AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If you work third shift, you might have some expendable time. It’ll only be a couple of hours, a few times a week.” Not once had the man looked her in the eye during this visit. He just kept looking at that money in his hands and talking, ignoring her comments and jabs. He was smooth and cool with it. Friendly, yet stern, in a strange sort of way.
“At first you wanted my number; now, you’re asking me if I want a job. Well, which is it, Jude?”
“It’s both.”
She just glared at him then shook her head in disbelief.
“Your total is $53.27, sir.”
He handed her three twenties, then shoved the cash back in his wallet. She watched him like an eagle.
I could use a bit more money. It could help me get the store opened quicker and put somethin’ up for Ayanna for college. Everybody knows in order to get money, you gotta have a little money. Something to invest in yourself. The building I get for my store will probably be a fixer-upper, here or somewhere else in Tennessee. Probably somewhere else. I ain’t tryna stay here too much longer. How did he get all of that money? Hell, he might own a business or something. Let me at least ask.
“Is it something illegal? ’Cause if it is, you can keep on walkin’.”
“Applying for the job of being my date, or for the part time gig?” He grinned, drawing a smile from her.
“All I care about is the part time gig.”
“Well, I’d need to interview you first, to make sure my gut instinct is correct, but you’d be keepin’ someone company.”
“Oh, hell naw! You have a nice mornin’, Mr. Jude. Thank you for shopping at Kroger and come again… but in somebody else’s line next time, please.”
“No, not like that!” He waved his hand about, and his complexion deepened. She found that kind of cute. Made him seem more trustworthy. Sincere. “That came out wrong I suppose.”
“I’d say.”
“I have a friend who has some mental health challenges. He stays in an adult care center not too far from here. He likes to play Chess, watch TV, and he’s obsessed with NASCAR. He gets lonely, and I can’t be there with him all the time. I want him to have someone who stops by and talks to him during the week, not just the nurses and doctors. Someone who maybe has lunch with him, takes walks around the property with him… things like that.”
“I ain’t no nurse though. Why don’t you just get one of those traveling caretakers or an adult babysitter?”
“No,” he said firmly, cutting her off. “I don’t want someone who is in the system, seeing him as a check or someone to get outta their way and over with. I want a person with a good heart who won’t talk about him, but talktohim, and who will appreciate the time with him, because despite his challenges, he’s good company. He’s a good person. A smart person. I need someone who wouldn’t be in it just for the pay.” He gathered the bags in his arms.
“You don’t know if I got a kind heart, sir. I could leave from here every morning and go out yonder, running over squirrels in the middle of the road with my car for pure pleasure, then go home and fantasize about building a torture chamber to put old White folks in, and make ’em watch slavery movies from dusk to dawn.” He laughed and shook his head. “I’m serious, now. Folks is crazy nowadays. We can barely trust our own shadows, let alone a person we see workin’ in a store, that we think is cute.” She looked him up and down. “Looks can be deceiving.” Her heart swelled with warmth and anger as the emotions behind a troubled past, peppered with egregious incidents, reminded her just how cold the world could in fact be.
“Oh, don’t I know it, darlin’.” His smile slowly faded. “I know it so well that I could write a book on this troubled world, but some would say I was the main orchestrator of it. How ’bout this? You think it over, then give me a call in the next couple of days.”
She gave him a long, hard look, traveled her gaze around the store, then slid her phone out of her pocket.
“All right. What’s your number?”
“615-555-8901. Jude Cooper.”
She typed it all in, then saved his contact information. Out the corner of her eye, she spotted Lark watching from a distance.
“Got it.”
“Make sure you call me.” He picked up his bags again, and turned to walk away.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t think about it too long, beautiful. After all, who’s gonna fund that torture chamber you got your heart set on? It won’t just build itself, you know. Start with the movie, ‘Roots.’ That’s one of my favorites.” He chuckled, then disappeared out the doors, the rising sun waiting ahead of him…
“You not aboutto worry me and work my nerves wit’ that mess.” Aunt Blue chuckled as she slipped her black leather pants past her thick, cellulite-dimpled thighs. Her pink satin panties bunched against the slick material. She jumped up and down a time or two, her weathered brown skin riddled with stretchmarks around the tummy. Grunting, she struggled to squeeze herself into the attire. All that said, Blue was still gorgeous, and the woman knew it. “I’d tell her just like that, Iris.”
Iris sat back on her aunt’s pink sleek couch with a higher back on one side than the other, reminding her of something that would be planted smack dab in a Barbie condo and smelled of burning incense. Her bedroom was decorated with lush plants, gorgeous artwork of Black couples in the throes of passion, and an old school record player and stereo system. ‘Like This And Like That,’ by Monica was playing on the CD.
“Lily decided to block me on her phone again.” Iris waved her hand lazily about and rolled her eyes. “The only reason I moved to Boudreaux is so that Ayanna’s schooling wouldn’t be interrupted again. What happened was bad enough, so I didn’t want to uproot her. But, Aunt Blue, the neighborhood is so damn bad. I can’t stay. I ain’t told anyone, but I think I need to talk to my job about a transfer come end of the school year.” She sighed. “I’ve been thinking about it long and hard these past couple of weeks. I think this’ll have to be the last year for sure. I can’t take it. I keep my hand on my pepper spray, and I got my pistol, too. It’s a little bit of a hike to get to you here out in Camden, but not too far… Maybe I’ll come back here, if I can afford it. I want to get a little house for me and Ayanna. Gotta leave so we’d be safe.”
