All That Drama

by McKinney, Tina Brooks

  I was so elated, I wanted to call some damn body and tell them about my date, but there was no one who would feel me like Sammie would. Leah briefly came to mind but she and Kentée had tied the knot and who knew what they would be up to at this time of the night. If Angie were up, she would either be out on the town or screwing. Dejected, I went upstairs and pulled out my trusty vibrator. I got the nut out of my system and took a hot shower before falling into bed. That night I went to sleep a happy woman full of anticipation and dreams of a promising future with Norman.

  Chapter 27

  Norman called at 10:00 to say that he would be over by 11. I jumped out of the bed and ran to wake up the kids to start getting dressed. I forgot to wrap my hair so I had some serious work to do to be presentable in one hour.

  Out of habit, I didn’t tell Kevin or Keira that Norman was joining us. My past relationships had taught me to never tell a child something unless you are sure it is going to happen. So, when the doorbell rang, I told Kevin to open the door. It was a true Kodak moment. Kevin’s whole face lit up when he saw that Norman was back.

  “You came back,” Kevin exclaimed, hardly able to contain his excitement. He was so excited he did not know whether to shit or go blind. It was comical but again I felt the pull on my heartstrings. Was my son really that starved for male attention?

  “Sure I did, little buddy; didn’t I tell you I would be back?” he said, smiling, making light of the emotional situation brewing. Keira hid behind my legs until he began to look around for her. I knew that he had seen her ’cause he winked at me and started calling out her name like he could not see her. She kept hiding behind me, giggling the whole time. She waited a few minutes more before she bum rushed him. She wrapped her arms around his legs and said, “Here I am!” It was such a special moment I could not help but join in the laughter.

  Norman did not kiss me in front of the kids, which I was thankful for, but I wanted a special greeting as well. He patted my ass while the children were not looking and it shocked me so much, I almost walked into the wall. I got the kids’ jackets and we were off. I had to fight with Norman to allow me to pay for our admission into the zoo but in the end, he was a good sport about it as long as I let him pay for lunch.

  We had a wonderful time. Even though it was cold, he did not rush through the zoo like the average man would, trying to get it behind him. He appeared to be just as excited about seeing the animals as the children were, and he was patient and stopped every time the kids wanted to stop. After the zoo, we went to the playground where we took turns pushing each other on the swings. We all felt comfortable with each other and I was beginning to like having a man around. It was a scary thought ’cause I had adjusted to the fact that I was destined to be alone forever.

  It was after 4:00 when we left the park and by then we were all starving. We went to McDonald’s and each had Happy Meals. I wished that I had been the one that created the concept of fast food ’cause Mickey Dee’s, as we were fond of calling McDonald’s, was making a mint. I didn’t know one kid that didn’t like a Happy Meal and the fries were good enough to make you wanna slap your momma!

  “You are going to be satisfied with a Happy Meal?” I asked Norman.

  “Yeah, I like the burgers. Plus, if you open the trunk, you will see all the little toys that I have been collecting. One day, they are going to be worth a fortune,” he said, laughing, and I joined in. Norman was indeed a special case.

  By the time we got back to the house, the children were asleep. Norman helped me get them inside and put them down for a nap. I wanted a nap, too, ’cause I was tired from all the walking but I was so enjoying his company and I didn’t want the date to end. We settled on the sofa and watched the rest of The Ring. This time, I was too excited to go to sleep and I think he felt the same way. The movie was scary but it challenged you to think.

  I used the movie as an excuse to get right up next to him, and he did not object. I was nervous but still confident ’cause he seemed like he was enjoying himself as well. After the movie was over, we talked for a while about what we were doing and where we wanted things to go from that point.

  “Marie, I like you and your family. I think we have a chance at something special, but I don’t want to rush it,” Norman said.

  “I agree one hundred percent that we need to take our time. I took a big step by introducing you to my children, which is something I rarely do. I only did that ’cause I felt like you would be around for a minute.” I said all that out loud but my greedy ass was ready for more.

  Sooner than I wanted, he told me that he had to leave. It was only 7:00 on a Saturday night and the kids were wide awake asking for dinner. I asked him if he wanted to stay but he said that he had to go. I walked him to the car after he said good-bye to the kids. They did not want him to leave either and made no attempt to hide it but he was very firm. Short of falling on the hood of his car or lying underneath his tires, there was nothing I could or would do to stop him.

  At the car, we kissed for the first time that day. It was sweet and sensual and it gave me a hint of the pleasures to come if I would just be patient. After a few more kisses, I pulled away from him and started back to the house. This time I was the one who ended the encounter. I wanted him to crave me back in his arms instead of the other way around. He was in the car before I remembered the tapes and I yelled at him to wait while I ran inside to get them. My return led to more kisses and finally half an hour later, he left. He promised to call me when he got home.

  Norman lived with his mother, a situation I normally frowned upon. He told me that he moved back to help take care of his mother, and I thought that his actions were honorable. She’d recently had one of her legs amputated as a result of diabetes and was having a tough time getting around and caring for herself.

  “It was a good thing that I left when I did,” Norman said when he called me later that night.

  “Why’s that?” I asked, thinking he was going to say something about making love to me.

  “Momma got her chair stuck and she was crying when I got there.”

  “Oh, I am so sorry. How did she get stuck?” I asked, suddenly ashamed of my sexy thoughts.

  “She still hasn’t built up her upper-body strength and she could not get out of the kitchen!”

  “Is she okay now?”

  “Yeah, she’s okay. I thought my sister was going to stay with her until I got back. She was upset ’cause she could not reach the phone and needed to go to the bathroom.”

  “Awh,” I said not knowing what else to say. There was a brief silence on both of our ends.

  “This is going to get better, Marie; it’s just going to take some time,” he said with a sigh.

  “Of course it will. Take your time and work it out. I’m not going anywhere,” I told him.

  “You mean that?” he whispered, sending chills down my spine.

  “Of course I do,” I answered honestly. Norman was a good man; I could feel it in everything that he did. I was looking forward to getting to know him better. It was just going to be difficult. But nothing that comes easy is really worth it. The good things in life you had to work for.

  “Well, goodnight, sweetheart. I just wanted to hear your voice before I fell asleep.”

  “Sweet dreams,” I said, smiling.

  “Of course they will be; I’ll be thinking of you.”

  “Nite,” I said, hanging up the phone. I went upstairs to my room and showered. My thoughts were on Norman and a chance at happiness. I turned on the TV and before I knew it, it was watching me.

  Chapter 28

  Norman and I continued to see each other and developed a comfortable relationship. He would either come over my house or we would get together at the club where we had met. I still had not seen his daughter Allison but I talked to her several times over the phone. She appeared to be very grown for her age and asked me when she was going to get the chance to come over to my house. I told her to ask her daddy to set it up ’cau
se I would’ve loved to see her.

  “Hey, sweetness,” Norman said when he called me. I had just gotten in from a very hard day at work. I was under a lot of pressure and just wanted to take a hot bath and go to sleep. The partners of my firm were literally fighting over me. I had so much work to do I could not see straight and the other paralegals were getting pissed at me. I had planned to meet with the office manager in the morning to discuss my assignments ’cause it was getting to be too much.

  “Hey, yourself,” I answered back sort of distracted. I had so much stuff to do if I wanted to turn in early. The kids had stayed at Mom’s ’cause I had told her what was going on at work.

  “What’s wrong, baby?” she had asked.

  “Just work; they are pulling me in a million and one directions and it’s getting old. Each partner is trying to pull rank and I’m stuck in the middle. Especially Mr. Miller. He is a senior partner and does not want me working for anyone else but him. He is giving me so much I can’t keep up with my other duties.”

  “I’m sorry; is there something that I could do to make your day?” he asked. He was being suggestive again but I was not in the mood. We had been dating for about four months and still no sex.

  “Listen, my mom is throwing together a little dinner party this weekend for the family and I wanted to know if you wanted to come,” he inquired.

  Oh shit, I thought, meeting the family.

  “Sure,” I said, even though I didn’t mean it. I had not thought about meeting his family yet. I wanted to meet his daughter, but I wasn’t sure about his mom. In my head I thought it was too soon to meet the family, but our relationship had been on a steady track since the first night we had talked so I ignored that notion. I was feeling a little nervous but I felt confident that Norman would be mine regardless of what his mother or his family had to say. Besides, I thought, at that point I had not invested too much in the relationship and if it went badly, I wouldn’t have to see any of them again.

  Norman told me that they lived in the country in Conyers, Georgia, about twenty-five minutes from my house. He said that he had two dogs and that they had a large piece of land. I had pictures of a big stately home in the countryside dancing in my head and was anxious to see it.

  Norman had three older sisters: Kia, Kenya and Kim. He told me that they would also be there for dinner that weekend. I had seen Kenya at the club with Norman and she seemed nice. She was one of the women that I used to see him with and I had assumed she was a girlfriend.

  Norman was the baby of the bunch and the only male so I could tell that he was spoiled, but I did not have a problem with that. I liked to spoil my men, too!

  The week just seemed to drag by. I wanted to see Norman again and he hadn’t come to visit all week. I spent the days entertaining the notion that he did not care for me as much as I cared for him or he would have taken the drive to see me at least by Wednesday. But he made me suffer quoting a lyric from an old commercial: anticipation, anticipation is making me wait, blah blah blah. Stupid ass commercial!

  We still talked on the phone at least twice a day and sometimes he would surprise me by calling me at work. But what I really wanted was a flesh-to-flesh visit where I could reach out and touch a nigga. I did not call him at work ’cause he was often out in the field. He was a surveyor and would typically be out of the office for the entire day so when he showed up at my job for lunch on Friday I was ecstatic.

  The receptionist called and told me I had a visitor in the lobby that wanted to see me. I didn’t know what I was thinking when I went to the lobby ’cause any other time someone came to see me, the receptionist just sent them upstairs to my office. I must have been preoccupied not to think much of a request to come downstairs. I caught the elevator down two floors and when the doors opened, Norman was there, bearing flowers in his arms. I was floored. I understood why the receptionist had wanted me to come down. She had wanted to see my reaction to the flowers and she probably had desired to continue to look at Norman with his fine self.

  He was dressed in a suit and tie, something that I had never seen him in, and he looked as delicious as a big chocolate bar with nuts and honey. I could have eaten him up right then and there but I had to play it cool ’cause we had witnesses.

  “Norman, what are you doing here?” I said with a shit-eating grin on my face. I was so glad that I had taken the time to really dress up. Sometimes, depending on my mood, I would just wear jeans to the office, but that day, for some reason, I felt compelled to dress to impress. I had on a killer red suit with matching shoes and scarf. Hell, I even painted my fingernails the same fire-engine red color, which is something I rarely did. I normally prefer to pay someone else to do that mundane shit ’cause I usually mess the shit up with my impatience.

  “I missed you, baby, and I was in the neighborhood so I dropped by hoping I would catch you in,” he said, trying his best to hide his own stupid grin.

  “Bullshit; your work does not bring you downtown. But, I’m so glad that you came anyway,” I said. I looked over at Pam, the receptionist, and noticed that she was eating up every word that we said. I grabbed Norman’s hand and pulled him toward the elevator doors rapidly pushing the up button so that we could finish our conversation in the privacy of my office.

  I silently prayed that he understood that I did not like the people at work all up in my business. I peeped back over my shoulder as the elevator doors opened and I could see Pam checking out Norman’s ass. I could not help but feel proud ’cause the brother belonged to me. I winked at her and pulled him into the elevator laughing.

  “Are those flowers for me?” I asked since he did not immediately hand them over.

  “No, I just like carrying around two dozen roses just for the hell of it,” he said with a smile. I could not help myself as I fell into his arms as the elevator doors closed. We were still kissing when they opened on my floor and I took him back to my office. Luckily, no one saw this public display of affection. Once behind the closed door of my office, we finished what we had started in the elevator.

  “Do you have time to have lunch with me or what?” Norman said. “I need to get back home to help Momma with dinner, but I wanted to make sure that you would not chicken out about tonight. You are still coming, aren’t you?”

  “God, you really know me well. I was tempted to chicken out, but yes, I will be there and yes, we can do lunch. Just let me put these roses in some water,” I replied. I pulled a vase from under my desk and excused myself while I went to get some water from the bathroom down the hall. I was so happy I could have shit on myself and not minded one bit. When I got back, I buzzed Pam and told her that I would be going to lunch.

  We went to the Hilton, which was right next door to my office, and we ate lunch on the top floor as it revolved giving us a 360-degree tour of the city. This was not necessarily the best place to go on my lunch hour, but I think he was trying to impress me. It was beautiful but to be honest, I was so nervous I did not even pay attention to the decor. I knew the restaurant existed and it was on my to-do list, but today was not the day. We ordered cheeseburgers and he promised to bring me back when I had a chance to appreciate the restaurant and all its splendor.

  “What are you trying to do to me?” I seriously asked him.

  “Whatever do you mean?” he responded, avoiding the direct stare that I gave him and any further questions about his intentions.

  “Are you trying to make me fall in love with you or what?” I could not believe that I so frankly asked the question that had been on my mind since we met. He was so smooth I did not want to make any incorrect assumptions regarding his intentions. I felt that I should just put it on the table then, so I didn’t get my feelings hurt later. He did not directly answer my question.

  “I have never brought any other woman to my mother’s house other than the mother of my child, and that was only after I learned that she was pregnant and had no intentions of aborting the baby. Oh God, forgive me, I know that sounded wro
ng. I love my daughter; don’t misunderstand me, but her mother and I were young and totally unprepared to be parents. That should tell you something about the way that I feel about you.” He did not say anything else and my happy ass was content with that answer. He protected his mother from a bunch of riff-raff just like I protected my kids.

  “Speaking of kids, when am I going to meet your daughter?” This was another question that I thought I would never ask but I was on a roll.

  “It’s my weekend so she will be there at dinner, too,” he quickly answered. “I won’t be able to come back to your house after dinner, but I am sure you understand that, don’t you?”

  Damn, I wanted to meet his daughter but in a one-on-one setting where she would not feel pressured in any way, sort of like the way that he had met my kids. His family just might have a notion to gang up on my ass and I was not comfortable with being the odd woman out.

  “Don’t you think it would be more appropriate for us to meet one on one? Hell, I’m gonna feel like I am on some kind of display and I don’t know if I like that,” I honestly answered.

  “Baby, you will be fine. If I thought there would be a problem, I would not put you through it. My peeps know that I am in love with you. They just want to meet you,” he said as if that would resolve all my doubts and indecisions.

  I drained my glass of tea to cover my silence while I thought of a response.

  “Norman, are you sure that this is a good idea?” I despised the whining tone of my voice but felt helpless to change it.

  “It is important to me that all the women in my life get to know each other and in this case, the sooner the better ’cause you are an intricate part of my life now. Did I tell you that you look simply breathtaking today, not that you don’t look beautiful all the time, but I love red on you?” He effectively changed the subject and I tried to shake off my feelings of apprehension.