by Ava Bleu
“I’ve got to get going.” She stood up and smoothed her skirt, heading for the front table and her purse. “I’ve got an appointment. I’ll be late.”
She jerked open the front door and was two steps out when she slammed it behind her and leaned against it. The moisture in her eyes was unwelcome and unbidden. Get a grip, Violet! It didn’t matter what he thought of her. He’d be gone in a day. Gone with his judgments and complaints and scowl. For some reason, that didn’t make her feel any better.
She wiped her eyes, took a deep breath, and headed off to start her day.
Chapter 14
Taka sat at the table, still stunned, looking at the closed front door. His body quaked with the need to follow Violet out, chase her down, and pull her into his arms. He knew with visceral certainty that he had finally been touched by his wife’s spirit. But it was as he had been told: Violet Jackson had been hurt and now preferred the devil she knew. But with Violet there was hope within her hopelessness; fearlessness within her fear; happiness just waiting for unhappiness to step aside.
He knew this behavior and recognized it well because he was exactly the same. He was a prime example of a man who wanted one thing and courted the opposite outcome.
He was a walking conflict and she was his mate.
Taka felt shame for the first time in a long time. What a disservice he had done to them both by refusing to scratch the surface. He’d been so disappointed that Violet didn’t hold his wife’s memories or life experiences, he hadn’t taken a moment to discover hers. He hadn’t spent a second trying to get to know her until just a few minutes ago.
But he was learning, even if he was slow to it. His self-righteousness would be the ticket to the destruction of them both. Somehow he would have to temper his natural arrogance if he could hope to make this work. And he had less than two days to get it right.
He finished off the coffee and was rinsing the pot when a knock on the door jarred him from his thoughts. Opening it, he had to drop his eyes to see the surprised face of a girl who appeared to be pre-woman and a shorter young boy with a backward cap over braided hair beside her. The girl-woman held a white bag with a scent that wafted up to his nose. His stomach grumbled in recognition of sustenance.
“Who are you?” the woman child asked. “Where’s Violet?”
“Violet is not here. May I help—”
“You a lie,” the little boy declared.
Taka looked down at the child, amused by the audacity of such a small little thing to challenge a grown man’s word so openly. In his day a child dared not speak to an adult in such a manner lest he be cuffed across the head. Taka’s hand itched to correct the slight but he restrained himself.
“I do not lie, imp.”
“Violet ordered this food,” the boy said. “I heard her voice through the phone myself, she was talking loud enough.”
The girl scrutinized the white paper attached to the bag. “She said, ‘deliver it to my apartment.’ That’s what it says right here.” She looked at Taka suspiciously. “Who are you? I ain’t never seen you here before.”
Taka brightened. Yet again Violet had surprised him; he would have more than chocolate treats to coat his belly. He grabbed the bag from the girl-woman’s hands.
“Violet ordered this?”
The girl nodded.
“Then who I am is of no concern to you. Thank you.” He went to shut the door and the girl stopped the action with her body, moving unsurely into the doorway, seemingly to follow him. Taka headed to the kitchen. He wondered at the boy and girl still loitering anxiously in the doorway, but his stomach growled like a dog chained near to a roasted piece of meat. Being in his stone all these years did not atrophy the body. In fact, he was in the same condition he had been in the night he almost died, short of the stab wound in the side. Fully conditioned and ready for battle. Easily able to consume massive amounts of food to keep his strength and muscles strong and firm. And right now his muscles needed protein and two strange children were not going to keep him from it.
He pulled the white container out onto the counter and opened it, pleased when it contained an overwhelming amount of food. Eggs; two brown, cylindrical items that smelled like meat; two strips of something else that smelled heavenly; round, flaky pastries of some sort; and a smaller container filled with something off-white in color. He looked to the girl in question. She looked back.
“I . . . It’s gravy. Sausage gravy.”
He pointed at the links.
“Sausage,” she said in a tone that suggested he was crazy.
But he continued, pointing at the strips.
“Bacon.”
“And what animal makes this sausage and bacon?”
“Darn, mister.” The boy came in farther, a look of such irritation on his smooth baby face Taka wondered how someone so young could even form such an expression. “Where you come from you don’t know what bacon is?”
Taka was growing weary of the child’s rudeness. He looked to the girl who appeared shell-shocked as he grabbed a fork and prodded the eggs. There was something underneath.
“It’s an omelet!” she said quickly.
“Yeah, just an omelet,” the boy repeated.
Taka didn’t care; he dug his fork in and shoved a big bite into his mouth and it wasn’t until he was chewing that he noticed the two of them backing slowly toward the door, eyes wide. That was when the heat hit him.
First his tongue began a slow, seething fire that spread to the back up on the roof, opening up on his gums. The little vagabonds!
“It was supposed to be for her!” the boy declared, as if the explanation was sufficient. “Run, Tasha!”
Taka vaguely heard their escape as he fumbled around for a glass and, when one wasn’t readily available, went to the sink and fumbled with the gadgets until water ran into his cupped hands. As he drank he managed to curse them through gulps. Hooligans! If his lips weren’t burning he would chase them down.
“You are lucky I don’t turn you both upside down by your ankles and shake the mischief out of you!” he yelled. He could only hope they were still close enough to hear his rasp.
Finally after a few minutes the burn had dimmed to a simmer and he went back to the offending food, poking around with his fork. There, under the layer of cheese and over the top of the eggs he found the hidden layer of dried red pepper flakes, about a quarter of an inch thick, topped with small strips of glistening fresh pepper. He recognized the offender from his travels. Small but deadly. Habanero.
“Ragamuffins,” he groused. But then he picked up the box and used his fork to scrape away most of the spicy blend, knowing that some heat would remain. A little pepper he could take, and the food was good. He only hoped pepper was the only offending ingredient in this meal. After the minor surgery, it was surprisingly tasty. He put on more coffee to wash it down and sat back down at the little table, sipping and thinking.
The food had obviously been meant for Violet. Sabotage even from babes; what a complete circle of betrayal she had woven for herself. If he didn’t find a way to unlock the part of her she hid behind her shell, it wouldn’t matter. If she was going to spend all her time romping with the cretin of a man she called her fiancé, the whole subject was moot anyway. He might as well curl up in his stone and prepare for the Almighty to slingshot him straight to the devil.
A knock at the door made him look at it for a long moment, wondering what other torture awaited on the other side. Should he answer it or should he leave it? A second, forceful knock followed and he stood, walking to the door and pulling it open with gusto. One of the men from the night before: the one named Gary. The ex. Taka frowned.
“Violet is not here,” he said gruffly, and began to close the door only to have the other man put his hand up to stop it.
“Hey, I didn’t come to see Violet. I came to see you,” he said.
Taka’s frown deepened. “And why would you want to see me?” he barked, looking down at him.
“Can I come in?” Gary asked. “Look, brother, I won’t be long but I don’t want to be standing out here in the hall spreading my business.”
Taka gritted his teeth and opened the door to allow the man entrance. Gary sauntered to the kitchen where he immediately went to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. A cup of Taka’s hard-made coffee! It was enough to make him want to pummel the man into the ground.
“You said you have something to speak of. You cannot speak and drink at the same time.”
Gary, who’d gotten his cup halfway to his lips, put it down and shook his head. “You are one unfriendly S.O.B.”
Taka didn’t know what S.O.B. meant, but if it was an extension of the “unfriendly” adjective, he was satisfied that he was coming across with the desired effect. He nodded and said, “Yes, I am an unfriendly S.O.B. So now that that is established perhaps you will get on with what you have to say and be on your way.”
“Okay, look, man, you ain’t got to be getting all uptight with me, okay? I’m just here for one thing. You know me and Brenda will be getting married soon.”
“I gathered that.”
“Well, gather this. Keep your cousin on a leash.”
“I do not understand.” Taka tightened. He suspected he did understand. He suspected it was an expression he was not going to like, especially since it involved his “cousin” and “leash” in the same sentence.
“Just what I said, man. Look, me and Violet had something awhile back, but it wasn’t nothing. We was just kickin’ it, you know?”
“No, I don’t know.” Taka leaned against the counter, his blood starting to thump in anger. “Why don’t you explain it to me? I am unfamiliar with the ways of this . . . place. Enlighten me.”
The maggot had the grace to blush either from embarrassment or sudden discomfort. “Look, man, all I’m saying is, I don’t think Violet really understands it’s gonna happen. I mean, I will marry Brenda. And I don’t want no drama. I don’t want her to be making trouble for my girl and getting her all upset. Maybe you should tell her that.”
“You’re concerned for the emaciated woman? That’s why you’re here?”
“Emac . . . ? Yeah, man, Brenda. Violet can be one mean b . . .” He stopped at the warning on Taka’s face. “One mean woman when she wants to be. And I don’t think she really believes that me and Brenda are tight. But it’s gonna happen. I’m marrying Brenda. And since you’re here and all, I thought you could help Violet get through this with her head on straight. I ain’t gonna be tolerating no crap from her. What we had is over. Period. It don’t matter how good she looks. It’s over. Tell her that.”
Taka put his hands in his pockets and kept a rein on his temper as he thought that over. When he spoke he chose his words carefully, his voice coming out firm and tight.
“So, let me understand you correctly. You were ‘kickin’ it’ with Violet, but broke her heart to be with her best friend. And now that you and her friend are getting married, you want me to help Violet to accept the fact gracefully, keep her mouth shut, and participate in the wedding to make Brenda happy. Despite the fact that the both of you betrayed her and hurt her. Despite the fact that the two of you have the morals of two dogs in heat; and even less class and dignity. Violet is the one who should keep quiet. Is that what you’re saying?”
Gary blushed and shrugged. “Yeah, man. That’s what I’m saying.” At Taka’s look he went on, “Hey, life goes on, brother. Violet and me never would have worked. She’s got a big mouth and she’s mean as a barnyard dog.”
“And you want my help to this end?”
“Hey, you can help or not.” Gary raised his hands. “I really don’t care, it ain’t no skin off my nose. Just so you know, I will call the police on that woman if she pulls some crazy stuff up at the wedding. Violet is like that. After Brenda and me told her about us, she come to my place cryin’ ’bout how could I do that to her when she opened her heart to me and all that. Asked me how’s come I could just forget about her, just leave her like that. She wanted me, man. I probably coulda had both of ’em but I’m too much of a gentleman for that. Had to cut her loose.”
How could he just forget about her, just leave her like that? Is that what she feels? All these years, did she think Taka just left her? Did she think he could possibly have forgotten her? The image of her being dragged away from him flashed in his head and through his heart like a flash of fire. He’d been too weak to even stand and she was alone at the end. All his promises of love and devotion, and when she needed him most he’d been unconscious. His body had failed him, but a true man would have fought until his dying breath. Hadn’t that been what he’d claimed to Ani? And where had he been? When his wife, his queen, was murdered, where had he been? Weak as a baby and too overcome with his own pain to protect her. He hadn’t been there.
His stomach turned with every word from this man’s mouth but it was like a fierce battle, impossible to look away. The man’s lips were moving but he only caught the words here and there, too lost in his past to be fully there.
“I told her it wasn’t like I killed her or nothing, I just broke up with her. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I loved that wom . . . I mean, I liked her a lot. But the closer me and Violet got the more she kept looking at me like she was expecting something I ain’t never planned to give to no woman, and then got all upset when I wanted something easier. She got some fantasy about how a man’s supposed to love her. Always saying crazy stuff ’bout if I make promises I got to keep them. I ain’t make no promises to that woman that any normal woman would expect me to keep. I mean, you say things to get some, right? You don’t mean all that. It’s like she was setting me up to screw up. It was just a matter of time before I let her down, so I just did it on my terms. Ain’t gonna have her running around telling folks I wasn’t man enough for her. She wants some man who loves her unconditionally; I cut her loose so she can find him. Let her see how unreasonable she was and how happy Brenda is just to be with me. Someday, she’ll look back and realize I was the best she could hope for. Women today. They too demanding, man.”
Taka almost snorted at that. The truth was, though he was trash, Gary had been fighting an uphill battle. Violet expected more because she’d had more. She had been his everything. Yes, he’d neglected her to run a kingdom but he’d never done so just because he didn’t want to put the time in. He had never forgotten she was his queen and neither had she. Until the very end, she’d known that he would give anything to make her happy. Hadn’t she?
“She’s liable to try something funny,” Gary continued. “She’s liable to pull that gun of hers or something and I ain’t having all that drama up at my wedding. I know she wants me bad but she’s got to let go and accept the fact that I don’t want her.”
Taka was drained of emotion. Sure, Ani had been talking, but it took this man, this maggot, to make him see. To make him feel. His wife wasn’t buried so deeply after all. The heat of indignation for Violet washed over him.
Taka straightened. “You do not have to worry about Violet. She has moved on, and I suggest you do the same.”
Gary laughed while he responded, “Hey, I have moved on. That’s what I’m telling you.”
“I think perhaps you haven’t quite moved on yet,” Taka said. “You hope that she will make a scene because then it would show you that she still cares. It won’t happen.”
“So you say. I know this; Violet’s one of those women.”
“Those women?”
“Yeah, man. One of those women who think she’s supposed to be treated special. Crazy, since she ain’t come from nothing. She’s one of those you gotta pull off her high horse. Cut her down to size. She’s fine so I had to treat her like she wasn’t. Some women you gotta break so they can be happy with a normal man.”
“And you’re one of those men, a man who uses women to bolster his own ego. One of those men who only feels like a man when he is manipulating the emotions of women. One of those men who needs the constan
t turmoil, needs the women to make you feel like a man, always on the hunt for something better because you only shine in the reflection of a beautiful woman’s adoration. But when she actually expects something of you, you run like a coward. Or hurt her by trying to make her feel there was anything she could have done to keep a relationship you didn’t have the courage to hold on to. A word of advice: there is no woman on this earth who can turn a weakling into a man. I feel sorry for this Brenda person, for the next attractive woman to look your way will surely put her relationship with you on shaky ground. What will your excuse be then? Be sure to think up a good one. Remember you must be able to continue fooling yourself into believing it is all about the women in your life and what they lack.”
Taka was satisfied to see the man blanch, his face a mask as his words settled in. He then stood aside. “I assure you Violet will not provide entertainment at your special event. Now, it is time for you to take your leave.” He had no intention of listening to any more nonsense from this bug of a man.
Gary glanced up at Taka, gave him an expression rife with embarrassment and walked by, stopping just outside the door.
“Hey, man, I could snap my fingers and have her back in a second.” He looked Taka up and down.
“Get out before I hurt you,” Taka said. His voice had changed with his fury, deep and torn from his depths. Gary wisely turned and walked away, the slam of the door following him.
Taka flexed his fists in anger and frustration. He cared about Violet and the wedding-to-come was another betrayal waiting to happen. Even in the short time he’d known her he could tell she was used to glossing over pain and betrayal. She had made light of this act by her former boyfriend and best friend but she would have to deal with the truth soon, and he had no idea if he would be around to help her through the process. Just as he hadn’t been around to help Zahara through the betrayal that had taken her life.