Chapter 2
two
tatum
Rolling my eyes and sucking my teeth simultaneously, I waited impatiently for the money I’d requested to be dispensed from the ATM.
With a deep scowl on my face, I flipped my super long, honey-blonde box braids over my shoulder.
It always made me laugh when it was assumed that black people couldn’t naturally have blonde hair.
My bronzed skin tone and natural blonde hair was proof that theory was a lie.
Most of my childhood, I felt that I was weird.
I was the only person in my family with blonde hair, and my skin had a red undertone to it.
No matter how many people called me pretty, I still felt odd.
As I got older, I embraced my looks and loved everything about myself down to the freckles that were sprinkled across my nose.
I had four months’ worth of rent in my savings account in case my nail clientele ever fell off.
I promised myself I wouldn’t touch that money no matter what.
Which was why, I was pissed about taking money from my paycheck to pay the daycare bill that my daughter, Angel’s father was supposed to pay.
Ivan was a worthless piece of shit and though I didn’t regret my child, I loathed the day I ever met his ass.
He was a fake trick. He liked to flash money in the club and wine and dine women until he got them where he wanted them.
Then, he turned into a cheap, unreliable, abusive asshole.
I was under his bullshit ass spell for five months before I saw the light.
I wasn’t sure what it was about planning to be done with a man that made a woman fertile, but the moment I said I was done with him and meant it, I missed my period.
Ivan was the kind of asshole that a woman had to play nice with to get him to do anything for his own flesh and blood child.
There was a time when I never nagged him just to keep the peace.
On some pathetic shit, I even slept with him a few times, so he’d pay my rent or make my car payment.
Ivan was the half ass father of four kids.
Angel was three, and she wasn’t even the youngest.
Whatever naivete and desperation I possessed that had me ignoring each and every red flag that ever popped up to warn me about Ivan, I wanted it banished from my life.
Back in the car, I looked over my shoulder to find Angel doing alphabet games on her tablet.
Despite how much her father pissed me off, I had to smile at my baby.
With her dark skin, big doe shaped eyes, and thick curly hair, I just wanted to kiss on her chubby cheeks all day.
She was one of the only good things to ever come of me dealing with Ivan.
With or without his help, I was determined to give my baby a good life.
My parents helped me with her a lot, and I often felt guilty about it and slightly embarrassed.
I was twenty-five years old and had my first child with a deadbeat ass loser.
Angel’s daycare was close, so I arrived in no time.
I put her things away, kissed her goodbye, and explained to her teacher that my mother would pick her up since the daycare closed at six, and my last client was at 6:15.
When I added up all of the appointments, I had that day, I calculated $480.
That didn’t include tips or any walk-ins that I might be able to take.
If I could leave the shop with at least $520, I’d be elated.
While every day might not be an $500 day, it was a damn good way to start my career as a full-time nail tech.
After stopping to get breakfast and gas, I pulled up in front of the shop four minutes before my first client was due to arrive.
My food got demolished on the drive, so I had just enough time to rush in and get ready.
It wasn’t unusual for men to come in and get manicures and pedicures.
I’d definitely had some super fine men in my chair.
However, the specimen that walked in the shop and let my name roll off his lips in a deep rumble made my kitty ache.
“Tatum?” his eyes roamed my frame.
“That’s me,” I responded politely.
“I’m Onyx. I have an appointment for a pedicure.”
“Nice to meet you, Onyx. Right this way,” I smiled before pivoting. He was more than likely a hoe. In fact, I was willing to bet my last dollar that he was a man with a wayward dick sleeping with any woman with a pretty face and ample amount of ass.
Onyx got comfortable in the chair while I started the water and got the temperature right.
I had to get used to dealing with people’s feet.
When I first started doing nails, I wasn’t fond of it at all, but I needed money, and not doing pedicures was stupid.
It wasn’t like I expected men to have nice feet.
As long as they weren’t too hideous and crusty I could deal.
There was no exaggeration on my part when it dawned on me that Onyx had the best looking feet on a man that I’d ever seen.
His feet were just as perfect as his face.
He stood 6’1 with skin so dark and rich, he looked exotic.
The diamond encrusted grills perched on his bottom row of teeth made my kitty do things I didn’t want it to be doing, and his jet-black hair shone like silk and rippled was with waves. My God, my God.
I made small talk with all my clients unless they were on the phone, but the silence between Onyx and I was kind of awkward at first. Five minutes of loud silence before I thought of a question to ask.
“You from Golden Waters?”
“Nah. I have family here, but I was born and raised in Charlotte.”
“Nice,” I bobbed my head while pursing my lips a bit. “Charlotte is pretty cool.”
“Yeah, it is, but so is Golden Waters. I’m trying to figure out if I like it enough to move here.”
“I’m sure it won’t have quite the same excitement and variety as Charlotte, but it’s not a bad place to live at all.”
“I’m starting to see that. You single?”
Heat radiated through my body, and I wasn’t sure why.
That was a question I got on a regular basis.
People always acted shocked when I told them that I was single because according to them, ‘I was too pretty to be single,’ whatever that meant.
For as pretty as I may have been, men didn’t try me every day.
Shit, not even every week and when they did try me, most times, they gave me the ick.
There were some slimy creatures slithering around, and I had no desire to partake in the current dating culture.
I’d never become horny enough or desperate enough to ever settle again.
Ivan was the wake-up call to stop dealing with lames that I needed.
Onyx was so fine nothing about him gave ick. But it gave man whore, womanizer, nigga with ten kids. Yeah, it gave that. “I’m very single and wouldn’t be surprised if I remained that way until the day I left this earth.”
“Damn it’s that bad?” he chuckled. The deepness of his voice sent chills down my spine. It stifled my breathing and to me, that was crazy as hell. I’d been attracted to men before but never in that magnitude, and it was weird.
“Worse.” I sighed. “I’m not even really worried about it at the moment. If it happens it happens, but I’m focused on taking care of my kid and making sure she has a great life.”
“I can most definitely respect that. How old is your child?”
“She’s three,” I smiled. Anytime I talked about Angel a smile was going to automatically form on my face.
I could never be one of those mothers that mistreated their child because of who their father was.
Angel was the spitting image of Ivan and that didn’t stop me from loving her more than life itself. “How many do you have?”
“Damnnnnnn,” Onyx drawled before barking out a laugh. “You didn’t even ask me if I had kids. You just went straight to how many? That’s cold work Lil’ Mama. I don’t have kids.”
Lifting my head, I gave him a sheepish grin. “Sorry. I guess that was a little stereotypical, huh?”
“Just a little bit.” There was a smirk on his face and a flicker in his eyes. Interest? Lust? Simple amusement? I wasn’t sure which it was, but I couldn’t keep staring to try and figure it out. Gazing into his eyes wasn’t good for my sanity or my panties.
“My bad.” I forced my focus back on his feet.
“Can I take you out sometime?”
My breath caught in my throat. He had been the only man to try me in the last year that I didn’t automatically reject without giving it a second thought.
I hadn’t lied when I told him I was super focused on making sure me and Angel were good.
I didn’t want to live paycheck to paycheck, always stressing, always worrying.
And since Ivan wasn’t shit, that meant I had to work extra hard.
When I wasn’t at work, I tried to spend as much time with my child as possible.
So that didn’t leave a lot of room for other things…
like men. But damn Onyx was fine. He didn’t have to end up being my soulmate. Maybe we could just have a good time.
My gaze once again lifted. “And where would you take me?”
“I want to hit the adventure park. I see they offer ziplining and ATV riding.”
My eyes bucked as my brows lifted. “Ziplining? Who?”
“You and me. Come on now, Lil’ Mama. I know you’re not scared.”
“Yes. Yes, I am, and I refuse to front about it. You’re on your own with that one. Hit me up when you want to do dinner or a movie like normal people.”
His chuckle literally sounded like a melody. Onyx had turned me into a sad case. Everything he did had me melting. At least I was doing a good job of playing it cool.
“That’s real basic. We don’t do basic.”