The Makeover (30 page)

“Listen, I know
how I did you was wrong, but I did care about you.  I
tried
to fall
for you.  I just couldn’t because of my…well you know the situation. 
You hate me now, but at least I tried to make it work with you.  I did
want you in my life.  I just wanted you to get in shape.  I just
wanted to make sure you wasn’t about to fall in with someone—”

“How dare you?”
Phoenix shrieked as she grabbed her old ashtray and hurled it at Cedric. 
He ducked just in time.  “You think because you’re a low-life gigolo bum
that Paulo is doing the same thing?” She grabbed her textbook from her dining
table and flung that at his head when the ashtray missed.  Her eyes
searched wildly for something else to throw. 

Cedric was
already up and trying to make his way down the hall.  “Listen, I ain’t
come here for all that.  I ain’t expect this when I’m just trying to
help.  I just wanted to make sure—”

“Yeah, I got
it.  I’m too ugly for Paulo, just like I was too ugly for you…I am not on
his
level,
just like I wasn’t on yours.  So you want to
oh-so-caringly check to make sure Paulo isn’t using me, even though you sat
here for two years doing so.  Are you crazy?  Do you know how you
sound right now?  I could diagnose you with Antisocial Personality
Disorder.  You are truly a sociopath!”

Cedric’s face
froze.  “I was just trying to help.”

“Help?” Phoenix
guffawed as bitter tears leaked out of her eyes.  “You want to help? 
Stay away from me.  And for your information, Paulo is not using me. 
He is actually helping me!  He owns his own business.  He is a
Christian.  He only met me a few weeks ago and has done more for me in
that short time than you’ve done in almost two years.  He owns a
brownstone and a car.  He is about to open a second business in
Jersey.  What do you have, huh?  Your looks?”

“Well at least
I have those,” Cedric cast his eyes up and down Phoenix’s frame. 

“Yeah, but
that’s
all
you have.  And those fade.  At least the issues I
have can be changed,” Phoenix said, reciting Paulo’s words.  “At least my
issue can be solved with a little support, dedication, and prayer.  Who is
going to solve your problem?  Let me tell you, even years of therapy or
tons of prayer won’t turn you into a real man.  You are disgusting! 
Get out of my apartment and stay out of my life!”

“I don’t know
why you’re acting like this.  I’m just being real with you.  I had to
wonder what was going on.  I saw him and you together and it was like,
‘wow!’  You guys looked strange together.  I am so surprised you guys
got together.”

“You need to
get the heck out of my apartment and go back to your stick-thin
chopstick.  You’re happy with her, right? So why are you so concerned with
me and Paulo?”  Light dawned in her eyes as she stopped ranting and began
to laugh.  “Wait a minute!  Ha, you’re jealous!”

This time it
was Cedric who laughed.  “Jealous? Yeah, whatever.”

“You couldn’t
stand the idea of ugly-fat-Phoenix out to breakfast with a gorgeous, tall,
strong man like Paulo.  You thought I was still going to be in here,
stuffing my face, and crying my eyes out, didn’t you?”  Phoenix tried not
to think about how that was exactly what she had been doing until Paulo had
reached out to her.  “It drove you bananas to see me move on so quickly,
didn’t it?  And what makes you more upset is that Paulo looks better than
you.  Even worse, he has a successful business, his own brownstone, and
his own money!”

Cedric’s face
turned red.  Rolling his eyes, he waved his hand.  Not to be outdone,
he directed yet another sneer at Phoenix.  “Yeah and what’s even more sad
is that Paulo looks even better than
you
!”

Phoenix rushed
him and slapped his face. “Get out!”

“I’ll leave
when I am ready,” Cedric laughed, moving away.  “Besides I came to get a
few things I left over here.”

“I will pack
them up for you and call you when they are ready.  I want you to get out
now!  Don’t make me call the cops, Cedric!”

“Whatever,”
Cedric said, waving her away before stalking into the bedroom.

“I want you out
right now!” Phoenix screamed, picking up her phone.

“Yeah, give me
a few,” Cedric called, in a bored voice, that alerted Phoenix to just how
little she was being taken seriously.

Forgetting her
intentions to call 9-1-1, Phoenix was about to follow him into the bedroom and
clock him with her one good lamp but the doorbell rang.

Seething, she
stormed down the long hallway, noticing on the cable box time that she had only
ten minutes to get to Cara’s.

She snatched
open the door.  “What!” she shouted.

Paulo’s eyes
were bewildered as he held a forgotten bouquet of fresh lilies down at his
side.  “Phoenix, everything alright?  I came to apologize and heard
you screaming from the time I got off the elevator.”

Phoenix
breathed as her eyes burned.  She threw her arms around Paulo’s
neck.  “How did you know I needed you?”

Paulo
smiled.  “The Lord told me when to come.”

“He’s here,”
Phoenix whispered furiously, cocking her head towards the back of the
apartment.  “He came here to needle me and make me feel bad about myself.
  He came here…” she sniffled and wiped at her swollen eyes. 
“He came here and told me that you were too attractive for me so he had to
figure out if you were using me.  He assumed we are together but my ego
wouldn’t let me correct him.  I told him to leave and he won’t
leave.  I accidently let him in because I thought it was you.  He
pushed past me when I tried to close the door and now he won’t go.  Why
won’t he just stay gone?  He won’t leave me alone!” she cried.  She
had just begun to forget her plan for revenge but now she would
die
if
she didn’t make Cedric pay!

Paulo held
Phoenix for a few moments for two reasons: he wanted to comfort her and he
wanted to collect himself through prayer and deep breathing.  One thing
Paulo could not stand was a bully.  This man had not only hurt this woman
deeply, but he had forcibly gotten back into her home to inflict more emotional
havoc.  After everything Phoenix had done for the man? 

Lord, help me. 
If You don’t, this guy might be carrying this bouquet in his throat.  
Paulo
held on to Phoenix as he closed the door and walked her down the hallway.

My son,
My strength is made perfect in your weakness.

Cedric was not
in the living room so Paulo handed the flowers to Phoenix, led her to the sofa,
and laid a simple command.  “Sit.”

He walked into
the room, as Cedric was searching through her closet.

Paulo, feeling
the Spirit’s tingles all over him, somehow managed not to rush him and break
his back.  He cleared his throat.

When Cedric saw
Paulo standing behind him, he tensed, not saying a word.

“Hey,
Man.  Cedric isn’t it?” Paulo held out his hand with a tight smile on his
face.

“Yeah,” Cedric
said, reluctantly giving Paulo a pound.  “What’s good?”

“I don’t know,
Man, you tell me.  I come here to see this beautiful girl and she’s all
upset.  I hate to see a woman cry, don’t you?  I think it’s shameful
for a grown man to make a woman cry.”  Paulo chuckled and shook his head,
keeping his eyes on Cedric, and his trust in God. 
I could just
cold-cock him one time, Lord.  The nerve!

“I don’t know
why she’s crying.  I ain’t even do nothing to her.  But then again,
Phoenix is always crying about something.  I just came to get some
things.”

“Yeah, Phoenix
does cry a lot.  My concern is not as much about her crying as the fact
that
you
made her cry.  You did not intentionally cause Phoenix to
cry, did you?”  Paulo’s tone dropped, becoming more gravely with each
word.  His accent began to thicken as the challenge became clear.

“Man, I don’t
know what she crying about.  Like I said, I dropped by to get a few
things.  You got a problem with that?”

Deus,
me
impedir
de
bater
este
homem
baixo
, Paulo inwardly begged the Lord to keep him from knocking the man
down.  Paulo needed to pray, because when Paulo’s voice deepened, and
Paulo’s accent became magnified in his words, it would take an act of God to
keep Him from responding to the anger of his flesh.  And when Paulo began
to pray in Portuguese, he was close to the edge.

Paulo cleared his throat.  “Only,” he growled, “if Phoenix has a
problem with it.  And judging by her tears and frustration, it seems she
does.”  Paulo now closed the door to the bedroom.

Cedric crouched.  “
Yo
, Man.  What
you trying to do?”

Paulo smiled.  “I just want to talk to you in private, is
all.  What’s wrong?  Nervous that I will rip your throat out for
insulting the woman I care about
twice
in my presence?”

“Well you could
try
,” Cedric sneered.

“And I could
succeed,”
Paulo sneered back.  “But lucky
for both of us, I am a Christian.  God” --Paulo almost choked on the
words— “would not want me to fight with you.  So I am going to answer
whatever questions you have for me.  We both know you’re curious about
Phoenix and me spending time together.  I’m a man and your...a...
man,”
Paulo
tripped over the word the Lord forced him to use.  He continued, “So we
both know you didn’t care nothing about Phoenix, or your stuff, or checking on
her, until you saw her with me.  As far as your things are concerned, I have
known this girl a couple of months.  She has never mentioned you calling
or emailing or dropping by for your precious belongings.  We both know
that as much as you didn’t care for Phoenix while you had her, your ego smarted
about her moving on.  Men, especially
certain
men, are territorial
that way.  So come off it.  You’re snooping and trying to reclaim
control over this woman you don’t even really want.  You told her you were
concerned about our relationship, right? So then, have at it.”

Cedric was stunned at the candid way Paulo had addressed him.  A
part of him, the part that had not been molded and shaped by his arrogance,
felt something very similar to...
remorse. 
“Have at what?” he
murmured.

“You’ve got questions about my intentions, as it were, because you
care
so
much for the woman.  So ask your questions,” Paulo said
through clenched teeth. 
Deus...

Cedric scratched the back of his neck and paused.  He finally
shrugged.  “I guess I just didn’t understand what you saw in her.  I
know what I saw in her and it wasn’t visible to the eye.”

If I could just punch him one time, Lord.  Listen, God, You
promise not to let
us
be tempted beyond what we
can handle.  So please, send this man, and all his stuff, out of
here.  If he says one more thing to insult Phoenix, we’ll have a
deliberate sin issue because I will knock him out.

My grace is sufficient for you, Son.

Paulo began to pace.  “You’re asking me what I see in
Phoenix?  I see a woman who is strong, smart, loyal, educated, caring,
funny, giving, sweet, and kind.  She is beautiful on the inside and
outside.  She may be overweight, but it’s easier to fix imperfections in
the body than those of the mind or heart.  I am going to help her in the
areas where she is weak and she is going to help me where I am weak.  But
if you
really
want to know what I see in Phoenix, I’ll tell
ya
.”

Cedric was astonished and his jaw caressing his collarbone proved
it.  “What’s that?”

“I see the woman that is going to be my wife one day,” Paulo answered
in a low voice.

“Your wife?” Cedric crossed his arms.  “You see your wife in
her
?”

“Just as God intended. And you could have seen your wife in her too,
only she was never meant for you.  She was meant for me.  That’s why
you never really saw her.  God knew you were never worthy of looking in
the first place.  Why? Because dudes like you look for the wrong things in
life, and when you end up with nothing, it’s everybody’s fault.  Sure, you
can go out and find a woman with the perfect body or face or clothes or hair. 
But what about her heart?  Would most women have loved you the way Phoenix
loved you?  I doubt it.  Sure, I can see you’re an attractive
man.  But being attractive is not the first thing women worth their salt
look for in a man.  Good looks is usually a bonus for women.  Women,
real women, want a man who can love them, protect them, cover them, provide for
them, and nurture them.  Real men know how to do that.”  He stopped
pacing long enough to look Cedric over.  “And I don’t mean no disrespect
to you, but you asked and I answered.  And, hopefully, I also answered
some questions you had about
you
.”

Cedric stood there stunned.  He knew he was being insulted but
it didn’t quite feel like it.  He felt like this dude was playing mind
tricks on him, but he wasn’t sure, because Paulo’s tone was without anger, or
even much of a challenge.

“And about your
stuff
?  Phoenix has an appointment to get
to right now.  She’s actually late,” Paulo said glancing at his
watch.  “I am going to send her off and help you get your stuff out of
here.  That way, you can just close the door on this relationship that you
didn’t even want in the first place.  Let’s just make sure we get it all
out because I don’t think you’ll have access into Phoenix’s home, or her heart,
ever again.  I’ll allow this today but Christian or not, ain’t no way I am
letting her go through this again.”  Paulo chuckled, in awe that God’s
grace allowed him to keep his cool after all. “Cedric, let’s make this final
visit count.  Be right back.”