1. #2
“You can quandary later, or whatever the heck you said. Right now, raise the paddle.”
“Come on, ladies. Do I hear five-fifty?”
Kasim smiles, encouraging the women to bid higher by doing a motion with his hands, raising them.
Those white teeth of his should be enough to drive up the bid alone.
And then there’s the way his beautiful, brown eyes sparkle beneath the bright spotlight they have on him, as if he needs such a display.
He’s a bright light all of his own. Always have been the kind of person who effortlessly obtained attention from people, so it’s no surprise that grown Kasim is a magnet for women.
The beard – it’s one of the features I notice almost immediately.
It enhances his handsomeness. He doesn’t need it, but thank heavens he has it.
I shake my head at the thoughts running through my mind.
So much has changed. I don’t know this version of Kasim, but like all the other women in here, I like what I see.
He’s well put together. A solid ten. With his upbringing and life of privilege, I wouldn’t expect anything less.
He had the world at his fingertips when we were kids. Now, he probably owns it.
“Six-hundred. We’re at six-hundred ladies! Do I hear six-fifty? Don’t be shy. Look at him. Does it look like he’s shy?”
“He ‘on’t look shy to me!” a woman shouts from the audience.
“And don’t!” another woman says. “He looks like a whole drink of water and, baby, big mama’s thirsty.”
These women…
This lady has to be pushing sixty – talkin’ ‘bout she’s thirsty as she flirts with a twenty-eight-year-old – ready to put that snappin’ turla on somebody.
Pipe down, Granny.
Diedra nudges me and says, “Girl, raise your paddle before the bid goes any higher. It’s already at six-fifty now.”
“One thousand!” I blurt out, holding my paddle high in the air. I didn’t realize I was standing up until Diedra grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down to my seat.
“Girl, you’re not supposed to stand up.”
“Why not? The bidding police gon’ arrest me?”
“No. It’s just not that kind of party. It’s a little more subdued, shall we say.”
“You didn’t say that when ‘ol girl said, and I quote, ‘come to mama big daddy’, when that first guy walked out. And somebody grandma over there proclaimed she was thirsty.”
A chuckle eases from her mouth. “Well, I don’t know them. I know you.”
“Yasss!” the announcer says. “We have a bid for one thousand dollars. Woo! Any more bids? One thousand fifty perhaps? Going once, going, twice. Sold, to bidder 789! You go, girl. Did y’all see her? She stood up to make sure she secured her man!”
“I know that’s right,” I hear someone say faintly in the background.
“Can we share him?” someone else yells.
A roar of laughter fills the ballroom. I lock eyes with the man I just bidded on, wondering if he knows who I am? I’ve changed over the years, too, but if I recognized him, surely he recognizes me, doesn’t he? Or are those lights so bright up there that he can’t make out the audience?
I look at Diedra, meeting the confused expression on her face.
“What?” I ask.
“I can’t believe you just did that.”
“You should. You literally made me do it. You drug me out here against my will, told me to place a bid on this guy and so that’s what I did. I placed a bid.”
She still doesn’t move. Her eyes are bulging open as wide as her mouth is.
“Ain’t nobody told you to spend a rack on the dude. You’re only having dinner with him once.”
“I’m aware, but in your words, it’s for the children , right? So, why are you pressed?”
“Why am I—you do realize the women have to pay for dinner as well?”
“Wait. What!”
“Yeah, baller, shot caller . And this restaurant ain’t cheap. It’s one of them fancy joints where you pay a hundred bucks for pea pods, carrot shavings, and pinched smiles from snooty servers.”
“Shut up.”
She cackles. “Lie to you not. It is.”
“Crap,” I say. I had no idea tonight would end up costing me a small fortune.
But it’s for the children.
Yeah— for the children , but who’s going to feed me after I go broke trying to feed these children? I’m not exactly rolling in the dough. It took me two years to save two thousand dollars, and now, I’m going to wipe most of that out in one night.
Lucky me…
I sigh. “Jeez, Diedra. I cannot believe I have to pour two years’ worth of savings into this.”
“Girl, don’t worry. You’ll get it back. When you do good for others, especially children, it all comes back to you.”
“Blah, blah, blah…for some people it does. Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of luck.”
“You do. Trust me.”
She winks – well, tries to but it comes across like she got a lash caught in her eye or something. It’s perhaps the worst attempt at a wink I’ve ever seen.
“Hey, while you’re on my case, I don’t see you bidding on anyone,” I tell her.
It crosses my mind briefly to tell her I know the guy I just dropped a thousand on, but I keep that to myself for now.
I’m not trying to deal with her antics and insinuations right now.
I have to get my nerves together for this… date .
A date with the boy I once knew who’s now a grown, irresistible man.
Who, once upon a time, used to be my best friend.
I smile at the memory of the good times.
At the joy I used to feel in my heart when I would wake up in the morning and know that I would see him.
He always made my days better, well until that one time he didn’t.
“I will bid when I see my type,” she says.
“And what might that be? It changes like the wind direction.”
“Hush. I’m waiting for a tall, midnight prince to come walking out. The kind of man who makes me want to scream, Wakanda Forever. And ever. And ever!”
I shake my head. Diedra loves herself some black men, and the darker the complexion the better. It’s the blacker the berry type deal, and she likes her berries super sweet.
Perhaps she’d raise her paddle for this bachelor.
He’s dark chocolate – the healthy kind of cacao that the doctors say is good to eat.
He’s tall, too. I glance over at her and she’s staring up at the stage the same way I imagine Moses was looking at the burning bush when he was up on that mountain. She’s in awe.
“Diedra.”
She’s still in a trance with the guy – doesn’t even respond to me.
I snap my fingers. “Diedra!”
“What?”
“Stop staring at the man and place a bid before that unhinged lady over there gets him.”
She blinks and tosses up her paddle. “Three-fifty.”
“We got a bid for three-fifty—do I hear four hundred?”
“Four hundred,” Ms. Unhinged says.
Apparently, Diedra ain’t the only one who has a thing for chocolate.
“Five hundred,” Diedra yells.
“Five hundred. Do I hear five-fifty? Going once, going twice…congrats, bidder 788!”
“Yes!” Diedra says. “He’s all mine, and I didn’t have to spend a thousand dollars.”
The shade…
Her chocolate man blows a kiss her way, takes a bow and walks off the stage.
I glance at my watch. I’m growing increasingly nervous about going to dinner with Kasim, but I have a plan.
I’ll let him carry the conversation until I’ve downed a drink or two.
Liquor makes me chatty – so I’ve been told – so hopefully after I’ve consumed some alcohol, I can loosen up a bit, talk to him, and then get home by eleven.
I’m exhausted.
Exhausted and edgy about playing catch-up with an old friend, because can I even call him that? A friend ? Friends don’t do what he did to me.
Gosh, I should’ve never agreed to this.
If I wasn’t here, I would’ve already showered with my lavender body gel and would be lying in bed wearing nothing but a pair of panties, watching House Hunters until I fell asleep.
But I am here, and I should make the best of it, right?
It’s for them doggone children.