“Um … hello, Wade. This is Christine,” I stammered.
“I know who it is,” he laughed. “You don’t have to identify yourself, girl. I’ll never forget your voice.”
“When we were kids, you used to forget my name.” I said it in a light, teasing voice, but I was serious.
“We ain’t kids no more, baby,” he said in that seductive tone of voice that I’d never forgotten. That was all it took to make me tremble. The fact of the matter was, he had offered his phone number, so he must have really wanted to be with me again. I had not, and would not have, asked him for it. The situation at home had made me so bitter over the last few months, I didn’t need to add to it by chasing after a man that didn’t want to be caught. At least not by me.
“I think I need that drink you offered,” I replied. Jesse Ray was just pulling out of our garage and onto the street. I was at the living-room window, with the drapes parted. I could see out onto the street with one eye, and I could still keep the other eye on Miss Rosetta, who was propped up in her wheelchair in front of the television. She couldn’t talk, but she could moan and whimper when she wanted some attention. And I knew that she could hear. But since she couldn’t speak or communicate any other way, I didn’t bother whispering into the telephone.
As a matter of fact, I was glad she could hear my end of the conversation. Of all my in-laws, Miss Rosetta was the only one who had ever been on my side. I knew she loved her son, but I’d got to know her well enough to know that she would not have approved of what was happening to me. I recalled all the times she used to tell me, “Girl, J.R. is my son, but don’t you let him, or no other man, make a fool out of you.” Miss Rosetta’s words rang in my head as I waited for Wade to respond. He’d already made a fool out of me. He had used me. But it had made me stronger and smarter. Now I would use him.
“I’ve been expecting to hear from you,” he said, then laughed. “And I’m glad to hear from you.”
“Can we meet at Giovanni’s in a couple of hours?” I said in a bold voice.
Wade took his time responding. “You want me to make love to you, don’t you?” he asked, saying the words loud and strong, like he wanted to make sure I heard him right.
“No, I want you to fuck me,” I told him. He got silent again. I immediately wished that I could take back my words. All of a sudden, I felt uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that I wanted to hang up the telephone and tear the napkin with his phone number on it to shreds. Despite everything, I was a married woman. And, even though it was a struggle now, I still cared about my husband. However, the relationship that I had with my husband and his family now was the reason I’d called Wade in the first place! My face ached because I suddenly smiled in a way that was literally painful.
I didn’t know what to say next. Wade must have felt the same way, because neither one of us spoke again for several moments. I didn’t know what was going through his mind. There were things going through mine that I could not ignore. Like the way he’d treated me that other time I saw him at Giovanni’s and the way he’d treated me when I had turned up on his doorstep in L.A. But we were a lot older now. And, I didn’t know about him, but I was a lot wiser than I’d been in my youth.
“Uh, Giovanni’s is cool, but I think we’d be more comfortable at my place. Well, my mama’s place. I’m staying with her for a while. When do you want to hook up?”
“What’s your mama’s schedule for the next few days? I don’t want to visit when she’s there.”
“She’s at a friend’s house, getting ready to go to Reno with her. She’ll be gone for the next four days.”
“I’ll get there as fast as I can,” I assured him.
I was sweating so hard when I got off the telephone, I had to drink two glasses of iced water and place a cold, wet paper towel across my face.
I was so excited, I could already feel myself getting wet between my legs. My hands were shaking so violently, I had a hard time dialing Nita’s telephone number. She answered on the first ring.
“Can you come over and sit with Miss Rosetta for a little while?” I said. Even though it was before nine in the morning, I knew Nita was probably still asleep. She usually went back to bed after she got the kids off to school.
“Who is this?” she asked, letting out a loud breath.
“You know who it is. Shit!”
“What’s up?” Nita asked, laughing. “Girl, some of us are still in bed. Where are you going this early?”
My silence gave me away.
“You nasty puppy you,” she said and laughed. “What took you so long? Jeanette and I were wondering how long it was going to take before you hooked up with your hunk from the past. I’ll be there as soon as I can get dressed.” She paused and laughed some more before she hung up.
I had already bathed, dressed, and fed Miss Rosetta. She was staring at the television when Nita arrived, in a see-through raincoat over her pajamas and her hair still in rollers, less than twenty minutes after I’d called her up.
“I didn’t expect you to get here this fast,” I told Nita as she entered my living room, with her keys in one hand and a large cup from Starbucks in the other. I looked at my watch.
“You sounded desperate,” she said and grinned. She lowered her voice to a whisper when she realized Miss Rosetta was in the room. “Where is he?”
“At his precious video store by now, I guess,” I said, with an annoyed shrug.
“I don’t mean J.R. I meant … that long-legged piece Jeanette keeps telling me about. Wayne.”
“Wade,” I corrected. “He’s at his mama’s house,” I whispered back, patting my hair. I had pulled it into a ponytail, which was the most practical hairdo I could think of for what I was about to do.
“All I can say is, you deserve to have a good time.” Nita looked at Miss Rosetta and back to me, shaking her head so hard, one of her rollers fell out. “I’ll stay with Miss Rosetta for as long as you want me to,” she said, catching the roller in her hand and returning it to its place on her head. Nita was the only sister I knew who didn’t perm her hair or bother with wigs, hairpieces, or weaves. But of all the women I knew, she was the one who spent the most time rolling and unrolling her hair. “Or at least until I have to go pick up the kids from school.” Nita touched my face. “You look a little more disgusted than usual. Did something else happen?”
“Adele and her crew are moving in this evening,” I said in a flat voice, through clenched teeth.
“Fuck me!” Nita gasped. “Girl, I will get a prayer chain going for you because you are going to need that and more.” Then she wrapped her arms around me, rubbing my back. “Christine, I don’t mean to get up in your business, but you need to sit down with your husband and have a long talk with him. You are nursing his mama, and now you are telling me that you are going to have to play hostess to his sister and her family, and I would not want a flirt like Melvin Howard in my house. How Adele can stay married to that pig is a mystery to me.”
“Mel’s not coming. As a matter of fact, he’s the reason Adele and the kids are moving out for a while,” I said and sighed. I glanced at my watch again. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I added. I grabbed my sweater off the coatrack by the door and ran out of the house.
Wade was standing on his mama’s front porch, with his hands on his hips, when I pulled onto his street. He had on a pair of jeans and a light blue shirt, which was unbuttoned. His well-developed chest, his gray eyes, and full, wet lips were almost enough to hypnotize me. I parked my car in front of the house and jumped out so fast, one of my shoes came off.