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“Adrienne, are you sure you aren’t interested in him, maybe a little?” Charlene asked, biting her lip. “You have mentioned more than once or twice how fine he is.”
“Charlene, I ain’t thinking about Lloyd, and you know I love Mel.”
“I hear you, girl. I hear you, but we both know sometimes love don’t have nothing to do with it.” Adrienne huffed beneath Charlene’s hands. She was blotting her wet hair with the towel.
“And besides,” Charlene continued, “Mel won’t believe you and neither do I. You practically break out in a sweat every time you say Lloyd’s name.”
Adrienne shook her head emphatically. “That’s not true.” But it was. He affected her in a way she didn’t know how to understand. At first she had thought it was simply nostalgia, some desire to relive that part of her youth, do it differently; but now she didn’t know what to think. Every time he touched her—even the most innocent of brushes—left her remembering something she was beginning to think was no more with Mel.
Charlene folded her arms across her chest. “Cut it out.”
Adrienne could not look Charlene in the eyes, but she still refused to give in. “I enjoy his friendship and that’s it.”
“Pure crap. You know what I think?”
“What?” asked Adrienne.
“I think that you would like to lay your head on Lloyd Cooper’s broad chest and run your hands down those sleek dark thighs.” Charlene was laughing now as she blocked Adrienne’s attempt to leave the bathroom. “I think that you have fantasies of him holding you in those muscular arms.”
Adrienne tried to choke back a giggle but she was unsuccessful. “It sounds like my brother is the one with the problem here. You were definitely checking Lloyd out when he came over here. I’m going to call Dan and tell him all about it, right now.”
“Don’t you dare!” Her face grew serious. “But really, Adrienne, I know you don’t want to hear it, but I am a social worker, and I’ve seen so many families go down this road, and—”
“Charlene, please. No psyche-speak now. And anyway,” Adrienne said, tying the towel tighter around her head, “I have a phone call to make to my brother. He needs to know that you thought Lloyd’s thighs were sleek.”
Adrienne ran from the bathroom and headed for the kitchen phone with Charlene hot on her heels. They wrestled playfully with the phone for a second, and then Adrienne sat on the dining room chair as her sister-in-law rooted around in a closet and emerged with a handheld blow dryer and an electric curler. She plugged them in and took the towel off Adrienne’s head.
“Don’t worry, Charlene. I’ve got the situation with Lloyd well under control, and even if something did happen, Mel would deserve it. I don’t believe he didn’t sleep with Big Boy’s cousin.”
“We don’t really know what happened between Mel and that woman. It’s best not to jump to conclusions—or jump into a situation with Lloyd you may regret sooner than later.”
“I know in my heart, Charlene. Anyway, I don’t want to talk abo
ut Mel. And no more of this booty talk about Lloyd. I need your advice about something nice that I want to do for him.”
Charlene looked wary. “What is it, and why do you want to do it?”
Adrienne settled back in the chair as Charlene untied the towel and began to comb the tangles out. “The way I see it is like this. It’s going to take me a long time to pay Lloyd back all that money. Even then, it won’t really mean a lot to him because he isn’t going to really miss the cash in the first place. So, I’m thinking of using the Internet to try and track down at least one of his sisters. I can’t think of a better way to say thank you than that.”
Charlene agreed. “Well, although I don’t approve of you accepting the money, that is a wonderful idea, but if you find an address or phone number, don’t set up any kind of reunion. He may need to do that in his own way, on his own terms. Just give him whatever information you find and leave it at that.”
“That’s exactly how I planned to handle it. Do you have any tips on where to start? I’ve gotten lost in the Internet maze quite a few times.”
“At Social Services, we use People Search. First you go on the Yahoo, click on People Search, and then follow the steps. It’s really easy.”
“How much does it cost?”
“It’s free.”
So the following week, Adrienne took the check from Lloyd, gave him a grateful kiss—on the cheek—and stayed late one night to search the World Wide Web for her old friend’s family. The search engine took her to the People Search home page. It was a simple form. All she had to do was enter the first and last names, city and state, then click on “Search.” The results yielded no match for the name Noney Jenkins. There were eleven matches for Denise Jenkins in the New York City area. Ten Pamelas, seven Annies, and eleven Brendas. That meant she had twenty-four phone calls to make. She was tired, but it was best to make the calls in the evening while people were at home. She started dialing.
Adrienne and Lloyd crossed paths several times the next day, but she didn’t want to give him the exciting news while he had business to take care of. He would need some silence and privacy in case his emotions got the better of him. She simply whispered, “I have a secret to tell you, but it’ll have to wait until after five.” When he pressed her for more information, she only smiled at him mysteriously. “I’ll meet you in your office at five-thirty,” she told him.
Lloyd called at four. “I have an emergency meeting outside the office. Can you tell me this good news around six over a drink at my apartment?”
Maybe Charlene was right. He did expect her to sleep with him in return for the money. “Why can’t we talk somewhere else?” Adrienne asked suspiciously.
A lazy chuckle came from his throat. “My God, Adrienne! I thought we were long past this issue. I just want to show off my new home, but if you really don’t trust me, I’ll meet you back here.”
