Sunshine & Rain

by Dawn Desiree

  “She’s going to let us shop by ourselves?” Rain asked excitedly.

  “I’ll go with y’all,” Brian said with no hesitation.

  “She’s gonna drop us off in VA. She’s got some business to take care of out there, and when she’s done, she’s gonna come back to get us.”

  “Sounds like a plan!” Brian shouted eagerly. “I better switch up my gear. I can’t book no honeys with this raggedy shit on.” Brian marched upstairs with Rain and Sunshine not far behind. Each went into her own room to get dolled up.

  By the time Cathy got back with the food, all three had met back up in the kitchen. Brian was back to dominating a conversation when Cathy stepped into the kitchen. Cathy looked at the girls dressed all fly and felt the sudden urge to go and freshen up herself.

  Sunshine and Rain looked drop dead gorgeous, both rocking brand new outfits. Brian was unrecognizable, and honestly speaking, looked better than Sunshine and Rain put together, which wasn’t an easy task.

  Brian had on a hot pink, tight mini-skirt with a sheer hot pink top. His makeup was soft and natural, with a hint of pink eye shadow above his eyelids. His pink lip-gloss out-shined his sparkling diamond earrings. The pink outfit he wore brought out his flawless, high-yellow skin that he had inherited from Cathy herself. He was a beautiful redbone. He had even strapped his dick down, or whatever he did to put it away. Thank God Cathy couldn’t see his print.

  “Pick your jaw up from off the floor, Mama,” Brian said jokingly. “Yes, it’s me, your son, Brianna.”

  Cathy straightened up real quick. “Watch your mouth, dammit! And your name is Bri-an. I should know. I carried your ass for nine fuckin’ months and named you,” Cathy stated.

  “So, Mama, which mall we going to out in VA, Landmark or Pentagon City?” Brian spoke as if Cathy didn’t just carry the shit out of him.

  “Who in the hell said you were going?” Cathy asked.

  “Please, Mama, I got my own money, and I’m trying to get these Donna Karan leather heels they got at Nordstrom’s for half-price,” Brian begged.

  Cathy ignored Brian. She walked away from him, embarrassed and disgusted. She couldn’t believe that her son wanted her to take him to the mall to buy some fucking stilettos. It took all of Cathy’s energy not to unleash a can of whoop-ass on Brian and beat all that bitch out of him. Instead, she went into her room before shit got ugly.

  Cathy could remember when Brian was nine years old, playing football for the regional recreation center. He was a one-hundred-percent all-natural young thug back then. That following year, when he turned ten, one of his bisexual teammates must have turned him out in the locker room, because that’s when Brian started switching up. All of a sudden, he didn’t want to play football anymore. He became more interested in going shopping with her, or watching her intently as she put on her makeup.

  At first, Cathy had to admit, she thought it was cute, until one day he came to her dressed up in a pair of her boots and a dress and asked her if he could play in her lipstick. After that incident, Cathy immediately took him off the team and basically kept him isolated. He stayed in the house with no TV or company for a whole month.

  Realizing that wouldn’t get him anywhere, she sought help from counselors and psychiatrists. He would meet with doctors twice a week. Her intentions led to nothing but a waste of time and a waste of money. After constant evaluation, it was told to her that he was just going through a phase. So far, that phase had lasted for more than eight years.

  Cathy slammed her door and tried to clear the vision of her son wearing hot pink and focus on getting dressed. She had a major deal she was working on, and if all went well, she would be the first female millionaire playing the game on her side of town. This deal meant more to Cathy than just money; it meant an early retirement. She would get out of the business for good and invest a decent portion of her earnings on stocks and bonds for Sunshine to cash in later in her life. Some of the money would go to charity and church, and she would buy and build a phat-ass estate in Barbados, a place where she liked to vacation regularly. Cathy had major plans, and she didn’t need added stress. She was a businesswoman above all else, and she needed to focus on her business.

  Sunshine and Rain were fully aware of the fact that Cathy didn’t have much love for Brian a.k.a. Brianna. Neither Sunshine nor Rain knew who to comfort first: poor Cathy who wanted her son to be a man, or poor Brian, who wanted Cathy to understand him.

  Brian dug into the large bag of fast food and pulled out three steak, egg, and cheese bagels.

  Watching Brian move about, seemingly unfazed by his own mother’s behavior, made Rain feel even sorrier for him. He acted as if he was used to Cathy’s mental torture.

  Brian took a giant-sized bite out of his sandwich and noticed that Rain and Sunshine weren’t eating. They sat at the dining room table staring into space like they were smacked.

  “Y’all girls gonna have some of this good food? ’Cause I will demolish all this.” Brian spoke with a mouth full of food.

  Rain and Sunshine reluctantly reached into the huge bag of food and slowly took out their bagels as if someone had forced them to eat. Although they were both hungry, their minds weren’t on the food.

  Brian playfully snatched both sandwiches from each girl’s hand. “Hmmph, y’all faking like somebody got a gun to y’all head, making y’all eat this shit. Shiiit . . . give it to me then, ’cause if y’all didn’t know, I still eat like a man.”

  Sunshine launched out of her chair first, laughing and trying to snatch her bagel from his clutches at the same time.

  Brian held the food way up to the ceiling with his stretched arm, singing, “Nanny, nanny, boo, boo.”

  Rain watched for a minute as Sunshine struggled to free her meal from the palms of Brian. No longer able to resist the tussle, she stood up to help. Rain climbed on the kitchen chair and tried to pull his lengthy arms down, using all her strength. She was no match for him. Brian whisked her away from the chair, dangling her in midair.

  Rain screamed with laughter. “Put me down right now!” She would have let go; however, she was afraid that she might break one of the heels on her shoes when she landed.

  Sunshine began to tickle him to see if he’d give up.

  “Oh, puh-leez, girl. What’s that gonna do, excite me?” Brian said mockingly.

  Finally, Brian put Rain down and handed his opponents their food. He was pleased to see smiles on their faces.

  “Now we’re speaking the same language. Let’s eat,” Brian ordered.

  Rain was out of breath from all her squealing and kicking. “Damn, this dude is strong as shit,” she said.

  Brian looked offended. “Who are you calling a dude?” He put his food down, reached over, and pretended as if he was going to put Rain back up in the air. Rain went back to her kicking and screaming.

  “Nooo!” she yelled. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’m sorry! What I meant to say was this bitch is strong as shit.”

  “That’s more like it,” Brian said, satisfied.

  Cathy came out fully dressed and with a new attitude to match. “You all sound like you’re killing each other in here.”

  Of course, Brian had to speak up and give an explanation first. “Everything is cool now, Mama. I just had to show your new girls who’s boss around here.”

  “Yeah, whatever,” Rain said, sucking her teeth.

  “Well, all of you look very lovely today. Try not to hurt ’em too bad,” Cathy said.

  The girls looked around at each other in amazement. No one could believe that the mega-beast, Cathy, had just fed her son a girly compliment.

  Brian urgently ran over to his mother’s rescue. He began to fan her with his napkins. “Sit down, Mama. It’s gonna be all right. Take deep breaths.” He rushed Cathy over to sit at the dining room table.

  “Sunshine, you get her some cold water. Rain, you dial 911!”

  “Boy, get off of me,” Cathy said while she picked herself up from the chair. She couldn�
�t help but laugh at Brian’s crazy ass. “Is everybody ready to leave? Because I got to go,” Cathy said.

  “Yes, master, we’s ret’ to go, master. Can we’s sit in the seats today, master, instead of in the trunk, master?” Brian kidded.

  Everyone shared a laugh at Brian, who was so full of life and so full of jokes.

  NINE

  The warm summer breeze felt as if it were seducing Cathy’s skin. It was so refreshing that she chose not to turn the A.C. on, and rode with the windows down. Brian, who sat in the back where the wind came blowing in full effect, had a hissy fit. Regrettably for Rain, she had to sit in the back with him, and so she got to hear all his bitching.

  “Damn, Mama got all the windows down like we joy-riding in the country,” Brian whined. “By the time we get all the way to V.A., my Betty Boop ’do gonna look like a Betty Blip don’t.” Brian tossed and turned in the leather seat to try to save his hair. Rain was relieved when he finally settled in a fetal position, because it kept him quiet for the moment.

  Rain looked up front and noticed that Cathy and Sunshine were holding hands. A slight twinge of jealousy stung her right in the heart, but she realized how ridiculous she was being and let the bruise heal. She had to talk some sense into her head.

  Look, Rain, you can’t be hating on these folks you only been kicking it with for a few weeks, she told herself.

  She began to bob her head to old school jams that played on the radio. As promised, Cathy dropped the girls off at Pentagon City. She gave Sunshine eight hundred dollars to spend. Rain got fifteen hundred, and she even gave Brian a grand. Rain totaled the full amount up in her head and got a sum of $3,300. She couldn’t believe that Cathy had just dished out so much cash as if it was nothing. Rain didn’t care anymore how Cathy was able to afford to give out that much money. She was just happy that she was sharing the wealth. Rain had never been in possession of this much money in her life. The most she ever held was the twenty-dollar bill that her father had given her to go to the store for groceries.

  Cathy rushed them out of the truck, saying she had to hurry up so she could get to her appointment.

  Rain couldn’t wait to see what Bebe and Victoria’s Secret had on their racks that would soon bless her closet. She was even anxious to see what the Gap had. Hell, she wasn’t too good to shop for a good bargain just because she had a hefty bankroll.

  Sunshine was also excited to have some extra spending money, but she had already accumulated enough attire to last her the rest of the year. She would pick up only a few items just for the heck of it.

  Brian was eager to go to Nordstrom to get his new shoes.

  They had three hours to shop before Cathy would be back to pick them up at the same entrance where she had dropped them off. When they got inside the mall, it was hard for any of them to focus on shopping right away. The shopping center was filled with top-flight niggas of all flavors. There were chocolate niggas, raspberry niggas, vanilla niggas, and even butter pecan niggas. . . . Mmm, delicious.

  “Damn, I am in stiff-dick heaven. God help me!” Brian blurted out.

  “Calm down, Brianna. You wouldn’t want to arouse anything,” Sunshine teased while pointing toward his manhood.

  “Oh, girl, you real funny, but I got that thang tucked away and sealed so tight, it’s gonna take me two whole days to peel all the duct tape off,” Brian shot back

  “Ouch!” Rain said. “That is too much info.”

  “You’ll be all right,” Brian consoled.

  Brian led the way to the first stop, his long-awaited destination. All the men were feigning predators as Sunshine, Rain, and Brianna strolled past them, although Brian was getting the most play. Three fine-ass dudes walked past, sweating them, and turned back around to get a glance at Brian’s ass. It was as if Sunshine and Rain were invisible walking beside Brian.

  “If only these fellas knew what we know,” Rain whispered to Sunshine.

  “Damn, red!” one loud-mouth screamed out at Brian. “Yo, shorty in the pink, can I holla at you for a minute?’”

  Sunshine turned around first to see the nuisance who was doing all the yelling. She was surprised to see that the pest was actually very handsome. She tapped Brian on the shoulder.

  “Hey, Brianna, he’s actually somewhat cute.”

  Brian looked back to see the truth for himself. Big-mouth got excited when he noticed Brian checking him out, and walked over to him.

  “Damn, all three of y’all fine as hell. It’s almost hard to choose, but I got to say that Big Red, you got it going on. So what’s up? Can I take you out later?”

  Brian stared at lover boy for a moment, checking him out. His instincts told him that this man was as straight as a hard-on. “You don’t want it,” Brian said, trying to warn the brother.

  The man grabbed Brian by the hands. “Listen to me, baby girl. I know what I want and when I want it, and right now, I want you.”

  “You listen to me, boo. You fine as wine, and I would love to make you mine, but right now is not the time, ’cause you got my game messed up,” Brian said.

  Sunshine looked at Brian and wondered if he was getting ready to share with this guy that she was really a he.

  “Step over here to the side with me, Mr. Biggs. I want to explain something to you,” Brian said. “If you down with it, then we cool, but if you not, then I ain’t got nothing but love for you,” he added.

  The boy had a smile as big as Texas. He must have thought his game was wrapped so tight that he was about to get those digits.

  Brian and his new friend left Rain and Sunshine standing side by side with his two homies left behind. The bamas didn’t even attempt to make the slightest conversation with Rain or Sunshine.

  Faking like they all that, Rain thought.

  “I guess we just chopped liver. Look at them two jokers. They just standing there waiting like two flunkies,” Rain whispered.

  “You’re just mad because they’re not trying to get at us,” Sunshine replied.

  All of a sudden, they heard a loud gagging sound as if someone were severely choking. Rain and Sunshine both focused their attention back over to Brian and his new friend. His new friend was bent over, vomiting right there in the middle of the mall, all over the floor. Customers walking past pinched their noses shut in an effort to avoid the hideous smell.

  Brian casually strutted his stuff back over to Rain and Sunshine. He wiped some imaginary dust off his hands and said, “Well, my work here is done.”

  Sunshine asked first, “What happened, Brianna? Did you tell him?”

  Sunshine and Rain were both anxious to hear the scoop. Brian was straightforward as he filled them in. “Yeah, I told slim that I’m a transsexual, and like I said, he couldn’t handle it.”

  * * *

  Within an hour of their shopping spree, the girls had collected dozens of shopping bags from all the hottest stores. It became difficult for them to walk around comfortably with all the bags.

  Sunshine was beginning to feel ridiculous walking around like a bag lady. They couldn’t even get into a store good without a sales rep demanding for them to check in their bags for security reasons. Since Cathy wasn’t due back for another two hours, Sunshine suggested that they each take turns watching the bags at the food court, while the other two continued on shopping. She knew how much more important it was for Rain to get her shopping done, and how crucial it was for Brian to get his ho stroll on, so Sunshine opted to go first. They helped Sunshine to the bottom level to the food court with all the bags, and then rushed off to go commit some more diva damage.

  Sunshine situated the bags so that they wouldn’t look so sloppy and thrown around everywhere. She placed them all underneath the table so they wouldn’t be in anyone’s way walking past. She kept one bag out that she had purchased from a small bookstand, and took out her new book by Nikki Turner. She was about to begin reading when she felt someone tap her gently on her shoulder. Sunshine knew that it couldn’t be Rain or Brian, as she wou
ld have heard them coming a mile away. Besides, only ten minutes had passed since they left.

  Sunshine turned around to find out who her mystery guest was, but the person quickly covered her eyes and said in a disguised voice, “Guess who?”

  Sunshine couldn’t make out the voice. All her possibilities were either on the top level shopping, or out at an appointment taking care of important business. Sunshine found herself getting excited by this elementary game.

  “Give me a hint,” she said.

  “I am tall, fine, and plan to make Sunshine all mine.”

  “Wow,” Sunshine said. “You’re a poet, too, but I’m totally clueless.”

  The soft pair of hands released themselves from embracing Sunshine’s eyes, and the mystery man exposed himself. Sunshine was thrilled to see her dance partner from Royals.

  “That’s a shame you don’t know who your future man is,” Diego said, smiling.

  Sunshine was smiling too. “I see you’re way ahead of the game,” she replied.

  “If I play the game right, I might win,” Diego said.

  Sunshine felt herself being eaten alive by Diego’s boyish charm.

  “I’m going to order some bourbon chicken with rice. Would you like to have lunch with me?” Diego asked.

  Sunshine hadn’t eaten anything besides that breakfast bagel earlier, and she was feeling famished.

  ‘I’ll have what you’re having, with an ice tea,” she said, accepting his offer. Sunshine reached into her MCM bag and pulled a ten-dollar bill out.

  Diego held up his hand in protest. “Please don’t insult me. Put your money away, I got this.”

  She gladly put her little money back inside her purse.

  Sunshine watched Diego as he walked to the small Chinese cafe. There was nothing thuggish about his style, not in the way he talked or the way he walked, not even the way he dressed. Sunshine adored him. The beige linen shorts and button-up shirt showed him off to be the gentleman that he was. He left Sunshine sitting there dazed, with just the evidence of his presence and the arousing scent of his cologne. While his fragrance lingered on, Sunshine watched him get in the line to pay for their cuisine. He nibbled on a small piece of bourbon chicken sample handed out by a little Chinese woman.