The Yin Yang Effect

by Dana Littlejohn

  “Does he have a girl?” Lucky asked.

  “He says he doesn’t. He says he’s waiting for me.”

  “Girl, they all say that shit,” Margie said, laughing.

  “What do his friends say?” Maria asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, you can kinda tell when they’re lying when you talk to their boys. If you ask and his boys say something like, they don’t know nothing, they’re just hanging, you know it’s bullshit and they’re covering for him,” Maria said.

  “Well, the only friend he really hangs out with is Doug and he told Debbie to lighten up on him because he really liked her,” Opal said, watching them like a tennis match.

  “That’s a good sign.”

  “What does he look like?” Lucky asked.

  She smiled as his image appeared in her mind’s eye. “Well, he’s not that much taller then me, about 5’8”, I think. He’s thick, not really fat, but you could hold on to him, you know?”

  “A gut? No way girl, uh-uh. Give me a chiseled body any day,” Louisa said, shaking her head.

  Lucky waved her away. “Shut up, girl. Go on, Debbie. Is he cute?”

  “Yeah, he’s cute. He’s got the smoothest, creamiest brown skin and big puppy brown eyes with those long, curly lashes that we spend a fortune in mascara trying to get.”

  They all laughed.

  “Isn’t that always the way? Men get the long, swooping lashes and beautiful eyes and we end up making Max Factor richer than he already is,” Pearl said, laughing.

  “Jake’s are the same way.”

  “One guy at a time, honey. We’ll get to your Jake in a minute.”

  “Hmm, so, he’s cute, he was a player and I bet the writing on the bathroom wall said he could fuck, too, right?” Carmen said laughing.

  “Yuck, fat guys fucking,” Louisa said and rolled her eyes.

  “Girl, shut up. He’s not fat. When he played football in school he was nice and tight, but none of us look the way we looked back then.”

  “Nope, some of us look better, baby!” Maria laughed, spinning around.

  “Whatever, man. I’m going to get something to drink. You guys want something?”

  There were yeses and nods all around as Louisa left.

  “Never mind her, girl. I bet there’s still a rumor or two floating around about our Rakim’s skills in the bedroom or his little reputation would have been left behind in high school,” Margie said.

  “Yeah, I might have heard a few over the years. I do work in a hair shop.” She giggled.

  “Huh, I’ve even heard some and I don’t work there anymore. I work at a school.”

  “Ok, so he gets around. That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Lucky said.

  “I’m not trying to be another notch on Rakim Dixon’s belt. And I’ve heard there are plenty of notches on there already.” She leaned back and wrapped her arms around her chest.

  “Has he tried to get with you? You know, just come right out and asked you?” Maria asked.

  “Yeah, a couple of times.”

  The twins snorted at the same time. The cousins looked at them and laughed, then turned on Debbie.

  “Ok, maybe more then just a couple.”

  “For how long?” Lucky asked.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know, about a year maybe two.”

  They made another noise.

  She threw her hands up exasperated. “Ok, fine. Maybe longer than that.”

  “Ok, guys, do you think this guy is trying to play my cousin to the left or what?” Carmen asked.

  “Well, I don’t see him as much since I started at the school eight months ago, but when I see him out and about, he always asks about her and he seems sincere. We’ve been friends with him since high school. I trust him.”

  They nodded and turned to Opal.

  “Rakim has had a crush on Debbie since…forever. It’s common knowledge. I told him once before that I wouldn’t help him, but I wouldn’t stand in his way either, as long as he was serious, but he didn’t make a move. Just recently he brought it to my attention again and I told him the same thing.” She shrugged. “I guess he’s finally serious.”

  Everyone looked around to each other then focused on Debbie.

  “What?”

  “I don’t know, Deb, but it looks like we’re all in agreement.”

  She wrapped her arms around her chest and leaned back again. “Uh-huh, and what would that be Chica?”

  “That you should give this dude a chance, cuz. It sounds like he’s done being a player.”

  “So we got the real story, huh? Well, cuz, if he ain’t playing no more and his gut don’t bother you, then go for it,” Louisa said coming through the door carrying a tray of drinks.

  She took a bottle off the tray. “How do I know that he‘s not a player, Lucky? He could be playing me already.”

  “Ok, Mommie, let’s look at it like this. The man is easy on the eyes, right?” Maria asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “He got his own house?”

  “He’s got an apartment.”

  “He don’t live with his mama, right?”

  She chuckled. “Right.”

  “That’s all that matters. He got a job?”

  “Yeah, a good job.”

  “His own car?”

  She nodded sipping her drink. “ Uh-huh, a motorcycle, too.”

  Maria shrugged. “I don’t see the problem, here. He’s been digging on you for a while and he ain’t playing no more. If he isn’t your man, make him your man. Shit, you guys are already friends, so what the hell.” She fished the straw out of the bottle Louisa passed to her and took a long sip, walking over to Pearl.

  “So, what’s up with you and your poppie?”

  “I, I don’t want to talk about it,” she said softly.

  “Uh-uh, don’t make me break it down for them, Pearl. We had a deal.”

  She sighed and told them everything from the time that they met until the last time she saw him at Club Caliente`. All Debbie’s cousins sat quietly drinking for a while. It was Maria who broke the awkward silence.

  “Well, that one’s a doozie,” she said, dropping her straw again.

  Carmen shook her head. “I still don’t see the problem. You’re not trying to be with the brother or anyone else in the family, for that matter. If Jake says he loves you and wants to be with you, you guys should be together.”

  Lucky shook her head vigorously. “No, no, no. It ain’t that simple. You can’t ask the man to go against his family.”

  “That’s not what I said. Besides, he’s the one that has to live with her, not that Frank guy. Frank can’t choose his woman for him.”

  “I agree, you don’t marry the brother when you marry the guy,” Margie said.

  “Really? You believe that? Being in this family?” Louisa asked.

  “Hey, our family isn’t that bad,” Debbie said chuckling.

  “You say that because you ain’t married yet. Uncle Carlos, my father, Uncle Hector, even Uncle Pedro, and he’s so soft spoken you can’t hardly understand him, they all will come down on your man like a ton of bricks if he steps out of line, and he only gets one warning,” Maria said.

  “She can’t ask him to choose her over his people,” Carmen said. “That just ain’t right.”

  “I would never ask Jake to do that.”

  “Mommie, that’s not what we mean.”

  “You guys aren’t helping,” Opal said in a singing voice.

  “Well, this ain’t Dr. Phil, baby. We’re just tossing it around, giving her something to work with.”

  “Look, my sister just wants to be with this man. They want to be together. Are they both to suffer because Jake’s brother is a lunatic?”

  “He’s a grown ass man that can make his own decisions. He shouldn’t need his people’s ok when he chooses a girlfriend, a wife or whatever,” Margie said.

  “And then what? Never see his family again?”

 
“I don’t know. We’re allowed to choose our own men, but it sure makes life easier if they get along with the family, that’s for damn sure,” Lucky said.

  “Oh, come on. Family is family. Just because I don’t like your man don’t mean we ain’t family. Debbie, you know all this, didn’t you tell your girl?” Margie said.

  She shrugged. “Sometimes you need to hear it from an outside source.”

  Louisa shook her head. “I don’t know. This could get ugly down the line, man.

  What if they do get married and the rest of his family gets to trippin’? The kids could be in the middle, they won’t accept them, they’ll be alienated, his people won‘t see them, the kids will be all confused…”

  “Whoa! Slow your roll, girl. You got them all married, with kids, his family about to kill them and everything,” Maria said laughing.

  “My bad. My imagination just took off.” She laughed with her.

  “Besides she doesn’t even know if the rest of the family is like that. He could be the black sheep or something.”

  “Wait, wait, aren’t we forgetting something? Didn’t you say Jake was trying to tell you Frank had issues with his ex and some guy? He didn’t always feel like that, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So, maybe it is just him,” Margie said.

  They looked around to each other.

  “So what are you gonna do about your boy, now?”

  “I don’t know. I do know I miss him like crazy.”

  “Ay, go back to him, Mami. If you love the man, Opal, make it work.” Maria finished her drink and pulled her to her feet.

  “Umm, I’m Pearl.”

  “Oh shit, that’s right.” She looked at Opal. “No stripe.”

  “It’s a streak,” Opal corrected.

  “Whatever.” She laughed. “Now, let’s go. I want all of you guys to come hang out at my house. My Victor has taken the kids to his mama and the house is empty and waiting. Besides we can get a real drink at my house, not these tired little coolers Aunt Carlotta keeps around.”

  Laughing, they helped put away the rest of Debbie and the twin’s clothes and went with Maria back to her house where they spent the rest of the day and into the night playing cards and drinking until Tony came for them around 1:30 am.

  Chapter 11

  The girls spent Friday with Louisa shopping all through Brooklyn and back to Manhattan for sight seeing, making sure to hit all the well known tourist spots: the World Trade Center memorial, the Empire State Building and The Statue of Liberty. Tony surprised them when they returned with tickets to a WNBA game at Madison Square Garden--New York Liberty against the Indiana Fever.

  On Saturday Carlotta made a big breakfast for Antonio’s brothers, Alberto and Juan and their wives. Debbie woke to several knocks on her door.

  “Yes, yes, I’m up!” she said groggily. “I swear these people never sleep,” she mumbled, shuffling to the door.

  “You know, you’re never going to make it in this city if you don’t learn how to cat nap,” Tony said when she opened the door.

  She leaned on the door staring at him. “Fuck you, Tony baloney.” She swung the door, but he stuck his foot in it to keep it from slamming.

  “Sticks and stones, baby girl.” He closed the door behind him. “My big brothers are here. They want to see you and your twins.”

  “That’s nice. Tell them to come back at a decent hour of the day.” She slid across the bed pulling the pillow on her head.

  “So you don’t think 1:30 in the afternoon is a decent hour?”

  She lifted her head. “What? Stop playing.”

  He chuckled. “I’m not, it’s 1:30.” He looked at his watch. “Well, no, actually it’s 1:35 now.”

  She groaned under the pillow. “Damn. Are you trying to kill us?”

  “No, cuz, I’m just trying to show you a good time.” He chuckled again. “But now you have to go downstairs and deal with the questions, the babies and little kids running around your feet.”

  “Oh, joy,” she said full of sarcasm.

  “Didn’t I hear you say that Opal sleeps naked? You want me to wake the twins for you?” His grin spread to each ear.

  She twisted her lips. “Yeah, as helpful as that sounds, I’m gonna have to say no. I’ll get them.”

  He shrugged, still smiling. “Just trying to help. Hurry up, I’ll tell them you’re up.”

  Debbie and the twins were downstairs in less than an hour, where she rekindled her family ties with her older cousins and met their wives and children along with Opal and Pearl. Uncle Carlos and his sons took their place at the grill and left the women to the children. Debbie moved all their things to the bedroom she used so the children could be put to bed, and the adults stayed up into the night drinking and socializing.

  The next day came quickly for them because Maria and Louisa woke them before seven a.m. with Mimosas and a big breakfast outside for the adults before the children were awake. As the day moved on, more family members showed up dressed in their red, white and blue. Debbie renewed more family ties and the twins met more people than they could keep up with.

  Opal and Pearl were engulfed into a family scene they had never experienced before. The Velasquez family accepted them as one of their own as they mixed, mingled, ate and danced all day long. When darkness fell, Uncle Carlos and his brothers passed out sparklers to the smaller children and let the older ones dig through the box of fireworks on their own. A short while later the sky was filled with red, white, blue, yellow and purple star bursts overhead and in the distance.

  Though the party raged on, Tony urged them to bed for the first time since they came, so they would get the rest they needed for their morning flight home. Exchanging e-mail addresses with Louisa, Maria, Lucky and Carmen, they promised to keep in touch. They hugged as many people as they could, promised to visit again and went off to bed.

  “I’m gonna miss you, cuz. It was just like old times…with a kick.” Tony laughed, hugging her. “Keep in touch, man, and remember if you marry this Rakim cat, you’ll have to send a box of invites for the family. You know we’ll be there to represent in full force.”

  “Marry? I don’t know about all that, but I‘ll keep you updated.” She laughed.

  “Well, Tony, it was nice meeting you.” Opal hugged him.

  “Hey, I watched you guys grow up, with the ‘Debra and her twins’ this, ‘Debra and her twins’ that, from my parents. I’m glad I got the chance to finally meet you. Keep in touch.”

  “I’m sure we’ll see each other again. You should come hang out with us in Indy.”

  He smiled. “I was thinking the same thing.” He hugged Pearl. “I hope you guys had a good time. Remember you’re family, too, Pearl. So if you marry your dude, you give us a holla, too.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind, Tony. We had a great time and it was nice very meeting you, Tony. If you come to Indy we’ll show you a great time, too.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  ***

  The next morning they rushed to ready themselves and ate the quick breakfast Aunt Carlotta had waiting for them before meeting Uncle Carlos at the limo at six o’clock.

  Six hours later they were back in Indianapolis in a cab homeward bound.

  “Damn, I think I need a vacation from my vacation,” Opal said pushing her bags against the wall and dropped herself on the couch.

  “Yeah, I know,” Debbie said, sitting next to her.

  Pearl sat heavily in her chair. “Woo! How do they do it? Every damn day with the partying, then they go to work and do it all again. We only did it a few times and it almost killed us.” She chuckled.

  “Shit, I’m exhausted. Let’s get some Chinese food and take a nap.”

  “Ok, I’ll call.” Debbie reached for the phone. “We should call the girls and let them know we’re back safely.”

  “Yeah, yeah, can we eat first? We just walked through the damn door.”

  “Yeah, hello. This is going to be deliv
ery, ok? I want a large shrimp and broccoli combination.” She elbowed Opal.

  “Egg roll and a small chicken with garlic sauce,” she said to the ceiling.

  “Yeah, with that I want a small chicken with garlic sauce and an egg roll.” She waved at Pearl.

  “Shrimp with lobster sauce and something to drink.”

  “No, a regular egg roll. Yeah, shrimp with lobster sauce and a Mountain Dew. Yup, that’s it.”

  “Get a big one, a big one,” she said motioning with her hands.

  “Wait, make that a two liter Mountain Dew. Ok, how much is that?” She put her feet up on the couch. “Ok, how long? Ok, thanks. It’ll be here in forty minutes.”

  “Forty minutes? Damn, that’s a long time when you’re hungry. I could be dead by then.”

  “I’m going to call Jake.” She went upstairs.

  “Come on, Chica, let’s get this stuff put up before you pass out.”

  They took all day to unpack, stopping only to eat and finally laid down to take a nap that lasted until late that night. When they woke and saw the time, they made sandwiches and went back to bed.

  “Ok, either we’re getting old or we were definitely more tired than we thought.” Opal laughed, walking into the kitchen.

  “Man, I hope I feel better tomorrow when I go back to work. I’m still kinda tired,” Pearl said sitting at the table.

  “Well, I feel better.”

  “Fifteen hours of sleep should do that, Debbie,” Opal said giggling.

  “I’ll get the mail.”

  Debbie got up to help Opal with breakfast as Pearl came in with an armful of mail.

  “Ok, let’s see what we got. Magazine, magazine, bill, junk, bill, oh look. Jackie sent us a card.” She ripped it open. “She thanks us for being there for her and her sister and wants us to visit her when we get back from vacation.”

  “Hmm, maybe she found out something about what happened to Miss Betty,” Opal said flipping a pancake.

  “You want to go after breakfast?” Debbie handed her a glass of juice.

  “Not really, but when else will we have the chance to go?”

  “Let’s call the shop and tell them we’ll be there for the morning meeting, then we can go over to Jackie’s afterwards.” Opal handed Debbie a plate.