14
I
t was Wednesday and Noble rushed home after work so he could change clothes and jet across town to pick up Malisha and Trey. On the way there he made a quick stop at Radio Shack, where he purchased a pair of those new headphones that had just been put out by Dr. Dre. The kid behind the counter showed him their low, medium, and high-priced sets, and even though Trey was just a tyke, Noble said fuck it and bought the boy the best quality pair they had, which cost him just over three bills.
Malisha was waiting at the door when he pulled up, and he couldn’t help the big grin that spread over his face at the sight of her. This mami was pure class. Goodness just radiated from her. She damn near had a halo floating over her head. Noble liked the way her short, layered hairstyle framed her face. She looked relaxed. Fresh and neat. Her makeup light but fashionable, her clothes screamed with ladylike grace. Bottom line, Malisha’s shit was always well put together.
And her body. Damn. It was a baby-maker, for real. Noble could spend hours just rubbing her feet, legs, ass, and arms, because Malisha had the sweetest, softest cinnamon brown skin he had ever touched. Noble respected dedication and honesty, and Malisha had a whole lot of both. She had devoted herself to making sure her son got the best treatment possible. And unlike some of the other single moms Noble had dated in the past, there wasn’t a scheming bone in Malisha’s body. What you saw was exactly what you got with that girl, and her integrity alone was a big turnon for Noble.
Noble thought about the mind-boggling diamond he was about to put on somebody’s finger. It was important to him that his choice in a woman was sound and based on good judgment. A woman couldn’t always have her hand held out. Sometimes she had to wanna look out for her man too, and Malisha was the good-looking-out type. Noble couldn’t count how many times she’d rushed outta the bank and walked to the corner to check on him.
And when Noble needed somebody, he knew exactly who to call. When it was cold outside Malisha would brave that hawk and bring him steaming cups of hot cocoa, and in the summer Noble was always happy to look up and see her sashaying toward his grid box with a sweet smile and a tall cup of icy lemonade.
Shit, let him cough or sneeze. That girl would be right there, hovering over him like a little mother hen. She’d show up outta nowhere with cough syrup, Tylenol, and lemon honey tea.
Yeah, Malisha was all about taking care of the man in her life, and Noble knew she’d be the type of wife who would stand by him through thick or thin, sickness or health. It wouldn’t have mattered to her if Noble had lost both his damn legs. A keeper like Malisha woulda simply dedicated her life to pushing him around in his wheelchair.
In fact, it had been Malisha who Noble had leaned on when Bam first took sick. When Noble got the call that his father had been rushed to the hospital and was in critical condition, Malisha had found a babysitter for Trey, and actually got to the hospital before Noble did.
“How is he?” Noble had asked her the moment the elevator doors opened on the intensive care unit. Malisha had been staring through the hospital glass with extreme worry in her eyes.
“I don’t know, baby,” she’d said, putting her arms around him and holding him tight. “The doctor was just here, but he wouldn’t tell me anything. Let’s go find him now.”
Minutes later, Malisha was right by his side as the doctor explained that Bam had a terminal condition that would eventually take his life. As he listened to the doctor, Noble had been stunned into numbness. It was one of the few times that he had wobbled on his fake leg, and he had thanked God that Malisha was there to support him and hold him up.
Matter of fact, it was Malisha who had had the presence of mind to bring up Bam’s estate, and to remind Noble that he would need a power of attorney from his father if something went wrong.
“It happens all the time at the bank,” she explained. “A husband or wife, or parent or child will have a bank account full of money, but when they die their loved ones aren’t able to get a dime. Everything has to go through the probate court. Unless, of course,” she added, “you take care of business while your loved one is still alive.”
As savvy as Noble was in his investments, he had never considered what would happen to Bam’s money when his father died. Shit, he had never thought about what would happen to him if his pops wasn’t in his life no more. Just the thought of losing the best thing he’d ever had in life got Noble real shook.
“I don’t know if I’m on my pop’s accounts,” he admitted. “I’ve never needed his money. I’ve always had my own.”
“Well, don’t worry,” Malisha had assured him. “The doctor says his disease progress is relatively slow. Once he’s out of the hospital we’ll make sure all his papers are in order.”
Malisha had squeezed his hand gently, then asked, “But what about you, Noble? You don’t have any blood relatives besides your father. What would happen to all your money if you suddenly died?”
Noble could only shake his head. Malisha was right. His tauntie wasn’t related by blood, and Bam was all he had. Without a wife and kids, who was gonna get all the gold and securities he had worked so hard to earn? The fucked up state of New York? Hell nah.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I always thought I’d have me a tyke or two to leave my shit to when I passed.”
“Well, don’t worry about it right now,” Malisha had said. “But it’s something to think about. In fact, if you want I can hold a copy of your safety deposit key just so you know somebody has it. It’s not something most people do unless they’re married, but since you don’t have a family—yet—it’s something you might wanna think about.”
Malisha had been right. Noble hadn’t given up his key, but over the past few months he had been thinking about it. He’d been thinking hard. And since his birthday was almost right around the corner, he needed to make a good decision, fast.
“Hi, handsome.” Malisha greeted him with a smile and a kiss as he walked in the door. She was wearing a sexy little green dress and Noble took her in his arms and let his hands circle her small waist.
“Wus good, mami?” he muttered, his lips nuzzling that sweet caramel spot right above her collarbone. As hard as Noble tried to juggle his women and keep each of them satisfied, his interactions with Malisha were never based on sex. It was hard for her to stay all night at his crib, and it wasn’t easy going out because of Trey’s limited mobility, so Noble brought dinner over and they ate in a lot. They read together, watched a lot of movies, and made heart connections even when their bodies never touched.
Malisha was especially hyped today, and excitement danced in her eyes as she kissed Noble’s lips, then threw her hands high in the air. “Only two more weeks till your birthday! I’m so excited, baby! I’m gonna get you the very best birthday present ever!”
Noble laughed inside. A lot of people had promised him great gifts for his birthday, but on his special day it was him who was gonna be the giver. The giver of an icy-sweet ten-carat engagement ring!
The studio where Trey took his music lessons was high-post and state of the art. Noble knew it probably cost Malisha a gwap to enroll her son at an uptown joint like this, but for what they offered, it was worth it. They had soundproof rooms and all kinds of audio equipment and equalizers. The area where the musical instruments were displayed was straight laid out.
They were walking past the front counter when the receptionist called Malisha’s name.
“Ms. Chambers!” The redheaded older woman waved her over.
Noble wheeled Trey and followed Malisha to the counter.
“How’s it going today, Trey?” the older woman cooed as she came from behind the counter to greet Trey. The little boy’s expression never changed as she cupped his cheeks and smoothed his hair. “Where’s your beautiful smile?”
“He’s doing great,” Malisha answered, “but he’s not all that responsive right now. I’ll stop him back by your desk after his lesson. He’ll be smiling and laughing like crazy after that.”
The older woman glanced at Noble, then back at Malisha.
“Umm, Mr. and Mrs. Chambers,” she began.
“Oh!” Malisha cut in. “We’re not married yet. Noble isn’t Trey’s father. But we’ll be engaged in a couple of weeks—” She caught herself. “
Possibly
engaged in a couple of weeks, though.”
“Really?” the woman said. “I had no idea you weren’t already married.” She flashed Noble a smile of approval and said, “He takes such good care of your son when he’s here, and he handles him so gently and with so much love.... I just assumed only a father would behave that way.”
Malisha grinned and leaned into Noble’s arm.
“He’s gonna be a great father. I can already tell. Our kids won’t miss out on anything. They won’t ever have to work. They’ll be set for life.”
“Speaking of missing out,” the woman said as her voice dropped low, “we wouldn’t want Trey to miss out on any lessons but ... the credit card we have on file for you was declined for payment. I tried to run it three times, but each time it came back the same way.”
Malisha’s smile froze on her face.
“Umm, declined?” Her eyebrows furrowed and she shook her head. “I don’t know how that could have happened. I have plenty of credit.” She shrugged, then smiled. “You must have my old card. That one probably expired.”
“I’m sure that’s what it is,” the receptionist agreed. “If you give me your new card I’ll try to run it again right now.”
Malisha shook her head.
“I don’t have it on me. It’s at home. I need to activate it from my home phone. How about I call you when I get home and you can take the charge over the phone?”
The woman nodded agreeably. “That would be just fine. Just give me a call, and I’ll be happy to do that for you. In the meantime,” she continued, “would you like to reschedule Trey’s lesson for another day?”
Malisha shook her head again.
“Why do I have to reschedule? We’re already here and we drove a long way. I think Trey should be allowed to have his lesson right now, and I’ll make sure you get your payment later on tonight.”
Noble cleared his throat. The older lady looked embarrassed, and Malisha did too.
“If it was up to me,” the lady began again, “I’d just as soon let him take his lesson. But we have specific rules here, and all lessons must be paid for in advance.”
Noble stepped from behind Trey’s chair and leaned on the counter.
“Here,” he said, fishing his platinum American Express card from his wallet. He shrugged Malisha off when she acted like she was tryna protest. “Let me take care of this for you, baby.”
“The lessons are paid for by the month,” the receptionist informed him. “Sorry, that’s the policy.”
“No problem,” Noble told her smoothly. “You can charge my credit card for the next three months.”
15
A
bout a week later Noble received a troubling phone call from his aunt.
“What’s wrong, Tauntie?” he asked when he heard the worry in her voice.
“There’s a fox in the chicken coop,” the old lady declared. “You know that money you left for me to pay my telephone bill?”
“Yes.”
“Well, somebody done stole it!” the old woman said.
“Did they break into your apartment? Were you robbed?”
“No, but my friend Julie who lives upstairs on the twelfth floor had some money stolen from her too! You a cop, right, Peanut? Well, I’ma need you to come over here and get somebody arrested!”
Noble shook his head trying to understand. There had been a string of ongoing burglaries both in his aunt’s project building and the one across from her. The fried chicken joint across the way had been robbed too, and even his boy Yard’s spot had been hit a few times. But there was no way somebody could have broken into his aunt’s crib with her sitting right there.
Besides, Noble knew his aunt didn’t like to leave the house. It had to be a real special occasion to get her to go somewhere. If somebody had jimmied her lock and stolen something from her, then she would have had to been right there to see it.
“Tauntie,” he said gently, hoping to calm her down. “Nobody came in your place. You’re home all the time. Maybe you just misplaced the money. Could that be it?”
The old lady huffed into the phone.
“I know where I left that money, Peanut! I swear I do! Somebody is going around here stealing, and I think I know who it is!”
“Who?” Noble asked, and when his aunt answered it was the funniest shit he had ever heard.
“It’s Sissy!” she said like she really meant it. “That damned Sissy is a goddamn thief!”
Noble finally got his aunt calmed down and promised to pay her telephone bill online. As soon as he hung up from her he called Sissy to tell her what was up.
“Hey,” he said, trying hard how to figure out what to say. The last thing he wanted was for Sissy to get offended by his aunt’s crazy accusations and stop helping the needy people in her hood.
But Noble didn’t have to worry. When he told Sissy what his aunt had said, she bust out laughing like she was taking it all in stride.
“Noble,” she said, “why do you think I asked you to come visit your aunt? I wanted you to check her out, but what I really wanted was to see if she remembered you.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah, it is. Your aunt has dementia,” Sissy explained. “Just like a lot of older folks in our community do. It comes with old age, but it also comes from a lack of brain stimulation. Our old people tend to sit at home day in and day out, just looking out the window. That’s what your aunt Cathy does. I noticed her forgetfulness over a year ago. It took me a while to get her to agree to see a doctor, but when she did, dementia was his diagnosis. That’s why I think it’s good that you’re back in her life. Maybe you can help keep her memories alive for as long as possible.”
Noble’s heart sank at the news of his aunt’s condition. His parents had been well into their forties when they had him, and his aunt was a year older than his mother. That would make her over seventy. Damn.
“Well, I’m glad you’re not mad about her accusing you of stealing,” he said. “I hope this won’t make you stop doing the things you do for her.”
“Nope,” Sissy said. “It won’t affect our relationship at all. I’m a nurse, Noble. I work with geriatric patients every day. Just last week an old white man at the hospital accused me of being his long-lost daughter who stole fifty-thousand dollars from under his mattress. Noble, that man was homeless before somebody brought him in off the street to get some medical care. He didn’t even have fifty cents. That’s just how it goes when folks get old and feeble minded. They don’t mean no harm. Your aunt probably put her money someplace and forgot about it. I’ll stop by there tonight and try to help her find it.”
Grateful wasn’t the word to describe what Noble was feeling for Sissy.
“Well, if you find it,” he said, “just put it up for her. I’ll pay the bill online, and that way she won’t have to worry about it.”
“No problem,” Sissy said.
And then before she could hang up Noble blurted out real quick, “Are you busy tonight? Can we get together? You do so much for everybody else, let me do something special for you. I wanna cook dinner for you, Sissy. My place, at seven-thirty. Can you be there?”
Noble was grinning like a mothafucka when she said yes. He couldn’t wait for seven-thirty to roll around. He couldn’t wait to get Sissy’s fine ass up in the bat cave. Yeah, he realized he only had a few days to propose to the woman who was gonna be his wife, but Noble wasn’t married yet. And as sweet as Sissy was, and as bricked up as she had his drawers, he was ready to get it on!
Sissy had taken a taxi over to his crib, and for the last ten minutes Noble had been standing back as she took a tour of his entire house, except his bedroom, and oohed and ahhed at all his stuff. When she had gotten her eyes full, he led her into the kitchen, where he’d set out a restaurant-style tablecloth and some fine crystal and china that somebody had pawned at Bam’s shop and never came back to get.
“I’ve never had a man cook dinner for me like this,” Sissy admitted shyly. She picked up one of the gold forks that was part of the table setting. “Especially with nothing as nice as this.” She giggled. “I almost don’t know how to act.”
Noble grinned. “Just act like you know, Sissy. I’m not no strange dude. We been knowing each other damn near all our lives. Be comfortable, and act like you know.”
The teenaged boy in him couldn’t believe that he was alone in a crib with the infamous Sissy Tarver. He almost wanted to jump up and down and call Pap and Yard over to brag on this shit, but the man in Noble knew better. He was grown enough to know the difference between a misguided teenager and a fully mature woman. All those young-head sixteen-year-old fantasies he used to have about her, he pushed them to the back of his mind and concentrated on serving her dinner.
He had stopped at a meat market and picked up a couple of quality steaks. He’d marinated them for two hours, and now they were in the oven broiling. Noble took the salad he had freshly tossed out the fridge and set it on the counter. Then he sliced a long loaf of Italian bread in half, and spread garlic butter on both sides and put that in the broiler too.
When dinner was ready he served Sissy with gold utensils. He spread a gold-trimmed white napkin across her knees and helped her push her chair closer to the table. They laughed and reminisced as they ate, and Sissy swore she had never tasted steak so tender. She made Noble write down his cooking directions so she could make it the same way at home.
“Yo, can I get you a little bit of dessert?” Noble asked when they were through eating. He had swung by Junior’s and picked up a fresh-baked cheesecake. It was chilling with a bottle of wine, on a sterling silver serving cart in the sitting area of his bedroom.
Sissy shrugged. “I guess so. I’m kinda full, but if you already have something sweet I’ll eat it.”
“Oh, I got something sweet,” Noble said softly. “But I’m serving it in my bedroom.”
Sissy shook her head quickly and laughed. “Nah, that’s okay. I’m old school. I’m used to eating in the kitchen.”
Noble laughed too. “Cool, I respect that. But I really do have a cheesecake sitting upstairs in my room. For real. You ain’t gotta go in my bedroom, Sissy. But you do have to help me eat that damn cake.”
Noble kicked himself as he ran upstairs to get the cake and wine. He had to remember what he was working with. Sissy was prolly the beer and chips type. Cheesecake and wine on a five-thousand-dollar bed was prolly too much for her.
Noble told himself that he wasn’t tryna push up on Sissy. He was just trying to show her some consideration for taking care of his aunt. But still ... in the back of his mind that sixteen-year-old kid with the rock-hard dick just wouldn’t shut up. It kinda hurt that after all the pussy Sissy had given out in high school, she still didn’t wanna give him none.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Sissy said when he came back to the kitchen. She was wiping off the table, and had already scraped their plates into the garbage and rinsed them off in the sink. “You still looking at me as the Sissy you thought you knew back in high school, Noble. But I already told you, I’m not that chick no more. Almost everything about me has changed. I don’t give blow jobs on the staircase no more, and hand jobs under the table are out of the question. I’m not a ho no more, Noble. I can’t even tell you the last time I fucked with a man like that.”
“Sissy!” Noble protested like he was indignant, although he clearly remembered one of his classmates telling him that Sissy had poured half a bottle of lotion in her palm and jacked his shit halfway to heaven. “I didn’t say you was a ho! I never thought you was one neither!”
She just shrugged. She looked like she had been through this type of shit so much that it didn’t even press her out no more. “It don’t matter, Noble. I don’t care what nobody thinks. I told you, I found out who I really was when I went to prison, and I’m good with that.”
Noble had wanted to drive her home, but Sissy had insisted on taking a cab. She had put her arms around him at the door, and even kissed him on the cheek. Noble had been too ashamed to even put his arms around her, but she’d pressed up against him and given him a brief feel of what he’d been craving all these years.
“I know you, Noble. But I don’t
know you,
know you. I ain’t been with a dude in a good minute. Since you’re back in your aunt’s life we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other now. Let’s take it slow and see what happens. Cool?”
Noble nodded. He was glad Sissy wasn’t still giving up the booty outta both her panty legs. He was feeling her even more now that she’d turned him down. He could dig where she was coming from about taking your time to let a relationship develop too, but Noble didn’t have as much time as Sissy did. He was about to pop the big question in just a few days, and Noble could only hope and pray he wasn’t about to make a big mistake.