“Jackie.”
“Kidar. They call me Kid.”
“I know,” she said quickly.
“So, you heard about me and decided to take on the best?”
“I just wanted to play chess.”
She was aloof. The Kid wanted to have a conversation with her. She was attractive, and she was different. She intrigued him.
Jackie stood up. The Kid wheeled himself away from the table. “Are you leaving?” he asked.
“Yeah. Besides you, there’s no other competition here.”
“Well, can I walk with you?”
She stared mockingly at his wheelchair.
“You know what I mean. If you wanna be literal, can I roll with you?”
“It’s a free country. You can go anywhere you want,” she said.
She rotated abruptly and walked off. Still no direct invitation from her, but Kid didn’t care; he followed her to the exit.
They left the YMCA. It was dusk outside and still very warm. She went left and he followed behind her. She was five steps ahead of him, almost power walking, and Kid’s arms worked tirelessly to catch up to her.
“You know you’re a very pretty woman, Jackie,” he hollered.
“Thank you,” she replied dryly.
“How old are you?”
“I’m eighteen.”
“I guess you live around here, huh?”
“You guess right. I’m walking, right?” she replied matter-of-factly.
The mouth and attitude on her was something else. But it turned The Kid on. He had to shout out his questions for her to hear because she didn’t slow down to listen. She was an eighteen-year-old queen in his eyes. She was beautiful and he was desperate to get to know more about her. She continued to speed walk and Kid’s arms were losing their fuel. He so badly wanted to leap from his wheelchair and take her by her arm and slow her down. She was rude, but it wasn’t a deal breaker.
“Listen, beautiful, can you just slow down a bit so I can talk to you normally?”
“I have somewhere important to be,” she shouted.
“So tomorrow, are you gonna be at the Y?”
“Maybe . . . maybe not,” she answered with mystery.
The Kid sighed. Jackie was half a block from him and kept moving hurriedly. The Kid finally stopped pursuing her. He was defeated in chess and now he was defeated in romance. He hoped to see her again. He sat there watching Jackie walk like she had fire to her feet, and then she faded from his view. He figured she lived close by, and he was determined to see her again. Though she was young, she had caught his eye. With Jessica gone, The Kid found a new love interest. It didn’t help that he was horny too—and living with Eshon. Though they were friends, the presence of a woman had his heart thumping loudly.
The Kid wheeled himself home and thought about Jackie. What was it she didn’t like about him? It had to be the wheelchair—most girls don’t dig a man in a wheelchair. The handicap thing was never-ending. The girls figured that a man being in a wheelchair meant his dick didn’t work, it didn’t get hard, or he didn’t feel a thing, so why bother?
Get your mind out of the gutter, he thought.
He made his way home where the front porch had a wheelchair ramp. The living room lights were on, indicating Eshon was home. Kid worked his way up the ramp, placed his key in the lock, and made his way inside.
Eshon was seated on the couch in the living room. The moment Kid was inside she uttered, “They finally found that bitch!”