Page 6 of Isn't She Lucky
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 literallymademe 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 bestfriend. 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 forthisbachelor. 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.”
