Southern Love

by Synithia Williams

  “You, too.” The lady said.

  As Shayla left the library she had a smile on her face. The librarian was the only person who hadn’t looked at her as if she were trying to steal their man. She didn’t know if it was because she was unaware of the scandal, or didn’t care, but it was enough to brighten her day.

  She stuffed the flyer in the glove compartment of her car and drove through town to her mom’s house. It was almost six, so her mom would be home cooking. It also meant her aunt Linda was there, too. For as long as she could remember, her Aunt Linda drove to her mother’s house every day after work to gossip. She didn’t look forward to hearing it, but she was hungry and didn’t feel like buying fast food. She didn’t cook. Today she’d have to put up with her family long enough to get a decent meal.

  There were four cars in her mother’s driveway when she pulled up a few minutes later. She recognized her brother’s car, her mom’s old Cutlass, and her Aunt Linda’s white Taurus. She didn’t recognize the fourth. Parking her car along the road, she got out and crossed the yard to the front door. This time when she tried the door after knocking it was open. Voices came from the kitchen, so she headed in that direction. The hiss of cooking oil and the smell of something frying led the way. She made a mental note to go to the grocery store tomorrow, or else she’d put on twenty pounds eating at her mom’s house every day.

  “Hey,” she said entering the kitchen.

  Her mom looked up from the stove, a breaded pork chop in her hand. She briefly met Shayla’s eyes before turning back to the bubbling pot. “Hey, Shayla.”

  Her Aunt Linda sat in one of the three chairs at her mom’s kitchen table with her foot propped up in another. Her raised eyebrow and twisted lip answered the question of whether or not she’d move her foot. Her younger cousin Kia sat in the third. Shayla gave the first real smile to a family member since coming home.

  “Oh, my goodness, Kia!” she said rushing over to hug her cousin.

  Kia stood and returned her hug. “Shayla, I was just on my way to see you.”

  Shayla stood back and checked out her cousin. Kia was eight when she’d left town after high school. Her young cousin had idolized her, always playing in Shayla’s makeup, trying on her clothes or jewelry and saying how she wanted to be just like her when she grew up. Instead of being annoyed by her younger cousin, Shayla had enjoyed having Kia around. She’d reminded her of how it used to be, before puberty and high school skewed your judgment and being a glamorous princess was as easy as putting on borrowed lip gloss and high heels.

  She shook her head. “Wow, Kia, you’re all grown up now. Girl, you’re making me old.”

  Kia had to be about … twenty-three. Shayla gave herself a mental shake seeing her young cousin as a fully grown woman, a beautiful woman in fact. Her skin was smooth, clear and glowing as only a girl in her early twenties would have. Her hair was in a complicated style, twisted against her scalp on one side and falling in spiral curls on the other, but her age made it work. She had the same brown eyes tilted up at the corners that most of the women in her family had, and full lips. The scrubs she wore didn’t hide the fact she’d also grown into the family curves. Shayla would be surprised if Kia didn’t have a string of men chasing after her.

  Kia laughed. “Whatever, you still look awesome. No wonder you got politicians potentially ruining their careers to get with you.”

  Shayla’s smile froze. There wasn’t any malice in Kia’s eyes or tone. She looked as if she meant what she said in a nice way. After a day in the library without the looks or whispered conversations she’d finally felt the burden of the scandal lift, but a few innocent words brought it all back.

  Her Aunt Linda cackled and slapped a hand on her large thigh. She was dressed in the same blue polyester custodial uniform she and her mom wore when at work. Her jowls quivered as she laughed. “Girl, look at your face. I don’t know why you’re acting all upset whenever someone brings up why you fled from Atlanta. You did it. Own it. If your stuff was so good you got a senator chasing after it, don’t hide it.”

  Her mom snorted. The grease on the stove hissed as she added another pork chop. “Linda, shut up.”

  “Don’t tell me to shut up. I’m the only one who keeps it real round here.”

  Shayla rolled her eyes. “Yeah, too real.”

  Kia stared wide eyed between the two. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

  Shayla smiled and patted her cousin on the shoulder. “I know you didn’t. I didn’t take it in a bad way.”

  Linda dropped her foot out of the chair and kicked it out. After Shayla and Kia both sat, Linda pushed forward and pointed a swollen finger at Shayla. “You don’t need to take it in a bad way. Hell, if everyone in town’s gonna talk about what you did, you might as well give ‘em something to talk about.”

  “Linda,” Marcella said from the stove.

  “Don’t Linda me. Shit, if I had a fine ass powerful man chasing after this here,” she pointed between her legs, “I’d brag about that to the whole damn world.”

  Shayla laughed despite herself. “Then you wouldn’t be a good side chick. You’re not supposed to run your mouth.”

  Kia leaned forward. “So he wasn’t your first married man?”

  Shayla shook her head. “I didn’t make a habit of sleeping with married men. In college, once, I dated a guy and found out about his girlfriend later. When I got mad he outlined all of the things a side chick is supposed to do. Apparently I didn’t know my place.”

  “Did you stay with him?” Kia asked.

  She sneered. “No, I told him to kiss my ass. After that I promised myself to always be first with a man.” She scoffed and fingered the heart pendant. “Apparently it’s easy to break promises to ourselves.”

  Linda nodded. “Ain’t that the truth? You get a man that can talk a good game and you forget every damn promise you ever made to yourself. And if that fool knows his way around the bedroom … shit, it’s downhill from there.”

  Her Aunt Linda hit the proverbial nail on the head. Mark’s charm had always appealed to her. But when she crossed that line and slept with him, she found out he was a pretty good lover. Not the best she’d had, but good enough to overlook his shortcomings whenever he spun game about how things would be when they could finally be together. Guilt, humiliation and anger clashed to make a bitter brew in her stomach. It was what she always felt when she looked back on her history of failed relationships.

  With a toss of her head she smiled at her cousin. “Forget about my problems, tell me what’s going on with you. From the scrubs I guess you work at the … hospital?”

  “A doctor’s office.” Kia answered.

  Shayla smiled. “Cool, what do you do?”

  Aunt Linda answered. “She’s a nurse for your old friend Devin Jones. Kia was just telling us how the ladies in the office were pretty pissed he gave you a ride home yesterday.”

  Kia looked down at the table, while heat crept up Shayla’s face. Her conversation with Kenny this morning proved people were talking, but she hadn’t expected it to be that big of a deal. She figured most people would know they were old friends. She hoped they would just believe they were catching up, but given her reputation, and the love of a good story, it wasn’t surprising to learn people assumed more was going on.

  “I fell, twisted my ankle, and Devin gave me a ride home. Can’t a friend give another friend a ride?”

  Her mom pulled the last pork chop out of the pan, slid the pot to the back of the stove and turned off the eye before shuffling over to the table. “Was that all it was? You’re not hooking up with him.”

  An incredulous laugh burst from her lips. “Devin is just an old friend. No, we’re not hooking up.”

  Her mom, aunt, and cousin all visibly relaxed. She frowned as she looked between the three. Skepticism was in her mom’s eye
, while relief and happiness were in Kia and Linda’s. She sat back in the chair and crossed her arms. “Why does it matter if I hook up with Devin Jones or not?”

  “We got plans for Dr. Jones.” Linda said.

  “Momma!” Kia burst out. Her eyes were wide and pleading as she looked across the table. “He doesn’t even look at me like that.”

  “But he will,” Linda said. “That man’s been alone for too long, and does so much good for the community. He needs a wife to keep him warm and give him a bunch of babies. It might as well be you.”

  Marcella nodded and walked back over to the stove. Kia gave a flippant wave of the hand. “You’re so old fashioned.”

  Linda laughed. “Don’t act as if you don’t want him. I’ve seen the way you look at that man. Not that I blame you. He looks just like his daddy back in the day. And I’ll tell you what, Roscoe Jones knew his way around a bedroom.”

  Marcella swung around. “You didn’t!”

  Linda cackled. “Hell yeah, before he married Delores. Best damn night of my life,” she looked at Kia, “Counting your daddy.”

  Jealousy hit Shayla so hard she felt it like a punch. Devin and Kia? There was more than a ten year age difference, but that didn’t mean anything. They both worked in the medical field. Kia was young and beautiful. Devin was handsome and successful. That was enough of a combination to make any power couple in Atlanta.

  It shouldn’t matter if he was interested in Kia. He’d given no implication that he was interested in her the day before. In fact, he’d been disappointed in her once again. Combine that with the way she’d betrayed his trust in high school, she had no claim on his heart.

  “Momma, can you fix me a plate and I’ll take it home,” Shayla said. “I need to finish unpacking and re-work my resume for some of the jobs I found.”

  “I’ll wrap up something,” her mom said. With speed that belied her age and weight, she’d put together a plate, wrapped it in foil and dropped it in front of Shayla. The subtle reminder of her mom’s dislike of her company hurt, but she smiled brightly and stood.

  “It was good seeing you, Kia. Come by another day and we’ll catch up. See you later, Aunt Linda.” She looked at her mom as she placed dirty dishes in soapy water in the sink. “Thanks for the plate.” Her mom waved a hand, but didn’t turn around.

  “Bye, Shayla.” Linda said. “Remember what I said.”

  With a nod she quickly left the kitchen and walked out the door. She heard footsteps behind her and turned as Kia ran up and followed her out. Kia motioned for her to go down the porch. They walked in silence to her car where Shayla placed the plate on the passenger seat.

  “What’s up?”

  Kia looked back at the house before looking at Shayla. She had concern in her eyes. “Are you really not going after Devin Jones?”

  Shayla’s heart rate picked up. She took a calming breath before answering. “I’m not going after anybody right now.”

  Kia sighed and placed a hand over her heart. “Good. Don’t tell my momma, but I am trying to win him over. If she knew, she’d think it was her idea.”

  Shayla swallowed before asking. “Was it her idea?”

  Kia smiled. “No. Don’t you remember the crush I had on him when I was little? It never went away. I told you before you graduated that I was gonna marry him. Well, I am.”

  A dim memory of Kia saying that flashed through Shayla’s mind. It was one of those things that older people hear kids say. It goes in one ear and out the other without a second thought. “Does he feel … ” she couldn’t finish.

  Kia nodded. “I think so. I mean, he’s nice to me and smiles at me. He remembered me when I applied for the job. It may not happen overnight, but one day he might come around. I just wanted to let you know how I felt … in case you got any ideas.”

  Kia’s jaw firmed and a brief warning flashed in her eyes. Shayla knew that look. She’d seen it in the eyes of other women all her adult life. The challenge, the warning to back off. The instinct to fight back was fierce. She’d wanted Devin all her life too, but did that matter? Did she really have any chance of winning his love? Hell, she didn’t deserve his love. So she pushed her instincts aside and nodded.

  “Good,” Kia said. “I’ll talk to you later.”

  Shayla watched as her cousin turned and flitted back to the house. Annoyance tickled her spine and she slapped her hand against her leg as she got in the car. If Kia wanted Devin, she could have him. She had no prior claim on him. It wasn’t as if Devin would give her the time of day anyway. Her heart twisted as she pulled out of her mother’s driveway and drove the short distance to her house.

  Kia was better for him. She was young, smart, interested in medicine and probably happy to stay in Helena and give him half a dozen babies. Besides, she had no plans to go after Devin. He’d made it perfectly clear how he felt about her. And after Kia’s declaration, her unwarranted reputation as a whore would be cemented in Monroe family history if she did go after him. It was bad enough to be branded a home wrecker and husband stealer; she didn’t need the added censure that came with taking the man her younger cousin was in love with.

  Unsatisfied with her decision, Shayla slammed the door as she got out of her car and went inside. The silence annoyed her and she sucked her teeth in frustration that she hadn’t spent the day calling to hook up cable or internet. Cable and internet came with news and potential stories about what happened in Atlanta. It could wait until next week.

  She stormed into the kitchen, dropped the plate of food her mom made on the table and turned on the radio lodged in the kitchen window. There wasn’t a great selection of radio stations in Helena, but with the radio on the window sill and the antennae tilted against the screen, she was able to get decent reception of a hip hop station out of Columbia. She didn’t pay attention to the words Lil Wayne rapped as she spooned half of the food from the plate her mom made onto on a smaller plate.

  She sat at the table but didn’t eat. Her appetite had disappeared with Kia’s warning. Tapping her toe repeatedly, she drummed the fingers of her left hand on the table while twirling her fork in her right.

  There’d never been a good time for her and Devin. For all the years of friendship they shared in high school, they never caught each other between break ups. Never found the nerve to reveal their feelings. Back then she’d been so optimistic that their opportunity would arise one day. It finally did at Homecoming their senior year.

  It was the first night he kissed her, and the first time he’d looked at her with disgust.

  Shayla threw down her fork and dropped her head in her hands. “Stop it, stop it, stop it,” she said. She rubbed her eyes, hoping the movement would prevent the memory of that night from coming. The drinking. The shadows. Tony’s body. Devin’s anger. She slapped her hand on the table.

  “No!”

  It was time to get out of the house.

  She jumped up and looked for her keys. It was nearing dusk. No Hangman’s Woods, thanks to her promise to Devin. Her options were limited. The one good thing about being home was that there were plenty of country roads she could drive fast on, with the windows down and the music blaring loud enough to drown out stupid old memories. On the way home she’d stop by a convenience store and pick up a bottle of wine. It wasn’t as if she had a job to go too. She could spend the night drinking away the memories.

  She snatched her keys of the counter, before nearly running to the front door. When she wrenched it open she gasped. Devin stood on the other end with his hand raised to knock. She stepped back and placed a hand over her pounding heart.

  Concern replaced the startled look in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “Yes, I was just about to leave. I need to get out of here.” She tapped her hand on her leg, her eyes looking everywhere but at him.

  He looked over he
r shoulder. “Did someone hurt you?”

  She shook her head. “No.” A caustic laugh escaped her. “Yes. Just not today.”

  He stepped into the house and placed his hands on her shoulders. They were large and warm, and just like in high school, sent shivers down her spine whenever they touched her.

  He kicked the door shut and leaned down to look into her face. “What’s wrong? I’m sorry about yesterday. I shouldn’t have dug into you like that. But I’m still your friend. You can talk to me.”

  She lifted her gaze to his and stopped breathing. Whisky brown eyes stared back at her. The dappled sunlight through her window caught the gold in their depths and the woodsy scent of his cologne washed over her. Then it happened. The concern in his eyes switched to desire. Her nerve endings sizzled, her skin heated. His gaze lowered to her mouth and despite herself, she drew her bottom lip between her teeth.

  He groaned.

  She gasped.

  Kia was forgotten as he slowly brought his head down. Her skin tightened when his lips pressed against hers and without a thought she sank into him. His right hand gently grasped the back of her head while his left clasped her hip and pulled her against him. A whimper of longing swept through her when the hardness of his arousal pressed against her stomach. She was drowning, losing herself in this kiss and damn if she didn’t want to.

  The thought was enough to jolt her back to reality. She was taking a break from men. She was focusing on her. Her cousin was in love with him. He didn’t like her. One kiss and she was forgetting everything she was supposed to do. She tried to pull away, break contact, but his hand stiffened against her neck before turning her head and pulling her back against him. When his tongue touched her lips, desire won over reason and she opened her mouth. Letting him inside, letting him into her.

  Chapter 6

  Devin knew he was going down the wrong path. He was supposed to come over, apologize, and shake hands. He was supposed to tell her they could still be friends, but avoid her like the damn plague. Instead he’d recognized the signs she was upset and lost his reason. As if years hadn’t passed, he wanted to find out what upset her and make things better. But in high school he knew enough not to kiss her, otherwise things would go too far. He was supposed to be smarter as an adult, but apparently he wasn’t.