by Nia Arthurs
“It never went further than kissing.” Ashanti defended herself. “And we’re not talking about me. Weng, you need to answer the question about your classes. Right now.”
Weng laughed. “School is school.”
“What are you taking?” Michelle asked.
“Bio-chemistry.”
Michelle sucked in a breath. “I did that for one semester and then dropped out. Kudos to anyone who survives that course.”
“Bio-chem is a beast,” Weng agreed. “I stumble out of classes not knowing my own name most of the time. But at least dad’s happy.”
“Weng’s father is a neurosurgeon. One of the few in Belize,” James said.
“Ah.” Michelle nodded.
Luke snickered. “I never thought Weng would be a doctor. Remember when he used to record himself dancing and singing? Whenever anyone asked him what he wanted to be, he would say ‘a star’.”
“I still take dance lessons,” Weng said. “It helps me relax after chemistry burns all my brain cells.”
“If chemistry’s such a drain, why don’t you take something else then?” Ashanti blurted.
The table went silent.
She read the shift in the air and tried to laugh it off, but Michelle picked up the topic and held on like a dog with her favorite chew toy. “I agree. Everyone has different talents and gifts. There’s no shame in acknowledging that science isn’t your thing.”
“It doesn’t work that way in our family,” Harold said.
“Dad wants me to be a doctor so that’s what I’ll be.” Weng shrugged as if he’d already resigned himself to it.
“But you don’t have to,” Michelle insisted.
“Yes, I do,” Weng replied.
“Why?”
“Because he’d be disappointed if I wasn’t.”
James jumped in when it became clear that such parental devotion escaped her. “Michelle, it’s like this. Our grandparents came to this country and fought for everything they have now. We were born on the backs of their hard work and in response, we make them proud by doing our best.”
“Can’t you just… do your best at what you want to do?”
“That’s not how it works,” the cousins said as one.
Michelle and Ashanti shared a look. She shook her head. “I don’t get it either, girl.”
“We don’t always follow our parents rules though.” James stared pointedly at Michelle and Luke. “Sometimes we buck tradition. When it’s worth it.”
Michelle slanted her date a quick look and then ducked. “I don’t understand.”
Harold and Weng laughed and elbowed Luke. “Yeah, you do!”
Ashanti turned away and snuck her beer back while Luke was distracted. As she sipped, she mentally berated herself for being moved by Michelle’s plea this afternoon.
If only she’d said, ‘No, Michelle’ or ‘deal with your own love life, Michelle’ or ‘What do I look like? Cupid?’ she wouldn’t be in this predicament.
“It’s really not like that,” Michelle said in a cooing tone that no one was buying.
Ashanti shot to her feet. Her chair scraped against the floor, drawing the eye of everyone around the table as well as a few patrons sitting nearby. She swayed on her feet and stared straight ahead. “I need to use the bathroom.”
Luke stood too and leaned nearer to her. “Do you need my help?”
“No thanks.” She shoved him in the chest. “I was potty trained back when I was two.”
Luke frowned. “Not with that. With getting there. You look gone, Ash.”
“I’m okay,” she mumbled.
“I’ll go with her,” Michelle said.
Ashanti shook her head. “No!”
Everyone stopped and stared at her again.
“I’ll go alone.”
She walked slowly to the bathroom, doing her best to march a straight line. She could feel Luke’s eye on her and if she made one mistake, she had no doubts he’d come barreling over.
But she didn’t want him to do that. Not when he was with his precious date.
Ashanti crashed into the bathroom and gripped the sink tightly. She stared hard at herself in the mirror. Studied the features she’d known for the past twenty-five years—her brown skin, curly hair, and thick lips.
“Snap out of it,” she scolded her reflection. “You don’t do one-sided loves. You don’t pine. And you definitely don’t fall for your friends.”
The pep talk did little to help. She washed her hands in the sink, allowing the cool water to flow over her palms until they became prunes.
When she was done, she flicked her hands to get the excess water off and stumbled through the door. Someone was waiting outside for her, but it wasn’t Luke.
Weng stepped out of the shadows, a half smile on his face. “I thought you said you could keep up.”
“I’m having a hard day, alright. Don’t make fun of me.”
Weng lifted his hands in a clear sign of surrender, but his smile grew. “I’m not here to fight. You took ten minutes and forty-two seconds in there. We got worried.”
“Did you really time me?”
“Not me. Luke. He was getting ready to barge into the lady’s room before we all convinced him to chill. He didn’t stop until I told him I’d check on you.”
“But you didn’t. I didn’t even know you were out there.”
“I just came so he didn’t ruin things with Michelle. He’s making it obvious that you two are good friends. Which is not a good look on a date.”
“You’re right.” She patted his shoulder. “Good thinking, Weng.”
He dipped his head. “Shall we?”
Ashanti took his arm and leaned on him as she returned to the restaurant. She tried to walk straight and tall, but when she neared their table and spotted Luke laughing at something Michelle whispered in his ear, her confidence took a nose-dive.
For the hundredth time, she wished she hadn’t brought Michelle tonight.
Chapter Eleven
“Is she okay?” Harold pointed to Ashanti who was passed out on the table. Her curly hair splayed behind her, a tendril draped in the soy sauce left from their dumplings. One cheek was pressed against the wooden grain while the other ballooned and fell with every breath.
“Ash.” Luke shook her shoulder. “Wake up.”
She brushed him off and continued dozing.
James laughed, two red circles on his pale cheeks. “She’s cute.”
Luke ignored him. “Come on, Ash. It’s time to go home.” He managed to coax her into a sitting position and watched as soy sauce dripped off the end of her curls. “Michelle, could you pass me a napkin?”
She folded her arms over her chest. “Why?”
“Here, cuz.” Weng slapped one in his palm.
“Thanks.” Luke shot Michelle a frown and then turned to Ashanti. Her eyes were set at half-mast and even though she was sitting up, she couldn’t stop swaying.
“Luke?”
“Yeah?” He reached over and squeezed her hair out with the napkin. When he pulled the cloth back, it was stained black.
“Why is the room spinning?”
“The room isn’t spinning. You are.”
Weng chuckled. He had consumed the same amount of alcohol as James and Harold, but he was in full control of his faculties. It was a gift handed down by his father. Luke had never seen his Uncle John slayed by liquor.
“What’s so funny?” Luke grumbled.
“You.” Weng stood. “I’ve already called Lin to pick up Harold and James. Leave Ashanti with me and take Michelle home.”
“The light,” Ashanti lifted a hand to shade her face, “it’s so bright.”
“No way.” Luke shook his head.
“Why not?” Michelle demanded. “He said he’d take her home.”
“You were drinking,” Luke reminded Weng.
“So? I can still drive.”
“Over my dead body.”
“Luke, relax. I’m not a kid anymore.”
“You’ll always be a kid to me,” Luke said firmly. How dare this young pup try and act older than his age? “Pick a ride. Are you coming with me or with Lin?”
Weng pouted. “I’ll walk.”
Before Luke could argue with his cousin, a short woman burst through the doors of the bar. She had pale skin, dainty facial features and intelligent brown eyes. Her long grey dress hung over her two sizes too large.
“Look at that!” Harold yelled. “My wife is here! Hello, honey.”
James pointed. “It’s Lin.”
“Goodnight, everyone.” Lin tugged her purse strap higher on her shoulder. Tendrils of her dark black hair fell messily over her face.
“That’s my wife,” Harold told Michelle. His words slurred so it was a challenge to understand what he said next. “We could have been millionaires you know, but you had to come and drag me away. Why did you do that, honey? Why?”
“What is wrong with you?” Lin hissed. “It’s the middle of the week. You have work tomorrow and you get this smashed?”
“Hi, Lin,” Luke said weakly, not wanting to come under fire along with Harold.
Lin spun and fixed her sharp eyes on him. “I blame you.”
“Me?” Luke frowned.
“You’re supposed to keep these two in check. You know they have no self-control.”
“We have self-control.” James hiccupped.
Lin smacked him behind the head. “You’re supposed to be a good influence. What nonsense is this?”
While James nursed his head, Luke cleared his throat and jumped away from the table to get out of Lin’s aim of fire. “Weng, help me take those two to the car. Michelle, can you take care of Ashanti while I’m gone?”
She raised a thumb in reply.
Luke helped James up while Weng grabbed Harold. Lin spun with a twirl of her skirt and marched toward the car parked in front of the bar.
Harold got into the vehicle easily, but James got clingy and didn’t want to let Luke go. “I love you, man,” he kept mumbling. “I love my family.”
“Yeah. Love you too,” Luke said, shoving James’s face away.
Weng rounded the car and tried to help him. When he got one whiff of James, he leaned back. “Oh, he stinks.”
“Get in the car, James,” Luke coaxed.
“No.” His cousin threw his arms around his shoulders.
Lin spotted them over the roof of the car. Luke stiffened and smacked James’s shoulder. In a low voice, he warned—“James, get a hold of yourself.”
James ignored him.
The earth thundered as Lin stomped toward them. Weng slowly backed away, like the coward he was.
Luke wanted to join him, but he couldn’t move an inch with his cousin clamped around him like a howler monkey on a tree trunk.
Lin stopped in front of James and growled, “Get in the car. Now.”
James’s arms got as limp as noodles. He slipped away from Luke, his head bowed like a petulant child and he disappeared inside the car.
Lin slammed the door and approached Luke and Weng. The men visibly shirked back.
Lin pointed behind her shoulder. “Weng, come with me. I don’t want to crash because of their antics. Keep them in line.”
“But…”
Lin didn’t wait around to hear his protests. She got into the car and started the engine.
Weng frowned. “Guess this is goodnight.”
“Later.” Luke squeezed his cousin’s shoulder and watched him walk away.
When the car sputtered down a curve, Luke hurried back inside the bar and found Ashanti’s entire face in the leftovers from the dumpling bowl. He rushed over and gently pried her head out of it.
“Michelle!” he thundered. “I told you to take care of her.”
“I’m sorry. I went to the bathroom for a minute and found her like this.”
Luke grabbed a wad of tissues and cradled Ashanti’s neck and chin while he cleaned her face off. She moaned and mumbled something he pretty sure wasn’t English. Or any other language that existed in their universe.
Michelle tapped her toes in the corner and looked away, but Luke wasn’t paying her any attention. When he was finished with Ashanti’s face, he wet a few more wads of toilet paper and started on her hands.
“How much longer is that going to take?” Michelle strode closer. “I have school tomorrow.”
Luke wanted to snap that he wouldn’t need to clean her off if Michelle had done what he’d asked, but instead he just dealt with Ashanti’s hands and stood.
“Come on, Ash.” Luke held Ashanti up. She leaned heavy on her feet and almost slumped back into the chair.
“Luke, I’m tired.”
“I know.” He watched her sway and realized Ashanti would not be able to walk out of the bar on her own. Immediately, Luke dropped to his haunches in front of her and slapped his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Michelle hissed.
Luke didn’t have to explain when Ashanti instinctively threw her arm around his neck and climbed on his back. He stood and hooked his arm under her knees, hiking her up so he had a better grip on her.
“Let’s go.”
Michelle glared at him but obediently trumped along as they headed outside. The wind had picked up and he could feel Ashanti shaking in the cold. She tightened her hold, almost choking him.
He let go of one of her legs to fish his keys out of his pocket. He pressed the fob and then glanced behind him to get Michelle’s attention.
She sulked but seemed to brighten when he caught her eye. “Yes?”
“Can you hold the door open for me?”
Michelle’s expression fell. He ignored the crestfallen set of her face and raised his eyebrows. “Please?”
She sighed and yanked the door open, holding it ajar as Luke turned around, lowered himself slowly and slid Ashanti into the backseat. She flopped down on the cushions with an unladylike snort.
Luke smiled and tenderly put her legs inside the vehicle. When he was certain that she was secure, he stepped back and closed the door. “Thanks.”
“Whatever.” Michelle stormed forward and jumped into the car.
“Ashanti’s sleeping. Could you not…” he winced when Michelle shut the door with such force the entire vehicle rattled, “slam the door? Okay.” Luke sighed and jogged to the driver’s side.
The first few minutes, they drove in silence. Eventually, Michelle turned to him. She wore a scowl that seemed misplaced on her beautiful face.
Luke glanced away from the road to look at her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Okay.” He focused on the road again. “Am I going in the right direction?”
“I don’t know. Are you?”
He frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Luke, tell me the truth. Was everything we shared over the past few weeks in my head?”
“Of course not.”
“Then…”
Luke glanced at Ashanti in the rearview mirror. She was still sleeping soundly, but he didn’t want to discuss this in front of her whether she could hear or not. “Look, can we talk about this later?”
“Why? Because I might disturb your precious ‘Ash’?” Michelle folded her arms over her chest. “Exactly what is your relationship with her? Are you sure you’re just friends?”
His grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Am I going the right way?”
“I have a right to know, Luke!”
Ashanti stirred. Luke answered before Michelle made more of a ruckus. “We’ve been friends since childhood. It’s nothing more or less than that.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded.
Michelle calmed down. “Take this right.”
He followed her directions and slowed in front of an apartment complex.
Michelle turned to him. Her face was shrouded in shadows, but he could feel her gaze penetrating his skin. Her thick, black eyelashes swept up and down. Her lips parted and
she let out a shuddering breath.
“I asked Ashanti what was going on with you, but she didn’t want to say. She insisted I talk to you myself. So I took a chance. I was ready to start a serious relationship, but now I can see that you’re not ready.”
Luke licked his lips. “Michelle…”
She shook her head. “I’ve been through this before. I’ve been hurt and it all started out with me putting way more effort into a relationship than I was getting back. Maybe I was wrong to chase you. Maybe it made me into a fool, but I had to try. Just this once. Because I thought you were different.”
“I am different.”
Michelle leaned back, her eyes shining brighter than the stars. She studied him intently, her voice falling in disappointment. “No, you’re not.”
“Wait… Michelle. Let’s talk about this.”
“I’m sorry for bothering you, Luke.” She raised her chin and opened the door. “Goodnight.”
He watched her walk away, sensing that if he let her leave without chasing her they’d really be through. His hand curved around the latch and then he glanced over his shoulder and saw Ashanti.
Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut and she snored lightly. He couldn’t abandon her in the car while he groveled for Michelle. It just… didn’t feel right.
Luke dropped his hands and turned the key in the ignition, wishing he hadn’t screwed up so royally. It was all his fault. He should have been more obvious, more intentional with his interest from the start.
Tonight, he’d failed spectacularly. He’d even been slightly annoyed by Michelle’s presence. Not because he didn’t like her, but because Ashanti had sprung her on him without warning.
Perhaps he should have been grateful for the opportunity rather than resent the intrusion.
“We’re almost home, Ash,” he mumbled to the silent car.
As expected, she didn’t respond.
Luke drove to Ashanti’s house and hopped out of the front seat to try and wake her. He stooped on the tarmac and tugged her arm until she sat up.
“Ash,” he whispered, “we’re home.”
“Luke?”
“Yeah. Come on. Get your keys out and I’ll walk you to the porch.”
Ashanti obeyed him, moving with slow, languorous movements. He supported her until they reached the porch lit by a golden light and then took her keys from her and opened the door.