3. Sundae
Earlier The Same Morning . . .
I can’t believe I just fucked a man that I met the same night.
That was not something that was normal for me.
I wasn’t ashamed that I did it, but I was surprised.
From the first note that left his guitar when I was on the stage, I knew I would fuck him eventually.
I just didn’t think eventually would be the same night or morning . . . Whatever .
I was so delusional with desire about getting the dick that I let him transport me to his home.
That was a crime documentary set up if I had ever seen one.
The way that man touched me gave me goosebumps.
Hell, I had them now just thinking about it.
There was a roughness about his hands that felt like it could exfoliate my skin but in the same breath moisturize it. It was the best feeling ever.
When I woke up cupped in his arms, I panicked.
I forgot where I was for a moment. It was sad that I couldn’t even blame it on the alcohol because my ass wasn’t drunk at all.
My damn drink of the night was a non-alcoholic mocktail.
What I did was because of pure desire. I was hungry for him, and he let me eat greedily.
I slid my ass out of his bed and army crawled my fluffy ass across his floor.
It was like I was scared if I walked the wood floors would tell on me.
Now I was in a rideshare on my way to the grocery store near my house which wasn’t too far from where he lived.
It was crazy that we lived on the same side of town.
I wondered how I had never seen him before.
Maybe he’s new to this side of town. Yeah, that had to be it.
I lived in Cayce, but he lived in a part of Columbia that was close to Cayce.
There were a few things I needed from the store.
Some things were for me and the others for my sister.
When we went grocery shopping, we bought things for our homes that the other liked.
We spent a lot of time at each other’s house, so it just made sense.
Plus, Wynsdae’s likes were not mine when it came to food.
We rarely shopped together because while I liked to peruse around the store, she liked to get what she needed and go.
I looked down at the list I had on my phone.
I needed some ice cream. My sister thought it was nasty that I mixed rocky road and butter pecan.
The closer I got to the aisle, I saw a small group of people standing at the end of the aisle.
What the hell is going on? The closer I got, I heard the elevated voice that came from the aisle.
“That’s a damn shame. People need to learn how to control their children,” one of the onlookers said as I walked up. Her nose was turned up.
When I looked down the aisle, I saw a beautiful older woman leaned against the freezer door as an equally beautiful little girl walked back and forth down the aisle as she hummed.
I watched to truly take in the situation.
From the little girls’ physical attributes, I knew that she was a down syndrome child.
The ones standing around me that murmured about her bad behavior probably didn’t notice because of her beauty.
There was a nasty connotation that individuals with the disorder were not attractive for some reason. That was crazy to me.
The little girl had certain attributes I noticed that told me what it was.
I was trained to see these things, however.
She had a little button nose with a flatness at the bridge.
Her eyes slanted upward ever so slightly.
I noticed that every two freezers, she knocked on it at a beat that complemented the song she hummed.
That could have signaled that she also had an obsessive-compulsive disorder.
My eyes drifted to the woman leaned against the freezer door.
She was tired, frustrated, and worse, without a solution at the moment to get the little girl to stop the breakdown she was currently having.
I closed my eyes to zone into the tune that she hummed.
I wanted to help, and I knew that the key was the song. Once I had it, I smiled at her choice.
I walked around my cart toward the girl slowly and cautiously. If she appeared to get more frazzled by my presence, I would back out. I softly began to sing the song that she hummed. I also mimicked her motion of knocking on every second freezer.
Her head snapped up at me. It took her a beat before she smiled and began to sing with me.
We sang together and knocked on the freezer door.
It was the best jam session I think I ever had.
When we got within two freezers away from each other, I stopped.
If she wanted to close the distance I would allow her to, but I wouldn’t invade her space without her permission.
My cheeks warmed when she stood in front of me.
We both sang and knocked on the freezer door.
I took the time to glance at the woman with her.
I couldn’t determine if she was her mother or someone else.
They resembled each other, but not closely enough to say that the little girl was her daughter.
The woman’s face displayed a beautiful smile, and her hand covered her chest.
The song ended and my eyes locked with the beautiful girl with twisted ponytails down her back. “Hi, my name is Sundae. What’s yours?”
With a bright smile she responded. “My name is Callira Symphoni Wick. I like you.”
Her like of me felt like a validation that I didn’t know I needed. “Well, I like you as well. You have a pretty voice.”
Her rosy cheek complemented her milk chocolate skin tone. Her cheeks went toward her shoulder. “Thank you. My daddy tells me that all the time.” She pointed at the woman that now stood in front of the freezer door. “My Grandme tells me that too.”
Ah, her grandmother. “Well, they are both right.” I leaned in a little bit toward her. In a low voice, I asked, “Can you introduce me to your Grandme?”
Callira nodded her head before she surprisingly grabbed my hand. Wow! She must really like me. “Grandme, this is Sundae. She’s my singing friend.”
Her grandmother and I both giggled. That was another thing about individuals with down syndrome, and the same could be true for those on the spectrum. When they liked you, they liked you, but if they didn’t, it was fuck you.
I outstretched my hand. “It’s so nice to meet you. My name is Sundae Jacobs. I’m so sorry to intrude, but I couldn’t just stand by knowing that I could possibly help.”
“My name is Rella.” She stared at my hand for a beat, put her hand into mine, then pulled me into a hug. “Thank you so much. It’s been a long morning. You are such an angel.”
I let her hold on to me for as long as she needed. There were days when some of my special needs students came in after school and were on one. My sister or one of our teacher assistants would have to give me a break.
I rubbed her back. “I completely understand. My sister and I own a tutoring-aftercare business, and I specialize in special needs. There are times that I need a break too.”
She pulled back from the hug. “Really? That is amazing. Do you have a business card? I homeschool this one here.” She glanced over at her granddaughter who had found her way into the back of the shopping cart.
“Well, I guess her meltdown is over. I think it would be great if maybe she could come in a couple days a week to socialize with other children.”
I reached into my crossbody and pulled out my monogramed business cardholder case. “Of course I do.” I handed her my business card. “I would absolutely love to have her join us. I mean, I am her singing friend.”
She laughed before she put her eyes on Callira. “I will surely talk to her father about it. I think it would take some anguish off his chest as well to know that she was socializing with other kids. Right now, it’s just me, her grandfather, and her father.”
I noticed she didn’t mention a mother. That’s not your business. “I look forward to hearing from you.” I walked over to my new friend. “Callira, I hope I see you again so we can sing together. What song do you want to sing next time?”
Her eyes looked up and her finger tapped her chin. I saw it in her eyes when she knew what she wanted to sing. There was a sparkle there. “I know. Let me tell you in your ear. I don’t want anyone to steal our song.” After I moved my ear toward her, she cupped her hand and whispered the song title.
My eyes popped a little at her old school request. “Oh, we can sing that. I love that song. Make sure you practice because I am. I’ll see you later.”
She gave me the most beautiful smile. “Bye, Sundae. See you later.”
I went back to my cart and was on my way. The crowd long ago went about their business. I smiled at the thought of my interaction with Callira. I didn’t know that I needed it. Rella said that I was an angel, but so was her grandbaby.
I was in the grocery store for almost an hour just walking around looking at everything that I didn’t need to look at. I wasn’t sure how the intent was to just by groceries and I walked out with a few outfits. Damn superstores!
I left the store with more bags than I thought I would have so I had to get a XL rideshare.
Thankfully, my driver was nice and helped me bring my bags to my doorstep.
He was tipped handsomely. After I put all of my things away, I placed my sister’s things in my utility cart to pull them two doors down to her house.
I looked at my watch when I got to her door. She better be awake. I snuck out of Citrell’s house at seven-thirty this morning. Now it was only after nine. I did my courtesy knock before I put my code in her door to enter. “Sister! Where are you?”
I headed to her kitchen to start putting her groceries away. Moments later, she came into the kitchen in her house robe.