by S. J. West
Tara shook his hand. “Tara. Nice to finally meet you too, hon.”
We took our seats as Tara’s interrogation commenced.
“So, what are your intentions toward Lilly?” She asked looking Brand straight in the eyes as if daring him to try and lie to her.
“I intend to get to know her better and let her get to know me better. Whatever happens after that is totally up to Lilly.”
“Have you dated many girls?”
“A few.”
“Have you dated any guys?”
I nearly choked on the cracker in my mouth. I could hear the girls at the other table snicker quietly. I looked at Tara in utter disbelief.
“What?” she said to me completely oblivious to the outrageousness of her question. “It’s an honest question. How many gorgeous guys have you seen who ended up battin’ for the other team?” She turned her attention back to Brand waiting for an answer.
“No,” he said with complete reassurance. “I have never dated a man.”
“Have you ever been in love?”
Brand shifted in his seat slightly and rested his hands on the table playing with the can of Sprite he had brought. “Yes.”
“Why did you break up?”
I was becoming more uneasy with Tara’s questions. I could tell Brand hadn’t expected her interrogation to delve this deeply. But, I was curious to know the answer to her question myself.
“We didn’t break up,” he said looking up at me. I could see the pain in his eyes before he said the words. “She died.”
“Oh,” I could tell by Tara’s voice she was sorry for asking and decided to move on down her list of questions. I hoped it would be something not so personal.
“Have you been tested for AIDS?”
Brand’s face broke into a shy smile. If I could have crawled under the table just then, I would have. But, I think that would have just added fuel to the snickering behind us.
“No, but if Lilly ever decides she wants to take our relationship that far, I have no problem being tested.”
“You know Lilly and I took the purity pledge when we were sixteen. Do you have a problem with waiting until marriage?”
“Tara, we haven’t even been on a real date yet,” I said in a low voice, hoping to not be overheard by the girls behind us. I didn’t want to give them false hope. “Could we date a little while before you have me married off?”
“I’m just getting everything out in the open,” Tara defended a little too loudly for my taste. “These are not difficult questions.”
“It’s all right Lilly,” Brand said. “I don’t mind answering.” He looked at Tara and said, “I have no problem waiting. If our relationship progresses that far, I’d feel lucky to know I was the first one Lilly shared that experience with.”
The snicker brigade behind us soon turned into the sighing battalion. And I hate to admit it but I was right there with them.
“I think,” Brand said sitting up straighter in his chair leaning slightly towards Tara, “that you need to know something, Tara. I only have the best of intentions toward Lilly. I’ll never do anything she doesn’t want me to. I’m sure you know how special she is and that she doesn’t see it herself. The only thing I can hope is that in time she’ll realize just how wonderful she truly is and be able to see what I see when I look at her.”
“Well,” Tara sat back in her seat completely deflated. “I don’t think I have anything else to ask.”
I could sense Tara’s defensive mode turn off, which surprised me. If Brand had a lie detector in his head, Tara had a bullshit detector in hers. If she didn’t sense he was just trying to get on her good side, then he had to have meant what he said, which both troubled and excited me.
Tara took a bite of her pizza and slapped the table as if she had forgotten something. “There’s one other thing I gotta know. What’s your full name?”
Poor Brand looked confused by this question, but answered it anyway, “Brandon Austin Cole. Do you mind me asking why you need to know that?”
“Well,” Tara said with a mouthful of pizza. “You see, we’ve always used our names to show how upset we are with each other. If I’m just mildly upset, I’ll just call her Lilly Rayne.”
Brand raised his eyebrows a bit, apparently surprised by my middle name.
“And if I’m totally freaked out, I call her Lilly Rayne Nightingale.”
“So what’s your full name, if you don’t mind me asking?” Brand asked, turning the tables on Tara.
“Tarajinka Shovanda Jenkins. I know,” Tara sighed in resignation. “It’s pretty obvious my Mom was usin’ drugs when she named me.”
Both Brand and I couldn’t help but laugh.
The rest of the lunch went well. I was pleased to see Tara felt so comfortable around Brand. She seemed to be accepting him with open arms … which actually made me a little nervous.
Chapter 3
After lunch, Brand drove Tara and me to our respective next stops. We dropped Tara off at the library for her job first. Before Tara got out of the car, she leaned into my ear and said, “You should give him a chance and go on a real date. I think you’re ready.”
I nodded because I had been thinking the same exact thing. Brand drove me to the chemistry building and told me he wouldn’t be able to make it to physics class that day. He said he had to do something for his cousin Abby. When he reached for my books sitting on the back seat, I stopped him.
“I think we’re ready for our first date,” I said. “After all, you now have the official Tara stamp of approval.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, obviously pleasantly surprised. “I don’t want to rush you in any way.”
“No, I’d like to go out, as long as it isn’t anywhere too fancy. I don’t think I’d have anything to wear to an upscale restaurant.”
“What about the Japanese restaurant in town? I hear they have great sushi.”
“That works for me.”
We planned our date for that evening and I walked to class with a lighter step, excited over the possibility of learning more about Brand.
When I got home, Tara helped me get ready. Tara had always thought of me as her own personal Barbie doll. Ever since we were children she had played with my hair, put make-up on me and dressed me up in Utha Mae’s Sunday dresses and wide brimmed hats making me prance around like a beauty queen.
I was so nervous that afternoon. I don’t think I could have done a good job with myself anyway. It was nice to have someone pamper me for a while. She even gave me a pedicure!
Picking out something to wear was easy. I only had one dress that was first date material. Tara and I had gone shopping before school started and caught some stuff on sale. The dress was a black scoop necked made out of some sort of polyester/spandex material with three-quarter sleeves, an A-line silhouette, and interesting geometric shapes filled in with varying shades of rust and yellow.
Brand was prompt and came by the apartment at exactly 6pm.
“I’ll be waiting for you to get back,” Tara gave Brand one of those looks that said ‘If you don’t have her back at a decent hour, I’m calling the police.’
Brand held up a hand and pledged, “No later than ten, I promise.”
“Ok, have fun, but not too much fun,” she warned us both.
The Japanese restaurant was…interesting. There was a cooking station behind a refrigerated glass case containing slabs of fresh fish where the sushi chefs prepared the orders. Every time they completed a ticket they would all yell ‘Banzai!’ in unison.
I’d never eaten sushi before, but I didn’t tell Brand that. I didn’t want him to think I was a total country bumpkin. However, when we got the menus, I was at a complete loss. So, I gravitated toward the one word I understood: salad. When I ordered the tako salad, Brand looked at me in surprise but didn’t comment until it was too late.
After the waiter left, Brand said, “You’re braver than I am. I usually stick to the rolls and sashimi.”
&nbs
p; “I like salads,” I said, now worried that perhaps a salad here wasn’t just something with lettuce and tomato.
When our orders arrived, I nearly jumped out of my seat. There on my plate, beautifully displayed but totally unexpected, were four baby octopi tentacle sides up laid on a pile of shredded fresh seaweed and topped with mushrooms and shredded carrots with a sprinkling of green onions and sesame seeds.
I guess the dismay I was feeling translated to my face because when I looked up at Brand, I could see he was trying very hard to contain his laughter.
“Not what you expected?” he asked, no longer trying to hide his amusement and openly laughing at my predicament.
“Um, in a word, no.” I couldn’t help but laugh with him. It was a totally ridiculous situation.
“I wish you had said you’d never eaten at a Japanese restaurant before. I would have helped you find something with fewer arms on it.”
“Well,” I said surveying the plate trying to salvage something out of my meal. “I do like mushrooms.”
Brand motioned to the waiter and spoke to him in what had to be Japanese. The waiter smiled indulgently at me and took my plate away.
“I hope you don’t mind but I ordered you some cooked sushi rolls. Their usually what people eat their first time.”
Now I felt bad. “Let me pay for the salad at least. You shouldn’t have to pay for something I couldn’t eat.”
“Do you honestly think I would let you do that?” Brand just shook his head in disappointment. “That’s not the way I treat my girlfriends.”
Girlfriend? Was our relationship that far already? I hadn’t thought so but having him use the term so casually made it seem like that was the natural way to view the direction our burgeoning relationship was heading.
The cooked rolls Brand ordered for me were delicious. Some were stuffed with cooked shrimp, crab, and avocado. Others had cooked eel and yellow fin. I was pleasantly surprised I actually liked sushi.
When we left the restaurant, I was stuffed. Fat and happy would have been an appropriate expression for my mood when we stepped out into the parking lot. At least I was until I saw the one person in the world determined to ruin my new found happiness.
Will was leaning back against Brand’s car. I sensed Brand’s body stiffen at the sight of Will and noticed his mood darken as we walked toward my one time best friend.
“I need to speak with you, Lilly. Now.” The scowl on Will’s face made me cringe inside.
“She’s not your pet, Will.” Brand said in my defense. “You can’t talk to her like that. She doesn’t have to do anything she doesn’t want to.”
“What are you doing here, Will?” I asked, completely mortified.
“Trying to keep you from making a mistake.”
Brand stepped a little closer to Will and strategically positioned his body slightly in front of mine to protect me.
“And what mistake would that be?” Brand’s eyes narrowed on Will waiting for his answer.
I could literally feel the tension between the two of them. It was like two live wires straining against one another fighting for dominance.
“You know what I’m talking about,” Will’s voice was so low I almost didn’t hear him.
“She’s safer with me than she ever was with you,” Brand answered with a deadly seriousness I’d never heard from him before. “Now either move away from my car or be prepared to show her who you really are.”
Will hesitated for a moment but eventually left, casting a scathing glance in my direction before climbing into his Civic.
We got into Brand’s car and drove away. When we got on the highway, I noticed Brand kept looking in his rearview mirror.
“Is he following us?” I asked incredulously.
“Yes.” The tension in Brand’s voice was unmistakable.
“I’m really sorry about this.”
“It’s not your fault.” Brand looked at me. “He’s just jealous. He’ll get over it.”
“I don’t know why he would be. He’s hardly talked to me in the past couple of years. I don’t understand why he’s acting like such an idiot now.”
It was then I heard an engine rev up behind us. It was only a matter of seconds before Will was beside us on the four-lane highway. I looked past Brand and stared at Will. I was sure the expression on my face told Will I thought he had completely lost his mind. He kept making a pointing motion with his hand like he wanted us to pull over to the side of the road. Brand ignored him and picked up speed. Will sped up as well and swerved his car like he was going to hit us!
“Hold on,” Brand said. It was then I learned what a Porsche 911 could really do. It wasn’t long before we left Will far behind us. I looked back to see if I could make out his car.
It was then I saw it.
A small commuter plane buzzed directly over our heads. If I had just reached my hand up at its passing, I could have touched its fuselage. I felt Brand push the Porsche to its limits as a wave of heat hit my skin when the plane crashed into a ball of fire behind us. Once we were well out of danger, Brand slowed down and parked on the side of the road.
“Are you all right?” he asked turning to me.
I was shaking so hard I could hear my teeth clattering in my mouth. Brand got out of the car, opened my door and drew me into his protective embrace. I laid my face against his warm chest and watched as the fire consumed the plane behind us. People had stopped and were walking around the wreckage looking for survivors.
“Lilly,” Brand looked down at me with concern. “Are you all right?”
I nodded and started to cry. Brand drew me in close and let me stain the front of his shirt with my tears.
“I think I’m cursed,” I whimpered.
I could feel his hand in my hair gently rubbing my head to soothe my jagged nerves.
“Why would you think that?” He asked in disbelief.
There on the side of the highway I told Brand the story of my life and why Fate seemed determined to shorten it…
It all started when I was eight years old. My mom had gone to a concert with one of her numerous boyfriends. I forget which one it was. She’s had so many over the years it was hard to keep track. She left me with Tara and Utha Mae for the night. Since they lived right beside us in the same trailer park, it was inevitable that Tara and I would become best friends. Her grandmother called us “two peas in a pod”. I always thought that was a strange way to describe us since I was the palest white person on the block and Tara the darkest black person I had ever seen. We may have been opposites when it came to our looks, but our friendship transcended the divide our skin might have made. I’ve often thought it funny how most Northerners think all white people in the South dislike blacks or look down on them. For the most part, we all get along together. But it always seems to be the few rabble rousers who get all the attention.
Will had come over to play twister and watch a movie with us that night. William Allen Kilpatrick lived up the road from our trailer park in a nice middle class neighborhood. Utha Mae had practically raised him since he was a baby. Heck, she had basically raised all three of us really. Tara’s father had left her in her grandmother’s care when he was shipped off to Parchman for attempted murder. No one knew where Tara’s mother was and no one cared. She had been a drug addict and fallen in with a bad crowd after Tara was born. We just hoped she would stay away indefinitely.
My mother, well, she was a free spirit. She moved from job to job and man to man. She always told me she just couldn’t find her calling in life and no man would ever replace my father, even though she kept on trying.
My father. I had to smile at that one. His identity was a mystery to me. All Cora could remember was that he was the most handsome man she had ever seen. He had made her heart and knees melt like butter the first time he said “Hello” to her. She said she met him when she was eighteen years old vacationing out in San Francisco with her family. She ended up getting pregnant with me and ran away from home b
ecause her parents wanted her to have an abortion. She never looked back and never told me who my grandparents were.
“We don’t need them, Lilly,” she would always say when I brought them up.
After a while, I stopped asking about them. All the family I needed was Tara, Will, and Utha Mae anyway.
Utha Mae would call us kids the “three musketeers”. She was like that, always making nicknames. When we were young, you would never see one of us without the other two. If I were honest with myself, I would have to admit I miss those days.
That night we had all made a secret plan to meet up at the half bridge out on the lake. Part of the bridge had simply collapsed into the lake one day. Luckily no one was on it at the time. It was an old wood bridge so no one was too surprised about it. Hardly anyone drove on it anymore except for a few old timers who refused to use the new highway.
By the time Utha Mae went to bed, Tara had fallen asleep too. Let me tell you something: trying to wake Tara up is like trying to wake the dead. Actually, it might be easier to wake a dead person. After trying for ten minutes to get her to wake up, I just left without her. I rode my bike down to the lake where Will was already waiting sitting at the end of the bridge with his legs dangling off the edge.
“Where’s Tara?” He asked when I sat beside him looking down into the deep black water of the lake. The only light to see by was the moonlight. Luckily, it was a full moon that night.
“She fell asleep,” I told him rolling my eyes in exasperation.
“Oh, well,” he said looking at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes I had seen one too many times.
“What are you planning, Will Allen?” I stood up from the edge of the bridge and slowly started to walk backwards.
Will stood too and tried to act nonchalant. “Oh nothing,” he said before he pulled out a long, thin snake from his pocket. “I saw this in my Mom’s garden and thought you might want to see it.”
“Don’t you dare, Will Allen Kilpatrick!” He knew I hated snakes. Anything that didn’t have legs but could out run me was not something I wanted to be around.