The Flavor Of Love (12 page)

“
Second chance at what?” Keigo’s left brow lifted in question. “I know you aren’t talking about love?”

“”
You won’t believe anything I have to say, so go on. I guarantee you Etta will be pleasantly surprised to see you.” Auntie Loo shooed him away with a wave of her hand.

“
Again with the psychic stuff!” Keigo released an exasperated sigh.

“
Not this time, so stop your huffing. I tell you right now; at the rate you going with me, young fellow, I’m going to have Bertha shrink your
peter pee
until it looks like a vagina!” Auntie pointed her bony forefinger at him.

“
Auntie Loo!”

Keigo turned towards the familiar voice behind him. Etta.

“
Good Morning, Sweet Pea,” Auntie Loo waved at Etta and yelled, “I like him!”

“
If she likes me, I hate to see what type of spell she would put on a person she didn’t like,” Keigo muttered.

Keigo saw Etta’s shoulder shake with laughter and he grinned, mentally patting himself on the back. His humor had improved immensely in the past few days.

“
Try me, handsome, and you will find out. Have a good day you two.” Without another word, Auntie Loo hummed her way towards her own covered porch.

Keigo stood there a moment longer watching the elderly woman’s retreating figure while considering what she had shared about Etta and it only made him more curious to know more about her. His lashes fluttered in surprise as Auntie Loo turned and waved at him as she had done upon his arrival. For some reason privy only to herself, she gave him a thumbs-up sign.

As he took a step towards where Etta stood, Keigo heard a woman calling out to Auntie Loo. Looking over, his almond-shaped eyes squinted in disbelief. Once again his mouth dropped opened and he rudely stared. The African American woman had burgundy colored hair. It was teased and tucked upward into a perfect beehive style.

All he could think while staring at the woman is, "How could anyone wear that much polyester this time of year?" She had to weigh at least four hundred pounds, but as she made her way towards Auntie Loo, she moved swiftly for a big woman. He wondered if she was...Big Bertha. If so, did he need to keep his hands over his cock so she couldn’t put a hex on it? Next to the Black woman strolled a very thin balding Caucasian man. Keigo’s gaze trailed upwards because the man had to be at least seven feet tall. Keigo looked between the two to see they were holding hands.

Shaking his head, he wondered if he’d ever seen such a quirky lot of people in his forty-two years. With a resigned sigh, he didn’t even consider what psychic gift these two might profess.

Keigo continued towards Etta. She met him half way down the stairs and waited.

He confirmed the question that had been nagging him since he saw Etta last. She was the one woman in a long time to accelerate his pulse tempo.

Today she wore her natural hairstyle up and divided into frizzy ponytails framing her square-shaped lovely face. With her current hairstyle, he saw she had three breast length micro-braids flowing from the nape of her neck over one shoulder resting above the swell of her breast. Each braid was decorated with a tiny seashell.

As Keigo’s eyes feasted upon her face, he was amazed at how much detail he could remember about her face. He remembered the exquisite shape of her high cheekbones, the fullness of her sweet mouth and those girlish dimples caused him to smile every time she did.
My God, look at her skin in the morning sun
, he thought. Never could tanning in the sun produce such a striking shade.

“
Morning,” she called out resting her lax fists on her hips. “Do you live nearby and out on a morning stroll or are you just lost?”

The dimples flashed at him. His heart thumped. Every nerve in his body told him to turn around and hightail it out of there before it was too late. Yet, he couldn’t do it. His camp kids needed him to come through for them. The kitchen need to be prepared, stocked and a least one of the cooking staff must be certified and Etta was it. If he didn’t do his part, they wouldn’t allow him to open the doors.

Keigo returned her smile, squinting up at her in the bright morning light. “I hope you don’t mind. I had my driver to drop me off for a visit while I sent him on some errands. I promise you he won’t be gone long.”

“
Keigo,” she released a throaty laugh. “I was just joking with you. I see, even when you’re dressed in casual, you’re still too serious. Also tell me,” she shook her head. “What’s with having a driver? Can’t you drive? Or is this just one of the perks that comes with the job?”

“
I can drive, I just choose not to, after,” he paused and swallowed the lump in his throat. “I don’t anymore.”

“
If you don’t mind my asking, why not?”

“
I do mind,” he snapped and pulled in a deep breath. “I’m sorry. It’s something I don’t like talking about or making public.”

“
I see,” Etta remarked, looking down at her bare feet. “I can understand. I’ve been through an ordeal myself that I don’t like talking about. At the time, it was made very public because of who I was…who he was…” her voice trailed off. “Anyway, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Keigo could see from the sorrowful expression on Etta's face as she spoke, that whatever had happened to her must have been very painful. She looked up and his heart lurched. He was shocked at the unexpected impact she had on him. It was exhilarating, yet unasked for at the same time. He didn't want to add to the pain he saw on her face just because his libido was working on overtime the past few days.

“
I was in a car accident a few years ago and I have panic attacks when I get behind the wheel, so I don't try anymore,” he spoke softly; the words seemed strange on his tongue. He hadn’t been able to admit it aloud to anyone.

“
I’m sorry,” Etta said softly. “You didn’t have to tell me, but I’m glad you did.”

He could see her sincerity. “I would have thought you looked up everything about me online as I did you,” he said, shrugging off his embarrassment.

“
I did. I just haven’t read it all yet,” she admitted sheepishly. “You have more
Google
pages then I do.”

He nodded. His shoulders tensed. He wondered if he should just tell her. She was bound to read it eventually and get the media’s version of what they think happened. He would prefer she heard it from him.

As if she sensed his discomfort, she reached out and clutched at his hand. “Come on, we're getting an audience.” She nodded and waved as another woman joined the three already congregated in Auntie Loo's yard. “I just made mint tea. Care to join me?”

“
Thank you. I would like that.”

Keigo’s eyes drifted to tie-dyed t-shirt knotted beneath her breasts exposing a well-defined midriff. She had the body of a dancer and he wondered if that was one of her many talents or did she work out like one?

“
Have you finished logging me into your memory bank?” Etta asked him, interrupting his thoughts. “I mean, I don’t want to interrupt your view,” she teased.

Caught red handed, he did the first thing that came to his mind. He lied. “I wasn’t staring; I was thinking.”

“
I bet you I know exactly what you were thinking,” she released his hand to open the screen door to the house and stood aside to allow him to enter first.

“
My neighbors are part of my family and very nosey. If my mom was in town, she would be burning up the road to get here to check you out.”

“
I like your Auntie Loo, she seems very…
interesting
,” Keigo said for lack of a better word. He didn't think Etta would appreciate him calling her
Auntie
a first class contender for the hospital mental ward. Who was she to tell him he was ready to move forward? Wouldn’t he be the first to know it? He missed his wife, Claire and his daughter Miko as much today as he did upon waking up from a coma. He didn’t think there was anything worse then waking up and thinking your world was as you remembered only to find out everything had changed.

There was no way he was going to make moves on Etta unless he was sure he was ready to open his heart once again. He didn’t care how attracted he was to her.

“
Keigo? Are you alright?” She touched his arm and his muscles tensed suddenly under her fingertips.

He took two steps inside the foyer causing her hand to fall away. At seeing the bench with open cupboards filled with soft sole shoes, he dropped down on the bench seat and slipped his shoes off. “Your Auntie Loo was speaking about you and she mentioned Neil.” He turned his shoes with toes pointed towards the exit as tradition called for, then removed the larger pair of house slippers and slid them on his socked feet.

At her lingering silence, he looked up. As if she couldn’t look him in the eyes, she bent her head and studied her hands.

“
What did Auntie Loo tell you?” Etta spoke from the doorway allowing the screen door she was holding to swing close with a resounding pop.

“
Not much,” he shrugged. “I know the other day in my office you mentioned the story about you and Neil was for another time. Is this the time?”

“
As I told you before, Neil is dead,” she answered abruptly. “I don’t understand why everyone believes that I need to talk about him. Auntie Loo shouldn’t have said anything. She knows how I hate to talk about this.”

“
Don’t be upset with her,” Keigo crooned. “Auntie Loo seemed to have your best interest at heart and know that I don’t expect you to share anything with me that you don’t want to.”

“
Why should you?” Etta leaned against the entrance, smiling. “It’s not like you have a personal investment in me. You’re only here because in your eyes I committed a crime, right?”

Keigo was too busy staring at her feet. She had changed the jewelry from the gold ones she had on in court to ones of silver and topaz. His eyes traveled over the fitted black straight-leg low-riding yoga pants. Her entire form was that of a dancer causing him to wonder if dancing was one of her many talents? There was so much he didn’t know about her. Was it because she was different from anyone he’s known that he found himself so curious to know more about her?

“
So, maybe you do have a personal interest,” Etta broke the silence. “At least a crazy interest in my feet.”

“
Did you say something?” Keigo asked after realizing she was speaking to him and he was rudely staring.

He was surprised to see her come closer. He fell in his seat bracing his hands on the chest. Etta arched one foot up close to his face. He was amazed at her limber graceful movement. Her balance was amazing. She wasn’t even trembling. His mouth watered, causing him to swallow deeply and his body to harden in response as the smell of coco butter waft his senses.

“
I know they're ugly, aren't they? I put my poor feet through years of dance and ballet. Another of the many journeys I took while trying to discover myself and what I wanted to do with my life,” she shared. “It came in handy and allowed me to make good money working in my grandmother’s carnival.”

She dropped her foot back to the floor. He looked up into her face. “I thought you did psychic stuff with your mother at the carnival.”

“
I didn’t want to face the fact that I was different at that time. I did help because it was part of the training that my mother and grandmother insisted on, but thank God again for daddy. He convinced them to let me
take dance with the other children and I fell in love with it because I found it very freeing.”

“
Why did you stop?”

“
I’m in my thirties,” she laughed. “No, that’s not the real reason. I got a bad sprain and my right ankle has never been the same. Even with therapy, when it rains it aches. Sometimes to the point I have a limp. I realized my dancing days were over, which was fine.” She waved her hand dispassionately. “I was about to be married and I wanted to start a family right away.”

“
How did you find time to do all this?” Keigo asked. He was feeling exhausted just from listening to how busy her childhood had seemed.

He always had one goal, one focus. He couldn’t imagine being confused about what you wanted to do to the point that you did everything. How could a person be good at anything if they weren’t focus on that one dream?

Etta laughed. “All of what? Unlike you, my family didn’t have a lot of money. My grandmother did all right, but everything she earned had to be poured back into the carnival upkeep. She had been sued a few times for accidents that happened. She preferred to settle than to cause the families anymore grief and blame herself for not knowing something was wrong.”

“
How could she?” Keigo halted at Etta’s expression. “I see. Your grandmother was a psychic too.”

“
She wasn’t as sharp as she became older. Her senses dulled and it was becoming harder for her to travel.” Etta’s smile faded. “I think the carnie life was the only thing keeping her going. When she realized she couldn’t do it anymore, her heart was broken and she became very ill. Eventually, it just stopped.”

He saw the tears glistening in her lovely eyes and changed the subject. “I think you have beautiful feet,” Keigo surprised himself by confessing aloud. “Look at the way they arch and the delicate curve of your ankles are sexy.”