Jasmine and I left my store and drove to Ryan’s Steak House in Chesterfield. We both ordered steaks and fries then sat down at a quiet table in a corner where no one would disturb us. Something about her voice in the store made me sure she had some pretty heavy stuff to share with me, and I didn’t think she’d want to do it surrounded by other diners.
As I settled into my seat, I smiled at how good it felt just having her next to me. I hadn’t been able to get her off my mind since that night we spent together at Joe’s. That’s why I told her that lie about me dating someone. I figured she’d feel more comfortable being around me if she thought I was involved. After she changed her number, I thought I’d never see her again. It was a welcome second chance when I saw her walk into my store, and I wanted to do whatever it took to keep her from bolting again.
I thought I actually saw a look of jealousy cross her face when I said I was seeing someone. She tried to hide it pretty well, but it gave me a glimmer of hope. Yeah, I knew she had a boyfriend, but I was still holding out hope that we might someday be involved. As long as her man was locked up, I was going to do whatever it took to make her mine. Besides, with her being so eager to talk to me, maybe they’d already broken up.
“What’s going on, Jasmine? What’d you need to talk to me about?”
She frowned and hesitated before sliding her sunglasses off. I grimaced at the sight of her blackened eye.
“Jesus Christ! What the hell happened to your eye?” I didn’t mean to sound so freaked out, but her eye really did look fucked up. “Who did this to you?”
“I don’t even know where to start, Dylan.” She covered her eye again with the sunglasses. I scooted my chair closer and rubbed her back and shoulders.
“It’s okay, Jazz. Just take your time and start from the beginning.”
“All right,” she sighed, stabbing one of her fries with a fork as she started to explain. It took her about thirty minutes to tell me the whole story. I tried to hide my emotions and just listen, but the more she told me, the more pissed off I got. No woman deserves to get hit by a man.
“That’s one hell of a story. You’ve really been through a lot the last few days, haven’t you?” I know she had come to me just looking for a sympathetic ear, but it was hard to sit still and keep my emotions in check. I wanted to be the knight in shining armor coming to her rescue. I wanted to kill that son of a bitch up in that prison.
“Yeah, it’s been pretty rough,” she agreed. I still wasn’t sure if I should speak my true opinion of the situation, so I just rubbed her back to let her know I was there for whatever she needed.
“Hey, you okay?”
“No,” she said softly as tears ran down her face. I wiped them away with my napkin.
“You’re still in love with this guy, aren’t you?”
She nodded her head slowly with half a frown. She looked into my eyes and could probably read my thoughts. “I know you don’t understand why I would stay with him, but he’s a good man, Dylan. And he’s all I got. He’s just a little confused.”
As far as I was concerned, she was the one who was confused if she thought this brother was a good man.
“You willing to take that chance on going to jail for him? ’Cause that’s where you gonna end up if you start bringing him drugs.” It wasn’t like I was telling her something she didn’t already know, but she actually looked like she had to think about it. What was there to think about? She wouldn’t go to jail for him, would she?
“I’m not sure. I might still bring them.” She ran her fingers through her hair and stared at me nervously. “You expected me to say, ‘Hell, no, I won’t go to jail for him!’ Didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I did.” I shrugged my shoulders.
“So did I.” She lowered her head sadly. “But the words just wouldn’t come out my mouth. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I would do anything for Derrick. Don’t get me wrong. The thought of going to jail scares the hell outta me. But I guess I’m more scared by the thought of being without Derrick.”
I wondered why Monica couldn’t have been as loyal to me. It hurt me to see this great woman standing by such a lowlife, but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to change her mind. She had come to me looking for a sounding board, not for someone to talk her out of it. As much as I hated to do it, I would help her stay with Derrick if that was what she truly wanted. All I could do was hope that sooner or later she would realize how bad he really was. Then I’d be right there to pick up the pieces.
“All right,” I sighed. “Let’s see what we can do about keeping you out of jail, then.” She gave me a stunned look and I smiled. I would’ve paid a million dollars to take her home and make love to her right then, but that wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted my advice. She wanted my friendship. She wanted me to tell her it was all right to be with Derrick.
“You’re really gonna help me? You don’t think I’m stupid?”
“Of course I think you’re stupid. But when you’re in love you do stupid things. Trust me, I know.”
She gave me a sad smile as she placed her hand on my knee. “You really do wanna be my friend, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Okay, so what’s next? What do I do?”
“You’re not gonna like it, but you’re gonna let that Wendy woman carry the drugs up to your boyfriend.”
“No, I’m not.” She sat back in her chair and folded her arms. “I thought you said you were gonna help me.”
“I am helping you, and yes, you are gonna let her do it.”
“No, I’m not,” she insisted.
“Look, Jasmine, I’m sorry, but I’ve gotta agree with Derrick on this one. If Wendy’s stupid enough to bring him the drugs, then let her do it.”
“But-”
I cut her off. “But what? You told me you trust Derrick, that you have faith in him. Didn’t you?”
“Yes, but…”
“But what?” I shouted this time.
“But I hate that bitch and I don’t want her near him,” she admitted.
“That woman is only going to do what Derrick allows her to do. Besides, you can’t keep her away from him.”
“Why can’t I? That’s my man.”
“Yeah, but that’s her baby’s father. She’s got a ticket into his life anytime she wants until that kid turns twenty-one. Whether you like it or not. So if you wanna be with him, you best get used to that.”
“I don’t want him to see her, Dylan.” She wasn’t giving up.
“I know, but if you think about it, you can’t stop it. Not unless you wanna go to jail.”
She stared at me silently for a few seconds. “I don’t wanna go to jail, Dylan.”
“Then let her take the drugs to him.”
It took me the better part of an hour to convince Jasmine that what I was saying was in her best interest. She finally agreed to let Wendy take the drugs up to Dylan, and it was a good thing, ’cause I was starting to get a headache. As much as I liked the girl, I was about to call it quits and let her dig her own grave.
“Dylan, can I ask you a question?” We’d just walked up to her car and she’d gotten in.
“Sure.” I leaned in through the driver’s-side window.
“How come you never tried to talk me out of being with Derrick?”
“’Cause you never woulda listened to me. Just like I never listened to people who tried to talk me out of being with Monica. No one knows the good things about Monica and Derrick like we do, Jasmine. All they see is the mistakes they’ve made.”
“You just said exactly what I feel.” She looked astonished. I just smiled.
“You told me earlier that you were seeing someone. Are you back with Monica?”
I shook my head and frowned sadly. “Nah, I haven’t seen her since that night we were together at the club.”
“You still miss her, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do. More than I wanna admit.”
“What about the girl you’re seeing? Is she nice?” That jealous look was back on her face. I hesitated, trying to think of a lie.
“Yeah, Tonya’s cool. But it’s more a sex thing than a relationship.”
“And you want a relationship?”
“Well, yeah. Maybe not with her, but I wanna get married and have kids. I’m twenty-seven years old. I want to be able to play ball with my kids, not watch them from my porch.”
“You don’t have any kids?” She reached out and touched my hand.
“None that I’m claiming.” I joked.
“So you like kids, huh?”
“I love kids. I just haven’t met anyone stupid enough to have any by me.”
“You’re a trip, Dylan,” she laughed.
“Yeah, I know. But I’d rather be a vacation. It lasts longer.” She laughed again and handed me a folded-up piece of paper.
“Here, I wrote down all my numbers. You can call me any time. I don’t wanna lose this friendship.”
“Neither do I, Jasmine. Neither do I.”
I bent over to kiss her, and she turned her head so my lips met her cheek. That was okay, but I couldn’t believe what I heard next.
“What the hell are you up to, bitch?”
“Excuse me? What did you call me?” I gave her an evil glare. “All I did was kiss you on the cheek. You didn’t have to get nasty about that.”
“Oh, Dylan, I’m sorry.” She turned to face me. “I wasn’t talking about you. I was talking about my sister.”
“Your sister?” I looked around. “What about your sister?” This woman definitely kept me on my toes with her mood swings.
“See that green van over there with the MS. THING license plates?”
“Yeah.” It was parked under a light across the street.
“That’s my sister’s van.”
“And?” I shrugged my shoulders.
“And I wanna know what her car’s doing in the parking lot of a motel that rents rooms by the hour.”