A Good Dude (25 page)

“Candace! You’re still here?”

“Yeah. What happened to you? You look like a
cholo
now,” she said.

“I know you didn’t call me a
cholo!
” Tino smiled and his jaw dropped. “You had your baby!”

Today Candace wore a pair of very short shorts with a small T-shirt that fit her close. Most of her baby weight was gone, but her hips and butt were still fuller than before she got pregnant. Her chest was bigger, too.

“Yep. I had her June 30.”

Tino ogled her unabashedly. “Dang, you look good. I didn’t know you had it like that.”

Candace giggled. “You’re the one who kept trying to talk to me. Following me around, looking at my butt.”

“Yeah, but you were kinda fat then.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“No. I’m just kidding. But seriously, you look really good.”

“Thanks,” Candace said and blushed. The last time a man made her feel like that, it was Rilla. That was so long ago.

“So, are you here registering? I thought you were going back to New York.”

“Not yet,” she said. “I’m going to do one more semester here.”

“Rilla got out of jail?”

“No. I’m here by myself. I have my own apartment. I got a job, too, just like you said.”

Tino’s smile grew wider. Candace thought his lips were cute. His dimples made her melt.

“You live by yourself, just you and your baby?”

“My baby’s visiting with my parents,” Candace said.

The lie came easy, but she hated it as soon as it was out.
“It’s just me right now, for a couple more weeks.”
September 1. Just two more weeks and no more lies.

Tino was pleased with this information. “So you’re talking to your parents again?”

“Yeah. I talk to them all the time. After I broke up with Rilla, I decided I didn’t want to keep them in the dark anymore. I love them. They really missed me. I missed them, too.”

“Where do you work?” he asked.

“Pappadeaux.”

“That’s a big restaurant. I love it there, but I can’t afford it.”

“Why don’t you let me take you sometime,” Candace offered. “I can get us a discount.”

Tino grinned. “You’re asking me out?”

“You’ve got a girlfriend?” Candace guessed.

“No. But if I did, I would break up with her. I’d put her out with the trash.”

Candace laughed.

“I didn’t think you would ever go out with me,” he said.

“I never said I didn’t want to. I told you I couldn’t.”

“You’re serious, though? We’re really going to go out?”

“Yes, Tino. You know I like you.”

“I like you, too,” he said, and there was a comfortable silence between them.

“So, you’re going to give me your phone number?” he asked.

Candace scribbled it on the corner of her registrar paper and tore it off.

Tino took it and stuffed it in his front pocket. “All right. Cool. This is great.” He shook his head and grinned. “I knew karma was going to work out in my favor sooner or later.”

“You been helping old ladies across the street?” Candace asked.

“I’ve been saving them from burning buildings,” Tino teased. “Their cats, too!”

Candace giggled.

“We’re not going to your restaurant on our first date, though,” he said. “I don’t want you to take me out.”

“What are you, a chauvinist?”

“No. I’m a gentleman.”

“So you’re never going to let me pay for a meal?”

“Not the first time,” Tino said. “After that you can pay every time if you want.”

“Not happening.” Candace chuckled. “Well, I’m on my way home. I guess I’ll be waiting for your call. Don’t wait a week, either. That’s rude.”

“What? Are you kidding? I’m calling today!” Candace smiled. “All right, Tino.” She turned to leave, but he grabbed her hand.

“Thanks,” he said when she turned back to him. “For what?”

“For giving me a chance. There’s a lot of guys here who like you, but you chose me.”

“You still won’t tell me who those other guys are.”

“If you really want to know, I’ll tell you,” Tino said sincerely.

Candace shook her head. “No. That’s all right.”

“Good,” Tino said. He bent and kissed the back of her hand with those pretty pink lips. Candace felt electricity all the way up her arm.

He gave her one last smile before continuing on his way. Candace drove home thinking about a man who wasn’t Rilla for the first time in a year and a half.

CELESTIAL

“Some Mexican dude?” Trisha asked.

“He’s not just some Mexican dude,” Candace said. “He’s my age. He’s smart. He’s cute. He makes me laugh.”

“Ain’t nothing special about him?”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. It just seems that if you go from a Puerto Rican to a Mexican, it must be something about them.”

Candace shook her head. “Look, Trish, I go out with whoever I like. I don’t discriminate. It’s just a coincidence.”

“Oh, okay. I didn’t want to think you had something against the brothers . . . .”

“Not at all.”

They were in Candace’s apartment. Trisha had all three boys with her. She cradled Willie Jr. in one arm and he sucked at her breast complacently. The other two monsters ran around the new apartment like they were on a playground. Candace never noticed how
bad
Trisha’s kids were. The behavior was no doubt always there, but she didn’t really see it until it was her house in danger of demolition.

“You wanna check on them?” Candace suggested. “Y’all quit running around in here!” Trisha yelled without looking back.

“You don’t think I should go out with a Mexican?” Candace asked. She sat on one end of her sofa with Trisha on the other side. Trisha wore a large, shapeless dress. One shoulder strap was down, providing an escape for Willie’s meal.

“What about Rilla?” Trisha asked.

“We’re through.”

“You talked to him?”

Candace shook her head.

“You just gon’ move on with your life without him?”

“To the best of my abilities.”

Trisha laughed. “You a cold bitch. Okay, tell me about Celestial.”

Now Candace laughed. “It’s Celestino
.
He goes by Tino. But I think you’re right. It does have something to do with heaven and the stars.”

“That’s why he’s got your head all up in the clouds?” Trisha joked.

“I just think he’s cool,” Candace said. “He’s a good guy. He cared about me when I didn’t really know him. He always wanted to help. When I was with Rilla, he would come and talk to me to see how I was doing. He knew I had problems.”

“Did you tell him about your baby?”

“No,” Candace said, and the guilt changed her demeanor. “I can’t. I don’t want him to know I went to jail.”

“If it’s meant to be, he’ll—”

“Yeah, I know,” Candace snapped. “He’ll accept me no matter what. You sound like a TV show.”

“There’s some truth to that,” Trisha said, slightly offended.

“I know,” Candace said. She sighed. “The whole situation is real stressful. I’m lying to my parents. Now I’m lying to Tino.”

“Maybe it’s time to give it up,” Trisha suggested.

Candace shook her head. “I’ve made it too far, Trisha. Today’s the eighteenth. I get my baby back on the first. No sense telling them now.”

“So you gonna stay down here for another semester?”

“Yeah. I want to prove I can do it.”

“And you’ll get to see Celestial, too, huh?”

“Yeah,” Candace said with unconcealed affection. “I’ll get to see Celestial, too.”

“It won’t be that hard,” Trisha said. “I can watch your baby whenever you need.”

“Girl, I already had you booked.”

There was a knock at the door.

Candace couldn’t think of one person who would have cause to visit her. She looked over at her friend. “You didn’t tell CC where I live, did you?”

“You know me better than that.”

“Delia, either?”

“No. I didn’t tell her.”

Candace stood and squinted through the peephole. Of all people, it was Gabriella Sands on her welcome mat. Candace looked back to Trisha in a panic. “It’s my caseworker!” she hissed.

“Who?” Trisha whispered.

“The CPS lady! She’s here!”

“So what?” Trisha said. She didn’t see a problem with it. But as if on cue, Willie Jr. unlatched from her nipple and took in a deep breath for a powerful wail.

“
WAAAAAHHHH
!”

The noise brought Little Sammy and Petey on the run. The younger boy toted Candace’s bathroom plunger for some reason.

There was another knock. “Hello? Candace?” The caseworker knew someone was inside.

“Boy, go put that up!” Trisha yelled at Sammy. She threw Willie over her shoulder and tried to coerce a burp from him. He continued to scream mightily.

Candace watched the whole scene in horror and knew she had to open the door.

“Put your tittie up!” she told Trisha.

Trisha rolled her eyes at her but complied. Sammy ran off again in the direction of the bathroom and Petey followed. Candace put on her best “Welcome to Pappadeaux” face and summoned the will to open the door. Gabriella looked like she didn’t like to be kept waiting.

“Hi.” Candace smiled brightly. “How are you, Ms. Sands?”

“Hello, Candace.” The caseworker wore a blue pantsuit today. Her hair was curled.

Candace looked back into her apartment and then at her visitor. “Hi,” she said again.

Gabriella cradled a ledger to her chest and rocked on her heels. “Um, can I come in?”

“Sure,” Candace said and stepped out of the way. “Come on in.”

* * *

Contrary to Candace’s dread, the visit with her caseworker didn’t go badly at all. Gabriella was not shocked to see a house full of kids, not even kids as bad as Trisha’s. Candace introduced the two women, emphasizing the fact that Trisha was her neighbor of more than a year. Trisha knew Rilla and she knew the truth about Candace’s arrest.