Ginger couldn’t remember the last time she was admired by a member of the opposite sex. For the past four years, she’d been beaten, spat on, kicked around, and ridiculed. Ginger probably wouldn’t recognize a compliment if it slapped her in the face. But she did like the way Joseph got her attention. Between the words he exchanged with the man he was chatting with, he managed to smile at Ginger.
“Good Lord,” Ginger mumbled out loud. Joseph had a nice set of teeth. White teeth. Even teeth. Teeth that belonged on the boxes of Aquafresh toothpaste. She returned his smile.
“I saw that,” Celeste said to Ginger. “Nor are you interested, huh? Weren’t those your exact words?”
“Humph, well, we can’t tell,” Portia commented. “I do believe I see a little flirt in you, Miss Schoolteacher.”
Celeste saw Joseph size Ginger up from her metallic stilettos, to her twenty-six-inch waist, up to her new interlock hairdo. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off of you for a second, Ginger. I mean seriously.”
Just then Joseph excused himself from the company he was in and made his way toward Portia, Celeste, and Ginger. He came and stood in front of Ginger and spoke directly to her. “Hi.”
Ginger was sandwiched between Celeste and Portia. She was glad about that because at that moment, as she gazed at his smile up close, she teetered like a seesaw. Ginger didn’t know if it was the smell of his cologne, his broad shoulders, or his sensual, deep voice but she was drunk in Joseph’s presence. Lord, please have mercy on me.
With her girls at her side, Ginger felt confident that Portia and Celeste would catch her if her knees betrayed her. Yes, he was that fine. She looked at Joseph’s lips. Smooth, not chapped. His mustache and goatee were trimmed perfectly. For the first time in her life, Ginger was mesmerized. Portia was right. Joseph looked better in person. “Hi.”
He looked deep into Ginger’s eyes and repeated himself. “Hi.” His voice was even more sensual than when he uttered that same word moments ago.
Joseph put the F in the word “flirt.” But since Ginger was feeling good and since he put the ball in her court, she went for it. “Hi,” she said in her sexiest voice.
Celeste leaned back and spoke to Portia behind Ginger’s head. “Did they just greet each other twice?”
“Yep, but did you take note of her sultriness?”
“I think somebody is coming out of her shell,” Celeste said.
Ginger broke the stare from the man in front of her and looked at her friends. “Okay, y’all do know I can hear what you’re saying, right?”
“Really?” Celeste asked. “You seem to be in a world of your own.”
Ginger rolled her eyes at Celeste then looked at Joseph standing in front of her. “Please forgive my friends’ rudeness. Sometimes she really do have manners.”
“All is forgiven,” he said, smiling. “My name is Joseph Banks. How are you lovely ladies on this fine Sunday afternoon?” His eyes were fixed on Ginger’s as he addressed all three of them.
“We know who you are,” Celeste said.
“You did say ladies, didn’t you?” Portia asked Joseph. “Meaning plural?”
Joseph looked at Portia. “Yes, I did.”
“I just wanted to know because you seem to be only talking to Ginger.”
Joseph arched his eyebrows and looked at the woman who stood directly in front of him. “Ginger.” He said her name dreamily. “What a beautiful name. Perfectly fitted for a beautiful woman.”
Celeste was impressed. “Wow.”
Although Ginger tried with all of her might not to, she couldn’t help but to smile at his comment. “Thank you.”
“What I’m about to ask you may seem a bit forward but are you married?”
“Well, actually, I—”
Portia cut Ginger’s words off. “Nope. She’s not married, engaged, or in a committed relationship. She’s not dating or seeing anyone at the moment. You’re right on time.”
Ginger’s mouth dropped open at Portia’s boldness.
Joseph grabbed Ginger’s left hand, brought it to his mouth, and kissed the back of it. “Ginger, is it?”
Ginger looked at the Adonis and slowly nodded her head. She was in a trance.
“I was just on my way out to get some dinner. And since I haven’t been in Chicago for very long, I haven’t met a lot of folks. I’d hate to dine alone. So, would the three of you care to join me?” Joseph was a stranger. He hoped that by inviting her friends along, Ginger would accept his invitation.
Ginger couldn’t move. Lord, are you for real? I need to know. You’ve brought me through too much stuff to be playin’ with me.
Again, as Joseph spoke to the three of them, his eyes were only focused on Ginger’s.
Portia being Portia lightly tapped his right shoulder. “Um, excuse me. You did say the three of us, right? Because again your eyes are focused only on Ginger’s.”
“Absolutely. I’m speaking to the three of you,” Joseph answered Portia while staring at Ginger.
He’s doing it again, Celeste thought, remembering how Joseph was speaking with someone else while ogling Ginger.
Portia extended her hand to Joseph. “Well, in that case, I’m Portia and the lady standing on the other side of Ginger is Celeste. And it’s a good thing you invited all three of us to dinner because we travel in a group.”
Joseph chuckled and shook Portia’s hand. His first impression of her was that she was very straightforward and outspoken. It was a turn-off for him but since she was a friend of Ginger’s, Joseph was willing to tolerate her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. But I’m curious about why you travel in a group.”
Celeste, being the eldest of the three, had always been a bit overprotective. “Because that’s how we roll. We always have and always will. We are a package deal.” Their ritual wouldn’t be broken. All three of them went on each other’s first dates. Joseph looked good, smelled good, smiled good, and talked good. But for all Celeste knew he could be another Ronald. He could be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Ginger was vulnerable, open, and on the rebound. It had been four months since she beat Ronald to a pulp and gotten him out of her home. The day after the paramedics carried Ronald out on a stretcher, Ginger had gone to the courthouse and filed a restraining order against him. The damage Ginger did to Ronald’s skull caused him to endure three months of physical therapy to learn how to speak properly again. The restraining order would keep Ronald one hundred feet away from Ginger for the next two years.
Ginger craved the attention that she’d never gotten from Ronald. Celeste was very protective of Ginger. Momma bear needed to watch her cub closely.
“How about dinner, Ginger?” Joseph asked her again.
Joseph was a fine specimen. But Ginger had been single for four months and it felt good to be stress free. She no longer had to worry about dirty dishes or strands of hair left in the sinks. She didn’t need to worry about racing home to beat a curfew. In four months Ginger hasn’t had to ask a man for permission to go to church on Sundays. She was living a celibate lifestyle. No more rapes that led to miscarriages. Ginger didn’t know Joseph from a can of paint. He could very well be her knight in shining armor. But four months of freedom wasn’t enough time for Ginger to have healed from the four years of abuse. She needed more time. “Joseph, your invitation to dinner is lovely and very much appreciated. But Celeste, Portia, and I have already made dinner plans.” That was Ginger’s way of turning Joseph down politely.
Celeste and Portia looked at Ginger like she was insane but kept quiet.
Ginger crushed Joseph’s heart and the disappointed look on his face told it all. “Oh well, maybe next time then.” He wasn’t giving up on Ginger. He had read her body language. Joseph wasn’t mistaken that she was interested. Ginger’s eyes and smile told him she was. But something had kept her from connecting with him. She wasn’t smiling anymore. Joseph didn’t know what it was but he had all the time in the world to figure it out. Ginger had built barriers all
around her. But one by one, Joseph decided that he’d knock them all down. He kissed the back of her Ginger’s hand again then turned and walked away.
He had only stepped three feet away when Portia called after him. “Joseph?”
He paused then turned around to face the ladies.
“We’re dining at Leona’s Italian Restaurant on Madison Street. If you’re ever in the mood for delicious Italian food, that’s a good place.”
Ginger’s chin hit the floor. She couldn’t believe what Portia had just done.
“Is that right?” Joseph asked Portia.
“Yep. Great food,” Portia answered, not caring that she had just crossed a line with Ginger.
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind,” Joseph said. He looked at Ginger and smiled one last time before turning and exiting the church.
“Girl, are you a fool?” Portia asked Ginger when Joseph was out of earshot. “What’s wrong with having dinner with the man? Celeste and I would have been there with you.”
Ginger was hot. “First of all why did you tell Joseph where we’re going to eat? What if he comes to the restaurant?”
“Humph, the way you just shot him down, you ain’t even gotta worry about that. You could have at least accepted the man’s dinner invitation, Ginger.”
Ginger adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder. “I’m not ready yet.”
“To do what? Eat some food?” Portia couldn’t understand Ginger’s hesitation.
“You can’t force her to do something she’s not ready for, Portia,” Celeste said. “She’s gonna mess around and miss her husband.”
“Oh, Portia, please,” Ginger said, waving her hand at Portia to dismiss her words. “Joseph is not my husband.”
“How do you know?” Portia asked. “You won’t even break bread with the man.”
Ginger exhaled loudly. Her personal life and what she did with it was her business. “Look, I don’t wanna talk about this. Can we please go and eat?”
Portia noticed Ginger’s fed-up expression. “Don’t get an attitude with me. I’m trying to help you out. I don’t want you to miss out on a blessing, Ginger. We all know you’re due for one.”
“Trust me, when God sends my husband, I’ll know it. I will hear God clearly when He speaks.”
“Well, you need to clean the wax out of your ears because He just spoke,” Portia stated and walked away.
* * *
At Leona’s Italian Restaurant, Ginger, Celeste, and Portia were enjoying the all-you-can-eat salad and breadsticks while they waited for their main courses. Celeste was the first to reach for the second helping of the warm breadsticks as soon as their waitress set the basket on the table. Ginger and Portia watched in awe as Celeste swirled the breadstick on her salad plate to soak up the Italian dressing before inserting it into her salivating mouth.
“Celeste, you’re really milking this all-you-can-eat thing, aren’t you?” Portia teased.
Celeste took another bite of the breadstick. “All you can eat means eat all you can. And besides, I’m eating for two.” She was ecstatic about her pregnancy. Celeste had given up all hope of conceiving. She and Anthony had come to terms that they would never become parents. After seeing Portia in the hospital room and after hearing what Ginger had done to Ronald, Celeste and Anthony had become close again. Anthony returned to the marriage bed and within a week Celeste was pregnant.
When Celeste had skipped her menstrual cycle, she didn’t pay it any attention because that was normal for her. Her cycle was always all over the place and unpredictable. When she didn’t get it the second month, Celeste had taken a home pregnancy test. When the color blue appeared on the white plastic stick, Celeste’s heart skipped a beat but she didn’t tell Anthony just yet. She made an appointment with Dr. Bindu and he confirmed to Celeste that she indeed was carrying a bun in her oven. Celeste was so happy that she hopped off of the examining table and hugged Dr. Bindu tight and kissed him on his cheek. Dr. Bindu congratulated Celeste, wrote her a prescription for prenatal vitamins, and sent her on her merry way.
On the way home from Dr. Bindu’s office, Celeste stopped at a grocery store and purchased a small sheet cake with butter cream icing. She had the words “Congratulations, Daddy” put on it. She brought the cake home and set it on the kitchen table. When Anthony came home, Celeste was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for him. He walked into the kitchen and saw the cake.
He had a curious expression on his face. “Daddy?”
Celeste opened her hand and showed Anthony the stick with the blue line. She sang the words, “We’re having a baby.”
Anthony’s eyes grew wide. He yelled and pulled Celeste from her chair. He picked her up and swung her around. “For real? For real?”
“Yes. I went to see Dr. Bindu today and he confirmed it.”
Anthony was ecstatic. “We’re really gonna have a baby in nine months?”
“Well, in about six months.”
Anthony pulled Celeste into his arms. “This is the best news ever.”
“Won’t God do it?”
Portia looked at Celeste’s mouth chewing at rapid speed. “Well, you look like you’re eating for two hundred. You’ve already gained ten pounds in three months.”
“So what?” Celeste said after swallowing a piece of the delicious seasoned breadstick. “I got my man already.”
“Don’t you wanna keep him?” Ginger asked.
Celeste rolled her eyes. “Girl, please. Tony ain’t going anywhere. You should see all of the doughnuts, cookies, and candy he brings home for me to eat.”
“Only because you beg for it,” Portia reminded Celeste. “That baby weight will stay on after you drop the load.”
“And how many babies have you had, Portia?” Celeste snapped. “Why are you so worried about what I eat and how much weight I gain?”
“Because I’ll be the one who’ll have to listen to you moan and cry about how wide your behind has gotten.”
“As my sister, ain’t that what you’re supposed to do?”
“Absolutely not,” Ginger chimed in. She reached across the table and removed the basket of breadsticks from Celeste’s reach. “No more bread, Celeste.”
If looks could kill, Ginger would be six feet under at that moment. But Celeste had already eaten four breadsticks so she didn’t put up a fuss when Ginger took the basket away. Celeste made a mental note in her head to ask the waitress for breadsticks to take home with her. They would be her midnight snack.
The waitress came and set their entrees in front of them. The ladies lowered their heads and closed their eyes as Portia prayed. “Lord, we thank you for this fellowship. We’re grateful for another opportunity for us to get together and feast because you know we like to eat. We ask that you bless the food and the hands that prepared it. Now, Lord, I ask that you touch Celeste. She thinks that just because she’s pregnant she can inhale everything that crosses her nose.”
Celeste and Ginger opened their eyes and looked at Portia.
“Help her to understand, Lord, that gluttony is a sin. Then, Lord, I ask that you touch Ginger right now. Open her eyes so that she can see a good man when he comes into her life. We ask these blessings in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
When Portia opened her eyes she saw that Ginger and Celeste were scowling at her. Ginger didn’t appreciate Portia’s prayer. “What the heck was that, Portia?”
She looked at Ginger and shrugged her shoulders.
“What did you mean by we ask these blessings? Celeste and I don’t have a problem with the way our lives are going. If anyone needs prayer, it’s you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you,” Celeste answered.
“How do you figure I need prayer?”
“Well, for one, you talk too much. You knew Ginger didn’t want to be bothered with that man from the church but you just had to tell him where we would be eating. If Ginger wanted him to know, she should have been the one to tell him, not you.”
“I was just l
ooking out for her, Celeste. What’s wrong with that?”
Ginger inserted a forkful of lasagna into her mouth and spoke. “Will y’all quit talking about me like I’m not sitting at this table? First of all, Portia, you know what my motto is, and in case you’ve forgotten, I’ll tell you again. I’m three times seven plus six. If you do the math you’ll realize that that means I’m grown, fully grown at that. I can look out for myself.”
“I can’t tell. Joseph was practically begging you to have dinner with him. It’s not like he was asking for your hand in marriage.”
Ginger gently laid her fork down on the table then turned her whole upper body toward Portia.
“Uh-oh,” Celeste mumbled. Ginger’s body language told her that it was about to get heated in the restaurant. And whatever Ginger was getting ready to say to Portia, Celeste felt Portia had it coming. She was out of line and Ginger was right to put her in her place.
“You know what, Portia? Whomever I decide to dine with will be my decision, not yours. If you’re so worried about somebody having dinner with Joseph then, darn it, you do it. Oops, my bad. You only deal with married men, don’t you?”
“Uh-oh,” Celeste mumbled again. She would’ve interceded and asked Ginger to lower her voice and calm down but Portia was way out of line. Ginger was telling her exactly what she needed to hear. While Ginger had the absolute right to let Portia know that she was crossing a boundary, Celeste wondered why Ginger would bring up Portia’s past sin. It wasn’t that long ago when the three of them had turned on each other when Ginger brought up Celeste’s abortion that she had in high school. Now that Celeste was pregnant, she needed her best friends more than anything. She couldn’t go through another separation from Ginger and Portia.
“Well, excuse the heck out of me for trying to be a friend,” Portia responded to Ginger. “Maybe I should just shut my darn mouth.”
“You definitely should,” Ginger commented sarcastically.
Their waitress approached the table and asked if they needed anything else. Celeste told her that everything was wonderful and to quickly bring the check. She was thankful for the interruption and wanted to leave the restaurant before Ginger and Portia started up again.
Damsels in Distress Page 11