The Company We Keep (22 page)

S
he had slept soundly and hadn’t heard him leave. She didn’t know if he’d eased out in the middle of the night, just before dawn, or what. Had she become just another piece of hit-and-run pussy like the women she regarded with such contempt? Like that Mia and Yvette? She felt like a fool. And she was the one who was always telling Nicole not to let any man make a fool out of her. Well, Nicole would get the last laugh on her. Maybe not. If Nicole ever heard about her getting played in such an avoidable way, it wouldn’t be from her.

She threw out the trash, then took a shower. While she was still drying herself off, she called up Carla.

“I need to see you ASAP,” she told her psychiatrist and close friend. Teri adored Carla but she knew that as long as Carla was happily married and had so many other wonderful things going on in her life, she could never have the same type of relationship with her that she had with Nicole. Teri doubted if she’d ever be Carla’s equal. An attractive, happily married, successful woman—with two great kids thrown in the mix—was the goal of almost every woman Teri knew. It was hard enough to hold her envy at bay when she socialized with Carla. She would never tell Carla how she felt about her. How could she? But in her heart she knew that Carla probably already knew she harbored a spark of harm
less jealousy. And even though she was a psychic, she didn’t need to be one to know that.

“Well, I haven’t heard from you in a while,” Carla told her. She could tell from the tone of Carla’s voice that she was glad to hear from her. She was just sorry that she had waited until she needed professional help before she called her friend. “I’ve been so busy,” she lamented. That much was true.

“And things must be going well for you, too,” Carla insisted. “I’ve got a pretty full schedule for the next two weeks. Is this serious?”

“Carla, I’m a damn fool! I am a low-down, stupid, black-ass slut! I am nothing. Do you hear me? I am a piece of dog shit!”

“Hmm. Is that all?”

“No, that’s not all! There is a lot more and it’s not pretty. Since I’m being honest and up-front, one of the reasons I haven’t called you is because you’re everything I want to be. I’m a little jealous! I love you to death, but I’m still jealous of all you’ve got! You’ve got it all. Me, I am nothing but a damn fool.” She couldn’t believe what she’d just confessed. After she’d promised herself she wouldn’t! But she was glad she finally did. If nothing else, she felt liberated. It felt as if a huge monkey had been removed from her back.

“I know all that,” Carla said calmly. “I know a lot more than I want to know.”

“And that’s another thing—I can’t keep a damn secret from you.” Teri laughed. “I’m glad I’m not your husband! I bet you don’t even have to worry about him screwing around. And your poor kids! Their teen years are going to be hellish with you knowing practically every move they make.” Teri stopped talking and started laughing. Carla laughed with her. “I’m sorry. I’m upset.”

“I can tell. Listen, I’m really sorry that I can’t talk to you more right now, but I’m expecting a seriously distraught client any minute. She’s on her last leg.”

“Well, I already passed that point. I’m on my knees begging you to squeeze me in within the next day or so!”

“Baby, you know I would if I could, but I have a responsibility to all my patients. Hey! I’ve got an idea that might work for both of us. If you don’t mind skipping church this Sunday, I can give you
an hour, but it has to be before noon. I have a hot date later in the day.”

“A date? A
hot
date?
You?
Woman, I know what you do is your business, but you are the last person on this planet that I expected to…uh…get jiggy with another man. I guess if a shrink can’t walk the straight and narrow, the rest of us don’t have a chance.”

Carla laughed and tried to imagine the kind of horrified look Teri must have on her face. “Don’t let your mind run wild. My hot date is with my husband. After I give him a foot massage, I am going to treat him like the king he is. I’ve reserved a suite at the Beverly Hilton.”

“You need a suite at the Hilton just so you can make love to your
husband?
That’s where the stars stay.”

“Well, my husband is a star to me. And I’m not going to make love to my star, I’m going to fuck him. Being his whore keeps him from going out and buying one.”

Teri was at a loss for words. “I’ll see you Sunday morning at ten?” she managed after a few moments.

“If you really think it’s necessary, yes. I don’t expect to see you, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know all the details yet, but the information is still coming to me. I could see it more clearly if you were in my presence.”

“You know about Harrison and me, don’t you? You know he spent the night at my place last night?” Teri didn’t allow Carla to answer her questions because she already knew the answers. “If you do, then you know he slipped out of here like the Frito Bandito while I was still asleep.”

“Like I said, I don’t know all the details. But I do know that he was with you last night.”

“I’ll see you Sunday morning,” Teri mumbled. She hung up and moped around for about ten minutes.

Other than the empty Rémy Martin and wine bottles and her sore pussy, there was no other indication that Harrison had even been in her residence. His hit-and-run had left her feeling like roadkill.

Teri didn’t even bother to call Nicole after her conversation with Carla. But an hour later, Nicole called her on her cell phone.

“What’s up?” At first Teri didn’t recognize Nicole’s voice because she was whispering. And she sounded like a man. A few weeks ago Teri had received phone calls from some horny men who were trying to make dates with a call girl named Wendy. Come to find out, her cell phone number was the same number that had been issued to this Wendy woman. And that hussy must have had some damn good pussy or she offered discount rates, because men claiming to be her regular customers were calling day and night, seven days a week. Teri had called Verizon a week ago and had them change her cell phone number and had not received any odd phone calls since. Until now.

“You’ve got the wrong number,” she said, rolling her eyes and letting out a harsh breath. She was in her bathrobe and house shoes in her kitchen making a salad. She could still smell the salmon that she had prepared for Harrison the night before. She had left it in the broil pan, wrapped it, and shoved it into the refrigerator. She didn’t like to waste food so she decided she’d warm it up for lunch and dinner.

“It’s Nicole,” Nicole said, still whispering. “You able to talk?”

“Yes, I am able to talk. Why wouldn’t I be able to talk in my own home?” she asked, slicing off pieces of lettuce and tossing them into a wooden bowl on the counter.

“Is he gone?”

“That motherfucker snuck out of here like he stole something!” Teri hissed.

“D
amn! What the hell did you do to him, Teri? Bite one of his balls in two or bore him half to death? See there! I told you that shit like that happens when you don’t stay in practice in the bedroom. Either you fuck up or you forget how to do certain things!”

“Girl, I don’t even want to talk about it. I should have never let my guard down again with that Negro!”

“Then why did you?”

“Because he’s a…he’s a—he’s a smooth operator, that’s why. He knows how to work a woman. But it’ll be a cold day in hell before I let my guard down again.”

“You can do better than that. That’s the lamest thing you’ve said since, uh, since yesterday.”

“Maybe we should change the subject,” Teri suggested, chewing her nails, something she had not done since high school.

“Change the subject, my ass. You know I am not going to get off this phone until I get the whole story.”

“It just didn’t work out, okay? Again.”

“Well, I don’t know what he did or didn’t do. Or what the hell you did, and it’s none of my business. I just don’t want to be dragged into this mess and then left out in the cold.”

“I’m not dragging you into anything, Nicole. As a matter of fact, I didn’t plan on telling you anything about last night.”

“So why is Harrison calling me this morning? Will you tell me that much?” Nicole demanded.

“What…what do you mean?” Teri stammered. “This morning? Why would Harrison be calling you this morning?”

“Because he couldn’t reach you. He said he’d called several times and let the phone ring more than a dozen times. Your answering machine didn’t even pick up the calls.”

Teri’s head felt as if the sky had fallen on it. It was only then that she remembered she had turned off her landline and answering machine! And so far, Nicole and Victor were the only ones to whom she’d given her new cell phone number. “Oh shit!” She dropped the head of lettuce into the sink and slapped the side of her head. “I turned off everything just before Harrison got here last night because I didn’t want us to be disturbed! He’s been trying to call me?”

“All morning.”

“Shit. Well, the way he snuck out of here—”

“The man told me he had to get his car to his mechanic this morning.”

“And he couldn’t tell me that?”

“Teri, give the man some slack. Like everybody else, he’s got a life. You can’t expect to be in on every little detail of it. We have to do our part if we want our relationships to work. Look at me. I know I’ve got my work cut out for me if I want to make things work with Eric.”

“This is a fine mess,” Teri said. She moved across the floor to the wall phone and turned it back on. Still talking, she rushed into the living room and turned on the other telephone and the answering machine connected to it. “If Harrison calls you again, tell him to call me.”

The first person Teri called from her landline was Carla. She was glad Carla didn’t answer. She left a brief message, canceling the appointment she’d scheduled for Sunday morning. Then she called Harrison. Her breath caught in her throat when he answered on the first ring.

“Hi…it’s Teri. You tried to call me this morning?”

“I did.” He sounded tired.

“I forgot to turn my phone and answering machine back on this morning,” she muttered. “I like to sleep in on Saturdays.”

“So do I, but I usually leave my answering machine on regardless,” he stated. “Did you get the note I left?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I tried to reach you earlier to invite you to my place tonight. This time, I am responsible for dinner. And I promise you, we will leave enough time and energy to eat dinner.” He laughed.

“I’d like that. I’d like that very much. What time do you want me to be there?”

“Dinner will be at six.”

“Do you still live in the same place near the Long Beach border?”

“I do.”

“I’ll print out a map from MapQuest. I don’t remember how to get there.”

“You don’t have to worry about driving, honey.”

“Oh. Okay. Then you’ll pick me up?”

“Be ready around five-thirty. I hate to rush you off the telephone but I need to go pick up my car and run a few other errands.”

“Then I’ll see you this evening.”

“Teri, last night meant a lot to me. And even though all we did was have a few drinks and do the,
you know
, it was about more than just sex to me. I truly enjoy your company and I have a lot of feelings for you. I want you to know that you are not just another piece of tail to me.”

Piece of tail?
Did people still use that phrase? Teri wondered.

“You didn’t have to make it sound so raw,” she said with a forced laugh. “Piece of tail sounds so…old school.”

“Sounds ghetto, too. But I’m still a homeboy to the bone and proud of it. I think that’s why I can deal with all these youngsters who think they are going to set the world on fire with their one-hit selves. Like that Rahim. He’s had just
one
major hit and a few minor hits along the way. But the way he carries on, you’d think he was Jay-Z or Kanye.”

“Tell me about it,” Teri agreed. “Well, I’d better get up and run
a few errands myself if I want to be ready for dinner tonight. Is there anything you want me to bring?”

“Just yourself.”

Teri’s buzzer went off at five-thirty. When Harrison didn’t respond after she’d hit the buzzer and spoke into the intercom, she got worried. She grabbed her shawl and overnight case and took the stairs to the ground floor, running as if she were being chased by a rogue cop.

She tried to be nonchalant when she saw a chauffer standing in front of her building holding up a sign with her name on it. She slid into the backseat of the shiny black town car like it was something she did every day.

Saturday night with Harrison was more than Teri could stand. The man was going out of his way to make a better impression on her this time around and his efforts were greatly appreciated. He was a gourmet cook, preparing steak and lobster like a pro, and he was just as proficient in the bedroom as he was in the kitchen.

The same chauffer that had delivered her to Harrison’s condo had returned Sunday evening to collect her and return her to her address. But this time Harrison escorted her. The good-bye kiss at her door was so long she had to push him away so she could catch her breath.

“I’ll call you,” he told her, tapping his lips with his finger, then tapping her lips with that same finger. “And please do not turn off your phone and your answering machine.”

Teri was so light-headed she sailed right past her answering machine and didn’t notice the “message waiting” red light blinking like a traffic signal. But just before she crawled into bed she checked her messages. All five were from her grandparents.

“Girl, where in the world have you been? We called and called and called yesterday and couldn’t reach you. We were just about ready to hop back on that airplane and come home to check up on you,” her grandmother sobbed. “You know better than to worry us like this!”

“You stop that crying right now! I’m fine. I was just busy,” Teri explained.

“Since when did you get so busy you had to turn off your phone and your answering machine? And you got your cell phone
disconnected
? Are you not paying your bills, girl?” Grandma Stewart sniffed.

“I had to change my cell phone number. I just forgot to give it to you.”

“Whatever. You still didn’t explain what kind of busy you were that you couldn’t accept any calls or messages…” The old woman’s tone had become accusatory. Teri remained silent for a few moments, and this irritated her grandmother even more. “If you don’t answer me I’m going to give up in about forty-five minutes, then hang up…”

“I’m sorry,” Teri replied, her tone soft and contrite. “I had company and I didn’t want to be disturbed. It won’t happen again.” A mysterious smile crossed Teri’s face and stayed there.