The Countdown to Thirty (12 page)

“You’re so nasty. “She snickered, “Oh no, you’re not getting
me in one of those stores. It’s just going to get me more worked up and since
me and Christian already almost had sex -”

I nearly jumped out of my seat, “You and Christian what!”

She immediately put her head down on the table in shame like
she exposed something she’d vowed to take to the grave with her. No way was she
getting out of this juicy story.

“Kaia, Kaia,” I sung her name as I pulled on her ponytail to
get her attention until she finally elevated her head from the pits of
embarrassment. “You and Christian almost did what?”

“Almost…almost…” she struggled to get the words out at first
then blurted everything like it was weighing heavy on her heart and her G-Spot.
“We almost had sex
when he came over to give me
a stun gun before going out of town and I never thought any guy besides Malcolm
let alone Christian could get me wet at this point in my life but he did and I
liked it but I felt like I was cheating and he’s been calling me but I haven’t
talked to him since and he’s nearly my brother for God’s sake, oh my God what
am I going to do!”

“Wow.”

Okay maybe it wasn’t the best response but it sure as hell
was funny to watch her squirm. I shook my head in astonishment as I tried to
process what she’d just told me. I’d never seen Christian before but based off
Kaia’s past conversations about him I never thought she was attracted to him,
but now this. From the head banging she was doing on the table I came to the
conclusion she was officially freaking out and had a major problem on her
hands.

In an effort to help I held out my hand, “Show me a picture
of him.”

“Huh?”

“Show me his picture. I want to see what you’re dealing
with. I’m sure you have one somewhere in your phone or he has a Facebook
profile or something.”

Without saying a word she took a moment to swipe and tap at
her phone until she was able to furnish a picture of this kiss stealing thief.
Really I thought the notion was cute but based off the befuddled look on her
face I could see she didn’t. It was painfully clear that she was still
head-over-heels for that personal training, bald headed, self-centered, selfish
asshole Malcolm. I would trade all the success in the world to be freed from
the shackles of
love
with someone who didn’t seem to truly love me. It
hurts, I know first-hand.

She shoved her phone in my hands then quickly put her head
back down on the table after taking another bite of her hot dog. It only took a
second for me to glance at his main profile picture and see that this Christian
boy was
fine
. He made Malcolm look like a five.

“Damn, do you think you can resist all that?” I questioned

“Think?” She said sarcastically lifting her head from the
table, “It was a mistake, an accident. There’s definitely nothing to resist.”

“Oh okay,” I said handing her phone back, “But sometimes you
have to take that leap.”

“And what about you taking that leap?”

“I already told you. I’m going to start my business, I’m not
going to let money or any of that shit get in the way.”

“I mean taking a leap into dating. Being smart about it,
dating more responsibly instead of not dating at all,” She said giving me a
skeptical look.

“Girl I have too much going on for that right now. It’s just
a distraction from what I need to be focused on and that’s me. I have no money
and no business as of yet, that’s embarrassing to me. I have absolutely nothing
to bring to the table.”

You’re motivated and any good man will respect that.”

“Men don’t respect anything but their dicks. Most women can
deal with that but I’m not most women. Thank you but no thank you.”

After finishing our hotdogs we ended up catching up with
Ivan at a small but hip art gallery where some of his work was displayed. Kaia
introduced us and then he gave us a tour of the gallery. It turned out that he
was actually a really talented artist who was proud of his work. He showed us
breathtaking landscapes he’d taken of the city showing off the desert beauty of
Las Vegas. The portrait offered eye popping colors that only a true artist
could capture in the desert and then also dramatic portraits of Las Vegas night
life which he had illuminated with built-in lighting.

“You’re work is really good Ivan, I had no idea you were
into photography.” Kaia said truly impressed.

“Thank you, I’ve been doing it for a while now. Ever since
my tia and tio bought me a camera for my twelfth birthday I haven’t been able
to put it down.” He said giving off a humble smile that showed he was proud we
found his work impressive.

“Where did you shoot this one?” I asked him pointing to a 4’
x 3’ foot landscape hanging on the adjacent wall. The picture was beautiful and
it reminded me of a utopia. An amazing waterfall of at least one hundred feet
tall that seemed to glow white as it delicately cascaded down a tall mountain cliff
into a pool of deep blue water. The pool of water and base of the mountain were
surrounded by a vast outstretch of green land while it was all protected by a
blue sky and billowy clouds.

“Aah Sonya, you have good taste.” Ivan said as the three of
us moved closer and focused in on the portrait. “This one I took earlier this
year at Niagara.”

“It’s breathtaking Ivan, what do you call it?” Kaia asked.

“Paradise, although I’ve recently considered renaming it
Sonya,” He said in a seductive Spanish accent as he looked me up and down.

I didn’t want to be rude so I gave him a charming smile,
then without uttering a word spoke to Kaia with my eyes telling her it was time
to go. She was withholding a laugh but she got my message and managed to pull
Ivan’s attention away from me. In less than five minutes we were exiting the
art gallery and heading back towards the shuttle.

She linked arms with me as she teased, “Take a leap Sonya.
Take a leap.”

I grinned from ear to ear as I politely told her to, “Shut
up.”

That evening I walked into my apartment with a mixture of
feelings from excitement to confusion. I felt alive after meeting people
tonight who were reaching for their dreams. It made me feel like I could do it
to; like there was nothing stopping me but me. Then I heard Kaia’s voice
encouraging me to start dating again and Saundra’s voice badgering me about
marriage and kids.

“Are they right?” I had to ask myself as I began sifting
through the mail I’d placed on the counter earlier, “Credit card bill; medical
bill; medical bill.”

It didn’t seem to matter that I didn’t have much money or
that I’d been underemployed for the last year, these collection agencies were
relentless. When I tried calling them after my layoff to see if they could
suspend my payments they basically told me not a chance in hell then asked me
if I could just borrow the money to pay off the balance. I just hung up. There
was no point in arguing about the stupidity of that comment. I’d much rather be
in debt with a heartless collection agency than a family member with whom I
loved.

After removing my jewelry and makeup I slipped on a short
white cotton nightgown and jumped in the bed with a bowl of Cookies N’ Cream
ice cream. Boy was I glad my metabolism was still fast; this had to be my
favorite late night snack.

The latest episode of Scandal had premiered so I channel
surfed until the replay of this week’s episode came on. By the way, Kaia and I
were now officially hooked on Ms. Olivia Pope and considered ourselves major
fans of the show.

In the middle of my channel surfing I saw a familiar face
flash on the screen. I turned back a few channels and long and behold I was
right. That face was more than just familiar. The contour of the jaws and cold
steely eyes disguised under an enticing gaze carved out a face I could never
forget.

It was Lamont’s.

I gasped in sheer terror after realizing whose malicious
eyes I was staring into. He was being featured in the developing story about
the pregnant woman and the home invasion. His mug shot flashed in the right
hand corner of the screen as the news commentators spoke about his arrest in an
attempted murder plot against his girlfriend. He was the sorrowful boyfriend
everyone was talking about, the so-called grieving fiancé pleading for justice
and leads. According to evidence found including a handgun all ties led back to
him. He’d staged the whole thing and was taken into custody only two hours ago.

I ran to the bathroom and threw up everything I’d eaten for
the past week. Tears streamed down my face as my head spun and my stomach
clenched. I didn’t know whether to feel grateful that I was alive or guilty for
not reporting him to the police years ago. That woman and her child we’re in
the hospital nearly dead and Lamont was as guilty as sin. There was no way in
hell he wasn’t, especially after what he did to me.

Kaia

I pulled into my mother’s driveway at about eight in the
morning with no particular expectations of how I wanted this weekend to turn
out. In my heart I knew I wanted to rescue Riley from making the classic
mistake of getting pregnant too young and holding off on school. That was my
dream at least, but I knew the women in my family, including myself obviously,
and we had a strong history of picking
the wrong men
.

My grandmother for example, was a single mother of six. My
grandfather ran off and decided he didn’t want to deal with the
responsibilities and left her alone to raise my mother, three aunts and two
uncles. They never saw him again. My own mother hooked up with my father when
they were back in high school and had Celeste when they were only seventeen.
Then two years later I came, but by then their relationship was pretty much
over. We saw him often throughout the years since he still lived in the same
neighborhood, but my memories of him actually being a real father are scarce.
The last time I’d seen him was six years ago. Now Riley’s dad I can say truly
loved my mother, Riley, me and Celeste. The only problem with him though was
that he was a fast talking hustler like my mother and he got killed in a drug
deal when I was only ten. He was good to us, but he wasn’t the man I would pick
for myself or my daughter.

I sat quietly in the driveway before getting out and
relished at how beautiful the seventy-six degree weather felt. I had the windows
rolled down and absorbed the cool breeze that blew against my face, the
Hummingbirds that hovered over my mother’s Birds of Paradise and the white
nineteen seventies house that I’d grown up in with the forest green trim. The
small house all but screamed for a new paint job and a new fence for the front
yard that didn’t sag, but my mother gave up on pressing that issue a long time
ago. It took forever for the landlords to fix anything and yet, she wouldn’t
move. She said this house was our home and she had it in her mind that she was
going to buy it one day and give it a face lift.

I grabbed my suitcase from the trunk and walked up the badly
chipped red porch steps. I took a deep breath before knocking and reminded
myself to take everything I saw or heard with a grain of salt. I knocked a
friendly little tune to let them know I was here and in good spirits. I waited
for a few moments but no one came to the door. I knocked again louder this time
but still no response.

“What the hell?” I said to myself feeling frustrated that I
was going through this. I knew Mama was at work but I told Riley last night
before I went to bed what time I would be here.

I pulled out my cell phone and called Riley, no answer.

I dialed Mama’s number next.

“Mama,” I said once she answered the phone, “I’m here at the
house but nobody’s answering the door and Riley’s not answering her phone, I
can’t get in.”

“Well Kaia I can’t do too much about that right now I’m
working girl. They knew you was coming, go around back and knock on they
bedroom window. They probably still sleeping,” She said sounding irritated at
their irresponsibility.

I let out a sigh, “Okay, I’ll try.”

“Text me either way let me know if you get in.” She said

“Okay Mama, bye.” I said as I carried my purse and luggage
back down the porch steps and towards the side gate.

A new black sign hung against the chain linked gate in bold
red letters that read: BEWARE OF DOG.

I knew it was just a scare tactic the homeowners in the
neighborhood used to wane off burglars since it was faster and more affordable
then buying an alarm system.

“They ain’t got no damn dog.” I said sarcastically as I
lifted up the handle and walked through the narrow passage on the side of the
house. My orange sandals flip flopped against the cement walkway and my luggage
violently brushed up against the overgrown shrubs that grew from both sides of
the pathway.

“Dang!” I said struggling to get my luggage through, “Why
don’t they cut this shit?”

Just then my ranting was cut-off by the unmistakable sound
of paws racing against cement and violent aggressive barking. I knew the sounds
originated from the depths of hell once I saw the red nosed Pit Bull turn the
corner and charge straight at me.

“Aagh!” I let out a deep throated scream in sheer terror and
panic. I was in too much shock to think. Things were happening so fast that my
body seemed to takeover on its own and do what it needed to in order to protect
its precious blood supply. I quickly threw my luggage in the path of me and the
Pitt Bull and ran back towards the gate I came through while reaching in my
purse for my stun gun. I could hear the dog jump over the luggage and continue
in his relentless pursuit for flesh and blood while his barks registered in my
mind as
“I’m gonna get you bitch!”

In what had to be the most important two seconds of my
entire life, I managed to open and run through the gate, pull the latch back
down and remove my hands before the Pitt Bull mangled them to shreds. I dropped
down on the ground crying hysterically while my mind raced frenziedly trying to
process what I’d just gone through.

I was almost eaten alive by a Pitt Bull!

Oh no I think he got me!

No I think I’m fine!

Why am I shaking!

Why can’t I stop crying!

Fuck this dog!

The Pitt Bull continued barking wildly while he made several
failed attempts to jump over the gate. His continuous barks finally snapped my
mind back into reality and that’s when I noticed I didn’t even have my
flip-flops on anymore
; that damn dog ran me right out of my shoes.

That was it. Sonya was right. I needed to take a stand at
some point in my life. This was my moment to shine and I was angry enough to do
it. I wiped my eyes dry along with the snot that was beginning to run from my
nose and stood up with my stun gun in hand, fully charged. I walked towards the
gate and tried to figure out the best way to do this. Holding my purse in my
left hand, I extended it over the top of the gate to hover as bait. The Pit
Bull accepted my challenge and jumped trying to snap my hand off no doubt, but
he didn’t jump high enough. I shook the purse trying to bait him again and this
time he leaped high into the air giving me enough opportunity to sneak in with
my right hand and stun him in the neck.

“Bullseye.”

The loud staticky noise coming from stun gun quickly ceased
as the Pit Bull let out a pathetic wail as he fell to the ground unable to
move. I looked down at him without any sympathy as I opened the gate. No matter
how cruel it may sound I felt happy in a way, but overall I was still mad. I
bent down and stunned him again but this time in the leg. He let out another
wail and laid there on the ground with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

“Hey man, what the fuck you doing man!” A male voice shouted
in both fear and anger.

I turned around to see Derrick and Riley in their pajamas
running down the porch steps towards me. I walked back through the gate to the
front yard ready to justify everything I’d just done if anyone had a problem
with it.

“Whose dog is this? Whose evil Pitt Bull is this?” I
screamed shifting my glare from Derrick to Riley then back to Derrick again.

“It’s mine bitch, what the fuck you do to my dog man!” He
shouted as he ran to his dog’s side.

Riley had her hands pressed up against the sides of her face
in total disbelief of what was happening. “Oh my God Kaia what happened?”

“Y’all asses were in the damn house sleeping, fucking or
doing whatever the hell you do when you should’ve been answering the door and
because of it fucking Cujo almost ate my black ass and I had to fuck him up.
Get my luggage! Get my shoes! I’m out of here!” I screamed at the top of my
lungs giving no regard to the neighbors who had come out of their homes to
watch the show.

As Riley’s big sister she knew me well, she knew me very
well. She knew my moments of indignity like this were few and far in between,
but if I went there it was one: for a damn good reason, and two: it wasn’t for
show, I was legitimately angry. During rare moments like this I could feel my
mother’s venom running through my veins.

Riley scurried to grab my stuff from the side of the house,
“Derrick you told me you got rid of the dog last night! Mama’s gonna kill me
when she finds out what happened! You know she thought the dog was gone!” She
cried.

“It’s not my fault man! I didn’t know she was gonna go in
the backyard, damn!” He yelled as he hovered over his dog trying to nurse it
back to health.

I felt sorry for my sister I really did, because she was
right. Mama was just about going to kill her when she found out what happened.
From the sounds of it, it wasn’t completely her fault but Derrick was a
knucklehead and this was just another prime example. Once I got my suitcase
back in my trunk and my flip-flops back on, I pulled back out of the driveway
in search for a hotel, no dogs allowed.

By the time I’d checked into my one-hundred dollar a night
hotel room and settled in Mama was on her break and called me to see how things
were going at the house. I explained to her how things went from my encounter
with
fluffy
on down to Derrick calling me a bitch. If you thought
I
went
off you should have heard Ms. Tajuana Jackson. To hear her actually defending
me for once warmed my heart, but it was bittersweet since she dogged Riley out
in the process, no pun intended.

We agreed to meet at Celeste’s house once she got off work.
She insisted on heading straight there after clocking out because she needed to
calm down first before
somebody got fucked up
at home
, as she put
it. I knew that that somebody was both Derrick and Riley.

I turned the TV on and tried to get comfortable in the bed
but I was angry at myself now for even bothering to come all the way down here.
Here I was spending an unexpected two hundred dollars plus tax over the course
of the weekend on a pointless hotel room because I now refused to sleep under
the same roof with Derrick.

“Why didn’t you ask Celeste if you could stay there?”
Mama had asked before we ended our conversation.

Celeste wanted too much constant spotlight for me to want to
be an overnight guest. No way was I sleeping over there. Plus now, my plans for
nearly the whole day had changed. Last night on the phone Riley and I agreed to
have breakfast at Applebee’s, then stop at the nail shop and get Pedi’s so I
could keep up with my weekly routine, then catch the matinee at AMC Theatres to
see the new Taraji P. Henson and Idris Elba movie. I wanted that time to
catch-up with her but most importantly to have
the talk,
but she
couldn’t even show me the respect to have the crust removed from her eyes. She
was so neglectful it was crazy.

I bit into my Motel 8 complimentary Blueberry muffin and
appreciated how fresh and moist it was.

“Still not Applebee’s, but definitely a close second,” I
said after washing it down with a healthy sip of coffee.

“Yuck!” I complained, “Definitely not my Starbuck’s either.”

If there was one thing on this earth that could upset me it
was definitely the taste of stale, bitter or just not right coffee in my mouth.
It was so bad that I poured it out and opted for ice cold water instead.

While under the comfort of my standardized hotel comforter I
listened to a rerun episode of “The Parkers” and triumphantly replayed my dog
tasing incident in my head.

Looking back on it now it seemed comical. I gushed with
laughter at the thought until my eyes ran with tears, “I’m sure this isn’t what
Christian had in mind. Wait until I tell him.” I laughed.

Then the thought of me telling Christian slowly ceased my
laughter. How could I tell him if I’d been ignoring him? Three days after our
impulsive kiss he called me but I was too embarrassed to answer. Then on the
fourth day when he called me again I just let it ring until my voicemail icon
popped up. It took me four hours just to work up the nerve to listen to it and
when I did all he said was for me to call him back.

I’ll come clean, I did finally break-down and talk to
Malcolm but because of it I feel so much better now. He apologized for being
insensitive to my needs and told me he’d never want to lose me. Because of his
work schedule and the kids these last few years have been hard on him but he
wants to make things work with me, even if he has to bend on some of his rules,
his words not mine. This is the man I’ve spent the last two years of my life
waiting for. Am I supposed to just give it up because of a fight? No way. And
definitely not because of a passionate heat of the moment kiss with Christian.
If Sonya can have a “countdown to thirty” plan so can I and mines is to go for
what I want, the man I want and that man is Malcolm.

I grabbed my phone no further delaying the inevitable and
text Christian back.

Me:
How’s training going?

Christian:
It’s whack, ready to come back. How you been?

Me:
I’m okay, sorry I missed your calls.

Christian:
You don’t have to apologize. My bad for the other night that was crazy. I
didn’t mean to push up on you like that.

Me:
It’s okay we can just forget about it. I think it was just too many emotions at
one time. Let’s just forget it happened okay.

It took a while for his next text to come through but when
it did I became flustered and even more of a nervous wreck.

Christian:
I don’t want to forget it happened. I need to talk to you when I get back.