Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 73556 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73556 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
She tumbled back into her seat and picked up the wine menu. Her nerves slightly raw.
He clasped his hands, and his smile waned. “Is that it?”
“About the money? Yes.”
“I want to respond to what you said, and then discuss something else with you.”
“I imagined you would.” She scanned the menu, full of choices.
“You made it clear when I suggested you be a dentist that money wasn’t everything to you, and it didn’t equate to happiness. I have a great memory, and an even greater shit-spottin’ detector regarding a person’s character. The reason being is that when you’re constantly tryna get over on someone, just to survive, you learn things about people, and you learn things fast.”
“Hustler.”
“Yes, I am. To my core. I knew that you meant what you said about bein’ a dentist. It’s not your calling. You set me straight. I could tell you were being sincere, and not just talkin’ to be talkin’. You set me straight, and I respected your feelings. Me sendin’ you money to get your hair done was personal to me.”
“How could it be personal to you, when it was concernin’ my hair?” She pointed to her tresses as she scrutinized him.
“When I was in elementary school, I had this babysitter. Krystal.” He flopped back in his seat, legs akimbo and a strange expression on his face. “A girl who lived down the way. ’Bout nine or ten years older than me. Young Black woman. My mama would hire her sometimes when she had to work late and had no idea where in the hell my father was, what abandoned house he was shootin’ up in, what whore he was wining and dining with her money, or what backyard he’d passed out in from being good and liquored up.” A lump formed in her stomach, and it wasn’t the hungry kind. The man was dumping on her, but somehow, some way, she wanted to hear every word that came out of his crooked mouth. “Krystal was payin’ her way through beauty school. Me and my brothers were bad as hell and would give her a hard time.” He chuckled. “She was nice to us anyway.
“She cooked for us, played card games, and even let us stay up later than we were supposed to every now and again. Sometimes she’d bring this beauty parlor mannequin head with her, and as soon as we’d fall asleep, she’d get to braidin’ and stylin’ on it in the living room while she watched television. A bunch of hot irons, jars of grease and gel, and hair stuff all over the place.”
“How’d you know that was what she was doing if you were asleep?”
“…That’s a silly question. You know my bad ass wasn’t asleep. I was standin’ in my underoos, bein’ real quiet, watching the television. They showed the uncut music videos late at night, and I got to see titties, so I was motivated to fight sleep.”
Genesis scoffed, rolled her eyes, then laughed.
“So anyway, I asked Krystal one day, ‘Why do you wanna do hair?’ It seemed like it would be borin’ to a little White boy like me. Hell, all I needed according to my mama was a good shampooing and a little hair gel. Krystal told me she wanted to make women feel special. To feel good about themselves. She said she loved doing hair because it was creative, but even more than that, she was addicted to how happy women became when she’d do their hair, especially Black women. She said they’d look in the mirror when she was all done, and start smilin’ real big, or sometimes even cryin’ because they never knew they could look like that. I wanted you to smile just like that. That’s all.” He threw up his hands. “I didn’t pity you, wasn’t doing no charity. I felt like you wanted Goddess braids right then, and would have gotten them if you had the cash on hand, so Goddess braids were what you deserved.
“It ain’t have nothin’ to do with tryna build trust. Tryna buy you. Take advantage of you. Tryna have expectations or hope I could cut a little trim from you after this here dinner.” Her mouth twitched at his words. She’d never heard a White man call a woman’s vagina ‘trim.’ He’s been around Black folk a lot. “If I want sex, Genesis, I make that clear. Not a dime or dollar needs to pass ’tween our fingers. I don’t expect anything from you, ’cept good conversation. Never paid for pussy or conversation a day in my life. I’m blunt and upfront. I’ve never been shy about my desires and needs. I do like giving money to folks, because there was a time when I was literally searchin’ in a garbage can because I hadn’t eaten in days.”