At Last (17 page)

             
“No. I’m cool.”  I said sitting up.

             
“So where’s your man at, Miss Morgan?”  He said flashing that smile of his.

             
“Where’s your woman at, Mr. Andrews?”  I retorted.

             
“I don’t have one,” He said matter of factly.

             
“Me either.”

             
“What?
You?
You bullshittin.”
  He said cracking up.

             
“Shut up, Cliff!  It’s not that funny.” I said as I punched him on his shoulder.  He grabbed it like he was really hurt.

             
“I’m just saying.  I’m shocked.”

             
“Well get over it.  And what does Cliff stand for anyway?”

             
He smiled, “Clifford…Clifton would be corny.”

             
“Clifford?”  I asked smiling.

             
“Yeah, Clifford.”

             
“It fits you.  How old are you, Clifford?”

             
He chuckled, “Twenty-nine.”

             
“Do you have any children?”

             
“No, but I want some one day.  You got a little Shorty don’t you?”

             
“Yeah that’s my heart.  Her name is Taylor.  She’s four.”

             
“So you had her when?”

             
“Four years ago.” I said smiling.

             
Cliff began to laugh, “You act like you in your forties or somethin’?”

             
“If you must know, I had her when I was twenty.”

             
“Now I’m not ill with mathematics, but that would make you twenty-four, right?” He asked with a smile.

             
“Yes,” I giggled.

             
“Young’n. That really means yo ass shouldn’t know bout The Dramatics.” He teased.

             
“Shut up.” I said laughing before taking another sip of my drink.

             
We talked for hours.  He told me about growing up in Brooklyn.  He told me about his dreams of owning a barbershop, car wash, and landscaping company one day. He wanted to be a real entrepreneur someday. I loved that he had such ambition.

             
I told him about my dream of going to college and becoming a writer.  It was so crazy.  For the first time in my life, a man actually listened to what I had to say.  He was really interested.  I was used to men hearing me, but never listening.

             
Cliff understood that I had goals I wanted to accomplish.  He understood because he wanted the same thing.  I was beginning to understand my attraction for him now.

             
It went beyond looks.  It was on a much deeper level. I wasn’t just attracted to his appearance but to his ambition.

             
Kem played softly while we both were lying on the floor looking up at the ceiling. “I better get ready to go.” I said.

             
“You too buzzed to drive
.
” Cliff told me.

             
“But I gotta get home.”

             
“You straight.
  Just relax.”

             
I
laid
on the floor random thoughts drifted in and out of my mind.  Trying to control my emotions, Taylor, and how I was gonna make it home were all floating around in my head.

             
I looked over at the glass coffee table.  Both bottles of Belvedere and cranberry juice were bone dry. I then took a look at Cliff.  He was so handsome.  His eyes were stuck on the ceiling.   His hair was neatly lined up and so was his mustache and goatee.

             
His skin looked so smooth; I just wanted to touch his face just to see what it felt like.  He turned to face me and I was so busted. He smiled, “What you looking at?”

             
“Nothing.”
  I said turning around quickly.  I was so embarrassed that he caught me staring at him. Suddenly I could feel my hair being pushed over to the side.   Then I felt his soft lips on the nape of my neck.  I could feel the fire ignite all over my body.

             
His large hands begin moving up and down my shoulders and back. He started kissing on the front of my neck and then my cheek eventually making his way to my lips.

             
At first the kiss was soft and simple. Then he slowly slipped his sweet tongue in my mouth.  I just wanted to scream.  He pulled me closer and wrapped his arms around me. Caressing my back tenderly eventually I felt his hands running through my hair.

             
In time, I pulled away. I tried to compose myself as my body shivered.  He continued to kiss my neck as Kem’s,
“Love Calls”
played softly. After a while, we finally stared into each other’s eyes.

             
“I ain’t gon’ lie, when you walked into my shop, I wanted you. It was somethin’ about you. Maybe how you moved…shit, maybe how you talked-it was somethin’.” He confessed while intertwining my hair between his fingers, “Ma, I thought you
was
gorgeous.  I was gon’ beat the shit out that nigga that called you out your name, but that would’ve been bad for business.”  He said. We both laughed.

             
“Thank you, Cliff.” I replied.

             
“No bullshittin’.”

             
I wanted him so bad.  His chestnut brown eyes were so sexy.  But I couldn’t fall back into the trap no matter how good his kiss made me feel or how good he looked.  I glanced at the clock it was two in the morning.

             
“I need to leave,” I said to him

             
“Come on Ma, I told you, you too buzzed to drive.  Just stay here tonight.” He said as he kissed the inside of my hand.

             
“Clifford, I can’t.”

             
He smiled.  “You the only person who can say my name and make it sound good.”

             
I laughed and grabbed his face.  “I like your name.”

             
“Come on Ma, stay with me.”

             
“I want to but…”

             
“But what?
  Won’t nothing happen that you don’t want to happen.” He said as he caressed my cheek.

             
It was late.  I didn’t want to go into my mother’s house at this hour and wake her and Taylor.  I picked up my phone and went to the bathroom.

The phone rang. 
Once.
Please don’t pick up,
twice.
Okay, cool. 
Three
times.

             
“Hello, we’re not able to come to the phone right now.  Leave a message at the beep.”

             
Yes!
She was sleep. I could leave a message.

             
“Hey Momma, I know it’s late.  I’ma
stay
the night at Melissa’s.  Kiss Taylor for me.  I’ll see you guys in the morning.  Love you.”

             
I closed the phone and looked in the mirror.  What was I, sixteen?  I can’t believe I’d just
laid
to my mother about being over a dude’s house. I guess some things never changed.

             
When I opened the door Cliff was on the other side.

             
“So I guess I’m Melissa now?”  He said before cracking a smile.

             
“Whatever.  You wanted me, now you got me.”

Chapter Thirteen

             
“So?”

             
“So what?”

             
Yvette was seated in my chair at work as I cut her hair.

             
She smiled, “Who’s the new guy?”

             
“Why you think I got a new guy? “  I said trying hard to hold back my grin.

             
“Bitch.”
She said turning around to face me.  I began to laugh, “I used to change your damn diapers.  Don’t lie to me.”

             
“Seriously Yvette, there ain’t nothing going on. There’s no new guy.”

             
I was lying through my teeth.  I didn’t want anyone to know about me and Cliff-not even my sister.  I
know we shared everything going on in our lives, but this was off limits at least for now.

             
I blocked Yvette out as she went on and on about knowing something was going on. I just watched Cliff through the mirror as he cleaned his clippers.

             
He was looking so good.  He was wearing a brown jogging suit and a pair of tan Timberland boots.  His hair was freshly cut and his diamond stud shimmered as it caught the light.  I wanted him so bad.

             
We had been sneaking around for a little more than four months.  We hadn’t had sex yet and I didn’t know how much longer we both could hold out. While at work, we kept our relationship strictly professional.  The only time we’d show our true feelings was when we were alone and the shop was empty.

             
Our first official date was to Comerica Park for a Tigers vs. Yankees game. I’d never been to a baseball game before; nor did I ever have the desire to go to a ball game. Surprisingly, I had a great time. It was so much fun.  I didn’t know anything about innings, strikes, outs or any other baseball vernacular, but Cliff was patient with me and explained everything.

             
He never got annoyed with my lack of knowledge of the game.  He simply smiled and chuckled, “It’s cool Ma,
you’ll
figure it out once we in the parking lot.”

             
After work we’d go to summer jazz concerts at Chene Park off the Detroit River. Or we’d go for walks on the River walk, Belle Isle and through Royal Oak.  We did simple things, but they were fulfilling. Some nights we’d just chill after work listen to music and order takeout.

             
The first time I officially introduced him to Taylor we went over to his house and he took us out for
ice cream on a Sunday afternoon. It sort of became our little ritual. We’d meet over his house, get some ice cream and roll around the city for the day. For Cliff to be a non-native, he really knew the city.  Some areas I didn’t even know about.

             
“How do you know the city so well?” I asked while taking a nibble of my chocolate ice-cream cone.

             
He hunched his shoulders while taking his eyes off the road briefly, “Gotta know your surroundings.  When I first got to the D, everything was so foreign to me-wasn’t
no
train or nothing like that.  Everything was so spread out and I didn’t know
nobody
but my Uncle so some days I’d jump in the whip and just drive.”

             
I found a new place; an apartment out in Southfield.  Nothing really spectacular, but it was mine. A two bedroom apartment that was just right for me and Taylor. Cliff came over and helped us move. My mother was so rude to him.

             
Maybe because he wasn’t Durran, but I could care less.
I was happy for the first time in years. The best part of it all was that Taylor adored him and the feeling was mutual.

             
I was in my room putting more of Taylor’s things in boxes.

             
“Keisha.” My mother called out to me.

             
“Yeah?”
  I replied carrying a box to the front of the house. Cliff was standing next to my mother with this sly grin on his face.  I looked over at my mother and she didn’t look pleased.

             
“Hey, Cliff.”
I said with a big Kool-Aid smile on my face.

             
“What’s poppin’, Ma.
  Let me take that for you.”  He said grabbing the box from me.

             
“Thank you.”  I smiled.

             
He smiled back, “Where you want this to go?”

             
“In the back of my car.”

             
He turned around and walked out of the door.