Myself and I (10 page)

“Cool,” Maya said as she slipped on her sunglasses. “It is so hot out here.”

“You're not kidding. Look at the tan I've gotten,” I said, pulling my shoulder strap over to the side so that she could see my tan lines.

“You should let me put some sunblock oil on your back so you don't burn,” Maya suggested. I agreed and allowed her to rub the lotion on me. No sooner had Maya started than Alex swam to the edge of the pool.

“Why didn't you let me put that on for you?” he whined like a lost puppy. Maya began laughing.

“Boy, go someplace.” I shooed him away. Alex poked out his lip before submerging himself under water and kicking, doing an underwater handstand.

“That's cute, he's trying to impress you.” Maya kept laughing.

“My God, the boy is like a fly at a picnic. He has no clue that he's not welcome,” I said, slightly annoyed.

“So how has everything been going?” Maya asked as I shifted my position so that she could rub the other side.

“Well, it's definitely busy. Oh, and keep your eyes on those boys over there. They've been wrestling in the water and I had to tell them a number of times to stop. I've given them a final warning, too, so if they start clowning around again, feel free to kick them out,” I said.

“Okay,” Maya said.

At that moment I saw something that shocked the hell out of me. Priscilla and Lori walked out onto the pool deck laughing and chatting as if they were BFFs.

“What the hell?” I pointed at Lori and Priscilla.

“Ooh, when did they become friends?” Maya asked.

“I have no idea, but I wonder if Priscilla knows that Lori was at the movie theater with Antonio,” I said, fixing my gaze upon them. Priscilla must've sensed me looking at her because she turned and looked in my direction. A part of me desperately wanted to get even with her for ruining my prom dress.

“I should kick her out,” I muttered.

“Just calm down, girl. You don't need to do something stupid and lose your job. She is not worth the trouble,” Maya said, wanting me to avoid doing something I'd regret later.

“Ooh, I can't stand either one of them,” I said through gritted teeth. Priscilla didn't say anything, she just turned her head the other way and continued talking to Lori.

“What's up, chocolate child?” I turned and saw Mike and Sabrina had arrived with my lunch.

“I kind of like that name,” I said to Mike.

“It was meant to be an insult,” he responded.

“I love you, too,” I said sarcastically. “How are you doing, Sabrina?”

“I'm good. I can't wait to get in the water to cool off. It's supposed to be hot like this for the next several days.”

“Yeah, I heard that, too,” Maya chimed in.

“Well, I'm going into the clubhouse and eat my food,” I said, rising to my feet. “Maya, I'll be back in an hour.”

“Okay, girl, take your time.”

“Mike, stay out of trouble,” I warned.

“Whatever, Keysha. I'm not worried about you,” Mike said as he looped his arm around Sabrina and walked over to the other side of the pool deck to claim two empty lawn chairs.

As I walked over to the clubhouse I glanced over at Lori and Priscilla. Why were they hanging out with each other? I caught Lori's gaze. She stuck her tongue out at me like a bratty child. I wanted to give her the middle finger so badly, but I knew that some adult who was there with their children would probably report me. I ignored Lori for the moment but knew that one day soon, she and I were going to have a total blowout.

 

The following morning I arrived at work at the same time and went through my daily routine of checking the chlorine levels, cleaning the swimming pool and hosing down the deck. It was a quiet Sunday morning, and I wasn't expecting anyone to arrive for at least another hour. As soon as I sat down to read my book, two guys exited the clubhouse locker room and came out onto the pool deck. I didn't recognize them at first, but then realized they were my new neighbors who'd moved into the minimansion.

“Good morning,” the shorter one greeted me.

“Good morning,” I responded as I reached for my dark sun
glasses and put them on. The two walked down to the other end of the swimming pool toward the blue spring-loaded diving board. I sat upright so I could keep a close eye on them. The last thing I wanted to deal with this morning was a cracked skull from one of them inadvertently slamming his head against the diving board. The taller brother, who appeared to be the older of the two, stood at the back of the diving board and did a few arm stretches and neck rolls to loosen up. He walked to the edge of the diving board and tested the tension of the board's spring by bouncing on it a few times. They then purposefully talked loudly so I could hear them.

“How does it feel?” asked the younger brother.

“It's decent,” responded the older brother, who'd walked to the back of the board. He then measured his steps, leaped into the air, came down on the edge of the diving board and allowed it to catapult him into air. He tucked his knees and arms tightly into his chest and rotated in the air twice before opening up and diving perfectly into the water.

“Not bad,” said the younger brother, who followed up with an equally impressive dive. He did two flips with a full twist. I watched as the two of them put on an impressive show of various dives. They executed backflips, pike dives, pike flips and reverse backflips. Without a doubt I was impressed with their skills, but not enough to strike up a conversation about their background. After about an hour they gathered their stuff and prepared to leave.

“You're the girl I saw the other day, aren't you?” asked the younger one as he slipped his feet back into his sandals.

“Excuse me?” I played as if I had no idea of what he was talking about.

“A few days ago you were walking down the street watching the movers haul our stuff into the house,” he explained as he approached me.

“Oh, yeah, that was me,” I answered coyly.

“My name is Jerry and that guy over there is my older brother, Erin.” He extended his hand for me to shake it.

“I'm Keysha,” I said as I reluctantly reached up to shake his hand.

“So what did you think?” he asked.

“About what?” I answered.

“About our diving skills.” He was trying to find out if I was impressed, but I wasn't about to feed his ego.

“What about them?” I asked. I folded my arms.

“Well, did you like what we were doing?” he asked.

“Was I supposed to?” I answered his question with a question.

“Okay.” He chuckled. “Maybe you're having a bad day or something.”

“I'm actually having a wonderful day,” I assured him.

“You know most people would be pretty amazed to see two black guys who can dive like my brother and me. He's on his college swim team and happens to be the only brother on it.”

“That's nice,” I said drily.

“Are you always this pleasant?” Jerry asked.

“Do you always ask so many questions?” I fired back. He remained silent for a long moment and I glared at him from behind my dark sunglasses. I got the sense that it irritated him because he couldn't read what my eyes were saying.

“Jerry, come on, man, she's not interested. Let's just go,” his older brother, Erin, called from across the pool.

Jerry turned and looked over his shoulder at his brother. “I think she is, but just doesn't know it yet,” he said full of cocky confidence.

“My, don't you have a big ego,” I snidely remarked.

“Oh, my ego is nothing compared to your bad attitude,” Jerry said. I chose not to respond, because I didn't feel like it.

“Maybe I'll see you around the neighborhood,” he said as he began to step away.

“I doubt it,” I answered. He chuckled once more and scratched his head as he walked away.

When
Maya arrived at work later that afternoon I couldn't wait to tell her what had happened earlier that day with Jerry and his brother Erin. At 1:00 p.m., like clockwork, she waltzed out onto the pool deck wearing a new and fabulous-looking black-and-white halter one-piece bathing suit with matching sarong.

“Ooh, look at you, miss sexy lady,” I complimented her as I stood up to give her a hug.

“Why thank you, darling,” she said, pretending to be a snooty woman of ridiculous wealth.

“You are so silly,” I said as I sat back down.

“So what's going?” she asked, waiting for me to deliver any juicy gossip that I'd heard.

“Well, I met this guy named Jerry and his older brother, Erin, earlier today.”

“Really? What did they look like?” Maya asked.

“They were handsome. They both have smooth brown
skin, curly hair and nice smiles. Jerry has a big ego though.” I mentioned the thing that stood out most about him.

“Was it a big ego or just too much confidence?” Maya asked for clarification.

“To me he was all ego,” I replied.

“Well, what did he do?” Maya asked.

“He and his brother came up here to show off. Jerry said that I should be impressed with the fact that he and his brother are black divers, but really I couldn't care less,” I spoke honestly.

“Ooh, that does sound like a big ego,” Maya admitted.

“Yeah, then he had the nerve to come over here and try to feed me a line of bull, like I was supposed to just swoon the moment he spoke to me. I was like, ‘Boy, if you don't go someplace and get you some business—'” I laughed out loud and so did Maya.

“Well, go on and get yourself some lunch. We'll talk when you come back,” she said as she got situated to watch everyone.

 

I didn't return to work until Wednesday morning, and since it was a weekday I knew it would be pretty slow except a few stay-at-home moms and perhaps some kids who just wanted to take a quick dip. I'd just sat down and was about to read when Alex, my little stalker, rolled up to the fence behind me on his mountain bike.

“Do you want me to come and keep you company?” he asked.

“Hell to the no,” I answered.

“Dang, why did you have to say it like that?” He sounded pathetic, and I knew I'd hurt his feelings. “You don't have to walk on my love like that,” he complained.

“Sweetie, you don't have enough love to walk on,” I answered back with a harsh tone. Alex eventually got the message that I didn't want to be bothered and left me alone. Then, just as I was truly beginning to enjoy the peace and serenity of being at the pool all alone, Jerry showed up. I stopped reading my book so I could keep an eye on him while he tried to impress me once again with his diving ability. However, to my amazement, he didn't do any diving at all. He swam a few laps and then came over to the edge of the pool where I was sitting.

“Are you feeling better today?” he asked.

“I wasn't feeling bad the other day,” I reminded him.

“Okay,” he said politely. “Listen, about the other day, I may have come off sounding a little conceited, and I didn't mean to.”

“No, you didn't sound a little conceited, you were practically boasting as if you were the best thing since the discovery of fire,” I said.

“I'm sorry about that. My brother and I are just very competitive and at times I get so wound up that I give off the wrong impression,” he said apologetically.

“It's cool,” I answered, not really putting more thought into the moment than need be.

“So, can I start over by introducing myself to you?” he asked.

“You don't need to,” I said.

“Hello, Keysha, my name is Jerry and I'm your new neighbor.” He ignored what I'd just said. I remained silent.

“My family just moved here from Buffalo Grove, Illinois. It's a suburb that's northwest of downtown Chicago. I like Chinese food, pizza and watching Tyler Perry films,” he said.

“Now there is something we have in common,” I admitted.

“What?” he asked.

“Tyler Perry. I love his work,” I said.

“Then that makes two of us.” Jerry smiled at me. “So, Keysha, what else do you like?” he asked.

“Why do you care?”

Jerry shrugged his shoulders. “It seems like an appropriate question to ask when you're trying to get to know a person.”

“Maybe I don't want people to know me. Maybe I just want to be left alone. Have you ever considered that?” I asked.

“Man, Keysha. You've really built up a strong wall of protection. What happened in your life that has made you so untrusting?” he asked as he bounced up and down in the water.

“You don't know jack about me, so stop trying to psychoanalyze me,” I answered rudely, hoping he'd just swim away and go on about his business.

“You're right. I don't know much about you at all. But I'd like to think that I'm pretty good at spotting someone who has a broken heart or has dealt with a lot of emotional pain.”

“Yeah, right,” I responded in a brazen attempt to throw him off.

“Hear me out. If I'm mistaken, just tell me. But I'm willing to bet that you're either in a bad relationship or just getting over one and right now you're so hurt that you're snapping out at anyone who tries to get close to you.”

“Well, if you're so damn observant, why are you over here bothering me?” I asked.

“That's a good question, and to be honest I don't have an answer to it.” He paused for a moment. “I guess I'm just trying to make new friends. It's hard when you move from one town to the next. You leave most of your old friends behind and you don't really know when you're going to see them again. Then when you arrive someplace new, you hope that you can hook up with someone who is real and not fake. One thing I can't stand is phony people or people who pretend to be your friend but then turn around and stab you in the back. Know what I mean?”

I didn't want to admit it, but I knew exactly what he meant. I'd gone through so much of what he was talking about that it was like he was telling a slice of my life story without even knowing all of the details. I decided to let down my guard a little and entertain talking to him a little more. “Yeah, unfortunately I know exactly what you mean, Jerry.”

“See, now that wasn't so hard, was it?” He smiled at me.

“How old are you, Jerry?” I asked.

“Seventeen, and you?”

“We're the same age,” I said.

“So, what's Thornwood High School like?” he asked.

“Same as any other school I guess. There are some good things about it and some not so wonderful things, too. I pretty much keep to myself.”

“Do you play a sport or have any other interests?” Jerry asked.

“I had the lead part in the school play,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “I also like to sing.”

“Really? I'd love to hear your voice. Sing something for me.”

“Get out of here, I'm not going to sing for you.” I laughed.

“Look at you. That's the first time I've seen your pretty smile.”

I cut my eyes at him. “Don't even try it,” I warned. I truly was not interested in dating or anything remotely close to it.

“Hey, I'm not trying to pull anything,” he said, holding up his hands so I could see them.

“So, what's your story?” I asked. “I'm sure you have a slew of girls trailing behind you just dying to be your boo.”

Jerry released a low chuckle and then glanced down at the water. “I'm not really like that. Now my brother on the other hand, he's a straight-up womanizer,” he said.

“How old is your brother anyway?” I asked.

“Just turned twenty.”

“So why aren't you like him?” I was curious.

Jerry winced and I could tell I'd just touched on a sensi
tive issue. He was quiet for a long moment before speaking. “I can't believe that I'm still dealing with this, because it's been almost a year since I broke up with her.”

“What happened?” I was now very interested in what he had to say.

“It's a long story,” he said.

“I'm not going anywhere,” I said, adjusting my position on the lawn chair.

“You're sure that you want to hear this?” he asked.

“Lay it on me,” I encouraged him to tell his story.

“Okay, but don't call me some hopeless sap afterward, okay?”

“I won't,” I agreed.

“Okay, it's like this. The summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school I started dating this girl named Jessica. She was everything to me. I loved her and thought we were going to be the classic high-school-sweetheart love story. I thought we were going to make it against all the odds, you know?”

“Oh, I know that feeling,” I admitted.

“She was my first, but I wasn't hers. I gave up my virginity to her because I really felt that I was in love with her. After we'd done it a few times my feelings for her grew stronger, but she started becoming distant with me all of a sudden. She wasn't returning my phone calls, e-mails or text messages. When I saw her in person and asked her what was going on she just said that her computer was down and her mom forgot to pay the cell phone bill. I believed her until
a friend named Carlos called me up at around nine-thirty one night and told me to come outside and walk over to his street. When I asked him why, he just said I needed to see it for myself. So I sneaked out of the house, hopped on my bike and rode over to his place. When I got there Carlos was standing outside with his finger pressed to his lips, telling me to be quiet. I stopped my bike, placed it on the ground and tiptoed over to him.

“He had said, ‘Your girl Jessica is getting nailed in the car over there.' He pointed to a sedan parked in a dark corner on his street.

“‘No she's not.' I wanted to punch his lights out for lying, but instead I reached for my cellular phone and gave Jessica a call but she didn't answer.

“‘If you don't believe me then let's go take a look,' Carlos suggested. I was positive he was wrong and the only thing we were going to see was some chickenhead and her boyfriend doing their thing.

“As we're sneaking over to the car I could hear and see that there was activity going on. The car was rocking, the windows were fogged up, and I could hear music as well as moaning.

“Then Carlos had said, ‘Why don't you knock on the window? That would scare the crap out of them. Then you could confront Jessica and ask her what's up and why is playing you.' I told Carlos I wasn't going to do that but he pressed the issue until I finally found the guts to interrupt the couple. As I approached the passenger side the door
opened and Jessica stepped out zipping up her blue jeans and buttoning up her top.”

“You're kidding!” I said, totally horrified by what he must've felt like.

“I wish I were,” he said.

“Well, did you say something?” I asked.

“Of course I did. I went ballistic. I wanted to kick the guy's ass, but my friend held me back.”

“Well, what did she say?” I asked.

“She was surprised as hell to see me. She fed me some bull crap about trying to let me down easily and how I should've recognized the hints she was dropping.”

“That's horrible,” I said, feeling sorry for him.

“Yeah, I was pretty messed up after that. I felt like I should've waited for someone really special to come along. My brother keeps telling me that I need to get over her by going out and dating a bunch of girls and having a ton of sex, but I'm not that type of guy. I know a lot dudes that are, but I'm not one of them.”

“Wow, that is so messed up,” I said as I leaned back in my seat.

“Yeah, but it is what it is,” he said and swam away to the other side of the pool. Jerry got out and toweled off. He walked back over to me and thanked me for listening.

“No problem,” I said, smiling at him warmly.

“I'll see you around, okay?” he said as he extended his hand. I shook it and then he turned and left.