Page 18 of Touch of Smoke
“Who? Me?” Donyell feigned innocence with a shake of her head and wave of her hand. “Girl, please. You know I didn’t want any of those other dirty ass girls with my brother, but you, I knew you were cool. So, the two of you together was always fine by me. It would make you like my real, real sister, cause we’re already close like sisters anyway.”
Sariya released a sigh of relief. “Really? How did you know I liked him?”
“You remember that weekend when he was home from college and he went out with his friends?” she asked. “And you stayed over my house so we could have a movie night. You didn’t pay attention to not one of those movies thatyoupicked out. All you kept doing was watching that front door, waiting for Ro to bring his goofy self home. Then, when he did come home, we were already upstairs in bed. But you got out of bed and when I heard you and asked what was wrong, you said you had to pee.But when you got out into the hallway, you didn’t turn right to go to the bathroom, you went left toward Ro’s room.”
Embarrassed as if all of that had just happened, Sariya covered her face with her hands. She shook her head and groaned again, before letting her hands drop down to her sides. Ro was twenty-two then and she was fifteen. He was a senior in college and she was sophomore in high school. While way back in the day women were getting married at sixteen, to men who were whatever age, today’s society didn’t abide by those rules. So, there was no way Ralph Simmons was going to be okay with his grown son looking at a high school girl. And, Sariya’s mother, well, she hated boys and men alike, age didn’t really matter since she believed they were all trash. All of them except Sariya’s uncle of course, which was a different story entirely.
“I forgot the floor squeaked right outside his door,” she said. “Remember all those times he was in high school and was trying to sneak into the house after curfew? That floor always got him caught.”
“And we used to laugh and laugh because he never remembered to step around that one floorboard,” Donyell said.
Sariya recalled laughing on the outside but wanting to figure out a way to warn him against making the same mistake at the same time. She’d loved Ro for a very long time. “I thought he looked at me differently that night. The moment he snatched open his door and I was caught standing there. I’d really just gone out into the hall to get a glimpse of him again. When he opened that door, he hadn’t been wearing his shirt and I swear I almost fainted right there.”
“What?” Donyell cackled. “Girl, I would’ve died laughing if he had to carry your unconscious butt back into my room.”
Sariya rolled her eyes. “You know what? Ro, was right, you’re not funny.”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I’m just really happy for the two of you,” she said. “And I’m really mad that you didn’t think you could trust me.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just, all this is hard for me, you know.”
Donyell came closer and wrapped an arm around Sariya’s shoulder. “Yeah, I know. You don’t trust people or relationships easily because your mother doesn’t and she talks bad about everybody and everything. You know I know all about it,” Donyell said. “But listen, you’re an adult now and if you and Ro want to be together, it’s nobody’s business but yours. Whoever doesn’t like it can kick rocks.”
It wasthat thought which was still playing in Sariya’s mind three hours later when the last few vendors were packing up their things to leave. She was so tired, her feet hurt and she was hungry. She’d had a bowl of chili from her mother’s food table and two chunks of bread to go with it a while ago. And she’d visited the Sweet Tooth table multiple times to snag the most delicious brownies. She was chewing a bite of her third brownie when Donyell came over with her purse and bags.
“Okay, I’m gonna head out,” she told Sariya and then stared down at the brownie in her hand. “Is that an edible?”
Sariya stopped chewing. “A what?”
“An edible? You know, like with marijuana.”
Sariya did know what she was referring to but she hadn’t even considered that each time she made a return visit to the table. Now, she swallowed the piece that was in her mouth like it was a stone and stared down at what was left. “I don’t think so,” she replied.
“Girl, stop acting like you’ve consumed poison,” Donyell laughed. “I told you Mike and I are creating a smoke room at the lounge. You’re gonna be the first one I drag back there.”
“Stop scaring her,” Ro said coming up to put his arm around Sariya’s shoulders. “It’s a regular brownie, bae. She would’ve had to have some signage letting customers know if it was infused with anything.”
That made sense and she probably would’ve thought of that herself if Donyell hadn’t been so cruel with her taunts.
“You always were the girl scout,” Donyell said. “Although you could cuss like a sailor and fought like Laila Ali, you were still the good girl of our duo.”
“Both of you better had been the good girls,” Ro warned.
“I’m leaving now,” Sariya’s mother said as she stepped up to where they were standing. One hand was on the rolling cart she pulled behind her and the other held a huge shopping bag that Sariya knew contained all the utensils, napkins and containers her mother had used today at her food table.
At forty-five years old, Kim Abbott still looked as young as her only daughter. She should since she’d had Sariya when she was fifteen. Curtis McKinney or the sperm donor as Kim often referred to him as, had been eighteen and had quickly told Kim she was on her own with the baby.
“Let me help you with that, Ms. Kim,” Ro said, immediately dropping his arm from around Sariya and going to grab the bag from her mother’s hand.
“Thanks,” she said tightly. “But I think I can manage.”
“Nah, I’m not gonna watch you struggle with all this. I’ll carry it out to your car,” Ro insisted.
“She said she don’t need your help,” a familiar male voice said and Sariya groaned inwardly.
Ro looked up to see Sariya’s uncle approaching them.
Lawrence Abbott was the same age as Ro and for a while the two of them had been good friends. Now, not so much.
