Take Her Man

“Do you love that guy…the one from the reception?” he whispered in my ear.

“Yes. Yes, I do, Kyle,” I said, wondering why he was asking about Julian.

“Okay.” He stopped moving and his arms fell to his side.

“Why are you asking about Julian, Kyle?” I asked, looking at him.

“Because he’s standing behind you.”

“What?”

“Hi, man,” Kyle said. I turned around so fast I almost knocked Kyle over.

“What? Hey. Oh, my God,” I blurted out. I stuck my hand out to shake Julian’s like I was just meeting him. I couldn’t believe it. There he was standing right there in front of me…me and Kyle…watching us dance. Had he seen that? “Julian…you know Kyle,” I said, trying to calm myself down.

“Yeah, we met before.” Julian looked right through me. His face was tight. I’d never seen him look like that. It was right there smack-dab in between disbelief and rage.

“Yeah, well, funny, we just came out here to hear some music.” I gave a giggle. I wasn’t handling the situation very well. What would Tasha do? I kept thinking, but all I could see was the green dancing in Julian’s eyes. That was it. He was jealous. Julian was jealous because I was with Kyle. But it was…Kyle.

“You want something to drink, brother?” Kyle asked, pulling another glass from his bag.

“No, man. I was just coming over here to say hello to Troy.” Julian looked at me. “I’m here with some people from the hospital,” he said, pointing to a group of people behind us. “I saw you stand up when the couple was onstage, so I figured I’d come over. I didn’t realize you were with someone.”

“Well, I’m not with someone,” I said. I heard the glass Kyle was holding drop. “Well, I am but, like, you know, not really with someone. Just here with Kyle.”

“Yeah. Well, I hope you remember the conversation we had the other night at your apartment,” Julian said just loud enough for Kyle to hear him. “I was hoping we could speak again soon.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He glanced over my shoulder at Kyle, who had already sat back down on the blanket. “Well, I better be getting back to my people. It looks like the show’s about to finally get started,” Julian said, looking up at the musicians on the stage.

“Okay,” I said. Julian kissed me on my nose and walked away without saying goodbye to Kyle. Watching his back, all I could think of was all the times it was his blanket I had been sitting on under the Manhattan sky. We’d attended most of the shows together. Julian would bring the blanket and a Scrabble set we never seemed to open. I brought the wine and the food—Riesling, brie, and bread. Julian would sit me down between his legs in the middle of the blanket and feed me like I was a queen, kissing me on my neck between bites of dinner. By the time the show had begun we’d be so wrapped up into each other’s arms, we’d wish the blanket could suddenly grow walls and morph into a little outdoor hut. It’s a good thing that never happened, because then we’d been bumping and grinding in the bark.

Yes, I said to myself, watching him disappear in

to the crowd. Yes, yes, yes. I sat back down on the blanket and turned to Kyle. His face was long and he looked completely disgusted.

“Oh, Kyle. I hope I didn’t make you upset with what I said about being alone,” I said. I grabbed his hand and shook it playfully.

“No, it’s fine. Really, it’s fine,” Kyle replied. He slid his hand away and poured himself another glass of juice.

Smart Girls Rule

Everything was flying by so fast. By the time I finished my final exams and finally came up for air, the summer was in full swing. Nana’s play opened to a standing room–only audience in Harlem. Kyle and Daddy had just purchased two buildings on the block behind the church, and though Kyle pretended to be okay, I could tell my words at the park with Julian still bothered him. Tasha and Lionel’s process went perfectly with the first try and Tasha was three weeks pregnant. There was good news for Tamia, too. Professor Banks was able to reopen the case in Los Angeles and the proceedings were beginning in just three weeks. Tasha and I agreed to meet Tamia in L.A. one week after everything started to give her time to feel her way around.

“Let me get a quarter,” I said, holding my hand out to Tamia at the soda machine in front of the law library. She’d asked me to meet her there so I could help her organize some of her paperwork. Professor Banks was giving her a lot of responsibility and Tamia wanted to make sure everything was perfect before she met with the professor to go over everything the next day.

“No,” Tamia replied, smiling. “Aren’t you supposed to be on the Take Her Man diet or something?”

“It’s a damn soda, Mia.” I snatched her purse and pulled out her wallet.

“Feisty, are we?” Tamia stepped back. “I guess things aren’t going so well in ‘man-stealing land.’”

I rolled my eyes at her and pulled a Coke from the machine.

“How’s that going, anyway?” she asked.

I cracked open the soda. I had really been hoping to avoid the topic with Tamia. The truth was, Julian and I had hung out once during finals, but we’d just met up for a cup of coffee by the hospital. It was great seeing him. He walked into the restaurant carrying a huge bouquet of roses, saying it was for me, for all of the mess he was putting me through. I smiled graciously and accepted the flowers, but the truth was, I hated roses and I’d told Julian that on several occasions. In addition to being a complete cliché, they just seemed to die too quickly, no matter how much you tried to take care of them. But it was a start.