Free Red Hats by Damon Wayans Page B

generated in his family law practice from the Red Hats. They trusted him, and any indiscretion would compromise that. James didn’t mix business with pleasure, which allowed him to see past Alma’s façade.
    The sparkle in her eye called his soul. He decided then and there that he would make it his business to bring her heart pleasure.
    Sister Dee and
Alma sat at a table watching the other girls dance in front of them.
    “My biggest problem right now isn’t my diabetes, it’s knowing that my daughter lives three blocks away from me and refuses to visit. She’ll walk right by me at the supermarket and not even speak. That hurts more than any disease you could ever have,” Dee said drunkenly. “This is a picture of her. That’s my Kelly.”
    Alma looked at the photo of an attractive young mulattowoman dressed in a high school cap and gown. The picture answered all of Alma’s questions about Delilah’s easiness around black folks. Alma felt her guard drop as she looked Dee in her pain-filled eyes.
    “She’s a pretty girl,” Alma offered.
    As she looked up, Alma made eye contact with James, who was smiling at her from across the room. She pretended not to see him, but he knew otherwise. He let her off the hook and turned away first.
    “I mean, I don’t even know what I did to her to make her treat me so bad. I told her about my condition, and all she did was shrug her shoulders and say, ‘What do you want me to do?’”
    “I would have slapped the taste out of her mouth,” Alma said. “My kids aren’t perfect, but they know they’d better fake it around me. Time-outs don’t work with black children. You got to beat their ass when they don’t give you any other option.”
    The music stopped.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special request going out to a young lady named Alma from James. James said to let you know he paid me a lot of money to play this song, so you’d better dance with him,” the DJ joked.
    The crowd parted as James smoothly waltzed over to Alma’s table. She stood up to run, but he was light on his feet and caught her before she could find the exit sign with her eyes.
    “It’s
later,
” he said cockily.
    James took her hand and reassured her with his eyes that he would be gentle. Alma grabbed her drink from the table and guzzled it. James smiled as they walked onto the dance floor. She was nervous, but he pulled her close and moved rhythmically, side to side, his hand on her waist guiding her with the control of a great lover. Alma had to fight the images in her head. It had been a long time since she was this intimate with a man. She felt as if James was able to read her mind by the way he looked into her eyes. She decided to close them to prevent him from reading her heart.
    The DJ must have read her mind, too, because he changed the song to something more up-tempo. James didn’t miss a beat. He quickly adapted his moves to the beat of the song.
    Boy, this man sure can dance,
Alma thought as she tried to keep up. It didn’t take long for her to shake out the cobwebs. After all, she had won many dance contests as a young woman with Harold. Alma had a few moves of her own that she threw at James. He allowed her to showcase her stuff, then responded with a slightly competitive display of his own choreography. The Red Hats gathered around to watch them go at it.
    “Get down, Alma! Show him what you got, girl,” they chimed in.
    After five songs, James decided to call it quits. The entire ballroom applauded as they made their way off the floor.
    “Can I get you a drink, Alma?” James offered.
    “Sure. That would be nice.”
    As she watched James step to the bar, Alma felt self-conscious and guilty. It was as if the whole room and Harold were watching her act the fool.
    When James returned with two apple martinis in his hands, Alma was gone.
    “Where did she go?” he asked Dee.
    “She got an emergency call and had to leave. She told me to be sure to tell you what a good time