He smirked, embarrassed, furrowing his brow, like a gentleman caught in the act. I couldn’t help but smile, maybe showing him a little too much gum and teeth, enjoying the attention of being noticed by such a handsome man. “So what can I do for you Mr. Coffee?” I asked, remembering his cliché–the best things in life are free. I hadn’t been with a man in almost a year. His words held a special meaning to me. I held my son like he was contaminated, trying not to let him put his sticky little fingers on my $180 dollar blouse as my eyes quickly roamed the car looking for the candy apple he had earlier. “Just stopped by to check on you. Hey lil man,” he said, r uf- fling my son’s hair. I could smell his cologne, it was a beautiful fra- grance that seeped inside of me like his imperturbable masculini- ty. Damn he smelled good. “I just thought I’d make good use of your tax dollars by com- ing back to check on you and your son, besides, you never called me.” I looked up at him with his handsome face carved out in the majestic clouds as birds flew overhead, chirping chimes of sum- mer’s reign.
