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“Shut up! It is. Be careful ’bout judging folks, Iris. The Good Book warns against it, too. Now, this man ain’t no angel, but from what you’ve shared with me, he shows a lot of love for this childhood friend of his that he takes care of, and he offered to pay you generously for doing somethin’ so simple and kind.”
“But he wants to date me.”
“That ain’t what bothers you…”
“Of course it is! Why you think—”
“No… stop lyin’ to yourself. You ain’t mad because that man wants to date you, girl. You mad because you wanna spend some time with him, too…”
…A few hours later
As soon asshe tapped on his door, Eli opened it to greet her in a light blue sports coat over a white tank top and gray jogging pants. It was evident the man had put in effort in dressing himself. On his feet were a pair of fuzzy red socks, one pulled up much higher than the other. His gorgeous dark brown hair with natural highlights was combed as if he were expecting to take a school picture—wavy tresses parted on one side and pressed neatly, as though he’d used a wrap from the beauty salon. He immediately introduced himself at the door, extending his hand as if they’d never met before, and let her inside.
“So nice to see you again, Eli.” She placed her light mint blue sweater over a nearby chair.
Eli’s small apartment smelled of pizza and popcorn from his lunch earlier in the day, which he proudly let her know had extra pepperoni and extra sauce, his favorite.
“Baaaathroom.” His head tilted awkwardly to one side as he pointed in that direction, the muscles in his neck elongated as he fought his tongue to get the word out. “It’s… cleeean.” She smiled at that. “Kitch… kitch… kitchen!” He took a couple of steps and pointed to the small kitchen that featured a small white refrigerator, a hot plate, microwave, sink and drying rack. Framed pictures of cartoon characters, cars, and famous country singers lined the walls. Above the sink hung a few cabinets for crockery and the like.
“What… issss… your fav-faaaav-rit, col-lur?”
“Purple. I like red, too.”
Iris followed him to a small table near his bed, and before she knew it, they were embroiled in an Uno game. She hadn’t been there for more than ten minutes, and after clapping and giving her a sudden, spontaneous hug, the man made her play a second round, then a third. He was beating her behind, although she always figured she was good at Uno. Suddenly, the loud shrill of an old-fashioned wall telephone filled the room. Eli’s brows bunched and dipped as he yanked up the receiver, not too fond of the interruption.
“Hell-low? Yessss… I, I, all-red-dee, toooold you thaaat, Jeeeewwwwd… No… Nooo… Lee… leave me… alone. I haaaave comp-pany!” Eli slammed the phone down and it took all she had in her to not laugh. Her stomach bunched, and she prayed a few million times over, begging God to please not have her laugh in this man’s face. She didn’t want Eli to think she was making fun of him—she was in fact making fun of Jude who apparently was playing chaperone from a distance.
“What’s your favorite color, Eli? If it’s purple, I think we must be twins!”
Eli smiled at that as he sat there looking at the cards in his hand.
“Not purp-pull… that’s a… girl col-lore.”
“Boys like purple, too, Eli. Times have changed since you and I were children. My little cousin, Samuel, he wears purple all the time. Looks good on him, too.”
“Bluuuue.”
“Blue is always nice. Like the sky and the ocean… blue is what I imagine freedom looks like.” They kept playing, then she paused to blow her nose. “Tell me somethin’, Eli.” The man paused, his eyes resting on hers. “I like Jude because he really cares about you. What do you like about Jude most?”
Eli paused and looked at her from behind shimmery blue eyes.
“Fun-ny… Kiiind.”
Her lips curved in a smile.
“Yes, I ’spose he is kind, isn’t he?”
“He… hee’s strooong. Carry-carried me. I love… I love, Jeeeewd.”
Carried me? I don’t know what that means, but it sounds nice.Her heart warmed as he said the words, a big grin on his face. Moments later, she gasped.
“Looks like you’ve won! Again! That was fast.” She laughed. “You want to play one more time?” He shook his head and instead, rose to his feet. She peered over her shoulder and could only see a part of him as he disappeared behind a partition. She heard the refrigerator door open and close, and he returned with two cold Sprite beverages.
“Thank you.”
He nodded, set his down too, then disappeared once again behind the partition. This time, she heard some shuffling around, and then he emerged with a chess board, and a grin as broad as an upside-down rainbow stretched across his face.
“Oh, honey, I don’t know how to play no chess now. You got some checkers?” She burst out laughing at her own expense.
