Man Enough For Me by Rhonda Bowen Page A

were so caught up in Jules’s drama they barely noticed.
    “All right,” Jules said, placing her hands on her hips as she stood in front of her car door. “I know you heifers ain’t gonna ease up. But can we at least wait until we get to my place?”
    Jules’s place was a one-bedroom unit on the sixth floor of a Scarborough apartment building. It looked a bit rough on the outside, but inside it was all cream walls and earth-toned furniture. On the walls were several Herbie Rose prints depicting scenes from Caribbean life. They were a tribute to Jules’s own West Indian heritage, and they made her apartment feel a bit more like her grandmother’s house in Jamaica, where she used to spend summers as a little girl.
    As soon as Maxine stepped inside, she sank into Jules’s cream-and-beige-patterned sofa and wrapped her arms around one of the chocolate-colored throw cushions. Instead of following suit, Tanya headed into the kitchen and began helping Jules take out the dishes that held their lunch.
    “Okay. Let’s have it,” Maxine ordered.
    “What do you want me to say?”
    “How about starting with the first date,” Tanya suggested.
    “Wait, is that the lunch date or the night date?” Maxine asked, confused.
    “No, that’s the night date. Lunch wasn’t really a date,” Tanya clarified.
    “You guys don’t need me,” Jules said with a half laugh. “You seem to already have all the details.”
    “Nah, we just have the facts. You have the details,” Tanya said.
    Jules looked back and forth between her two friends who were staring at her expectantly.
    “Okay,” Jules said, sighing as she wiped her wet hands on a dishcloth and leaned back against the kitchen counter. “It was … nice.”
    “Nice,” Maxine repeated, wrinkling her nose disdainfully.
    “Yes, it was nice,” Jules said. She knew they wouldn’t understand. “Come on. You know that every guy I’ve gone out with has always tried to impress me. Take me to some fancy restaurant and flash the Gold Card so I can see that he’s about something. But with Germaine, it’s different. He’s not trying to be flashy, he’s just being himself. It’s … refreshing.”
    Jules told them about the night at Leroy’s, describing how perfect the music, the food, and the entertainment had been. Though she tried to act casual, she couldn’t help the smile that lit up her face at the memory, and Maxine and Tanya couldn’t help but notice.
    “He makes me think about things, you know,” Jules said, trying to explain how she felt when she was with him. “Like where I am in my life, and if I’m where God really wants me to be. He makes me want to be more, you know?”
    “Girl, this man got you turned inside out,” Maxine said, with one eyebrow raised. “No wonder you can’t get that silly look off your face.”
    “Whatever,” Jules said, rolling her eyes. But she knew Maxine was right. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this excited about someone.
    Maxine and Tanya looked at each other and then at Jules, small smiles creeping onto their lips.
    “I think this one’s a keeper, Jules” Maxine said, raising one eyebrow knowingly. “Try not to mess it up.”
    “Yeah, Jules. I’m really happy for you,” Tanya said sincerely.
    Neither Maxine nor Jules missed the hint of sadness in Tanya’s voice, and they watched wordlessly as Tanya busied herself taking out cutlery and setting the table.
    Jules knew Tanya was hurting over ‘Dre. Only this past week he had shown up at the office with what Maxine called his “flavor of the week.” She was another of the many undiscovered artists who seemed so fond of ‘Dre. Her name was Sunshine. They had all cringed every time someone had reason to say it.
    “Okay, I’ve had enough of this,” Maxine said. Jules and Tanya looked at the tiny woman curiously as she got up from the couch and put her hands on her hips. This usually meant Maxine was ready to start something, and that usually meant