Chapter Eighteen
Mannish knew something was wrong. It was in her voice. Despair, pain, and all the bad emotions’ closest relatives poured through the phone. He read between the lines very well. Something in Lola’s life troubled her enough to bring her from the sheltered comforts of suburbia to search for relief in the hazardous toxic waste of the streets. Many nights he lay awake thinking of her, wishing she’d confide in him deeper than the surface stuff she cautiously scribbled in the margins of their growing friendship.
“You sound down,” he said, lost in the underwater beauty of his saltwater aquarium.
“You haven’t a clue.”
“Care to share?”
“No, not really.”
“I’m a good shoulder to lean on and I listen without running my mouth with a bunch of unwanted advice.”
“I’m sure, but I’ll pass.”
He poured brine shrimp and blood worms in the tank and watched his gluttonous blue tangs try to eat all the food up from his picky clownfish. “So now what am I supposed to do, Lola?”
She didn’t respond right away, had to think about what that meant. “You lost me. Do about what?”
“This shitty attitude you have.” He flopped down in his seat to continue aquarium watching. “I wouldn’t be a good friend if I let that stinky thing just stay on you.”
“It is what it is,” she said with a sigh to punctuate the finality of the statement.
“You know what, Lola? I’m not going for this. I need to see you. Meet with me.”
“I’m not punching the clock lying on my back today, Mannish. Schedule me through Champagne Ladies.”
“I know you didn’t just seriously say that to me.” What she obviously thought of his intentions rubbed him wrong. “I thought we were beyond that, had some type of connection outside of your new profession.” He couldn’t help throwing a dagger back.
“It isn’t my profession.”
“Well then establish the perimeter now, so I’m no longer confused. Tell me flat out if the only way I can see you is if I’m paying for sex.”
“I’m sorry,” Lola said with a sigh. “Please forgive me. I just thought since we met like—”
“Don’t, Lola. Let me do all the thinking on this one. I need you to meet me somewhere, and not for you to take your clothes off. I just want to spend some time with you.”
“I don’t feel like it. Today I wouldn’t be good company. No offense to you, but I’m really not in the mood to do anything or be bothered with anyone.”
Mannish wouldn’t take no for an answer. “You’re gonna meet me or I swear to God I’ll be on your doorstep in the next twenty minutes asshole naked wearing a glow-in-the-dark condom and doing the butterfly with a sign on my back that says ‘I fuck and dance naked for depressed women.’”
She tried to hold on to her attitude but a piece of laughter slipped through. “You wouldn’t dare.” She pictured the scene and outright laughed.
“Think it’s funny? I bet you won’t call my bluff.”
“Mannish,” she said, sucking her teeth.
“Fine,” Mannish said, fed up with her shit. “Have it your way. I’m on my way and now I’m bringing my bullhorn so I can let the neighborhood know I’m there at your service.”
“All right already with the blackmailing. Where am I meeting you?”
Forest Park, the second largest public park in America that St. Louisans were proud of, was bursting at the seams with bicyclists, happy couples, and laughing children on their way to the zoo. The clear blue sky was dotted with colorful kites and the air was seasoned with mouth-watering barbecue. Lola and Mannish’s hand-in-hand stroll down Lover’s Nature Trail was a therapeutic experience and had worked miracles on her mood. But what Lola enjoyed more than anything so far was how their previous conversations lingered in her mind long after the subject had ended. And that alone made her resent Xavier all the more for having never acquired the skill to engage her intellectual capabilities to thought-provoking contemplations; for never having the raw talent to stimulate her mentally on general matters enough to leave her panty liner soaked with sweet sticky stuff.
Now Lola watched Mannish’s upper body muscles bulge as he rowed their rowboat effortlessly toward a secluded cove on Forest Park’s man-made lake.
Mannish felt her intense stare. “What?” he said, pulling the oars inside the boat.
“Just admiring you.”
“That’s flattering coming from you.”
She blushed and said, “Being flattered must be contagious.”
“Bring your sexy self over here with me. I wanna show you something.”
Lola eased to his end of the narrow boat and snuggled in between his legs, her back resting against his chest. “Whatever you want to show me, I could have seen it from where I was sitting. You just wanted me closer so you can put your arms around me.”
“True that. But I truly do want to show you something.” He looked at his watch, then pointed to where the lake merged with the horizon, which appeared close enough to reach out and touch. “In exactly six minutes and nineteen seconds you’ll witness the most breathtaking sunset you’ve ever seen in your life. This is the only spot in St. Louis you’re exposed to such pure beauty.”
She followed his finger and gazed at the horizon. “Thank you for rescuing me from the misery I was poisoning myself with today, even though I know you were lying about showing up at my house naked and doing some played-out dance. Should’ve called you on it.”
“Then you would have lost.” He inhaled the fragrance of her neck as he rubbed her delicate arms. He laced his fingers with hers, as if they had been lovers in many other lifetimes.
“I highly doubt it.”
“What makes you so sure of yourself?”
“Because, you told on yourself. The glow-in-the-dark condom exposed the bluff. You don’t even wear rubbers, Mannish. So know that I let you win because I didn’t want to put you on the spot.”
“You think you got it all figured out, don’t you?” He kissed her neck.
“Pretty much.” She felt something strong and familiar press against her lower back. “Boy, if you keep stroking my arms and kissing my neck like that while your dick is demanding my attention, we will be taking our clothes off right here on this lake.”
He kissed her neck again. “Down, girl.”
“Self-control with you is hard, especially since you keep kissing my spot.”
“You know I have a philosophy that acts as a guiding principle for everything I do.”
Lola looked over her shoulder and found his eyes. “What’s that?”
“That nothing happens by chance,” he said. “Everything has a meaning that’s customized for each individual. People come into each other’s lives to deliver a message, to pick up a jewel, to learn something about their current awareness, their spirituality, and their relationship to life.” He inhaled her fragrance and committed it to the memory. “I’m looking forward to understanding the message and learning the lesson behind our acquaintance.”
“That makes two of us.” She just hoped the experience unfolded before her time ran out.
“If you keep staring at me, you’re gonna miss that.” Mannish gestured to the horizon.
Lola turned and gasped. It seemed to Lola that the retreating sun was inches away. Its radiant glow streaked the sky an orangish purple that tapered to slender shards of violet for as far as the naked eye could see. The sun visibly eased into the horizon line, as if the lake had pulled back its cozy surface to tuck the sun in for a good night. “Wow! That is beautiful,” Lola said. “I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anything prettier to me than that.”
“I used to say the same thing until you walked into the Ambassador Ballroom and into my life.”
“Aw, that’s sweet.” She couldn’t stop herself from blushing if she wanted to.
“I . . . you’re . . .” Mannish said, trying to formulate his thoughts into words but unsure if the words would be spoken too soon. “I’ve been falling in love with you since the day we met,” he whispered in her ear then nibbled on her cushiony lobe.
Lola was receptive, offering him more of her ear to taste. His touch felt good. His closeness was warm and needed. She looked over her shoulder to see if his words matched his eyes, their lips close. She ran a finger along his face once she witnessed the truth in his gaze. “I’m feeling you the same way, Mannish.” She leaned in and gave him her lips. They kissed like high school sweethearts about to make love for the very first time. Lola guided his hand down the front of her pants.
Mannish knew that he finger-fucked her right because she uttered his name and invoked God in one breath. “I’ve said more good-byes in my life than hellos. I don’t ever want to say good-bye to you, Lola.”