Beautiful Liar (21 page)

              A monarch butterfly fluttered by as I sat on the edge of Ronnie’s ground pool, nibbling on Canadian bacon, scrambled egg, and provolone cheese sandwiched between a flaky croissants.

              “How do you like it?”

              “I love it”

              It was just like my daydream from the first time I came to Ronnie’s house. Minus the grill. Minus the magazine. With my maxi skirt hiked to my thighs, I tapped my toes underneath the cool water, intrigued by the rippling effect it created against my toe nail polish. Ronnie lounged in a chair behind me wearing Ray-Ban mirror aviators, a t-shirt and shorts set he changed into after I insisted we eat brunch poolside.

              “It’s home baked.”

              “What?”

              “The croissants. I baked them. Last week.”

              “You got talent.”             

              “Not my only. I used to swim competitive, too.”

              I pointed my finger at him. “No Swimming!”

              Ronnie stuffed the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth. Then, he grinned.

              “I didn’t come out here to swim. Just to enjoy the weather and your backyard.”

              As soon as I turned my back towards him, SPLASH!!!! Ronnie dove into the pool. Shirtless—Aviators still on. The sunrays reflected and glistened off his toned body as he swam towards me. I exhaled, breathing out the raunchy thoughts that brewed inside of me, trying everything within me to be on my best behavior.

              “Get in.”

              I watched my head shake in the reflection of his sunglasses.

              “Get in.”

              “I will not.”

              Ronnie grabbed my wrist and pulled me in any way!

              I popped up and hopped out quicker than a jack-in-a-box. “Are you outta your mind?” I was livid. My nose and cheeks collected droplets of water as my freshly pressed hair coiled and drenched.

              Ronnie flashed a grin. “I didn’t think your hair would curl like that.” He got out of the pool and retrieved two towels from a bin nearby. “You’re adorable when you’re mad.”

             
What had gotten into him?
I didn’t know whether to slap him or suck his bottom lip dry. I snatched the towel.

              He snatched it back.

              I snatched it again.

              He grabbed my wrist, this time leading me back to the house and upstairs.

              “Take off your clothes.”

              My eyes widened.

              “I’ll dry them for you. There’re shirts in the drawer in there.” Ronnie pointed to the guestroom. “Go change. I’ll wait out here for you.”

              A 10x16 photo of Margo, his deceased wife, hung on the wall above the dresser. In it, she wore a pink sundress and posed with a pink chrysanthemum. She smiled sweetly at the photographer. I found one of Ronnie’s button-downs, threw it on, and met him back in the hallway.

              He took my hand and kissed it. Slowly. Softly. I smiled. “What is all this about?”

              “If only I could practice what I preached today.”

              “Am I your addiction?

              Holding both of my hands, he backed me against the wall and lifted me by the waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he carried me to his bedroom. Both of our bodies collapsed on his bed. Wedged between my legs, he kissed my neck, and my heart pounded as he then kissed just above my breast. Then, finally, our lips touched.               Finally.

              Both of us exhaled, and the temperature rose. A haze of anticipation released and morphed into a thick cloud of sexual tension surrounding our intertwined bodies, and then I felt him rise through his shorts.

              “Mmmm mmm, Silas.” …My eyes shot open and my hand covered my mouth. But it was already too late to catch the words that slipped out.

              Ronnie pulled himself off me. “Silas? Silas?...Wowwwwwww!”

              “Daddy?!”

              Ronnie and I both jerked, startled by the sound of Marley’s call from downstairs. I scurried into the guestroom closing the door behind me.

              “Why is Nola’s car parked outside? Why is Nola here?”

              Stuck in the guestroom with Marley’s flower barring mother staring over my shoulder, I could hear Ronnie struggling to explain brunch, the pool, and my wet clothes… minus the steamy details… and my Silas slip. I threw my hands on my head.
Why did I make that slip?
For minutes, I tried to come up with something crafty to tell Marley. After I ended up with nothing, I simply buttoned Ronnie’s shirt up to the collar and made my way downstairs. Luckily, his shirt was long enough to meet at my thighs.

              The entire house fell silent as I casually walked by Greg who was completely baffled, Ronnie—who was rubbing his temples, and Marley—whose lips were so tightly pressed together that I thought her face would explode. I grabbed my purse and sandals from the kitchen, and then walked right back into the foyer where they stood.

              “Are you seeing my father?!” Marley barked. Greg placed his hands on her shoulder. She shook it off.

              He said, “Marley, your—“

              “—Greg, don’t!”

              I looked at Ronnie.  “Im’ma go.”

              Marley followed me outside. “I asked you a question! ARE YOU SEEING MY FATHER?”

              “Get away from me, Marley,” I warned without turning to face her. “I’d do you like I shoulda done Trisherica.”

              She tugged my arm and I swung around pressing my fingernail into her forehead. “DON’T TRY ME, MARLEY!”

              By now, Greg and Ronnie were descending down his steps. Greg was hustling over. “No. You won’t do this. Not while you’re carrying my son.” He moved her back, Ronnie helped.

              “She’s pregnant?” I looked at all three of them. “You’re pregnant? That’s why you’re having this microwave wedding? ‘Cause your pregnant?”

              Marley tried to break away from their hold.               “Every day I’ve seen you for the manipulating, fake, and selfish person you are!” She then barked at the guys. “Let go of me! I’m not stupid. I’m not gonna do anything.”

              They freed her, and it was right then that I noticed Marley’s protruding belly beneath her tunic-styled shirt.

              “Good bye, Marley.” I slid my purse back on my arm.

              “The chapter knows about you Nola. EVERYBODY knows about you. You just haven’t seen me in a while because I’m tired of playing along!.. And, what makes you think my dad would want someone like you anyway?”

              “Baby girl… don’t,” I heard him say.

              I gave Marley my back and approached my car.

              She went on. “You can’t keep a man, you have no career, and you live at home with your parents, bumming off of their money.”

              I paused. It took everything within me not to knock her teeth to the ground. I blew air from my cheeks and swung back around. “Little girl you are Nola Jr. I created you.
That’s
why your father would want me. We have that in common! Now, how about you wobble and slither your spineless behind back up into the house with your corny fiancé, and speak to me when your lips aren’t lacquered with my hand-me-down lipstick.

              I hopped in my car.

              “Stay away from my dad, Nola!” I could hear as I reversed out of the driveway. “Don’t even come back to my church!”

              No sooner than I turned out of Ronnie's driveway, my cellular chimed through my Bluetooth. I pressed the pickup button. "Yes?"

              It was my mother. She was frantic. Sobbing, and nearly incoherent. "Nola! Nola...you have to come... Come to Christiana Hospital quick!"

              "Mom, calm down. What's wrong? Is it daddy? Did he put his hands on you?"

              "No," she cried. "It's Dominic. Nola, he was struck by a car."

              I flew to Delaware in under fifteen minutes almost causing three accidents. Two of them would have been on the Commander Barry Bridge. The other would have been in the hospital garage.

              I rushed through the doors and down the halls, nearly knocking people over. My mother met me in the waiting area and grabbed onto me.

              "I wanna see him!" I demanded. "Where is my baby brother? I wanna see him!"

              "You can't. They're performing emergency surgery," she cried on my shoulder.

              "Who did this to him?!"

              The manny, whose eyes were bloodshot red, came over to rub both of our backs. "Your father and Derrick are speaking to the detectives now."

              "It was hit and run?" My heart was pounding so heavy that I thought it'd jump out of place.

              My mother blew her nose in a napkin. "No, the driver stayed at the scene."

              "Then why are we speaking to detectives?"

              My mother sniffled. "The driver says Dom walked into traffic. She and a few witnesses are calling it suicide."

             
Four hours later, we got to see Dom. He was in a coma. Both of his arms were amputated. His face was completed distorted from multiple fractures. Two hours after that, Dominic died. My best friend was gone.

***

              I stayed in bed for two days. I didn't shower for three. News about Dom spread like wild fire, after it was covered by local reporters. It made headlines:
Delaware's Notable Defense Attorney Walter Victor Mourns Autistic Son After Alleged Suicide
. I kept my phone down to avoid it all. It was constantly ringing. The last phone call I accepted came from the manny who called to tell me he was moving to Texas with a guy he met online. After that, every call got ignored. I had voicemails and text messages loaded with condolences. Most of them were from sorors. Some of them from Silas, and even one of them was from Marley. They had the funeral four days after Dom's death. I didn't go. I felt like it was my own.

***

              "Nola? Is that you?"

              I was in FeliciTEA’s completely zoned out before I heard the familiar voice. I slowly rolled my heard in the direction of it. Sharron, the concierge from my old condo across the street, was standing over me smiling.

              "I barely recognized you!" It was my hair, which was braided in two cornrows. It was my face, which was bare—not a touch of make up on. It was my hideous outfit—black biker pants and an oversized olive colored t-shirt. "I haven't seen you in so long! Can I sit?"

              I took my legs off the sofa and scooted over. I barely recognized her either. She was slimmer, and she wasn’t wearing a flamboyant wig. Instead, her hair was braided into long individuals. Plus, she wasn’t dressed in her uniform.

              She sat. "You don't look good." We didn't look at each other; just straight ahead thru the oversized window. "I'm not even gonna play like I don't know what's wrong. I saw it in the paper this week while I was working. My heart sank when I saw your name printed. Funeral's today, right?"

              I nodded.

              I felt her staring at my profile. "You still don't cry, huh?"

              I shook my head slowly, then dryly said, "Nope."

              She patted my knee. “Well, I'm glad I ran into you. You were there for me when you gave me that ring. I never told you, but I was facing eviction. On top of that, student loans were snatching almost every penny I earned. I needed the money desperately, and you didn't even know it. I knew it was God moving through you, though."

              I looked at Sharron. “Why didn't say anything? I would have bought you… given you whatever you needed. You saw the way I spent."

              She shrugged. "Pride and protecting perception. I'm known as the super joyful concierge. Working in a residence full of ballers, the last thing you'd want them thinking is that you're a mooching charity case."

              I nodded, all too familiar with the feeling.

              "Anyway, since you blessed me all of those times, I’m gonna bless you. You were there for me, I'm gonna be here for you. Befriend you." She playfully tapped my shoulder with hers. “You look like you could use a friend.”

              Sharron and I hung out in FeliciTEA’s and talked until the sun began to go down. True to her word, she lent me her ear to vent about everything, without interruption like a real friend would. She nearly choked on her tea when I told her about the STD, trying to pursue the pastor while sleeping with Silas, getting beat up by Alicia, and my altercation with Marley, but she didn't judge once. And that made me feel good. If I could have, I would've kept her all night, bought her dinner, and made her sleepover so I could talk until her eyelids collapsed, but she had a scheduled engagement.

              She slurped the last bit of her tea, and then squeezed me tightly. "We'll catch up some more soon. I promise. Maybe get our nails done. Pampered a little bit? This weekend?"

              I accepted her invitation.

              Sharron grabbed her tote from Victoria's Secret and threw it over her shoulder. She turned and walked away, but then she came back. "Why don't come with me?"

              "Where?"

              "I work at a recreational center now for youth in West Philly. You should come check it out. The kids are amazing. They always cheer me up."

I shook my head. "Uht-uhn, I'm sorry, not looking like this. Plus...I don’t know if I can handle seeing young people yet. It’d make me miss Dominic."

              She didn't press me. "Next time then."