My Dusk My Dawn

by Henrietta Georgia

“How does this feel?” he asked.

  “Wonderful.”

  “I bet it feels all kinds of wonderful,” he stated, touching me the same again.

  The pleasure I felt was overwhelming. “Daniel…”

  “You’re so beautiful,” he stated, interrupting me. “What you see in me I don’t know. All I know is you’re beautiful and I’m so glad you chose me as I was choosing you.”

  “Daniel, you’re too much,” I replied. “I think you’re beautiful too.”

  He smiled. “Teme, you’re so beautiful the thought of you sets my body alight. So beautiful I quietly envision us in a future time yet unknown and yet to come, enjoying each other.”

  I shook off the sudden arousal that overcame me and tried to remain composed.

  “I’d kiss those beautiful lips of yours right now, but we had an agreement. Doing that now will only lead us down the path we agreed not to go down.” With that, he stood up, gently placed my feet on the footstool and advised, “I’ll be back.”

  He came back with a wrapped, boxed gift which he sat in my lap. I took pains to unwrap it, trying to not rip the beautiful gold and blue fleur-de-lis wrapping paper. It was a red and gold cloth bound copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare. My heart soared.

  “Daniel, you shouldn’t have. Thank you!”

  “You’re very welcome, babe. I know how much you love Shakespeare, and I figured you must have his many works at yours, but it’s time you made yourself at home here. So there you go,” he said.

  “You’re amazing Daniel.”

  “Glad you think so,” he replied, flashing me a toothy smile. “What d’ya say we get some dinner organized, hey?”

  “Let’s,” I agreed, getting up, suddenly invigorated and full of energy. He had that effect.

  We dined outdoors on the patio enjoying another Mojito, some sautéed salmon, steamed rice, grilled bell peppers, zucchini, Portabello mushrooms and eggplant, with a Caesar dressing lightly drizzled over the lot. As we engaged in small talk, the Texan sky changed from a deep orange and pink to purple, and then dark blue. Evening would be upon us soon.

  Daniel’s phone lay on the far end of the dinner table, to his left. A message came through. He glanced at it quickly, frowned slightly then set it aside. A while later, another message came through. I could sense the hesitancy in checking his phone the second time.

  “Care to share?” I asked, startling him.

  “Not really, but I guess I should,” he replied. He immediately showed me the messages.

  The first one read:

  You were supposed to rescue her, not fall for her.

  The second message stated:

  Falling in love with her was not part of the deal.

  “What the…?” I questioned.

  “Hm…my thoughts exactly,” he said. Suddenly on edge, he ran a hand through his hair, rendering it slightly tousled. “I know I’ve asked you this before, but are you betrothed to someone else? These messages sound an awful lot like they’re coming from a jilted lover.”

  I side stepped his question. “Have you tried calling that number?” I asked.

  “I’ve tried, but it’s a dead end. Whoever it is, they’re using a remote server somewhere,” Daniel said. “Whoever it was, I’m guessing they’re tied in to the job I took up the night we met.”

  “How so?”

  “Instructions were to rescue you and keep you out of harm’s way,” he explained. “I did just that,” he stated. “And then some. Whoever it was, they didn’t count on me fallin’ for you,” he acknowledged. Nervously biting his bottom lip, he recalled, “I had nothing else to go on apart from the location and a description of you.”

  “Okay. Are you able to retrieve the job details and we can backtrack from there?” I asked. “It worries me that whoever this is, they are following our every move. And no, I’m not betrothed to anyone else so that makes this even more complex.”

  “It does,” he agreed. “The job was literally a one sentence text.” He scrolled through his messages until he found the one:

  Rescue a subject, beautiful black female, en route to San Antonio, black Chevy Cherokee - get her out of harm’s way.

  “Payment was pre-wired to me, details of the payee were withheld,” he recalled. “And a pretty penny that was,” he stated. “Fifty large.”

  I felt my jaw drop. “Fifty thousand dollars?”

  “Yep. Fifty thousand dólares.”

  “That’s outrageous,” I replied.

  “Guess you could say so, but your life is obviously worth much more than that,” he stated.

  “You’re such a sweet talker, Daniel,” I declared.

  “Well that is the truth. Your life is worth much more than gold,” he said. “I’m just a little concerned that this jilted lover isn’t too happy about our coming together like this.”

  “Ah well,” I stated. “Too bad. What’s he going to do about it.”

  “Or she,” he said. “I saw the way Colleen was looking at you.”

  “Yeah, whatever,” I said, brushing him off. “I don’t know of anyone male or female who’d pay you that much to rescue me.”

  “All’s well, ends well,” he said casually.

  I felt uneasy. “I’m not sure we can be safe in that assurance,” I told him. “Fifty thousand dollars. Is that even ethical?”

  “Probably not,” he said. “But I completed the job, so payment for a service rendered, right?”

  “Right,” I replied, suddenly feeling ill at ease.

  “So, unless the messages take on a scarier more threatening tone, we just leave well enough alone, right? Keep on livin’ and keep on lovin’?” he suggested.

  “I guess so,” I replied. “Though I think we should be doing something to keep ahead of the game. I think I’d feel better about leaving well enough alone if I knew we could protect ourselves. I know where you keep your gun…”

  “No gun is gonna save us from the wrath of a jilted lover,” he said jokingly.

  “Ha ha, that isn’t funny,” I said. “If he or she is coming at you with a gun, and you don’t have a gun, that could be a problem.”

  “True. But if he or she’s got a knife and you’ve got a gun…”

  “Proportion,” he said.

  “Fifty grand is no small change,” I reminded him. “Whoever it is, they mean business.”

  “Yeah, well, whoever they are, you’re mine now, and all’s fair in love and war,” he said confidently.

  “Hm…I’m yours now, so you own me?” I asked, not liking his possessive tone.

  “Not per se, but possession is nine tenths of the law, you dig?”

  “You’re a trip Daniel,” I said, breaking into a grin. It was impossible to not laugh with him around. Besides, we had to make light of a very strange situation.

  4

  BEAUTY AND PERFECTION

  Shania and I met for lunch the next day, at the café opposite the courthouse. It was easier for her to come to me, and leave the busyness and oftentimes drama of her beauty salon behind.

  Shania was beautiful and she knew it. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and she had on hot pink lipstick and matching nails which drew attention to her impeccably smooth golden brown skin. She wore an orange, black and white striped cady dress, one she’d presumably slipped on moments before she left work. She wouldn’t be caught dead in her work uniform outside of the salon, despite the fact that it was very on trend.

  “So, when am I going to meet him?” she asked, as soon as we sat down.

  “Daniel?”

  “Who else girl – I know he’s the reason you ain’t got no time to hang with me these days. How about I come by tonight, just drop in and say hello?” she proposed.

  “Should be fine,” I told her. “Daniel doesn’t like surprises though.”

  “For real?”

  “For real. He’s a homebody, likes routine and advance notice. Should be fine though,” I told her.

  “Better be fine,” she stated. Kissin
g her teeth, she said, “I’m pretty hurt you didn’t tell me about Duayne. You could’ve told me something.”

  I sighed in response. “I could have, but I didn’t. I didn’t feel like I could at the time…”

  She reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “I should’ve known something was up. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

  Tears that I thought were not there anymore, fell.

  “No tears, mama, no tears. He isn’t worth it,” she stated.

  “I know that now,” I acknowledged, quickly wiping away my tears.

  “Better days ahead,” she said, looking absently into the distance. “I think I’ll have me a sweet tea. You?”

  “Same.”

  She signaled at the waiter to come over, and ordered two sweet teas for us.

  “Mr. Daly,” she stated. “How is he?”

  “Jude?”

  “Yeah, Jude. How is he?”

  “Good,” I told her. “Busy.”

  “Tell him I still get weak in the knees when I think of him.”

  I smiled in response. She and Jude had nearly hit it off, but she was too much for him. He couldn’t handle her energy, her fire, her headstrongness. A certain man would handle all that she was and love her all the more for it, one day. That one day was just not here yet.

  “Tell me about your knight in shining armor. Daniel.”

  “He’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met before,” I told her. “He’s very open, very emotional, very real. He wears his heart on his sleeve like it’s the thing to do… I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

  “Guess you were meant to be then, yeah?”

  “Guess so.”

  “He still doing his P.I. work?” she asked.

  “Yeah…”

  “I’m gonna need some background checks done on a few people, you think he can help?”

  I laughed heartily. “I’m sure you can have those checks done elsewhere?”

  “I could, but doing this’ll give me a chance to get to know him better, and’ll give me a chance to do some investigatin’ of my own. On him.”

  “He’ll be on to you from the word go,” I warned her.

  “No harm in tryin’. Besides, we want to make sure you avoid a repeat of Duayne.”

  “No chance of that happening,” I assured her, coming to Daniel’s defense. “You’ll see what I mean when you meet him. He’s different. Different as in good.”

  “Alright, girl, if you say so,” she said. “Now, what’s this savin’ it for marriage shit I hear he’s on. Setting yourselves up for failure if you ask me,” she said. “Unless you’re planning on marrying soon?” she asked, smiling wildly.

  “You’re too much, Shania. We’re just getting to know each other for now…”

  “Yep, and living together, playing house while doing it.”

  “We’re figuring things out as we go along….”

  “I’m happy for you,” she said. “I’m happy because you’re happy,” she announced.

  “Thank you. Now enough about me. What’ve you been up to?” I asked.

  “Been busy with the salon, then there’s some excitement to be had after hours. You won’t believe it…” she said, quickly grabbing her phone and flipping through some photos.

  I was intrigued. “Why, what’s going on?”

  “Well, there are some new kids on the block, or should I say, new men on the block. Hot, hot, hot! There’s about seven of them. They hang out at Bojangles mostly on Fridays. Drinks always on the house, amazing dancers, and the lot of them are single except one I think - Johnny. They’re all just after a good time.”

  I couldn’t hide my surprise.

  “One’s a doctor, two others are lawyers, don’t know what the others are or do, but they sho’ look good,” she announced, winking at the bartender who brought our sweet teas over.

  “Sounds suspect if you ask me.”

  “Interesting is what it is, girl, interesting,” she said, showing me a photo she’d taken presumably on one of those nights. In the photo Michone, Gabriella and Angelique struck a pose for the camera. In the background were three of those new men on the block she’d referred to – men I didn’t recognize.

  “So, this is what you’ve been up to while I’ve been gone?” I questioned.

  “That and then some,” she replied, reaching into her handbag and pulling out a yellow flyer. “You need to come along. For the fitness, of course.”

  Of course. I smiled in response.

  The flyer advertised Aikido, Hapkido, Taekwondo and Fencing on alternate days of the week.

  “I signed up to do Taekwondo,” she stated. “Tryin’ to get some of the other girls to come along, but it’s a struggle. So far only Francesca comes along. I’m sure if the others knew four of those new men on the block were running the classes, they’d be here in a hurry.”

  I handed her back the flyer. Martial arts wasn’t something I’d ever been interested in. It was amazing to watch, but I’d never considered doing it.

  “You should come along,” she suggested. “Might help give you that extra strength and confidence you need to recover from what you went through.”

  I pondered her suggestion for a moment.

  “What do you have to lose?” she asked. “Don’t you wish you could’ve taken charge over Duayne, defended yourself and showed him what’s what?”

  “To a point, yes,” I replied. In the end, I’d felt powerless with him, and I’d lost my sense of belonging to myself. I’d lost me. To a point. Taking charge over Duayne and showing him what’s what could’ve landed me in a worse situation than I’d been in. He didn’t like being challenged.

  “I’ll pick you up at 6 then, drop you home when we’re done,” she promised. “It’ll be good for you.”

  It would be, I thought. “Okay,” I replied.

  The lady at the table across from us laughed loudly at her lover’s joke. I briefly glanced in their direction, wondering what had been so funny to make her laugh so loudly and unabashed. Her lover turned to meet my gaze, staring back fiercely at first, seconds before he flashed me a smile and a wave. Arturo. I recognized him from the local arts and recreation center. He ran a local writer’s group.

  “So, these men. They’ve just landed on the scene from like nowhere. Every Friday night, it’s been free drinks on them, last Friday, it was free dinner, drinks and a show.”

  “Names?” I asked.

  “Okay… I wrote this down,” she said, scrolling through her phone to get to her notepad. “Okay, there’s Scott, Darius, Elias, Ephraim, Jonathan, Patricio…then there’s Craig.”

  “Craig?” I asked, wondering whether there was any relation to the Craig running Daniel’s firm.

  “Yep. Craig. He’s a lawyer, along with Johnny - Jonathan,” she confirmed. “Then there’s a few others that hang with, but the guys I mentioned, they’re usually always hangin’ out together.”

  “Interesting,” I noted, wondering whether Daniel had any knowledge of this, and whether this was the same Craig he’d talked about briefly.

  “It’s more than just interesting girl. Why’d you have to be so boring!”

  I laughed in response. “Boring? I’m anything but boring. You should see what my morning was like, the cases I had to deal with.”

  “I’m not talkin’ ‘bout you not doing boring things. I’m talkin’ ‘bout you bein’ borin’,” she clarified.

  I put my glass down with force. “Put it this way, if you saw me and Mr. Brennan earlier, I don’t know if you’d say I was boring.”

  She raised a brow in response then smiled wickedly. “I bet you’d get up to all sorts of mischief with your new man. That doesn’t make you any less boring.”

  “Come on now!”

  “Show me you ain’t by comin’ to the session at the recreational centre tonight,” she challenged.

  “I’ll be there,” I said without hesitation, despite my earlier apprehension.

  “Good. So, we head back?” she asked
.

  “Yep, let’s do this,” I said, enthused with an unexpected surge of energy. She had that effect.

  Shania picked me up at 6 pm as she’d promised. Daniel and I had just had dinner when she rocked up at ours.

  Though I’d shown her photos of Daniel previously, she seemed mesmerized to see him in person.

  “We finally meet,” she announced, stretching her hand out to greet him. “A pleasure to meet you,” she stated. “I see why she’s so taken by you,” she added, looking him up and down.

  He shook her hand but shrugged off the compliment. “I on the other hand don’t see what she sees in me,” he stated.

  “Well, you look good together. Plus she’s happy, and that’s what counts for me,” she said.

  “We’re on the same page there,” he stated.

  “Ready to go?” I asked, wanting to keep it all brief. Daniel was in the habit of asking leading questions, and I was sure Shania’s responses would have had him asking a whole load of other questions.

  “Yes indeed,” Shania responded, looking around. “Got five minutes though. For a tour perhaps?”

  I rolled my eyes in response. There was going to be plenty of time to show her around. Some other time.

  “I insist,” she stated. Daniel gave me a quick glance and a half smile as though to ask, Is she for real? before volunteering to show her around.

  They walked away in animated conversation. Shania loved it all. The color scheme, the artwork, the furniture, the attention.

  I tugged on the waistband of my sweatpants as I stood there alone. Too tight. I hardly felt comfortable with my body any more. Duayne had seen to it that I didn’t. I ran my hand along the hem of my sports bra. Too much. Though I had a sports shirt on top of it, it felt as though I was letting it all hang out. Too revealing. I sighed. The thought of changing yet again was an unwelcome endeavour. I didn’t have very much different to change into.

  “Beauty,” Daniel stated, slicing into my thoughts. “Don’t overexert yourself tonight, ease yourself into whatever it is you choose. It’ll be good for you,” he said.

  “I hope so,” I told him.