Mr. and Mrs. J

Falling Fast on the Harbor

Ok so we had one more day to find or hear from Mrs J, then Mr J was going to go berserk and go on a jailhouse stalking spree, armed and ready.

At that moment, I was too sleepy to think about what he was threatening to do, but too afraid that he'd do it while we were sleep. After unsuccessfully trying to convince Mr J that his plan was stupid and dangerous, Big P and Jimmy went upstairs to go to sleep. I didn't want to leave Mr J because I didn't know what he'd do. But he promised that he wouldn't move or leave but that he was giving us exactly one more day. That was heavy and a lot of pressure to put on us.

I had stayed up as long as I could, keeping my eye on him, before dozing off in the living room on the couch.

Soon I was jolted awake by the sound of the phone ringing in the hallway, followed by the loud voice of Mr Wally who had answered it.

"WHO? WHAT? WHAT YOU SAY? SO WHO YA CALLIN FOR?" I figured he didn't have his hearing aid in again. "LIL WHO? WELL SPEAK UP THEN DAMMIT!"

I got up from the couch, annoyed with all his yelling. I also assumed the call was for me because I heard half of my name.

I dragged myself to the hallway and patted Mr Wally on the back, startling him.

"I got it, Mr Wally." I said, trying to take the phone.

"HUH? WHAT YOU SAY, BOY?" He shouted, staring right at me.

"I got it."

I gently took the phone off of him and pushed him along. He shuffled into the kitchen where Mrs Rochelle was shaking her head at him. I put my head down to keep from laughing.

"Hello?" I yawned

"Hey, young buck! Time to get up!" It was Myra laughing into the phone.

I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was only 10:00 in the morning. I'd only been sleep for maybe two hours.

"Damn, woman. What you doing up so early?" I yawned again.

"Get up, sleepyhead. Come out on the town with me. I wanna see what Bridgewater has to offer."

"Right now? I barely slept, girl."

"Ohh ok. That's fine. Go back to sleep then. There was another cute fella who was eyeballin me at the club last night. Maybe he'll take me out this morning instead."

"Alright. Hold on now. Just wait a minute. Ain't nobody else taking you out, but me." I said, surprising myself with the authority and bass in my voice.

She giggled

"That's what I thought. Now get up. Get dressed and I'll pick you up in about a half."

"Unh unh. No. I told you that the next time we go out that I was driving. I'm the man, girl." I said, feeling my chest poke out like a warrior. It was a shame that I had to keep emphasizing this.

She sucked her teeth

"Well, man. Hurry up because I wanna go out and.... I wanna see you."

Once again my heart was acting like a ping pong ball and the smile on my lips felt like it was ripping my face apart. She wanted to see me. A chick actually wanted to see me!

"I wanna see you too." I said lowly, almost afraid to say it out loud.

"Well alright. I'm at my uncle Al's apartment." I grabbed a pen and wrote the address on my handkerchief. "See you soon, sweetie." Then she hung up.

Sweetie? A dame actually called me sweetie! But it wasn't one of those 'Awww aren't you adorable'  kind of sweetie's that I'd get from Mrs J. It was a 'Hey there, loverboy'  sweetie. I was on cloud nine. I suddenly wasn't so sleepy anymore.