Choose Wisely (8 page)

             
“What are you doing here?”

             
“Damn boo no hello? I mean dang; I am standing in front of a church,” he stated.

I looked back
nervously as my family patiently waited on me.

             
“I’m sorry I’m just surprised to see you here. What’s up?” I asked.

             
“I wanted to take you out to eat. I had just a good time last night. I really didn’t want the night to end,”

             
“That’s nice. But I actually already have plans to eat with my family. We go for lunch every Sunday after church,”

I looked around the parking lot as members said their goodbye’s and got in their vehicles. I noticed my father walking with the Pastor and First Lady towards their car. I didn’
t want to rush Tyrone, but he needed to go.

             
Tyrone gently took my hand and kissed it. He was sure different from the men I grew up around. He was like the men I would see in the movies. He would order your food, pull out your chair. He would even open doors for you! I wasn’t use to his kind of treatment, but I could adjust.

             
“I’m sorry for barging in on you and your family. Let me make it up to you. I want to take you all out to eat wherever you want to go,”

I pulled my hand away.

              “You don’t have to do that,” I objected.

I honestly didn’t want him meeting
my family yet. I didn’t even get a chance to tell my son about him. Tyrone wouldn’t take no for an answer. When my family approached us, he just took over. He introduced himself and extended the offer to take us all out. Since he said it didn’t matter where we chose and money was no cost; my sister took that literally. She chose the most expensive Italian restaurant in Harrisburg.

             
We pulled into
Mangia Qui
restaurant; as soon as we walked in I knew the place was expensive. It had beautiful artwork hanging on the walls. The tables were covered with long white lace tablecloths. Our waitress sat us down and gave us our menus. Tyrone ordered us a bottle of Sartori Ferdi, which was a white wine, I’d never heard of or tasted. He went to pour my father a glass. But he objected because he didn’t drink. There he goes I thought. Ordering for people not knowing if they want it or not. Sandy of course had no problems with the wine. She picked up her glass; smelled the wine and twirled it around in her mouth, like she was a professional wine-taster. I couldn’t resist. I had to laugh. She always knew how to lighten the mood.

             
Lunch was delicious. Tyrone ordered me the
Filet Mignon Sandwich.
They didn’t have a kids menu. So I ordered David the
Ravioli.
I tasted a bite and had to admit, it was nothing like
Chef Boyardee.
I could tell everyone was enjoying their meal. The food was authentic. I still loved
Olive Garden
. But this place was on a whole other level.

             
We left the restaurant and I could tell everyone was satisfied. Tyrone dropped us off back at the church where our vehicles were. David begged Sandy to go with her. I said it was ok as long as she had him back before bedtime. I waved as my sister and son pulled off. I went to my car to put my leftovers in. My father followed me. Whispering he wanted a word with Tyrone.  I waited patiently as my father interrogated him.

             
The men finished their discussion, and walked over to me. My father gave me a hug and whispered, “He seems like a keeper,”

I smiled.

“Thanks daddy I love you!”

“Love you too!”

I watched him pull off, and sat inside my car. Tyrone went around and got in on the other side.

“So did you enjoy yourself?”
He asked.

             
“Yes I had a great time,” I admitted.

But that didn’t change how I felt. I didn’t appreciate the fact that he just showed up unannounced. 

              “Tyrone I appreciate your gesture, but you just showing up is unacceptable,”

             
“Unacceptable? You can’t be serious?” He laughed.

             
“I’m very serious,”

Who did he think he was
? I thought. I’m sitting trying to be honest with my feelings and he thinks it’s funny.

             
“I am a single mother. I have to be very careful who I allow in me and my son’s life. You didn’t even give me a chance to tell my family about you,” I was trying my best not to catch an attitude, but his arrogance was unbelievable!

             
“I know you’re not one of those women who don’t appreciate shit! I came to surprise you. I didn’t want to take out your entire family but I did,”

I
could tell he was getting angry because the more he spoke the louder he became.

             
“I didn’t ask you to treat my family you offered!” I reminded him.

             
“Your right, that’s what I get for trying to please your ungrateful ass! I thought you were different. But you’re just like the rest of these trifling women out here! You need to grow the hell up!”

He jumped up so
fast, I didn’t have time to come back with a sarcastic remark. He slammed by door and kicked in his way. I was stunned. I sat there with my mouth hanging open watching him as he sped out the parking lot.

             
I couldn’t believe I let Lexi convince me to take a trip to Atlantic City. It was only for the weekend. But I had a business to run. We arrived at the
Harrah’s Hotel & Casino
and checked in. She was a rewards member so our room was discounted. Any woman who could save me a few dollars was a keeper in my eyes. I followed her and admired her booty as she led me through the casino. I coughed as we passed the smoking section. I hated cigarette smoke. That was turn off for me. I scanned the room it was lit up with lights. There were no windows so you had no idea what time of day it was. I watched as people pulled down on the slot machine levers, and placed chips on the tables hoping to win big. I had never gambled before. It looked exciting.

             
We made it to our room. I watched as she slid the key card down and opened the door. The room was nice. As soon as we walked in, there was a closet with a sliding door and huge mirror. Of course she stopped to check herself out. She was sexy and she knew it. I dropped the bags and squeezed her waist. She turned her neck and leaned her back against my chest.

             
“Thank you Papi. I really needed this,” she smiled.

             
“Girl you don’t have to thank me. This is what I do,” I softly kissed her neck and turned my attention to huge king size bed.

It looked so comfortable. I
was ready to jump right in. It had been a long drive and I could use a power nap. Lexi decided she would take a shower before we went out to dinner. We had passed a few restaurants before we came upstairs. I was amazed at all the
Harrah’s
had to offer. Restaurants, shops, they even had a night club right inside. I knew whoever owned that club was making serious money. I reached for my duffel bag that was sitting on the floor. I pulled out my bottle of
E&J.
I heard it was illegal to carry liquor from one state to the next. But who was gonna tell.

             
I poured me cup and laid back onto the bed. I searched for the remote and turned on the television. I flicked through the channels. I couldn’t find anything worth watching. So I settled with
Family Feud.
Steve Harvey was my dude. I placed the remote on the nightstand and noticed the bible sitting next to it. I sighed, picking it up.

I knew
being here was something my mother wouldn’t approve of. I knew this was not the life she wanted for me. But I was grown and I wasn’t hurting nobody, if she could see me now. I knew she would say I was turning into my father. He was a gambler and one of Harrisburg’s top drug dealers back in the day. She didn’t know what he did for a living at first. But by the time she found out, she was already in love and pregnant with me. She thought she could change him. But the truth is you can’t change anyone who doesn’t want to change. They stayed together until I was three. He did a ten year bid right after my third birthday. I was almost fourteen when I saw him again.

             
My father was a stranger to me. I only knew him through the stories my uncle would tell. They were tight. If it wasn’t for him my parents probably would have never gotten together. My mother barely mentioned him once he was incarcerated. Right after he went to jail she found religion. He tried to win her back once he returned. But she wasn’t having it. She said it had to be us or the streets. He chose the streets. A few years later he and my uncle opened their first bar together. By the time he died they had owned four night clubs. He gave his shares to my mother and me.

             
My mother let my uncle run the clubs. He wasn’t good at math so she kept the books. She had a small office inside
The Next Level’s
basement. She didn’t use her office often. I don’t think she liked being inside the club. She only went there in the mornings. You would never catch her there regular business hours. She would however open the bar every Thanksgiving and serve to whoever needed a meal. She was sweet like that. I sure did miss her.

             
My thoughts were interrupted when Lexi came out the bathroom with just a towel. My man immediately came to attention as usual. She sure knew what to do to please me. I just wondered if sex was the only thing we had in common. I patted the bed motioning for her to come to me. Her eyes were red. She looked like she had been crying.

             
“You, okay baby girl?”

She strutted over to me and kissed me passionately.

             
“I’m fine; I’m just ready to hit the slots,”

I watched as she grabbed her suitcase and searched for something to wear. I knew something was wrong. But I figured it was best not to press her about it. When she was ready to talk she
would come to me.  I decided to head to bathroom and take a cold shower. I knew I wasn’t about to get lucky upstairs. Maybe my chances would be better once we hit the slots.

             
We agreed to eat before we hit the casino. I was in the mood for a burger. She said she knew just the place for me. I followed her into
Bill’s Bar & Burger
. It was really crowed. We found two seats at the bar because there were no tables available. The place was full of TV’s where you could watch almost any sports channel you wanted. I picked up one of the menus to decide what I wanted to eat.

             
Lexi ordered a veggie burger, fries, and a raspberry ice tea. I decided to try the Bill Burger. The picture looked great. I told the waitress I wanted my burger to have the works. I was so hungry I probably could have eaten two. I also ordered onion rings and a pitcher of beer. The waitress asked me what kind of beer I wanted. I told her to surprise me.

             
The food was delicious. My burger was nice and greasy. Just how liked it. The beer wasn’t bad either. I guess Lexi agreed because she practically drank the entire pitcher herself. I was shocked. Because she already had three shots of
E&J
before we left our room. I could tell something was bothering her. I just hoped she’d open up to me. I didn’t like to see anyone hurting in my presence.

             
I helped Lexi down off the barstool. I could tell the drinks were kicking in. She was laughing and joking more than usual. She tipped the waitress, while grabbing my hand.

             
“Come on Papi! Let’s go have some fun,”

I watched her lose almost
two hundred dollars in twenty minutes. Now I knew how these types of places stayed open. They preyed on the weak. Some people would spend all their money, waiting on the big win. I dug into my jeans back pocket and pulled out two fifty dollar bills. I handed them to her. I wanted to try my luck at the blackjack table. I wanted to prove to myself I wasn’t a gambler like my father. I stayed at the table for almost forty-five minutes. I got up from the table after losing almost five hundred dollars. I was convinced a gambler I was not. I worked too hard just to throw my money away. I strolled around the casino until I found Lexi. She was at one of the slot machines, on her cell. As I moved closer I could hear her yelling at the person on the other end.

             
“I can’t do this anymore!”

She hung up her phone and began to cry. I wanted to know who she was talking to and why she was so upset.
She didn’t notice me when, I walked up. I placed my hand touched her shoulder. I must’ve startled her because she jumped. She wiped her eyes and turned to face me.

             
“You scared me,” she stated.