Getting to the Good Part Read online

  He sighed again. This time, it was a heavy sigh. Like he was letting out a breath that he had been holding his entire life.

  “Because, Reesy,” he murmured with exasperation. “Just because.”

  My expression told him that his answer was a crock of shit, as far as I was concerned.

  Out of frustration, he began to babble.

  “I don’t know!!” he rambled. “I mean, yeah, of course I know! I just don’t know if I wanna say.”

  “I don’t have time for this,” I snapped, turning around and starting to walk away.

  In the other direction. Away from the alley door.

  “Wait, woman!!” he exclaimed, pulling me back.

  “I don’t play games with people, Dandre,” I said through gritted teeth.

  An obvious lie, but it sounded good as it came out.

  “So either let my arm go, or ’fess up. Either way, I gots to hurry up and leave.”

  “Where’re you going?” he asked.

  “Away from you,” I replied, staring point blank into his face.

  He sighed again and shook his head.

  “Maybe it’s just better if I show you,” he mumbled. “For some reason, my words aren’t coming out right tonight.”

  “Show me what?” I frowned.

  “Just come with me,” he said, and pulled me by the hand.

  He pushed open the door to the alley.

  My heart skipped a couple of beats, but I wasn’t as scared as I ordinarily might be. Dandre was a strapping brother. He led me by the hand, through the alley and out onto Twentieth Street.

  “Where are you taking me? I’m seriously late. My folks are waiting for me at a restaurant. And, unlike yourself, I respect people’s time. I don’t intend to have them waiting all night for me.”

  “Calm down,” he said. “Just bear with me for one more minute.”

  I had to admit, it was nice walking with him like that, his palm entangled with mine. The night air was a tad bit brisk, and his body was close enough to keep the wind from getting the best of me.

  We rounded the corner onto Fifth Avenue. The street was pretty empty. Most of the people were gone, except for a police cruiser quietly double-parked.

  Dandre quit walking.

  “Why’d you stop?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Because,” he replied, staring at the street. “We’re here.”

  My mouth formed into the shape of a question that never came to be.

  Dandre led me over toward the police car.

  “Hey, bruh!” he called out.

  The police officer, a short, dark brown fellow with a thick set of muscles, broke into a grin once we got close.

  Dandre held out his hand. The brother gave him some dap.

  “Good looking out, G!” Dandre said. “I owe you for this, man.”

  “It’s cool,” the officer replied. “You’re good for it. I know you’ll hit me back.”

  “No doubt. Just holler when you need me.”

  I stood there awkwardly, holding on to Dandre’s hand.

  “This her, man?” the officer asked.

  Dandre grinned, pulling me closer.

  “Yeah, bruh, my bad! Reesy, this is Vandel.”

  “Vandel?” I repeated, trying not to sound sarcastic.

  That was a pretty monked-up name for a cop to have.

  “Yeah,” he replied, holding out his hand.

  I shook it.

  I watched him give me the obvious once-over.

  “Makes sense now, man,” he said to Dandre.

  “Told you it would.” Dandre smiled.

  I didn’t dig this little exchange at all.

  “Dandre, I gotta go. Now.”

  “Okay, baby,” he submitted, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a set of keys. He placed them in my hand.

  “What’s this?!” I asked. “I don’t wanna drive your car!”

  “Those aren’t my keys,” he returned.

  “Then why are you giving them to me?!” I shouted, thoroughly pissed.

  I’d been messing around with him too long already.

  It was now eleven-fifteen. Grandma Tyler wouldn’t understand why I wasn’t there. She’d worry and think that something had happened to me.

  “Yo, man,” Vandel chuckled. “I’m audi. Handle your bizzzzness.”

  “I got it, bruh,” Dandre declared confidently, giving Vandel some dap for the road.

  Vandel the cop got into his car, started it up, and, with a wave goodbye, pulled away. In search of some real vandals, I suppose.

  I stood there with Dandre for only a second.

  “I’m going to catch me a cab,” I announced, flinging the keys back at him and walking toward the corner.

  “Reesy, why would you wanna walk when you already got a car?”

  “I told you, I’m not riding with you!” I said, and kept walking.

  I stuck my finger up in the air.

  Not the middle one. My forefinger. The universal sign for hailing a cab.

  “I didn’t say you had to ride with me!” he yelled. “It’s your car! You can drive by yourself, if you want!”

  I stopped dead in my tracks.

  What car was he talking about? I didn’t have no damn car. I hadn’t brought my black Montero up to New York when I made the move. I sold it. I didn’t think I’d need a vehicle because of all the public transportation.

  I was partially right. But every now and then, it would have been nice to have a car to take an occasional road trip. Or just to go for a weekend drive.

  “I don’t have a car, Dandre,” I said without looking back.

  “Yes you do,” he answered back. “It’s right over here!”

  I turned around, my lips pressed together, and walked back toward him.

  He was still standing there, the keys dangling from his fingers.

  I walked up to him deliberately, stopping only a few inches away.

  “Now. What car are you talking about? You know I don’t have a car here. Is this another one of your silly little games?”

  Dandre turned his face to the right, staring. I followed his gaze.

  There, parked close to the curb, was a brand-new black Porsche Boxster. With a big ol’ red ribbon wrapped around the top.

  “This is… for me?”

  I cleared my throat as I stared at the car.

  Dandre nodded, a broad grin on his face.

  “Yup, baby! It’s all yours!”

  “Are you out of your mind?!” I whispered. “You can’t just give me a car!”

  “I just did,” he countered, grinning happily.

  He dangled the keys in front of my face.

  I allowed my eyes to focus on them. I couldn’t believe it. This was the craziest day I had ever experienced. I was floored.

  “I can’t accept this from you,” I replied, shaking my head. “I’m not comfortable with it. You hardly even know me. How can you just give me a car?”

  “It’s just a car,” he insisted. “I wanted to do something nice to celebrate your debut tonight.”

  Dandre’s expression was now as serious as serious could be.

  I realized something. He didn’t even know about the show moving to Broadway. He wasn’t around when I shared the news with everyone else. Goodness knows what he might do if he found out about that.

  “Dandre,” I sighed, “you don’t give someone you barely know a car! You could have just taken me out to dinner or something. That would have had the same effect.”

  “No, it wouldn’t,” he protested. “And I wanted you to have it. The first time I saw it, it reminded me of you.”

  The car was a beaut. And I could easily see myself in it. Top down. Braids flying back in the wind.

  Inside, I was salivating. I was just itching to claim that ride. It would suit me perfectly, now that I was about to become a Broadway star.

  But I couldn’t do it. It would be too complicated. He’d try to lay claim to me and think he had the right to boss me around
. All because I accepted a high-priced gift from him.

  I wasn’t having any of that. I wasn’t about to let a man try to rule me with his wallet.

  “Nope!” I said. “I’m not gon’ be able to do it. I appreciate the gesture, Dandre, but I can’t let you just flat-out give me car.”

  “Then borrow it,” he insisted. “Consider it a loaner until you get one of your own.”

  Hmmm. Now that was doable. No strings. No commitment. No ties that bind.

  Dandre continued to dangle the keys in front of me, noticing the hesitation in my face.

  “I’ll keep it cleaned up for you and make sure all the maintenance is done. Just drive it around until you get tired. Then, if you want, you can just give it back.”

  I paused for a moment, thinking.

  “Now, that’s a thought,” I finally replied. “It just might work.”

  I ran my fingers over the top of my head, seriously considering the idea.

  I cut my eyes at him.

  “As long as you understand that I’m not taking this from you as a gift.”

  “Understood,” he agreed, proffering the keys again. “Here. Take ’em. Let’s go for a spin.”

  “No time for a spin. I gotta get to Tavern on the Green. That is, if everybody’s still there. They’re probably pretty pissed at me by now.”

  “This’ll get you there in no time flat.” He smiled.

  The keys kept dangling.

  I reached out and gingerly took them from his hand. I stood there, studying them, running my finger over the Porsche crest on the keychain.

  “Go on!” he exclaimed. “Get outta here!”

  I rushed over to the car and opened the door. It was absolutely beautiful. The interior was a deep, rich tan. There was a phat azz stereo system and a very sexy dash.

  I slid into the driver’s seat. It hugged my booty like a glove.

  I stuck the key in the ignition. The engine revved up strong, then began to purr like a kitten.

  I pressed the Power button on the stereo system. Immediately, the sounds of Maxwell’s “Whenever Wherever Whatever,” the Spanish version, came pouring out.

  That song was an instant panty soaker.

  “You dog,” I muttered under my breath. “You know you’re wrong. You’re not playing fair.”

  Dandre stood there in the middle of the street, watching me.

  I began to soften, and reconsider.

  “So what are you doing over there?” I called out. “Are you getting in or not?”

  I saw his eyebrows raise.

  “I thought you had somewhere to go?” he answered, surprised.

  “Oh! So you’re not coming with me? You’re not my man anymore?!”

  Dandre’s eyes narrowed. He crossed his arms. Brother was looking quite delicious in his dark chocolate jacket and black slacks.

  “Don’t bullshit me, woman. Don’t mess around with my heart.”

  “Then get in the car.”

  He sauntered his fine behind over to the passenger side. I leaned across the seat and opened the door.

  “Thank you,” he grinned.

  I smiled back. “My pleasure.”

  I revved the engine again, listening to the power of all those ponies. Maxwell’s heavenly voice washed over us like a fog.

  “Why are you guys eating dinner so late?” Dandre asked, watching me.

  “Because,” I replied, looking straight ahead, my hands gripped tightly on the wheel. “When I talked to my parents this afternoon, they insisted on waiting and eating dinner with me after the show. They expected it to be just family so they could interrogate me. I guess I fixed them.”

  I sat there for a few seconds, listening to the music. My foot was still playing with the accelerator. I was becoming seriously aroused.

  I glanced over at Dandre seductively, crooking my finger.

  “What?” he laughed.

  “C’mere,” I whispered.

  Dandre leaned over toward me. I pulled his face toward mine, closed my eyes, and kissed him deeply.

  His tongue outlined the shape of my lips, and probed the inside of my mouth.

  We kissed like that for no more than a few seconds.

  It felt like an eternity. Pure bliss.

  “You are sooo beautiful,” he whispered, kissing my face all over. He clasped my chin in his hand, stroking it with his fingers.

  Maxwell’s words wove themselves between his.

  “… por siempre más un día, baby…”

  “I wanted to do something to make you happy. That’s why I bought you the car. I was so proud of you.”

  I opened my eyes, studying him.

  I’d never seen him so serious. He gazed at me with an intention that I didn’t quite comprehend.

  My body was feverish.

  The music played on.

  “… amor bay-beeeeeeeee…”

  I lowered my lids, afraid of falling into the deep wells of Dandre’s dark brown eyes.

  He caressed my neck with his tongue.

  Dandre was killing me. The man was a doggone sexual wizard.

  My hand wandered purposefully to the center of his being. He was rock solid and hot to the touch.

  “Oooh, baby,” I moaned. “Are you gonna get it! Just wait until after dinner when I get you home!”

  “Mmmm,” he groaned, writhing beneath my touch. “I don’t wanna wait.”

  “We have to,” I whispered, pulling away from him. “We can’t waste any more time.”

  Dandre sighed heavily, leaning back against the seat. He closed his eyes, his right arm resting across his forehead.

  I shifted into first gear and pulled away from the curb.

  He reached over, slipping his hand under my skirt.

  “What are you doing?” I breathed.

  He kept probing, pulling my panties to the side.

  I tried to keep my focus and drive as I turned west onto Nineteenth Street. The album version of “Whenever Wherever Whatever” began to play.

  “Stop it, Dandre!!” I pleaded. “You’re gonna make me have an acciden…”

  My voice trailed off.

  “Lead me on, girl, if you must… ,” came the honeyed voice crooning through the speakers.

  I continued to drive, turning onto Sixth Avenue.

  We stopped at a traffic light. A cab pulled up alongside us. There was an older brother, he looked to be my father’s age, sitting in the backseat.

  He winked at me.

  I fidgeted nervously.

  Dandre never saw it.

  The guy in the cab never saw Dandre either.

  That’s because Dandre was busy taking care of business.

  His hand, and, somehow, part of his head, were burrowing deep beneath my skirt.

  On my face was plastered a nervous, intoxicated grin. I glanced about, all around me, trying to see if I was giving myself away.

  The light changed, and I sped off.

  I began to sing along with the music.

  It was all I could do to keep from crying out Dandre’s name.

  We pulled into the parking lot for Tavern on the Green.

  I grabbed Dandre by the hand and raced inside the restaurant, ready to face the barrage of lip Tyrone and Tyrene would be firing because I was showing up so late.

  “How do you feel?” Dandre whispered.

  “You know how I feel, you dog!! I can barely walk, my legs are so weak.”

  “There’s more where that came from when I get you home tonight.”

  “Sssshhhh,” I chided, as we made our way over to the table where everyone was sitting.

  We were barely seated before the questions began.

  “So what took you so long?” Tyrene demanded. “We deliberately didn’t order, sitting here waiting on you!”

  “You could have ordered.” I smiled, refusing to be riled. “I didn’t ask y’all to wait.”

  “Oh, don’t mind them. We did order, Tweety,” Grandma Tyler piped. “In fact, I done et already. I’m ju
st waiting on some dessert.”

  I cut my eyes at Tyrene. She was busy studying Dandre.

  “Congratulations, baby!!” Grandma Tyler added. “Misty told us about the show going to Broadway! With you as the lead! Remember what I told you before? You see? I was right all along!”

  “Yes, Granny.” I beamed. “You told me, but I didn’t wanna hear it.”

  “Let’s order some champagne, so that we can make a toast to Reesy’s success!”

  This comment came from Rick.

  He signaled the waiter.

  I didn’t want to toast my success with him. After what I’d heard between him and Tamara, I was barely able to look at him, sitting across the table from me.

  It especially annoyed me to see the way that Misty was pushed up against him, all loyal and lovey-dovey.

  “We don’t need no champagne,” I protested. “We can do that some other time.”

  “Oh, yes we do, baby!” Dandre insisted.

  I saw Tyrone and Tyrene zero in on him simultaneously.

  “And just who are you, young man?” Tyrone bellowed.

  “He’s a friend, Tyrone,” I quickly replied.

  Tyrene leaned back in her chair.

  “Well, daughter,” she said, sucking in her breath, “it seems all your friends disrespect you. This one calls you baby, and the other one, Julian, calls you thang.”

  “He calls her Miss Thang, Tyrene,” Grandma Tyler snapped. “You heard him. And we all call her baby, so why can’t this young man? Tweety is a baby. Everybody who meets her just falls in love.”

  “Tweety?” Dandre smiled.

  “Don’t ask,” I muttered.

  “I’ll tell you what it means one day,” Grandma Tyler said, patting Dandre on the hand. “Once she tells me it’s okay to let you know.”

  I laughed at her remark.

  Tyrone and Tyrene sat at the table, sharpening up their verbal swords.

  “Teresa, you didn’t tell us that Misty and Rick were engaged,” Tyrone commented.

  “It wasn’t my news to tell.”

  “So when are you going to get married and stop blowing in the wind?” Tyrene interjected.

  My nerves were still keyed up from the high of the performance on stage and in my new car. I was feeling quite feline and sexual with the heat of it all.

  When Tyrene made her comment, I felt a good chunk of that heat turn into something molten. A kind of liquid rage, if you will.

  Misty, being a true sistah, tried to intervene on my behalf.