Method of Desire

Chapter 19

We sat at a booth in the diner. It was a curved booth, Marlon in the center while Kim and I sat on either side. We all ate breakfast food. Marlon had white the appetite.

"Marlon, we go way back." Kim boasted. "I remember when our show first opened..."

"You mean a year ago?" Marlon asked with a risen brow.

"Well— it's about to be two years. It opened in 1947 and..." Kim began.

"... it's about to be 1949. Wow, two years, we've known each other a lifetime." Marlon answered back sarcastically. Kim pierced her lips together as she sipped coffee.

"I haven't known you long, Marlon. But you sure know how to show interesting colors." I glared at him. I couldn't believe he had me on a double date, double being that he had two of us. I was embarrassed, and I wanted to leave.

"You're the best color of them all, I'm sure." Kim joked and Marlon shot her a stare. She chuckled as she big into a piece of bacon.

"You know, it's nice that you have a girl whose willing to sleep with you on and off the stage. I'm sure she's very useful." I said loud and clear. A waitress wiping down the nearby bar across the room stopped and looked up at us.

"Why don't we get a milkshake?" Kim said as she waved over the waitress. She ordered her shake then looked over to me.

"So, which part of Harlem are you from, Patricia?" Kim asked as she looked over to me.

"I'm actually from Westchester." I corrected her and her face turned pale.

"Miami." She said with her chin high. Marlon laughed out loud.

"But you're from Detroit." He interjected. "Don't throw shit if you don't want it thrown back."

"You know what Marlon? You're very crude." Kim protested.

"And you liked that about me, sweet cakes." He mumbled back.

"Maybe I should go." I whispered as I began to gather my things.

"Sure." Kim agreed.
"No!" Marlon shouted at the same time.

Marlon held my hand and I looked him in the eyes. I sighed.

"It was different when we... you know. That other time. But this, Marlon, this isn't what I was envisioning when it came to us." I looked him in the eye. "You either have me or you don't. But I don't want to share you with all of goddamned Manhattan!"

I stood up and walked out of that diner, head up and heart a little broken. I could see Kim's reflection in the windows in front of me, and she wore a mischievous smile.

Standing outside while attempting to hail myself a cab, I heard Marlon's dress shoes pitter patter on the sidewalk behind me.

"Wait!" Marlon shouted. He stood next to me, holding my waist and making me turn to him.

"I can't do this, Marlon." I insisted. "I can't always be along for your wild, and crowded life."

"Let me make it up to you." He said and I shook my head. A cab pulled up next to us.

"It's too late for that, Marlon." I insisted boldly, then I got in the cab and zoomed away.

No one would ever imagine my next destination. I looked at the old, wooden apartment door in front of me. I paused as I lifted my fist to knock, then finally swallowed my hesitation and doubt.

The door opened, and the kind brown haired man I've only known for a few weeks answered. His glasses were on, he was in his pajamas, and he held a book of poetry.

"James." I smiled and he smiled back at me.

"Pat." He said, pulling me into a warm hug. He squeezed my tight, in the most innocent way. "You smell so nice, as usual."

I laughed at his comment. I stepped in and there sat on his couch was another woman of color, she had short curly hair like mine. She was fairly lighter in complexion, but nonetheless beautiful (as black women tend to be).

"Patricia, I'd like you to meet Eartha. She's a friend of Marlon and I." James said as he motioned toward her.

"Hello, darling." She said. She had the most peculiar yet fascinating voice.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Patricia." I smiled as I sat next to her and held out a hand. She slyly shook my hand.

"Well aren't you dolled up tonight?" She observed with a bright smile. "Seductive, you show just enough to keep them wanting more."

I laughed and James sat on the other side of us.

"Eartha is a good friend of mine, she's here often." James smiled. I got silent, it ran in my mind that they could be possible lovers. It was as if Eartha read my mind.

"Only on Sundays." She joker and we all laughed. "So tell me, darling, why are you all dressed up."

"Yeah, why are you made up like this?" James asked. I pulled out the pamphlet from the play and Eartha nodded understandingly.

"Marlon. You're under his spell too." She smirked. "Well, so is all of Manhattan."

She had a vitality about her, a magnetic energy. She wasn't hyper, but she was interesting enough to keep you hooked. If you ever stood in a room with her, you couldn't look at anyone else.

"...and Brooklyn, and Queens, and Staten Island... and the Bronx..." Eartha dragged on and we all laughed again.

"I've been hanging low from Marlon lately." James quietly said as he shuffled with the book in his hand. "You see, he hasn't been calling me lately."

"Oh James, he never did. He always was removed and distant. This is what he does to people." Eartha noted.

"Have you...?" I asked and Eartha burst out laughing.

"Once." She said while holding up a finger. "I've had better overseas."

James and I looked at each other as we laughed.

"We were just hanging around tonight, Pat. How about you stay for a bit. We can read some more poetry." James said with a smile holding up his book.

"I don't have pajamas." I said looking down at myself. "I'm in pretty uncomfortable clothing."

"Nonsense! You have a birthday suit for a reason!" Eartha theatrically said while waving her arms. She was a real riot.

That night, we sat on James' couch while the dim lamp light shined on us. And we all just enjoyed each other's company, in the most simplest of ways.

I also made a new friend, and her name was Eartha Kitt.