Imagined Love Page 19
The next day wasn’t much better. Landon introduced Jade to the girlfriend he’d been raving about for months and their dislike for each other was immediate. Cassandra, who Jade thought looked masculine, was a big fitness buff and believed everyone should adopt the same lifestyle as hers. She was a personal trainer and nutritionist and before Jade could even finish saying hello Cassandra was already telling her what she should do to get in better shape. And she was just as obnoxious and overbearing when it came to Landon. She clearly didn’t support his event planning business and constantly nagged him to do something else. Though, as the months went by Jade couldn’t really blame her. The business wasn’t exactly flourishing. They were lucky to plan one party a month. Landon had to keep his job as a department store manager just to make the rent. Cassandra was annoyed with him and the fact that he was always broke. She was mad all the time and threatened to leave Landon every other day. Jade definitely didn’t see a love connection between them and finally asked what he saw in her.
“Bow chicka bow bow,” he sang and did his little stripper pole dance. Landon and Cassandra both talked about how mind blowing the sex was. He said she was incredibly strong and free and did things in bed he’d never experienced before. So they continued in the relationship even though it didn’t really work outside of the bedroom. Arguing all the time seemed to be their foreplay.
There was no good side to Cassandra’s and Jade’s relationship. They didn’t like each other and there was no getting around it. The truth was Cassandra was extremely jealous of Jade and didn’t buy the “little sister” routine Landon kept insisting upon. She believed he was in love with the girl and it was only because Jade saw him as a big brother and nothing else that he never pursued her. Of course Landon denied it and Jade was too blind to see, but Cassandra knew better and decided to break things off once and for all. She refused to play second fiddle to anybody and left him with one last roll in the hay and “we’ll always be friends”
speech. At least it was supposed to be the last roll in the hay. Jade found out later Cassandra and Landon had been having sex from time to time even when they were dating other people. He admitted it was stupid but that he just couldn’t get enough of her. Even still there was a part of Landon that always knew Cassandra wasn’t the one for him. Incredible sex wasn’t enough to sustain a relationship—at least not a serious, long-term one.
Because the business wasn’t really making money, Jade had to find a job. There was a small shopping complex in walking distance from the apartment so she applied in some of the stores and restaurants. She got hired at Taco Bell and after only one day, she quit! It just wasn’t the job for her so she went across the street to see if any other places were hiring. Most of the stores weren’t even accepting applications, so Jade went into Quik Stop to grab an Icee and a newspaper to check the want ads. A middle-aged Black gentleman greeted her and she decided to ask if he was hiring. He stared at her for a few moments which made Jade nervous. Then he grabbed a stack of applications and gave one to her.
“You can bring it back next week and then we’ll . . .”
“Oh, I was planning to fill it out right now if you don’t mind, sir. I really need a job,” Jade said then explained where she was from and how she’d come to be so desperate for money. “Oh, I’m Jade Caldwell, by the way. I just told you my whole life’s story without telling you my name, huh?” she laughed.
“Nice to meet you, Jade. I’m Young Phillips, and I think you’ll be a wonderful addition to our little Quik Stop family. Can you start tomorrow?”
“I can start today, Mr. Phillips!”
And so she did. He took Jade behind the counter and showed her how to work the lottery machine as well as the one for money orders. She stayed over six hours learning where everything was and how Mr. Phillips expected the store to be run. A few weeks later, right before Christmas 1989, he had Jade in charge of everything! His wife was shocked because Rock, as she called him, never relinquished control of anything. However, she was grateful for Jade coming into their lives because it gave her the chance to date her husband again; which she was pretty sure the young woman had something to do with. Rock hadn’t brought Gerry Phillips flowers and special gifts since she’d known him, but soon after Jade arrived he had turned into Mr. Romance. And Mrs. Phillips loved it! She loved Jade too and they took her in and treated her like a daughter. In fact, they referred to her and Landon as the children they’d never had. After suffering several miscarriages, Mr. and Mrs. Phillips decided to keep their family at two. Sometimes they missed not having children but overall they were content with the life they’d built together. Jade loved them as well and definitely appreciated the care and concern her California parents showed her and how much fun they had. Some days she and Mr. Phillips would spend hours in the store laughing like two giddy
teenagers. He would make up stories about the most ridiculous things that made Jade double over with laughter.
“Hey, Jade, did I ever tell you about the time I was touring with the Chi-Lites?”
“What?” she laughed. “Now you know you ain’t toured with the Chi-Lites, Mr. Phillips.”
“Yes, I did. Look, check this out. These was some of my best moves,” he said then dipped and twirled around.
“Cut that mess out, Rock! Why you in here lying to that baby,” Mrs. Phillips laughed when she walked into the store and caught her husband’s latest tale.
“Hey, I had a life before you, woman. You don’t know everything I did,” he chuckled.
“Well, you would think in the thirty-five years I’ve been married to you that might’ve come up. Right, Mr. Chi-Lites!” she laughed loudly then hugged Mr. Phillips tight.
The two of them also used to give Jade advice on men and dating. Mr. Phillips couldn’t understand how someone as beautiful as Jade had such trouble in the love department. She told him about Alonzo and Damien but he got a kick out of the strange men she’d met since moving to California. She had never known men to be so crazy and was almost afraid to date . . . almost. There was a man named Richard Sullivan that she was interested in who had been coming into the store every morning for months. Jade was confused by him, though. He seemed to like her but never made a move or tried to ask her out on a date. She wished the same was true of some of the other guys who came into Quik Stop. They had no problems asking her out no matter how many times she said no. Mr. Phillips thought it was good for business, though. He said since Jade started working there business had increased by more than sixty percent. She had no idea where he’d gotten that percentage but took it as a compliment that Mr. Phillips contributed her being there to the rise in sales.
Jade may not have been getting dates while working at Quik Stop but Landon surely was. He came into the store almost everyday to grab a sandwich or hotdog for lunch and each time a woman would introduce herself to him. And the next time Jade saw her was usually on the way out of his bedroom! After his breakup with Cassandra, Landon turned into a bit of a whore and had a different woman every night. Jade kept her opinions about it to herself until she came home to find a stranger wearing her robe. When she confronted Landon about it, things got out of hand.
“Don’t trip, I’ll wash it later,” he said, dismissively.
“That’s not really the point, dude. I’d prefer not to come home and find a stranger in my things!”
“It’s really not a big deal, Jade. Why don’t you consider it a contribution to the household since you don’t pay for much else,” he sneered before closing his bedroom door in her face.
“She seems really upset,” Jade heard the woman say.
“She’ll get over it. Now come here so I can help you take that off.”
Jade was so hurt and angry that all she could do was cry. She remembered what Willa had always told her about having her own so she never had to be at someone’s mercy. At first Jade felt guilty for not telling Landon about the hundred dollars she had hidden when they could have used it for groceries or towards a
bill. Yet with the way he’d just treated her, she was glad to have it. Jade took the money and packed a bag before slamming the front door so hard a few of Landon’s pictures fell to the floor.
She caught the bus to a local Motel 6 and spent the night there. Her plan was to wait until Landon left for work to gather the rest of her things and find somewhere else to stay permanently.
“Oh here she is, officer, thank you,” Landon said before slamming down the phone. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you! Oh, so, you don’t hear me talking to you? Give me this shit,” he screamed then snatched the duffel bag out of her hands and hurled it at the wall!
“What is your problem?”
“You’re my problem! I was worried sick about you thinking your stupid butt was lying a ditch some damn where! Where were you? The only people you really know out here are Mr. and Mrs. Phillips and they didn’t have a clue where you were. Willa hadn’t heard from you and . . .”
“What the hell did you call my mom for? Man, now I’m gonna have to hear her mouth about it!”
“I don’t care about that, Jade. I was scared to death! Why would just leave me like that?”
“Well, I didn’t wanna be a burden to you anymore since I don’t really contribute anything to your household!”
“Oh my god, Jade, are you kidding me? That’s what this is about? Since when did you get so sensitive? You know I didn’t mean that junk. I was just mad that you was making a big deal out of a robe you don’t even wear. But I was wrong and I shouldn’t have been offering anything of yours without your permission. I’m sorry, baby girl, and I promise it won’t happen again. But I need you to promise you won’t run out on me like that ever again. Where were you anyway? Oh wait please don’t tell me you went to Chauncey’s place! You said that dude couldn’t keep his hands to himself on your date so I can only imagine what he’d do if you were in his apartment all night.”
Jade assured him she wasn’t at Chauncey’s but she still wouldn’t tell Landon where she’d gone. She didn’t want him to know she had enough money to rent a motel room or where to look just in case she needed to take off again. Thankfully, things got better between them and she had no need to take off. Landon stopped having all kinds of women traipsing through the apartment after one of them proved to be a bit of a stalker! Plus, he seemed pretty smitten with a woman named Gabrielle Ventura to whom Jade had introduced him. The 5’2”, curvaceous Italian, Mexican knockout came into Quik Stop one day and Jade believed she was the perfect fit for Landon. She often referred to them as Mr. and Mrs. Campbell even though they both kept saying it was too soon to be considering marriage. Landon thought about it, though—quite a bit actually.
“Hey, beauty queen, how you doing today?”
“Hey, Tamara,” Jade giggled, “what’s up? Oh, here, I saved you a package of these chili cheese dogs. A group of guys came in and almost bought them all. I knew you’d have a fit if there weren’t any left.”
“Ooh, thank you so much, girl. That was so sweet. See, that’s how I know you ain’t from here. People born and raised in this area don’t do nothing unless they gone get something out of it. Wait, you ain’t scheming on me, are you?” she laughed loudly.
Tamara Parker was a twenty-two year old clerk who worked next door at the liquor store. She came in a few times a week for chili cheese dogs and she and Jade had become friendly.
“Hey, beauty queen, do you step?”
“Yeah, I can do a little something, something,” Jade said, showing Tamara a few of her moves.
“Okay then, heyyyy,” she smiled, doing a few steps of her own. “Won’t you come to one of the step shows this weekend if you ain’t doing nothing,” Tamara said then handed Jade a flyer. “They have a contest too if you know somebody that can step with you. First place gets five hundred dollars. It be a bunch cute dudes up in there too if you single.”
“I’m definitely single.”
“You got kids?”
“Nope.”
“I do. I got a daughter named Jamara. Me and Jamel been arguing because he wanna have this big party for her first birthday next month but I think it’s crazy. I say we bake her a little cake, sing happy birthday, and call it good. Jamara ain’t gone even remember none of it so why spend all that money? Money we ain’t got no way. But my mama and sister ‘nem and Jamel’s crazy ass mama wanna do it. So if they paying for it then cool.”
“So how long have you been married?”
Tamara looked at Jade strangely. “Oh, so you the type that still believe in rainbows and unicorns,” she laughed. “Girl, please, I’d have a easier time convincing you to marry me before Jamel would! He too busy chasing women to settle down. But he a good father, though. I can’t take that away from him. He just sucks as a boyfriend. That’s why we ain’t together no more. But I can always count on him when it come to our daughter so I’m grateful for that. Shoot, he could’ve been like my sister’s baby daddy. But that’s a whole other story there. So you wanna go to the step show?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna see if Landon wants to enter the contest.”
“Landon?”
Jade went into her usual explanation of who he was and how they came to be in California. She also let it be known he was in a relationship to avoid the “can you hook us up” requests which usually came after girls met Landon. He definitely fell into the tall, dark, and handsome category at 6’5” with a muscular, well-toned body and magnetic smile. Women went crazy over him. And whatever he did in the bedroom kept them coming back for more! Many times Landon’s lady friends told Jade he was the best lover they’d ever had. Though, it was only Cassandra he’d ever said that about. Naturally, being the nosey person she was, Jade grilled him about the things he did and who exactly had taught him to do it.
She was shocked and appalled to learn Ms. Janie, a forty-two-year old married neighbor, had gotten her hands on Landon when he was only fifteen years old! More surprising, however, was how proud he seemed about it. He explained that it was every boy’s fantasy to be with an older woman and to actually get to live it out was incredible. Jade thought it was ridiculous, especially knowing nobody would’ve thought it was incredible if a fifteen-year-old girl had her virginity taken by a forty-two-year old man! That would have been considered rape. Nonetheless, Landon smiled brightly when he remembered Ms. Janie and all the ways she’d taught him to please a woman from head to toe. He described his afternoon sessions with her as the best class he’d ever taken.
Tamara seemed disappointed about Landon’s unavailability and talked about how hard it was to meet good men. She wasn’t blind to the fact that being 5’11” and sixty pounds over weight diminished some of her dating prospects but Tamara was proud of who she was and didn’t let anybody stop her from going for what or who she wanted. The truth was she believed the reason she hadn’t found anyone was because she still loved Jamel and wanted to be with him.
Jade and Tamara spent the remainder of her lunch hour swapping horror stories about their dating lives. Then Jade mentioned Richard and how she wanted to go out with him. All she knew about him was that he was single and worked the
midnight shift at Apple Computer. Jade wanted to get to know Richard better and decided that after a few months of waiting to be invited out, she’d ask him.
“Well, good luck, beauty queen. Just be careful because some of these dudes out here is real crazy.”
“Thanks, Tamara. I’ll tell you how it goes assuming Richard even comes in tomorrow. It’ll be my luck that he doesn’t even show up just because I’m looking for him.”
“Take it as a sign if he don’t. It means don’t waste your time because he a fool!”
They both laughed then Tamara left. After work, Jade went straight home to tell Landon about the stepping contest. He wasn’t interested until he realized there was money to be won. Then he couldn’t wait to start practicing. Landon knew Jade was a phenomenal dancer and thought they’d have no problem winning. They chose “
I’ve Got the Power” by Snap and rehearsed like their lives depended on it. And in a weird way, it did. The business wasn’t thriving at all and even though they had a lot of great ideas to make it better, they needed more money than either of them had. They’d moved into a bigger, more expensive apartment and Jade was working towards getting a car. So winning the contest was a necessity as far and Landon and Jade were concerned.
The next morning Jade was a nervous wreck. She didn’t know what to wear or what she should say when Richard arrived. Eventually she put on a little black dress and a pair of heels but Landon told her she looked ridiculous going to work dressed that way!
“If this dude is interested then he’ll accept your invitation looking like you normally do. You can dress up once you actually have a date instead of looking crazy up there stocking shelves and loading ice machines in this thing!” he said, pointing at her dress. “Quit acting desperate. You don’t have to throw yourself at this guy. I imagine he comes in every day because he’s already interested.”
Jade rushed to change into a pair of white jeans and a t-shirt then put on a little makeup. Landon gave a disapproving scowl but she ran out before he could fuss about it. He thought she was naturally beautiful and didn’t need makeup to impress a man who was probably more excited to see her in the nude than in eye shadow and lipstick! As she walked to work Jade silently prayed Landon would be too busy to come to the store. He was notorious for scaring guys away before she could even get to know them.
Mr. Phillips noticed how antsy Jade seemed and asked if everything was okay with her. She decided to keep her plans quiet because sometimes it felt as if he and Landon were tag teaming to keep her dateless and alone! When Richard pulled into the parking lot Jade tried to hurry Mr. Phillips out of the store. He kept
coming up with ridiculous reasons to stick around and she was at the point of screaming!