Chapter 8
amelia
I went to Winnie’s class.
Unfortunately though, Kick A Nigga Ass Or Something was only a sufficient distraction while I was actively imagining Hunter’s head as the target of my mimed punches.
Great workout though, and I was a little sad when it was over, entirely too soon.
Three sentiments that you wanted from a fitness class.
I made sure to share them with Winnie before I left – and made a note to tell Shia that one class member had crashed out mid-round on the ex she was pretending to fuck up.
Jeanie.
That girl was a damn menace.
I grabbed a togo plate from Pot Liquor on the walk home, tearing into the roasted chicken and greens as soon as I got through my front door, after smelling it the whole way.
With my appetite sated and my energy zapped from class, all I had left to do was shower and go to bed, and hopefully wake up to a better day tomorrow.
I pulled out all my stuff for a good shower – limited edition scents and the good exfoliating scrub, shave oils, all that. Instead of the overhead light, I set the mood with candles and music, stripped down, and got to work.
Everything else was so good that I wasn’t even bothered when my music died halfway through – I finished taking my time scrubbing, shaving, smoothing, plucking, and whatever else.
I felt like a whole new woman by the time I opened the bathroom door to let the steam out, ready to feel the rush of cool air from the other room.
A rush that… didn’t happen.
“What the hell,” I muttered, stepping out into a pitch black apartment. I was energy conscious sure, but not perfect setting for a slasher movie vibes like this.
I grabbed one of the candles, using it to light the way for me to hurry and get some clothes on, then found my phone.
An accident on Harris Avenue has resulted in a damaged power line.
Heights Municipal Services has already dispatched a crew, and will have power restored for all affected neighbors as soon as possible.
Please check on young children, elders, and pets who are not able to care for themselves.
There are cooling stations in place at the library and community center if you cannot safely remain in your home.
I’d gotten that message twenty minutes ago.
Right around the time my music died – which meant what I’d assumed to be a simple lost signal was actually a power outage affecting…
I hit the link in the message, pulling up the map they’d provided, marking the affected areas and the cooling stations.
Half the block was dark.
I groaned as I realized I was already breaking a sweat.
The weatherproofing in these old buildings was basically non-existent, so any “build up” I’d had of cool air had already dissipated.
I was going to have to open the windows.
Which, that shit was a task in itself.
By the time I was done, I was in a full-blown sweat, debating about the cooling stations for my damn self.
I did not feel like peopling at that level though.
Like, at all.
So, I used the last cubes the ice maker had granted to fill my water bottle and went to sit outside on the balcony, hoping to at least catch stray breeze.
What I caught was an eyeful of Calvin.
There were emergency strip lights on the balconies, solar powered. They were meant to be unobtrusive, so it wasn’t enough to read or anything, but more than enough to see that Calvin was outside in his boxers.
Looking like a promo for… hell, sex.
Gosh this man is fine.
As much as I wasn’t really trying to look at him like that, I kept running into circumstances that made it hard not to.
“You want some?” he asked, when he realized I’d stepped out.
“Some what?!” I replied, eyes wide until he held up what appeared to be a damn juice box.
“Oh! Uh… yeah, actually – you have another one?”
“Yuuup. You want… pineapple lemonade or fruit punch?”
“Pineapple lemonade,” I answered. “Sounds like it might put me in the mind of a lemon drop.” A moment later he signaled that he was tossing it to me across the short distance.
I almost dropped it, but quickly recovered.
“Good save!” he called. “I’m guessing lemon drops are your fave?”
As soon as it was in my hands, I realized it was not a juice box at all.
It was a frozen margarita.
“Nice,” I muttered, pulling off the straw and punching it into the top of the pouch. “Lemon drops are my fave. Thanks, neighbor!” I called to Calvin as I took a seat and kicked my feet up before I took a sip. “Although I must say – you don’t give keep girly drinks on hand at home vibes.”
He chuckled. “Leftovers from that kickback I had a few weeks ago.”
“The day I moved in?”
“Yuuuup. We’re probably not getting power back tonight, and it’s too hot to sleep, so… may as well pretend it’s a vacation, right?”
“I think I see your logic,” I agreed. “But…should I be concerned that you were maybe about to sit a drink a bunch of these by yourself?”
“Nah, I just pulled out these two. My mom and sisters will probably fuck ‘em up next time they slide through.”
“Aww – they visit often?”
“Not nearly enough,” he admitted. “I haven’t had a good head rub, been told exactly where I fucked up my life, had the best thing stolen off my plate, or gotten my forehead thumped in weeks.”
“Whoa,” I laughed. “Let me guess – baby of the family?”
“I am,” he said. “Is this a case of game recognize game, or I sound spoiled or something?”
I shook my head. “Neither. You sound loved.”
His eyebrows went up in surprise at that answer before he nodded. “I’ll take that. What about you? You have siblings?”
“No – only child,” I said. “Never met my father, but Mama has always held it down for me.”
“We have that in common then – well, almost. Sperm donor has made his attempts to make himself known now that there’s a possibility of something in it for him.”
I frowned and took another sip. “That’s shitty.”
“Indeed. But… fuck them,” he shrugged. “Like you said – Mama held it down.”
“And still does,” I giggled a bit. “I can’t decide how I feel about it – On one hand, I would love for her to recognize that I’m a grown lady too, and can take care of myself.
On the other though… girl, what time is that doctor’s appointment and how am I supposed to keep this house clean and cook dinner?
Oh, and keep myself up, and keep a roster of niggas?
Cause you – she – made it look so easy.”
“Oh, you’ve got a roster, huh?”
I sucked my teeth. “Why am I not surprised that’s the only thing you heard?”
“It’s not the only thing I heard – it’s what piqued my interest the most,” he corrected, coming to lean on the balcony railing. “Answer the question.”
“If I had a roster of niggas, do you really think I’d be all twisted up, crying over one?” I asked, wrinkling my nose at him. “Besides – the point of that statement was that I do not have my shit together like she did at my age. And she had a kid!”
He chuckled. “I fully believe our parents’ generation is just… I don’t know. Tougher, for sure.”
“Ugh, you sound like her,” I groaned. “When I told her what happened – after the fact, mind you, or she would’ve been on a plane immediately – she was so concerned about me being by myself in a building like this.”
Calvin’s head drew back. “What’s wrong with this building?”
“Nothing, not really. It’s just… older. She believes I need modern amenities or someone to help me manage not having them – which is why it was fine when I was living with Hunter.”
Calvin laughed.
Like… a full-blown fucking guffaw.
“What was that for?!” I asked, mouth hanging open.
“My bad,” he said, clutching a hand to his chest. “I just… having met that nigga I cannot imagine him being useful for anything uh…”
“Maintenance-y?” I filled in, and Calvin snapped his fingers.
“Yeah. That.”
“Yeah – absolutely not,” I laughed. “She didn’t know – or hell, she probably did and was just letting me figure it out. Either I fixed it with help from a video I found, or it was put in a maintenance request. Which… shit, maybe that should’ve been a little more of a red flag than it was.”
“Nah – not everybody is handy, you know? I’m not knocking him for that.”
“Oh, me either,” I explained. “The thing is, I hated that shit. Like, I would be stressed out, crying, spending my whole day on a task that would’ve been a twenty minute thing for a professional. And Hunter would just be off doing his own thing while I suffered.”
“So why didn’t y’all just put everything on the maintenance list?”
“Because it made him feel like a bitch,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Calvin frowned. “And… having his lady stressed out over the faucet leaking didn’t?”
“So you see the problem then,” I sighed. “Anyway though… I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Me either,” he scoffed. “Go back to what’s wrong with the building.”
“I already said it was nothing,” I laughed. “Just normal old building stuff.”
“Weren’t you supposed to be moving into a historic brownstone though?”
“Yeah – a renovated one. With a solar backup generator.”
Calvin whistled. “Nice.”
“Very,” I agreed. “No worries about a blackout – which, my mother anticipated, by the way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, she sends me stuff all the time – random things from her online shopping hobby. Literally a few days ago, I come home to a package. It’s a damn portable air conditioner that runs on batteries and ice. Who even thinks of something like that?”
He leaned over the rail a bit, getting closer. “Wait a minute – we’re out here sweating and you’ve got an air conditioner that doesn’t need electricity?”
“Calvin… do I seem like I have what that thing needs to run?”
“Amelia… do I?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Yes, actually.” We stared at each for a moment before I stood. “Bring me another one of those margaritas when you come.”
“Bet.”