“What are you doing here?” Venus touched Jake’s elbow, perplexed and excited all at once. “This is my brother, Timothy.”
“How ya doing? How’re you holding up?” he said, turning to Venus and sliding a hand down the side of her arm.
“Okay.” She was still stunned by his presence.
“I just saw your dad. He says your mom is doing great, came through like a champ.”
Venus felt a pang of guilt. She’d assumed the worst and hadn’t wanted to face it, out strolling the boulevard as long as possible, and here a perfect stranger had found her mother and delivered news of safety.
“We better get on up,” Timothy said behind Venus. “Nice meeting you.”
“Do you have to leave?” Venus said before Jake could say his good-bye. “Can you come back up with us?”
Jake hesitantly followed. In jeans his look was softer, more casual, but he still looked like he’d forever have to fight the image of the one-hit-wonder rapper instead of the businessman he’d become. All three of them took separate corners of the elevator and rode up quietly. Timothy stepped off first in the wrong direction.
“This way,” Jake instructed, as if he, instead of the two of them, had spent the entire day at the hospital and knew the lay of the land.
The lighting in the hospital room was dim, the curtains closed to block out the sunlight. Venus walked in and kissed her father on the forehead as he sat next to the bed. Pauletta lay quiet with a trail of tubes in both arms. The sight of Pauletta calm and resting scared Venus. She’d never known a day that her mother wasn’t in full fighting mode, ready to argue over the injustice of being charged a completely different price at the register than the tag or sign posted at Kmart, or the credit card statement showing duplicate transactions. Venus had spent enough time at her mother’s elbow watching as she pointed out the rudeness of a salesperson or the unfairness of a store’s policy.
Pauletta’s hands lay still at her sides. Venus held one and traced the lines of her mother’s palm. The same nurse from earlier came in behind them. “She’s going to sleep for a good eight hours.” Her words came out loud even though it was intended as a whisper. Her thick roundness scooted past Venus where she could get to the machines. They all stood around feeling awkward, like they’d been told to leave but were not quite sure.
Henry looked up with worn, tired eyes. “I’m going to stay a little longer. You guys go on home. The nurse is right, she’s going to sleep all day and probably through the night.”
Venus smoothed a hand over his shoulder. “We can take shifts, Dad.”
“No, no, that’s not necessary.” He spoke in a hushed but firm voice. Something told Venus that he preferred to be alone with Pauletta. The same way they’d lived for the last fifteen years, their nest free and clear except for the two of them.
Timothy acquiesced first, giving their father’s shoulder a squeeze. “See you in the morning, Dad. Call if you need anything. I’m staying with Venus.” He looked up to confirm. She nodded her head. “Okay.” Timothy kissed Pauletta on the smooth pat of skin between her closed eyes. He motioned let’s go.
“I wanted to talk to Dr. Prah,” Venus said as Timothy escorted her out. Jake took the other elbow. Venus felt like a Looney Tune; was she the only person who saw this whole situation as wrong? She shook them both off and stopped in her tracks. “I’m not leaving until I talk to the doctor.” They stood in the hallway outside of the door.
“What’s that going to do, V? What’s it going to solve? Let Mom get some rest. You’re tired, too. The only thing we can do is help Mom recover.” Timothy wrapped a soft hand around her neck. “I know you want to blame somebody for this, V. There’s nobody to blame.” He pulled her in close. “Mom’s going to be fine. All that matters is that she’s going to be fine.” Venus let Timothy sway her back and forth, her neck twisted up with the length of his body. She’d forgotten Jake was standing there.
“I probably should go” were the first words out of his mouth when Venus finally turned around to see him.
“Nah man, let’s go get some coffee, real coffee, the kind with steam coming off of it.” Timothy looked to Venus. “You in, V?”
She hunched her shoulders as if she had no choice.
THE three of them filed back into the elevator, taking their respective positions in each corner. It stopped on the second floor, and a young woman carrying a baby got on and took the corner closest to the door as if instructed. They all rode down in silence. Venus stared at the bundle hanging over the edge of the mother’s shoulder. Small and innocent. Wide round eyes, taking everything in, so sweet and soft. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d held a baby. Her policy had been to stay as far away from them as possible, knowing the pain they could inflict on an unmarried woman over thirty. Venus turned to face the panel of buttons, her head now pounding. She squeezed her fingers to her temples.
“So you and Venus work together?” Timothy’s voice may as well have come out of a megaphone.
Jake answered, then asked Timothy where he lived, what he did for a living. Venus was grateful when the elevator doors whisked open. The woman and baby got off first. Venus thought about reaching out to touch the billowy fluff of hair on the baby’s head. Just one feel couldn’t hurt.
“This is the lobby.” Jake’s voice stopped her hand from rising up out of her coat pocket.
She watched the baby bob up and down with the movement of its mother until she couldn’t see them anymore. “My car’s this way.” Jake was leading the way. He and Timothy made more small talk walking a few paces in front of her. He wore his thin sweaters always slim against his body, proud of his lean washboard stomach. He had a nice butt, too, firm and slightly curved. She was delirious; there was no other excuse for watching this man gliding in front of her.
“Here we go.” He pointed his laser key at the big utility vehicle and pressed the locks open.
“I was wondering how we were all going to fit into that two-seater you drove me in yesterday. How many cars do you have?”
“Only this and the one you rode in yesterday,” Jake said, proudly. He didn’t live in excess. He used the SUV whenever there was going to be anyone else in the car. His mother and brother were the main reason he’d purchased the large vehicle in the first place. His brother, he explained, was six foot seven and a basketball guard playing for UCLA.
Timothy had already slipped into the backseat, hidden behind the dark tinted windows. He’d taken the red-eye from Boston, probably hadn’t slept in twenty-four hours.
“Jake, I know it was Timothy’s suggestion, but he’s really tired. Maybe we should take a rain check.”
They both turned to look at the subject, slouched over in a drooling sleep.
“Told you. Now what are we going to do? I’m not carrying him.” She smiled, shaking her head, remembering the days when she’d tried. He was only three years younger, but when he was little, she did her best to carry the lanky toddler from one spot to the other, his arms and legs flailing, nearly touching the ground.
They rode down Sunset Boulevard with a sleeping Timothy in the backseat. The stores and office buildings lit, vivid and twinkling, as if coordinated with one another. Venus caught Jake in her side vision, his confident chin tilted up, his muscular arm guiding the steering wheel with precision. Timely as it was, Jake’s presence only made her feel worse. She bit the inside of her cheek, chewing softly. Airic still hadn’t called, and here Jake, whom she’d only known a short while, was by her side offering support, sticking like an amazing new glue that only worked as long as you needed it, then slipped away without leaving a trace.
“I’m sorry I bailed on you.”
“Are you kidding, with this kind of emergency? Besides, William and Legend have it handled.”
“They must, since you have time to baby-sit me.” She didn’t look at him. “Thank you,” she said, watching out the side window where the lights began to stream together, everything in slow motion. Nothing in the
last few days seemed real. From the moment her mother came over Saturday with the hot plates of food, time seemed to have stopped, like a broken tape getting caught in the mechanism. Chopped and spit out with worn-down sound.
“You know, I had no idea about what was going on when I asked you to that concert. I’ll understand if you can’t go.” Jake turned down the stereo to make sure she was listening.
“No. If anything, I could use the fun. A concert.” She smiled. “Last concert I saw was Ashford and Simpson.”
His laughter was loud enough to have awakened Timothy, but when she looked back, he hadn’t stirred.
Jake swiped at his eyes, still trying to recuperate. “What year was that?”
“I don’t know. I guess 1985, ’86. The only reason I remember that concert was because the guy that took me thought he looked like Nick Ashford. The long greasy hair.” She put her hand over her face, embarrassed by the memory.
Then the question she knew was coming. “How old are you?” he asked, still in a half-believing state.
Venus smiled. “How old do you think I am?” Blinking unconcerned, knowing how often people thought she was far younger than her midthirties, but that was all before now. Before life had struck her with the most gripping fear she’d ever imagined. Age comes unannounced one day, striking like lightning. She remembered her aunt Quena, vivacious, sweet, always with a smile on her face offering her and Timothy fresh sticks of Juicy Fruit gum out of her purse and smelling of it when she’d leaned over to kiss them hello. Then Uncle Robbie died. Someone had shot him straight through the heart in their very own living room. No one knew who did it. Everyone was a suspect because Uncle Robbie dealt drugs. The stress of having to stay in that house, live there under the very roof where her husband had died because she couldn’t afford to go anywhere else, right along with the open wound of not knowing who was responsible for the tragedy, left her drained. Venus would never forget the time she’d looked up to that sweet voice, the scent of Juicy Fruit popping in her mouth, and saw a twisted, tired Aunt Quena. Her eyes sagged deeply, her mouth turned down at the sides, unrecognizable but for her scent.
Venus inadvertently touched the plump skin that had sprung up underneath her eyes, the result of too much crying last night.
“Never guess a woman’s age. Just tell me.” Jake’s voice snapped her back into reality.
“I’m thirty-six.” Venus felt the shift where his foot tapped the brake unexpectedly. “Don’t worry, I left my cane back at the apartment. I promise not to embarrass you.”
“You look good,” he said with reserve, trying not to let on that he was blown away.
“Now your turn. How old?” she said teasing.
“I don’t think that’s pertinent information,” his voice in a false bass.
“I told you, now you tell me. I’ll guess. I’m not afraid to guess.”
“No. None of that.”
“What’s wrong, think I’ll insult you? Let’s see. You’re friends with William and Legend, old school chums I gathered by the handshake and shoulder knocks. You’ve got that great smile, where you still expect good things to happen … definitely a sign of youth. I’d say, twenty-six.”
“No way. You already knew.”
“That’s part of the profession, making assessments, making assumptions, identify and attack,” she mocked from one of their previous conversations.
He parked the car on the street in front of a small restaurant then leaned against the door panel. “Have you assumed anything else?”
She understood the question but avoided a real answer. “My assumption is that you like trendy little spots for coffee,” Venus said while looking out the window at the small café. She took another look at her brother in the backseat. The streetlight shone down on his peaceful face in dreamland.
“He’ll be fine,” Jake reassured her.
Venus opened her door and felt like she was on top of Mount Rushmore with no way to get down.
“I’ll help you, hold on.” Jake trotted over to the passenger side, extended his hand, but it wasn’t enough. He grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her down slowly.
Venus slid the length of his body before feeling her feet touch the ground. She stood staring into his chin, his smooth brown throat to the V-neck of his collar where the scar she’d noticed before sat perfectly centered. He closed the car door behind her and took hold of her hand. “Watch out for that puddle.”
“You sure we can park here?” Venus asked, looking back on the shiny hood and black tinted windows, “I don’t want the car getting towed with Timothy in the backseat.”
“He’ll be all right. We can see the car from inside.”
The small café, with its earth-toned interiors and soft lighting, felt warm and cozy. A glass case full of scrumptious desserts greeted her at the door. Cheesecake, coffee cake, her favorites. She realized how hungry she was as she stared at the desserts. A young man with a white apron stopped and grinned at her, “Which one you want to try?” His accent was freshly south of the neighboring border.
“If I had my choice, I’d take one of each, but I gotta keep my girlish figure.” Venus heard Pauletta’s voice come out of her mouth. Her mother used to always say that, gotta keep my girlish figure, even though she’d never had one in the first place. “The cheesecake,” she said, this time more subdued.
“To drink?”
Jake spoke up, ordering for them both, “Go find us a table; I’ll bring everything over.”
The place wasn’t large, but it seemed to be the happening spot. Every seat was occupied. Venus wandered over to the glass entrance and looked out to the empty table and chairs out front. It was probably too cold for everyone else, but it would be just what she needed. A dose of cool reality. She and Jake were falling for each other. Not like earlier, when it was a game of cat and mouse. She couldn’t be sure if it was the circumstances. A time of vulnerability and crisis. What she was certain of was that she had to stop it from going any further.
“Out there is fine with me,” Jake’s voice came from behind her. Her mind took a sudden dive, then up again. She was reminded of the night he called her on the phone. The deep sexy tone of his voice, the way he controlled her with his seduction.
Venus pushed the door open and let the cool dark air snake around her face, breathing in for clarity. He set the tray of coffee down and pulled back her chair. The screech of the metal against the concrete sidewalk sent chills through her body.
“You’re cold?”
“A little.” Venus couldn’t stop shaking. She was cold, she was nervous, she was scared.
“This should help.” He slipped out of his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. He put the small cup of coffee in front of her. The wide saucer of cheesecake sat in the middle of the table. He nudged it toward her. By the time he got around to his seat, she was halfway finished.
He gave her a disbelieving eye.
“It’s good. I couldn’t help it. Taste.” She offered up a heaping serving. His lips wrapped gently around the fork. The cake slid into his mouth. His eyes maintained a direct line to hers.
“It is good.” His eyes hadn’t let go of her yet.
“Jake.” Venus put the fork down, turning her head away. She didn’t want to look at him when she said it. “I like you, a lot. I haven’t known you but a minute and it feels like a lifetime of friendship. This …” She paused, looking down at the ring on her finger. “This whole thing with my mom being sick, you being here for me. I thought I had everything figured out … I had it all figured out. My life finally made sense.” She took a long deep breath. “Now there’s you, my mother, I’ve been thrown out of my safety zone. I’m scared. I don’t understand what’s going on. I feel like I’m being tested or warned, or both. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“What doesn’t make sense?”
“You.” She looked around, taking in the glare of the light bouncing off his shiny car. “The fact that you’re here and honey’s not. Reme
mber him?”
She caught the sullen expression on Jake’s face.
“I haven’t forgotten.” He leaned back in his chair, holding the large mug of coffee close to his chest. “I just hadn’t given it any thought.”
“How can you say that? What does that mean? You don’t care that I’m engaged?”
“Basically.”
She threw her face into her hands.
“You care.” He took a sip of his coffee. “I think that’s enough for both of us.”
“I think we should just stick with the plan. Work together, that’s it I appreciate you being here for me, with all that’s going on with my mother. But after today, we have to go back to business relations.”
“When had it ever left? As far as I’m concerned, it’s always been business relations. I enjoy the people I work with or I don’t work with them.” He tilted his head a little to the side. His wide eyes were warm and steady.
Venus didn’t believe a word he said. All signs pointed to attraction, mutual. “Fine.” She pulled the plate of cake back in front of her but had no desire to eat. “I’m ready to go.”
Jake stood up and came around the back side of her chair and pulled it out. If this is what he meant by business relations, she couldn’t imagine personal. A little toe sucking, full-body massages, and whipped cream maybe. He didn’t budge when she stood up, sharing the same air space. Her purse vibrated against her hip. She reached in and pulled out her phone.
“Yes.” Venus breathed into the receiver, still sharing Jake’s space. Her voice went soft, her eyes lowered. Jake backed away one step at a time, realizing it was honey on the line.
THE drive back to the hospital was quiet and empty. Venus had a strange isolated feeling, even with Jake right beside her and Timothy asleep in the backseat. She wanted to apologize, but she didn’t know what she’d be apologizing for. The SUV pulled to the curb, Jake put the gear in Park, and continued to stare straight ahead.
Would I Lie to You? Page 9