Free Scarlett by Tiece D Mickens Page A

beauty salons, only to watch her get pampered. She never asked Scarlett to join her, and Scarlett never asked, but she did eventually stop going with her. She turned over in the bed and slapped the pillow. How could I have been so naïve all this time? Nina always tried to tell me that Sheila was out for herself.
    Her phone began to ring. She reached for it, thinking that Greg wanted to come back for some more. “I thought you’d be on the road by now.”
    “I am. I’m on my way to your house.” She looked at the caller ID. Oh, shit.
    “Jay?”
    “What’s up, Miss Scarlett? What did you mean by that?”
    She hesitated. “Uh, I don’t know, I was half asleep.”
    “Wake your ass up. I need to see you.”
    “Jay, I’ve already told you that I’m not going to see you as long as you’re seeing Sheila. What don’t you understand about that?”
    “I don’t understand anything about that. One minute you can’t wait for me to come over and the next—”
    “The next you’re taking Sheila out on a date,” she interrupted. “That about sums it up.”
    “Since you don’t wanna see me no more, then it’s only fair that I tell you that you were looking very good today. I was trying to resist the urge of looking at you. I knew underneath that hard exterior, there was a beautiful woman, and I saw that woman today.”
    “Oh yeah,” Scarlett muttered.
    “Yeah,” he responded. “You clean up very well.”
    Scarlett was quiet. She really liked Jay a lot, but was already hurt by his actions of seeing Sheila and treating her like, she didn’t exist.
    “Jay, if I dressed and looked like Sheila, you wouldn’t have cared less if people saw me with you. The only time I ever rode in your car was to the liquor store and your windows were so black, no one would’ve seen me anyway.” And even though that was the ride of her life, she would never let him know it.
    “Okay Scarlett, I won’t act like I wasn’t ashamed of you. I mean, we started out as friends and I enjoyed our conversations. Your sexy voice made you sound like you were the prettiest and most intelligent lady walking, but coming in and seeing you at work or to your house just didn’t go with what I was listening to. What I’m trying to say was that the voice and look just wasn’t a fit.” He stuttered. “I saw potential, but it’s like you didn’t want to try.”
    Scarlett’s feelings were hurt so she turned up her MD 20/20 as Jay continued.
    “After we met and started playing phone tag, we got to know each other a little better. When I learned about your past, it all began to make sense and I began liking you as a person. The problem was that you were twenty-four then, and you still lived in the past. You didn’t want to improve your thinking about yourself, your room always looked a mess, and you never wanted to do anything with your hair. When it comes down to your body, I can’t lie. You got one of the tightest bodies I’ve ever seen, but I needed more than just a fine body and a fat ass.
    “I even offered you some clothes from my mom’s store, but you wouldn’t accept them. I don’t know why you were thinking that I was treating you like a charity case or something. I offered to get your hair done before, but you declined that too. I only wanted you to see the person that you’ve seen today for the first time in your life. You just didn’t know how to accept my kindness, and all I wanted was for you to realize that it was all for your own good. I’d been waiting for you to see this for over a year now. I’m just glad that you see yourself in a different light.”
    “Well thanks, Jay,” she said, taking another swallow. She knew that Jay meant well, but the truth was that she didn’t know how to accept a person’s kindness for what it was, especially from a man. “Well, I’m not trying to change the subject, but what about Sheila?”
    “The truth is that I like Sheila, but I ain’t crazy. I knew she thought I was broke,