CAGED

Fourteen

I slowly turn and let out a laugh when I fully face him. "How long have you been there?"

He begins to move in. " Long enough to see a different part of you."

Suddenly lacking words, I walk to the chips and pick it from the floor then I return to the window and begin to chew carelessly with my eyes in his direction.

Dwayne keeps his palms on the back of the long Sofa, facing the television - facing me.

"Where is your family?" he asks.

I say nothing.

"Were you married, Imani?"

That question makes me smile and then I exhale. Some of the weight dissolves and spreads again inside me returning to their crooks.

"Well, did you have a child?"

I do not understand the pamphlet his questions are coming from. The absurdity is pushing me to laugh out loud. He seems to be randomly throwing out these questions expecting one to hook.

"You'll have to give me something else," he says, coming closer to me." The last lie you told has expired."

I place a hand over my mouth. "Oops, too bad."

"If you think I'm a problem here, then I'll go," I say.

"Then you should," he says, matching my stare. " Leave tomorrow."

I did not expect him to agree to sending me back to the streets but he seems to think I am running away from something that I do not want to talk about. But what's wrong with secrets?

He is standing close to the television now. He bends and reconnects the wires then sits on the single sofa. He is waiting for me to do something, probably fall into his bait. I weigh my options and decide.

"I had a daughter. One day she bled out wearing my dress. I have no husband."

I wish the lights were on so I could see if he believed me.

"Every other thing I told you is true."

He is silent for a while. He could be asleep there and I won't even know. 

I sniff. "I'm no danger. I just need this shelter."

He gets to his feet and disconnects the television that it starts to cackle.

"You should have some sleep, Imani," he says. He walks to me and I stare back . He's so close that I will be stupid to fake a cry.

"When you say something true, I will know."

" Your girlfriend is ugly."

I can tell he's amused by the snort he lets out and the way he bends his head.

"She's just a lay."

"A lay is not someone you sleep with more than once."

" You are a lay then?" he says, " my lay."

He says it hoping to annoy me but I smile. " If you are desperate to give me a title."

He shakes his head and steps back. " It won't happen again."

I laugh. " I have a feeling that as your honey stick has dipped into my honey pot, we're going to be doing that more."

Dwayne picks up the remote before going to reconnect back the television. He settles on a couch and throws his legs on a table.