Erotic City (12 page)
“I should.” He pointed to the large closet. “Should be in the pantry somewhere. Maybe on the bottom.”
Milan opened the double doors and looked around. “Oh, I see it. How about it, Taj? Is spaghetti okay with you? I can make garlic toast, too.” She placed the box of spaghetti on the oval island.
“Yeah. I love spaghetti.”
“Good.”
“We usually just have pizza or corn dogs at my mom’s.”
“You do? I love corn dogs,” Milan told him.
He scrunched up his nose. “Not me.”
Lavender looked through the envelopes and stopped at one from the Fulton County Court. He peeled the letter open and read in silence.
Milan searched the oak under cabinets for a copper pot. “This’ll be fun. We can have an early dinner and then, once you’re done with your homework, we can watch a movie or something.”
“Dad. Can we play Madden later, too?” Taj held the pencil eraser to his chin.
Lavender’s ears took in half the question. “Ahh, yeah. Sure.”
“Dad says he’s the Madden king and I’m the Madden prince.”
“Oh really?” Milan replied, looking over and noticing Lavender’s focus.
He seemed to unglue his mind and his voice got happy. “Well, that’s because I am.” He replaced the letter back into the envelope and handed it to Milan. “Who won last time?” he asked Taj, heading toward the kitchen table.
“I did.”
“That’s because I let you win.”
Milan checked out the return address and said, “Honey. You, let someone win? With your competitive self? Are you sure?”
“I had mercy on my son.”
Taj looked surprised. “No you didn’t. You lost fair and square.”
“Fair and square, huh? Okay, well, I think tonight would be a good time to go ahead and have a rematch. And this time, I’ll have zero mercy on you.”
“Maybe I’ll let you win.” Taj sounded confident.
Milan said, “Oh, see. He’s got you.”
“No, son. If you wanna be the best, you can’t let people win.” Lavender pulled out a chair and sat next to Taj.
Taj asked, “Did anybody let you win when you were boxing?”
“No way. Not even once.”
Milan said, “Your dad had zero losses.”
“I thought somebody beat you. I thought that’s why you stopped fighting.”
Lavender told him, “No. It was just time to stop.”
“Well, I’m gonna work hard at beating you tonight.” Taj grinned.
“You do that.”
Milan raised her eyebrows. “Uh-oh, I think he went to the Lavender school of trash talking.”
“Yeah well, once you finish that homework, and we finish eating, let those sticks do the talking,” Lavender said.
“I will. Hey, Dad. Mom said you guys are changing my last name to her last name. Why?”
Lavender asked, “She told you that?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, we’ll see.”
“Dad, you always say we’ll see.”
Milan smiled, flashing her dimple. “Yes, he does, Taj.”
Lavender smiled back and leaned closer. “Anyway, so what are you working on?”
“Math.”
“Let’s see what you’ve done so far.”
They went over Taj’s schoolwork. Milan saw Lavender’s happiness. It showed on his face and in his voice.
She opened the flap on the envelope and unfolded the paper. It read
Petition to Modify Child Support Instructions—Request for Increase in Child Support—Petitioner Ramada Hart—Respondent—DeMarcus George Lewis—Minor Child—Taj George Lewis.
Lavender told his son, “Good job with that math, Madden prince.”
“I’ll be the Madden king one day. Taj Lewis, the Madden king. I wanna be named after you, dad. You’re
the
Lavender Lewis.”
“You are named after me, son. For now let’s move on to this English homework. Only one sheet to go.” Lavender looked over at Milan, who placed the letter back on the sink. “And dinner’s on the way, right?” he asked.
“Yes it is. Coming up, champ.”
Taj watched Milan as she turned on the top burner to the stove. “I like her,” he said. He looked back down at his paper. “No matter what Mom says about her.”
“Beautiful”
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
6:09 p.m.
B
eing that the temperature was in the seventies, the early evening was unusually warm for April. Traffic was heavy, especially traveling from 400 into Buckhead. And available parking spaces were scarce. Tamiko pulled into a space after staying on the bumper of a woman who pulled out slowly. She put her car in park and exhaled, remembering that her sister had returned from her much-needed getaway.
“What are you doing?” Tamiko asked her sister from her jeweled cell as she exited her rust Range Rover. She pressed the alarm button toward her shiny truck. “You sound cheery.”
“I am, actually. I’m at Lavender’s house. We just had dinner. We’re hanging out here for the evening. Taj is spending the night until we take him to school in the morning.”
“Oh good. So he picked him up from school?”
“
We
did.”
“Oh excuse me, little family. Whatever it takes so you guys don’t have to deal with what’s her name.”
“Exactly.”
“Girlfriend actually let you guys have him during the week?”
“She had something to do. Who knows?”
“Probably go see one of her attorneys. I can’t believe she filed those charges and then you guys still have to interact with her.”
“I can’t either.”
“Anyway, at least Taj and Lavender get some bonding time.”
“True.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll let you go. I know you can’t talk. I’m out and about in Buckhead. I was just calling to see how Panama City went, but I’ll call you later.”
“It was wonderful as usual. But yeah, let’s talk later.”
“Love you, big sis.”
“Love you, baby sis.”
Tamiko was sexy casual in stonewashed jeans, a dark brown top, a sparkly belt, and animal print pumps. She walked inside of the Hancock Fabrics store near Sidney Marcus. She headed straight to the fabric aisle and grazed her fingertips along the varied textures of stretch material that complimented the tiny threads of dark green hues she wanted to use for her flared skirt creations.
A young man who was wearing a Georgia State cap stood near her, looking at the selection of metal zippers. He had on black jeans, a black-and-white Akademiks hoodie, and red, low-top Nikes. He kept both eyes on Tamiko. He looked down at the metal zippers and back over at Tamiko, focusing somewhere near the supreme roundness of her authentic apple bottom.
Tamiko kept him in her peripheral view and walked over toward the next aisle.
He followed.
“Excuse me,” he said.
She turned around, knowing he was behind her. “Yes?” As she pivoted quickly, her long hair bounced over her shoulder.
“Oh, I just wanted to ask if you come here often.”
His wide sideburns and baby mustache were lined up tight. His lips were chiseled and his teeth were ultrawhite.
Tamiko grinned while taking in his looks. “I do. The question is, do you?”
“Well, I saw you when you first came in and I, well, I just wanted to say hello.”
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
She pulled the strap of her brown purse onto her shoulder. “So, you’re stalking me in other words, huh? Cause you don’t look like the fabric store type.” Her face said she was both kidding and serious.
“Okay. I guess that’s fair.” He checked out her left hand. “So, are you married?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She waited a few seconds before she spoke again. “I’m flattered but I do have a boyfriend. So, I’m not available to get to know new people, or should I say other men.” She glanced at his face and then to the shelf.
“Believe me, I can respect that. I’m just saying he’s a very lucky dude. But if I were him, you’d definitely have a ring on your finger.” He sounded serious.
“A ring, huh?” She smirked and examined his brown skin. “Aren’t you still in college?”
“No. I’m thirty-one.”
“Thirty-one? You’re kidding me. You don’t look it.”
“I know. People say that all the time. I guess it’s a good thing.”
“I guess. I know you get carded everywhere you go.” She grinned.
“I do.”
Tamiko’s phone rang out. “Well, mister young looks, I have to get this call.” She removed her phone from her purse.
“No problem. You stay beautiful, beautiful.” He shook his head. “Man better hold on tight. I’m Kellen by the way.”
“Take care, Kellen.” Tamiko gave a quick smile as she stepped toward the next aisle. He stood in place to watch her tight jeans from behind. She pressed talk. “Hello,” Tamiko said at the same time she read the caller ID. Her smile flipped.
“Hi, Tamiko.”
“Yes, Nancy. What is it?”
“I just wanted to check on my stepdaughter.”
She snapped her tongue. “Check on your stepdaughter? Anyway. So what’s going on?”
“Nothing. Just calling to say hi.”
“Oh, so you must’ve heard about the mess at Milan’s club, right?”
“Well, I do think your sister is in a bit of trouble.”
“Milan will be just fine.”
“Oh, so I see she has you thinking the worst of me again.”
“I can think for myself.”
“Well, I’m family, and as her stepmother, I am worried.”
Tamiko headed toward the notions aisle and turned to look back behind her. “Worried about what?”
“That maybe this woman will try and get some money from you guys.”
“Look who’s talking. Anyway, first of all it wouldn’t be the club’s money, and second of all why are you worried about it in the first place?”
“Because it could be a financial strain on everyone.”
“Please don’t act like you’re trying to protect our assets. Everyone doesn’t even include you.” Tamiko rolled her words.
“Why are you so angry with me?”
Tamiko’s eyes narrowed. “I’m talking like this ever since you didn’t show up at Dad’s funeral, yet you claimed to love my father so deeply. And then you send both of us that e-mail about filing a claim to get money from his estate. It’s not going to happen. So like I said, I can’t figure out why you’re calling me. Other than to be straight-up nosy.”
“I haven’t filed anything yet.”
“Oh, so the e-mail was like what, a threat? A warning or something?”
“You know, I just don’t understand. As good as I was to you when you lived with your father and me, I can’t figure out why you, of all people, would want to just erase me from your life. We have memories together and you know it. We did have some good times.”
Tamiko switched the phone to her other ear. “Those memories were a long time ago. You and my dad went through some major times after that. You moved out
and accepted the settlement. We have that in writing. And from what I know, you found yourself someone else
and moved on.”
“See, that’s what your dad told you. Your dad said a lot of things about me that just weren’t true.”
“Oh, so my now dad’s a liar?”
“I’m not calling him a liar. But some of the things he claimed were going on, weren’t. He thought I was fooling around on him. I’m telling you that’s not true.”
“Well then why didn’t you fight for more money when he was alive? Why now?”
“Because I guess I thought he’d leave me something after all these years. Something.”
“If you spent the money you agreed to that’s on you.”
“That’s not the point. But unfortunately, now that you and Milan have turned against me, there’s nothing I can do but try to go through the legal system.”
Tamiko continued to walk farther down the aisle. “Go ahead and try.”
“Maybe you feel I’ve changed and that I’m being greedy, and that’s your right. But Milan has always been angry with me.”
“You’ll have to ask her about that. But I do know that our father didn’t stipulate you in his will. He didn’t want you to have the money you’re asking for. Milan is honoring his wishes. And so am I.”
“But I was in his will until the divorce was final. And I know he didn’t leave all that money to charity.”
“And?” Tamiko stood in place tapping her foot.
“And, who knew he’d pass away right after that?”
Tamiko sighed. “We knew. He never fully recovered from his stroke and you know it. Where were you?”
“I was kicked out. And, Tamiko, don’t forget, I’m not some groupie. I was his wife.”
“Was.” Tamiko looked back, and then down another aisle.
“Don’t do this. Let’s keep the lines of communication open.”
Tamiko heard a beep tone and looked at the screen. “You made your choice. Go ahead and file the papers. We don’t need to talk. Our lawyers can talk. Now I’ve gotta go.”
“Tamiko.”
“Good-bye.” Tamiko clicked over as she shook her head. “Hey, baby.”
“What’s up?” Jarod asked. The sound of traffic backed up his voice, along with the sounds of a Boney James track.
“Oh, I’m in the store. My dad’s ex-wife is trippin. She had the nerve to call me after that e-mail she sent.”
“Trying to get that money, huh?”
“Jarod, you just don’t know this woman. I know I don’t talk about her much, but she’s turning out to be more of a trip now than when I lived at home with her.”
“From what you tell me, she won’t get anything. She agreed to an amount and she needs to move on.”
“I have a feeling she’ll do what she can to get more. I doubt she has much money left.”
“I’m sorry she upset you. Listen, I just had a quick break. I’m at the airport waiting to pick up this guy who arrives in about two minutes. I just wanted to check in.”
Tamiko again turned around. This time, she found herself standing five feet away from her new admirer. “Take care now, beautiful.” He grinned and headed to the checkout line with a swagger.
Tamiko smoothed her hair behind her ear and spoke under her breath. “You, too.”
“Who was that?” Jarod asked.
Tamiko turned and headed for the front door. “Just a guy in the store.”
“Did he say beautiful?”
She reached in her purse and grabbed her car keys. “I think so. Anyway, are you coming by after you leave the club?”
“I am.”
“I’ll sleep lightly.”
“You do that. Beautiful. I know what’s up.” His voice teased her.
“Bye, Jarod.” She kinda smirked and hung up, keeping her focus while she stepped to her truck and got inside. She caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview while securing her sunglasses, and pulled off, listening to the radio.
