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The energy at bingo was always kind of strange during the weeks in the middle of the month. She wasn’t sure what caused it, but something in the air made people behave differently. Worse somehow. Accidentally claiming a false bingo was enough to get you booted out. Players were especially finicky about the speed of the game. Even the cooks at the food counter were on edge lest someone try to jump over the counter at them for serving chicken wings without enough lemon pepper seasoning.
Aja hadn’t been the only one to notice the mid-month mayhem. The bingo hall always made sure to assign Mr. Rodney Zane as the caller during these weeks. A no-nonsense Black man with a barrel chest and a stark white beard, he reminded her of her middle school principal. Stern and unflinching.
She was surprised to see that Walker and Ms. May were already seated when she got there. Ms. May normally showed up fifteen minutes into the first game, shout-whispering her apologies as she skirted the dirty looks to squeeze past other, more dedicated players. Aja didn’t think Ms. May had ever shown up before her.
“Hey,” she said to them both with a smile before turning to her friend. “You’re here early.”
Ms. May rolled her eyes as she adjusted her pink casts on the table. “This one rushed me out the door.” She jerked her head towards Walker, who was sitting in the seat closest to Aja’s again. “Couldn’t get here fast enough.”
Walker groaned low in his throat, which Aja found hilarious.
“Well, maybe he fell in love with the game. You know how easy it is to get hooked on that bingo adrenaline rush.” Aja kept her eyes on him while she spoke, unable to keep the smirk off her face.
“Uh-uh,” Ms. May commented blandly. “I’m sure his enthusiasm had nothin’ to do with the fact that he gets to sit next to some hot young thing after spendin’ all day with my old behind.”
Aja raised an eyebrow at Walker. “You’re about to go sit next to little miss Anita, huh?”
He looked back and forth between them, the tips of his ears reddening. “Now y’all are just tryin’ to embarrass me.”
“Just havin’ a little fun, baby.” Ms. May patted his cheek.
It was Wednesday, and Aja felt good. All the shame and anxiety inside her wasn’t gone, but it was sleeping. Like always, it decided when she got relief, not the other way around. And it would only last so long, so she decided to go with it.
“You shared your cobbler with me, Walker.” She gripped the back of her chair, swallowing when his eyes caught the movement and his gaze narrowed in on it, “I figured we were friends now.”
He pointed his long index finger in her direction. “You’re mean.” Then he turned to his grandmother. “And you’re meaner.”
Ms. May shrugged. “It’s tradition to haze the newbies. Ain’t that right, Aja?”
“My second time here, the man at the front desk pretended to refuse to sell me bingo cards for, like, five minutes. I almost cried.”
She tried to keep her tone light. She recognized that the joke had been in good fun. And the last thing she wanted was to come across as someone who couldn’t have fun. But the whole thing had mortified her. She’d been hot and humiliated and forced to try and remain calm under all those staring eyes. She almost hadn’t come back. The only thing that had gotten her to step foot back in the hall again was her incredible need to be around other people. Even if those people were elderly folks who thought shitty pranks were funny.
Walker frowned at her, his eyes stormy. “I see folks in Greenbelt still love messin’ with people for no reason.”
The air between them became thicker as his tone changed into something much less playful.
“It’s all in good fun, Wally,” Ms. May said.
He grunted, turning his head away from his grandmother as he rolled his eyes.
When Aja sat down, he leaned closer. Her nostrils flared as they met his cologne. It was incredible, a light scent she couldn’t describe but was eager to breathe in. His warm breath caressed her cheek and neck as he whispered in her ear, and it made her shiver.
“If you want me to beat up the dude at the front desk, let me know.” His tone was playful again. “I don’t have any qualms about knockin’ out an elder.”
“He already apologized,” she said. “He gave me a free pack of bingo cards the next time I came in.”
“Well, good, but still… If you’re anything like me, it’s not easy to brush that kind of shit off. I’m sorry more people don’t care to understand that not everybody can brush it off easily.”
She found herself at a loss for words. Her brain loved to overthink things. Find hidden meanings in moments without any. She was always digging through simple conversations for unspoken things that she’d already convinced herself were real, even against all logic. She’d been with her new therapist for six months and they’d been working on that. Progress with mental health was slow, but Aja had been doing that digging less and less.
Walker’s words made her pause. They were obviously supportive but also vague. She could have sworn he was referencing a part of her he only knew because of their moment in the grocery store. He’d been so understanding in those few minutes. Quiet and sure and as far from frantic as possible. He’d been the exact opposite of her. But if she thought hard about it now, it was almost like he’d been coming from a place of experience.
If you’re anything like me, he’d said.
If you’re anything like me.
She drew in a breath, willing herself to calm down. It wouldn’t do her any favors to jump to conclusions, especially not off something as simple as a few kind words. Was she so desperate to connect with someone who understood her on that level that she was willing to read so deeply into some random man’s actions? All Walker had done was share his cobbler with her for fuck’s sake. He wasn’t trying to send her coded messages about shared mental illnesses over bingo games.
