Soulful Strut (15 page)

“Okay. We can go see a movie,” Monette said
without enthusiasm.

“Right, a movie,” Candi said as a staff
member came out.

The woman smiled at them. “Y’all have a good
evening. See you next week.”

“Bye,” Candi said in a cheerful tone. When
the woman’s blue Kia pulled away from the curb, Candi turned back
to Monette. “I got somethin’ even better in mind. A party.”

Monette looked at her. “A party?”

“A throw down, have a good time party, too.
Not some worn-out church social. Girl, I’m too tired of workin’,
watching television and workin’ some more. I want to be around
people who know how to have fun. I mean real fun.” Candi spoke in a
low voice.

“You not gonna get me sent back to prison for
some jacked-up party with a bunch of thugs. All I need is to get
caught in some hole-in-the-wall serving liquor.” Monette shook her
head and rejected Candi’s suggestion.

“I’m talkin’ about a house party. These are
grown folks, Monette. They know how to be what you call discreet
Most of them on parole, too. My cousin has a party once or twice a
month. Sells hot wings and some drinks, too. That girl knows how to
hustle.” Candi grinned at Monette.

“No, thanks. I’ve had enough of hustling
relatives for one day.” Monette shook her head again. She stood.
“Speaking of having stuff to do, I can work on my book.”

“Me and my cousin ain’t good enough for you,
I guess. To hell with it” Candi pushed up from the swing and
brushed past Monette to walk down the steps.

“Wait up, Candi. Now c’mon. I didn’t mean it
like that” Monette walked fast to catch up with her on the
sidewalk.

“Yeah, right. Every time I want to hang out,
you got better things to do. Look, I’m not beggin’ you to be my
friend. You got so much goin’ on that you don’t need me remindin’
you of the cage. Fine.” Candi’s brisk stride took her farther
away.

Monette trotted until she caught up with her.
“That’s not true, Candi, and you know it.”

“Uh-huh.” Candi stared straight ahead.

“Okay, okay.” Monette jerked Candi to a halt
by grabbing her left arm. “You’re right. I was wrong to keep
putting you off. You were there for me through a lot of
craziness.”

“I’m not tryin’ to cash in no debt. I’m still
tryin’ to be your friend.” Candi scowled at Monette. She yanked
free and walked away again. “Nah, forget about it. You don’t even
know where I’m comin’ from these days.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Monette
yelled after her. When Candi kept going, she jogged to catch up to
her again. “Listen, I’m apologizing. Damn, you been listening to
Yarva too much.”

“Nobody thinks for me, all right? So don’t
come tellin’ me that crap. I can see for myself that you’ve
changed.”

“I have changed, Candi,” Monette
admitted.

“At least you ain’t tryin’ to lie,” Candi
snapped.

“Stop and listen to me for a minute.” Monette
attempted to grab her arm again, but Candi moved out of reach.
Monette kept walking, too. “I’m trying to build up a life out of
nothing. Which is what I had before I went to prison, nothing. I
don’t want to go back, and I’m not just talking about prison
either.”

Candi stopped suddenly and faced her. “I can
understand that. So maybe I’m part of goin’ back.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. Before
prison I had a fast lifestyle with so-called friends that kept me
down. Somehow I got another chance. I can’t mess up. With me being
high profile, I’ve got to be even more careful.” Monette spoke fast
and with intensity as she stared back at Candi steadily. Candi
seemed to be considering her words. They eyed each other for
several seconds.

“I see what you’re sayin’. Guess we’re both a
little touchy out here in the world, huh?” Candi said with shrug.
They started walking again, this time at a leisurely pace.

Jayson came around the corner, whistling a
tune. He broke into a wide grin and waved when he saw Monette. He
called out, “How y’all doin’ today?”

“Not too bad. You’re working on a pretty
Saturday afternoon like this. Man, now that’s what I call a drive
to succeed.” Monette waved back as they approached him.

“Folks still have breakdowns on Saturday. I’m
only open until noon, though. Just closed and cleaned up. Figured
I’d get some lunch before I finished up for the day.” Jayson nodded
to Candi. “Hi, ma’am.”

“Call me Candi. I’m sweet, ya know.” Candi
put more sway in her hips as she walked toward him.

“Hello, Candi,” Jayson replied. “I’m going to
the po’boy shop downtown. Like you say, it’s a nice day for a
walk.” “I feel like a stroll myself.” Candi patted her hair as she
spoke. “I was just sayin’—”

“Hey, Candi. Telephone. It’s your son and he
says it’s important,” Yarva yelled. She stood in front of the
halfway house with a hand on one hip.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m comin’.” Candi walked off,
muttering curse words.

“She doesn’t seem happy to hear from her
son,” Jayson said. The set of his mouth seemed to hint at his
disapproval.

“You know how it can be with teenagers.
Always some-thing,” Monette said in defense of her friend.

“Guess I’ll find out soon enough,” Jayson
replied with a grimace.

“You’ve got kids that old?” Monette looked at
him. She guessed his age at somewhere past thirty.

Jayson proudly held up one large bicep to
show Monette his tattoo. “Lenae is eight going on twenty-five.”

Monette nodded as she glanced at his bare
left ring finger. Her smile drooped into a formal, though still
polite, expression. “Oh.”

“Her mother and I are on good terms for
Lenae’s sake, but we haven’t been together for about five years
now,” he explained hurriedly.

“I see.” Monette reminded herself that this
was none of her business. She had enough on her agenda.

“Uh, you have any kids?” Jayson said in an
apparent effort to keep conversation going.

“Three grown kids. I’m a little older than
you.” Monette looked off into the distance. Strike two against any
thought of anything more than occasional chitchat with the man.

“You must’ve had ’em real young then. You
don’t look old enough to have grown children. I’m serious,” he
added with a grin when Monette glanced at him with a skeptical
frown.

‘Thanks. Guess I better go inside. Nice
talking to ya.” Monette turned to go, but his baritone voice
stopped her.

“Maybe you’d like to share one of those
foot-long po’boys with me. My treat. Like you said, it’s such a
pretty day.”

Monette shifted her weight from one foot to
the next. She could think of all kinds of reasons she shouldn’t
accept his invitation, starting with their age difference and all
the mistakes she’d made in the past. “Nah, I don’t think that’s
such a good idea.”

“Why?”

“I’m not exactly prime dating material at
this point in my life.” Monette did not look at him. She expected a
line of some sort. His words surprised her.

“Hey, it’s just a sandwich. No strings. I’m
gonna be locked up in my office doing paperwork for another two
hours at least. Take pity on me.” Jayson tilted his head to one
side. “Please?”

Monette gazed at him for a long while. Jayson
lifted a shoulder. He was letting her know he had plenty of reasons
not to get serious, too. “Sure.”

They walked the few blocks to the small café
in the downtown neighborhood known as Spanish Town. Three tables
were arranged on the sidewalk. Monette sat at the only free one
while Jayson went inside to order their lunch. While he was gone,
Monette relaxed and soaked up the June sunshine. She enjoyed doing
nothing in particular and decided she had been too intense about a
lot of things. After ten minutes Jayson returned.

“Lu-Lu said the food should be ready in a few
minutes. They’ve got some of the best roast beef po’boys around. I
took the liberty of getting us an order of curly fries. You gotta
try ’em with hot mustard.”

“Good, huh?” Monette stretched her legs out
and crossed them at the ankles.

“Makes me wanna holler. I don’t indulge that
often, though. Can’t eat like I did back in the day.” Jayson gave
an exaggerated sigh. “Getting old.”

“Please. That’s my line. You’re still a baby.
Thirty-three, right?” Monette took off her sunglasses and cocked
her head to one side.

“Thank you, ma’am. You’re my new best friend.
Try forty.” Jayson frowned as if in pain. “Yep, time marches on.
Seems like yesterday I was listening to Run DMC and jammin’ with my
boys.”

Monette’s eyebrows lifted in genuine
surprise. “You’ve been taking good care of yourself. I mean—” She
blushed and put her sunglasses back on.

“All this flattery might go to my head, but
don’t stop just because of that,” Jayson said with a crooked
grin.

A petite Asian-American woman bustled outside
with a tray. She placed two paper plates and tall cups of soft
drink on the plastic tabletop. “Here you go, Jayson. You enjoy. Ah,
you bring new friend. Very pretty.”

“This is Monette, Lu-Lu. She lives nearby.
I’m welcoming her to the neighborhood.” Jayson winked at Lu-Lu.

“Nice, nice. You come anytime. Better get
inside. My husband is a good cook, but he can’t work the new cash
register.” Just as Lu-Lu finished, a man yelled.

“Dang computers taking over the dang world.
Ahh,” a man’s voice groaned. The other customers chuckled with
amusement.

“See what I mean.” Lu-Lu muttered in her
native tongue as she left.

Jayson laughed. “Lu-Lu is from Vietnam, but
you’d think Ellwood was the immigrant the way anything new confuses
him.”

“He’s not?” Monette sipped diet cola.

“He grew up in Iowa. They’re a cute couple.
She’s older than him, but age is just a number.” Jayson divided up
the big paper napkins between them.

Monette glanced at him sharply, but he seemed
absorbed in putting spicy brown mustard on his stack of curly
fries. She sipped diet cola through a long red drinking straw while
she watched him. Jayson took a huge bite of the sandwich. Most of
the po’boy disappeared. From the looks of his hefty build, he would
need more food soon.

“You can have my half,” Monette said with a
grin as she watched him chew. “I had a big breakfast anyway.” He
finished a mouthful, then patted his lips with a napkin. “Take a
bite before you make that offer. Bet you’ll change your mind.”

“Okay. I’ll slice a tiny piece off just in
case.” Monette used a plastic fork to cut the end of her po’boy.
She put it in her mouth. The bread must have been baked fresh that
morning, because it melted in her mouth. The flavor of Swiss cheese
and juicy roast beef slathered in brown mustard hit her tongue.
When she let out a groan of pleasure, Jayson nodded.

“Well?” he asked as he watched her savor each
chew. “You better order yourself another sandwich if you want
more,” Monette replied “But you can eat all of those fries. I’m
going to be stuffed as it is on this delicious sandwich.” “No
problem,” Jayson replied with a grin.

“Hmm,” Monette mumbled around another
mouthful of fresh French bread and roast beef.

“Best you’ve had in a while, I’ll bet” Jayson
ate a tangle of curly fries with as much enjoyment

“Considering where I’ve been living, you
mean?”

“No, I didn’t mean nothin’ by that. I, well,
uh.” Jayson shifted in the plastic chair nervously.

“Relax. I’ve been telling the world about
being a convict. A little late for me to act embarrassed by it.”
Monette pursed her lips in amusement as he continued to squirm.

“Actually you’ve got a reason to be proud.
I’ll bet a lot of women have been inspired by your story,” Jayson
said. “Okay, but don’t forget I’m one of those notorious women your
mama probably warned you about,” Monette joked. She sipped more
cola and nodded to the beat of an old- school R&B song playing
on the cafe’s sound system.

Jayson gazed at her intently for several
seconds. “Somehow I doubt it.”

Monette glanced at him, blushed and looked
away. She drank more soda to cool off. “Yeah, well, I’m sorta
reformed these days anyway.”

“I listened to your talk show the other day.
Pretty interesting topic on setting goals for yourself. Didn’t even
realize that I’d done that when I dreamed of opening my own
garage.”

“Sure, dreams are something to shoot for, but
goals are the steps to make ’em come true. That’s not original, by
the way. The motivational coach who was my guest came up with it.”
Monette grinned and ate more of her sandwich.

“True. I know plenty of dudes that worked
with me in the same garages and talked about owning a business.
They’re still workin’ for somebody else. You got to make plans, put
down what’s gonna get you from point A to point B.” Jayson drew an
invisible line on the tabletop as he spoke.

“Well said. You can use that speech on my
show.” Monette studied him. He didn’t seem driven, but Jayson was a
man that would get things done in his own way.

Jayson waved a hand and picked up more curly
fries. “Nah, I’m not somebody to give advice. Unless we’re talkin’
about fixin’ cars and trucks.”

“Don’t be too humble. Takes a lot to keep a
business going. How about next week?” Monette suppressed a smile
when he froze in the act of chewing.

He swallowed hard. “Huh?”

“I don’t have a guest for next week. It’s my
show and the station manager lets me make up the schedule. You can
even talk about cars if that makes you feel better about it,”
Monette said evenly as anxiety seemed to turn his dark eyes even
darker.

“I don’t know.”

“Please. I have to make this whole job thing
work, and it’s tough coming up with a new show every week.” Monette
shrugged and let out a small sigh. She felt only a little shame at
the damsel-in-distress act. What she really wanted was another
excuse to be near him.