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)
“I told him, ‘Shut yo’ lyin’ ass mouth, God ain’t tell you to tell me shit!’” Genesis was shaking. She placed her hand over her mouth but burst out laughing anyway. “Girl, this the same man that was playin’ wit’ himself all out in the open, and stole bingo money from them Catholics at that hall, too. Henrietta, that White lady who works at the bus company, told me that he offered to eat her ass. See? These men full of shit. He come to my door with his Bible tryna chastise my child, but when it comes to him and his own needs, well, race be damned. My Candice kissin’ her White man at the time made him mad as hell, but him, with his big black self, eatin’ that White woman’s ass was heaven sent and blessed by the Lord, I suppose. Buncha hypocrites. The only thing God told him to do was shut the fuck up.”
“Ms. Charlie, you are too much!”
The woman guffawed and put her hand on her hip.
“I won’t hold you, chile. I know you have thangs to do. Let me know if you need anything, baby.”
“I will, Ms. Charlie.”
The woman always ended their conversations the same way. How sweet. Sometimes Genesis would come home to food waiting for her at her front door. Ms. Charlie had been divorced for over twenty years and was a retired restaurant manager. She lived on a fixed income but was generous to a fault.
They said their goodbyes, and Genesis walked in her apartment, locking the door behind her. As she placed her mail down on her coffee table, her stomach growled. I need a break. Making her way to the kitchen, she opened her refrigerator but didn’t see anything that struck her fancy. Then she remembered the leftover ice-cream she’d had from when Roman had stopped by the other day…
Roman had arrived at her door with a button-down white shirt. It hung partially open, exposing a delicate silver chain around his neck. He smelled like sugar moons and honeyed stars. His black hair was slightly damp, and he apologized for being nine minutes late. “The Chinese place took a bit too long.” He shook the enticing greasy bag, a devilish look in his eyes. Giving him a big hug and kiss, she welcomed him inside. They proceeded to gobble up the Vegetable Egg Rolls, Crab Rangoon, Chicken Pad Thai, Pork Fried Rice, Beef and Broccoli, and he’d picked up her favorite ice cream for dessert: Rocky Road.
After that, they watched the movie, ‘The Piano Lesson,’ and it wasn’t long before they were naked on her couch, kissing and touching one another all over… sticky with ice cream, pussy juice and cum…
Her phone rang, snapping her out of her daydream. She blinked several times and realized that the freezer door was just hanging open. She grabbed the ice cream and a spoon, and ran to her makeshift workstation.
“Hey! I was just thinkin’ about you.” She could hear noise all around him. People talking and classy music. “Are you still at that dinner?” Roman had an important business meeting in the Woodlands.
“Yeah. I just stepped away for a second. I miss you.”
Her chest warmed. She plopped down at the table, ice cream in hand. “I miss you, too.” She peeled off the lid and slipped her spoon in the sweet, cool treat.
“Roman! You crazy guy, get in here! You’re missing Peter’s story about his trip to Brazil!” some guy yelled in the background, sounding a bit silly and intoxicated.
“Oh, really? Well, goodness! I can’t miss that, now can I?! I’ll be right there, Steve…” She chuckled at how he quickly put on his serious, professional voice, sounding so different. “Look under your couch. There’s something for you. I have to go, baby. I’ll talk with you later.”
“Okay. The couch, you said?”
But he ended the call without further explanation. She sat there for a moment, eating her ice cream, gazing over to her couch. Placing the dessert down, she walked over to it and dropped down onto the floor, on all fours, to peer under it. It took her a while to spot a white box.
Slipping her hand under the couch, she pulled it out and swiped away a thin film of dust. She sat on the couch and removed the white ribbon, then opened the box and took out the soft white tissue paper. Inside was a framed glass shadow box of dried flowers that spelled out her name.
She touched her lower lip as her eyes moistened. She’d told him several phone conversations prior that she loved dried flowers and used to hate her name when she was a kid, but now she liked it. He’d said he loved her name. With this gift, he’d linked the two bits of information together and created something beautiful.