"All right, chica. I just took you on a brief tour of single-mother hell. Boooring. Now, pleeaaase tell me the latest of diva-hell." She laughed warmly and richly, making Damali join in. "Unlike my story, I know the men are fine! Start there, and work your way out."
Damali sat back in her chair and shook her head, and began munching on chips. "All demons," she said, then laughed hard at the truth in her statement. "Fine and demons. That's all I've met on the road. What can I say?"
"But I know they're rich as shit," Inez said, leaning in. "Gurrrlll... talk to me."
"Wealthy enough to make a sistah act stupid. Crazy, ridiculous amounts of money - spent on pure bullshit. Decadent, girl. I swear to you." Damali laughed, battling not to cry, and slurped her wine. The truth, even a half-truth hidden behind double entendre and the known lack of comprehension of her friend, felt so good. She had to get some of it out, so she chose her words with care.
"Girl, I've seen some mansions that would make the hair stand up on your arms. Chile, please... seen some brothers so fine they could talk your drawers off from across the room. But, you know me, right? Had to drive a stake in one motherfucker's heart. Poof," she said, flicking her fingers in the air. "His ass was dust. What can I say?"
Inez put her head down on the table and screamed, then sat, laughing hard with Damali, and slapped her a high five. "Oh, my God, Damali, what did you do to the man - and tell me all about him."
"In truth... he was tall, like six somethin', had jet black wavy hair, looked like a tall version of Prince... gurl, had it all, even a panther in his house - "
"Shut. Up!"
"Yup. Crazy. A security entourage that was not to be messed with... the brother was fine. I'll give him that. Old New Orleans money." Damali shook her head. "Uhmmph, ummmph, ummph. I almost went down for the brother."
Inez's eyes sparkled. She let her voice drop to a low whisper, looked around the kitchen like there might be someone listening, and giggled. "Fifty-million-dollar question. Did you give him any?"
Damali leaned her head back on the wall and laughed, and shut her eyes. "You know me better than that." She sat up and winked at Inez. "He almost took the draws - I'm not gonna lie. But, I wasn't having it."
Inez folded her arms over her chest. "Gurl, I could never figure your ass out. If it had been me - shit. Especially if he was all that."
She was laughing, but it was a weak chuckle. What her friend said made her blood run cold for a moment. Yeah, if Inez had been there, Nuit would have, no doubt about it - then her girl would have been dinner. Time to change the subject.
"All right. So, that one was a bastard. But, I know there's got to be somebody special on the horizon by now... fine as you are? So, who's the latest?"
The question made Damali pause and become very, very still as she sipped her wine more carefully. "You know me. Working all the time, getting ready for gigs. Working on new cuts... there's, well, there's just never time for that. I have to stay focused. Got a lotta people depending on me."
The frown on Inez's face wasn't one of disappointment; it was one of concern. "Girl, seriously, all work and no play will make you snap."
"Yeah, I know. I take breaks, go to the clubs, hang out and stuff and - "
"All them fine men around you, when's the last time you had some?"
Damali just stared at her girlfriend and then at the table. A loose piece of linoleum captured her interest and made her pick at it. "I haven't... I mean... I don't go there, don't take myself through changes like that over no man. My work is... girl... you know me."
A pair of wide eyes stared at her as Inez put her hand over her heart and stood up fast, almost toppling the chair behind her. "You mean you still haven't... Damali, stop lying!"
"I'm into my music, my work, you know... when the right person, or situation... girl, it ain't no thang."
Damali watched her girlfriend's eyes fill as Inez backed up to the kitchen sink.
"Oh, my God," Inez whispered. "You never got over it, did you?"
"No, I - that's not the reason I haven't found anybody..." Damali's gaze locked with her girlfriend's as Inez's tears began to fall.
For a brief moment, neither woman spoke. All the noise, and even the blare of the small kitchen television on the counter sounded like silence. It was only the two of them, breathing, staring, remembering, and holding the secret. Then suddenly Inez broke down in tears.
"It's all my fault!"
Damali was on her feet in seconds and had Inez in her arms, stroking her hair.
"No, it's not," she said, her voice mellow, healing, trying to chase away Inez's pain.
The foul image immediately slithered into her mind despite her efforts to banish it. She was in a basement, bent over the washing machine. She was jamming to her music, hadn't even heard him come up behind her. Something male and strong and reeking with liquor held her like an anchor around the waist. She pivoted instantly and saw a pair of reddened, bloodshot eyes. He smiled. He was so tall, so much bigger, and he loomed over her tiny frame.
Her mind had processed the threat in milliseconds as his grip tightened and his sweaty hands pulled her closer, sealing the gap between them. Terror zinged to her shoulder, lifted her arm, and wrenched her waist into another hard pivot. Her elbow connected with his Adam's apple. In an instant, a lead pipe from the shelf was in her hands. From some unknown reservoir of survival instinct, she went for his jaw, swinging the pipe like a baseball bat when he stumbled backward, pipe connecting with bone and shattering it, then she'd gone for the forearm that had extended with rage. Blood from his mouth splattered the floor, and she ran. Basements, lairs, bloodshot eyes, gleaming eyes, massive strength against the smaller female form, human jaws, vampire incisors, they were one and the same.