Chapter 23
“Is this chair taken?”
“Umm , umm, umm,” Simmons muttered, shaking his head. “I’d like to break my dick off in that. Is she fine, or what?”
Johnnie entered the lobby of the Savoy, attracting attention from every direction. She was wearing a yellow outfit—sundress, hat, purse, shoes, and sunglasses.
“Yes, Lawd!” Myron, the daytime doorman, said.
Johnnie could feel all the attention. As usual, she felt a little self-conscious; especially when men stared at her ass. They stared at it so long that it felt like they were attempting to look into the crack. Nevertheless, she smiled politely.
“How you doin’, you beautiful creature from heaven?” Myron asked, as cool as he could.
“I’m doing just fine. And you?” she said as she walked past him.
Myron took her politeness as an invitation to more conversation and followed her.
“Where you think you going, Myron?” Simmons asked. “You’re on the clock.”
Myron stopped in his tracks and went back to the desk, frowning at Simmons. “You can get mad all you want,” Simmons said. “You’re gettin’ paid by the hour.”
“That’s bullshit,” Myron said. “You just want to get the first crack of that sculptured ass.”
“That’s right,” Simmons said and followed her. “I’ma have her climbin’ the walls.”
When Simmons got to Trudy’s Café, he stood at the door and admired Johnnie’s beauty from a distance, wondering what his chances were. He and many of his friends shared the notion that colored women who dated white men wouldn’t date colored men. What the hell? What have I got to lose? All she can do is say no. He walked over to the table and asked courteously, “Is this chair taken?”
He didn’t wait for an answer. He was sliding the chair back before he finished the question. Johnnie recognized him immediately. He was the man she had seen yesterday going into the house in Ashland Estates. Simmons was an average looking man, nothing at all like Lucas Matthews, Johnnie thought.
“Hi. I’m Robert Simmons, owner of this establishment. And you are?”
“Johnnie Wise,” she said, extending her hand.
“Anyone tell you you’re absolutely gorgeous?”
“All the time,” she said without sounding arrogant.
Simmons was staring at her breasts. He could see her nipples through the sundress, and yearned to see more. Johnnie let him stare for a while; she was getting used to it. She noticed how when staring at her breasts, the expression on a man’s face seemed to reveal his true nature.
“Something I can do for you, Mr. Simmons?” she asked, awakening him out of his deep gaze.
“You can call me Robert,” he said, trying hard to keep looking her in the eye. “I just thought you might want some company now that your boyfriend is gone.”
“You’re rude, Mr. Simmons.” Johnnie frowned.
“What do you mean, I’m rude?”
“For one, you invite yourself to my table and sit down without my sayin’ it’s okay.”
The waitress came back with Johnnie’s fruit salad and placed it on the table. “Is there anything else I can get for you?” she asked.
“No, thank you,” Johnnie said.
“How ’bout you, Robert?”
“No thank you, Trudy.”
“Enjoy your salad,” Trudy said, placing the bill on the table.
“Now, as I was sayin’,” Johnnie began again. “You invite yourself to my table, you stare at my breasts like you’ve never seen breasts before, then you ask me personal questions as if we’re old friends or somethin’.”
“Well, first, Ms. Wise, I invited myself because you were sitting here all by your lonesome and—”
Johnnie looked up from her fruit salad and said, “So, you think anybody who sits alone wants company?”
“Well no, but—”
“So, then it never occurred to you that I just might want to be alone, huh?”
Feeling like he was being cross-examined, he said, “If you didn’t want me to sit down, why didn’t you just say so?”
“You sat down before I even had the chance to answer your question, Mr. Simmons.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“If I do, will you?”
“I might.”
“Then there’s no point in answering your question, is there?”
“Not really.”
Johnnie took a deep breath and let it out like she was exasperated, then resumed eating her fruit salad.
“What do you want, Mr. Simmons?”
“For starters, I want you to call me Robert.”
“The way Trudy does?”
“Yes. I’m just being friendly.”
“Are you friendly with all your guests, Mr. Simmons?”
“Only the ones I find extremely attractive,” he said, smiling again.
“So, are you having sex with Trudy?”
Simmons’ guilt revealed itself on his face. He didn’t like the idea of her asking about Trudy, especially since she was right. Johnnie knew she was on target and smiled. She shook her head in amazement then finished off her salad.
“What’s that to you?”
“It’s nothing to me, Mr. Simmons, but I would think one of us would be enough for one of you. What makes you think you can handle another woman?”
“Not to brag, but I’m insatiable.”
Johnnie didn’t know what insatiable meant, so she said, “Went to college, huh?”
Simmons laughed. Johnnie was amazed at the reaction she got from the comment and decided to use it whenever she didn’t know what a word meant. That way, whoever used words she didn’t understand wouldn’t know the extent of her education.
I probably better get a small dictionary and carry it around in my purse if I’m going to pull this grown-up thing off.
Johnnie picked up the check and Simmons gently took it out of her hand, making sure his hand touched hers. He looked in her eyes hoping for some indication of how good his chances were.
“It’s on the house.”
“Thank you, Mr. Simmons,” she said and started walking toward the exit.
Simmons turned toward the cash register and shouted, “Trudy, put this on my tab.”
Trudy waited until he turned around, then turned up her nose.
“What do I have to do to get you to call me Robert?” he asked, catching up with her.
“I don’t know, Mr. Simmons, but I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
“How about lunch or dinner later?” he said as they walked through the lobby.
“I’ll be busy later.”
“With that white man?”
“With my mother, if you must know.”
“So, the thing with the white man was just a one time thing, huh?”
Johnnie stopped walking. They were standing at the lobby exit. She put her hands on her hips, saying, “Is this how you plan to seduce me? By questionin’ my relationship with a white man? How far do you think you’ll get with that approach?”
“You’re right, you’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Is it askin’ too much for you to show me some respect? The same respect you would show any white woman that comes to this hotel with a colored man. Would you disrespect her even if she was with a colored man? I don’t think so. If you won’t disrespect her, don’t disrespect me. Good day, Mr. Simmons.”
Johnnie turned around and walked through the revolving door. Simmons stood there looking at her ass until she disappeared down the street. Then he turned around and saw Myron laughing.
“You can laugh if you want to, but I’ma get some of that.”