Chapter 18
Atlas
The venue is amazing, the decor is black and gold, the skating rink is in the middle and there are tables and booths set up all around the perimeter of the rink. There’s a bar, and food is being served while there’s a mixture of old-school R & B playing and today’s hip hop. True, and I are escorted to our reserved booth, we sit and just watch the skaters smoothly gliding around the rink. True looks and smells amazing tonight and I am looking forward to enjoying this evening with her.
“This looks amazing Atlas, how did Josh and Savvy find out about this?”
“You’d be surprised by the lengths my brother would go to surprise Savvy and give her unique experiences,” I tell her.
Nodding True says, “nope that wouldn’t surprise me at all, he loves her to distraction.”
“And she loves him back just as much. Let’s put our skates on so we can roll out there when we’re ready”
When True pulls out her skates a small gasp leaves her. “How did you do this?” she asks as she holds her pink chocolate and gold custom skates in her hand.
“With Savvy’s help, she sent me a picture with the color of your outfit and I sent it to the custom skate maker. A few hours later it was delivered to the house.”
“Wow,” she says, and I know I have made an impression.
Skates on, we nosh on the hors d’oeuvres and sip our drinks that were brought to the table. They must have asked Josh when he made the reservations what his selections were since no one came to take our order.
The first few notes of a song begin to play and I grab True’s hand, pull her out of the booth, and head to the rink. I am a little unsure on my skates at first, but before long I find my footing and we glide like silk across the rink. We automatically slide right into place with each other like a lock and key. It’s like we have been dancing together for years. She matches me step for step, at one point she puts her thigh between mine, wraps her arms around me, and lays her head on my chest. I wrap my arms tight around her and send us into a spin. We come out of the spin and I turn her around so her back is to my chest. I splay my hand on her stomach and we maneuver around the floor laughing and in total sync with each other.
“I’m hungry.” True tells me over the music.
I take her hand, float to the edge of the rink, and lead us to our table. She slips the wheel covers over her wheels so she can walk in the skates. “I have to use the restroom,” she says as she leans over and kisses me before she walks off.
True
This whole night has been amazing and I am thoroughly enjoying myself. When Atlas first hit the rink floor and wobbled a little I thought finally there’s something he’s not good at. That lasted for all of ninety seconds and he was like Cab Calloway on skates. When I get to the restroom there is a small line so I take my place and wait, it’s a good thing I don’t have to pee bad. Finally got into an empty stall. This is the only thing I hate about these one-piece pants suits you have to damn strip naked to use the bathroom. Just as I am finishing up I tune into the voices at the sink.
“Did you see that giant out there?” the voice says and I smile because I know they are talking about Atlas. He was the biggest man out there and he definitely stood out.
“Yeah I saw him,” another voice says “who could miss that much man, and he was smooth on the floor”
“Yes but then I caught a look at his face!” a third voice chimes in.
“Girl, someone fucked his face up!”
Yeah, they did” the first voice says “I wouldn’t be caught dead out in public with Frankenstein.”
They all start laughing and I am so pissed I cannot even think straight.
“I wonder how he got the woman with him to be seen in public with him? She’s not ugly at all”
“But she is fat, he probably has money, the tickets to this event weren’t cheap.”
“I wouldn’t say she’s fat but she is on the thicker side of life,” one of the voices says “ when I think of fat I do not think of her shape. She is the definition of coke bottled shaped.”
“Yeah super-sized,” another voice says and they all laugh.
I walk out of the stall and they all freeze in horror. It is obvious they didn’t know I was in the restroom with them. I walk to the sink and wash my hands, calmly and deliberately as I try to get my anger under control.
“Well since we all know you heard us, why don’t you tell us how Frankenstein got you to come out in public with him,” this trick that looks like the business end of a mule says to me, and before I can catch myself I slap the bitch clean off her feet.
“I guess y’all mommas ain’t never told you, everyone you play with ain’t playing with you. I will calmly slice your neck open, pull your tongues out of the hole and tie that mother fucker in a knot for speaking about that man. And will happily sit in jail for murder over him.” I tell the three women as the one I slapped tries to get back up on her feet.
“Bitch ain’t nobody scared of you I’m from New York City, I fought every day,” she says.