“What do you want?” I asked. “I’m hungry.”
“You seem to be mad about something. I don’t know why. But whatever I did, baby, I’m sorry.”
I said nothing. I was afraid, if I allowed myself to become angry, I’d blurt out what he’d done. That he’d raped me and hurt me. That he’d given me a disease and made me feel even dirtier than I already felt.
“Uh-huh. Okay. Can I go now?”
“This is kind of public, Ailey. Can we go somewhere? I’ll buy you dinner at the waffle place.”
“No thank you.”
“Ailey, please.”
“Fine. I’ll meet you at the apartment. Give me fifteen minutes.”
“Okay, baby. I’ll leave the door unlocked. I love you.”
I waited until he walked out of earshot before I told Keisha I’d buy her dinner at the Rib Shack, because I needed her to ride with me to Abdul’s apartment. In the car, she advised, forget about the stuff I’d left at that boy’s place. I could buy another curling iron and blow-dryer. When we pulled into the parking lot of Abdul’s complex, she wanted to go inside the apartment with me.
“I don’t trust him, Ailey. He’s not a good person.”
My heart was pounding, thinking about going into his apartment. But I couldn’t help but laugh at her wise tone.
“Okay, Keisha. Like you know so much about men.”
“Just because I go to Bible study don’t mean I’m stupid.”
“I’m okay, girl. It’ll only take a few minutes.”
She climbed out of the car. “I’ll wait by his door.”
“Keisha—”
“—What I say? I’m giving you five minutes. After that, I’ma start banging on the door and screaming and somebody gone call the police. Five minutes, so you better make it snappy.”
The sound of her voice, the stern set of her lips made me wonder, how much did she know? Maybe I hadn’t been as good at concealing my troubles as I’d thought.
Inside the apartment, I called out a greeting, and from the back, he answered. Come on, he missed me. He lay on the bed naked and hard: he was that sure of himself. After I put my keys on the top of the television, he reached for me. I told him, let me go freshen up. It had been a long day. In the bathroom, I pulled out the milk crate holding my blow-dryer and curling iron from underneath the sink. In the brand-new box of tampons that I’d purchased, I noticed only two were left. Jesus. Not only had I been sharing a man, I’d been sharing feminine hygiene products.
When I left the bathroom, I told him I was leaving.
“Come on, Ailey, don’t be like that.”
“Like what? Like I don’t want some girl’s sloppy seconds—”
“—Why you bringing up that bitch? That’s in the past—”
“Or I don’t want you to hit and rape me—”
“Man, whatever, Ailey. You don’t know how to forgive. That’s your problem.”
He picked up the remote from the bedside table and turned on the TV.
“Abdul, did you know I fucked Pat?”
He dropped the remote and pulled the sheet over himself: he wasn’t hard anymore.
“I sure did. After I took the antibiotics and got rid of the gonorrhea you gave me, I fucked Pat. And let me tell you, I have never had such an incredibly satisfying sexual experience.”
He swung his legs to the floor, and I stepped back quickly. If I had to, I’d drop my stuff and run. Or Keisha and I could beat him up: he was naked and defenseless.
“I also sucked Pat’s dick. Unlike some people I could name, he did me first. Oh man, did he do me! Talk about ‘Sweet Lick Papa.’ Wasn’t that his Gamma line name? A very accurate description, and I thought, Hey, why not be polite and return the favor to that brother? So I did.” I shifted a couple of my belongings to the crook of my arm and picked up my keys from the television. “You know, fellatio is surprisingly yummy, especially when somebody’s not slapping you upside your head and trying to choke you with his penis.”
“You’re lying, Ailey. You’re just mad and making up stuff. You’re not like that. You’re a good girl.”
“I am? Why don’t you ask your sands about that? Tell Pat I know what a true gentleman he is, but I give him permission to spill the beans, this one time.”
At the bedroom door, I paused.
“Who’s the bitch now, Abdul?”
All Extraordinary Human Beings