty-five I picked up from Liana earlier this afternoon,” Wayne said, sitting down on his porch steps.

  Taz clipped the blunt, stuck it behind his ear, and dug into his pocket. He pulled out a knot bigger than Wayne had ever seen him with and peeled off thirty-five crisp one hundred dollar bills, which didn’t even make a dent in the knot. “Here,” Taz said, holding the money out to him.

  “Where… in the hell did you get all that from?”

  “Does it make a difference?”

  Wayne didn’t move to take the cash out of his hand.

  “Being that my boy, my homie, my man didn’t want to put me on his funky car insurance, I said fuck it and sold my ride that’s been sitting in my driveway since last year.”

  “You serious?”

  “That’s what Cee said when I called the garage and gave him a sweet deal he couldn’t refuse.”

  “You sold your car to help Elizabeth?”

  “I sold my car, because you didn’t want to put me on your insurance. So, it didn’t make any sense to have it sitting in my driveway. Here, take this before I change my mind.”

  Wayne grabbed the money. Taz quickly lit his blunt back up, and took a long pull.

  “You need to give that shit up,” Wayne said.

  “This shit is the only reason why you got that thirty-five hundred in your hand, because if I was in my right state of mind, I wouldn’t give my mother thirty-five hundred.”

  Wayne slapped him five. “I just can’t believe you’re coming through for Elizabeth like this.”

  “And don’t tell her or nobody else, either,” Taz said, pointing his finger in Wayne’s face.

  “Don’t worry, your soft side is safe with me.”

  “I’m out.” Taz started walking off.

  “All jokes aside, Taz, Good looking. I’m going to get this back to you.”

  Taz waved his hand at him. “Don’t even disrespect me like that. You don’t have to give me anything back. I borrowed twice that from you over the years.”

  “Yo,” Wayne called out to him. “Before you go, you know who Akirah is?”

  “The model?” Taz asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “What about her?”

  “She’s supposed to be in a movie that begins filming real soon.”

  “Umm, you know I’m going to be first in line for my tickets. The ass on that girl is like… Gawd damn!”

  “Well, Tammy’s going to be her personal trainer for the movie and—”

  “Get the fuck out of here. Our Tammy? Oh shit.” Taz started jumping up and down. “Yo, son, she gots to introduce me. I can take it from there.” Taz punched the palm of his hand. “Now, that’s a chick that’ll have a man wanting to have her babies.”

  “It’s not that easy, playa. They’re filming the movie in Italy.” Wayne could see that he busted Taz’s bubble.

  “Italy?” Taz said.

  “Yeah, six months. Tammy wants me to go with her, but—”

  “But? But? Are you out of your fucking mind? Do you know how hot and horny those Italian chicks are?” Taz tapped his pocket. “I should have just enough money to accessorize my summer and fall wardrobe.”

  Wayne looked at him like he was crazy.

  “If you ain’t going, I am,” Taz said dead serious.

  “If I’m not going, she’s not going,” Wayne said.

  “Fuck is wrong with you? How you not going to go with her? When was the last time you took a vacation?”

  “Never.”

  “Exactly. And now you got the chance to take a
six month vacation. You paying?”

  “No, the production company is.”

  “You stupid mother—How… in the hell… can you pass something like this up? You’ll be spending time with Tammy on the breathtaking beaches while I’m fucking Akirah in between filming. Shit, I’m going to lay the pipe game on her so official she’ll demand I be in the movie. Boy, you better stop thinking of Liana and start thinking of Tammy and me.”

  Wayne sucked his teeth. “Don’t play yourself. It ain’t even about her.”

  “It’s over, Wayne, get it through your thick ass head. If y’all were meant to be, it would’ve happened already. It’s time for us to move on. Time for us to pack our shit and move the fuck on to Italy,” Taz said, throwing an uppercut and a right hook in the air. “Don’t fuck this chance of a life time up for me.”

  “How did this become all about you?”

  “You see, that’s your problem, you’re always thinking about yourself.”

  “How you figure that?” Wayne said, utterly confused.

  “When your right hand man needed some car insurance, you told me no, forcing me to sell my ride. And now, Tammy has a chance to rub elbows with influential people who will put her on the map, and you’re going to ruin that for her. And why? Because all you do is think about yourself.”

  “If I thought for a second you were serious, I would punch you dead in the head.”

  “If that’s what it’s going to take, then huh,” Taz said, bowing his head. “I’ll take a punch to the head if it will get me a chance to make Akirah wifey and a chance to fuck all the Italian pussy in Italy.”

  “I’m out of here.” Wayne stood up. “I have to get up early in the morning and deal with a lot of shit.”

  “Let me know how it goes down.”

  “Sure.”

  “Hey, Wayne,” Taz called out to him just before he closed his front door. “Hasta la vista… baby.”

  “They speak Italian not Spanish you retard.”

  “Spanish, Italian. Tomato, tomahto. I bet they understand this.” Taz tapped the knot of money in his pocket.

  “Later, Taz,” Wayne said, shutting the door.

  ***

  Friday morning, Wayne pulled up to Grandma Dynamite’s house. What if this motherfucker is setting me up? I hand him the money, and then the whole precinct jumps out of nowhere and arrests me for bribery. I can’t put it past him. He locks me up, and he doesn’t have to worry about me being around his mother.