The Player (9 page)

15

During the Thanksgiving holiday Reina went to visit her dad, and his “Tantie” Eustace, so Harlow accepted Kyle’s offer to visit his place and to meet his older sister, Willa. After driving for what seemed like an hour, they traveled outside of Raleigh to a suburban enclave full of stately homes amid acres and acres of land.  Kyle drove through a large, medieval rot iron gate onto to a circular driveway paved with light brick, and he pulled right up to the double paned front entrance. A worker sprinted out of house, opening Harlow’s door just as the car stopped. The worker nodded in greeting, and though his skin was as brown as hers, when Kyle said his name she realized he was from some other part of the world. 

“Excuse me, what’s your name again?” Harlow asked, smiling when she noticed a woman standing in the doorway with her arms folded over her chest. The woman didn’t smile back.

“Kapono, Miss,” the man answered. He was older, maybe sixty, and slightly built.

“Please don’t call me that. My name’s Harlow.” She gave him a brighter smile so that her correction didn’t sound like a reprimand. He met her eyes, but just as quickly he darted away to the back of the car for their bags. His demeanor took her back to life in Trinidad where her dad and brothers worked at a swanky hotel, constantly in motion and smiling for the tourists. They’d bow and grin wide, speaking in an exaggerated dialect just so the tourists could think they were experiencing a genuine islander.

“These tips help pay for your costume,” her dad had said, so easy going no matter how obnoxious some of the tourists acted.  They’d call him by his first name, when he was restricted to always refer to them as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” Even the younger children had to be called “Miss” or “Sir.”

As she walked through twin doors of frosted glass, Harlow was greeted with a spectacular, wide open living and dining area. The only way she could tell which room flowed into another was when the furniture changed. There was no separation of space, no walls to block her view. From the main entrance she could see all the way to the sliding glass doors of the backyard. High ceilings and marble floors with a gloss so bright that she almost squinted. Everything was modern, large in size and highly impersonal.

The color white was overwhelming. White tiled floors, white walls, high ceilings painted white. Kyle said his sister had over seen the renovation. The quiet was also unusual. It just seemed like his home was perfect to have friends and family over, yet all she heard was the whine of a vacuum cleaner, making her wonder how many rooms there were in this mega mansion bachelor pad.

She couldn’t take in the whole sight without doing a pirouette. And there was Kyle, grinning like a proud papa, bending close enough to whisper, “I just want to watch you going up those stairs and salivate over every little jiggle of your butt.”

Unable to stifle a laugh, Harlow’s outburst was met with a
what’s so funny?
stare by Willa, whose trout pout didn’t match with her warm, sherry brown eyes, chic tapered hair and pixie frame. Willa had a face that was better suited for a male. Some would call her a “handsome” woman, but Harlow could already feel something wasn’t clicking between the two of them.

Trying to catch her bearings, Harlow decided to approach winning over Willa rationally.
Maybe it’s me, she thought.
All the ugliness with Ozzy’s aunt, Tantie Eustace, had made her standoffish when getting to know other women. It had taken a while to become friendly with Torii, but then Torii was the frickin’ queen at putting people at ease. She always had her shit together.

Kapono hustled back to Harlow’s side, motioning toward an outside patio. “For you, Miss Harlow, in preparation for your luncheon.” On a large rectangular glass table she could make out sliced melons of red and orange awaiting her. A single red rose in a clear vase swayed from the warm breeze.

“Oh, thank you.” With Kyle’s sister looking like an owl about to swoop down on a mouse – Harlow being the mouse –  her unease was evident. “Once I get to my – Kyle’s room, I’d love to eat a little something before my friends come over.”

Kapono bowed again. “I will show you the way.”

Steeling herself, Harlow sucked in her stomach, wishing that she’d kept a few of her panties that held her butt in check. It wasn’t Kyle’s eyes she was worried about, but the vague feeling she got that Willa was noticing not just her behind, but her every movement.

“Well, she’s certainly . . . tall,” Willa whispered to Kyle, once Harlow was on the second floor and almost out of sight.

“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘statuesque,’ he said, never taking his stare off Harlow’s rear end.

“What about Maddy?”

“What about her?”

“I just wondered why she isn’t here for Thanksgiving.”

“Maddy’s not here because she’s with her mother’s family. It’s something they’d planned a while ago. Just like Harlow’s daughter couldn’t be here because she’s with her father and his aunt in Princes Town.”

“So . . . this thing is serious between you two?”

“Willa, I’m going to help Harlow get unpacked. Why don’t you stay and have a drink with us?”

“I’d love to.”

Upstairs, Kapono ushered Harlow into a room with a vaulted ceiling fit for a hunting lodge and diagonal tiled floors. The master suite had a walk in closet that was as big as the bedroom of her apartment.

“Would you like a bath or a shower, Miss Harlow?” he asked, pointing to a bathroom that wasn’t closed off by a door. It was lovely, sparse, and screamed of a well-paid interior designer who wasn’t given a limit on what he or she could spend. There was an oversized Jacuzzi tub with water jets, a glassed in shower and marble floors, pot lights on dimmers and a light with tiny, drop diamond pendants.

“I’ll take a shower in a little bit,” she said, realizing Kapono was silently waiting for orders. “Where are you from?”

He frowned, as if no one had ever expressed interest in him before. “From, Miss?”

“Where were you born?”

“Thailand, Miss Harlow.”

She’s asked him not to call her that, but it wasn’t worth pressing the issue. Just like her father, Kapono’s generation were sticklers for formality. “I’ve never been there, but I hear its beautiful. I’m originally from Trinidad.”

His eyes brightened after hearing that. “You sound American, Miss. Like you were born here.”

“Do I? That’s only because I wanted to make an impression on Willa. But meh just a simple island ghurl. Ova dere we say Princess Town, instead of Princes Town.”

He laughed, but she wasn’t sure if he’d chuckled because what she said was funny, or if he thought it was required. When Kyle showed up Kapono scampered away, as if making himself scarce was also part of his job.

“He’s a very nice man. And your place is fantastic,” she told Kyle, reaching up to give him a hug and a kiss. “Where’d you find him?”

“I almost got my ass handed to me in Thailand and he stepped in to help. I asked if he’d ever consider leaving. I like him because he’s discreet, and he’s a hell of a security guard.”

“Him?” Harlow couldn’t believe a man that tiny could double as security.

“Kapono was once the top Muay Thai fighter in his country. He knows a number of fighting styles. Back home he’s something of a legend.”

“Does he have any family?”

“Sure. A wife, a number of grown sons. He’s got a granddaughter who’ll be coming to the States pretty soon. From what he tells me, all his money goes into supporting family back in Thailand. His wife came over a few years ago, so I hired her as the cook. She got homesick and went back, saying she wouldn’t return until all her kids were here.”

“That’s so sad. But it’s just like how it is with my family. My mother’s back in Princes Town giving my dad hell. I wish I could get her to move back to the States for Reina’s sake. I’m even getting a new apartment with a third bedroom, so I hope she’ll reconsider.”

Kyle kissed the top of her head, swatting her bottom playfully. He didn’t tell her what he had in mind, but if she wanted to move anywhere he hoped it would be to live with him.

16

“
Harlow
doesn’t fit you. I see you more as a . . . well, someone with a more colorful name,” Willa said, her nails entwining around her wine glass like a wild vine smothering a fence. “I pictured you with a name like Beyoncé or even a Latifah. Something that speaks of your entertainment background.”

Harlow tried not to look surprised at Willa’s statement. “I’ve only done one video so I don’t really have an ‘entertainment background.’”

“Oh, did I hear wrong? Kyle, didn’t you say she’s a dancer?”

“I said she
was
a dancer,” Kyle said, looking like he wanted to be anywhere except between his interrogator of a sister and the woman he loved. “And a beauty queen.”

Instead of dwelling on her mistake, Willa interjected with, “So who thought up the name Harlow?”

“My mother used to watch old Hollywood films. She liked the black and white ones the best. And she really liked Jean Harlow.”

“Interesting.”

When Harlow got up to get more food or to ask where to put her used dishes, Willa stopped her by saying, “Kapono will take care of it,” or “Kapono, will you refill our glasses please?” Harlow didn’t like the way he was being treated. It was just like her Da, having to wait on tourists. “I’ve got two hands and two feet. I know how to clean up my own mess.”

“I know you’re probably used to waiting on others, but you don’t have to do that here,” Willa said.

Harlow recognized a dig when she heard one, but in an effort to keep things friendly, she let it pass. But if there were any more, Willa would get an earful.

“Kyle says you have a pre-teen daughter?”

“Reina’s twelve,” Harlow answered, happy to talk about her precocious baby girl. “She’s in seventh grade, and she’s very smart. She wants to make a difference in the world.”

“Does she?” Willa propped an elbow on the table, resting her chin in her hand as if she was settling in to hear a long winded story. “We’re trying not to let Maddy grow up too fast. It’s important to let children enjoy their childhood before pressuring them into adulthood. Don’t you think?”

“Of course, but-” Harlow acted confused. “We’re still talking about Kyle’s daughter Maddy, or do you also have a child named Maddy?”

Willa gave her a withering look as Kyle finally jumped in, explaining how Willa helped to care for Maddy whenever she stayed with him. Harlow smile was demure as she apologized, but not really. She wanted Willa to know that two could play that game. She could weather a low blow as well as give one.
So if Willa wanted to go there, fine.
At least now they understood one another.

Kyle stretched out his long legs, lowering his eyelids in that sleepy, sexy kind of way that made Harlow shiver. “Willa, did Shaun come home?”

“He- well, he did call to say he’d be a little later than the curfew you’d given him.” Willa said, averting both Kyle and Harlow’s eyes. “His luggage and things were delivered here. Kapono’s fixed up a room for him.”

“So you really don’t know where he is.”

A laugh that sounded more like a chicken being plucked came out of Willa’s mouth. “Can we discuss this in private?”

Looking exhausted, Kyle shook his head, addressing his next question to Harlow. “Didn’t you say you have brothers?”

“Half-brothers. Four of them. They still live in Princes Town, with my Da.”

“So you know where they are.”

“Yes, I guess so.”

“That’s more than I can say for my kin. Scott checked out of rehab, and Shaun got kicked off the football team at Big Nu. I don’t know where either of them are. Instead of coming home, they’ve both just gone off to wherever the hell they wanted.”

“I don’t feel comfortable talking about your brothers, especially since I don’t know them and they don’t know me. I guess it’s because know what it’s like to be judged without fully telling your side.”

Instead of agreeing with her, Willa piped up with, “That’s a new approach. Seems we’ve been doing it all wrong since Kyle and I took over raising Scott and Shaun.”

Instead of answering, Kyle’s face turned red. He was clearly pissed, but he just got quiet, retreading into that shut down mode Harlow had witnessed before. Not wanting to go off on Willa, Harlow stood up, thanking Kapono for the food. “It’s still okay to have my friends over for lunch?”

Her voice broke Kyle out of his silent trance. He told her he’d send Kapono in the stretch limo to pick them up.

“You don’t have to do that,” Harlow protested. “Kapono, it’s fine.”

“Yes Miss. Whatever you’d like,” Kapono said, bobbing his head.

“They’ve all got cars, all except one of them. But she’ll be riding with my friend Torii.”

“Very good, Miss.” He did another little bow before leaving to get more ice.

“Willa, you’re welcome to join us. It’s just me and a few of my friends.”

“I’ll let you know,” Willa said, draining her white wine in a single gulp.

*****

Willa was nowhere to be found when the first guest arrived. Sanai, Torii’s youngest sister showed up first, and she inspected each room in Kyle’s home as if she were on a scavenger hunt.
“Oh. My. God.
Harlow! This place is freakin’ fantastic!”

“I’ll let Kyle know that you approve,” Harlow joked. “What can I get you?”

Sanai’s designer heels clicked along the floors. At twenty-four, she looked every bit like a successful college grad who’d landed the job of her dreams. With her shiny brunette bob streaked with blonde and cat-like eyes that seemed to assess everything and everyone in one glance, no one would guess that Sanai depended on her family for most of her income, and then some. “I’ll take a him tall, very dark and he’s gotta be handsome. If you don’t have that, then I guess I’ll have an iced tea.”

“Have you ever thought about talking to someone who’s not black?”

“Naw. Give me a brotha any day. Not that I’m knocking what you’ve got going on here. I just ─ there’s this guy I really like and uh . . .”

“And?”

“And I think he’s found someone else. It’s my own fault because we were together, but then I decided it wasn’t working. Big mistake.”

Harlow didn’t want to pry, but she could see Sanai needed someone to talk to. “Have you told him how you feel?”

“See, that’s the thing.” Sanai stamped her foot, and Harlow could feel a rant coming on. “I keep getting conflicting advice on how to handle this. So you don’t think I’d be making a fool of myself if I just come right out and let him know I want him back? Because Torii told me she thinks it’s a very bad idea.”

“What harm can talking do?”

“Thank you! Please tell that to my big sis when she gets here, ‘cause damn! She sure knocks all my ideas down.”

Not wanting to come between sisters, Harlow steered Sanai toward the pool. “Did you bring a swim suit?”

“Yeah, but I just want to sit by all this Oasis like water, and pretend like all this is mine. Hey, what’s up with that Eva girl? Why’d y’all invite her?”

“What do yuh mean?”

“No offense, but damn . . . She’s a kinda touched in the head.”

“
No she’s not.
She’s a war veteran. And she’s just going through a rough time, so I’m having her do some work fuh me at the bar.”

“Don’t get upset, I’m just saying-” Sanai said, posing her fingers in the sign of the cross for protection.

“I’m not upset.”

“Then why do I hear your accent so strong now? You’re all like, ‘what cha mean?’ Sanai giggled at her own joke. “You sound like you’re fakin’ Jamaican.”

Exasperated, all Harlow could do was put her hands on her hips. “Sanai-”

Already gliding into the living room to check out Kyle’s family photos and awards, Sanai asked, “Who’s this?”

“Huh? What?”

“The guy in the photo.”

“Which photo?”

Sanai pointed to the large photo against a far wall directly in their line of sight. “Is that guy a football player too?”

Harlow narrowed her eyes, not sure which of Kyle’s brother’s they were looking at. “There should be a little plaque with the photo. I think the picture was because of a football award.”

Sanai was already heading that way. She bent down, mouthing the type of award and who it was awarded to. “Oh, okay. It says here ‘Scott McClure’ MVP of the Cotton Bowl. Classic.”

The guy had the biggest grin on his face as he held the trophy, his green eyes sparkling with joy. He wasn’t just tall, but very muscular, looking like a cross between The Rock and another actor whose name she couldn’t remember. With his golden halo of hair and square jaw, he could’ve been a model in an Abercrombie and Fitch ad. “He’s really cute, but he’s huge!” she said, a bit envious of someone getting that type of recognition. Torii was like that. She’d accomplished a lot, and she was always winning awards. Whenever someone found out that Torii was her big sis, they acted like she needed to hurry up and get herself together, as if she was in competition with her sister. Even her ex-boyfriend, Patrick, got on her about being so complacent.

One of his main gripes was how much time she’d spend on her hair and her nails. If Patrick could see her nails now, he’d freak out. She’d gotten rid of the press on’s, so her real nails were stubby and uneven. Chewing on them probably didn’t help.

“Why don’t you invite this guy to go out with you? Then you can come to my bar, and I’ll work my matchmaking magic.”

The “ew” expression on Sanai’s face made Harlow think of Reina. “Don’t you cater to an older crowd?”

“I do, but it’s very diverse. And now I’ve got Renegade players as regulars ever since Kyle started hanging out.”

The part about having the Renegades at the club was what interested Sanai. “Patrick likes football. A lot. So who else stops by?”

“P-patrick? Did you say his name is Patrick?”

“Yeah. And he is sooo cute! He’s tall enough to be an athlete-”

Harlow’s mind raced as clues began to fall into place.
Was Torii’s fling Sanai’s former beau, Patrick?
She hoped it wasn’t true, but Torii had been so secretive. No, maybe it was just a coincidence. There had to be two guys named Patrick. “Have you- did you ever meet Torii’s friend?”

“Sure. Ethan’s a really nice guy, but please don’t try to fix me up with him ‘cause Torii already tried. He’s cute, but there was no spark between us. Not like with me and Patrick.”

The doorbell rang just then, and Harlow could hear the excited chatter from Torii as Kapono let them in. Sanai peaked around a corner, spying on the trio. Torii was vigorously shaking Kapono’s hand, practicing her Thai greeting on him with Eva looking on. Eva was still wearing that dirty ass camo jacket and timberland boots.
Ugh. If she’d just try to do a little something with her hair, Sanai thought
. Eva’s long, black locks were tied back in an uneven bun with flyaway strands spilling out. It shocked her to hear Eva talking with Kapono, and acting like a normal person.

Kapono asked about her family. Eva said her mother was Filipino. “My father was stationed in the Philippines, and that’s how they met,” Eva explained. “I’m Filipino and black.”

Hmm. All this time Sanai had guessed that the woman was Hispanic and black.
Watching their smiling faces, Sanai felt out of place. It was too bad happiness didn’t transfer from one person to another, because right about now Sanai needed that feel good high. She needed it in the worse way.