Free Blind Delusion by Dorothy Phaire

‘cute.’ Veda was not the type of woman who spent much time on her hair, makeup, or her wardrobe. While Cha-Cha was one of her best friends, Veda couldn’t understand why people spent half their day in a beauty parlor—first, waiting for Cha-Cha to show up and then, waiting as Cha-Cha took her sweet time to do their hair. Manicure and pedicures were rare treats for her—not regular rituals, which is why her cuticle-chewed nails were often brittle and unpolished. But she didn’t care. Veda thought of herself as more the ‘wash and go’ type.
    Before Sherrelle could answer, Cha-Cha walked up to the desk and put her arms around Veda in a warm hug. “Hey girl, how you been doing?”
    “Better than I was this time a few months ago,” said Veda, and winked at her daughter who then disappeared into the back room to fold the towels and straighten up the supply/laundry room so they could leave. Sherrelle called out to Veda from the laundry room, “I’ll be finished my work soon, Mama. I won’t be too long.”
    Cha-Cha wasn’t going to let Veda out of her sight so quickly without grilling her with questions first. Cha-Cha leaned across the reception desk and planted her elbows so that her chin rested atop clasped hands as she gazed inquisitively at Veda. “So, tell me Girl. What you been up to these days?” asked Cha-Cha.
    Renee strained her ears to listen in on Veda and Cha-Cha’s conversation. This was more interesting to her than anything in that fashion magazine she was pretending to read.
    Veda clutched the strap of her shoulder bag and muttered with a half smile, “I found another job. I’m a secretary now for United Delivery Service or UDS as it’s called. Been there for about three weeks now.”
    At hearing the name UDS, Alonzo jerked up his head from the shampoo bowl where Whittni had been massaging his scalp. “I thought you looked familiar, Sweet Thing,” he said, pointing up at Veda. Renee noticed that Veda gave him a half second disinterested glance then turned back to Cha-Cha.
    Alonzo wasn’t ready to give up. “You know I’m one of the top drivers for UDS,” he said to Veda. “What did you say your name was again?”
    “I didn’t,” Veda quipped and continued to ignore him.
    Whittni gently pushed his shoulders back to stop him from interjecting himself into Cha-Cha and Veda’s conversation. “Please be still Mr. Woods so I can give this head a good scrubbing,” she said.
    “Yes, Ma’am.” Alonzo beamed up at Whittni and obediently sank his head back down over the rim of the bowl.
    After rolling her eyes one more time at Alonzo, Cha-Cha lowered her voice as she spoke, “Girl, that’s great about the new job. It’s good your old boss didn’t give you no hassle about … well, you know.”
    “Yeah. I was pretty lucky,” Veda nodded. “Brenda told me about the opening at UDS right after I got released. I guess you know Jerome works there? He told her that apparently their secretary got fired for some reason. I didn’t hesitate to put my application in as soon as Brenda told me that.”
    “I hear ya, Girl. It’s not like you haven’t worked around creeps before. Speakin’ of creeps how’s things going with Jerome these days? Brenda say anything about that?”
    “Don’t ask me. That’s their business. Cha-Cha, you’re worse than a bunch of old church ladies. Trying to get into everybody’s business so you can go back and talk about ‘em.”
    “I’m just asking. I don’t want her calling me cryin’ at two in the morning ‘cause she don’t know where her husband’s at. You know it’s only a matter of time before he screws up.”
    Veda shrugged and folded her arms. “To tell you the truth, I don’t see much of Jerome. He’s a driver and I’m in the office all day. Lord knows I’m just thankful to have this job. I’m not trying to cause trouble and I don’t have time to get into people’s business. Mr. Davis, my old boss, said he wouldn’t press charges if I