What We Learned Along the Way (7 page)

Mariam was surprised to hear this kind of
talk from Aliya, but it was a good surprise. She was always worried
that Aliya might get herself into trouble by dating so many men. It
was time for her to settle down.

“It’s hard to say, because I haven’t met the
guy. I don’t know what he’s like or what he’s looking for. Do you
think he’s been considering the same thing?”

“I don’t know. He’s definitely mature, so he
should want something more serious, but still I don’t know.” Aliya
sounded so confused.

“If he hasn’t at least hinted at it, then
maybe he’s not ready. Maybe you should ask him about his past
relationships. That might give you a feel for how interested he is
in getting into another one.” Aliya loved talking to Mariam,
especially about guy stuff. She always gave the best advice.

“That makes sense. I’ll bring it up tonight.
He’s taking me out. Thanks for the advice, girl. I’m at work and
we’re about to open so I need to get off this phone.”

“Oh, you’re at work. Is Rashad there?” Mariam
asked hopefully.

“Yea, he’s here. You want to talk to him?”
Aliya started to walk toward the kitchen to give him the phone.

“No, that’s okay. I know you all are probably
busy. Just tell him I love him, and tell your manager to stop
working him so hard. He had to interrupt our romantic movie night a
few weeks ago because he got called in to work a second shift.”

Aliya thought that was odd. Their manager was
tough sometimes, but he never scheduled anyone for two shifts in
one day. If any of them worked a double, it was because they wanted
to, not because they had to. She didn’t have time to tell Mariam
all that, so she just said, “I’ll tell him,” and got off the phone.
She asked Rashad about it a little later when they had some free
time.

“Did you tell Mariam you had to work a
double? You know Tone never makes us work doubles. Only if we want
to.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked as he
turned around from the cutting board.

“I don’t know. It was a while ago, I think.
Mariam said something about you interrupting you guys’ movie night
because you’re manager called you back to work.”

“Oh,” he said. “Yea, I know we don’t have to
work them, but I just had some things on my mind. I needed an
excuse to get away. You know how relationships go. You got your
good times. You got your bad times.”

“And your romantic movie night was one of
those bad times?” she questioned, looking at him suspiciously.

Before Rashad got a chance to answer, Tone
walked into the room and started barking orders.

“Ten minutes ‘til show time, guys. Get those
tables set, and that floor swept. Michael, you turn on the front
lights. John, I noticed a little trash outside out front door. Go
pick it up.” Tone always sounded angry, even when he wasn’t. His
6’5, 300 lb body couldn’t help but to produce such a roaring sound.
He was an okay boss. He paid them well and didn’t hassle them when
they wanted time off, but Aliya didn’t like the way he looked at
her sometimes. He had asked her to stay late and help him go over
the books a few times, but she always managed to get out of it. She
didn’t know how many more times he’d believe that she had to wash
her hair.

Just like she wanted, Aliya’s shift went by
quickly. She was in a rush to get home, so she didn’t stay around
to bother the guys like she usually did. She put on her favorite
Sade CD and lit some candles. She liked to set the mood when she
was getting ready for a big date. After her shower, she stood in
front of her closet and stared at it like she had never seen it
before. Though she had tons of clothes, all of which looked like
they came off some runway in Paris or Milan, she felt like she had
nothing to wear. As she stood there searching, her phone rang. It
was Langston.

“Hey, Langston. I was just trying to find
something to wear for tonight,” she said sweetly.

“As many clothes as you have, you could
really just close your eyes and grab something,” he joked.

“It would help if I knew where we were going.
Is it dressy, casual, black-tie?

“You know you’re going to look great either
way, so it really doesn’t matter. Just get dressed and I’ll see you
in an hour.”

She settled on a black, knee-length dress
with some zebra-print heels and a red clutch. She figured that
outfit should be appropriate for most places. She only hoped he
wasn’t taking her hiking, or horseback riding. She pulled her hair
back into a neat bun and kept her makeup pretty natural, except for
the bright red lipstick. She had heard that red lipstick was okay
for black girls now, and that it looked very sophisticated.
Langston was seven years older than she was, so sophisticated
sounded perfect.

She still had another thirty minutes to wait
on Langston. She was really anxious, so she decided to call Malikah
and Jaime on three-way to pass the time.

“Hey girls, what’s going on?” she said in a
happy voice.

“Just studying for an economics test,”
Malikah said.

“And I’m still looking for apartments,” said
Jaime. “I’m serious about moving out.”

“Jaime, I’m surprised you answered your
phone. You’ve been MIA ever since you stood up to your parents,”
said Aliya.

“I’ve just been busy. Lots of work to do.”
Aliya wondered what work she was talking about since Jaime was out
of school and didn’t have a job, but she was too excited to think
about that.

“I have a date with Langston tonight. I don’t
know where we’re going. It’s a surprise. I’m so excited.”

“This guy’s been taking you out a lot. He
must have money,” Malikah said.

“He’s doing alright. He owns a bookstore,”
Aliya said nonchalantly.

“So, he’s one of those,” Jaime said like she
had just figured something out.

“One of what?” Malikah and Aliya said
together.

“You know the type. Locs? Owns a bookstore?
One of those wannabe revolutionary, fight-the-power brothers. His
bookstore is probably in some rundown building downtown, next door
to a bean pie shop.” Jaime had a way of ruining people’s fun. Aliya
didn’t like the comment, but she wasn’t going to let Jaime get to
her. She thrived on that attention and Aliya was not about to give
it to her.

“Okay, if you consider Chapter a rundown
building downtown,” Aliya retorted. Jaime was quiet.

“Did you say Chapter?” Malikah said in
disbelief. “He owns Chapter? They’re about to put Brothers Books
out of business!” Brothers Books was one of the biggest and
longest-standing bookstores in Houston. Three years ago, Chapter
had come out of nowhere and it was really giving Brothers some
serious competition. Malikah loved the way Aliya so easily shut
Jaime up.

“You guys have to promise you won’t tell. He
barely told me. He’s really modest and doesn’t like people to know
who he is. You gotta promise me,” she begged.

“Rich and humble? Does he have a brother?”
Malikah asked.

“Yea he does, but I don’t think you’d be
interested.”

“Yes I would. I’m not picky,” Malikah said
quickly, not realizing how desperate she sounded until it was too
late.

“Okay, but he’s only 15.” The three of them
laughed at the idea of Malikah and a 15-year-old on a date. Then
Langston rang the doorbell. The sound scared Aliya. She was still
used to guys just staying in the car and honking the horn. “He’s
here. Gotta go, bye,” she said as fast as she could. She hung up
the phone before the other two were able to figure out what she
said.

She opened the door and there he was, looking
like he’d stepped right off a GQ cover. His dark grey sweater and
black slacks looked great on him.

“And you were worried about what to wear,” he
said, taking her hand and twirling her around so he could have a
better look at the outfit. “You’re gorgeous,” he whispered into her
ear as he gave her a big hug. Langston smelled wonderful. She
didn’t want to let him go. Who knows how long she would have hugged
him if he didn’t say “You know I love hugging you, but we have to
get going.”

Aliya was embarrassed, but his smile put her
back at ease. They held hands as they walked to the car. As they
drove, she thought about what Mariam told her, but she thought it
was too early in the night for serious talk. Instead, she talked
about how excited she had been all day, and how her day was at
work.

“I’m glad I could add a little excitement to
your day. How long have you been a bartender?” he asked.

She thought the question was a little random,
but she answered anyway. “Two years.”

“So you started right out of high
school?”

“Yep. I knew I could get good money without
doing all those years in college.”

“You’ve never wanted to do anything else? I
mean career wise,” he asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

“I’m only 20, you know. I still have a lot of
time to decide what I want to do with my life,” she said angrily.
She hated it when people asked her about her future plans, partly
because she didn’t really have any, but also because it reminded
her of her dad.

Langston could sense her frustration. He put
his hand on hers. “Sorry if I’m getting too personal. I just want
to know more about you.” Aliya felt bad. People always told her she
had a temper. She didn’t want it to run Langston away.

“I’m sorry, Langston.”

“It’s okay,” he said as they pulled up to the
theater. The huge lit sign read “Why I Cry, Starring Linda
Washington and Derrick Lyons.”

“I heard this play is amazing! How’d you know
I like the theater?”

“I didn’t know. I just hoped you would,” he
said as he opened the door for her.

He handed the tickets to the usher, who led
her to center seats in the second row.

“2nd row, center? These seats are amazing. I
bet they were expensive. I hope you didn’t spend a lot of money on
them.”

“Not really. I know the director,” he said.
Aliya wanted to say something else, but the lights started to go
down and the play was getting started. By intermission, she was so
engrossed in the play that she had forgotten all about what she
wanted to say. The play was excellent. It was only halfway over and
she had already laughed and cried. She made a quick bathroom run to
freshen up. While she was in the stall, she overheard some women
talking.

“Girl, did you see that brother in the second
row?” one of the women asked.

“The one with the gorgeous locs?” the other
asked.

“Hell yea, the one with the locs,” the first
one answered. “Now, that man is fine.”

“I know, but did you see little miss thing he
was sitting with? Fake wannabe model,” the second one said in a
jealous sounding voice.

Aliya was used to woman talking about her for
no good reason, so she wasn’t surprised at what she was hearing. In
high school, she had to deal with jealousy. There was always some
classless girl in her face accusing her of trying to steal her man.
If only those girls knew that in high school, Aliya was already
dating college guys.

Aliya came out of the stall and politely
squeezed past the two women to get to the sink. She could tell they
didn’t know she was in the stall and could feel their eyes burning
into her back. When she saw what they had on, she wanted to laugh.
Why did the worst dressed people have the most to say about
everyone else? They both wore horrible, blonde wigs that looked
like they had been thrown on their heads. One had on a too-small
gold, pleather dress that was way too low-cut and extremely too
short. The other looked like an extra from a second-rate rap video.
She wore a dingy pair of cut-off shorts and sparkly tube top with
some 4 inch heels. Aliya dried her hands and then turned to the two
women.

“Enjoy the rest of the show. I know I will,”
she said right before she walked out of the bathroom. She burst
into laughter as soon as she turned the corner. She knew the women
could hear her, at least she hoped they could.

After the play, Langston took Aliya to a
beautiful French restaurant. The two of them laughed at the story
about the women from the bathroom.

“I’m sure you get stuff like that all the
time,” Langston said.

“Not so much anymore. I thought I left all
that petty stuff in high school.” She tried to find a way to
transition into the “past relationship” talk, but she couldn’t
think of any other way to do it than to just come out and ask.

“So, Langston, tell me about your last
relationship,” she finally said, trying not to sound as nervous as
she was.

“About that,” he said. “Aliya, I have
something to tell you.

Malikah wished she hadn’t rushed out of the
mall the day she saw Muhammad. Maybe if she had stayed and bought
something, she would feel a little more confident about meeting
Isaiah.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into
this,” she said to Mariam as they drove.

“You said you want to get married. How do you
expect to do that if you don’t get out and meet some men?” Mariam
asked. “Once Rashad and I get married and start our family, I won’t
have time to find men for you. You better take advantage now,” she
said, smiling at her engagement ring. She couldn’t believe she
finally had it.

“Yea, you’re right. I do need to meet more
men. So did you call him and tell him about me?”

“Not exactly. I thought that might be weird,
so I just told him to meet me at the track at Hallow Park. I told
him I was bringing a friend.”

“The track? Why are we meeting at the track?”
Malikah asked suspiciously.

“I told you he likes to run. It’s a workout
date. I figure I can introduce you two and then say something came
up and I have to leave. The two of you can stay.”

“Mariam, you know I hate running, and I’m not
even dressed to work out!”Malikah complained.