I moved through my well furnished apartment, still floating from my evening with Brendan. I can’t even remember when I had had a better time with a man. He has been such a gentleman and I’ve been having a hard time trying not to self sabotage this relationship. In the past this had been an issue. Whenever I tried to get close to a man I would freeze up and then do something stupid to mess it up. There were times when it was just a case of firing before I got fired upon. Sometimes it was worth it but I do think I closed the door on a few terrific guys that didn’t do anything except treat me right. I guess that I am a product of what I grew up seeing.After so many failed relationships and even a few marriages, my mother just viewed every man as being, well, not right. I refused to think this way. Just as I was about to collapse into my super comfy queen sized bed with extra pillows, the phone began to rang. I looked at the caller Id and I should have known it was Jasmine. “Hey girl, come on and give me the scoop, I don’t have time to beat around the bush tonite cuz I am whooped.” I said when I answered. “Well excuuuse me, miss im dating the perfect guy, but okay I’ll get straight to it.” She said. I knew if she was hurt it would only last for a few minutes. She always bounced back and I think one reason why she was still single is because she has skin about three times as thick as the toughest person alive or dead. “So you know I had to go out with Shaynelle’s cousin, right?”She asked. “Um, no missy, you didn’t HAVE to go out with him but the way you undressed that man like he was the rib on your plate at Shaynelles family reunion you had to say SOMETHING to him. “ We both laughed as we recalled the day that the two laid eyes on each other for the first time.
It was a few weeks ago, just about the beginning of winter. The weather wasn’t too cold yet but I still couldn’t understand why Shay’s family insisted on having the reunion so late in the year.She told me it was the best time for everyone to be able to get off, and make it down to our area.It worked out well though because almost all of the Jackson clan came down every year. So here we were in the city park. It had more space then Shay’s backyard so we had the outdoor events at the public parks.
We arrived at the park early enough to help with the food preparation. That was our deal with Shay, if we wanted to taste some of Aunt Pearl’s sweet potato pie we had to help lay out the spread. If you had ever had any of this pie you may even want to give your first born so having to help with the food preparation was a small price to pay. As we were putting all the tablecloths on the tables the family started to arrive. Almost everyone came in with a plate or dish or some pot holding something that was sure to make me ruin the diet I claimed to be on this week. That was when Jasmine first saw him. Cordell Jackson, the third cousin of Shay that had been away in the military for the last four reunions we had been to. He looked ruggedly handsome in the tan short set he had on, his milk chocolate skin contrasted just right with that brighter than white smile of his. He walked in carrying a baby belonging to another member of the family and that alone should have turned Jasmine off, she swears she is never having a child but strangely enough, it drew her to him. “Girlll, who is that?!” she asked with her mouth hanging open as she stared him up and down. I turned around and caught a glimpse of the brother and had to catch myself for a moment too. He was quite a tall glass of chocolate. Shay saw her drooling and walked over to dish out the details of this fine specimen of a man. “Jazz don’t stare too hard,you may hurt yaself.” She laughed. “Oh I wanna get hurt right about now, looking at that fine man right there….so who is he?” she begged. Shay said she would give us the short version since he was getting closer to where we were. She explained he was her third cousin and he had joined the army right after high school so he was away for most of our family reunions until now. He had recently gotten stationed stateside so he was going to be able to come around more. “Oh is that right? More of Cordell, sounds good to me! “ We all gave a huge laugh right as he reached our table. Shay turned around first to face him. “Cordy! How you been cuz?!” she screamed. He passed the baby back and grabbed Shay and hugged her while turning in a circle. This just gave Jazz a chance to view him at a 360 degree angle. I glanced over just in time to catch her biting her bottom lip. I nudged her and mouthed ‘stop it’. He caught her in mid stare and I think he was a bit taken from the start too. Jasmine is a beautiful woman, five foot four with, as she puts it, just enough meat to feed you. Her honey colored skin just glowed in the sun and that may be what caught Cordell’s eye at first. “So who are these lovely ladies that we have here, not cousins I hope!” He said as he laughed. I laughed too but Jazz took this as her moment. “No, I’m not your cousin but maybe later we can kiss. “. I think this grown chocolate man actually blushed at that last statement. Shay interrupted the awkward silence that followed. ”Um, yeah, Cordy, these are my girls, Jasmine and Veronica.” Cordell graciously shook our hands and I noticed that he used both hands to shake Jasmines. The body always give clues. “So nice to meet you Cordell, hope I didn’t embarrass you before. “ she said. “No, Miss Jasmine, you didn’t but it did catch me off guard to hear that statement coming from a woman as beautiful as you. As if you read my thoughts.” Now it was Jazz’s turn to blush.
©Lainey Starr 2007
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