Read Online Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do by Pearl Cleage - Free Book Online Page A

time Beth accused me of disloyalty, she was right. I had stopped believing in her, but I was still on the payroll, so who was I to criticize? All things considered, we were probably about even.
    “I'll take care of it,” I said. “And the speech and the video, too, but first you have to promise me two things.”
    She took a small white handkerchief from her pocket and blew her nose delicately. “What's that?”
    “No more spying,” I said. “If you want to know something about me, ask me.”
    “Fair enough,” she said, dabbing at the corners of her eyes. “What else?”
    “Let's start from today,” I said. “We can't change what happened, or what we think about it, but I did some of my best work with you. That's why you called me, and that's part of why I'm here. We both know I need the money, but I'd like to finish up the way I started, at the top of my game.”
    Beth just looked at me for a moment, then she reached into her jacket pocket and took out a check, discreetly folded in the middle, and handed it to me.
    “Welcome back,” she said with a thin smile. “Now, shall we have some breakfast?”
    “No, thanks,” I said, standing up and dropping the check in my purse without looking at the amount. “I rented a place near the campus yesterday and I want to get settled in this morning.”
    “Near the campus?”
    She looked surprised, just like I knew she would.
    “Are you sure you'll be safe over there? You know that neighborhood is pretty rough.”
    Rough? I thought about the people rushing in and out of the mall and waiting patiently in line at the Krispy Kreme. I remembered the ladies at the beauty shop and the young woman walking beside her tiny son and the people rushing toward the rapid rail station. I thought about Aretha with her Bob Marley music and that studious-looking young guy reading the South China Morning Post and waiting for his cappuccino at the West End News. None of them looked particularly rough to me. They just looked like people.
    “I'll be fine,” I said. “My landlord personally guaranteed my safety.”
    She snorted at that. “You must have some landlord. He ought to be chief of police.”
    “His name is Blue Hamilton,” I said, walking with her toward the door. “Ever heard of him?”
    “Blue Hamilton, the singer ?”
    Beth sounded surprised, but no more than I was. My visionary adviser was on the money again. “He's a singer?”
    “Used to be. Dark skin, high cheekbones, blue eyes?”
    “You know him?”
    “Not personally,” she said. “That's your landlord?”
    “Handed me the keys himself.”
    “He still got those eyes?”
    “Still got 'em,” I said. “They're pretty amazing, actually. What kind of singer was he?”
    “R and B. A crooner, I guess you'd call him. Sort of a cross between Marvin Gaye and Al Green.”
    The idea of my ocean-eyed landlord singing like Al Green sent an involuntary tingle down my spine. “Was he any good?”
    “He had one big hit when he was a kid, fifteen or sixteen, I guess. After that …” She shrugged. “Good thing he put his money in real estate. He was a real one-hit wonder.”
    Beth opened the door, and the softness of the air promised that spring was right around the corner.
    “I'll call you tomorrow,” I said, heading for my little rental car.
    “Gina?”
    Her tone stopped me as I was halfway into the car. “Yes?”
    “I only ever wanted the best for Son,” she said. “You know that, don't you?”
    “Me, too,” I said, and closed the car door behind me before she could prolong a moment that had no place to go but wrong.
    We had agreed to let bygones be bygones. Beth and I don't have to agree on her role in Son's life, or where she was now leading her followers, or what my landlord was or is now. I know that Son would have been better off telling his mother the truth, and I know Beth's work suffers when her ego gets in the way, but most of all I know this: Blue Hamilton may be many things, but a one-hit wonder