Ten
TEN
Orlando
I t was like watching a tornado come to life. As if she was a hurricane reincarnate. Storm from the X-Men had nothing on Ms. V. She puffed her chest, locs flying out of their ponytail, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. I sought shelter behind one of the sofas; I recognized danger when I saw it.
Then, just as lightning, thunder, and rain coalesced in the living room, the air cleared with a pop of pressure as Trinidad rolled her suitcase right out of the rental at record speed. Damn, the woman could command the weather…or maybe it was her effect on me. I’m ashamed to say it took me too damn long to understand what was happening, but when I did, my stomach dropped to the bottom of my Jordans.
Rushing out of the rental with my head and heart pounding, I was lucky to find Trinidad in the corner of the quiet, picturesque street. Each house on the block looked far from the other.
“Ms. V,” I hollered at her, and her shoulders stiffened at the sound of my voice. Shit. I really had messed this one up.
“Go away,” Trinidad said in that Latina mom voice that made you wonder if you had ever done anything right in your life.
“Nah, can we chat? Listen. I just played back what I said, and it came out all kinds of wrong. That wasn’t my intent.” At this point, my stomach had become a rung-out sponge with nothing left but courage and audacity.
“I don’t care. I realized this was a mistake. I thought I could maybe stay, but…no. I need to get to the airport,” Ms. V said, running a palm over her sweaty forehead.
Damn, but she was fine as hell. I could imagine that the same sweat was caused by better reasons running down her face, her smooth chestnut neck, and her cleavage, which varied in degrees of separation depending on the outfit. Right now, the girls were sitting nicely together. Did they have that intriguing heaviness I’d seen in older women while browsing my porn? I got lost imagining what it could be and must have stayed quiet for a long time. Ms. V’s loud “ahem” snapped me out of my trance.
“Listen… I can take you to the Ofele airport as part of my rounds today. We can also go to the bus stop and the rental car place. But I need your assistance. I need… I need help making people comfortable while looking for my five-year-old daughter.”