Who Do I Run To? (3 page)

Chapter
Four

That week dragged, and it was a depressing workweek for her too, because she hadn’t talked to her sister or K.P.. She called him a few times and even took a chance calling him at his office. She left him a ton of messages on his voice mail, and she never heard a word back from him.

She was too afraid to call her sister. She didn’t know what to say to her. She had a hard time apologizing to her sister when she felt she didn’t do anything wrong. Why her sister was letting her lifestyle make her so angry was beyond her, so she didn’t know what to say to make her sister lay off.

She wasn’t breaking up with K.P., or at least she hoped they were not breaking up, so she didn’t have the answer to make Janelle feel better. Janiece just couldn’t stand when they were not talking, especially then, because her weekend was going to be extra lonely with her and K.P. not speaking either.

She called her girlfriend Tia, but she had plans to go to Joliet with Rick to a wedding for one of his family members. She was depressed and sad and didn’t look forward to her weekend. She checked her cell phone all day, hoping
K.P. would call.

On her train ride,
Janiece imagined going home and he’d be there waiting for her like he usually would be on Fridays, with dinner and soft music playing. Although she hoped, she knew deep down inside that that was a fat chance.

She got off the
metro and waited for the rails to go up. That’s when she saw a truck in her guest parking stall, but it wasn’t K.P.’s truck. Maybe he got a new vehicle—she thought to herself and smiled as she got closer to her building. Just then, the aroma of grilled meat penetrated her nose. As she got closer, she realized one of her neighbors was having a cookout or a party.

There were people outside on the back porch and standing around. It was warm for that September evening, so they were grilling
, and it smelled fabulous. She walked up the steps of her back porch and everyone spoke and gave friendly smiles. As Janiece got up to her door, she dug around in her purse for her keys.

She felt everyone’s eyes on her, so she put her bags down so she could
search for her keys with both hands. She wanted to hurry and get on the other side of the door, because she was starting to feel like an idiot standing there not being able to find her keys.

She suddenly remembered they were in her work bag, so she grabbed
that bag and retrieved her keys quickly. She unlocked the storm door, and before she could get the deadbolt unlocked, she heard an unfamiliar voice from behind her say hello.

“Hi
…, how are—you?” she stuttered after turning around and seeing who it was. He was gorgeous, fine as hell, beautiful, if truth be told she thought to herself.

“I’m fine,” he said
, and she thought, you can say that again. “Do you need some help?” he asked, because it looked apparent that she was having a little trouble getting into her place.

“No, no, no, I’m fine
. I got it,” she said and unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door.

“Are you sure? You look like you could use a little help,” he said offering her some assistance again.

“No, I’m certain. I got it,” she quickly replied and gave him a friendly smile. She had to get inside of her condo before she took him up on his offer to help her have an orgasm, she thought. She stepped inside and shut the door quickly. Then she realized she left her work bag outside. Next, she heard a little tap on the door, and, of course, it was Mr. Too Fine, with her bag.

“Here
—you forgot this,” he said handing over the bag.

“Thanks, I was gonna come back for that,” she said trying not to look so stupid for forgetting the bag he had offered to help her with.

“Sure you were,” he said smiling. He stood there and just smiled, and after a brief moment of awkward silence he spoke again.

“My name is Isaiah
, and this little cookout is for me. If you are not doing anything, I’m sure Iyeshia wouldn’t mind if you came over,” he said offering an invitation to a party that his woman was throwing for him. Not only was he fine, he was cocky, she thought.

“No, no
, thanks. I don’t know Iyeshia too well, plus, she may not like you inviting other girls to a bash she’s putting down for you,” she replied, giving him that you got your nerve look. She already had one man that she loved that belonged to someone else in her life. She didn’t want to start a list of unavailable men, plus this one’s woman lived right across the hall. That would be just pushing it to the limit.

“Why would she mind?” he asked like he was clueless.

“Duh, this looks like a jamming shindig. A girl wouldn’t go through all this trouble for her man to be asking other chicks to his party,” she said giving him the get-lost nod, and he laughed.

What was funny?
She didn’t see the humor in what she had said.

“Well
, first, Iyeshia is not my woman. The dude over there by the cooler is her man,” he said pointing at someone else at the party, and she peeped out the door a little to see who he was talking about.

“Second, I’m her twin brother. I know you can’t tell because we
’re not identical, but I think we favor,” he said flashing that beautiful smile again.

“Lastly, this party is my welcome home party. I just
recently came home from Iraq.”

“Oh, my bad,”
Janiece said, looking foolish.

“No, that’s cool. You didn’t know. I can see you and my sister don’t talk much
,” he remarked and her thoughts were … Not at all, since I never knew she had a fine-ass brother like you.

“No
, not really. I mean, we speak and chat on occasion, but with our schedules, I guess we barely see each other.”

“Well
, I think it’s time for you to get to know your neighbor, Miss …,” he said and waited for her to give her name.

“Jai
…, I mean …, Janiece, but …, mostly people call me … Jai,” she said with stuttered words.

“Janiece, I like that, but if you’d prefer Jai, I can call you Jai,” he said as if he was going to be talking to her on regular bas
is.

“Jai, or Janiece, whichever you’d like, I don’t mind either way.”

“Well, Janiece, will you be joining us?”

“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass. I’m a little tired, but welcome home
, Isaiah. I hope you enjoy your party,” she said pushing the door to signal him to leave, but he kept going.

“I’ll try, but you know I’d enjoy my party a little more if you’d come. Any way I can change your mind? My mom makes a slamming potato salad. It would be a crime if you missed out on some good food and free liquor,” he joked. She was so tempted to say yes, but she was tired. She wanted to call
K.P. again, and she knew she was looking tore up. He was looking so good, and she really wanted to say okay, but still she resisted.

“No, I’m sorry. Maybe another time, because I had a rough week, and today was not good either. I just wanna relax,” she said giving him a fake yawn
, and then she guessed he got the picture that she couldn’t be persuaded because he backed off.

“Okay
, Janiece, I can see that you’re dead set on staying in and missing out on a great social event, but—I’ll tell you what. I will bring you a plate. Can I at least feed you?” he asked so sweetly.

You can feed me, you can lick me, you can spank me, you can do whatever you want to me with yo’ fine
-ass were the thoughts going through her mind, so she couldn’t turn down the plate. For one, she was starving and the food smelled so damn good.

“Okay
—a plate would be great; just make sure no pork or beef.”

“No pork or beef? What else is left if there are no ribs or steak?” he asked looking at her like she was insane.

“Chicken,” she said smiling.

“Oh yeah, of course,” he said smiling back at her. “Whatever works for you
… I’ll be back with that plate soon,” he promised, finally allowing their conversation to end. He smiled a beautiful smile, and then walked down the steps.

Janiece
shut the door and ran to the bathroom. Her bladder was about to burst. While she washed her hands, she looked in the mirror and noticed how horrible she looked. Her hair had almost four inches of new growth, and her makeup didn’t look anything like it did that morning when it was freshly applied.

Quickly, s
he put her hair up and started the shower. Then she went over to her machine and hit the
play
button to listen to her messages. There were none from her sister and not one from K.P., and that was a disappointment to her. She turned on the music and went to take her shower.

After she showered,
Janiece put on her SpongeBob pajama pants, with a yellow T-shirt and her thick socks, because for some reason, her feet always stayed cold. She mostly listened to the Smooth R&B station, but she flipped through and landed on the hip-hop station because she needed some Vi, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, or T.I. since she was sad and didn’t want to hear any love songs.

She grabbed her cell phone and dialed
K.P.’s cell number again, and when she got his voice mail, she didn’t bother to waste her words on another hopeless, unanswered message to him. She threw her phone on the couch and cranked up the volume and started dancing around her living room to Jay-Z “On To the Next One” by herself. Then she pressed the mute button because she thought she heard the door. She stood still for a moment, and she heard the knocking again. She went to answer it and when she moved the curtain aside, it was Isaiah. She had forgotten that quickly that he was bringing her a plate.

“Hey, here’s that plate I promised you,” he said when she opened the door.

“Thanks,” she replied, reaching out for it, but he didn’t give it to her. She sensed that maybe he wanted to come in or something, because he wasn’t giving her the plate.

“Cute pj’s
—SpongeBob is the man,” he said shifting the conversation to something other than the plate that he refused to hand over.

“Yeah
, he is quite the character, and these are my favorite. They are very comfortable,” she added giving him conversation. That’s what it seemed he wanted.

“Yeah
, and they look comfy too,” he said still holding the plate hostage. “Grapes?” he asked looking over her shoulder. Her kitchen was decorated with grapes, because they were purple, like most of the décor in her condo because purple was her favorite color.

“Yeah grape
s—purple happens to be my favorite color.”

“Really
? I like black myself, but I guess purple is cool since you’re a female,” he said still not handing over the food.

“Would you like for me to take that for you?” she asked nodding her head toward the plate. The aroma was driving her insane
, and she wanted to get it so she could eat. She was instantly hungry as hell when she opened the door, allowing the smell of the grill to hit her nose again.

“Oh, I’m sorry
. Here you go,” he said finally handing it to her. “You are just so beautiful, I forgot what I came over for,” he said, and she knew he had to be the biggest liar she had ever met. She had her hair tied up in a wrap cap, and she had on no makeup, just gloss on her lips. She didn’t get compliments that often, but to get one looking like a wrecked ship was a first.

“Come on
, Isaiah, I know you’ve been over in the Middle East for a while, but beautiful?—you’re pushing it. It’s not last call,” she joked.

“No, you are beautiful, very pretty. Nice smooth complexion and the sexiest eyes I’ve had the pleasure of looking into in a long time,” he said sounding and looking genuine.

What’s up with this cat? She thought to herself. Is he trying to get some booty? She’d heard about men coming back from military deployments. It’s like a man coming home from jail, and they’ll say or do anything to get it.

“Look
, Isaiah, I appreciate the plate, and it was so nice to meet you. Hopefully, I’ll see you around when you are sober. That way, you can be a li’l more honest,” she said letting him know that she wasn’t falling for that mess.

“Look
, Janiece, I’m not drunk. I know what I’m saying, and I don’t have time to be out here playing with you. There are three other women here tonight that my sister, my mom, and my boy thought would be a good idea for me to meet. So getting with a woman is not my mission. I’m being honest. You are very attractive as natural as you are right now, with the hair scarf and glossed lips. That is beautiful to me,” he said looking at her like he just found a prize. She was shocked and flattered at the same time. No man had ever complimented her that way before.

“Oh, I’m sorry if I insulted you. I’m just not use to getting compliments like that, especially looking like this,” she said honestly.

“Next time, just say thanks. Whenever you get a compliment, just say thank you, because what you see is not always what other people see.”

“You are right again
. I didn’t mean to—” she tried to say, but he stopped her.