first place? Because he’s gorgeous and brilliant and you fell in love with him from the moment he walked into your art class at Howard University, Danetta reminded herself.
Okay, Danetta confessed, I might have been a real good Boo-Boo-the-Fool for Marshall, but even fools stop falling and bumping their heads at some point. Danetta had finally come to terms with the fact that Marshall would never stop chasing after women long enough to notice her.
“Girl, what has gotten into you?” Surry asked, as she and Ryla came out of the conference room and sat down next to Danetta.
“You missed the best part of her speech,” Ryla said, sitting down on the opposite side of Danetta.
Danetta smiled as her girls sat down with her. On the surface it appeared that Surry, Ryla and Danetta didn’t have enough in common to be as tight as they were. Surry thought that straightening combs were evil and that the relaxer was a diabolical invention by Satan, designed to damage the hair of every black woman in America. Surry wore her hair in an afro or braids, and her wardrobe was strictly Afrocentric. Ryla on the other hand wouldn’t walk to her mailbox without a fresh relaxer and a cute hair cut. Ryla was a stylish former beauty queen, prom queen and cheerleader, while Danetta was all business with eyeglasses, knee- or calf-length skirts and turtleneck sweaters.
“And why did you keep checking your cell phone? You normally turn that thing off. What if you were giving the presentation? You wouldn’t want people in the audience sending text messages and ignoring you altogether,” Ryla said.
They were right. This wasn’t the first time Marshall had sent her numerous text messages during a business meeting, lunch with friends or even when she was having dinner with Aunt Sarah. As a matter of fact, Marshall often wrangled an invitation to dinner from Aunt Sarah, so he didn’t have to interrupt her during dinner, because he was there, eating it with them.
At that moment she realized that she had made herself too accessible to Marshall, and she was tired of living on his terms.
“Well, I may have walked out early, but I think she said the most important thing before I left.”
“And what was that?” Surry asked.
“That we as women need to enact our success plan.”
“What are you talking about, Danetta? You’re already successful. After all, you are co-owner of a multimillion dollar advertising firm,” Ryla reminded her.
“I’m not talking about business success. I guess I’m just fed up with being single and feel that it’s time to enact my Get Love Now plan,” Danetta said with conviction in her voice.
“What did that mongrel do now?” Ryla asked, as she rolled her eyes heavenward.
From the moment Danetta had first spilled her guts about Marshall, Ryla had dubbed him a mongrel. She’d said that he was half human and half dog. Danetta had laughed at the time, but the way she was feeling today, Danetta wondered if Ryla was being too generous. As far as she was concerned, Marshall was a full-bred hound dog.
“Why would my discontent have anything to do with Marshall Windham?”
“Well, let’s see,” Surry pretended to be thinking. “You have been in love with the man for over a decade, and you bake up a dozen brownies and eat them with a bucketful of vanilla ice cream each time Marshall starts dating someone new,” Surry answered.
“I’m done with all of that.” Danetta stood up and grabbed her purse. “Come on. I’m going to take you two home, so I can get started on making new plans for my life.”
Ryla harrumphed. “You can’t plan out every detail of your life, Danetta. Some things just happen and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Ryla had learned that simple fact all too well. She was a twenty-eight-year-old single mother of an adorable seven-year-old princess.
“I planned out my business life, and if I do say so myself, I have become quite successful.” Danetta put her key in the ignition and started the car the moment Ryla and Surry closed their doors. As she drove out of the parking lot, she said, “What hasn’t been going so well is my love life, and that’s because I’ve been too busy with business and hanging with a bunch of women—”
“Hey,” Ryla protested.
“—to develop a meaningful relationship with a man,” Danetta finished.
“Well, excuse us for inhaling the same air as you,” Surry said from the backseat.
“I know you’re not objecting to my wanting to find a man, Surry. You seem to have a new man every week.”
“That’s because I haven’t met one that I wanted to keep yet.” Surry corrected Danetta, “And it’s not every week...maybe every other week.”
“I’ve met some of the men you’ve dated. They seemed perfectly fine to me,” Danetta challenged.
“That’s until you dig a little deeper,” Surry said. “None of them are serious about righting the wrongs of blacks and most don’t even know who Marcus Garvey was. And what has really ticked me off lately with some of these so-called brothers is that most of them wanted to take me out, but didn’t want to help me canvas the streets for President Obama’s reelection campaign.”
“Don’t expect any tears from me. These men drool all over you, like you’re their Nubian queen and all you do is toss them aside.” And who could blame them, Danetta thought, even with all her eccentric behavior, Surry can’t hide the fact that she looks like the supermodel, Iman.
“Yeah, Surry, don’t expect us to feel sorry for you,” Ryla chimed in. “I can’t date because of all the mess I’m already in with my child who has never seen her father. So, I’m not trying to go down that road again.”
“And whose fault is that? You’re the one who left that man without so much as a word about your pregnancy,” Surry answered back.
“Okay,” Danetta held up a hand. “Let’s not get started on a subject that will take us someplace we don’t want to be.”
The three women agreed and then continued discussing Danetta’s Get Love Now plan. By the time she had dropped her friends off, she had pretty much convinced herself that a change of plans was exactly what she needed.
She stopped off at the bakery around the corner from her house and purchased two brownies. Yeah, yeah, Danetta mused, Marshall starting up with this Veronica chick does bother me, but I’m not going to spend an entire week eating a whole pan of brownies and a tub of ice cream. I’ll drown my sorrows tonight, but tomorrow I’ll learn to swim in a new pond.
Chapter 2
Yawning and stretching, Marshall eased himself into a sitting position. With his back against the headboard of his king-size bed, he rubbed his eyes as he looked at the clock on his nightstand. It was six in the morning and the doorbell was ringing. Reluctantly, he got out of bed and made his way to the front door. He unlocked the door and then opened it. He was surprised to see Veronica standing on his porch holding a small suitcase.
“I’m here,” she said with a bright and cheery smile on her face. “I’m ready to go.”
With her hair pulled back into a ponytail, Veronica
