Theresa eyes her. “Not just yet.”
Oh, my God! “Why? What’s up?”
“Don’t play with me, girl. You know I can’t leave yet.”
“Is something wrong, Aunt Theresa?”
“Sure is.” She walked towards the mirror and stopped in front of it. She patted her French roll and makeup. “Girl, you know I can’t walk out of here without making sure my hair is on-jam. Your boy Timothy could see me. I can’t be looking bad in front of his fine self. As I suspected, there is room enough in this mirror for two. I swear, you are so dramatic, Brandi Elaine Miles.”
“Can we go now?”
“Yep. Good as new now.”
“Wait! Let me see if the shower is completely turned off.” It was a ploy to see if Tim had been able to duck around to the other side. The stall was empty, so she knew he had made it out.
Hearing the women’s locker room door slam, Tim let out a sigh of relief. I can’t risk getting caught like this again. This is too much for me. He looked at his watch and realized the building would be closing soon. He looked out to see if anyone was in the vicinity. All clear. He washed up and left, his mind on Brandi, remembering how wonderful it was to have her in his arms.
After approaching his truck thirty minutes later, he was surprised that no one had done anything to it. He thought that maybe the heat was finally off him after he had contacted the police. Then he remembered that a patrol car constantly circled the campus at night.
* * *
That night, Brandi ran from the bathroom to catch her ringing cell phone. “Hello?”
“Hello yourself, sexy queen of my dreams.”
“Tim. I was just thinking about you. I wish you had been in that shower with me tonight.”
“I was near it.”
“Yeah, after the scare you gave me.”
“You recovered quite nicely.”
“You did, too. I see you made it back to the men’s side without running into trouble. That was a quick move.”
“I’m a quick guy, which brings me to why I’m calling. I can’t stand being without you now that I can actually date you. Let’s do something tonight.”
“You are quick. I can’t, though. I have some on-line work to do for my literacy group.”
“This is Friday night. You have the weekend.”
“I promised them I would get it done.”
“Enough said. Do your work but be ready for me tomorrow night, okay?”
“Yes, sir. Can’t wait to see you. Where are we going? Back to your house?”
“Brandi.”
“I’m just checking, Tim, although I doubt anything will happen to me.”
“I’ll make it up to you, and I’ll be creative. I’ll give you an evening you will never in your life forget.”
“I have that every time I look at you.”
“The compliments! You make my life. The very idea of you refutes every negative thought I have ever had about relationships.”
“That’s quite a compliment.”
“I mean it. Dream of me tonight, and wait for me tomorrow night.”
Shivers ran up and down her spine when she thought about being with him the next night—in his bed if he would just give in to going to his house. That would be a perfect ending to a perfect night.
Brandi saw his truck pull up in front of her house. “Mom, he’s here.”
“Good. Invite him in.”
The look on her father’s face normally would have upset her. Instead, she warned. “Dad, whatever you think Tim did in the past, that was a long time ago. He’s a man now, and I’m asking you to be civil, because I plan to have him around for a long time.”
“Did I say anything?”
“No, thank God!” Before opening the door, she looked at her father. “I mean it; don’t ruin this for me.”
“I will never ruin my baby girl’s love life.”
“Good.” When she opened the door and saw Tim’s face, a feeling of unease gripped her. “Tim? Are you okay?”
“Yes. Why?”
“You look sad.”
He greeted her parents and then helped Brandi with her coat. “I’m fine, really. It’s been a long day. Let’s just go.”
Once inside of his truck, she turned to him. “Okay, what’s really wrong? You’re being very quiet and you barely spoke to my parents.”
“I just didn’t have a lot to say.”
“You’re usually a chatterbox, especially with my mother.”
“There’s a lot on my mind today.”
“Such as…?”
His visit with Claire earlier that day hadn’t gone as smoothly as in the past. The visit, for once, wasn’t about Brandi, but about his brother. Tim wasn’t in the mood for talking about Claire or his brother, so he tiptoed around the subject. “I miss Madison already. This time of year is really hard on a person who is not around family.”
“You have me. You can come over here for the holidays.”
“Come on, Brandi. Your Dad and I exchanging gifts and sharing a brandy by the fireplace isn’t exactly going to happen. As you probably know by now, he knows my past. I remember him being the arresting officer way back when.”
“What did you do to get arrested?”
“Fights mostly.”
“Like plenty of other youths. It’s common for people that age—sometimes.” She noticed the persistent sadness on his face and decided not to harp on the topic. Her voice softened. “I could come to your house.”
“That’s not going to happen either; not right now.”
The sad look on his face made her heart ache for him. There would be no one for him to be with for Christmas. They always had to go out in order to be together. That wasn’t exactly the happiest way to spend the best holiday of the year. She took his hand in hers. “You want to go somewhere and talk about it?”
“Not really. It won’t solve anything.” He leaned across and kissed her cheek. “I’ve got a better idea. Let’s get something to eat, then maybe take in a game of bowling or pool. Have you ever gone bowling?”
“I rolled a forty-five one time. Is that good?”
“It stinks! Let’s do the pool hall. You’ll like it.”
“Cool, so long as a big strong man shows me how to play.”
“I’ve got your back…and everything else if you’ll let me.”
“I’ll let you, all right.”
They pulled into the parking lot of Mason’s pool hall. Brandi looked around at the surroundings. “This area doesn’t look like one you would frequent.”
“I know it looks a little rough around here, but I grew up on the streets. My brother and I, well, let’s just say me for the time being. I had a ball playing pool.”
“That’s good. Let’s go inside.”
The minute he and Brandi walked into the hall, all eyes were on them. Men stared at Brandi and women smiled at Tim as if wanting to reach out touch him.
Tim paid for a table in the corner and escorted her over to it. Men at a table next to them leered at Brandi’s tight jeans and midriff sweater. She overheard their comments and began to feel a little self-conscious. Tim saw her expression. “They’re okay, honey. Ignore them.” He handed her a stick. “Know how to work this?” handing her a pool cue.
“Are you kidding?”
“It’s easy. All you do is hold the stick and poke. Get my meaning?”
That got her attention. “I know how to hold your stick, if that counts for anything.”
“It counts for a lot, and from what I remember, you held it quite well.”
“We could recapture the moment at your house tonight.”
“Don’t get me started with you. We may have to put on a little display here tonight if you keep egging me on.”
“Wouldn’t those chumps like that?”
“Yeah, a live display; that would get the joint rolling, wouldn’t it?”
“You are such a nut, Tim.”
He handed her the stick and leaned in behind her. “Now, just relax and let the stick slide across the green.”
The thought of his erection pressing against her mid back made her ache for the seclusion of his house. She loved the feeling, wanting to be with him more than ever.
After two miserable games of pool, Tim went to pay for another game and brought her a soda and a stein of beer for himself. While he was gone, the taller man wearing a leather jacket and torn jeans put his pool cue down and approached Brandi. He sat on the edge of the table, taking her by surprise. The very idea of him leering at her made her mad. “Can I help you, sir?” She knew that he wasn’t there to offer her pool advice.
“You certainly can help me, young lady. I’m Ike, and you’re putting some moves on my libido.”
“Sorry. It was purely unintentional.”
“I think it wasn’t. I saw you looking at me.”
“You saw wrong, now if you don’t mind, Tim, my man, will be back shortly. I don’t think he’ll think kindly of your being here.”
“So what? Tim, huh? Now I know the wimp’s name. He looks like a sissy twitching around in them tight jeans.”
“But you thought enough of him yourself to watch how he looks in those jeans. Go back to your little table with the rest of the boys. You can all check out Tim’s tight jeans together.”