“None of that shit you’re ranting about has anything to do with me, this lady, and some fuckin’ ice-cream.”
“You’re a traitor to your race. You’re lookin’ in the face of a real American.”
“Come ’ere, let me see that real American face a bit closer. Make it all red, black and blue…” Axel curled his finger, motioning the jerk to come on by for a visit.
Oh God… he’s going to jail tonight. He’s definitely going to jail.
There were no Black people around besides herself. She was thankful that few seemed to be on this man’s side.
“Couldn’t you get a Black man, or you get a White woman?” he said again.
“I got who the hell I wanted to get, you piece of shit, and you’re just mad that your sister finally stood up to you and told you, ‘Not tonight, Bufford.’” Pockets of laughter rang all around.
“Well, aren’t you funny?” The demon’s eyes grew darker. His ice cream too was no doubt melting in that cup. Not from the temperature outside, but from his hellish heat. “You must be Quaker Oats, and this here is Aunt Jemima!” He cackled. Several people booed.
“Oh no, the hell this inbred bastard didn’t just say this to us,” she mumbled, her patience wearing thin.
“You want to talk about breakfast foods ’nd such? Well, I think it’s time for you to get served.”
The man’s eyes shifted nervously as Axel stepped to him. The shop patrons were becoming nervous, but a few egged him on, encouraging Axel to kick his ass. English grabbed his arm, pulling him towards her.
“No. We’re not doing this tonight. Enough!”
“Get out of here! You’re out here starting shit, and there’s kids around!” someone yelled in their defense. “We’ve heard enough!”
“You ain’t no Christian! Jesus loves everybody,” someone else piped up.
“If you don’t like what cha see, you don’t have to look!” yet another person said. A wave of relief washed over her as more and more people shooed the man away, barking and cursing at him. The guy looked stunned that so many had turned on him. He should’ve been counting his lucky stars—it was the only thing that seemed to slow Axel down.
“Leave ’em alone!” came another admonition.
Axel’s jaw was clenched, and he no doubt itched to start a fight. But then, suddenly, he gave in to her and—very slowly—sat back down.
An employee exited the ice cream shop, looking rather perturbed. “I’m calling the police, sir, if you don’t vacate the property. You’re causing a disturbance. Please leave.”
Oh, now you show up?
The guy got in his car and drove off at last, muttering to himself. Her gut was in knots, and her head throbbed. Too much drama. When I wanted an exciting man, and asked for one in my prayers, this isn’t what I meant… Gots tuh be mo’e careful.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Axel said after things had quieted back down. He picked up his melting ice cream. “You’re thinking, wherever I go, trouble follows.”
“So you really are a mind reader. The ice-cream flavor guesstimate wasn’t just a presumption. Let me start calling you psychic, Axel. Do you charge $9.99 a minute? That’s out of my budget.”
He smirked at that, then got to work once more on his ice cream.
“English, all of my life, I have defended myself, so this is second nature to me. I don’t let people just say and do whatever they want to me. My mama always taught me that we teach people how to treat us.”
“Yeah, but if we respond to every rude jerk, Axel, we’ll be fighting every day, or end up in jail or dead.”
“Who said I respond to every jerk?” He gave her a quizzical look. “I let a lot of things go all the time.” He turned away. “I pick and choose wisely. I get disrespected sometimes by the police who try ’nd tell me how to do my job. I get my patience tried by my employees who’ve sometimes mistaken my kindness for weakness. I’ve had a lot of people in my own family push my buttons, try to get over, and I’ve had to burn some bridges so they’d understand once and for all, I’m not okay with that.” He took a deep breath, then yawned.
“That’s what life is sometimes, Axel. People testin’ us.”
“Testing us. You said it. And what are you supposed to do with a test? Pass it.” His expression was earnest.
“Sometimes, tests aren’t meant to pass or fail though. They’re meant to learn from.”
“Naw, that’s called a lesson. You learn from lessons. Life experiences. You don’t learn from tests. By the time the test rolls around, you’re already supposed to know your stuff. Be proficient in it.” What could she say? He was right. “You’re not going to stick a gun in my face and then I don’t try to save my own life. You’re not going to lie on my mama, and I not speak up about it, even if you’re my father. You’re not going to jump my sister, and I not even the score. You’re not going to take my phone, with all of my financial information on it, and run off scot free without a fight. You’re not going to disrespect the woman I’m with tonight on a date, by callin’ her something racist, and I just sit here and let it happen. See, that’s the problem with the world right now, English. It isn’t that American, fake Christianity stuff that guy was pretending to be… The problem is that there aren’t enough real men around to take a stand. Everybody is running around scared, or saying and doing shit they can’t back up. Real men protect themselves and the people they care about. Thank God for my pappy.”