Terri

FLASHBACK TIME, 16 YEARS AGO.  June 1997.

“This is our tenth date and the tenth time we’ve come to my apartment. What’s up with that?”

I took my black leather pumps off and veered my eyes towards my date, Jerome Brown. He looked back at me like he was trying to conjure up another lameass excuse.

With his baldhead, 6-foot stature, and dark brown skin, I found it hard to not be attracted to him. The two of us met during one of my many runs to Starbucks. I got stuck with having to get the usual morning coffees for my boss and her annoying minions. Whatever she said, I had to do. That usually meant fetching frappuccinos and iced lattes. 

The Starbucks they wanted me to go to was always always always unnecessarily packed; no matter what time it was. On one particular day of me having to order the most (fifteen) drinks, a man sitting down in a corner caught my attention. I stole a couple of glances while I waited in the long line.

The way he was so engrossed in the Los Angeles Times was rather intriguing to me. Slowly cocking my head to the side, I continued to observe him. The man was so caught up in his own little world that all of the chaos radiating out of the busy coffee shop seemed to be blocked out.

I wanted that sense of peace.

“The line’s moving lady. I suggest you go with it before I skip you” some rude blonde haired guy behind me barked with a grumpy tone.

I moved up and looked back over at the lone stranger. But this time was different. He was staring right at me with a shiny flawless smile. By instinct, I quickly turned my head back towards the front of the line and blushed.

After ordering all of the drinks (which just had to be made a particular way), I moved over to the waiting line and tried my hardest not to lock eyes with the beautiful bald man. He looked way too old for me.

Being twenty-two and juggling this internship, a waitressing job, and trying to get the hell out college, I had no business checking anyone out for that matter.

I smoothed down my pixie cut and prepared myself to carry those four stacks of drinks. Once my name was called, I stepped up and started to strategically place the cartons in my arms.

“Need help?”

 I jumped at the sound of a deep manly voice coming from over my left shoulder. Dark brown eyes met mine after I swirled around to see who it was.

Such a handsome face.

Haven’t seen a man this gorgeous in years…

I must have been staring at him for a long minute because he cleared his throat and flashed a bright smile.

“I…um…no. I’m fine. I do this everyday, so it’s no big deal.”

“There’s absolutely no way I can let an angelic looking woman such as yourself leave carry this many drinks without helping her.”

“Thanks…but like I said, I’m fine sir” I smiled reassuringly.

“Call me Jerome.”

I rolled my eyes and started to collect more of the cup holders. Jerome stepped in front of me and took ahold of one.

I looked up at him with a cocked up eyebrow. “Very persistent huh?”

“You can say that” he shrugged while taking two more stacks out of my arms.

Without saying a word, I cautiously turned around and walked towards the exit into the overbearing heat of Los Angeles.  Jerome was on my feet in no time.

“I didn’t catch your name” he said, probably making an attempt to break the silence.

“That’s because I didn’t give it to you…”

He continued to gaze at me as we strolled down the congested sidewalk. I pretended to put on an annoyed façade, but all I could think about was the way he smelled. If I hadn’t just met him, I would keep inching towards him just to be able to catch a few more whiffs.

“Oh c’mon. Don’t act like that. I see you come in Starbucks almost every day and I saw the way you were checking me out earlier.”

“Excuse me? It’s not attractive for a man to be so full of himself.”

Jerome stopped and touched my arm. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come off like that.”

I gave him a small smile and remained silent all throughout the rest of the ten-minute walk to my job. I refused to get yelled at for being late with these coffees.

The clicking sound of my cheetah print flats echoed all throughout as soon as we got inside of the air-conditioned building. All of my coworkers turned their heads at the sight of Jerome and I entering the premises.

Ever since I was in middle school, it had always been my dream to obtain a job at Wesley’s Models. I did everything I could to make sure I took the right steps to get there.

My parents have been behind me since the beginning of time. As I faced every obstacle of “slight” racism, my mom was always there to knock the hell out of anyone who ignored my talents and tried to stop me right as they took notice of the color of my skin.

Hollywood…hell, Los Angeles in general didn’t exactly jump at the thought of hiring blacks. Wesley’s Models was different though. At first they thought I was trying to be a model. My 5’2 height wouldn’t allow for that. But it was okay. I never wanted to be a model anyway; mainly because I’m naturally curvy and I love food way too much to be put on a never-ending diet.

So anyways, when I got up to my boss, Priscilla Miller’s, office, I knocked on the door and patiently waited for her to answer.

Before I could knock again, she swung the door open and looked up and down at my attire. She then turned her attention towards Jerome. A snarl crossed her face.

“Terri, you’re late…and who the hell is this?”

I gulped and began gathering up some sort of valid excuse. “He-“

“I’m her boyfriend, ma’m. I just wanted to make sure that she got to work safe” He smiled down at my squinted eyes and winked.

Priscilla grabbed her sugar-free iced latte and tasted it to see if it was made to her liking. “Hm. She’s safe, but late. Next time, you should make sure her punctuality comes before morning sex.”

She slammed her door in our faces, making me stumble back a few steps. It took everything in me not to shed a tear. She knew I needed this job and she also knew that I was a softie. Being sensitive was my main weakness and I absolutely hated it. I couldn’t go one day without getting yelled at by her, so I started getting used to.

The thing about this time was that I had someone there watching me be ridiculed. At least Jerome didn’t have to see me getting the coffee thrown back in my face or me getting sent home early or even seeing me getting cussed out. She was playing “nice” this time. Maybe because he was there?? I don’t know. What I did know was that I was going to get chewed out as soon as he was gone.

“Are you okay? Your boss seems to be a bitch” Jerome loudly stated.

I pushed him further away from her office and started handing the beverages out to their designated consumer. “Could you be any louder with that? I don’t want to get fired.”

“She’s not going to fire you, trust me.”

“Says the guy I just met not even twenty minutes ago who happens to know so much about this company.”

He toyed with one of the rolled up sleeves from his striped dress shirt. “I may not know much about this place, but I can tell she really likes you. She’s one of those stereotypical bosses who fucks around with you until you break. She knows you’re strong. Eh, I say you have about three months before you get promoted.”

“I’m an intern. I can’t really get promoted.”

“You’ll get a real job…”

I looked up at him after giving the last person their drink and smirked. “Whatever. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I suppose you’re right…but I can see it. You’ll make it big here one day.”

“Yeah….right. Do you need me to walk you to the door?”

“Anything that prolongs the amount of time we have together.”

I placed my hands on the both of my hips and smiled. “What a line.”

“I try.”

“Obviously.”

We chuckled in unison as we got closer to the exit. “Thanks for covering for me. It was much appreciated.”

“Anytime…Terri.”

Covering the lower region of my face, I tried not to blush from the way my name rolled off of his tongue. Being that I had the same boyfriend all throughout high school, I was horrible at flirting and compliments didn’t fly my way on a usual occasion so whenever I got them my face would always heat up.

“What are you…what are you…uh, doing this weekend?”

Jerome’s face twitched up into a half-smile. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“I don’t see how you got that out of me asking you your plans for the weekend…but okay I guess you can call it that.”

“I have no plans….although I was looking quite forward to seeing you at Starbucks everyday and eventually building up the courage to ask you out.”

“Aha. Well, there’s a Fugees concert this Saturday and I have an extra ticket…so…”

“Yeah. Sounds perfect. I’d love to go with you.”

I held back my overly excited smile and quickly jotted down my phone number on the notepad I always carried around. “Call me.”

His eyes were clearly planted on my ass as I walked deeper into the office area. All I could really do was smile from my successfulness.

Things haven’t been going all that great for me lately. Every day felt like a battle. It was hard working with people who acted as if they didn’t like you. Having to live in Los Angeles was already tough without having any friends. All of my so-called high school friends live in Sacramento, five hours away from here. None of them wanted to take the time out to visit and I could never get the funds to go up to see them, so I realized that I might have to make friends on my own.

My parents came down once a month to make sure I was living/doing okay, but they were my only company. Don’t get me wrong though, I attempted to make friends at Wesley Models. But no one would take me up on it.

I felt lonely and it almost drove me into wanting to quit altogether.

*********

Two hours before the concert, I stared into the mirror; satisfied with my appearance. With my favorite pair of light blue cuffed shorts, my black and white Fugees t-shirt, and black Keds on, I thought I looked pretty fly. And comfortable.

After slipping on my cardigan and swinging my little purse across my shoulder, I heard a knock on the door.

Jerome and I called each other every day since I asked him out. Sometimes, I didn’t want to get off of the phone because I started to become addicted to the sound of his smooth rich voice. It was something I could definitely get used to.

“Coming!” I yelled, making a sprint towards the door.

Jerome smiled down at me as I greeted him with a flirtatious grin. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks so do you…ready?”

Instead of extending an invitation to come inside my tiny apartment, I closed the door behind me and laced my arm into the opening of his.

The noise emitting from the venue could be heard from a block away. All we could hear were faint screams and whoever was opening for the infamous trio.

My excitement grew with each step we took getting closer to the concert. The Fugees were my favorite group and these tickets were mad cheap. I figured if I bought two, I could invite someone from Wesley’s and make a friend that way. No one at LA Café  (my other job) wanted to go with me….so I don’t know why the hell I had hope in the first place.

Thank God Jerome showed up at the time he did. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have gone or it would have been extremely awkward on my behalf.

***********

Halfway through the concert and I didn’t want the moment to end. Lauryn was singing/rapping her ass off and everyone in the crowd was extra hype. Anyone that loved the Fugees was cool with me and seeing Jerome have the time of his life made me feel all giddy inside. I loved it.

I always said to myself that I would marry any guy who had a passion for this type of music. In the small amount of time that I’ve known him, I decided that I would like to get to know him better. He seemed way too good to be true.

After it was all over and when everyone started to evacuate the grounds, I held on to his hand so we wouldn’t get too far apart from each other. All of the concert-goers were on a euphoric high because it was most likely the best thing they’ve ever attended.

“That was…wow. I wish it never ended!!” I screamed into Jerome’s ear.

He pulled me closer to him and nodded his head. “ I know right. Thanks for inviting me. Wanna go for ice cream?”

“I’d love to!”

At that point of the night, I was so happy that I didn’t even notice anything out of the ordinary. After ordering our ice creams, I waited to see if he was going to pay. I for damn sure wasn’t going to because hello? The free concert tickets didn’t just fall from the sky. 

Jerome looked at me for a moment and caught my expression. He knew what was up. I smiled as he dug into his pocket.

My smile turned into a frown as soon as he started panicking and patting the outsides of his jean pockets. “What the fuck…?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone must’ve stolen my wallet! The hell? I can’t believe this shit!”

I unconsciously dug into my purse and fished out a few loose bills, feeling really bad for him. “That sucks. I’m so sorry. Here, I’ll pay.”

I didn’t catch his sigh and expressions of relief until I paid the owner of the truck what we owed him. “Wanna go back and look for it?”

“There would be no point. It’s long gone by now.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

“Yeahhh…”

Jerome whispered another “shit” under his breath. In order to let him know that I felt bad for him, I pouted out my bottom lip and rubbed his arm.

************

The rest of the night went exceptionally well. Jerome didn’t get a kiss from me until the end of our second date. We decided on going on a window-shopping spree in West Hollywood. The both of us knew damn well we couldn’t afford any of the stuff we saw.

But it felt good being around him.

“So what do you do for a living? You never told me” I said, sitting down on a bench in Plummer Park. We sat down in order to catch our breaths and to also do a little bit of people watching.

He focused his eyes straight forward at a group of toddlers playing in a large sandbox. “I work from home.”

“Doing?”

“I manage a few people.”

“And what do these people do?

“They…uh-whoa. Take a look at that kid” I suspiciously squinted my eyes and turned my head to see what he was talking about. Some little boy was stuffing a handful of sand into his mouth. His mom came rushing over and immediately started patting his back.

“Makes you not want kids, huh?”

I smirked and shook my head. “Oh no. I refuse to have that talk on a second date.”

“My bad.”

Later on that night, he walked me up to my place and we uncomfortably stared at each other for a moment. I was the first to speak. “Thanks for spending time with me. It’s a little hard making friends around here.”

“I’m with you on that. You’re the first person I’ve hung out with since I’ve been here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. This may come off as quick…or weird…but Terri, I really like you. Being around you makes it easier for me to forget my situation and just be me.”

“Situation?”

“That’s the only thing you heard?” Jerome whispered in a smooth flirtatious voice.

“Yeah…but becau-“

Like so many romance movies out there, he cut me off with a short peck on the lips. Since I hadn’t had any male interaction in four years, I took this as an opportunity to go all in. I tilted my head to the side and allowed his full lips to have their way with mines.

He was a great kisser, but I wasn’t feeling it. I didn’t feel the chemistry between us…but what the hell? He listens to me and he’s a great man. What other choices did I have?

Maybe the feelings could eventually develop.

*********

Months and months passed along with dates leading up to the infamous tenth one. During those dates, I found out that Jerome was thirty-four years old…and that’s about it. He never went into detail about his personal life. I never knew about who he dated in the past or what his family was like. We only really talked about me and I wasn’t used to that kind of treatment. My ex-boyfriend was so self-absorbed that I barely even got time in to tell him I wanted to break up with him. This was a whole new thing for me.

I couldn’t tell if this was a good thing-because I was finally being treated like I deserved to be treated- or bad-because there was a small chance that this man had a huge secret that he didn’t feel comfortable enough with me to let me know about it.

But like I was saying…

You know?

Before when I was talking about our tenth date?

That night took a turn for the worst.

***

“This is our tenth date and the tenth time we’ve come back to my apartment. What’s up with that?”

I took my black leather pumps off and veered my eyes towards my date, Jerome Brown. He looked back at me like he was trying to conjure up another lameass excuse.

“I already told you before Ter…my joint got flooded out and I had to temporarily move all of my shit into my boy’s place.”

“You never told me that!”

“Yes I did. You probably weren’t listening!”

“Oh please. It’s just one of your stupid excuses that you constantly make up to keep me from seeing how you truly live!”

“How I truly live? Really? Like I live in some dump!”

I bumped past him and marched into my room. He followed after me and sat on the end of my bed. “I don’t know how you live, Jerome. You’ve had plenty of opportunities to show me…but then shit like this happens and we never go.”

“Why do you want to see my place so bad?!”

“Because I want to at least get a picture of who you are as a person!”

“You already know who I am!”

“Okay. So riddle me this. How come I don’t know if you have a family? Kids? A car?? Any crazy ex-girlfriends? Or even your favorite fucking color?!”

“Because-“

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear anymore of that! Just let me in” I pleaded, with my hands in the air. “I’m not a conceited bitch who only cares about herself. I’d love to know more about you.”

Jerome took ahold of my legs, pulled my whole body between his, and looked up at me with starry eyes. “I’m not ready to tell you.”

“What are you so scared of? You’re the best friend I’ve got. I’d never judge you.”

“You say that now…” he murmured.

I placed my hands on both sides of his head and rubbed the baldness. He loved when I did that. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I love you baby.”

My heart stopped beating in my chest and a large lump started to build up in my throat. “Huh?”

Next thing you know, I was on my back staring up at the vaulted ceiling. I didn’t imagine our first time being so sudden and…

Quick.

Seriously. It only lasted a good five minutes. He was trying his hardest though. He had his orgasm but suddenly had amnesia when it came time to take care of me.

I didn’t know much about sex, but for one, I knew it was supposed to end so quickly. Secondly, I thought girls were always supposed to go first. Common courtesy, right? And lastly, I must’ve have been wrong for assuming an older gentlemen was supposed to be more experienced?

He wasn’t the worst though. I felt a little something and he was getting me worked up, but right when it was getting good…

He was done.

No foreplay was involved. Nothing to get me off, ya know?

Tsk tsk. What a waste of an exceptionally long dick.

“Hey?’ Jerome rolled over and kissed the back of my shoulder.

“Hm?”

“I have to get going. Something came up.”

I nodded my head and avoided eye contact. “Sure. Go ahead.”

“Ah, I know I wasn’t that bad, was I?” he chuckled in a humorous tone.

Yes the hell you were, I wanted to say…but refrained from starting up an argument. “I didn’t say that, hun. I’m just tired.”

“Cool. Well…” He lifted himself out of the bed and began slipping his clothes back on. “I’ll come by the diner tomorrow to see you.”

“Alright.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah.”

Jerome bent down and pressed his lips to my forehead. “I love you, you know that? And I know you haven’t said it back yet…but I’ll wait.”

I gave him a half-smile before he exited my bedroom. As soon as he was out, I sighed deeply and threw the pillow over my head.

He always raided my fridge before he left my apartment as if I weren’t a struggling college student living paycheck to paycheck. Not to mention his little “visits” to the diner were just to get free food. I found that out when I realized that he only came to see me when I worked the late shift to close the place up.

That’s when a light bulb came to life inside my head.

I decided to follow him to see what he was really up to. Right after my front door closed, I threw on a pair of running shorts and a black t-shirt along with the first pair of sandals I could find.

When I got outside, I could see the silhouette of his body from a distance walking down the street. In order to catch up with him, I broke out in a light jog and kept to the opposite side of the street he was on.

After nearly thirty minutes of following him, I took in my surrounds and began getting a little frightened. We were in an extremely sketchy, run down part of LA that I had never been to. After Biggy died a few months ago around here, a lot of people made the smart decision to stay away from these parts.

I almost gave up and was about to call for a cab until Jerome turned down a dark alley. I contemplated on whether not I should continue, but went ahead and continued on because I would have came all the way out here for nothing if I didn’t see what I wanted to see.

Anyways, the next thing that happened completely blew my mind.

Jerome started digging through the garbage and pulled out two huge black trash bags; as if this shit was a routine for him.

He then placed the bags on the ground and started pulling items out. I couldn’t really tell what it was from the palm tree I standing behind, but it looked to be a few covers and a stack of pillows.

What in the hell…?