Amber pulled on Valletta causing her to fall. They toppled the lamp and it fell hard into Solomon's head.
“Argh!” Solomon screamed out.
Valletta and Amber stared up at Solomon rubbing his head. He was wearing a tight hugging white shirt, an elaborate design veering from one side of it. Amber's heart raised in elation at his larger-than-life stance once his head straightened.
“What are you two doing?” Solomon's mouth laid agape. He stared at them with a sense of curiosity and a tilt of his head.
Valletta hung onto the broom that touched a collapsed table, while Amber held her from the waist. Amber frowned, for she knew this sight looked ridiculous.
Valletta pointed. “Him, give me that cat!”
Solomon turned his head to Cyribus poached on his shoulders. Cyribus snarled and made sniping paw gestures towards Valletta. Amber sighed and got between them. Valletta shifted back on unsteady legs.
Solomon's eyes widened. “What happen to your face?” He noticed the slash that Cyribus caused. There were thin serrations across her cheek that left a smear of blood.
“That devil cut me!” Valletta said.
Her cat was no devil! She was an angel.
Solomon looked back at Cyribus. Amber moved and swiftly grabbed Cyribus off Solomon's shoulder. Cyribus nestled between her arms. Amber said, “Calm down.”
“Calm down? Ca-” Valletta turned in an angry flurry. “Amber, nuh get me out today. Me can't go out like this!”
“Go out where?” Solomon asked.
Amber sighed and said, “She was planning to go par with this youth.”
Solomon shrugged. “Just go out, Me sure he won't judge you. You still look pretty behind the sc—” He stopped when Valletta stared at him like she wanted to murder him.
Valletta replied, “Are you stupid? I have a long gash on my face! How is this pretty!?”
Solomon backed away. Amber said, “I think Solomon is saying the man should not mind. He probably still wants to see you and have fun. You do not need a face to have fun at the mountain park.”
Valletta rolled her eyes. “Right, sure, and then his younger nephews laugh at my jacked-up face.”
“Look, I'll get my makeup kit.”
“Girl, you suck at makeup, know what, forget it. Me not going anywhere. Next time me going out, me avoiding this house.”
Amber frowned.
Valletta turned with a strut and said, “Your tiger have the hots for everyone except Solomon and you. All of onnu were made for each other.”
Amber's heart skipped a beat. A flush of heat consumed her face. She dared not to look behind her.
Valletta touched the wound and winced at the sting. “Now what me ago do?”
Amber swiftly walked off to avoid her. She had no answer for that.
Solomon followed Amber and they went into the kitchen. Amber laid Cyribus on the center table. Solomon asked, “Curimal, likes to attack people...should I be scared around this cat?”
Amber snorted with the opening of the fridge. “What did you just call him?”
“Curimal?” He came closer.
It was a simple name. How could he forget it? Amber's nose wiggled. Also, something strong radiated off him. It was a nice, but strong tangy scent that fed her desire to swallow him whole. He sprayed too much cologne on himself, for she could not shake the scent out of her mind.
Amber put on a smile as she took out a soda. “Cyribus. Cy...ri...bus.”
“Cyribus?”
“Yes, and no he is a nice calm cat.”
Solomon pointed absently at Valletta. “That is calm?”
Amber drank some soda and said, “Valletta always a fight Cyribus.”
Solomon smiled wider. “Ah ah...what was Valletta talking about a while ago?”
Amber creased her eyebrows. “About what?”
Solomon's eyes narrowed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Your cat and you and me?”
Amber cut her eyes from his mesmerizing gaze and shrugged. “Nothing, me nuh know what she talking about."
“Part of me was hoping it was true.”
Amber froze. Solomon smiled at her.
Amber curled her lips out of that growing smile. “Anything can happen.”
Solomon's eyes averted. Amber walked behind him. Solomon's voice low slipped under her defenses. “You look good today.”
Amber nodded. “I did not even fix myself up.”
“You look good even when you are not trying. I wonder what would happen if you tried, makeup and all?”
Amber fought the nerves and smirked. “It would not look good. Soon come back. You can sit and wait out in the living room."
Solomon nodded. "Sure."
She went to get herself ready. Once she washed up, she slid on her white t-shirt and pulled on her dark green goth-style ankle-strapped joggers pants that was looser ever since she lost weight.
Amber needed to go back to the gym now that she thought of it. She didn't want to gain back the weight and deal with feeling 'fat' again.
Rohan never mentioned her weight until things got bad. Then her weight became ammunition for his mouth, she wasn't sure how Solomon felt about it.
He complimented her a lot and that was nice, but those words could be lies to sweeten her up.
Then again, she wasn't as fat as she was back then. What did men call her, thick was it?
Amber huffed as she checked herself in the mirror. Maybe she should embrace it? She frowned, because she knew how men were. If she was perfect there would be nothing to pick apart.
Amber applied her lotion and perfume then exited into a surprising scene. Solomon was applying a dab of vaseline to Valletta's cut.
Amber parted her lips, but no words came to express her fascination. He was helping her, even though he didn't have to?
Solomon was the saving grace she never asked for, but Amber wasn't complaining.
Solomon closed the bottle of vaseline and Valletta touched her cut.
"Don't infect it." Solomon took out a bandaid and pressed it on her face.
Valletta whipped her hands in angst. "It ugly."
"Tell him, you cut yourself wave boarding. That you face hit a rock or reef or something."
Isn't that worse?
She frowned. "Do I look like a surfer to you?"
Solomon chuckled and averted his eyes. "It's not about whether you're a surfer or not, they'll think it's mad. That's how I used to distract people when they asked me about my cuts. Me just tell them I was building a business complex and then they ask me about the business complex, they don't ask about the cut anymore."
Amber smirked. "You're very good at lying I see."
Solomon finished and rubbed the back when he leaned back from his masterpiece. "Nah, just misdirection."
Valletta touched her bandaid as if to make sure it was real. "You done wave boarding?"
"No, that's my friend Demario, he knows surfers so if you want, we can link you up."
Amber said, "That might be nice ain't it Valletta?"
Valletta froze when her eyes touched Amber's smirk. A darkening fissure grew in the creases of her face. Valletta spoke in a low timbre, "Only if your cat drowning with me."
Amber frowned, while Solomon snickered.
"Seriously?"
"I'm joking." Valletta waved her hands up in surrender as she walked away. "I need to Google wave boarding now."
Solomon nodded after her. "Yeah man."
Amber said, "Come, me hungry.”
Solomon followed her outside. Amber felt the dispersing heat of the soon-to-be-gone sun. She flinched on seeing the car and stared.
Solomon gestured towards the car like it was a grand reveal. “Looks good right?”
It's old.
Amber said, “It's nice.”
“Yes, it is great.”
It was clean and shiny, but it was old. Old as in, it was not a modern car. Amber had no problem with that. She had one, but seeing this reminded her of how old her car was. Two old cars owned by two odd people.
Two...now she saw it. “Why did you buy a car with two seats?”
Solomon pushed his hands into his pocket rocking back and forth in excitement. “Cool right, it really looks great.” His voice went down an octave. “Look good when we a drive.”
Amber frowned. “Don't you have a son? You cannot use a baby seat on the front seat.”
Solomon almost hesitated, but he spoke, “No, he is not that young. He is like four years old.”
Amber cut her eyes at him.
Solomon curved his closed fist over his lips. “Hey, no worry about that.”
Amber nodded and made a sound of acknowledgment. It wasn't her child he was putting at risk, so she didn't have to worry about that.
Amber worried more about his 'fenky-fenky' behavior, why buy this? To show-off? It must be that. He wasn't thinking about his son or anything relevant to his future for that matter.
She knew this was going to become a problem later, but maybe it would get better. Her sister would have told her not to even engage with this man based on that.
Men don't get better, there exactly as you see them, she said.
Solomon leaned forward towards her. “Where do you like to go?”
Amber slanted her head. “Yo, the best places are the shops on the corner. Oh, there is a place outside this community. They sell good food.”
Solomon led her to the car. "Yeah."
She sat inside and it didn't have that new car smell, but it carried a metallic one that tickled her fancy. When he popped in next to her with his fruity flavor, the mixture carried her on the clouds.
It was the first time she noticed how big he was. Michaela was right. His arm was big. So much power was held with the bulging muscles of that arm, yet they never made her scared. They called to her with a gentle melody that soothed her.
Amber shook herself out of her mental serenity.
He must have worked out a lot outside of construction, because there was no way it was only his job that crafted this body.
She glanced from the round hill of his shoulder as he turned the key in the ignition to the clenched jaw of his focused face.
The stylings of Charly Black's My Girl Now made her heart rate hammer in anticipation of getting to the location.
Usually, guys in construction were skinny, but chiseled.
Was he as chiseled under that shirt?
His eyes shot at her.
Amber prevented herself from fidgeting, smirked, and shifted on her seat. He drove off the block and down the road.
Amber waited until they were on the main road before she directed him to where he needed to go.
Solomon wasn't talking much and the scenery of palm trees across the grass slipping down the passing hill didn't give her much entertainment.
Amber wanted to know some things. “What's your son's name?”
Solomon's eyes became shuttered. “I do not like to talk about my ex and her son.”
Amber whipped her head in mock contempt. “Why?”
His eyes narrowed more. “Sometimes…”
Amber rocked her head. “Sometimes what?”
Solomon sighed. “Nothing, I just ah, well, I, ah, its, mhhm, well, listen, its—” He sighed, again. “He mostly stays with his mother. I do not really have him, like, that. I mean he has a stepfather that is mostly in his life. I am just the... It's sort of humiliating really.”
Why would he find that humiliating? Which man says that? Amber asked, “You are not in your son's life?”
“I never got a chance to be.”
That was an odd statement. What was his relationship with the mother of his child? Amber hated getting involved in drama. She had enough in her life as it was.
Solomon continued, “Me nuh want them between us. I want to move forward, you know, with you and me.”
That's why he bought a two-seated car. The son wasn't in his future.
Amber's thoughts drifted to Rohan. Rohan wanted a child and she couldn't give him one. Amber couldn't help grimacing that Rohan ended up doing it with that woman of all people!
Her!
Amber trusted her. She loved him.
Disgusting… both of them.
She closed her eyes and shut that out of her mind. Amber didn't check with her doctor much concerning her Uterine Fibroids.
Originally, her doctor recommended a Uterine artery embolization plus some prescriptions after the procedure and she gladly took the injection to her arm all for that cheating bastard.
Well, Rohan was gone, but all of that did give her some comfort from her symptoms.
She was told to exercise more and change her diet. Amber never drank so much milk and callaloo juice in her life, but that's what she needed to do. Nuts and cashews were good for her since she already ate that regularly.
Amber came off those medications as well, because her fibroid growth lessened. But she was glad she was off it, for it turned her into an oven. Her neck and head were on fire all the time.
So right now the doctor had been watching her situation to see if surgery was needed.
As far as surgeries, hysterectomy and endometrial ablation were out of the question if she was going to have a child in the future.
A myomectomy was looking like her best bet. That settlement money would be useful then, because she was sure that surgery wasn't cheap. Amber wanted to have a child in her future, but not like that.
Solomon's ex was still a woman like Amber was, they all wanted space in Solomon's mind.
She diverted her eyes and rocked her head. “Solomon, you cannot do that. If you had a son you should have told me long ago. That way I can prepare for whatever drama is going to happen. She and you meet often? She wants you back?”
Solomon shrugged. “Often, not really, as far as me and her, that dead. Never again.”
Amber felt deceit. “Hey, I don't know what happened between you and her, but you have to be straight with me. Plus I want to meet your son, there can't be a you and me and your son not included. A nuh so me work. Got it?”
Solomon nodded and smiled. “Yes ma'am.”
Amber was about to say she wasn't his leader, but the car sputtered. Solomon's eyes widened. Amber froze.
The car's engine must have left the chat, for she didn't hear it.
Now the car slowed down, fast. Amber glanced at the nearly full gas tank. Solomon pulled over to the curb.
Did his car cut off?
“Solomon?”
He didn't answer. The car didn't move, like their relationships with their exes, it was dead.
This couldn't be happening right now. Please tell her this wasn't happening right now!
Mini-Glossary
Fenky-Fenky - of a person that is conceited or too proud
Mad - when used as an expression, it's another word for awesome, if used as an adjective, it means something that is cool or awesome
Par - to hang with or spend time with somebody.