Chapter 1

     Loving him was like a breeze-a breeze of easiness, a feeling that was conscious. However, staying with him was frustrating sometimes. And when the time came to leave, that was the hardest. Actually he left me, but I left the fact of thinking he would ever come back, or that we would ever be
together. Desolate nights he left me. And his continuing memories lived with me over and over, with a shared sense of loneliness. My soul was in pain, and I couldn’t find the comfort to sooth it. My cries were like that of a waterfall, and I allowed those enduring painful tears to go on and on. And now, I
don’t know what…
The journal was almost a weekly routine for Sheena, but now it was becoming a daily routine, sometimes even a few times a day. She had to express herself to someone or in this case to something. Her mom was there, and she loved her, but this was a secret her mom didn’t know about. Sheena had just broken up with her boyfriend of two years, who she also lost her virginity to
and was very much in love with. Not to mention having to deal with an abortion two days ago, that she hadn’t told anyone and never wanted to.
     Sheena really thought she was in love. However, his words proved everything but the truth. He told her straight up, either she gets rid of the baby or else, he wouldn’t have anything to do with her.
But little did she know, he still wouldn’t have anything to do with  her, even after the abortion.
  And sure enough, a week later she saw him at school with someone else. Sheena was on her way to English class through the crowded hallways, still feeling a little queasy from yesterday. People were pushing by, and you could smell the excitement in the air, due to spring break being just a couple of days away. After realizing she forgot her English folder, she turned back around and made her way again through the halls back to her locker. It was a good
thing they were less crowed, she thought. She retrieved her folder and after closing her locker, she saw him kissing and hugging on somebody else; a girl who she didn’t even like, at that- The same girl that spread hurtful rumors about Sheena. It was a hostile moment. She wanted to go up to them, not
knowing what to do or say, but then she refrained herself. Why fight over this boy, who evidently doesn’t care? The only thing she would end up doing was punching this bitch in her face, but that couldn’t be the answer, or was it? She watched as the girl looked up and smiled in her face, continuing to kiss all over Jay. She felt a lump in her throat, from holding back her tears. He never saw her, because his back was turned facing her.
Later when she approached him about their relationship, it showed in his face. And his words told her as plain as it could get, that he wanted everything between them to end.
     Sheena thought she would never get through that, or the abortion. On some nights, she would wake up afraid, in the middle of the night. She would see her ex-boyfriend standing over a crying baby.
And that bitch that stole her man would appear out of nowhere; no body, just her evil face that had a sly grin on it and was smeared, always on one side
in blood. Then she would wake up to cries, that echoed through the night. She didn’t know if they were real or not. And when the depression set in, it was too much to handle. She had no idea this entire ordeal would have so much of an effect on her life. She remembers it all so well- The needle, the blood and the sickness.
     After numerous days approached and passed, she reached under her bed and pulled out her journal. Sheena laid on the bed, folded both hands behind her head and thought about her past life in its entirety, well at least part of it. She began contemplating on the negative feelings and then on the positive aspects that might work itself out for her, hopefully soon. Then she was soon distracted by the smell of her moms Jamaican Beef Patties and Gungo Peas with rice. She sat up and opened her bedroom door. "Mama, tell me when that’s ready. Cause it’s smellin’ good." Her mom yelled back to her, saying it would be ready in twenty minutes. Sheena shut her door back and plopped back on the bed, with her hands folded behind her head, once again. As she stared out the window, she could hear the engine sounds of a diesel truck go by, and then it slowly faded out, to just a soft brush of the wind through the trees as they swayed back and forth against the house.
     She was glad that whole year was finally over, even though it seemed like a century for her. Sheena’s mom didn’t know what was wrong with her only daughter, she almost close to putting her into some type of therapy. But the nightmares and the  depression finally took its toil on her. And now, Sheena knew what she had to do. She had to write her ‘endurance poem’, as she called it. For the most part, when Sheena was going through dramatic
times in her life, she sometimes chose to write an ultimate poem. She felt like this was a way to bring some sort of closure to her life experiences, so she could move on. The poem had to be the best and the deepest, to sooth her soul. If it wasn’t, she would write until it became so.
And today was that day for the ‘endurance poem’- The day for the last chapter of an awful period in her life. Sheena got out her pen and her journal and wrote the final words. Since it was now her senior year, she had to put the past where it belongs- In the trash, as far as she was concerned about
it. She got up and took a look outside. She was glad winter was finally over. And even spring, was close to its end. The birds were chirping, kids playing , riding there bikes, and running through the water sprinklers. It was a nice day, and this made all the difference to Sheena. A fresh and new start
for summer, she thought. So she sat, and she wrote, and she wrote like she never wrote before; to clear the damage in her life, that had lasted for the last year of her life. And then when she was done, after taking a deep, long breath, she read it aloud:

                                    "… Pitiful Remorse,

                    There I was all alone, sitting with tears of sorrow in my eyes,
                    thinking about you
                    Do I want you to be with me, or do I end this, what should I do?
                    Like the gathered winds that race through the exhausted night,
                    there were so many thoughts running through my mind
                    Yes, to be with you, yes to love you, no I really didn’t want you
                    dead
                    Pain you brought me, with sleepless and tired nights and
                    because of you, happiness left me
                    Maybe it was my fault, because from you, I wanted to be free
                    Free to be with someone else who didn’t even want me
                    Free as a bird that flies south to it’s destination, without worry
                    without doubt
                    We’ve lost each other, and for you, I will never find
                    Everywhere people go through this, I should get over you
                    But I think I miss you and maybe I loved you too
                    If you were here, you would have many hateful words to say
                    But I’m sorry, it was the only way
                    And don’t despise me, because when you left, I did shed
                    many painful tears
                    Maybe God will find a way for you in the future to be here,
                    despite my fears
                    I have a lasting despair that I grieve
                    And if I could talk to you, I would tell you: I really didn’t want
                    you to leave
                    Scared feelings surged through my body at the last moment and I
                    didn’t know what to do
                    But for all it’s worth, I’m really sorry my precious, I had to
                    abort you "

This is it, Sheena thought-The last chapter of an awful time in her life. Tears fell down her face. "This is it," she said softly, again out loud. Sheena grumbled up the paper and threw it towards the trash, it hit the edge and fell behind the trash can and then she closed her eyes and felt a peaceful calmness
come over her.

 Chapter 2

The sun was bright, as it sizzled still in the sky. The temperature was hot and dry; It rose by the hour.
Everyone was fanning themselves with just about anything they could get their hands on. The ceiling fans were mounted high above, and circulated hot air throughout the room.
Sheena was trying to figure out what college she wanted to go to. She figured it would be in Colorado, she just didn’t know which one. Sheena had recently finished high school six months ago.
Colorado University invited her to a college orientation and forum, for being one of the top one hundred graduates from each high school in the state, along with prestige college students. However, Sheena seemed to be even more interested in all the educated and eligible men she saw.
Sheena remembers this day all so well. Here it is in the late summer of August.
 She was in the second row and there he was. The way he walked up to the podium on stage was so graceful. She stared him down all the way. Even till the last drop of how he moved his lips when he talked.
After summer break, he was soon to be a senior in college. He went to the University of Chicago and was one of the many chosen to come out to Colorado to receive an award and a scholarship.
Sheena watched as he began to speak-his voice was deep, like a brass baritone. He began talking about his football career and his full scholarship he received. His speech flowed so smoothly.
The sun pierced into the window on the side of the auditorium, reflecting on his navy blue suit. Sheena noticed his shoulders were broad, and when he took off his suit jacket, his arms were mightily defined and his body was built to a ‘T’. He was tall, definitely over six feet.
"Let’s give Jaymont Miller a round of applause," the school director said. Two teachers and someone from the committee staff came up. The award was clear and shaped like a 3-D mountain, on top of a wooden bass. "And now let’s present Jaymont with the ‘Schoolastic Award of Achievements’. Only one hundred awards are given out like this across the country," one of the staff members announced proudly.
     Sheena found herself following his every move. He started wiping his forehead with a napkin. It was so sexy she thought. His skin was certainly dark. However, it was smooth, like rich chocolate. He smiled into the audience and his teeth were a sparkling white and perfectly straight. Sheena looked into his eyes and smiled. His hair was cut very low and the sides were connected to his smooth shaved Go-T. I wonder how good he would be in bed? She became so into the moment that she stood up, then realized over two thousand faces were staring at her. So she came back to reality and
decided to sit back down, a little embarrassed. She took a glance around. Damn, I wonder how many of these other girls I have to fight through in order to get to him first?
The afternoon came around quickly, with anticipation. There were already several others who had given their presentations and received awards and scholarships. Even Sheena received a $10,000 scholarship for any school in Colorado she wanted to go to.
After going through several daydreams, she looked around and seen Jay sitting on the opposite side in the front row. She watched him as he checked the time on his watch. And then as he took a sip of water from his little white foam cup. He caught a sight of her stares. He must have felt me staring
at him. There they were, making full eye contact. At that very moment, everything around Sheena seemed as if they weren’t. She began filling mesmerized. They both smiled at each other. She was feeling a calmness come over her. Sheena couldn’t remember the last time she felt this way about a
guy she didn’t even know, let alone a guy who she hasn’t even conversed with yet. After a few more minutes, Sheena stood up from her seat, and started walking towards the back to the restroom. She stood in front of the mirror and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She started fixing her hair, and straightening out her dress to make sure the split on the side was even with the middle of her knee. By the time she came out of the restroom, the orientation was just finishing up.
She started gathering up her books and belongings, to be the first to finish the race. Little did she know it was the other way around when she heard a deep voice say, "Excuse me," along with a warm tap on the back of her arm. That touch felt like a warm, sensual electric pulse shooting through her body. She turned around slowly, and there he was. She felt almost completely speechless and surprised.
"Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Jaymont, but most people call me Jay. I just had to come over and talk to you. I noticed you while I was up on stage. I must say you look very nice," he said, as Sheena stood there motionless.
"Well, thank you, its nice to meet you too. And by the way, my name is Sheena Edwards. I really enjoyed your speech. I’ve actually heard a lot about you. And how good of a football player you are," she said nervously, not even thinking about the words that were coming out of my mouth, just continued to blab on. She began thinking in her mind, "I don’t even hear what you are saying. I can only think about how fine and good looking you are."
They stood there for a few minutes getting acquainted. "How would you like to join me for lunch at a place I know of, not too far from here?" Jay smiled.
Sheena tried to play it cool and talk slowly, but she found herself speaking fast as she said, "Yes."
They started to walk outside, and she caught him looking at her chest a few times. She didn’t mind, feeling a little privileged. Well, my U-shaped top is cut a little low.
When Jay wasn’t looking, she showered her mouth quickly with some peppermint spray. Sheena never got this nervous around cute guys. However, this man just seemed different. Sheena smelled the cool breeze of his cologne. He smells so good, she thought.
"Is that ‘Obsession’ you’re wearing?" Sheena asked, as she walked closer to him.
"Yea it is, how did you know?"
"Oh, well a friend of mine use to wear it a lot, but it smells even better on you."
"Well thank you." Jay enjoyed the compliment, and walked towards the parking lot.
While Jay put his award on the floor in the backseat, she noticed his truck looked almost as good as he did. He folded his suit jacket and laid it neatly across the seat. She leaned forward and got a closer look at his butt. Nice butt, she thought. She was actually embarrassed of her secret thoughts.
If only he knew. She really didn’t know why she was so strongly attracted to this man.
"Go ahead and hop in, it’s not far from here." Jay pulled opened the passenger’s door and took a hold of her hand and arm, helping her into the large Suburban. Was it an accident that he brushed against my butt? She wondered
When they got there, Jay was so respectful. Sheena ordered a light meal, even though she was starving. But she didn’t want to seem like a pig. Jay ordered six Mexican beef enchiladas covered with the works. There were also black olives on top, each filled with sour cream and avocado.
Along, was another plate with five tacos.
"Damn you eat a lot," Sheena acknowledged, picking up her fork to eat her Mexican salad.
"Yea I know. People are always telling me that. But I’m hungry," he said with a smile on his face. He arranged his plate around. "And look at your plate, you eat like a bird. But most women wanna put
on a front like they eat so little, and soon as y’all get around your girlfriends, you get your grub on."
"Excuse you, but I don’t think so, I ate earlier, so that’s my excuse," Sheena chuckled, even though she knew he was telling the truth.
"So, what college do you go to?" Jay asked, as he took a sip from his soda, eyes still focused on her.
"Well, I just graduated from high school two months ago and now I’m trying to decide which college I wanna go to." She sounded a little cautious, hoping this wouldn’t turn him off. She didn’t see any negative reaction, so she continued. "I actually want to become a freelance writer one day. But for
right now, I’ll probably major in Business, and my minor will probably be in Law or something close," Sheena said, as she purposely kicked him under the table. "Sorry about that." She smiled and he smiled back.
"That’s all right, I know my legs are sort of long." Jay put his hand on the table and she gave him a flirtatious glance, right after she took the fork out of her mouth, backwards and slowly. Damn, why was this man so fine and sexy? Can I just melt on top of you, right now? Because I am just too hot. They both actually lost there thoughts for a moment. But she was glad Jay picked up the conversation, because she had totally lost what they were just talking about.
"I don’t want to be criticizing, but to me that almost seems backwards. Why don’t you major in Law and have your minor in Business?"
"I don’t know, really. I guess with Business, I’d have more career choices. And I’d only have to go for four years and then I’m done. With Law, I would have to go to law school after college, and I don’t think I want to do that. But I haven’t totally decided yet."
Jay was working as an intern, mostly part-time at his dad’s construction company in downtown Chicago. At the age of twenty-three, Sheena really couldn’t believe how mature and together this man was with his life. He basically had his whole life in prospective. He had a job for one, a nice
truck and in college playing football. What more could you want?
Besides coming to Colorado for the orientation, Jay was also visiting his mom and sister. Sheena later learned that his dad was going to be retiring soon, because the family just found out that Jay’s father was fighting against lung cancer. He had been for several months and recently decided to tell
everyone.
Sheena listened to Jay talk. She was staring at his lips again. They were sort of thick and looked like he would be a very good kisser. Sheena began picturing them kissing and making passionate love in Jamaica, on the Caribbean Montego Bay, where she was born and originally lived for the first five
years of her life, then to Kingston for the next seven years.
  "So, what do you think?" Jay was watching Sheena, asking again for the second time, wondering what was on her mind.
Sheena was feeling completely embarrassed, as she awakened from her fantasy. "Oh, I’m sorry, what do I think about what? "
"Coming to the football banquet with me next week? A lot of people are gonna be there, along with Walter Payton. You could bring some friends of yours if you want. My mom works for the airlines, so she could get your tickets real cheap." Jay hoped she’d say yes.
"So where is this banquet at?" Sheena pondered.
"It’s in Chicago." Jay waved at the waitress to bring the check.
"That would be nice, but I have to think about that one. I’ve never been to Chicago and I really don’t know if my mom would go for that. Chicago is sort of far."
The waitress came over and laid the check on the table. Sheena started to pull her wallet out of her purse, but Jay reached across the table and placed his hands on top of her hand and said, "I got this.
Don’t worry about it."
They walked back to the truck and was back at the school shortly. Jay walked her to her car and reached into his pocket, pulling out a business card and handed it to Sheena.
"Well if you change your mind, just give me a call, my card has my address, cell phone and home number on it." Jay looked at her with sad dog eyes and they both started laughing.
"Thank you for lunch, it was nice." Sheena stopped at her beat up Taurus, and turned around facing him. "I really enjoyed my time with you," Sheena said, thinking about how she was going to get her mom to agree to next week.
Jay stood in front of him, with his pockets in his hand. He looked a little nervous.
"So, How long are you here in Denver?" Sheena was trying to break the brief silence that lapsed.
"Til tomorrow night. Today, me and my mom and sister are going up to the mountains. Then tomorrow at seven, I’ll be flying back to Chicago." Jay kicked a rock across the yellow line. "Well, if I never see you again, it was very nice to meet you." Jay looked up again and took a step closer to
Sheena and began stroking her hair. "You know, you have pretty hair. I like how curly it is, and the way the sun reflects on it."
"Thank you." Sheena felt bashful and smiled at him.
"Well, let me get your number, if I get a chance tomorrow before I go, I’ll call you. If not then I’ll definitely call you when I get back to Chicago." Jay reached for one of his business cards and turned
it to the back and handed it to her. "You can just write it on the back."
"O.K, well let me get a pen." Sheena unlocked her car door, sat her purse over in the passenger side and purposely reached in the glove compartment and to search for a pen. She wondered if he was checking out her ass.
And he was. He watched as the back of her skirt rose slightly, exposing the back of her mid-thigh.
Man does she have a nice ass and pretty legs. Sheena turned around and noticed Jay had a big smile on his face. On the front hood she wrote down her number and handing the card back to, while at the same time, trying to block the sun out of her eyes.
"Well, meeting you was definitely the highlight of my visit besides my award I received," Jay joked.
There was silence again. They both just stood there looking at each other. Sheena quickly started to think of something to say and saw him coming closer to her. And that’s when he bent down, holding
her face gently in his hands and kissed her on her lips. Sheena closed her eyes and wanted it to last as long as possible. My first kiss didn’t even fell this good.
A fantasy she didn’t even knew she had, had came true. His lips were so soft and smooth. He took her breath away. She tried to remember if she’d ever kissed a guy with tongue that she’d known for only two hours. She couldn’t think of any. Was this really happening, Sheena thought to herself? Jay
finished it off with a hug. She squeezed her lips together, smoothing out her plum lipstick and took a step back. He waved and she watched him walk away. She felt herself holding tightly onto his business card in her hand. So this is how it feels to have weak knees, she thought.
Sheena opened back up her car door, when she felt a cool breeze. Turning back around, she looked far ahead into the sky and for the first time she saw the sun set.
Sheena watched it slowly fall behind the mountains leaving behind a fiery peach and lavender tone to the clouds, thinking about her perfect summer Jay.
              Chapter 3

The odor of the room smelt fresh and clean. All this stuff we have to move again, Sheena thought, while picking up, what she thought was her last box and moving it closer to the door. She looked around at the rest of the empty apartment, and then towards the cluttered living room with boxes
everywhere. Her roommate came from the back room with a box of CD’s and tapes.
"Sheena help me move this last box in my room and after that, I think I’m done. And boy, am I glad. I can’t believe we finally graduated from college," Tori said.
"Yea, I know what you mean girl, it’s been a long four years, and we made it," Sheena said with delight, as she glanced out the window to see if she saw the movers yet.
Sheena and Tori had recently graduated from the University of Colorado at Denver. Sheena met Tori there freshman year. They were in English 101 together. Sheena had longed to become a writer.
However, even though the door was opened to her, procrastination held her back with a tight choke-hold.
Sheena decided to move to Chicago with Tori, who’s originally from there. She was offered an Accounting position, she just couldn’t turn down. Tori came to school in Colorado, because a few of her relatives lived here; but really, just to have fun somewhere else for four years. Since it had almost
been a year, Tori was really excited to go back home to see her mom and brother.
  "Oh yea, I meant to tell you. I found this small shoe box of papers and notes of yours. They have a lot of high school stuff in it. I can’t even believe you still have all that old stuff, that was years ago," Tori said.
"Let me see that box." Sheena reached her hand out and started looking through it, while she sat down on the floor. One by one, she laid out stuff she’d received from the college forum that she remembers going to. And there it was, a white business card folded in two. Could it be, she thought?
Anxious thoughts were moving around in her mind, like ants, as she unfolded the paper. "I cannot believe this." Sheena stood up and started hopping up and down laughing around the room.
"Damn, what is it? You act like you won the lottery or something." Tori came from in the kitchen with a cup of water.
"O.K." Sheena tried to calm down as she continued, but she felt herself getting all excited again.
"This is the phone number of this really cute guy I met a long time ago. We met at this lecture hall forum that the college was given and let me tell you, this man was so fine. He took me to lunch and we kissed. He was so amazing. We exchanged numbers but we never talked to each other since.
When I went to call him, I spent two days tearing the house down looking for his number. And what’s so funny is he was from Chicago at the time. And he might still live there." Sheena was still looking at the card, smiling, not even realizing she didn’t take a breath of air through all she said, until now.
"Well call him when we get there, I know I would, if it was all like you say. And find out if he has any friends while you’re at it." Tori smiled and lifted a box on top of another to make more walking room to the front door. "So did he ever call you. He had your number too, right?" Tori asked, as she
grabbed her water off the counter and sat down on top of a box, exhausted.
"Well yea he did." She thought about it for a second. "That’s a good question. Maybe he lost it, like I lost his. I don’t know." Sheena didn’t give it another thought, only about calling him as soon as she got there.
Tori sat up and looked around the room. "Sheena, have you seen that purple bag you gave me? I can’t find it anywhere."
"No, but check with Debbie downstairs. She was over here last night. She’s always coming up and borrowing our stuff. And while you down there, make sure she doesn’t have anything else from us."
"OK, well I’ll be back.  And make sure you watch out for the movers and my brother, he’s suppose to drive some of our stuff back to Chicago."
Sheena walked over and sat down at the window seal and began thinking about Jay. She started remember how good looking he was, and how he stroked her hair, how he kissed her and how he smelt. Sheena looked down at the business card. "Yea, that’s what I’m gonna do, I’ll try and call him
when I get to Chicago. Hopefully, he still lives there," she spoke quietly, as she squeezed it and put the card up to her chest, with both hands.
There was a knock on the door. Sheena answered it and it was Tori’s bother, Sergi.
"Hi Sergi, Tori went downstairs. She’ll be back in a minute." Sheena returned to the window seal.
Sergi unfolded a lawn chair from the corner and pulled it over by Tori and sat down. "So how have you been Sheena. I haven’t seen you in awhile." Sergi said. He had always thought Sheena was pretty. They became good buddies. He would come up and visit Tori every once in a while. He would talk to her about his girlfriend problems and she would do the same with him.
"I’ve been ok. I’m just excited about Chicago," Sheena said.
"Well you’re have fun, It’s August, it’s hot, and they have some good Hip Hop clubs out there. I know you and Tori love that kind of music."
Sheena smiled. "Oh yea, I forgot you like that rock n’ roll music."
Sergi had a grin on his face. "You know it. I also like blues too. You should listen to it sometimes, it’s really good." Sergi acted like he was playing an imaginary guitar. Tori walked in the door with her purple bag, an iron, and about ten other things that were almost falling out of her arms. Sergi went over and helped her.
"Sergi, the taxi should be here any minute. Me and Sheena are gonna start heading downstairs. Here’s the keys to the apartment, and the keys to the mail box. Please do not forget to turn them in to the office downstairs around the corner. I’ll call you as soon as we get to the airport."
"Tori, the movers and the taxi are downstairs. Let’s get going." Sheena started gathering up her bags.
"You got the plane tickets, right?"
"Yea, they’re in my purse." Tori said, a little out of breath, while she checked.
They all headed downstairs. Sheena was the last to leave. She stopped for a moment and stared at the empty room and thought about all the good times and not to mention the wild parties at Tori’s expense they’ve had. Sheena closed the door and thought about her new life she would soon be
starting in Chicago. And hoped she would find Jay.
Sheena was a little nervous about the plane ride. She wanted to take the bus, but since Tori was paying for it, she agreed, still with hesitation. This was only her second time in life riding on a plane.
But it really started when Sheena’s farther died in a plane crash when she was only five years old. He was going back to the U.S. from Jamaica to visit his sick mother in California. And soon after take off, the plane caught on fire and half the people died. It was a huge tragedy for his family and
Sheena’s mom. She had to let her sister and brother-in-law who lived in the U.S. keep Sheena for several months, because of her nervous break down. She moved in with her parents in Kingston for support.
However, a year later after the settlement, Sheena’s mom brought herself together and had enough money to pay off the mortgage, get her daughter back and saved some on the side for her daughter’s future college tuition.
After living in Jamaica for thirteen years, her mom left. Leaving back her parents and all her five siblings, and thought it be better if they moved to the U.S.-more suitable for her daughter as far as education and closer to her sister in Colorado.
Sheena took a deep breath of relieve when she stepped off the plane. They both headed outside with their bags in hand and waited by the pickup area for Tori’s mom, Helen.
"Man it’s humid out here." Sheena wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.
 "You should be use to it. You use to live in Jamaica." Tori took a stop off the curb to see if she saw her mom anywhere.
"That was a long time ago. I guess I got use to that dry Denver air." Sheena paused and pulled out a hair clip and put her hair up. "So, it’s Saturday, let’s go out tonight. Show me where all the clubs are at."
"I thought you wanted to try and get in touch your summer boy." Tori joked.
"Well, that does sound like a good idea." Sheena bent down and pulled Jay’s business card out of her purse. "Here, do you know where this address is?"
"It looks sort of familiar but my mom would know for sure. I’ll ask her."
Helen drove up in a black Lexus with tented windows. Her hair was long, longer than Tori’s. And you could see her hazel green eyes just before she slipped down her dark shades off the top of her head to her face. Her youthful looks made Tori and her appear as sisters.
When Helen was fourteen she gave birth to Sergi and then three years later, Tori.
After years of controversy, Helen married Tori’s father, Sergio Sr. when she turned of legal age. Tori remembers the stories she use to tell her about her father. Even that most of the time he told people she was his granddaughter. He was a much older man, and worked as a Realtor and an Investment Banker. Their relationship was a secret until Helen turned eighteen. After he died five years into their marriage of a heart attack, Helen inherited all of his life insurance policies and estates. She was pleased to learn that she had inherit a million dollars from the policy. And even more amazed when
he left her over 30 million and two houses in Florida he owned, which she later sold and rents out the other.
    When Helen stepped out the car, the sun glistened on her long sandy blonde hair. She was very pretty and slim. She had on a short black, tank dress and dark Giorgio sunglasses, with the most attractive smile, just like Tori’s.
     Sheena watched as Tori hugged her mom. The love was very evident. And she missed her own mom for a moment. Thinking about all the wonderful Jamaican dishes she’d be missing. And the last cries goodbye, when they stopped by Sheena’s mom’s house, so she could say her farewells and pick up the money she’d saved up as a present for her graduation.
"It’s nice to finally meet you Sheena. Tori tells me that you and her are best friends," Helen stated, as she checked her rear view mirror to see if she could pull out into traffic. "Yea that’s right." Sheena looked at Tori and smiled. "I have to keep her in check sometimes though," Sheena joked, as Tori nudged her with her elbow.
     The drive wasn’t too long. However, it seemed like hours for Sheena. She pulled out Jay’s business card and looked at it again. She was feeling so excited about her new life and hoped to soon meet Jay. She wondered what she should say. It’s been five years and she didn’t want to seem desperate.
And what if he forgot all memory of her?
They pulled up to this enormous brick house. They had to drive at least a couple of yards to get to the garage. It was very nice, but it looked older, much older. A lot of house looked like that, she thought. They drove by two men in the yard trimming the bushes. They looked up and smiled and
continued trimming. Sheena glanced at the beautiful garden front, and then on top of the roof as she saw construction men at work, hammering and removing tiles. She wanted to look in the back, to see how it looked, but she didn’t want to seem rude and wanted to ask Tori later.
Helen went straight to the bar area in the dinning room. There was a sign above the bar in cursive that read: ‘Helen’s Exclusive Bar’.
"Help yourself to anything in the house Sheena. Just consider yourself family." Helen poured herself a glass of scotch and dropped a few ice cubes in. "Do you drink Sheena?"
"Sometimes wine, but only mostly when I go out."
"If you want anything, you can look through the bar and see if there’s anything that interest you."
Helen flipped opened the door, walked around the front of the bar and sat on the stool. She took a sip from her short dainty glass and started looking through a Victoria Secrets magazine.
"No, but thank you, maybe later though."
Tori walked Sheena upstairs, to the guestroom and put some of her bags by mirror closet. "As big as this place is, I’m surprised you guys don’t have a butler." Sheena said, walking behind Tori down the long hall.
"Well we use to, but now a maid comes almost everyday to clean. Or at least that’s how it was, the last time I visited." Tori opened up the door across from a large window. If you need me, I’ll probably be in my room, which is just three doors down the hallway to the right. But right now, I’m
gonna go talk to my mom for a minute. Come down when you’re done unpacking."
Sheena pushed her bags in and stood in the middle of the floor, glancing around the elegant looking room. Then she plopped on the king-size bed and then went over to the gas fireplace and looked inside. "Oh, damn." Sheena went to the sliding door and saw the nice view of the back yard, she’d been hoping to check out. She stepped out on the balcony to get a better look at the long rectangular pool. After coming back in, she saw fresh red and yellow
roses in a vase on the table, that she must have missed. She smelled them, as was impressed on how fresh they smelt. She opened a door that seemed like it was another closet and looked at the large
round tub with pretty yellow and red towels hanging up. Sheena sat back on the bed and pulled out the business card from her purse. The card read Jaymont Miller, Business Assistant. Sheena took a deep breath, then she started to congregate in her mind what she was going to say. She took out a
pen and some paper from the drawer and started to write down exactly what she’d say, so she wouldn’t forgot her words in case he did answer. After about ten minutes of that, Sheena picked up the phone and decided to dial the home number first. She kept her fingers crossed and took a deep breath.
"Hello, Hello, Hello," the deep voice said. Sheena hung up.
"Damn, I can’t believe I did that," Sheena said out loud, as she put her hand over her forehead. A few seconds later the phone rang back. One ring, two rings. Sheena was hesitant about answering
the phone. Then the third ring.
"Hello," Sheena said in a nervous voice.
"Yea, did someone just call here and hang up in my face?" The unpleasant voice asked.
"Yes, I’m sorry, something’s wrong with my phone. I’m really sorry about that. I was just about to call back. I’m looking for Jaymont, is he there?"
"No, he’s at the mall with his girl. Who’s this?"
"O.K., well, that’s kind of hard to explain. You see I’m sort of an old friend. I just moved to Chicago, and I’m just calling to see how he’s doing that’s all. Who’s this, if you don’t mind me asking?" She realized she no longer needed her scrambled words on paper.
"I’m his brother Vance. So, what’s your name?" He asked, now interested in the nice sweet voice on the other line.
"I’m Sheena. Could you tell him I called and I’ll call back later."
"What’s the rush? So, how did you meet Jay?"
Sheena stood up and walked towards the sliding door. "Well, I met him about five years ago at this school lecture in Colorado. And to make a long story short, I just graduated from college and me and a friend just moved here to Chicago. And I remember he lived here, so I decided to give him a
call. See how he’s doing."
"So tell me, how do you look?"
"Why does that matter?" Sheena wondered, feeling a little awkward. Realizing he was flirting with her.
"Hey, do you want me to give him the message or not?"
"Ok, well, I’m 5’3. I have dark brown curly hair."
"Is it real?" Vance smirked, wondering if she had fake hair.
"Yes it’s real," Sheena answered with a slight attitude and a frowned up smile.
"And how old are you?"
"I’m twenty-three."
"That’s a perfect age. I bet you look real fine, don’t you?"
"Well I look alright. Look, I don’t mean to cut the conversation short, but I have to go. Could you please tell Jay that Sheena called and that I’ll call him later on?"
"O.K. Sheena, I’ll tell Jay you called. Do you want to leave your number?"
"No that’s alright, just tell him I’ll call back later."
"O.K, I’ll tell him. And I sure can’t wait to meet you."
Sheena was sort of charmed by Vance’s cockiness, but in the same way a little annoyed by it. Shewas happy Jay still had the same number and hoped he’d get her message. That would at least give him time to remember who she was.
There was a knock on the door. "Sheena, can I come in?"
"Yea, Tori, come in."
Tori ran over to the bed and jumped in it, next to Sheena. "So what do think about the house?"
"Y’all have a really nice house. It’s huge. You didn’t tell me your mom was living large like this."
Sheena took another glance around.
       "Well, when I left home to go to Colorado, the house didn’t look all like this. My mom fixed it up a lot over the past years."
Sheena got up and stood in front of Tori. "I called the number." She looked exited.
"Was it right?"
"Yea, but Jay wasn’t home. His brother answered. And boy was he a cocky little ass. You should have heard him. He was asking me all these personal questions about myself. And if I didn’t answer them, he wasn’t gonna give Jay my message."
"Well cockiness is cute sometimes. How did he sound on the phone," Tori wondered with an innocent look.
"He sounded good. He has a deep voice just like I remember Jay’s was."
"So why didn’t you give him the number?" Tori pulled Sheena back on the bed.
"Well, first of all I didn’t know the number, and second of all I want to be the one to call him."
Sheena paused, and her smile went into a disappointed smirk. "Oh yea, I forgot, his brother says he has a girlfriend."
"Shit that don’t mean nothing. It never stopped me. And plus I bet you look better than her anyways," Tori said, while looking in the mirror at herself.
"While I ain’t like you. But maybe it ain’t serious," Sheena thought.
"Well, you and the brother could always get together. And I’ll take Jay." Tori giggled, and turned to see Sheena’s expression.
"Oh, shut up."
"Well, let’s go to the mall or something. Oh yea, come upstairs." Tori joyfully said. "I wanna show you my new Escalade truck my mom bought me for graduation," Tori said, as she pulled Sheena off the bed with both hands.
Jay walked in the front door looking tired and exhausted. He saw Vance asleep on the couch. "Wait up, man." Jay started slapping him back and forth with the couch pillow.
"Hey man. I’m sleeping," Vance stated in a distraught sleepy voice.
"Did mom call? She was suppose to send that computer out here by Fed-Ex."
"No, but some girl named Sheena called." Vance said as he tried to get back comfortable on the couch.
Jay stood there and looked up at the ceiling to think who that might be. "Sheena?" Jay mumbled, scratching the back of his neck. "Did she say anything else?" He wanted to know.
"Colorado, school lecture, long time ago. Somthin’ like that." Vance tossed to the other side.
"Oh yea," he said with a sudden remembrance of the account. "Yea I remember her. She was fine too. I can’t believe she’s calling me after all this time. That was years ago. Where’s her number at?"
Jay started to walk towards the phone.
"She didn’t leave a number. But the number she was calling from should still be on the caller id box."
"Dog, why didn’t you get a number? I always get a number for all your peoples." Jay huffed.
"Like I said man she didn’t leave a number. She said she would call you back. Now let me go back to sleep." Vance put the couch pillow over his face and turned his body sideways towards the front of the couch. "Oh yea, and I told her you was out with your girl." Vance muffled from under the pillow.
"You what?" Jay wanted to pick something up and throw it at him. "See man, why you hatin’ on me like that. Me and Theresa only been together for five months and plus she’s starting to get on my nerves anyway."
Vance lowered the pillow from his face. "Look, I’m sorry man but at first I thought it was a Telemarketer or bill collector. Shit I didn’t know."
Jay went over to the phone to retrieve the number from the caller id box. He found it and started to dial the number. "Damn, the line’s busy, I’ll just call back later or wait for her to call which ever comes first." Jay went and sat on the opposite couch and turned on the TV. He looked over at his
brother across from him, he was already starting to snore. Jay picked up a surf ball on the floor and threw it at Vance’s head. He moved slightly, but it just bounced off and rolled under the table.
 
 

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