about him.”
“ Come on, tell your old man. Is it serious?”
Shayla fought back tears and wrapped her hands around her warm coffee mug. “I don’t know.”
“ Well, I won’t pry any more. But if you do decide it’s serious, I’ll be waiting to meet him.”
“ Of course,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “So you can scare him away like you did all my high school boyfriends.”
Ronald laughed. “A father’s got to protect his girl. You’re never too old for that, you know. But I do have one last question and then I’ll let it go.”
“ What’s that?”
“ I’m only asking because I know your mother will. You should be prepared, just in case.”
“ Are you going to ask me?”
“ Aren’t there any nice black men around that you could date?”
“ Daddy!”
“ I’m just telling you what you’re mother’s going to say. You know how she can be. Me, I could care less what color he is so long as you’re happy.”
Shayla thought of those two months they had spent together. She had been happy. Now all she could feel was lonely emptiness.
Amir stood outside of the small community theater with his hands buried deep in his pockets. Shayla was inside, he could feel her. He hadn’t intended on stopping by, but when he had landed just a few buildings over from the theater and sensed Shayla’s presence, he hadn’t been able to stay away.
After a few minutes of indecision, Amir placed his hand on the door and pushed it open. Just a glimpse, he told himself . I t would be enough and then he would leave. The music that blared from inside was pounding and seductive, as well as hypnotic. Pounding drums called to him, seeming to suck him into the room until he was standing at the back of the theater.
Shayla danced alongside another dancer, a man. The two of them moved in perfect timing together with the pounding rhythm as their guide. Amir couldn’t tear his eyes away from Shayla as she danced, long limbs extending as she leaped and turned about the stage. He could feel her joy, her passion. He felt his heart swelling as he watched, filled with the intense radiance that emanated from her.
The male dancer wrapped his arms around Shayla as they moved together, before swinging her around in a series of lifts and turns. His hands at Shayla’s waist caused an unfamiliar emotion to well up inside Amir. Jealousy? It was ridiculous, he knew, but something inside of him raged at the sight of another man’s hands where he wanted his to be. Mine! His inner voice wouldn’t let up as he watched the dance. Mine! Mine! Mine!
Amir shook his head to clear his thoughts but they wouldn’t go away. Mine! He could see in his mind, Shayla as she grew older, marrying a man much like the one she danced with on stage. He could see them with a house outside the city and children who took dance lessons. They owned a minivan and sang loudly to the radio together as they drove their kids to school. At night, after the kids fell asleep, he would lead her to the bedroom, lay her down on cool sheets and… No!
Amir shook his head again, shoving the images away. It couldn’t happen that way; he wouldn’t let it. He would live the rest of eternity with nothing but regret if he did. Eternity was a very long time.
His decision made, Amir stood impatiently waiting for Shayla’s dance to finish. When the music ended and applause filled the air, Amir watched her retreat with her partner backstage. Once they were gone, he left the way he came and circled around to the alley and the back entrance he knew she would come out of.
He leaned against the side of the building and waited.
Chapter 12: The Revelation
Shayla nearly jumped a mile in the air when a man’s voice called out to her from the dark alley. She was two seconds away from giving the stranger a face full of pepper spray, when he stepped into the moonlight. She sighed with relief, then her heart jumped up into her throat.
“ Oh, it’s just
“ Come on, tell your old man. Is it serious?”
Shayla fought back tears and wrapped her hands around her warm coffee mug. “I don’t know.”
“ Well, I won’t pry any more. But if you do decide it’s serious, I’ll be waiting to meet him.”
“ Of course,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “So you can scare him away like you did all my high school boyfriends.”
Ronald laughed. “A father’s got to protect his girl. You’re never too old for that, you know. But I do have one last question and then I’ll let it go.”
“ What’s that?”
“ I’m only asking because I know your mother will. You should be prepared, just in case.”
“ Are you going to ask me?”
“ Aren’t there any nice black men around that you could date?”
“ Daddy!”
“ I’m just telling you what you’re mother’s going to say. You know how she can be. Me, I could care less what color he is so long as you’re happy.”
Shayla thought of those two months they had spent together. She had been happy. Now all she could feel was lonely emptiness.
Amir stood outside of the small community theater with his hands buried deep in his pockets. Shayla was inside, he could feel her. He hadn’t intended on stopping by, but when he had landed just a few buildings over from the theater and sensed Shayla’s presence, he hadn’t been able to stay away.
After a few minutes of indecision, Amir placed his hand on the door and pushed it open. Just a glimpse, he told himself . I t would be enough and then he would leave. The music that blared from inside was pounding and seductive, as well as hypnotic. Pounding drums called to him, seeming to suck him into the room until he was standing at the back of the theater.
Shayla danced alongside another dancer, a man. The two of them moved in perfect timing together with the pounding rhythm as their guide. Amir couldn’t tear his eyes away from Shayla as she danced, long limbs extending as she leaped and turned about the stage. He could feel her joy, her passion. He felt his heart swelling as he watched, filled with the intense radiance that emanated from her.
The male dancer wrapped his arms around Shayla as they moved together, before swinging her around in a series of lifts and turns. His hands at Shayla’s waist caused an unfamiliar emotion to well up inside Amir. Jealousy? It was ridiculous, he knew, but something inside of him raged at the sight of another man’s hands where he wanted his to be. Mine! His inner voice wouldn’t let up as he watched the dance. Mine! Mine! Mine!
Amir shook his head to clear his thoughts but they wouldn’t go away. Mine! He could see in his mind, Shayla as she grew older, marrying a man much like the one she danced with on stage. He could see them with a house outside the city and children who took dance lessons. They owned a minivan and sang loudly to the radio together as they drove their kids to school. At night, after the kids fell asleep, he would lead her to the bedroom, lay her down on cool sheets and… No!
Amir shook his head again, shoving the images away. It couldn’t happen that way; he wouldn’t let it. He would live the rest of eternity with nothing but regret if he did. Eternity was a very long time.
His decision made, Amir stood impatiently waiting for Shayla’s dance to finish. When the music ended and applause filled the air, Amir watched her retreat with her partner backstage. Once they were gone, he left the way he came and circled around to the alley and the back entrance he knew she would come out of.
He leaned against the side of the building and waited.
Chapter 12: The Revelation
Shayla nearly jumped a mile in the air when a man’s voice called out to her from the dark alley. She was two seconds away from giving the stranger a face full of pepper spray, when he stepped into the moonlight. She sighed with relief, then her heart jumped up into her throat.
“ Oh, it’s just
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