What's Blood Got to Do With It? Read online

  “And question number two,” said Adanya.

  “I can’t say why you keep running into me. Maybe it’s divine intervention.”

  Bleak flashed a radiant smile, and Adanya’s eyes connected with his. She quickly averted her attention away from him. She took a sip of the steaming, hot brew and used her free hand to smooth back her frazzled hair.

  “You want to talk about it?”

  “Talk about what?”

  “What made a pretty lady like you cry? Or should I ask who?”

  “Nothing that I care to share,” Adanya replied. “I don’t air my personal business to strangers.”

  “Seeing that we keep running into each other, maybe it’s a sign that we need to get to know more about each other, so we won’t be strangers.”

  “Listen, I need to get out of here.” She gathered her purse and coat and prepared to stand up.

  “Don’t let me run you off. I need to get home myself. I have a long night ahead of me and an even busier day tomorrow.” Bleak picked up his carryout from off the table and stood up before Adanya. “Have a good night. Be safe.” Bleak turned and walked away just as quickly as he had first appeared.

  ◊

  Bleak pulled the collar of his jacket up around his neck to ward off the light chill.

  Seeing Adanya again piqued his interest in her that much more. She said she hadn’t been crying, but he knew better. Her eyes told the truth, but why was she upset?

  He wanted to get to know her, but he believed the task that lay before him would be tough. She had an impenetrable wall built around her like Fort Knox. The question he had to ask himself was, did he want to find the key to unlock the mystery behind her sad eyes.

  Bleak walked the two and half blocks until he reached his two bedroom, tastefully furnished flat. His job as a freelance graphic designer afforded him a comfortable income and the added opportunity to work a flexible schedule. That meant working sometimes through the night. During the day, when he wasn’t soliciting potential clients or meeting with established ones, he spent time working out at the YMCA and tutoring youth in the afternoon at his church’s after school program.

  As for dating, he made little time for it, preferring rather to focus unspent energy on doing things that were far less tempting than a beautiful woman. Until he saw Adanya, he had no problems saying no to the many women who aggressively approached him, including some who were as grounded as he was in the church.

  He worked on several projects after he finished eating, but his mind kept reflecting on Adanya. I hope she’s all right. Maybe I shouldn’t have left her alone. When he made an almost irretrievable error on his project, he shook his head and told himself that it was time for him to get his mind together and concentrate on his work. This was no time to be taken in by the wiles of a woman, especially one that made it clear that she had no interest in getting to know him.

  Chapter 7

  “The angry people are those people who are most afraid.” Robert Anthony

  On her way back to Nanette’s, Adanya stopped at the liquor store again. The hangover she suffered the week before didn’t deter her from attempting to drown her sorrow in the liquid poison a second time. Her life was already in shambles. Things certainly couldn’t get any worse.

  Upon her arrival, she placed her key into the front door. Nanette opened it before Adanya had time to turn the lock.

  “I’ve been worried about you,” Nanette chastised her best friend. “You wouldn’t answer your cell phone or respond to my text messages.”

  “I had to get away; try to get clear my mind.”

  “Running away from your problems isn’t going to solve a thing.”

  “Look, how many times do I have to say it,” she yelled. “I’m not a child. I am grown. I can do as I please. If you have a problem with that, then all I ask is that you give me a couple of more weeks until I can move into my own apartment.”

  “Don’t get an attitude with me. I’m just trying to help.”

  “The only way you can help is by letting me and Snoopy stay here until I can move. That’s it.”

  “Whatever.” Nanette closed the front door and turned to walk up the hallway. “Goodnight. I’m going to bed.”

  “Nanette.”

  “What?” Nanette answered in a perturbed tone.

  “I don’t mean to shut you out.”

  Nanette walked back toward Adanya and hugged her. She heard a thud. “What was that?” she asked and looked down on the floor at the brown paper bag. Before Adanya could bend down and pick it up, Nanette beat her to it. She looked inside the bag. “What are you doing this for ? Drinking is not going to help. Why don’t you get that through your head? You need to go before God, Adanya. You will not find the solution to your problem in this.”

  Nanette walked into the kitchen and stopped when she got to the kitchen sink.

  Adanya hurried behind her. “Don’t you pour that out. It’s none of your business how I deal with my problems.”

  Nanette paid no attention.

  Adanya reached for the bottle but Nanette used her elbow to push her aside. She opened the liquor and started pouring the pungent smelling liquid down the drain.

  “You and Snoopy are welcome to stay here as long as you need to, but there will be no drinking here. Not in my house. Save that for when you have your own place.” Nanette threw the empty bottle into the wastebasket and pounced off, leaving a shocked Adanya standing alone in the kitchen with Snoopy sitting beneath her feet.

  Adanya picked up Snoopy and went to her room. She sat him on the bed, threw off her coat, slung her purse on the nearby chair, and started peeling off her clothes. “Mommy’s going to take a shower. Maybe I can wash away some of the pain I’m feeling.” After she got out of the shower, Adanya put on her pajamas, went to her room and kneeled down on her knees out of habit. “Since I’m down here I might as well tell you how I feel. I don’t like what’s happened. How could you allow my life to be turned upside down? How can you possibly use this to work out for my good? I need to know.” She finished her prayers and laid on the futon.

  Bleak Blessinger entered her thoughts while she tossed and turned on the uncomfortable futon. Bleak had sounded sincere, like he was concerned about her wellbeing. But why? He didn’t know her any more than she knew him. She had no idea what he did for a living or where he lived. And the fact that she was attracted to him was also beyond her comprehension. If she were to date a man, he wouldn’t be outside of her race. She turned and opened the drawer to the computer desk. There was still some liquor left in the bottle she had from last night. She opened it and swallowed the burning liquid.

  “Ugh.” The sense of calm that flooded over her outweighed the nasty taste.

  ◊

  Knock. Knock.

  Adanya turned in the bed.

  Knock. Knock.

  “Adanya, are you going to work?”

  Adanya sat up. “Yeah,” she answered slowly. Snoopy began to yelp. Adanya glanced at the clock. For some reason, her alarm had failed to go off. “Hold on, Snoopy. Give me a minute and I’ll take you outside.”

  “If you want me to take Snoopy for his morning walk, I have time,” Nanette said like she could read Adanya’s mind.

  “Okay. Come on in.”

  Nanette opened the door, walked in, and saw Adanya still in the bed.

  “You’re going to be late if you don’t hurry.”

  “I know. I had my alarm set, but it didn’t go off, or at least I didn’t hear it. I’m glad it’s hump day.”

  “Me too.”

  “Thanks for offering to take Snoopy out for me.”

  “Sure. Come on, boy.”

  Adanya got up and started getting ready for work.

  When Nanette returned, Adanya was dressed and doing finishing touches on her hair.

  “You want to meet for lunch?”

  “I don’t know.” Adanya shrugged. “I’ll text you.”

  “Okay. See ya and have a good day.”
/>
  “You too.” She went into the kitchen and had a cup of juice and a bagel and took an acetaminophen capsule to ward off another oncoming headache.

  On her drive to work, her cell phone rang. The ringtone signaled it was her father. She ignored the call. Minutes later it rang again. It was Annalisse this time. Adanya ignored her call too. Let them stew in their own mess. I’ve had enough.

  The day presented no unusual occurrences. Adanya noticed that most of the class appeared attentive. She surmised it was because of today’s film outlining argumentation and debate. The day moved swiftly. After a faculty luncheon meeting, she had one additional lecture before she could call it a day. She hastened outside to a clear afternoon. She stopped momentarily and sucked in the air and then walked to her car.

  “Have a good evening, Professor Anniston,” someone said. Adanya turned around. She recognized the young man from her morning class. “Thank you.” She smiled. When she sat in her car, she texted Nanette to see if she had special plans for dinner.

  Having dinner w/Gerald. be there soon. Nanette texted.

  Once home, with Snoopy content and lying down on the rug in the kitchen, she prepared an acorn squash and mixed vegetables. She recalled a lullaby her daddy used to sing to her when she was a little girl. “Michael row the boat ashore, hallelujah,” she sang. She wiped tears that formed in her eyes. She missed her daddy.

  “I’m home.” Snoopy jumped up and raced to the door leading from the garage. Nanette came into the kitchen. “Smells good in here.”

  “Hi, girl.”

  “Hey. How was dinner?”

  “Good. Gerald and I met up at Neely’s and shared a plate of barbeque nachos. They were so good.”

  “I know they were. That place has some of the best barbeque. I’m cooking an acorn squash. You’re welcome to some.”

  Nanette rubbed her tummy in a circular motion. “I can’t eat another bite. I’m going to go and get out of my clothes and take a shower. You knock yourself out. We’ll talk later.” Nanette left the kitchen with Snoopy at her heels.

  “Oh, so that’s how you do, huh, Snoopy,” said Adanya. “You leave me as soon as another woman walks in the door.” Adanya and Nanette laughed.

  Adanya sat at the table and ate her food in silence. She heard Nanette in the back singing while Snoopy barked. Adanya giggled between bites of food.

  When she finished eating, she cleaned up her mess, and then went to her room and got her things together for the next day. Afterward, she called and talked to Anaya for a while before she met up with Nanette in the living room.

  Nanette was curled up in her oversized chair with her feet tucked beneath her. “So, have you talked to your family lately?” Nanette asked when Adanya sat down on the sofa.

  “I talked to Anaya. And whenever I talk to her, I say hello to my grandparents. I don’t know when I’ll be ready to talk to Annalisse and Kenneth. Right now, I want to be somewhere else. I’m thinking about taking a trip to Atlanta.”

  Nanette furrowed her brows. “What’s in Atlanta?”

  “It’s not what’s in Atlanta. It’s more like who’s in Atlanta. I was invited for a nonprofessional interview dinner with the Dean of the Communications Department─ part pleasure but mostly business. She has an opening for a professor. She contacted me, personally, to see if I’d be interested, especially since I’m an alumnus. And Atlanta is way cool, so I would have lots of fun and the chance to connect with a lot of people. You could move there too. I bet you wouldn’t have a problem getting a job at a school down there.”

  Nanette shrugged. “Maybe, since I am a free spirit. As long as I’m doing well, being successful, and walking the straight and narrow the best that I can, then my parents are cool. But then there’s my hunny, Gerald.”

  “How serious are you about him?”

  “We’re in love. I think that’s as serious as it gets.”

  “Wow, I didn’t know. I’m glad for you.”

  “Hey, you brought something to wear to church right? Nanette asked out of nowhere.

  “I don’t plan on going. I don’t want to see my family sitting up in there with fake, happy expressions plastered on their faces like nothing’s happened.”

  “I was talking about going with me and Gerald. We dress casual, and you have plenty in that bag of clothes in your room, Miss Fashionista, that you can put together. So Sunday morning, church it is.” Nanette pointed at her friend and picked up Snoopy who had waddled in the room. “Oh, look at him, will you. If you decide to go to Atlanta, I’ll have to dog sit. You know that every time Snoopy comes over here, he demands all of my attention.” Nanette laughed and gave him a sloppy kiss on his nose. “I guess I’ll be a good friend to you by walking my best little buddy again tonight. You take it easy. I’ll be back later.”

  “Thanks. You’re a doll.”

  Nanette went to the closet and combed through the diaper pouch sized doggie bag. “You are the first and only person I know that packs a doggie bag for her dog. Clothes, foods, snacks, bottled water, leash, meds, what is it you don’t have in here? Snoopy has it made.”

  “Always be prepared. Nanette, seriously, why don’t you consider riding to Atlanta with me? It will be fun. We can hang out and just do our thing after my meeting. And you can scout for jobs,” suggested Adanya.

  “I wish I could, but I have plans of my own. I’ll be leaving out next week. I’ll be gone ten days.”

  “What are you and Gerald doing? Eloping?” teased Adanya.

  “No, this has nothing to do with Gerald. I talked to my parents the other day. They want me to fly up there for a visit since I missed Christmas, so I’m leaving for Denver next Thursday morning. Since you’ll be in and out, that’ll put me at ease about being gone and leaving my apartment empty. I wish you’d give some serious thought to moving in with me permanently. I could use the roommate or should I say roommates.” She put the sweater on Snoopy and attached his blue leash around his neck.

  “I don’t know.” Adanya was still too uncertain about what she was going to do with her life. Would it be a major move to Atlanta, or would she remain in Memphis and face the fire head on. “I’ll think about it,” said Adanya, “but first things first.”

  “For sure. Tell your mommy you’ll see her in a little bit.”

  Snoopy barked twice.

  Adanya spent time on the internet looking over the layout of Spelman’s Communications Department but her mind was elsewhere. Thoughts of family, the possibility of starting over in a new city, with a new job, and leaving Anaya behind caused anxiety. She clicked off the internet, got up and went and lay down.

  With surprise and totally unexpected, she thought about Bleak again. What was it about the guy that got her rattled every time she saw him? Why did she keep thinking about him? What was his reason for targeting her?

  Chapter 8

  “What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories.” George Eliot

  Nanette left for Denver, leaving Adanya alone with nothing but her thoughts. Spending time alone, away from family, away from her best friend, and away from God, caused her to pause and think about her life.

  She had to find a way to move forward, leave the past behind. She reasoned with herself. People make mistakes, and maybe her daddy was telling the truth. Maybe the fact that he was intoxicated that night, maybe he really did think Anaya was Annalisse “Naw,” she said, shaking her head, “I don’t see it.” And my mother? Annalisse? What’s up with her? I can’t believe she stayed with him after she practically saw what he did to Aunt Anaya. And Gramps and Gram, Paw and Maw Anniston, what was up with them that they overlooked what he did, talking about it was the best decision at the time. Seems like he never suffered any consequences for his actions. Lord, I don’t understand.”

  Adanya felt like she was on a Ferris wheel. She shook her head briskly, like she was trying to escape from the confines of the walls that seemed
to be closing in on her. It was time to set her mind on something other than her family.

  She couldn’t quite remember the last time she’d eaten, but the growling sound coming from her belly, told her it had been awhile.

  Adanya got in her car and drove around until she spotted a Danver’s Restaurant. With quickness, she looked over her shoulder and saw that the traffic was clear. She jumped into the left hand lane, then farther left into the turn lane. Making a swift turn, she drove on the Danver’s lot and proceeded to the drive-thru.

  “May I help you?” the man blared through the intercom.

  “I’ll have a turkey burger with mustard, pickle, onion, and ketchup, a side of onion straws, and a medium lemonade.”

  Adanya sipped on the tart lemonade while she waited patiently for the rest of her order. The smiling drive-thru host was smacking gum and talking to someone else while he passed the combo meal to her. Adanya quickly studied the contents of her order to make sure everything was correct before she moved ahead.

  While driving, she scanned her mind for things she could do to past the time. Normally, when she wasn’t at work, she would be at home spending time with family or hanging around church. But church was a far cry from her mind. Not only could she not see herself going to the church she’d practically grown up in, she would never be able to stay in the same house with her parents again. As for living with Nanette, she already knew that was a temporary fix too. Nanette had her own life. They were best friends and Adanya wanted to keep it that way. Moving in permanently would only put a cramp in Nanette’s life. The fact that Nanette had a boyfriend and a host of other friends who sometimes visited, and that was cool, but not all of Nanette’s friends were Adanya’s friends.