In Between Lies (3 page)

Pulling his shoulder length, still wet dreads from his handsomely chiseled face, a faint whisk of a deep woodsy scented cologne brushed
Savannah
’s nose. He opened the door for her. “Call me in the morning? Tell me all about it, ok?” He gave her a light hug as she left.  Too wrapped up in his night to be, Richard had blindly forgotten her birthday.

**************************************

             
“Happy Birthday!” yelled Tamika as
Savannah
entered the house. As usual, the rich, southern grown aroma of collard greens, fried chicken and hot sauce filled her nostrils. Grabbing her hand, Tamika, her twelve year old niece, led her down the hall which opened to the sitting room in the rear of the house. “C’mon, you know your presents are in the back with Big Momma.

Rosalyn was affectionately called Big Momma by all of her grandchildren, basically due to her tall, commanding frame. Also the fact that she was the eldest of the trio of sisters and always had the last and final say when it came to family matters; which gave her seniority and credence among them.

             
Warmth embraced her as she passed through the pictured lined hallway. Her high school graduation, college graduation, even her first grade picture were a few photos that had become sentimental over time adorned the walls. The pictures were a constant reminder of where she had come from and been through; a grounding effect that allowed her to keep her head up and straight, unlike her conniving sister, Lenora.
Lenora. Such a home wrecker. It was her fault that Dre is out of the picture. Her fault that she couldn’t find it in her heart yet to love any man again. To be betrayed by both your fiancé and sister was unimaginable. She should not even be allowed to show her face again and still be able to look anyone in the eye from all the trouble she caused in the family. She can be such a …conniving bitch…or a hoe is more like it as Jasmine would clearly put it.

             
“Is your mother here?”
Savannah
asked, snatching her negative thoughts of Lenora from the past to the present moment. Pulling her hand from Tamika, she loosened the tight ponytail her hair was balled up in and let her shoulder length hair fall freely.

             
“Nope, Lenora is not here.” Tamika answered.

             
“What did I tell you about calling your mother by her first name?” Even though she was currently on the outs with her, she still wanted Tamika to show her mother respect…although she didn’t deserve it; and found every unimaginable way to un-earn it. 

By the tender age of twelve, Tamika had been shuffled around from home to home as her mother jumped from man to man and finally left her only child on Rosalyn to raise, as if she had nothing better to do. The disgust that she felt for her mother was not hidden in Tamika’s voice when she spoke of her. Hell, truth be told, she barely knew her.

             
“Sorry…no, she is not here.”
She
was the name that Tamika used to describe her mother.

             
“
Savannah
, happy birthday!” Wide mouth and open arms greeted her, beckoning her towards her mother. “How does it feel to be twenty nine? One more year and you’ll officially be an old woman. What will you do with yourself then?” Rosalyn smiled. Her strong but gentle embrace always made
Savannah
feel safe when she was near. There was never any question of their strong mother -daughter connection.

             
“I feel the same as I did yesterday and the day before that. How’d you feel at twenty nine?” She smiled and grabbed a handful of almonds from a glass dish that sat on the mantle piece. “You got a bit of wisdom you want to shoot my way this evening?” She plopped down in a recliner that sat across from her mother.

             
Rosalyn Summers smiled back at her daughter. Her bronze complexion was unblemished while giving one the unmistakable impression of a strict beauty regimen. Their high cheekbones and shoulder length dark brown hair mirrored each others, showing off their ancestral Indian ties. 
             

             
“Well, since you asked…when are you going to move on with your life? It’s been a long while now and I haven’t met any of your men friends yet. Outside of Richard, I meant.” Rosalyn grabbed her comforter and sat back on her couch, waiting patiently for an answer.

             
“I said wisdom, not questions. It’s getting late and I’m going out tonight.”  
Savannah
snapped back.

             
“You know there are holidays right around the corner. I take it that you’ll be bringing a male friend this year to the family functions?”

Savannah
shifted her attention to the commercial on the television, then brought her eyes back to her mother.

“You know, I think I’ll just take my presents and go. I am not in the mood to talk about men right now.”

She rose from the recliner and grabbed two gift -wrapped boxes and headed for the door with all intentions of leaving the dismal conversation and her mother behind.

“By the way,” she said, pointing back toward the television, “the commercial that was just on talking about The Blue Horizon was one of mine.”

             
Leaving the room, Rosalyn followed. “My advice to you is to let it go. You are a beautiful, young woman who deserves to experience what a man has to offer. You are not going to find it buried in your work, in a classroom anywhere or always hanging with your girls.”

             
“Yeah, well when you see a real man who has so much of whatever it is you’re talking about, let me know.” Stinging sensations tore at her eyes.
I am not going to let her get to me today with this good man fantasy talk.
“Bye mom.” As she backed out of the driveway, Rosalyn sadly closed the door behind her.

             
“She’ll be okay,” Tamika said.

****************************************

             
             
“The weather will be perfect tonight, so we should have a record crowd,” Kevin announced as his large figure filled the doorway to one of his newest ventures, The Blue Horizon Jazz Club.

“What do you think? It’s opening night and I think

everything is ready.” Giovanni Turner, his partner, turned to look at him.

             
“You better do more than think, man,” Kevin shot.

He moved with a polished form, smooth and graceful as a suave male model, as if knowing without hesitation that his products would be sold to the highest bidder. Confidently he entered the spacious and fully furnished lobby area, Kevin Styles made the final approvals of the dark blue and gold accented sofas, loveseats, and chairs that outlined the area.  Bending his large, muscular frame to sit on the sofa, as if the view and feel was better than standing, he relaxed a bit.

“I told you it would work.” As the only silent partner, and the largest contributor of The Blue Horizon, Kevin’s say was just as important if not more than at his two other partners, Giovanni and Luther.

             
“Man, c’mon follow me,” Gio said motioning Kevin to follow and headed down the softly lit blue halls. “The dance area is finished and the bar is now fully stocked with the liquor license intact.”

Black and blue marbled marquee tile led down the hall that opened to a larger room filled with the same small round tables that outlined the main hallway. Placed on each table were white and gold candles encased in tall glass candle -holders embellished in gold chipped trimmings.

             
“Is this ten or fourteen carat trimmings?” He held the candle-holder up to the dimly lit swirled smoky black and powder blue scones that hung from the wall and inspected it. Kevin wanted only the best for this new spot and intended for everything to be perfect from the elegantly styled furnishings along the club walkways, accessories, down to the napkin holders. 

He turned his view to the large bay like wall sized window that featured the main attraction; one that would command immediate attention, the infamous
Chicago
skyline. The
Michigan Avenue
club that sat on the tenth floor of the legendary Drake Hotel would be the one to set the standard. “Breath taking, isn’t it? After tonight, The Blue Horizon will be the newest downtown
Chicago
spot that breaks the mold.”  Of course there would have to be top notch security since the owners were pulling out all the stops in the name of luxury and ambiance.

             
“Ten carat, man. I know what I’m doing here.” Gio announced. “The ladies are gonna love this. Let the games begin.” Gio laughed, standing and staring out at
Lake Michigan
, rubbing his palms together.

Kevin shot him a hard glance. “Business. Nothing else. I don’t want this place reduced to having a bunch of cat fights…especially when my money is involved. Remember ambiance!”

“It’s all good, partner. I know how to handle mine. Business before pleasure.” Hunching his shoulders and slightly irritated, Gio, turned to walk away.

“Thank you, make sure you remember that tonight and every night.” Kevin knew Gio’s reputation with the ladies. When one woman was dropped another was already in her place before she was completely out. But then again who was he to judge. He pretty much did the same thing, but with a little more class appeal to it. He’d always acted like he knew next to nothing of his buddy’s social or sex life, but being one of his closest friends, it was hard to not know or ignore. Gio was more out there and most if not all his flings knew they were just that…a fling.

Kevin prided himself or thought of himself as treating the ladies like ladies, but on the low, they were flings just as well. Flings that ended on peaceful notes….except for one in particular that he didn’t want to dredge up from the past.

             
Quickly dismissing thoughts of
her,
Kevin felt himself relax. “Alright then, I’m going home to get dressed. I’ll be back about a couple of hours after the mid evening news and weather report.” Gio waved him off, still irritated.  He gave the club the once over and smiled, elated and hopeful of the clubs anticipated presence.

             
Sliding into the low bucket seats of his slick, fiery red Porsche, Kevin drove down
Michigan Avenue
toward WMMT-17 news station. With the red sun setting low, he glanced at the purple, blue and orange sky, thinking of his previous weather forecast of possible rain tonight. His predictions were that there would be a 35 percent chance of having rain mixed with snow that would finish the weekend out.

A cloudless sky and unseasonably calm, warm temperatures made him out to be incorrect, and he was happy for being wrong this time.  Pulling into the stations overcrowded garage, he discarded his mid length leather jacket and headed for his office for yet another night of forecasting with the possibility of filling in again for the now absent anchorwoman. Due to her early delivery of her newborn, she’d been forced to take a leave at least four weeks in advance. Kevin was asked, or for that matter, told that he was to fill in for her until her back up was available.

             
Looking over the radar readouts he glanced at his profile into what he called his “practice” mirror. For someone to be on television as much as he was, he’d made it a point to know every aspect of his facial expressions. His guise was what really made his role interesting and basically made his job. For that matter, since he was working against a blank blue screen, he’d have to know and calculate all his movements and cover not only the
Chicago
area, but the surrounding states as well.

Staring back at him was a medium brown complexioned face with deep -set brown eyes and a strong jaw line that exhibited strength. He had to admit that he was handsome, and was complemented on his looks all the time.  He rubbed his smooth bald -head, feeling for any razor stubble then ran his hands across his suit jacket and chest, removing imaginary strands of unseen hair and lent. Checking his small diamond studded earrings, he turned his attention back to the radar readouts.

             
“You’re on in ten.” a voice came from behind.

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