Drizzled (BWWM)

Brown Sugar

Above is what I imagine Addy looks like.

Addy   

"Keep your pretty little face in 'em books Addy, I know you got top marks but I don't want you slippin' on your holiday."

"Mama if I get any closer to my book I'll be catching Moby Dick," I said from the stool behind the counter. Mama shook her head and continued to the back to the kitchen of Brown Sugar Bakery.

My mothers always been like that, too involved with my personal life but she was proud that her daughter made it to Spelman University. It had been two years since I came back to Alabama but nothing had changed unfortunately. Things were still pretty bad for African Americans but I had almost forgotten how it felt. Spelman was an all negro, all woman's university and my two years there taught me that I had things to say and they were just as important as anything a white man had to say.

I hadn't been back in town for long before mama took me to the bakery to work. I didn't mind though, looking around at the cakes and their pretty frostings calmed me. I never learned how to bake them because mama said that was domestic work and she wanted more for me. Instead I worked the counter as the cashier and worked on my maths.

I had my face in my book when I heard the ping of the bell signaling we had a customer. I looked up to see two white women dressed in baby blue identical dresses. Everything about them was dainty but I had seen women like them and I'd learned that they could be the cruelest women of all.

I straightened up and folded the corner of my book then set it down. "How can I help you ladies?"

I watched one of the women who looked to be younger walk around the bakery. She stopped occasionally to stare at several cakes. Her mother walked up to the register in the entitled way only a woman with money could.

"My daughter is looking for a wedding cake and Brown Sugar came highly recommended. She would like something white, frilly and well she can tell you what flavor she wants. Money is not an issue so please show us everything you have to offer." Her blonde hair bounced as she talked and her blue eyes shone with excitement. I was willing to bet that this wedding meant more to her than her daughter.

"I can get out the design book for you to both look at and I'll also get my mother, she has a talent for helping customers find what they are looking for." Truthfully I didn't want to deal with the mother-daughter duo. I hurried into the back to get mama from the kitchen. I found her baking up a storm as she hummed to herself.

"We have customers in the front looking for a wedding cake," I said from the doorway. Mama turned around and shook her head.

"You couldn't help them," mama was holding a spatula in one hand while the other was on her aproned hip.

"It's a wedding cake and I don't know how the options might have changed in two years," I smiled sweetly as her hard look softened.

"You're lucky baby, because I don't have a lot of orders today, but honey you're supposed to be helpin'." I tried to mask my relief with an apologetic look but she saw right through that. Mama sighed and took off her apron.

Right away my mama's famous, wide grin pasted itself onto her face as she emerged from the kitchen with me and greeted the women. I went back to my perch on the stool and just caught the surprised look on the lady's face. That was another thing I'd forgotten happens a lot when I was around my mama. You see my dad was very light and I took after him. My mother on the other hand looked like smooth dark chocolate.

As a kid I didn't understand why people treated me nicer than they did her. When my mother asked me if I wanted to go to a white school when I got older I still didn't understand. In my mind I was just as black as my family and I never wanted hide that. She asked me the question with tears in her eyes and reassured me that she wouldn't hate me. I cried in her arms as I told her I could never turn my back on her just so I could be passing (passing as white).

I watched with little interest as the mother recovered and offered her name. By the way my mother straightened up even more, I could tell they were important. I wanted to get back to my other world so picked up my book and got lost in it. I didn't hear someone else walk in until they cleared their throat.

I finished the sentence I was on with annoyance, folded the page and looked up. In a split moment I had forgotten my name because I didn't expect to see someone so attractive.

"Moby Dick huh, what part are you on?" My mind went into panic mode,if I couldn't remember my name I sure as hell didn't remember the plot.

"That uhm part with the whale," I was mortified. In front of me was a handsome white man with the most interesting green eyes. His black hair was gelled to the side with a couple of hairs curling onto his forehead and.... I realized I was staring.

"Addy could you go into the back and get out the second design book, Mrs. Hadler and her daughter haven't quite found something they like." The sickeningly sweet tone my mother was using told me she was pissed they hadn't picked their cake already.

"Please wait, I'll.. I'll just be a moment," I took the chance to steal away to the kitchen and breath.

Lawed, my heart was beating loudly in my ears and my face was getting hot. I went to the sink and splashed some water on my face then quickly dried off. Nothing good could come of the way I was acting. When I got myself together, I grabbed the book and I walked out of the kitchen, in a hurry to gave my mother the book.

Get a hold of yourself. You can't like this man, he's white and you are black. You don't want trouble.

I didn't want trouble. I remembered how some of my friends ended up going steady with white men and how some girls got to brave and flaunted their relationships. Ruby, my best friend, was one of them and one night she had come over to my dorm with two shiners and a bloody lip, crying her eyes out through their black and blue puffiness. Some white men thought it was wrong for her to be getting courted by a white man. The broken look on her face was something I could never forget, because even the wounds on her face couldn't hide her heartache.

I walked back to my stool behind the counter and sat down, looking up a the man. I regained my composure and smiled. "Sir, how may I help you?"

"Well my mother and sister are already being helped... but," the man leaned in with a lopsided grin that almost made my smile falter, "Addy if you would let me see you again I'd consider myself a very satisfied customer."

Was he flipping serious?