Jaded Hearts (The Jaded Hearts Club)

by Olivia Linden

  “Baby Girl!”

  His favorite term of endearment. I walked into his bear hug embrace.

  “Hi Honey! I missed you.”

  He grinned and eyed me suspiciously at my overly sweet greeting. I nodded at one of his few admirers and he laughed. He stepped back to evaluate my outfit.

  “OK. OK. I see you. Tall heels red bottoms…I love the look. Looking like a lot of Ben Franklins over here.”

  He was always more ear to the streets than I was and was always up on the latest slang. For some reason he liked to throw people off of the scent of his 3.4 GPA in finance which he used to somehow stretch the small inheritance we both received upon the death of our grandmother. If he didn't pursue football, I already knew his chosen profession.

  After we grabbed his Louis Vuitton luggage I led Drew to the car that was waiting to take us back to the city. He looked like a little boy barely able to hide his excitement. I was so glad he was here. He made things feel more normal than they had been in a while. He looked at the Mercedes sedan that was waiting at the curb and whistled.

  “You know what J; you really did your thing. I’m not even mad at you right now.”

  That was his way of saying he was proud of me. I smiled in confidence because I agreed.

  “OK, don’t get too excited. John is letting me use his car service while you’re here. This is much safer and more convenient than trying to hail a cab everywhere we go.”

  I looked over to see the face that was just soaking up the sights of this new scenery look at me in speculation.

  “And expensive. You have a car on call for 24/7? I don’t know who John is but I already like him. My man!”

  I laughed. It was always about the bottom line with him. Now that he mentioned it, I would have to ask John how expensive this service was. I guess being able to charge $200 plus an hour had to have its perks.

  The rest of the ride was spent with me being his amateur tour guide. I tried to point out as many notable spots as I could recognize myself. As we were heading thru Times Square my phone buzzed.

  JB: Status Baby

  Me: The eagle has landed

  JB: K Baby

  Me: Smooches

  JB: J I wish…

  We pulled up to my building and Drew honestly looked uncertain about whether he should get out of the car or not, but then he saw Manny and a look of intrigue swept over his face.

  “Hi Manny. This is my brother Andrew and he will be staying with me for about a week. I just wanted to let you know.”

  Manny shook Drew’s hand. I contemplated confronting him about the mystery package delivered to my door, but really I was too scared to acknowledge or confirm that it was Julian.

  The next morning felt like Christmas. Today was the BBQ, I would be seeing my sweet face soon, and I woke up to my other favorite person making his signature cinnamon waffles. I was glad we didn’t hang out too late last night because I wasn’t tired and wanted to get a move on. I really missed John the last couple of nights. We ate breakfast as we watched The Regular Show and reminisced about all the trouble we would get into as kids. Drew was always up to something and I was always covering for him. It was a wonder that my grandmother was able to keep us in line.

  After breakfast we got dressed to head over to John’s. I called Jackie to make sure everything was going as planned at my aunt’s house and let her know we should be there within an hour. I met Drew outside where he was waiting for me while he smoked a cigarette.

  “Ugh, your are way too cute to be a smoker boo.” I scolded.

  He gave me an incredulous shrug.

  “Baby girl, I am too fine to be worried about that. With all this smog that you call air in this city, I’m not doing any worse than you are just standing there. It is good to see that we’re still on the same wavelength.” He replied.

  I laughed as I noticed we were color coordinated. I had on a teal green tube top jumpsuit with cropped legs that gathered just under my calves and he had on the same color green designer tee with a pair of Paper Denim dark blue jeans shorts. The SLK sedan pulled up to the building and we continued uptown.

  “Man, I’m living in the wrong city.” He mused.

  Andrew was in love with John’s neighborhood. Central Park West was one of the most coveted hoods in the city and he couldn’t believe that The Central Park was just across the street. I never really paid it any mind, but John had to be doing extremely well to afford this zip code. Who was I to talk with my rent as high as it was? He shot me a sly grin as I used John’s spare key to get into the building and led the way to the second floor.

  His awe increased at the elaborate ornamentation of the interior of the building and he was almost speechless when we entered the apartment. I heard the shower turn off and told Drew to get comfortable as I walked to the bedroom to see my sweet-face. John was only half dressed with a pair of drawstring khaki cargo pants. He tried but failed to control his excitement at seeing me. His grin was cool but the bulge in his pants gave him away. I walked into his waiting arms and kissed the lips I’d been missing for two days. I had to force myself to pull away from his half-naked freshly cologned body.

  “I missed you Sweet-face!” I teased.

  He cringed at my choice of nickname.

  “I missed you too; so much so that I’m going to ignore that horrific name you just called me. I should be calling you that.”

  I wiped my lip-gloss off as I drank in his handsome face. The unfiltered look of love and happiness that flowed from his eyes made me warm on the inside. He patted me on the butt and I stepped back to let him finish getting dressed.

  “Baby you’re never late. Hurry up; I want you to come meet my other baby.” I said as I walked out the room.

  I left him admiring me as I went back to the living room. I know I looked great. My hair was left curly since I wasn’t in the mood to deal with any humidity today. Besides, John loved to play with my curls. I put the sides up in a tortoise shell clip and let the rest hang down my back. My accessories were gold to match my heels.

  Drew was more than comfortable on the couch drinking a Heineken and watching another episode of the show we had been watching all morning.

  Must be a marathon. I pulled out my phone to check in with Donna.

  Me: Heyyyy

  D-awesome: Hey Mama. Me and the Mr. are on our way out now

  Me: OK, me and my men are leaving the city now

  D-awesome: Oooh, did you add to your collection?

  Me: Hush your face.

  D-Awesome: Woman please you have a museum. All the greats! Lol

  Me: LOL

  John walked in as I put my phone up. Winning! He looked edible with an all white Polo shirt and tan leather loafers added to his outfit. He walked over to Drew, who stood up to shake his hand.

  “Wow, you guys look like twins! Did you match because you thought someone would miss the resemblance?”

  Drew laughed and shook his head.

  “Not at all, but great minds do think alike.” He answered.

  We turned to go and at the same time they both put on the same aviator shades.

  The ride to Englewood, NJ was about twenty minutes by way of the George Washington Bridge. It was a rare opportunity for John to drive his black on black Escalade.

  We arrived at aunt V’s mini-mansion just as the food was being set up. I could see why so many people chose to commute into the city. You could take the same money you paid to live in a 1500 sq. apartment and live in a house three times the size. Jackie was out front giving the caterers instructions looking as bohemian as ever in a multicolored tunic and cream colored shorts. Her wild curls were restrained in a high ponytail. She sauntered over to us with a larger than life smile.

  “This is the freakin best day ever!” She shouted.

  She hadn’t seen Drew in almost two years since he was out of town her last visit to Florida. They hugged like goofy school kids. We had all been super close growing up being so disconnected to the rest of our
family. She gave John a quick hug and then wrangled me into her arms as we walked up the driveway to the house.

  “Come on guys, let me show you around.” She offered.

  The house was nothing less than I expected from aunt V. I remember back when we lived in a brownstone in Brooklyn, she always said she was going to live in a big dream house one day. The floors where all hardwood and the décor were mostly muted neutrals with splashes of mauve and sage thrown in for color. We had very similar tastes. There were 5 large bedrooms. Three upstairs and two down. The tour ended on the patio that led to the large backyard that included a pool. There were enough tables and chairs set up to accommodate 100 people.

  I never did see the guest list.

  A short while later Donna arrived with her husband Alex and her younger brother Victor. She looked fantastic outside of her work attire in a yellow sun dress that was fitted at the top and flowed out at the waist, and her uniform bun was loose and straight tucked behind her ears. Her husband Alex was a handsome Dominican man who was ten years her senior. With her espadrilles on they were about the same height at 5’9.

  Now her brother was another story. I felt John’s hand tighten reflexively around mine as the introductions were made. Victor was a tall dark chocolate treat. He had to be at least 6’4 because he made John look short. He had very slanted eyes that made him look like he was always smiling. I caught him trying to steal furtive glances at me when he thought no one would notice. After all the acquaintances were made the men set off to help set up the game tables at Donnas’ request.

  I walked into the house to seek out the person of honor who was still getting dressed. Jackie followed me inside and we headed up to the master bedroom. Aunt V was sashaying around in a silk robe with her hair piled on top of her head.

  “It’s about time you got here! I need help getting dressed.” She cried.

  She gave me a double cheek kiss and pulled me into her huge walk in closet. Jackie wandered to the mirror to rearrange her hair. She was used to this and had stopped being jealous of my closeness to aunt V years ago when she announced that she was a free spirit, and we were too boring for her to waste her fashion genius on.

  I helped V decide on a blue and white striped off the shoulder blouse and white Capri pants. While she got dressed I joined Jackie.

  “So I’m dying to hear about flower-gate. John has had your apple bottom on a tight leash.”

  She groped my butt exaggeratedly. I smacked her hands and sat on her lap.

  “Jacks, I don’t know if I’m coming or going, I swear.”

  I told her the entire story about the flowers at the door and the aftermath.

  “I don’t understand why Jules would send you flowers without a note, or a call. This just isn’t like him. I even asked Eddie what the deal was but he was uber tight lipped about it.”

  Eddie?

  I just shook my head.

  “I’m clueless, and I thought JB was going to blow a freakin gasket he was so wound up. Girl it was cra-zy.” I replied.

  I spared a majority of the x rated details in the presence of my aunt. Jackie didn’t care.

  “More like blow your back out. That man was gonna drill his name into that ass! Whose your daddy? Say my name!”

  She made a vulgar gesture to accompany her reenactment. She spanked my butt, and exclaimed in such a fit of laughter that I couldn’t help but join in, even though I was mortified.

  “Come on Jackie! I swear you suck so hard you should get paid for it!” I joked.

  She pushed me off of her lap in her amusement.

  “Oh Please. Suck these!” She teased.

  I shot her the bird as my aunt expressed her disdain.

  “Girls! Enough! My God, what’s wrong with you two?” She huffed.

  Her words were stern but she laughed along with us.

  “So you and John are getting serious then? That’s good. Make sure you put Jules in his place.” She still wasn’t team Julian. But Jackie was on it.

  “Where? Between her legs?” She quipped.

  I just gave her the evil eye and aunt V shook her head. “Oh c’mon!”

  19 A LADY IN THE STREETS!

  Back downstairs the party was underway. Most of the guests arrived between 1:30 and 3:00. John was at the spades table with Drew and a few other men with a stack of money already up for grabs.

  Men!

  I made John a plate of brown stew chicken, and oxtails over rice and peas with a side of mixed veggies and potato salad. He looked as if I had brought him buried treasure.

  “You’re the best, baby, I was starving over here.” He praised.

  I leaned over and gave him a light peck on the cheek as the other men looked on in admiration, and whispered in his ear.

  “I need to keep your energy up for later Sweet Face. Furthermore now these guys are going to be messed up in the game wondering how you got to be so lucky.”

  He grinned and rubbed my back just until he hit the border of my behind.

  “Baby you’re awesome, but call me Sweet Face again and were going to have a problem.” He threatened.

  And with that, he smacked my butt. I jerked up in surprise and a fit of giggles.

  The party reminded me of back in the day when I came to visit during the summers. DJ E was perfect. He started off with an 80’s mix of Frankie Beverly and Evelyn Champagne King then moved on to Bob Marley and now he had the women doing the Dollar Wine.

  Cent, 5 cent, 10 cent Dollar!

  This was a basic staple at any West Indian party. I joined Jacks with the one thing we had in common. Dancing. We had always made it a point to learn all the dances and master them. If we got on the dance floor we took center stage. She was of course flamboyant and I was technical but sexy. She used to call me the smooth operator.

  I let my island girl loose and enjoyed a long Soca set. I wound my waist as instructed by most of the songs. Then we waved our invisible flags to the carnival tunes. I noticed a few guys had gathered near the dance area and one in particular was paying extra attention. Victor. I didn’t make eye contact with him because I knew he was trying to get my attention.

  No way.

  If John freaked out at flowers I didn’t want to see what a tall bald black man would do to him.

  The music switched to Reggae and DJ E gave a shout out to all the BK crew.

  Uh Oh!

  I was normally reserved but for some reason Reggae made me act up. I moved my waist and hips to the beat and did all my tricks that made me look like a belly dancer. I snuck a quick peek at John to see him gazing at me. I also noticed that he wasn't the only one.

  I saw Drew head toward us when Willie Bounce came on. The three of us stayed all night practicing this dance when it first came out, back when Bogle was killed. He was dancer from Jamaica responsible for most of the dances we learned in the 90’s. You swing one arm forward and step with the other foot. This was the most fun I’d had in forever. Aunt V even got down with us and a few people from work.

  After I danced my little feet into submission I went to grab myself a plate and sat with Donna. She had been at the spades table for most of the dancing.

  “Girl, that man is in love with you. OK. Caller, do you hear me? In. Love. He almost lost the c-note he bet up on the table staring at you while you were dancing, which was some funky McNasty if I may say so. I would never guess you could move like that. Then he spotted Vic eying you and almost threw his cards in. My goodness!” She dished.

  She fanned herself like an old lady. I looked over at John who seemed to be in a heated round of bragging or betting, I couldn’t tell, and I smiled.

  “What do you mean ‘move like that’?” I asked incredulously

  “I mean, Ms. ‘I’m oh so proper and such a lady’, that I would never guess you had all that freakiness going on behind the scenes.” She shook her head in pretend shock. I laughed.

  “Hey….A lady in the streets!” I joked.

  The party went on into the wee hours
Sunday morning. Most of the neighbors were at the party or had been at some point so they didn’t care. We turned down the music since anyone who was still there where either playing cards or playing dominoes. I was doing the latter with Donna, Drew and Vic who was showing us how to play a version called Pollo Pequeno. I was currently in the lead and he wasn’t too thrilled about it since it was my first time and all.

  “Beginners luck.” He pouted.

  “Aww, I know we don’t have a sore loser on our hands. Didn’t anybody tell you? It’s hard to beat a Jamaican at dominoes! Pollo or no Pollo.” I bragged.

  “Oh. OK. So what is it easy to beat a Jamaican at?” He dared.

  “I wouldn’t be a Jamaican if I told you that.” I winked at him and he grinned.

  “I like confidence in a woman.” Vic announced.

  Someone was flirting.

  “So do I.” John stepped into the convo.

  Someone was jealous.

  He pulled up a folding chair and sat next to me as I played. Donna flashed me a knowing glance.

  “I did hear men find confidence attractive… Like bees to honey.” She hinted.

  I could have killed her.

  Note to self, Donna turns into a gremlin after midnight!

  “Yep cause honey is oh so sweet.” John just played into it.

  All Victor could do was shake his head in agreement and defeat. Andrew laughed out loud at that.

  “I beez in the trap. Bee beez in the trap!” Always with a rap song….

  By 3:00 am I was tapping out. Since it was so late, and there were more than enough rooms, we planned to sleep over. We said our good nights and I led John up to one of the guest bedrooms. In his usual fashion he undressed me and bathed me in the spa inspired shower. I crawled into bed like a little girl who was up way past her bed time. John snuggled up behind me.