Just Make Him Beautiful (37 page)

O
ne
hour or so into our conversation,
Momma had us cracking up
,
easily winning
Keith and Robin over with her wit,
S
outhern accent
,
and sense of humor.

But then Robin
said
, “Momma, I don’t mean to stare at you
,
but you look so familiar.”

I became so nervous
.
I dropped my wineglass right on the floor.

Everyone looked at me
,
including Momma
,
who
gave me
the
look that said everything was gonna be al
l
right.

“Aw, baby, peoples tells me that all the time. I’m always looking like somebody’s grandmother,
a
unt
,
or neighbor dat lives up da street or someting,” Mommy said, putting the focus back on her while I clean
ed
up my mess.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Robin
said
.
    

Keith g
ot up to refresh his cocktail.
“Momma, would you like to have something a little stronger than that water you been drinking?”

“Well, I don’t usually drink
,
but e
’
ry now and
’
gain I will take a little taste, you
k
no
w
for my rheumatism
,” she replied
,
rubbing her leg.

“Would you like some wine?” Keith asked.

“That would be nice, but I see you got some
g
in over der
e
too.”

“
Ooo, I’m scare
d
of you
.”
Keith laughed.
“Gin on the rocks coming up.”

“Naw
,
baby, I ain’t said nuf’n
’
bout no ice.
”
Momma turned and looked at him. “
Did you hear me say
ice
?”

“Straight
g
in it is
.
”
Keith chuckl
ed.
“So
,
Momma
,
when can you start
?”

“Well, first, lemme say I can only work Mondays, Wednesdays
,
and Fridays, from
nine
a
.
m
.
to
three
p
.
m
.
,
’
cause I gotta watch
Oprah
. She comes on at
four
p
.
m
.
Y
ou know dat
,
right?”

Keith handed
Momma
her drink. 

“Dang, Momma
!”
Robin said, pouting.  “D
on’t seem as though I will get a chance to see much of you because those are the days I’m in class
.
”

“Don’t you frit none
,
baby girl
.
Y
ou
’
s get dat edumacation
.
”
Momma look
ed
at me.
“Edumacation comes in pretty handy in de
s
e here times.”

Robin sucked her teeth.
“Ain’t that the truth
.
”

Time was going by so fast that before anybody knew it, it was almost
eleven
p
.
m. Momma said good night to everyone
, gave us all a hug and kiss
,
and left.

I wanted to know what Robin and Keith really thought of Momma
.
“Well, what do you guys think?”

I
nterestingly enough, they both loved her. I was glad to hear that because now I could have her here and spend more time with her without
raising
suspicion. Also, I wasn’t sure all of what Momma had planned
,
but I did what she asked, and that was to get her in the house.

*

You know, every now and then, I would still wake up in a cold sweat
, d
reaming about Ray
,
and seeing that guy that Keith had shot in the face and his blood gushing out onto me.

Tonight was one of those nights. I looked over on my dresser
at the
clock
that read
2:45
a
.
m.
I tossed and turned b
ut
couldn’t go back to sleep. I sat up in my bed and wanted to call someone just to talk
,
but I didn’t have anybody to call
.
I
felt
so lonely.

I then remembered the guy I had met at the filling station while I was getting some gas
a few months ago
.

“Dayum
!
W
hat was his name
?
” I said to myself.

I jumped out of bed to see if I still had his number in my bag.
I threw everything in my bag out on my bed
,
and there was his card. “Zac
h
ary Davis
, that was his name,” I said to myself.

W
ould it be right to call someone this time of morning
?
I thought
.
I sat back up in the bed, grabbed my cell
,
and dialed the number.
Someone picked up on the fourth ring.

“Hello,”
a groggy
voice said.

“
Um
m, can I speak to
Zachary
, please?” I asked
,
feeling bad for calling so late.

“Speaking
.
W
ho is this?”

“
Umm, this is Cameron
.
I met you a few months ago at the BP
gas
station up on
Crane Highway
.
”
I bit my bottom lip
,
hoping he would remember me.

“Yeah, I think so.
You’re the light
-
skin shawty with the braids, right?”

“Yeah
,” I said, feeling good ab
out him remembering who I was.
“W
ell, I had braids
,
but I’ve since taken them out of my hair. Now my hair is kinda short
.
”

Zack cleared his throat.
“What time is it?”

“I’m sorry
.
I
t is kinda late.”

“Naw
,
shawty, it’s cool.
I was just wondering what time it was.”

“
It’s after three in the morning
.
  I was up and couldn’t go to sleep,” I stated
,
trying to start a conversation.

“That’s cool. So
,
why can’t you sleep?” h
e said in his
now sexy voice.

“It’s kind of a long story
,
and I’m sure you’re not really interested.”

“Sure
,
I am. It’s Saturday
morning
and I’m off
, so tell me.”

I told Zac
h
ary
,
or
Z
,
as he preferred to be called, the story about my older brother being murdered almost five years ago
. I didn’t bother to go into all the gory details
,
nor did I tell him about my current situation with Keith. I didn’t want to turn the guy completely off.

But we talked for hours
.
I learned that he and his lover broke up a couple of years
ago
.
H
e was
thirty-three
years of age and a Libra
n
, planet Venu
s
,
g
oddess of love, and he love
d
being a lawyer. He also told me his parents were aware of his sexual preference and were fine with it.
They actually loved his former lover and used to call him their son as well.

It had been so long since I had just talk
ed
to another guy.
You know what I mean? And it felt so dayum good.
There was nothing sexual about our conversation
,
but I was totally turned on.

Z
had invited me over his house later this evening for dinner and to watch a movie.
We eventually hung up as the morning sun came shining through my bedroom blinds. I tossed and turned but still couldn’t go to sleep. Fortunately, this time, it was because of my excitement and not my loneliness. I couldn’t wait to see
Z
.

*

That evening I pulled up to the address
Z
had given me.
Omaha
can be somewhat confusing because it has a lot of small suburban areas
,
but this was the exact address.
I questioned it only because it was in a very poor area of town
, a
nd
Z
being a lawyer, I thought perhaps he would be living in a better neighborhood.

Well, maybe he isn’t a very good lawyer.

Anyway, it wasn’t about material possessions
.
T
his was about meeting a new friend and spending time with that person. So
,
I parked the car, looked into my rearview mirror
,
making sure I didn’t put too much foundation on and that my hair was in place. I was nervous and excited all at the same time.

I didn’t know what
Z
was going to make for dinner
,
but I did bring a bottle of white wine just for the occasion. I grabbed the wine that I placed in the passenger seat and made my way up the few steps to the front door.

The house was a
traditional-style
two
-
story house. The roof looked to be in bad shape because some of the shingles had fallen onto the porch. The house was painted in a gray OD
-
type color
,
and the windows were outlined in a dark purple color.

Ewww,
I thought to myself as I stood there ringing the doorbell.
The
house was
attached to a house on
either side
.
The windows of t
he house on the left
were
open
,
and
I picked up a
smell
,
as though someone was trying to cook
,
but whatever it was, it smelled awful.
And in t
he house on the right
,
it
sounded as though some woman was
beating and
cussing out her small child.
I felt sorry for the child because she/he was screaming their asses off.

Come on, Z, answer this dayum door.

After ringing the doorbell a few times and knocking on the door, I
became
disappointed
,
feeling as though I had been stood
up.

Just as I was walking down the steps to get in my car to leave,
Z
pulled up and got out of his car.

“Hey
,
Cameron, I’m
so
sorry
.
I had to stop at the store to pick up a couple of things at the last minute. I should have known a brotha like you would be on time
.
”
H
e sta
r
ted getting some grocery bags out of his car.