Hassan #2
“Damn, I can’t call you a fuck nigga. I haven’t seen you in like twenty years.
Why the hell are you back now? Did you come home for something?
” The tension that had filled her limbs as she sat by herself eased away the longer we spoke.
Her eyes were brighter and her smile was less guarded than when I sat down.
“Business. I’m in and out of town every now and then, but yeah. The Grove is always home.” I kept my response light because the truth was a lot for anyone to handle
“This is crazy with you being here. I guess I should’ve listened to your advice to stay away from Dave, huh?” She was smiling but the sadness couldn’t be missed.
“This ain’t the time for me to be hollerin’ ‘I told you so’, Sy.
” I had and apparently a lot of people had.
I knew that Dave was a ho way back then.
He would play girls from the surrounding towns just so his name was still clean in the Grove.
I played sports with the nigga so I had seen his bullshit first hand.
“Well you did. Everybody did. My damn grandaddy had to be muzzled to keep from objecting when we got married. If that wasn’t enough of a hint, nothing would’ve stuck.
” Her eyes went to her empty glass and I knew the sadness was going to creep back up if she stayed wallowing in her thoughts.
I waved over the bartender so I could get her something else to drink.
“Another for the lady?” The man behind the bar nodded at me before speaking to Sylvia. He recognized me because I’d sat in on the staffing meeting and helped prep for the rush that was expected tonight.
“I’ll have—”
“She needs a cola, fountain not can, and a splash of cherry syrup.”
He nodded before walking off to fix her drink and she was staring at me in disbelief.
“How do you remember that?” Her voice was a mix of appreciation and awe which was again doing something to me.
“I don’t know. I guess because I’ve ordered it for you so many times at this very bar that it was almost like muscle memory.
” A lot of my cousins and I would swing through the hotel after school with our friends.
Since most of the adults weren’t around because the bar wasn’t open between 2 and 5, we’d pretend to be grown and have full run of this place.
The bartender slid the drink over to her and I let him know to add her bill to my tab.
Before he left I ordered some food for us to eat so that she could sober up.
With the day she’d had the last thing I wanted was for her to get in a wreck or some shit.
I knew she had kids and they didn’t need to lose the only good parent they had because the stupid one had fucked up.
“You just taking control of my evening, Hassan?” She looked bashful like she couldn’t believe that I was really here. Or that I was taking care of her needs before she asked. Dave was clearly still a fuck nigga.
“I gotta make sure you good, Syl. It’s okay to have someone look out for you every once in a while. So catch me up on the last twenty years while we wait on this food.”
The greatest thing about the bar was that it had access to the kitchen.
We weren’t sitting on the restaurant side of the space but we could order as if we were.
It was packed inside the restaurant since so much of the hotel had been shut down for the wedding this past weekend.
With the amount they’d paid for exclusivity no one gave a damn about the locals complaining.
“Are you being nosy about today?” The suspicion was back on her face and I hated that she didn’t understand I couldn’t give a fuck less about her situation with Dave.
“There’s no need. Dave is just being Dave and the last thing I want to do is waste a second of my life talking about that nigga. I want to hear about you.”
Her eyes went to her drink as though it would decide whether or not she could trust me. My remembering her order must’ve worked in my favor because she started to speak. “There’s not a lot. Two kids that drive me nuts. I work as a paralegal for the family law firm—”
“You always talked about that shit. I’m proud you made it happen.”
Sylvie dipped her head bashfully. “Thank you. So many people tell me I wasted my talent by not going to law school but that’s not the end goal for everyone.
I never wanted to argue cases and be in the courtroom.
My brothers are more than adept at handling that.
I like the process of learning and researching the law.
I always have. So I don’t see it as a waste. ”
“Do me a favor. Not just for tonight but for every night moving forward.”
“And what is that?”
“I want you to ignore every stupid thing that man ever said to you to try to make you feel small okay? He only said that shit to make himself bigger and to cover up for his own failures.” That shit flowed naturally because I was sure that Dave’s cheating ass was just mad she wasn’t too distracted with law school to know when he was cheating.
Or he wanted to mooch off of her or brag on her.
The surprised look on her face confirmed everything I’d thought was true. “How’d you know—”
“He’s been a piece of shit, remember? If he was dumb enough to fumble you it was safe to assume he hadn’t changed.
” I smiled to soften the harshness of my words since that wasn’t my intention.
Something in her eyes shifted then and she went back to studying my face.
Despite the ways I’d changed, some for the better or the worse, I wasn’t self conscious about her studying me.
“Are you flirting with me, Hassan?” She seemed surprised at the conclusion she’d come to.
“I’m being truthful, love. We’re too old friends who are about to catch up over Black Shirley Temples and steak dinners.”
“So you’re open to sharing all your dark secrets?”
“What you want to know?”
“What happened to your eye?” She asked gently enough so that I knew she wasn’t trying to set me on edge.
“War happened.”
I was sure that Sylvia had asked about my eye partially as a way to take pressure off of her and out of genuine curiosity.
“You were in the military? Why? Your family is—” She waved her hand around the art déco style restaurant that was in the middle of the hotel.
I grinned and took a sip from the drink I’d developed a taste for only after making it for her so often. Bottle cherry coke didn’t have anything on having this freshly made. “It’s not okay for a man to want to find his own path?”
“Is that the reason why you went?” Her face was open curiosity and I had no issue with appeasing it. Sylvia didn’t understand that she could get whatever she wanted from me without asking.
“Yeah. I was a good kid could’ve gone to college but the military made more sense at the time.
I wasn’t one of the people that felt as though I could make a difference in the world.
It seemed like a decent career path and I was recruited into it.
I was able to earn a few degrees and see a lot of the world. ”
I left out the more secretive shit I’d done like the special assignments and coordinated attacks since I was a part of a sniper unit.
“Why leave?” I pointed to my eye and she looked confused.
I pointed to the eye she’d originally asked about and she looked crestfallen.
“I lost my sight in this eye. I would’ve become a liability to those around me is what the military said.
Gave me a medical discharge and enough disability so that I didn’t have to worry about finding out what I needed to do for a while. ”
“So you’re just drifting?”
“Hell no. Do you think my grandma would have me out here being unemployed and shit? I work private security now. I was a part of the group that just left here over the weekend.”
“Everyone was trying to get an invite to Jasmine Cunningham’s wedding. It’s crazy that people were really willing to pay to be a guest’s plus one all so they could be nosy.” She was laughing at the ridiculous nature but she should’ve known how the town would be.
“You don’t like her?”
“She’s always been a sweet kid but I was in school with Jerica and JJ, not Jasmine. I wouldn’t have expected to go to her wedding and I think it’s weird so many people want to go just because they think it’s fancy.”
I nodded slowly thinking about the extra shit that Yacouba had requested for the wedding that the family had to coordinate bringing in. I was part of the staff and part guest and I’d thoroughly enjoyed myself. “It was that.”
Sylvia’s smile was wide and it was confirmation that she’d kept her pure heart despite how hers was probably breaking.
“I’m glad she had a good day. She deserves it after that shit she went through with David. He’s lucky he’s in hell because I was hoping he could live to see her living well.”
“That’s a nice thought to have about someone you don’t really fuck with.”
“Am I supposed to be angry that she’s happy? She’s a good person and at least now I can look at her situation and have hope.”
My brow arched and I couldn’t fight that my mind and body were reacting to the tone of her voice. “Hope?”
Sylvia’s smile turned dreamy and she got an even softer sound to her voice. “Yeah. To survive the fuck niggas named Dave or David. Maybe I should reach out to her when she gets back from her honeymoon for some tips.”
“You trying to get your groove back already?”
“It’s not even a groove back or a lick back thing. I’m ready to live for me and no one else. I will always put my kids’ needs ahead of my own but it’s nice to dream about being considered for once.”
Our food was sat down in front of us and a fresh round of Black Shirley Temples replaced the old.
I gave a nod of thanks before I went back to looking at Sylvia.
She had her head bowed giving thanks over her meal and I remained quiet out of respect.
When she looked back up I didn’t bother to hide that I’d been staring at her.