The Fight Within (60 page)

“I told that guy, ‘Hell yeah, there’s a problem. Your staff tried to pull the wool over ol’ Sean’s eyes, but anyone can see that this here is a damn grocery store box dessert. I pointed to it and said, ‘It’s a ho ho.’ He proceeded to give me the same spiel the puppet faced waitress offered, and I told ’im to look in the goddamn trash and he’d find a bunch of wrappers and Little Debbie smilin’ up at ’im! Sweet sassy malassy, as my brother says!”

At this, Treasure lost it.

“How sweet is it, to be loved by you!” she crooned the James Taylor song, causing Sean to chuckle, too.

“You gotta nice singing voice. But yeah, so Little Debbie owes me like $29.00 bucks as far as I’m concerned, because this wasn’t worth more than a dollar and if anything, they owed me money for wasting my time and lyin’ about it.”

“So what happened at the end? What was the verdict?”

“That son of a bitch offered to take it off my bill or said he could replace it with something more to my liking. I said with what, a goddamn Twinkie?!”

“Sean!” Treasure’s eyes blurred with tears of mirth as she rolled about her bed, her stomach cramping from the man’s foolishness.

“It’s just a regular ol’ processed food gang bang up in the kitchen, huh? Fancy French restaurant my ass! I grew up on Cheetos, ho hos, and those goddamn red and hot wieners floating in jars from the bodegas. My diet consisted of turtle soup, Lays potato chips, and Nerds candy. That’s all I ate for years as a kid. It was amazing I wasn’t fat and still alive and had all my damn teeth. You try to tell
me
, Sean Mahoney, the fast and junk food aficionado, that something I saw for years on my damn plate and shoved in my mouth on practically a daily basis isn’t what I fuckin’ think it is? Are you serious?! I know a goddamn, motherfucking ho ho when I see one!”

“Remind me to never give you a ho ho, under
any
circumstances!” She tried to catch her breath, but it proved an impossible task.

“I’ll eat one if you’re sitting on it…”

“Hmmm, you will, huh?”

“Yeah, I will.”

“I like ding dongs…remember those?” She couldn’t help but smile at her nasty wit.

“Do I remember them? I got the best one on the planet…you wanna take a look at it, better yet, taste it? It’s homemade.”

“…Sounds delicious.”

“If you do it just right, there’s a creamy filling just for you… Can I slide it in your mouth tonight? Let you have a sample?”

“You want to come by and let me take a look at your goods?”

“Does an oatmeal cookie have crannies? I want to push my ding dong in your ho ho, leave you with a crème pie that you won’t soon forget.”

“If it’s coming from you, then it’s devil crème…”

“Oh, you got jokes?” She could hear the smile in his tone. “I’ll be right over, honey buns.”

“I’ll leave the oven light on.”

“And I expect you to keep the lights on all night. I want to see
every
expression you make when I’m pushing inside of you, not miss a damn thing. I love to watch you when I make you cum, baby. I have a nutty bar with your name written all over it…special delivery, cummin’ right up.”

*

“So, yeah, that
was that,” Kyle stated stiffly. He sat with his ankles crossed, looking around Sean’s living room as if in awe of the place.

Little Dragon’s ‘Runabout’ played on Sean’s iPad through the stereo speakers.

“Your job sounds really exciting,” Treasure chimed in. She leaned forward with an engrossed expression, holding on to her glass of wine as one would a cherished lover. Dressed in a bright red knee-length halter dress that tied along her narrow waist and showcased some limbs that were to simply die for, she entranced him. Her hair was pulled back from her face in a loose ponytail, featuring her prominent cheekbones and luscious bone structure that he so enjoyed tracing his lips along in their heated lovemaking sessions.

“It is sometimes, most days are blah!” Kyle laughed lightly, remaining somewhat subdued and slightly aloof.

“I guess it’s not like the movies, right?” She chuckled.

“Right, that’s all Hollywood.” He waved his hand lazily in her direction. “I like it though. It makes for a good living,” he said, nodding. A slightly awkward silence ensued. “So…” He sighed. “Sean has told me a lot about you as well, so it was nice to finally meet you.”

Treasure nodded, wearing a bright grin.

“He said you’re an interior designer. That’s pretty cool!”

“I love it, I truly do.”

“It’s important to enjoy your job, to look forward to it.” He shot Sean a glance, then turned back to Treasure. “What’s one thing about it you wish were different?”

“Well…” She looked down, searching her thoughts. “The only thing is, there is no consistency.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I will either have almost too many jobs at one time, or none at all. It comes in waves.”

“Ahhh, yeah, I could see that. Like, what’s your busiest time of year, would you say?”

“Typically, people want to change their homes right before spring, after the winter has passed… It makes people feel better.”

“Makes sense.”

“The other peak time is right before the holidays, when guests are coming over and they want to impress.”

“Makes sense, too!” Kyle chuckled.

Sean sat there simply watching the two go back and forth as he nursed the same beer for over an hour. Something bothered him, but he wasn’t certain what the hell it was. Kyle seemed a bit uptight, as if something sat on his mind that he couldn’t quite part ways with to the point of damn distraction. To the untrained eye, the man seemed courteous and friendly, but Sean had known the fucker far too long. No,
something
was definitely amiss…

The two continued to engage in friendly banter, with Sean sharing stories and laughs along the way. When another hour rolled by, Treasure reminded him that she needed to get home; she had lots of work to attend to.

“It was nice meeting you, Kyle.” She extended her hand to shake his, but the man grabbed her arm and kissed her fingers instead. She giggled, while Sean looked at him like a damn three-headed monster.

What the hell was that?!

He pushed his annoyance aside and walked her to his door.

“You sure you don’t want me to walk you out?” He wrapped his arm around her waist, ushering her close to his groin.

“No, no. Stay here with Kyle,” she whispered, a big smile on her pretty face. She kissed his lips once again. “I’ll call you later tonight, okay? And again, baby, great job on your apartment! You’re a natural.” She threw him a playful wink before letting herself out his apartment.

He stared at her, watched her saunter down the haunting green-lit hall before yelling, “I’m a natural at somethin’
else
, too!”

“…Don’t I know it,” she flirted without looking back at him.

“I expect my ‘payment’ tomorrow! All work ’nd no play, I’m ready to get mine! I’m coming over and stayin’ the night, and you better be there and ready.”

Chuckling, she turned the corner, disappearing from sight. He closed and locked the door behind him. Kyle had returned to the couch, his black business suit and light gray tie situated just so on his person. The man ran his fingers through his dark brown hair, smirked, then looked back across the room at nothing in particular.

“You’ve changed, Sean…”

Sean took a seat by him. “How so?”

“Well, look at your place? It actually looks nice.”

“You’re sayin’ it like it’s a bad thing.”

“No, just uh…” The man cleared his throat, glanced down at his shoes and swiped at one, removing a piece of carpet fiber. “This is new, is all.”

“Just spit it out! Why are you acting so damn weird?”

Offering a weak grin, Kyle placed his beer bottle down on the table. He clasped his hands together and sighed. “Sean…you didn’t tell me this.”

“Tell you
what
?”

“You said a lot of stuff, but left that part out…wow.”

“Stop fucking around and tell me what you’re talking about? Left what part out?”

“You know… you know I’m not a racist but—”

“Ohhhh! Holy shit! No way!” Sean rolled his eyes in disbelief. “Ya gotta be fuckin’ kidding me, man! You aren’t
really
going there, are you? You couldn’t be!” He leaned far back in his seat and glared up at the ceiling, not believing his ears.

“Look, let me finish!” Kyle yelled. “You told me how serious you are about this woman, man. I don’t have an issue with her being a bit older than you… She looks good,
damn
good actually.” He laughed lightly, as if somehow surprised by that revelation. “And uh, she seems like she has her shit together…no welfare Queen shit.”

“Kyle! What tha fuck!” Sean rolled his eyes as a deep anger began to grow within him.

“Come on, man! You know it’s true! Most of the people milking the system are black or Hispanic, and hard working fuckers like you and I have to pay the bill! I only have one black client, Sean,
one
!” He held up his finger as if that meant something. “They don’t invest money, they just spend it! They don’t invest in people, property, nothing! I’m not sayin’ she’s bad because she’s black, but you might be selling yourself short is all!”

Sean shot up like a rocket and served him with a glare. “You’ve gotta be kidding me! I can’t believe I am even hearing this shit come out of your mouth! I just can’t believe it! What about Iris, Gabriella and Tammi?! You dated ’em, and more! They were all black!”

“Well, actually Gabriella was Dominican, but that’s neither here nor there.” Kyle smirked. “Yeah, I dated them—Iris was black and Tammi was half black, a few more too, but it was nothing serious, man!” He shook his head, as if the shit should’ve been obvious. “You
never
heard me say I loved them. Sean, you told me you’re in love with this chick. That’s
totally
different! I was fucking, getting my dick sucked and fucked; it’s not the same. And she’s got kids and some ex husband who’s a goddamn lawyer; it could get messy…”

“You’ve dated women with kids, too! It’s almost unavoidable now; we’re in our mid-thirties, for God’s sake.” He rubbed his face vigorously, wishing the act could shake off this conversation. “I’m too in shock to fully respond to this shit… I can’t even get my tongue and brain to work together, to address your ass properly… Just get the fuck outta my house.” Sean got to his feet, his hands around his waist.

“What?” Kyle looked up at him in complete surprise.

“I’m serious, get the fuck outta my house, man. I can’t believe for as
long
as I’ve known you that you would come up in here and disrespect me this way. Who tha fuck do you think you are?! I need to know because the man I
thought
you were doesn’t even exist!”

Kyle slowly got to his feet, an unnerving grin on his face. “I’m your best friend, Sean…no need to get upset. I’m just looking out for you.”

“You coulda told me you were concerned about her having a crazy ex-husband, just like I told ya. Something like
that
would have been something a friend might say…but I love this damn woman and you fuckin’ know it and instead, you stand here in my face and tell me I should be leery, because of the color of her skin?! Because she’s black? You tell me it’s okay to fuck ’er, but not make her my woman? Be with her, care about her…but not to love her?! My own parents, as backwards as they can be sometimes, didn’t
dare
say some shit like this to me. You disgust me. I don’t even know who the
fuck
you are anymore!”

Kyle turned to leave, his footsteps slow, as if he were walking to his death. Surrounding the door knob with his palm, he slowly turned it, as if afraid to step away, to step outside of that door.

“I’m sorry I upset you, Sean. Just tryna look out for you.” With that, he gently closed the apartment door behind himself, and disappeared.

Sean stood there, his muscles jumping beneath his skin as he stared at the closed door. He realized he’d forgotten to scrub the white thing down, for it was covered in black smudges, small gouges and filth. The rest of the place was pristine, squeaky clean, but the way inside and out the place remained horrid, dirty, grimy. Kyle had entered his past, the soiled, old, grubby past, and left his future just as murky, despite all that Sean had done to make things presentable. He’d scrubbed and scrubbed, but the stench of the scene remained, and the fucking dirt just wouldn’t wash away.

He stood there for the longest, wondering where he’d gone wrong. What signs had he missed…had they been there all along? They
had
to have been; people simply didn’t wake up and become racist one fine morning. No, the seed had to have been planted when they were kids running around Queens without a care in the world. It was bone chilling how one could know someone, but not really know them…and that included himself.

Minutes ticked and passed. Returning to the couch, he fell in deep thought. Sean searched his memory bank and uncloaked shit he’d swept under the damn rug. Tiny things, subtle things, crooked and ugly things began to come back, little crumbled pieces to a racially divided jigsaw puzzle.