And Then There Was Her

Shai was a young, beautiful, hardworking young lady. She worked as a caregiver and went to night school part-time for writing. Writing was one of her passions. One thing about her is that she had this intuitive nature that drew people to her. It was this aura of love she possessed for those who met her. Shai seen the beauty in others ashes and that’s what made her.

During this time in her life it was more she was searching for. Shai knew that there was one thing that she wanted to do, and that was to spread all the love she had for people universally with her GOD given gifts. She fell on hard times though with the plaque at hand. Everything seemed to be at a standstill, until one day she runs into some old friends from high school, Maya and Cicely.

Maya was a writer too and Cicely was a performer. Cicely had even been in a play off Broadway, “Black Swan”, I think that’s the name of it. As I walked to greet them Maya walks up and gives me a hug. They ask how I’d been doing with everything that was going on in the present time. I immediately respond, “a mess but, I got to take the bitter with the sweet.” Cicely says, I know that’s right. We all laugh. Maya asks me if I ever did Open Mic Night at the club down at the Vine District called “Jukebox?” This is where the heart of the ancestors originated. I always go down and have a nice time but never got up on stage. Maya said she remembered how profound and touching my words were, so she invited me to join them this Thursday night to hangout. "Let’s do it. I haven’t seen you beauties in a while. Let’s have some fun, I said." We all laughed. It was time for Maya to head to her last class and I had to get to work. So, we all hugged, and parted ways.

Finally, I’m here. Pulling up to the job rushing in. “Hey Cynthia,” I say to my client. “How are you today?” Cynthia was my friend not just someone that had a mental incapability that I took care of. She was human and I hated when others dehumanized people with special needs. Cynthia runs up and hugs me. “Hey Shai, I missed you.” Then she started in on the caregiver that just left. I laughed and told her, “I’m here now.” “Let’s take our meds, play some cards, shower, and then go to bed.” These nights were hard for me at times. Besides Cynthia had me wrapped around her finger and this paid the bills. I had to get my schoolwork finished since it was finals. Cynthia like to stay up with me and talk all night. But not tonight. I had to get this done. Plus, I was going out with Maya and Cicely tomorrow night for Open Mic Night. So, we got started. Cynthia and I played some go fish. She showered, then went to bed. I finished my work and watched television all night until my relief, Alecia came in.

“Great Rising,” I said to Alecia. She walks right in and clocks in and gets to work. “Hey Shai,” she says. Cynthia has an appointment and we must be there by 9:00 a.m. So, I gathered my things and headed out saying bye to Cynthia. I was ready to go. I was getting ready to have some fun tonight.

As I walked in my apartment, I turned the lights on, kick off my shoes, and head to my bedroom. I had started writing a book a while ago and I wanted to look at it. I put it down because I knew that I needed money to get it out. But how was I going to do that with paying bills and school? So, I kind of gave up. But there was something stirring in my spirit, so I started back expressing myself through the pages. I don’t know how long I was working on my book, the next thing I know I was waking up to Maya calling, letting me know that they would be at the club at 8 p.m. I jumped up showered and got dressed. I put my clothes out before I laid down, so I would be ready. I felt a little black dress was appropriate in any occasion. I slipped it on, grabbed my heels and headed out the door.

“Hey Shai!” Mya and Cicely hugged me and showed me where they were sitting. Y’all picked a nice spot. “This is Maya’s favorite spot,” Cicely said. “She gets to flirt with the bartender.” “Shut yo ass up Cicely,” Maya said. “He’s my boo thang,” she explained. “Drinks please,” Maya said to her boo thang. Tonight, was jumping. The house was packed and this guy standing across the room just kept staring at me. Maya’s boo thang, the bartender, brings me a drink and points to the guy that’s been staring at me. I held my drink up to thank him and took a sip. I guess that was an invite for him to come say something, so he comes walking over. “You are so beautiful to me,” he said.” My name is Sincere.” I thank him for the drink and tell him my name is Shai. We talked all night until the club let out. We also exchanged numbers. When I got home, he called, and the conversation continued. We talked about everything up under the sun. One thing I liked is that he was passionate about his art and that he had a sense of humor. He asks me if we could go out sometime. I told him sure. So, we went out for a couple of dates and things started to grow.

One day Sincere was sitting, waiting for me to take me to the place where we met. He discovered my spoken word passages on the table. I see you’re quite the writer. I blushed and said, “Thank you.” “Why haven’t you published these?”: They are one in a million.” So, I explained. “With everything, I’m paying, it wasn’t happening unless some money appeared out of thin air. He told me,” Don’t let that stop you.” I’ll keep that in mind, I stated. We hopped in his car and headed to the club. The night was nice, and the air was fresh, but this woman kept watching us. I asked if he knew her. He explained she called herself having the hots for him. I laughed until this tramp came over and asked to talk to him. I watched him handle her and that really turned me on. But this lady wasn’t taking no for an answer. It seemed as if they might have had something going on. I didn’t know but I was going to ask. Sincere came back to the table and I politely ask,” So what’s up with that?” He explained but I wasn’t having it. The way this lady watched us made me uncomfortable, so I asked him to take me home. Then we left.

While we were on our way to drop me off, it was an aqua silence. He finally pulled up to my crib and walks me to my door. “Sincere, not tonight. I said. “I think we should fall back a little.” He said to me, “Don’t let her get to you.” I shook my head, went in the house, and shut the door. I peeped out the blinds as he sat for a few, then pulled off.

I didn’t speak to him for a couple days. I wasn’t playing with his ass. He called and texted the whole time. He even sent me love memes expressing the way he felt. That shit wasn’t working on me.

The next morning after leaving Cynthia’s, he had left some tulips and a note at my front door saying, “Let’s Talk.” So, I gave in and called him, but this needed to be discussed. There was no way that I could put up with any disrespect from anyone if we were going to become one. Plus, I was writing, and I needed no distractions at all. I was focused finally with his help, Ha! We met up at the diner for brunch around the corner from my house. He greeted me with a hug and a peck on the cheek saying that he missed me. I said “Yea, I know you do.” We laughed. He started to explain the whole thing, but my gut was telling me otherwise. I just couldn’t believe they had nothing going on EVER! I told him a few choice words. Sincere got a little upset, paid for the meal and left out. I felt bad. My emotions had me in a whirlwind, and I could have handled it better. As the waitress comes to get the tab book, I noticed he left a little black book with a red ribbon and an envelope with my name on it. So, I opened the letter. It reads…

Shai,

You are all I’ve ever dreamed in a Queen. Your essence is intriguing. When I first laid eyes on you, I knew you were the one for me. I love you and want to wake up to you every day of my life. I hope that the situation doesn’t stop us. I apologize for everything. I hope you forgive me. I know you’re trying to do everything to get your spoken passages out, so this is a token to you to express the way that I feel. I Love You!

Yours Forever,

Sincere.

As tears filled my eyes and I closed the letter. The little black book he had left on the table had a check for 20,000 dollars. I couldn’t believe that this man had been reading my stuff. I admit I blew this out of proportion. I needed to apologize immediately. So, I called him. No answer. Now I was the one calling and he wasn’t answering me. I think I really fucked up this time.

Months went by and still nothing. By this time, I was getting ready to publish my first book and had teamed up with a major corporation by putting my spoken passages out into cards. Everything was finally happening the way I always knew it would. The problem now is that I couldn’t thank the man who helped me get there because of a misunderstanding. I think this was the worst pain I ever felt in my life. Yea, I finally knew the truth. One night at “Jukebox” the same girl that was in Sincere’s face approached me. She told me Sincere was her brother’s friend. She liked him but, he never gave her the time of day. But he also said that she wasn’t his shot of Tequila. She told me he really is in love with you and would be in town real soon. I let her know I appreciated her clearing things up. She smiled and said it’s all good and apologized. I’m so glad this was behind me finally.

I was next on the mic. Granted this was my first time but I stepped to it and the beat drops…

‘As my heart skips to the beat,

The bass drops landing it in harmony,

Tuning it into the rhythmic tone of love.

Spontaneously,

Grasping the energy that the vibration is producing.

Penetrating every note to the beat of the rhythm, putting it into fine tune.

Wanting nothing less than to play over and over in your head.

And as your body moves, the gravitation of the energy starts to flow,

Raising each octave in perfect pitch.

As I opened my eyes two the snaps of everyone, I heard a loud whistle. I look over to see who was showing the love and it was him, Mr. Sincere.