"What are you smiling like a doofus for?" my friend Jasmine asked.
I looked up from my phone. "Huh? Nothing, no reason," I said, putting my phone face down on my bed.
"OK, so this Odysseus guy is a real dick, right? Can we all agree on that?" my friend Courtney asked as she scribbled notes into her binder.
"What are you talking about? He's the hero of the story," Jasmine said.
"Hero? How is he the hero? He pretends to sleep while his army gets murdered by a raging cyclops. Like, wake everyone up and fight back, don't just sit there and let them die."
My phone buzzed. I picked it up and read the text message.
Jasmine let out an exasperated sigh. "He was playing possum because the cyclops locked his army in the cave with a giant boulder and Odysseus knew that only the cyclops could move it again. If he woke his army to kill the cyclops then... there goes Hailey smiling at her phone like an idiot again. Did you get a boyfriend on not tell us?"
I put my phone down. "What? No, sorry, I'm listening."
"What were we just talking about?" Jasmine asked.
"Odysseus being a dick," I said.
"See? Hailey agrees with me," Courtney said.
"Nooo, she hasn't been listening and probably didn't bother to read the homework either. What's gotten into you?"
My hunky black neighbor. Twice now
. "Nothing," I said.
"I can tell when you're lying and you're definitely lying. Plus, you never smile at your phone, you only brood at it," Courtney said.
I rolled my eyes. "Ugh, fiiine, I was texting Mr. Chapman," I admitted.
"Mr. Chapman?" Jasmine asked, furrowing her eyebrow. Her eyes widened. "You got hunky black guy's number?!" she shouted.
"Shhh! Not so loud!" I hissed. "Yes, we exchanged numbers last week."
"What the hell Hailey, why have we not been part of this?" Courtney asked, standing up from my desk in the corner and jumping on to the bed to look over my shoulder. I turned the screen off on my phone. "Oh come on, show us," she whined.
"It's not even anything exciting," I said.
"Then show us!" Courtney insisted.
"I asked what his favorite ice cream was and he said vanilla with strawberries."
"Is that supposed to be a euphemism for your pale ass and red hair?" Courtney asked.
"What? No! I don't think so."
"What did you say your favorite ice cream was?" Jasmine asked.
"Chocolate and hot fudge."
"You two are gross. Do you do butt stuff?" Jasmine asked.
"WHAT?! No, I like chocolate ice cream! That's literally all I ever order!"
"Yeeeah, riiight," Courtney said.
"Oh my god, this is why I didn't involve you two. I've been having perfectly normal text conversations with this man all week and the second you find out it becomes about butt stuff."
"I actually like anal too, I'm not judging," Courtney said.
"NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT ANAL!" I laughed.
My phone buzzed again.
Courtney snatched my phone and tried to read the text. "Ugh, who uses face locking?" she groaned, trying to hold the camera up to my face.
I put one hand over my face and held out the other for her to give my phone back. She plopped it in my hand and I unlocked it to read the text. I frowned.
"What is it?" Jasmine asked.
"He wants to know if I wanna get ice cream. Like, now."
"So go!" Courtney said. Jasmine nodded.
"No, I can't leave you guys. We have to finish this assignment anyways."
"Ask if we can go with," Courtney suggested.
"I don't know if that's a good idea," I said.
"Why not? I'd love to meet him," Jasmine said.
"Me too!" Courtney added.
"I don't know if he wants to meet either of you," I laughed.
"Bitch!" Courtney laughed.
"Just ask him," Jasmine said. I looked into both of their eyes.
"Promise to behave?" I asked. They both nodded emphatically. I sighed and sent him the text. A moment later he responded.
"Well? What did he say?" Courtney asked.
"He says come on over."
Courtney and Jasmine got excited and immediately my anxiety levels shot through the roof. I still didn't know Mr. Chapman very well. I didn't even know his first name, but now I was bringing my friends to his place for ice cream. All of our interactions have been sexual in nature, apart from the texting we've been doing over the past week.
I had learned a lot about him in that time. I learned he liked dogs and cats equally, though I was firmly a dog person. I learned he hated most cop shows on TV because they were never accurate. I asked if he liked Brooklyn 99 and he said he'd never tried it, so my plan was to introduce him to it soon. I learned his mother was a successful lawyer and his father was a plastic surgeon.
Tragically, they both died in a car accident when he was twenty. They left him a sizable sum of money that he invested in ways that allowed him to afford his lifestyle even on a cop's salary. I learned that he ran track in High School but wanted to play football except he wasn't coordinated enough. I knew a lot of mundane details about him now. The only reason I didn't know his name was because I was too afraid to ask.
The three of us touched up our makeup, grabbed our jackets and went downstairs. Mr. Chapman's house was next door, but we had to help sell our cover story. My mom and dad were watching TV in the living room as we put our shoes on.
"Where are you three off to?" my mom asked.
"We're gonna walk to Seven Eleven and pick up some ice cream," I said as I opened the door to usher Courtney and Jasmine out.
"Bring me back some Chunky Monkey?" my dad asked.
"Sure. Anything for you mom?"
"No, I'm good. You three have fun and be safe," she said. I left the house and shut the door behind me.
The three of us walked down the sidewalk toward Mr. Chapman's house. His lights were on and a black Lincoln was parked in his drive way. I glanced back at my house, checking the windows to make sure neither of my parents were peering outside for some reason. Once I had confirmed the coast was clear, we turned up Mr. Chapman's sidewalk and rang the doorbell.
He opened the door and smiled at us. "Hello ladies, it's nice to finally meet you all," he said, pushing out his hand.
"Courtney, Jasmine, this is Officer Chapman," I said.
"You don't have to call me that when I'm not on duty," he smiled.
Courtney shook his hand and Jasmine waved from behind me.
"I've heard a lot about both of you, it's nice to put a face to the names. Please, come in," he said.
The three of us walked in and kicked off our shoes. Courtney and Jasmine both gawked at how nice his house was.
"Miss Hailey, good to see you again," he said, putting his arm around me for a hug. As we separated his face lingered next to mine, like he wanted to kiss me. He glanced over at Courtney and Jasmine as they took off their shoes and decided not to. Too early in our relationship, I suppose. If you could call casual sex and a little bit of texting a relationship.
"Go make yourselves comfortable in the living room and I'll be right there," Mr. Chapman said before heading toward the kitchen.
Courtney turned to Jasmine and mouthed 'Miss Hailey' before covering her mouth in mock surprise. Jasmine put both of her hands to her cheeks and formed her lips into an 'O'. I smacked both of them on the shoulders, trying not to laugh as I lead the way into the living room. I sat down on the big black couch with Courtney and Jasmine on either side of me.
Mr. Chapman came back from the kitchen rolling a drink cart with bowls, spoons, two buckets of ice cream (vanilla and chocolate) and a whole smattering of toppings. Fresh fruit, sprinkles, chocolate and caramel sauce, two different kinds of cookies, you name it. He really went for it.
"Who would like to scoop first?" he asked with a smile. I smiled back. He was such a sweetheart sometimes. And he could bang me into a coma. Find me a more perfect man.
"Can we see your dick?" Courtney asked.
"Courtney, what the hell!" I hissed, smacking her shoulder and turning ten different shades of red as Mr. Chapman's eyes widened.
"What? Your parents think we're getting ice cream," Courtney said.
"We
are
getting ice cream!" I said, pointing to the beautiful cart of ice cream in front of us.
"I think she means we don't have much time," Jasmine chimed in.
"They think we're walking to Seven Eleven, we have, like, an hour!" I said. I faced Mr. Chapman. "I am
sooo
sorry my friends are being this rude, I will never bring them again. We're leaving."