“Three words, ladies. He’s-not-gay,” Ruby said, summarizing her
report as she sat down. She decided to be stingy for once in her life and
keep some precious things, namely how alive Gavin made her feel, to herself.
We could see that.” Nancy
puffed on yet another cigarette.
“And a whole lot more,” Peggy
Lee added. “Girl, you two were really going at it out there. I ain’t never seen
you so hot over a man you just met before.”
“No man has ever made me this hot before. I think he melted my thong
up against that wall.” Ruby laughed in an attempt to restore her equilibrium faster.
She still felt discombobulated inside, completely thrown off.
Peggy Lee laughed, too.
“If he did all that, then why are
you over here with us?” Nancy asked in a tone devoid of
mirth. “I certainly wouldn’t be talking to my girlfriends if a man started that
kind of fire within me.”
“Yeah, why am I over here with y’all?” Ruby replied,
grabbing a pen from her orange purse and a white napkin from the table. After
scribbling a few lines, she rose to her feet again, this time keeping her purse
with her.
“Where you going now?” Peggy
Lee asked.
“To get my tires rotated at
the hotel room on this napkin.” Ruby passed the note to her. “Y'all know the
drill.”
“Right,” Peggy Lee said,
waving goodbye before setting her watch.
The drill involved calling
Ruby’s cell phone in two hours to check on her, then every two hours after that
until she made it safely home or back to one of their places. The three friends
practiced this unique form of buddy-check whenever either one of them spent the
night with a new man. It had been a long time since Ruby had to be checked on.
Though she still partied just as much as them, she was usually the more
selective one.
A guy had to really be special
for Ruby to sleep with him. Conversely, a guy only had to make one mistake for
her to break up with him. If that mistake involved the guy being partial to any
kind of porn, he was quickly dumped and his number was promptly blocked from
her phone. She refused to date anyone that supported the industry that ruined
her life.
You
only get one shot at me. Don’t blow it, dude, Ruby thought, willing
to kick Gavin to the curb if he crossed the wrong lines, too.
>>>>
Nancy didn’t bother to wave
goodbye to Ruby. She was too jealous to do anything except briefly nod.
“Even though I’m happy she
found somebody to start her engine tonight, I’m kinda jealous about who started
it,” Peggy Lee said, brave enough to admit her jealousy. “I mean, Dr.
Sweetwater may be as close to a real doctor as I’m ever gonna get
romantically.”
“Dentists are real doctors, licensed to hold a blade and prescribe all types
of medicines just like any other doctor,” Nancy said, putting her cigarette out
in the ashtray. “Why do you think I
went after him so fast?” Why do you think
I still want to go after him now
despite his attraction to Ruby? she added to herself.
“Oh.” Peggy Lee’s blue eyes
blinked in wonder. “Now I’m even more
jealous.” She laughed, belying her own words. “But I guess some things just
ain’t meant to be.” She quickly shrugged off her disappointment.
Nancy remained silent. She
didn’t believe in fate. She believed in making things happen for herself. Right
now she was about to make a few things happen on the dance floor with one of
the five eligible bachelors that asked her to dance while they waited for
Ruby’s report.
Maybe
one of them will light my fire like Dr. Sweetwater did to Ruby, Nancy
thought, though she seriously doubted it. She knew a rare treasure when she saw
one. And Gavin Sweetwater was as rare as they came around here.
(c) 2014 by Mi'Chelle Dodson/Suprina Frazier
(c) 2014 by Mi'Chelle Dodson/Suprina Frazier
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