Gonna Lay Down My Burdens. Mary Monroe

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СКАЧАТЬ hoping my tone would encourage Regina to limit her phone call to a minute or less. “What are you talking about?” I snapped. The call from Desiree had put me in a mood I was not particularly proud of. I was sorry to be taking out my frustrations on Regina.

      “Well, excuse me,” Regina hissed. “But I thought you wanted me to come over to braid your hair for tomorrow.” She turned down the volume on her music before continuing. “I canceled another appointment for you,” she whined.

      “Oh—Oh, yeah. I do want you to come over. But…uh…I’ll have to call you back. I have to go out for a little while. Desiree’s in trouble and I have to go pick her up.”

      There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence before Regina responded. “Again? What is it this time? She break one of them ten-dollar nails of hers? Somebody stole her credit card?”

      I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Well, no. Chester’s acting a fool and she wants to get out of the house until he calms down.”

      “Hmmm-huh. That heifer knew Chester was out of her league when she hooked up with him,” Regina snarled, sucking her teeth. “I’m surprised they lasted this long. Why you let her drag you into her mess?”

      “She’s my friend, Reggie,” I answered levelly. “I promised her I’d come get her.” I had also promised myself that I would stay out of Desiree’s business after the time she had told me to when I interfered in another one of her relationships. It seemed like I had trouble keeping promises to everybody but myself.

      “She’s just as grown as you and me, and if she can’t handle her business by now, shame on her. Shit.”

      “I know. I know. But I told her I’d come get her. Desiree is my girl, you know.” I was tempted to remind Regina about all the times she had leaned on me.

      “All right, now,” Regina grunted. “That Chester is one big-ass, gun-totin’ motherfucker. You better be careful.”

      “I will,” I replied in a low but steady voice. I took a deep, painful breath and looked around my living room. A small mountain of empty gift boxes and wrapping paper sat on the floor at the foot of my TV. I hadn’t cleaned up after the bridal shower Desiree had thrown for me three days ago. Regina and Desiree had agreed to clean up my apartment while Burl and I were on the week-long cruise in the Bahamas that we had planned to take after the wedding. And that was only after I told them I’d let them divide everything in my apartment that I didn’t want to take with me to the house I had planned to share with Burl.

      “Reggie, if I don’t call you back in an hour, come over to Desiree’s house. And bring your cellular phone in case…in case we need to call the cops. I have a funny feeling about going over there getting involved,” I muttered, blinking my burning eyes. There was more than worry in my voice. I was scared.

      There was a moment of grim silence before Regina responded. Instead of speaking in her usual quick, loud manner, she spoke in a slow, crisp voice that was disturbing to say the least. “Don’t go over there, Carmen. I know Desiree is your girl and you told her you was comin’ to get her, but this is one time I wish you’d listen to me. Don’t go over there.”

      I sat still for a moment, allowing Regina’s words to sink in. In the back of my mind I could still hear Desiree begging me to come pick her up before Chester returned.

      “And what if Chester hurts Desiree?” I asked in a low, uncertain voice.

      “And what if he hurts you?!” Regina screamed. Her shrill voice pierced the air. I had to hold the telephone away from my face and rub my ear. “You my girl, too,” she added passionately. “And, you know how I feel about funerals.”

      “Oh, I am not worried about Chester hurting me,” I replied with confidence. “I’ve known him all my life. He’s just a show-off with a big mouth.” I paused just long enough to catch my breath. “He doesn’t scare me one bit,” I lied.

      “Carmen, please—”

      Regina didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence before I cut her off. “Regina, drop by the liquor store and pick up a bottle on your way over. A real big one. I have a feeling you, Desiree, and me are going to need to take a serious trip to Margaritaville before the night is over. Bring some Advil, too. I don’t want to be too hungover for my own wedding tomorrow.” I looked at the telephone for two minutes, trying to decide whether or not I should take Regina’s advice. I jumped when it rang again. I prayed that it was Desiree telling me things had cooled off between her and Chester and that she didn’t need me to come rescue her. It was Desiree again, and she was more frantic than ever.

      “I was just checking to see if you’d left yet,” she wailed.

      “I—I’m on my way,” I told her. I was so nervous I dropped the telephone on my bare foot. The pain was indescribable, but I ignored it.

      Ten minutes later, I left my apartment, hopping, more concerned about helping Desiree than helping myself.

      CHAPTER 2

      The drive from my apartment to the house on Carlson Street where Desiree lived with Chester Sheffield normally took about ten minutes. But because of the storm, traffic was heavy and there was an accident at the corner of Carlson and Becker. Stopping to get gas had slowed me down, too. The difficult ride took twenty minutes this time.

      The rain, hammering down out of the north, thumped on the windows of my dependable old Nissan like little rocks. Not only had my headache returned, but a knot that felt like it was the size of a melon had formed in my stomach. And it seemed like every other muscle in my body was aching, too. By now the foot I had dropped the telephone on was the only part of my body not throbbing.

      By the time I reached my destination, Chester had returned to his house and was standing on his front porch. One hand was in his pants pocket, the other was clutching a bottle of Schlitz Malt Liquor. Chester was a complicated, unpredictable man, but I tolerated him because of Desiree. However, I fed him with a long-handled spoon.

      Even with the fierce scowl on his face that he greeted me with, and wearing a long unbuttoned plaid shirt and ripped jeans, Chester Sheffield was the most gorgeous Black man I had ever seen. He was over six feet tall, and from years of weight training he had muscles where some of the men I knew didn’t even have places. He was a warm, evenly toned dark brown like me, and he had small, slanted black eyes that seemed to look right through me. His thick, shiny black hair was naturally wavy and always neat. A neatly trimmed mustache and goatee framed his full lips.

      “Evenin’, Miss Taylor,” Chester said casually as I trotted across the well-kept lawn in front of the sprawling white house he lived in rent-free, thanks to his generous daddy. This was the kind of neighborhood where I didn’t want to get loud and ugly outside and attract an audience. Next door to Chester on one side lived a dentist, and on the other side lived a blabbermouth of a deacon from the church Chester, Desiree, and I attended. I had parked my car in Chester’s driveway and left the motor running in case I had to leave in a hurry. Surprisingly, he smiled. This confused me. He was not behaving like a man who was about to kill his girlfriend.

      I risked a smile back. I was glad he could not see my legs trembling as I made my way up on the porch, stumbling as if I was drunk. The margarita had done me no good. I was as sober as a trout. Before leaving my apartment, I had slipped on a pair of jeans, a loose T-shirt, and a pair of backless house shoes that had once belonged to Daddy. Even though the storm had been downgraded to a drizzle, I was not concerned about my floppy ponytail getting СКАЧАТЬ