One, Two, Three--Go
Jersey checked the mirror for the third time. She glanced at herself from head to toe and decided she looked better than nice. She looked fly. She wore a white sleeveless shirt and everything else black. Black sweater with black pearls, black skirt, black tights and black heels. If she had a heat flash in the middle of her dinner date, she could conceal her secret of growing old, by removing her sweater and exposing her shoulders. She had nice shoulders, and if she played her cards right, they would be just enough to make her date, Lucas Anderson, think she was sexy.
Jersey was about to go on the first date of her ‘separated’ life. She had met the guy online, even though online dating had not been her things. In face shad adamantly opposed the practice. The though of dating someone she had met online. There was something superficial about the entire matter, but her views started to change after some back and forth with her sisters. Then she set up a profile.
Her first day online solidified the idea that dating online was a sign of the times. She had received numerous responses to her photo. She kept the photo on simple, she posted a photo of herself in blue jeans and a button-down blouse. She received several hearts, flowers and kissing emojis serendipitously. A number of men commented on how good she looked—for her age. It got stimulating a few days later, when she got requests for her phone number, followed by hour-long phone conversations. Some of the men interested her. Others seemed to have a malady she refused to contend with. But she was playing a game of chess and she was winning. Then bam—checkmate! Jersey got her first prize, a golden date. He had asked her out after their third phone call and she acquiesced to his polite request for an evening of her time with glee.
Here we are, going on a date, Jersey thought. She applied a heavy coat of lipstick, popped her lips and turned the light out as she vacated the bathroom.
“You better make sure you put your locator on,” Damon, her brother said. He walked past the bathroom to the small hall closet and retrieved her apron, as if it were his own. He’d stayed with Jersey for more than a month.
“I can take care of myself,” she confirmed.
In the kitchen, Damon blasted the radio and played Tupac as he prepared to fry chicken. Piles of flour was spread across the counter and around the sink. A cloud of smoke drifted above the stove and he danced around like a scarecrow.
“Make sure you clean this kitchen when you’re finish,” Jersey said.
“I got this, Jersey, don’t worry about the kitchen, you better worry about his man you dating,” he had a dramatic expression on his face, his eyes were wide and his brows raised, “where yah going anyway?"
"To Toni’s Bar on the Boulevard,” she said. Jersey walked across the kitchen and grabbed the vodka bottle she had stashed near the microwave.
"Nice--nice," Damon said. He nodded his head as he breaded the chicken and flapped his arms, “a nice place for a cheap date.”
“Thanks for your approval," she rolled her eyes, as she sipped her drink and listened to the music, "and I'm not dating him, we’re just going on a date, there’s a difference.”
“Oh yeah, what’s the difference?” Damon asked, his tone sarcastic.
Jersey explained, “The difference is a date you go on, no intentions in mind. Dating, you have intentions.”
She said the words with certainty in her tone. But if she had to be truthful with herself, she would have admitted that she wanted more than just a date; she hoped at the very least for a second date. Lucas Anderson seemed to have potential too: he had a nice cream-colored complexion, he was handsome and according to his profile, he was an Engineer.
“Did I mention he was an engineer?” She said, sitting up as the music shifted to Lauren Hill. She swayed back and forth to the beat.
“A engineer, huh,” Damon said.
Jersey spread her lips into a smile. She always dreamed of having a man with a profession. Her husband, Marshall worked for the city, driving the trash truck. One would never tell because he always came home just as clean as when he left, uniform and all. He didn’t get dirty. For some reason others got dirty for him. He had that type of demeanor that made people want to work for him. Congeniality. It was the one quality, Marshall possessed that Jersey admired. She hoped Lucas had that one character trait. She was thinking all these things as she sipped her drink and listed to the music, like she didn’t have any place to go.
Damon dropped a piece of chicken into the pan causing a loud frying sound to fill the kitchen, “You know your shit gonna be right when you hear that noise, that means your grease is nice and hot.” He winked at Jersey again, then he added, “All I’m saying is why a grown ass man on a dating website. This dude ain’t got no woman?” Damon put emphases on no, as if it were a strange thing for a man to be single.
“He’s single. Never been married,” Jersey confirmed.
“That’s what he told you, he ain’t never been married. Maybe he ain’t said the words in front of a minister, or got the paper from the city, but I guarantee you, if he’s a man over fifty, he’s been in married.”
“He’s fifty-five, same age as Marshall,” Jersey declared in a candid fashion. She was almost done her vodka and orange juice and felt confidant that her date would go smoothly. She knew if Marshall found out, he wouldn’t be happy about things and that made her feel a little guilt. But he was the one that walked away from the marriage, so he would have to suffer the consequence.
Damon continued to talk over the music about Lucas, but Jersey paid him little attention. She was unaffected by anything he suggested. Any question he had, she’d already played the same ones over and over in her mind, she was satisfied with her answers.
After the song started to fade away she asked, “What about me, I'm forty-nine and on a dating website?”
"That’s my point. You messed up too,” he said. “You been in a relationship with the same man since high school, and now you want to start over. You ain't gonna to be able to do that, too many memories, too many years.”
Jersey understood the words Damon spoke were true. It was difficult to move along, after spending so much time with one person there was the constant intrusion of memories. Memories of holidays, birthdays, vacations, anniversaries and fights. Those memories cropped up everywhere like flies on shit. But, she still had time. she still had faith in her capabilities, "no hurt in trying," she said.
"You right. Maybe I should get out there and try myself,” Damon said. He had been staying with Jersey because he’d had a fight with his girlfriend.
"First you need to handle your business," Jersey said with a huff, as she watched him pretend to be a television chef.
“My mother, Lilly King taught me this little trick,” he feigned talking to television cameras, “if you want your chicken to be golden brown, put a spoonful of butter in your oil,” Damon said.
“If Lilly were here, she would tell you to wash as you go.”
“We’ll Lilly ain’t here right now.”
“No, she’s not, but I am. Wash as you go, please,” Jersey said and she took courage and got up to leave.
“How late you coming back?”
Jersey swallowed the last of her drink, “maybe I won’t be back tonight.”
~~~~~~~~~~
The Watcher
Late as usual, Jersey drove into Toni’s parking lot and jumped out the car. It was dark outside, but the street lights provided ample lighting. She walked towards the restaurant steps, made sure she held her head up with her shoulders back. There was purpose in her stride and her long locks bounced on her shoulders as she glided to the door. She had already spotted Lucas in his blue jeep with the interior lights on, pretended not to notice him when she heard his car door open.
“Mrs. King,” Lucas said.
She turned around and smiled at the man before her. He was husky. Not fat, but solid. Not very tall. She noticed his nose first, it was wide and flat. Then she noticed his thick mustache and his big eyes that gleamed with slickness. He wore a NY fitted baseball cap on his head, she didn’t like the fitted cap look, but that could be changed. He moved like he was trying to be cool, but she could tell, that he knew those days were well behind him.
“Lucas Anderson,” Jersey said, and she reached out her hand to greet him.
“I don’t wanna shake your hand,” he said and with a firm grip, he grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him, then he gave her a wet, peck on the lips.
His lips were large, but soft. Jersey wanted to roll her eyes, but she gushed a little, “I bet you say that too all the girls you date,” she said. She looked up at the black sky, there was a full moon and plenty stars out. This all seemed rather kismet and made Jersey’s heart patter with potential.
“Only the one’s I intend on dating twice,” he said with a grin. He gazed into her eyes, he pulled her close to his body with caution. Then he made a smooching sound in her ear.
Jersey chuckled and dropped her eyes. She would have turned cooper-red, had she had been a lighter skin tone, as the heat that rushed through her veins made her feel so fire hot, beads of sweat formed on her forehead. At the door, she stopped and waited on Lucas to open the door. He reached around her waist and hesitated, “you have very nice legs,” he said. He nuzzled her ear.
She liked Lucas, even though his gear was corny. His faded jeans were tight at the ankles and his sneakers were rundown on one side. But those things were easy to correct. Overall, she decided, he was a suitable replacement.
When Lucas finally opened the door, Jersey was about to take a step inside. But for some reason, she turned around and glanced about the parking lot. She couldn’t shake the idea she was being watched, she imagined a voice whispering the words, turn around in the breeze of the night. Lucas had her by the hand. With gentle ease he pulled her forward but Jersey turned around. She felt like Edith. She scanned the line of cars facing the restaurant. It was then she spotted Marshall. His car was backed into a parking space and he had an unfettered view of entrance. Although it was pitch-black in the distance, she saw the whites of his eyes, his gaze was frozen on them, and she knew he wanted to cry. With a half-hearted smile she turned around and stepped inside Toni’s, with every intention of making Marshall pay for all he had done to their marriage.
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