The Night Before Thirty (15 page)

“Are you still wearing the ring I got you?” Alecia asked her sister. She checked Tabitha's hands, seeing it wasn't on her pinky.

“Tabitha, please don't tell me you—”

“Calm down, big sister. I always take off my ring when I get dressed in the morning. The lotion was dulling the stones. Don't have a conniption. I'm still a virgin, and I'm still trying to get my convertible.”

Alecia sighed. She found peace just seeing that ring on Tabitha's finger whenever she visited. She'd bought it for her on her fourteenth birthday and made her vow that she would at least wait until she graduated from high school before losing her virginity. Alecia stressed to her that she hoped she'd wait until she was married, but that she'd be proud of her for holding out until graduating. She further promised her a new car of her choice if she held out through college graduation.

“In that case, I do have something else for you,” Alecia said. “Let's go back to your room.” Alecia's room had been turned into a TV room when she moved out, but Tabitha's had twin beds in it. Alecia slept in one of them whenever she was home.

The phone rang. “I've got it!” Gloria yelled back to the girls. A few minutes later she announced, “Louisa's on the phone.”

Alecia picked up. “Hello?”

“Alecia Jewel Parker.”

“Louisa Montero!”

“What's up?”

“Just catching up with Tab. When did you get here?”

“Oh, about an hour ago. I didn't think you'd be here. So what are your plans? How long are you staying? I'd love to catch up with you,” Louisa said.

“I have no concrete plans. I'll be here until Sunday night.” Alecia opened her suitcase to find some items to give to her sister. “There is a jewelry store that I've been hearing about that I'd like to check out.”

“I see that diamonds are still your best friend,” Louisa joked.

“Always have been. Probably always will be. Friends are flaky, diamonds stand the test of time.”

“I'm not hearing that. I'm always trying to reach out to you, but since you've been in L.A., you've become all incognito.”

“I've just been focused, that's all,” Alecia replied.

She kept her distance from her handful of friends, like Louisa, because she was the only one of them who didn't have a career or a husband. She didn't want a career, so once Alecia had snagged a husband, she felt that Louisa would be more than welcome to visit them in their mansion in Malibu.

“I know how you are. That's why I'm coming over there right now, because if I don't catch you, I probably won't see you again for another two or three years.”

“Okay, Louisa, I'm dying to see you too. Just push the door open—it's unlocked.”

Alecia hung up the phone, ran to the dresser, and looked in the mirror. Louisa's mom's house was just next door, so she had very little time to freshen her face.

“Why are you primping? It's just Louisa,” Tabitha said.

“Oh hush, and hand me my makeup bag.”

TABITHA AND GLORIA
went off to have breakfast with Lou, while Alecia rummaged through her mom's kitchen cabinets to find mugs and coffee for her and Louisa to sip on while they chatted, catching up and remembering old times.

“You treat me so bad now, but you forget I'm the best friend you've ever had, that you used to call me your twin. How soon we forget that I slapped Danika for you when she took your lip gloss and didn't want to give it back.”

“I remember like it was yesterday. You had my back. But who let you sit by her on the bus when you didn't speak a bit of English?” Alecia stood in the kitchen with a coffee filter in her hand. She couldn't figure out how to work the coffeemaker and didn't want to take the time to learn. “Louisa, could you help me? Mom's coffeemaker is not like mine.”

Louisa got up and removed the filter from her hands. “You're right. I was the lone Latina girl that nobody could communicate with, but that's all right.”

Alecia watched Louisa work her magic with the coffeemaker.

“Take a seat,” Louisa said. “I'll handle this.”

“But I didn't care. I thought you were intriguing, exotic. Cute. Not as cute as me, but cute enough to be my friend.”

“So vain. Still so vain! But who taught you to speak Spanish?”

“I taught myself. How else was I gonna communicate with you?”

They laughed.

Alecia plopped down in the chair, the same one she'd sat down in day after day, every morning for breakfast and every afternoon to do homework after school. It was comforting to be home. “Well, maybe you taught me a little, but I was a fast learner,” Alecia said.

“We both bridged the language barrier pretty quickly,” Louisa replied.

“And we were like peas in a pod ever since.”

“Yeah, until we graduated high school.”

“It's amazing how things change.”

“It is, but you're still my girl.” Louisa brought over sugar and creamer. She took a seat next to Alecia.

“And you're still my twin. So, how's the Morning Show gig working out? I listen to you every chance I get, but to be honest, you're usually already off the air by the time I wake up.”

“I love my job—Melvin Green is a hoot! We're now syndicated in over fifty cities, and if you listened sometimes, you'd know that they've created a Night Before Thirty birthday contest around my thirtieth birthday.” Louisa got up to pour the coffee, and then stopped short. “Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Speaking of being twins, this is perfect. We share birthdays, so you have to enter the contest. Go get some paper and a pen. We have to write your letter!”

“See, there you go with one of your 'brilliant ideas.' Please let me in on what's going on before we get started.”

Louisa explained the contest.

“Port Lucaya?” Alecia frowned.

“I know it's not as glamorous as the spots you travel to, but it's going to be a blast. Plus, cruises are always nice.”

Alecia gave Louisa the thumbs-down.

“Do you have plans for your birthday yet?” Louisa asked.

“Not yet, but …”

“Well, you do now, and I'm not taking no for an answer. Besides, I'm on the selection committee. Go get the paper, diva, while I pour us some coffee.”

Alecia looked at Louisa. She knew Louisa would make her a winner of the contest, even if she had to write the letter herself. That's how Louisa was, a go-getter. That's why she and Alecia got along so well growing up. Their attitudes were the same, only their energies were focused in different directions: Louisa on her career and Alecia on men.

ANYA WAS AWAKENED
by her telephone ringing and someone knocking on her door. She looked at the clock. It was three in the morning. She sat up and picked up the cordless phone while slipping out of bed to see who was at the door.

“Hello?” she said while sliding into her slippers.

“It's Chris, baby. Come and open the door.”

“Okay, I'm on my way,” she said.

Because it was still dark out, there was little visibility in her living room as she walked through it to the door, unlocking each of the locks and opening it. A rush of cold Chicago wind gushed inside her apartment and down her gown.

“Get in here. It's freezing out there,” she said.

Chris looked at her with tears in his eyes. He stepped inside her apartment and pulled the door closed. Tanya nervously went around him and locked the door. Chris just stood there.

“Come here, baby.” Tanya threw her arms around him. The cold clinging to his jacket chilled her, but she didn't let go.

“Are you okay?” she whispered in his ear.

“I couldn't sleep. It's been two weeks since T-Roy was shot, and I still can't sleep,” he said. “I'm frustrated because the tears came, but I'm even more pissed that I can't stop them.”

“It's all right,” Tanya said. She wiped his tears with her fingers. “Chris, baby, you're gonna get through this. We'll get through this together.”

Chris wrapped his arms around Tanya. “I love you so much. Thank you for loving every fucked-up thing about me,” he said, and then sought comfort in her lips. He slid his hands on both sides of her hips and lifted her gown from her waist up over her head. His mouth found its way to her breasts. Then he kissed her neck and whispered again, “I love you.”

Tanya kissed the tears streaming down his cheeks. She unzipped his jacket and pulled it down his arms, allowing it to fall onto the floor. He pulled her arms around his neck, picked her up, and carried her into her bedroom, where he laid her on the bed and stared at his woman, showing visible appreciation.

Taking his time, he fully undressed. Then he went to Tanya, who wrapped her legs around him and created a safe place for him to release his emotional woes, filling him up with her goodness.

As he entered her, he whispered, “I need you, Tanya, and I promise I'm gonna be everything you need in a man. I love you, girl.”

“I love you too, Chris,” she said, while gripping his back with her hands.

“I'm gonna change, Tanya. I promise,” he said.

While he made love to her, he whispered passionate words of promise and hope. Those words traveled to the center of Tanya's heart, and she clung to them while receiving pleasure in the midst of their pain.

TANYA AWOKE TO
the sound of her alarm clock. She had reset it to ring at eight a.m. so she could call in sick. She did whatever was in her power to miss days only when it was an extreme emergency, but Chris had asked her to stay in with him, and she'd agreed.

After Tanya hung up the phone, Chris put his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him until they both fell back to sleep.

Tanya woke up two hours later. She was wide awake, so she went to the living room and found her gown and her slippers near the door. She dressed and went into the kitchen to fix her and her man some much-needed nourishment.

To break the silence in the apartment, she turned on the little radio
that she kept in the kitchen. Melvin Green and the Morning Show Crew were just closing out. Tanya got a boost just hearing Melvin's voice. She listened to the show every morning on her way to work, and then continued listening in while she sat at her desk.

Louisa Montero began talking: “Remember, ladies, you only have a few more days to get those letters in,” she said. “If your thirtieth birthday is on December first, I want to hear from you.”

Melvin Green made a few closing remarks, and the show closed out with the old-school jam of the day, “Reasons” by Earth, Wind & Fire.

Tanya snapped her fingers to the beat, but her mind couldn't help but go where it went every time Louisa Montero mentioned that contest. Tanya imagined herself in South Beach or chilling out on the deck of a cruise ship sailing to the Bahamas. Her thirtieth birthday was on December first, but she wanted to spend her special day with Chris. There was no way they'd be anywhere tropical on her birthday. Chris hated to fly, and if he couldn't get there by car in less than five hours, he pretty much didn't bother.

Tanya quickly let go of the idea of entering the contest.
My odds of winning would be slim,
she said to herself.
Whoever won contests, anyway?
She proceeded to cook up bacon, eggs, fried potatoes, and biscuits. Before long, Chris came dragging out of the room and took a seat at the dining-room table.

Tanya opened the refrigerator, pulled out the orange juice, and poured a glass for each of them.

“Breakfast smells good,” Chris said.

She kissed him on top of his head and went back into the kitchen to get their plates.

“Thank you, baby,” he said, and took a drink of his orange juice. Then he eased into his breakfast.

“How did you sleep?” Tanya asked.

“Like a baby.” He looked at Tanya and smiled. “Good,” she said, smiling back.

She could feel his leg rubbing against hers underneath the table.

She took his comfort level as her cue to bring up their leaving town for good. “When are we going to move away from all this madness, baby?”

He cleared his throat. “Soon,” he replied and gave her a look that clearly said,
Not now.

If not now, then when?
she thought, but was too afraid to say it aloud. Pushing through his uneasiness, she continued. “There is nothing in this city for us, so what are we waiting on?”