Damsels in Distress (10 page)

Four months later, after morning service, Celeste kissed Anthony good-bye then walked over to where Portia and Ginger were standing in the vestibule of the church.

“Tony has a meeting with Pastor Ricky Harris. Let's go and hang out at Leona's
.
A sista can really go for chicken fettuccini right about now.”

Portia looked at Celeste. She stood rubbing her very small protruding belly at sixteen weeks pregnant. “Look, we ain't trying to hear what you and Celeste number two have a craving for. Ginger's got another pressing issue.”

Celeste looked at Ginger. “Like what?”

“Like that
foine
brotha behind you,” Portia answered. “The tall one in the navy suit. He's pretending to be in a deep conversation while at the same time he's keeping one of his eyeballs on our girl here.”

Celeste turned around and saw who Portia was talking about. She saw the man in the navy suit and sure enough his eyes were glued to Ginger while talking with another man. “Hey, isn't that Joseph Banks? The new guy who reports the news on WGN channel nine every morning?”

For the past month, every morning at six o'clock sharp, Celeste and the citizens of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, awakened to Joseph's handsome face dressed in tailor-made suits.

Portia's mouth dropped open. “OMG, it is him. He looks even better in person.”

Celeste turned back around. She nudged Ginger's arm. “All right, Ginger, girl. You got a famous man sopping you up in the church. But how can he look at you and hold a conversation with someone else at the same time? You think he's a li'l cockeyed?”

Portia laughed at Celeste.

“He ain't cockeyed,” Ginger said, eyeing the copper-colored specimen standing about fifteen feet away from her. “A skilled man can do that.”

Portia nudged Ginger's shoulder. “So, uh, what's up with him? You've been holding out on us or what?”

“Do you know him personally?” Celeste asked Ginger.

Ginger shook her head from side to side. “Nope. I don't know him nor am I interested.” The latter portion of Ginger's statement was untrue. She was very much interested in who Joseph Banks was. No other man had looked at her that way before.

Ginger couldn't remember the last time she was admired by a member of the opposite sex. For the past four years, she'd been beaten, spat on, kicked around, and ridiculed. Ginger probably wouldn't recognize a compliment if it slapped her in the face. But she did like the way Joseph got her attention. Between the words he exchanged with the man he was chatting with, he managed to smile at Ginger.

“Good Lord,” Ginger mumbled out loud. Joseph had a nice set of teeth. White teeth. Even teeth. Teeth that belonged on the boxes of Aquafresh toothpaste. She returned his smile.

“I saw that,” Celeste said to Ginger. “Nor are you interested, huh? Weren't those your exact words?”

“Humph, well, we can't tell,” Portia commented. “I do believe I see a little flirt in you, Miss Schoolteacher.”

Celeste saw Joseph size Ginger up from her metallic stilettos, to her twenty-six-inch waist, up to her new interlock hairdo. “He hasn't taken his eyes off of you for a second, Ginger. I mean seriously.”

Just then Joseph excused himself from the company he was in and made his way toward Portia, Celeste, and Ginger. He came and stood in front of Ginger and spoke directly to her. “Hi.”

Ginger was sandwiched between Celeste and Portia. She was glad about that because at that moment, as she gazed at his smile up close, she teetered like a seesaw. Ginger didn't know if it was the smell of his cologne, his broad shoulders, or his sensual, deep voice but she was drunk in Joseph's presence.
Lord, please have mercy on me
.

With her girls at her side, Ginger felt confident that Portia and Celeste would catch her if her knees betrayed her. Yes, he was that fine. She looked at Joseph's lips. Smooth, not chapped. His mustache and goatee were trimmed perfectly. For the first time in her life, Ginger was mesmerized. Portia was right. Joseph looked better in person. “Hi.”

He looked deep into Ginger's eyes and repeated himself. “Hi.” His voice was even more sensual than when he uttered that same word moments ago.

Joseph put the F in the word “flirt.” But since Ginger was feeling good and since he put the ball in her court, she went for it. “Hi,” she said in her sexiest voice.

Celeste leaned back and spoke to Portia behind Ginger's head. “Did they just greet each other twice?”

“Yep, but did you take note of her sultriness?”

“I think somebody is coming out of her shell,” Celeste said.

Ginger broke the stare from the man in front of her and looked at her friends. “Okay, y'all do know I can hear what you're saying, right?”

“Really?” Celeste asked. “You seem to be in a world of your own.”

Ginger rolled her eyes at Celeste then looked at Joseph standing in front of her. “Please forgive my friends' rudeness. Sometimes she really do have manners.”

“All is forgiven,” he said, smiling. “My name is Joseph Banks. How are you lovely ladies on this fine Sunday afternoon?” His eyes were fixed on Ginger's as he addressed all three of them.

“We know who you are,” Celeste said.

“You did say ladies, didn't you?” Portia asked Joseph. “Meaning plural?”

Joseph looked at Portia. “Yes, I did.”

“I just wanted to know because you seem to be only talking to Ginger.”

Joseph arched his eyebrows and looked at the woman who stood directly in front of him. “Ginger.” He said her name dreamily. “What a beautiful name. Perfectly fitted for a beautiful woman.”

Celeste was impressed. “Wow.”

Although Ginger tried with all of her might not to, she couldn't help but to smile at his comment. “Thank you.”

“What I'm about to ask you may seem a bit forward but are you married?”

“Well, actually, I—”

Portia cut Ginger's words off. “Nope. She's not married, engaged, or in a committed relationship. She's not dating or seeing anyone at the moment. You're right on time.”

Ginger's mouth dropped open at Portia's boldness.

Joseph grabbed Ginger's left hand, brought it to his mouth, and kissed the back of it. “Ginger, is it?”

Ginger looked at the Adonis and slowly nodded her head. She was in a trance.

“I was just on my way out to get some dinner. And since I haven't been in Chicago for very long, I haven't met a lot of folks. I'd hate to dine alone. So, would the three of you care to join me?” Joseph was a stranger. He hoped that by inviting her friends along, Ginger would accept his invitation.

Ginger couldn't move.
Lord, are you for real? I need to know. You've brought me through too much stuff to be playin' with me.

Again, as Joseph spoke to the three of them, his eyes were only focused on Ginger's.

Portia being Portia lightly tapped his right shoulder. “Um, excuse me. You did say the three of us, right? Because again your eyes are focused only on Ginger's.”

“Absolutely. I'm speaking to the three of you,” Joseph answered Portia while staring at Ginger.

He's doing it again,
Celeste thought, remembering how Joseph was speaking with someone else while ogling Ginger.

Portia extended her hand to Joseph. “Well, in that case, I'm Portia and the lady standing on the other side of Ginger is Celeste. And it's a good thing you invited all three of us to dinner because we travel in a group.”

Joseph chuckled and shook Portia's hand. His first impression of her was that she was very straightforward and outspoken. It was a turn-off for him but since she was a friend of Ginger's, Joseph was willing to tolerate her. “It's a pleasure to meet you. But I'm curious about why you travel in a group.”

Celeste, being the eldest of the three, had always been a bit overprotective. “Because that's how we roll. We always have and always will. We are a package deal.” Their ritual wouldn't be broken. All three of them went on each other's first dates. Joseph looked good, smelled good, smiled good, and talked good. But for all Celeste knew he could be another Ronald. He could be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Ginger was vulnerable, open, and on the rebound. It had been four months since she beat Ronald to a pulp and gotten him out of her home. The day after the paramedics carried Ronald out on a stretcher, Ginger had gone to the courthouse and filed a restraining order against him. The damage Ginger did to Ronald's skull caused him to endure three months of physical therapy to learn how to speak properly again. The restraining order would keep Ronald one hundred feet away from Ginger for the next two years.

Ginger craved the attention that she'd never gotten from Ronald. Celeste was very protective of Ginger. Momma bear needed to watch her cub closely.

“How about dinner, Ginger?” Joseph asked her again.

Joseph was a fine specimen. But Ginger had been single for four months and it felt good to be stress free. She no longer had to worry about dirty dishes or strands of hair left in the sinks. She didn't need to worry about racing home to beat a curfew. In four months Ginger hasn't had to ask a man for permission to go to church on Sundays. She was living a celibate lifestyle. No more rapes that led to miscarriages. Ginger didn't know Joseph from a can of paint. He could very well be her knight in shining armor. But four months of freedom wasn't enough time for Ginger to have healed from the four years of abuse. She needed more time. “Joseph, your invitation to dinner is lovely and very much appreciated. But Celeste, Portia, and I have already made dinner plans.” That was Ginger's way of turning Joseph down politely.

Celeste and Portia looked at Ginger like she was insane but kept quiet.

Ginger crushed Joseph's heart and the disappointed look on his face told it all. “Oh well, maybe next time then.” He wasn't giving up on Ginger. He had read her body language. Joseph wasn't mistaken that she was interested. Ginger's eyes and smile told him she was. But something had kept her from connecting with him. She wasn't smiling anymore. Joseph didn't know what it was but he had all the time in the world to figure it out. Ginger had built barriers all around her. But one by one, Joseph decided that he'd knock them all down. He kissed the back of her Ginger's hand again then turned and walked away.

He had only stepped three feet away when Portia called after him. “Joseph?”

He paused then turned around to face the ladies.

“We're dining at Leona's Italian Restaurant on Madison Street. If you're ever in the mood for delicious Italian food, that's a good place.”

Ginger's chin hit the floor. She couldn't believe what Portia had just done.

“Is that right?” Joseph asked Portia.

“Yep. Great food,” Portia answered, not caring that she had just crossed a line with Ginger.

“Thanks. I'll keep that in mind,” Joseph said. He looked at Ginger and smiled one last time before turning and exiting the church.

“Girl, are you a fool?” Portia asked Ginger when Joseph was out of earshot. “What's wrong with having dinner with the man? Celeste and I would have been there with you.”

Ginger was hot. “First of all why did you tell Joseph where we're going to eat? What if he comes to the restaurant?”

“Humph, the way you just shot him down, you ain't even gotta worry about that. You could have at least accepted the man's dinner invitation, Ginger.”

Ginger adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder. “I'm not ready yet.”

“To do what? Eat some food?” Portia couldn't understand Ginger's hesitation.

“You can't force her to do something she's not ready for, Portia,” Celeste said. “She's gonna mess around and miss her husband.”

“Oh, Portia, please,” Ginger said, waving her hand at Portia to dismiss her words. “Joseph is not my husband.”

“How do you know?” Portia asked. “You won't even break bread with the man.”

Ginger exhaled loudly. Her personal life and what she did with it was her business. “Look, I don't wanna talk about this. Can we please go and eat?”

Portia noticed Ginger's fed-up expression. “Don't get an attitude with me. I'm trying to help you out. I don't want you to miss out on a blessing, Ginger. We all know you're due for one.”

“Trust me, when God sends my husband, I'll know it. I will hear God clearly when He speaks.”

“Well, you need to clean the wax out of your ears because He just spoke,” Portia stated and walked away.

* * *

At Leona's Italian Restaurant, Ginger, Celeste, and Portia were enjoying the all-you-can-eat salad and breadsticks while they waited for their main courses. Celeste was the first to reach for the second helping of the warm breadsticks as soon as their waitress set the basket on the table. Ginger and Portia watched in awe as Celeste swirled the breadstick on her salad plate to soak up the Italian dressing before inserting it into her salivating mouth.

“Celeste, you're really milking this all-you-can-eat thing, aren't you?” Portia teased.

Celeste took another bite of the breadstick. “All you can eat means eat all you can. And besides, I'm eating for two.” She was ecstatic about her pregnancy. Celeste had given up all hope of conceiving. She and Anthony had come to terms that they would never become parents. After seeing Portia in the hospital room and after hearing what Ginger had done to Ronald, Celeste and Anthony had become close again. Anthony returned to the marriage bed and within a week Celeste was pregnant.