When Sean arrived, he greeted Big. They shared a hug and reminisced about Jhavon. “You remember when I spanked both of y’all for painting my dog?” she asked.
“I’ll never forget it,” he said, showing his pearly whites.
Then they both started laughing.
Big’s tiny house was so small. We could hear conversations from all directions.
Per Jazzy’s instructions, I waited five minutes before presenting myself.
It worked. Big had half-talked off Sean’s ear, so my entrance was a refreshing interruption, according to the look on his face. His eyes shot up, his mouth dropped, and his gaze swept my entire body from top to bottom.
“You look great,” he complimented me as he rose from Big’s tattered love seat.
“Thank you.”
From under my lashes, I studied Sean’s skin that was a sea of caramel, contrasted with deep, dark eyebrows and lush brown lips. I wet my lips with the tip of my tongue. The few times I had seen him around town, his body moved like a superhero, guided in its sway by his muscular shoulders. I could feel my pulse beating in my ear.
Jazzy was right.Anything could happen.
Sean drove us to Red Valley, which was filled with fast food restaurants and clothing stores I had never even heard of. When I shared my observation with Sean, he explained how many of the traditional fast-food chains had been bought out by up-and-coming companies who wanted to prepare healthier choices. Some of them had even replaced beef with tofu.
“But everybody ain’t gonna give up meat,” I said.
Sean shrugged. “Some will.”
Is he crazy? His nonchalant response gave me pause. Why was he saying those things? Everybody I knew ate meat three times a day. “Have you gone without meat?”
“Yeah. Plenty of times. I’ve gone whole days without eating anything,” he added.
I envisioned Sean starving, laying out on the ground, skinny, looking pitiful with a tin can in hand utilized as a collection plate because “no food” meant “no money” in my world.
“Are you serious? In my experience, the only reason a person didn’t eat meat was because they were homeless, jobless, didn’t have family, or were unconscious or something.”
He chuckled. “I’ve broadened my horizons. To me, it’s just food. There’s plenty more where that came from.”
His way of thinking about food was so foreign to me, I began to wonder if going off and seeing the world had made Sean out of touch with reality. Sean and Jhavon had been so much alike, but there was no way Jhavon would have said anything so crazy like not eating meat or food every day.
Sean had changed. I needed to get that in my head. I rubbed my chin, maybe change was good. This might help me see him as Sean, not just Jhavon’s best friend who used to eat up all the bologna in the kitchen when he came over.
We arrived at a small shopping center, and Sean parked the roaring Mustang far from the stores despite the empty spots nearer.
“Why’d you park so far away?”
He slid a glance my way. “Gotta try to protect my paint job. Don’t want no door dings from people parked too close.”
Really?If having a car was this much trouble, I didn’t want one, given how far we had to walk to the front. And in these heels, too.
My face must have told on me.
“You okay? I mean, I can drop you off at the front.” He put his hand on the key, preparing to switch on the ignition if I said so.
“No. I’m fine.” I unbuckled my seatbelt. Then I smiled and gave myself permission to speak my mind. “But I might as well have walked here as far as we are from the entrance.”
He busted out laughing. “Oh, you got jokes, huh?”
I laughed, too, and suddenly realized the best part of Sean was still there. Good humored. Easy.
Our hands dangled close as we walked toward the painting studio. I hoped he would take my hand into his, but he didn’t. Maybe he was trying to be respectful. Maybe I was just overthinking everything.
