With that, she gave Goldie a strong shove in her back, pushing her out the door. She practically slammed the door in her face. Kat didn’t even have the decency to say good-bye.

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER
12

BAA-LING! Baa-ling! Baa-ling! Tender’s cell phone begged to be answered. She purposely ignored it. She didn’t feel like talking to anybody, for business or pleasure. She was shut down. Ever since her girl Goldie left, things hadn’t been the same. She felt like a jigsaw puzzle with a missing piece—incomplete. She had stepped back to examine herself since Goldie’s sudden departure, contemplating her way of life. There had to be another way to eat, a better way.

She started to turn the phone off, but she was secretly hoping Goldie would call her. She hadn’t heard a word from her since she left and that worried her. She finally answered the phone.

“Hello!” she snapped.

“What’s poppin’, stranger?” A man’s voice spoke. “You sure iz hard ta hit on da hip! What, you tryin’ ta tell me somethin’? It wasn’t good?”

“Who dis?” Tender replied, unable to place the voice. She thought this was a date.

“Oh, you don’t know me wit my clothes on? Huh?” the man asked. “Well, here’s a clue. Miami. Rain. Patio. Sex. Me, breakin’ you off. You, lovin’ e’ry minute of it … Need I say more?”

“Q.” She exhaled into the phone, as if a burden had just been lifted. Immediately the bass left her voice. Her spirits raised up.

“Holla! Dat’s right! Dis da boy Q. Girl, you recognize a playa when he’s in ya presence,” he said jokingly. “Fa a minute dere, you had me worried. I thought somebody else wuz gettin’ my time. You know how these jokers do … I’m often imitated, but neva duplicated. Didn’t know bein’ me could be so complicated …”

Q was a welcome diversion but he had a hell of a sense of humor. Life was too short and, at times, too serious for her.

“Boy, you are a piece of work,” Tender commented. “Why you ain’t call me? You God’s gift ta women? You ain’t got it like dat! Q, I missed you …”

“Slo, slo, slo down!” He began chanting the verses from a popular rap song into the receiver. “Tender be easy. Everything is still everything … I’ve been really busy wrapping up these projects. Meeting wit marketing and promotional teams. You know my business comes first. Can’t nobody run it like I will. But you know what they say, all work and no play … I told you I wuz gonna holla as soon as I got clear, and I’m a man of my word.”