I thought I’d resigned myself to a life of noncommittal relationships after Su and I split up. So I don’t have a clue as to what possesses me to pursue this girl when I know I’m not looking for anything serious. I can only deduce that I’m craving pain. There is something about Jovie that makes me nostalgic for love.
For some strange reason, I want to impress Jovie tonight. Do something really nice that I know she’ll appreciate. Don’t get it twisted, if I thought I could take her to BBQ’s I would have. But my conscience was telling me to step it up.
I looked outside my window and saw my brother, Lawrence, coming up the street to visit me unannounced. Usually, I’d be glad to see him, but not today. My brother has a draining personality and I have to be mentally prepared for him. And since I wanted to concentrate all my energy on seeing Jovie tonight, I was a little agitated when he rang the doorbell.
Reluctantly, I went to open the door and put on a false smile. “What’s up bro?”
“Hey man, I decided to stop by and see if you wanted to go to the gym tonight.”
“I already went this morning.”
“Aw, man. Why didn’t you call me? You know I hate working out alone.”
“Quit whining and be a man,” I joked.
Immediately, my brother threw a fake left punch and I ducked, weaving around and tossing a right uppercut to his jaw. He jerked his head back as if I had landed a solid one on his chin and he gave me a succession of body shots. We play-boxed for a few minutes before collapsing on the sofa, totally winded.
“Well, I guess this was my workout for the day,” Lawrence joked.
“Looking at that gut of yours, I hope you’ll reconsider.” I went to the refrigerator to get a couple of cold Heinekens. I tossed Lawrence a brew.
As we sat there drinking, I decided to tell him about my date tonight.
“I met this new girl, and I’m taking her out someplace special.”
“Why are you telling me?” he said uninterested.
“I don’t know. Just because,” I reasoned.
“Where are you taking her?”
“Don’t know yet. I want it to be someplace with ambiance. You know . . . special.”
“Special as in ‘I want to hit it later.’ Or special as in ‘She’s a nice girl.’ ”
“The latter.”
“There’s no such thing. I may be your older brother, but I’m not phased by women. They’re all whores in ‘nice girl’ clothing. Su is a prime example of that. That ho-bitch was nothing but a groupie with education.”
“Will you knock it off already?” I said, annoyed. “I don’t need a lesson on women. I can handle mines. Su fucked up—I’m not fucked up over Su. And I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“I know the truth hurts, but if you go into a relationship thinking she’s a nice girl, you’re already setting yourself up to get hurt. I love you, bro, but I don’t have the energy to help you put the pieces back together if this girl breaks your heart.”
“You’re moving way too fast. We’re only having dinner. No one is breaking anyone’s heart. If a heart gets broken, then it’ll be hers. Because it damn well isn’t going to be mine,” I boasted.
By the time my brother left, I was drained. I showered quickly and then couldn’t decide on what to wear. It was a clear night, but the temperature was frigid. Finally, I decided to wear a pair of dark blue Diesel jeans, hard-bottom shoes, a pullover wool sweater and my three-quarter mink jacket to jazz it up a bit.
I’d decided to take her to Ida Mae’s, a nice restaurant in lower Manhattan. From there I didn’t have a clue where we’d end up. Hopefully, my place.