The Woman
By Vincent Chapman Sr.
The northwest side of the District of Columbia was calm despite the suit and ties making their way back to their suburban homes. Between the buildings, gusts of wind not only fluttered the clothing of the bystanders, but also carried the scent of food that was being cooked at the local restaurants. Horns were being honked. The worn brakes of the taxis squeaked as they hurled pass driver's that obviously didn't know how to manuver in the city.
I was walking down M street when this beautiful woman had caught my eye. Her physique was perfect. Even though her attire didn't look up-to-date, that still did not damage her sexiness. As I approached the newsstand, she glanced up at me, then darted her eye's back towards a woman's magazine. Not wanting to play myself out of position, I walked straight to the rack and picked up an issue of the Source, a hip-hop magazine. After flipping through a few pages, there was a tap on my shoulder's. My heart thumped. I just knew it was her.
"Hey buddy. No previews," the employee worded, as I turned around.
I looked at him hard, before I shoved the magazine back into it's slot. I wasn't going to purchase it anyway. It was just an excuse to stop, so I could check out the woman who had captured my attention.
"Where did she.....," I cut myself off mentally. She was gone. I placed my hand above my eyebrows to block the piercing sunlight and looked towards the left, then towards the right.
"Looking for me," this soft voice had said sweetly in my ear.
I spun around swiftly on my heels, causing the broken glass particles to crunch underneath my soles.
"Not exactly. I was looking. Ummm. I mean. The cab," her smile told me that she knew I was lying. The way that I stuttered flourished that fact.
"Hi, my name is Cindy."
I extended my hand and introduced myself. Her hands were soft. Eye's penetrating. Instantly I felt like a kid looking at an assortment of candies.
"You're so beautiful," I confessed. My palms started to perspire, along with the pit of my arms.
"You don't look to bad yourself," she explained, looking me up and down.
"Do you smell that?"
"What?"
"Nachos and cheese."
Cindy looked toward the vendor. Her nostrils flared as she breathed in the scent that was coming from across the street.
"Yeah."
"Hungry?"
"Ummmmm."
"Come on, I won't bite," I said clenching my teeth together like a tiger.
She looked at me and gave me that look. Before we strolled off, I caught the news stand employee staring at me out of the corner of his eye.
Two weeks went pass. Every other day I would see her at the same spot, looking at the same magazine. After a few dates, she decided she would come over to my place and have dinner. After we ate, we sat down and watched a movie. A movie that she stared blankly at.
Her lips were so full and luscious, I had no choice but to kiss her. Our body's locked and we kissed for a few moments, sweating and moaning as we squirmed on th couch. I already said to myself that I was going to claim her. Show her off to the fella's.
Stuttering, I asked her if she wanted to have sex. Again, and like usual, she gave me that look.
"I 'll be right back," I said getting up, racing towards the bedroom.
It didn't take me long to find a condom, which was buried underneath my sock's, in the drawer. When I retured to the livingroom, Cindy was gone. I thought she was hiding, but after looking around, that notion was nullified. One hour had passed. Two, then three. Before I knew it, I was drunk, looking out of the window as the sun began to rise. I was hurt. Many things had crossed my mind. Calling her was impossible, because she refused to give me her number. I didn't even know where she resided at.
Later that evening, I made it a point to stroll to the newsstand to see if I would run into her there. To my amazement, the grumpy employee wasn't there, so I decided to lurk around a bit. After fifteen minutes or so, I purchased a Washington Post and left feeling empty.
"It can't be," I said to myself, staring at the paper.
The photo's of Cindy and the grumpy employer was placed side by side. Behind them was the news stand. I was confused. The headline read:
"Father and daughter killed. Five years later, case still unsolved."
I was in love with a corpse.