Read Online The Other Side Of the Game by Anita Doreen Diggs - Free Book Online

snap of every leg in front of me and all I could do was smile when something funny was said. Khari picked up the crab and ripped off the upper part of the shell.
    The crab looked odd but I couldn’t figure out why.
    Joanne squinted at it suspiciously. “That’s horrible!”
    â€œUgh!” Khari said, wiping his hands on his napkin.
    Yero simply stared in disbelief and looked at me hunched over. As I choked and gagged over the table, the people in the area stared with disgust.
    â€œWhat happened?” our waiter asked, running up to us in a frenzy.
    â€œYou served us a pregnant crab!” Khari exclaimed.
    The waiter stared at the plate and his mouth dropped open.
    â€œI’m so sorry; would you like me to get you another, sir?” he said, looking sympathetically at me but directing his question to Khari.
    â€œHell, no, that’s quite all right.”
    â€œI’m so sorry. You don’t have to pay for this. I’ll speak to the manager right away,” he said, rushing off.
    We watched the busboys scurry around, clearing the table and decided not to eat at all. I was standing up to leave when my cell phone rang. It was Asha, chattering about the latest events in her ridiculous, soap opera life. The only way to get her off the phone was to promise her a visit.

Chapter 16
    ASHA
    S aundra came over after work. Although we both have pretty faces, looking at the two of us, no one would guess we were sisters. She is tall and dark skinned and while I prefer my sleek page boy hairstyle, she wears hers in shoulder length dreadlocks. But it is the way she dresses that makes me want to run screaming from the room. If she isn’t draped in a caftan with clogs on her feet, it is handmade dashikis with sandals or boots.
    As she walked into my apartment, the foreign scent she was wearing threatened to overwhelm me.
    My nose wrinkled. “What kind of perfume is that?”
    â€œIt’s cocoa-mango oil.”
    She sat Indian style on the floor and gave me a beatific smile. It was the kind of grin usually seen on the faces of Moonies, Branch Davidians or other cultists. While I dashed around getting rid of my work gear, she just sat there totally absorbed in knitting something. The needles clicked and some green yarn slowly coiled itself out of her huge handbag. The work caused her many silver bangles to jingle. The folds of her long black cape formed a beautiful umbrella around her and was the perfect base for a forest green and yellow dashiki that she proudly wore with an elaborate matching headwrap. When I dropped my briefcase on the sofa, she lifted her head and exposed her gorgeous set of straight white teeth in a one hundred-watt smile.
    â€œWhat’s up, girl?”
    â€œRandy bought me a dog.”
    â€œAw, that’s nice; where is it?”
    â€œI locked him in the bathroom.”
    â€œAll day? That’s horrible!”
    â€œWhatever. That mutt is not tearing up all my shit.”
    â€œYou’re awful.”
    When I opened the bathroom door, a series of weak yelps indicated my pet had anxiously awaited my arrival.
    Saundra immediately snatched him. “He’s so cuuute! What’s his name?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    â€œYou gotta give him a name,” Saundra declared. “Look at him . . . he’s so precious.”
    â€œYou think of a name while I feed him.”
    When Saundra gets around animals, she goes nuts. Her house is a combination of Noah’s Ark and the botanical fucking gardens.
    I couldn’t help but smile at the puppy as he scampered around anticipating his meal. “How about Sparky?”
    â€œThat’s too hard. I want something soft and feminine.”
    â€œBut it’s a boy dog, Asha.”
    â€œI don’t care. I’ve just decided that his name is Peaches.”
    Saundra’s mouth twisted in disapproval.
    I decided to change the subject. “What are we having for dinner tonight?”