The Cost To Play (Slivers of Love) (10 page)

On a quiet Friday night at home alone, again, Jayne began to give some real thought about the men she had come across in the past six months. Had she missed a potential gem in the bag of Fruit Loops? Using a scrap of paper, she listed all the men who had asked her out since her breakup with George. Phillip was crossed off the list immediately. Ricky had dated Brionna.  Rodrick was still married although he swore they were separated, but living under the same roof.  Benjamin was nice, had a warm smile, and six children by six different women.  Then there was LaDell, who worked in her building.  She even had his number.

She picked up her phone to place the call, but it started to vibrate in her hand.  She turned it over to see Toshi’s face. It was the stupid picture he had taken in Atlanta. “Hey you!”

“You busy tomorrow?”

“Thank you for asking Toshi. I am fine. How goes your day?”  He chuffed in the phone and picked up on her dig.

“Sorry,” he paused. “How are you Jayne?”

She repeated her statement. “Thank you for asking Toshi. I am fine. How goes your day?” 

“Very well, thank you for asking,” he responded as he smiled. “I was wondering, Jayne.  Are you busy tomorrow around lunch time?”

“I am not, but I do have some plans later in the evening, why what’s up?”

“I wanted to run down to Hancock Fabrics, look at some patterns, and get your feedback on a few things. Oh yeah, and I will buy you lunch.”

“Sounds good. You want me to drive, since you are buying?”

“Nope. I will pick you up at 11:30.”

“Okay, sounds good,” she told him as she hung up the phone.  For some odd reason she turned into a pure girl and ran to check her closet to find something to wear.

Jayne was ready at 11 am, dressed in grey slacks, a pink cardigan set, and her lightweight grey pea coat. The pearls that were given to her as a graduation present by her Grammy, were the only real pieces of jewelry she wore outside of a pair of earring studs and her watch.  She thought Toshi would text her when he arrived, but was pleasantly surprised when he came to the door.

He was a gentleman as he opened the door for her. Once inside the car, she noticed how clean everything was. Not even a speck of dust on the dashboard. The faint scent of his soap lingered in the car. As he rounded the front of the car, she checked the floors for wrappers of any kind. Nothing.  “I know a great place to grab a bite after we hit the store. Or do you want to eat first?”

Jayne noticed that he turned down the music before starting the car.  “Hancock’s.” She eyed him suspiciously. “But first tell me what’s on your iPod.”

“What do you mean?” he asked as he pulled away from the parking space to exit the complex.

“You turned down the music. What is in the cd player? Is it something horribly embarrassing like The Back Street Boys or N’ Sync?” She laughed as she reached for the volume knob, “Or worse…Miley Cyrus!”

As she turned up the music, she found it was Barry White, crooning
Practice What Your Preach
. “That is not what I expected,” she said with wide eyes.

“I’m an old school kind of guy. I love songs that have a story and a meaning, like this one.”

“What kind of story, Toshi? He is horny and asking her to come over and back up what she has been saying to him,” Jayne said with a flippant attitude.

He shook his head explaining that the woman in the song was probably some smart ass, who is making promises which she has yet to keep. “He knows she is lying, but he makes sure she understands that when they do finally get together, he is going to teach her a thing a two about how to treat a man.”

Almost in unison with the song, Jayne says, “Really?”

Toshi began
to sing along with the song, he looks over at her, and begins to sing the words to her. Jayne finished the lyrics the lyric in the sentence. They continued the ride down Washington Road, singing the song and going back and forth until they had arrived at Hancock’s. Toshi pulled into the parking lot with a wide grin on his face. He really liked Jayne.  Out of all the women he had dated, she was the first to get it. She was also the only to sing along with him, although he was not a singer.

This was going to be a fun afternoon.

An hour was spent in the fabric store, looking at fabrics and patterns. She made some suggestion to altering some of the patterns, but in the end, suggested he would come out better making his own. They talked about conferences, with Jayne admitting that she was not planning to attend SacAnime, but maybe one large and two smaller conferences later in the year.  “The one I truly want to go to is the Anime Expo in Los Angeles in July.”

“I have thought about going to that one as well, but it’s so large, you can get lost there,” he told her as he pulled into Yosko. “I am in the mood for some sushi.”

“I have never eaten here before. I take it the food is good if you like it.”

Toshi liked her confidence in him, which continued through lunch as she trusted him to order for her. He ordered vegetables, rice, and a Sierra roll for her.  He ordered something she could not pronounce for himself. Jayne opened the conversation about him.

Toshi was forthcoming with his wish to start a comic book, create unique characters, and have a booth at a con.

“Do it,” she told him as she nibbled at salad drenched in way too much ginger dressing.

“Just like that? Start a comic book?”

“Sure, there is a ton of software that makes it easy. Kindle also has a format to get in the Amazon online store. You can even get started by launching a web comic first, but you know all this already. Why are your dragging your feet on your dream?”

It was said out loud. The food arrived but Toshi sat staring at her, “Why haven’t you?”

Jayne blessed the food and sampled a piece of the Sierra roll. “This is really good.”  She took another piece, but he was still waiting. “I am great with writing and color schemes, but drawing the characters? As you saw, I need some work.”

He nibbled at his fingernail, then took a bite of his sushi roll. “I guess I am kind of scared.  You know, you put it out there and people hate it.”

“Tell me about the concept,” she said as she gobbled down the sushi.

Toshi lowered his voice to a whisper. The story, as he told it, revolved around a man who had received super powers from aliens who visited earth, called
The Others
. The main character used his powers to clean up crime in the neighborhood, but the local drug czar took it out on the community, killing the hero’s family and turning him into a vigilante.

“Cool!” She told him. “Let’s do it!”

He stopped chewing, not understanding her suggestion. “Do what?”

“Let’s create a comic book, web comic, and super hero team!” She slapped her hands on the table. “I want to be a character too. I want to be a vigilante as well.” She said it like a school kid who wanted to try out as the soccer team’s mascot.

“Just like that?” He snapped his fingers.

“Yeah,” she told him. “Why not?  Between the two of us, we have everything we need to start our own comic book.”

He was shaking his head no while she was nodding her head yes. “I can do the whole marketing campaign and build the website. We will launch it a few pages at a time to build a following in February.”

Toshi was still shaking his head no. Jayne was nonplussed. “It is January. We have until July to get the actual comics in print and debut it at the AnimeExpo, but we
need to get a booth now!”

He was still shaking his head no. Jayne kept moving forward. “My cousin is a lawyer and
she can draw up a contract for us. We can call our company…” She paused looking for the right words. “Oooh, Ooh, ooh! I know!” She smiled a gigantic grin with seaweed in her teeth. On the table she did a mock drum roll. “We call it ToJay!”

He was still shaking his head no. Jayne forged ahead. “Okay fine. JayTos Comics.  Yeah, I like that much better.”

“Jayne, it takes money to start a business, funding, and so much more,” he told her trying to dampen her enthusiasm.

“Oh, Booo!” she said as she ate her final piece of sushi. “My cousin started a business for $1500 dollars and makes good money selling trashy eBooks on Kindle.”

Toshi was frowning. “How many cousins do you have Jayne?”

“Lots.  I am throwing down the gauntlet Toshi! Are you in or do you want to keep pining about it and talking about what you want to do? Or are you ready to grab that nasty ole’ bull by its cajones and ride it all the way to the finish line?”

Toshi leaned back in the chair, listening, thinking, and plotting.  It could be done. They could actually do this. “I can do the drawings, but the writing am not so strong on. With back ground coloring I tend to go dark.”

“I am always bright and colorful which will bring a nice balance to the panels.” She was still grinning.  Having sipped some of the water, the seaweed had been washed from her teeth.

“Are you serious Jayne? You really want to do this with me?”

“I am as serious as sin or my name isn’t Jayne LaQueeda Wright.”

Toshi furrowed his eyebrows. “Your middle name is LaQueeda?”

“Yes Toshi. It is. Now focus. I will be your partner and we will create a comic book together.” She was smiling at him again. “What is your middle name?”

He sat for another moment, gathering his thoughts. “I don’t have one.” He paused again. “Okay, let’s do it.  Where do we start?”

Jayne dug into her bag and pulled out a journal, ripping out two sheets, giving one to him. “First we brainstorm, then divide the research duties.” She scribbled as she went along. Toshi sat watching the birth of the comic company come alive on bits of torn out notebook paper.

Jayne LaQueeda Wright was about to change his life.

Each Saturday evening, Jayne and Toshi had been meeting to hash out design concepts and details.  The initial sketches of the vigilantes were drawn in charcoal, which highlighted some of the major strengths of each character.  Jayne was not quite pleased with Toshi’s drawing of her character, so the following weekend, she brought over her own rendition. He wasn’t pleased with hers either at this point. The only thing they were agreeing upon was the font for the cover of the comic.  Hence, they had reached a stalemate which led to Jayne suggesting they step away from the process for a minute to get some perspective.

On the second Saturday in February, instead of meeting with her new pal, Jayne decided to join her friends for lunch. Brionna was the first to notice Jayne’s distraction, but it was RaShunda who made the comments. “Girl, I don’t know why you’re wasting your time on that man. It’s not going to go anywhere.”

This was followed by Tamika’s sarcasm. “I know you aren’t trying to sleep with him. You are only going to be hungry an hour later anyway.” This comment garnered snickers from the other two, but Jayne remained quiet.  Her mind was on a marketing concept.  She had been given a big assignment at work which was taking most of her energy and the Saturday nights with Toshi were tapping into her reserves of calm and tolerance.  By the time Sunday rolled around for church and dinner with her grandparents, she was completely worn out.

Brionna touched her hand. “Jayne, we want you to be happy, but we are just advising that before you pack your bags and climb aboard the Orient Express, you may want to get back out there first.”

By the end of lunch, Jayne was ready to wash her hands of Toshi, the comic book, and her meddlesome, bitchy ass friends. Tonight was a free night and she was going home to soak, put on some jazz, light some candles around the tub, and down a bottle of Chenin Blanc. Jayne was well aware that she would never hear the end of it, but she had made the mental commitment to forego church in the morning as well. Brionna was half right. She had to gain some perspective.

Jayne grabbed her purse, took out thirty dollars and laid it on the table. She gave her friends a mock salute and headed for the door with them calling after her.
Make the bad women shut up
. “I’ll call you guys later,” she chirped over her shoulder. When she turned around, Jayne had come into contact with something very large, very solid and smelled like a night of being face down biting on a pillow.

“Well, if it isn’t Jayne Wright,” a deep tenor voice said to the top of her head.  Jayne looked up to see LaDell Richardson with his large hands on her arms.

“LaDell, I was thinking about you last week.” Which was the truth, but she did not admit that she had almost called him.

“Can you think about me next Friday when I take you out to dinner?”

Over her shoulder, she could hear her girlfriends answering for her. In her mind, it was too much of a coincidence to let it pass.

“Sure. Why not?” He suggested they meet after work at the front door of the building they both worked in.

“How does Italian sound?”

“One of my favorites,” she mumbled as she tried to get away from him. “Does six o’ clock sound okay to you?”

Just like that, she had a date for next Friday. It wasn’t until she returned home and jotted it on her calendar, that she realized it was Valentine’s Day.

It was a simple black dress, with a mint green cashmere cardigan, her pearls and a pair of black and green sling backs with a kitten heel.  Everyone in the office acted as if she had come to work dressed for the prom. At six on the dot, she grabbed her coat and headed down to the main lobby. When she exited the elevator on the left, LaDell was coming down the stairs on the right.

He was a gentleman and helped her with her coat, telling her she looked wonderful and smelled fantastic.  “I will drive. I’ll just bring you back here to get your car.”  He chuckled at a joke that she didn’t find humorous. “I mean, if anything weird happens, you know where I work.”

She wished she had brought her gun. By the end of the evening, something was destined to die.  Jayne reprimanded herself for being negative before the date even started.  Her fists were clenched, but she quickly released them, convincing herself it was going to be a great evening.

It wasn’t.

Before they left the building, at least eight women had called his name.  Three gave those high school,
I have a crush on you
finger waves. Two others blew him a kiss. One rubbed her breasts while mouthing
call me
and the final three gave him the stink eye. Grandma Pearl always said, if you want to know the habits of an animal, observe it in its natural environment. LaDell was a lion who used the office building as a hunting ground.

Yet, Jayne did not want to pass judgment on him based on a few friendly women. He was, by any woman’s standards, a very attractive man.  LaDell easily stood a bit over six feet, was solidly built, without an ounce of fat on him.  He had a low haircut, a perfectly groomed goatee, and a nice smile with really big teeth. His skin tone was a smooth, rich, creamy peanut butter beige, with jet black hair and deep brown eyes.  The brother also has some really big feet and hands.  All of this matched perfectly to his very big, black, and shiny BMW 740i. The front license plate read, “Engineers Do It with Precision.”

It put Jayne off a bit, especially when his windshield held four business cards and a scented note. Women could be overly aggressive sometimes, which Jayne understood.  It made her feel a bit more at ease when he removed the items and tossed them in the trash. They both laughed as he removed the pair of underwear that someone had tied to his side mirror.  From the looks of the red lacy fabric, they were damp. 

“Where are we headed for dinner LaDell?” Jayne asked with a smile on her face.  He grinned back at her. “I thought Augustino’s would be nice,” he said as he pressed the fob to unlock the vehicle.

“Great,” she told him, still smiling. “I will meet you there!” She turned around and headed to her car. He called after her, but she was not getting into the sex machine with him and she sure as hell was not going to be seen leaving the parking lot in it.  Guilt by association held a lot of people in prison, which would also describe how she felt during dinner.

He ordered a $70 dollar bottle of wine to start the meal. A hearty Bordeaux. She explained that the heavy tannins in the wine gave her a hangover, yet he insisted that she at least give it a taste. It was good wine, but an absolute waste, since she barely sipped at the glass she had. The wait staff knew LaDell by name and quickly asked if he desired the
Ossobuco as his meal selection. He opted instead for a very large steak with potatoes, while Jayne chose a seafood dish on a bed of pasta with greens.

None of it was enjoyed.  Over appetizers, he took out his phone to show her all the projects he had designed accompanied by images of his two awards, along with an accidental peek at a photo in his phone of a woman loving him with her mouth. As she picked at her shrimp, the conversation continued about the wide world of LaDell focusing on the other things he had achieved. Jayne knew she was supposed to be impressed, but only a faint smile could be mustered when the dozen of roses came to the table.  A beautiful dessert for two arrived over his conversation about what LaDell had in mind for his new year.

“I’m ready to settle down Jayne. I am looking for that right woman.” He eyed her with earnest.  Jayne had been making circles in the chocolate and whipped cream on the plate, not even realizing he had been talking to her.

“Did you hear me Jayne?”

This must have been the point in the evening where his dates would swoon and the panties would dampen.  It wasn’t happening for her though. She was totally bored by the whole scenario, but she felt cheeky and thought she would play along.

“I was thinking the same thing, LaDell. I am ready too!”

His eyes were wide, thinking he was closing the deal, but Jayne had a plan to shut him down.  “I checked my ovulation calendar and tonight is the night, LaDell. I am so ready.”  Her hand reached across the table to caress his. “I can’t wait for you to take me in your arms and make me yours while giving me your seed.”

LaDell had started to draw back his hand, looking as if he had been told that she had a yeast infection.  Jayne was not going to let him off the hook that easy.  She rose from her chair and walked around the table.  His eyes were wide again as he watched her approached him, pushing the table to give her enough room to plop down in his lap.

“The answer is yes LaDell. Yes!  Yes, I will make you the happiest man in the world and marry you!”

The restaurant erupted in applause. LaDell started to sputter, choking as he tried to hammer out words to tell her she had misunderstood him.  Jayne rubbed his face as she gave him a
I am going to tear that up tonight
look, whispering in his ear, “pay that damned check so we can get out of here and get our family started.” Still having trouble finding his words, Jayne commenced to patting his pockets to find his wallet.  She knew it was in his sport coat’s front jacket pocket. She still used the opportunity to run her hands over him, wagging her finger at him as she came close to touching little LaDell.

Wallet found, she went through it looking for the right credit card, waving it in the air at the waiter.  “Hurry up and settle our check! We have some celebrating to do!”  Jayne added some flair from her Misty Knight impersonation, chipping in a sister girl neck roll complete with pursed lips.

By the time the waiter had returned, the bottle of wine had been recorked and stuffed in her purse, while egging him to get his coat on. The roses were hoisted into her left arm, while chatting away at him. “I knew you were the right one LaDell. I just knew today was going to be my lucky day.”

He signed the $200 dinner tab, as she pulled him by the hand. “Wish us luck everyone!” She yelled to the crowded restaurant as a dazed and utterly confused LaDell followed along behind her with the people clapping and shouting well wishes.  His eyes were darting back and forth when they reached the parking lot.

“Jayne, I….” He started to stutter.

A calm hand was placed in the center of his chest. “LaDell. We are not all the same. Your fancy car, expensive wine, and accomplishments mean nothing to a woman who has achieved a great deal as well.”

He lowered his head as if he were ashamed. “Thank you for dinner.  Have a good evening.” 

“Jayne,” he called after her. “I am so sorry.”

She walked back over to him lowering her voice. “So am I.”  She was not one prone to lying, but in this case he deserved it. She channeled Misty Knight again. “I was soooo going to sleep with you tonight!  I haven’t had any in almost a year too!  Oohh and I was going to ride your big ass until my back gave out!”

She sighed. “Oh well!”

Through her rearview mirror she saw him lean against his car, wondering what had just happened.

In the corner of the restaurant, a friend pulled out his phone to make a call. It was answered on the third ring. “Dude, I am in Augustino’s and I just saw your girl. I think she just agreed to marry some big black dude.”

“Wait, start from the top,” Toshi said as he sat and listened to Felix recap everything that had transpired. When he hung up the phone, he eyed the little grey felt box from Kay Jewelers which held the Valentine’s present he had bought for Jayne. He was not a drinking man.  The strongest thing he had in his apartment was a bottle of Sake. A half drank bottle. Toshi had some things he needed to get off his chest. It had started to rain which further darkened his mood.  An hour later, the bottle was nearly empty but Toshi Yamaguchi was up to his neck in emotions.