Animal (24 page)

Frankie didn’t.

“She was,” Porsha said seriously. “That’s Frankie for you. Ready to set it off at the drop of a hat.”

“So I’m finding out,” Dena said. “Well, since Frankie’s mind obviously isn’t on etiquette, I’m Dena, and you must be Porsha.” She extended her hand.

“Indeed I am.” Porsha shook Dena’s hand. “Now, if you girls are done playing gangsta, let’s go up in here and get something to eat. I’m starving.”

A half hour later, the girls were seated, munching on appetizers and throwing back shots of tequila. It had been a little tense at first after what had happened with the cabdriver, but by the time they reached the third round of shots, everything was all good. Even Frankie managed to snap out of her dark-ass mood and started having fun.

Porsha had initially been a bit apprehensive about the girls’ night because she didn’t know Dena and was always skeptical about allowing new people into her circle. After going through what she had gone through over the last few years, Porsha had major trust issues. To her surprise, Dena ended up being a really cool and down-to-earth chick, and they were more alike than either of them cared to admit. To someone on the outside looking in, you would’ve thought that Dena and Porsha were the old friends and Frankie was the new chick.

The waitress came back over, bringing them round number four of shots and their main courses. Frankie tore into her chicken and rib combo like a starved woman, which made all of them laugh heartily. The laughter abruptly ended, and Porsha noticed that Frankie and Dena were both smiling like they knew a secret that they were dying to tell. She was about to ask them what was up when she felt a presence looming over her. When she looked up, she was both surprised and pleased when she saw the handsome brown face smiling down at her.

“Long time no see,” Alonzo said with an easy smile.

TWENTY-FIVE

F
RANKIE SPOTTED
A
LONZO BEFORE ANYONE ELSE
. D
ENA
was in the middle of telling a funny-ass story and had all their attention when she saw him come around the bend. He gave Frankie a light nod, then turned his full attention to Porsha. She was so caught up in the story and ketchup-soaked french fry that she didn’t even notice him. When everybody suddenly got quiet Porsha sensed something was wrong and looked over her shoulder. When her eyes landed on Alonzo you could almost see the spark in the air.

Porsha had to do a double take to make sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. It had been a minute since she had seen Alonzo, but she would know that smile anywhere. It was the same warm smile that greeted her every morning when she went into her local supermarket, where he had been the assistant manager. The last she’d heard, he had abruptly quit one day, and from the looks of things, he had found a noticeably more lucrative source of income.

Alonzo’s hair was freshly cut, and his waves were spinning like a Caribbean sea during a tropical storm. He was wearing a
simple black V-neck sweater and black jeans, cuffed over a crispy pair of black Vasque boots. She did a quick inventory of his ears, wrists, and neck and confirmed that everything was shining and sparkling. Alonzo stood there with his head cocked and thumbs hooked into his belt loop, staring at Porsha. She returned his stare. There was an uncomfortable silence before he finally broke it.

“Long time no see,” Alonzo said with an easy smile.

Porsha’s mouth was suddenly very dry. She searched for a witty response but draw a blank and mustered a weak, “Hey.”

“What it do, Zo?” Frankie smiled.

“It
do
whatever is necessary to make tomorrow better than yesterday,” he said to Frankie but kept his eyes on Porsha. He could tell seeing him had thrown her off, so he threw something extra in his stare and watched her squirm like a deer in headlights. She was about to say something to him, but he purposely snubbed her and turned his attention back to Frankie. “What’s up, Frankie Angels? How you been, love?”

Frankie shrugged. “I’m here, so I can’t complain. You’re looking good, ain’t he, Porsha?”

Porsha didn’t reply. She just rolled her eyes.

“Well, is somebody gonna introduce me, or am I gonna keep wondering who the elephant in the room is?” Dena spoke up. For a minute they had forgotten she was there.

“Dena, this is Alonzo; Zo, this is Dena, my homegirl from my building.” Frankie made the introductions.

“Zo like Zo-Pound?” Dena asked. The moniker tugged at her brain.

“They called me that once upon a time,” Alonzo confirmed.

“I think you knew my older brother Shannon, from Jefferson.” Dena finally put the pieces together. Her mind went back to the
day Shannon and Spooky let Dena tag on one of their shady adventures into Harlem. The dude they went to meet had his little brother with him, who he called Zo-Pound. He was way younger than Shannon and Spooky, but the two seemed to have a great deal of admiration for the young cat. Dena would never see Zo-Pound again until that night in BBQ’s, but she would hear his name a time or two over the years, and it was always associated with mayhem.

Alonzo’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, that was my old head. He was wild as fuck, but one of the most genuine niggaz I ever met. We lost contact when I went up north, but I’d love to get up with my nigga and see what’s good with him. You got a number or an address for your brother?”

“Yeah, Rose Hill Cemetery. That’s where we buried him after he was murdered.” Dena gave him the short version of what had happened to her mother’s oldest son.

“Shit, I’m sorry to hear that. My condolences to you, sis,” Alonzo said sincerely.

“Thanks,” Dena said with a smile. “So, how do you know Frankie and Porsha?” she asked, changing the subject.

“He and Porsha used to date,” Frankie answered for him.

Dena raised an eyebrow. “Really?” She gave Porsha a nod of approval. Though Dena wasn’t into dudes anymore, she was still a female and couldn’t deny the fact that Alonzo was fine as hell.

“I see you got jokes, trick.” Porsha rolled her eyes at Frankie. “No,” she addressed Dena, “Alonzo and I didn’t date.”

“Y’all should have. Everybody knew that y’all were crushing on each other so I don’t know why y’all didn’t just make it official,” Frankie laughed.

“Porsha never felt like I was quite in her league,” Alonzo explained.

Dena looked from Alonzo to Porsha. “You must set your standards
way
high,” she laughed.

Porsha ignored Dena and addressed Alonzo. “You know you wrong for spreading that lie. Don’t act like that, Zo.”

“I’m just teasing you, ma,” Alonzo assured her. “In all truthfulness, I owe you a debt.”

“For what?” Porsha asked suspiciously.

“Because you gave me some advice that changed my life,” he said seriously. “You once told me that I was stuck where I was at because I was afraid to fly beyond it, so I sprouted some wings,” he said, brushing imaginary lint from the sleeves of his sweater.

“So no more supermarkets, huh?” Porsha asked playfully.

Alonzo’s lips twisted in disapproval. “Baby, I know your brain has already processed what your eyes told it, so why even play it like that?”

Porsha was taken aback. “I’m scared of you, Mr. Man.” She looked him up and down.

“Don’t be scared, ma, be open to the idea,” Alonzo shot back. “And for the record, my name ain’t Man, it’s Alonzo. Zo-Pound if you know me like that.” He leaned in and whispered to Porsha, “I told you a long time ago that you were gonna stop sleeping on me.”

“Whatever,” Porsha waved him off as if it was nothing. Truthfully, the way Zo was coming at her was turning her on. The person standing before her wasn’t the cocky young dude stacking boxes in the supermarket, but a confident young cat who was about his business.

Their little moment was interrupted when a fifth party joined their group. Veronica stood there, wide legged in her tight purple dress, nostrils flaring slightly, and eyes sweeping
the gorgeous girls at the table. She looked Porsha up and down but didn’t stare. “I guess you got lost on your way to the bathroom,” she said to Alonzo.

“Nah, just bumped into a few of my peeps and popped over to say hello,” Alonzo said as if it hadn’t been about to go down between him and Porsha. “Ladies,” he addressed the girls, “this is my
friend,
Veronica.”

Frankie and Dena nodded and waved, but Porsha let her voice be heard. “Charmed, I’m sure,” she said with a crooked grin. She knew Veronica was trying to mark her territory. Porsha had to admit that Veronica had a banging body, but her whole swag screamed
hood rat
. She couldn’t fuck with Porsha.

“Damn, I’m over here going down memory lane and neglecting the young lady I rolled in here with. Please forgive me for being a poor date.” He kissed Veronica’s hand, looking up at Porsha. She gave him a knowing look.
Checkmate,
he thought to himself. “It was good seeing you again, ladies.” Alonzo saluted them and threw his arm around Veronica, leading her back to their table.

“Hey, Alonzo,” Porsha called after him, stopping him short. When he turned around she raised her shot glass and said, “Here’s to sound advice.” She downed the shot and slammed the glass, upside down, on the table.

Alonzo smiled. “To sound advice.” He continued to his table with Veronica.

Porsha watched Alonzo walk away, not really caring who saw the look she was giving him. She saw Veronica say something to him and Alonzo brush her off, which made her smile. Veronica could have Alonzo’s dick, but Porsha would forever have his heart.

TWENTY-SIX

“W
HAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT
?” V
ERONICA ASKED
when they were back at their table.

“What was what about?” Alonzo seemed oblivious to what she was talking about.

“The chicks you were over there talking to. Did you used to see one of them or something?” she asked.

“Nah, I just know them from the neighborhood,” he told her.

“Seemed like a li’l more than you just know them from the neighborhood. The chick with the Mohawk kept shooting me dirty looks like she had something she wanted to say.”

“I doubt it. Porsha ain’t the type of chick to bite her tongue if she has something to say,” Alonzo stated. Without even realizing he was doing it, he let his eyes drift back to Porsha. She was staring in his direction too, but when they made eye contact she turned away.

“So you
do
know her like that,” Veronica pressed.

“I told you, I know them from the hood,” Alonzo said in an irritated tone.

“Look, I’m sorry, Zo.” She reached under the table and rubbed his thigh, purposely letting her hand brush his penis. “I don’t wanna come off as a crazy, jealous bitch on our first date and turn you off, but we had a good li’l vibe going and the detour kinda threw it off, ya know?”

“Indeed, and that was my fault. I shouldn’t have left you hanging. That was rude,” he conceded.

“See? That was painless.” Veronica rubbed her hands together, then spread them apart as if she was crushing something, then releasing it to the wind. “How about we pick up where we left off?”

“Works for me,” Alonzo agreed.

They ordered another round of drinks and dessert while trying to get their date back on track. Every so often, Alonzo’s eyes would drift back to Porsha, but for the most part, he stayed focused on Veronica. Soon, there was a commotion at the front door of the restaurant that caused both of them to look that way. A group of young girls, including several of the waitresses, crowded around the entrance squealing like high school kids while trying to get camera phone shots of whomever it was coming in. When the restaurant manager and a few of the bus boys managed to thin out the crowd Alonzo saw that the person who had caused the commotion was none other than Don B.

Don B. pulled to a screeching halt in front of BBQ’s and threw the candy red Benz in park and put the hazards on. Two seconds later, a white Benz identical to the red one pulled up behind it. Don B. hopped out, wearing black shades, baggy blue jeans, and a white V-neck T-shirt with a blue Yankee fitted
cocked to one side. Pinched between his lips was a smoldering blunt, which bobbed every time he said something. He hit the alarm and stepped on the curb with every intention on leaving the car where it was while he ate. It was in a bus lane and sure to get a ticket or worse, but he didn’t give a shit. He was The Don, and all that mattered to him that night was that he was hungry.