Brickhouse Page 4

  Leila grunted as she fell to the floor, humming along with the song. “She’s a brick … house. She’s mighty, mighty just lettin’ it all hang out …”

  This was her world–at least five times a week–with other flawless bodies looking to achieve a higher level of perfection–looking to gain the Nona Simms athletic yet curvy body.

  She grumbled through the forty-five minutes of crunches, leg lifts and overall pain. Her body screamed, but Leila pushed harder as she remembered the Knick’s City Dancer she’d caught chilling out with Shawn in a rear booth at her favorite Houston’s restaurant two weeks before.

  Even the warm-down hurt, and when Leila completed her last stretch, she let out a deep breath. She didn’t have the strength to clap with the others when Nona yelled, “That’s a wrap.”

  Leila lay on her back–spread eagle–as others moved toward the locker area.

  “Are you going to stay there for the rest of the day?” Anna stood above her with her arms crossed. Her stance made her petite, five-foot-four frame look much taller.

  Leila didn’t move, not even as people stepped over her, and not even when Toni wandered over to the two of them.

  “What are you guys up to?” Toni asked, still breathing as if she hadn’t stopped working out.

  “Well, first I have to get Leila up from this floor.” Anna laughed.

  “I don’t plan on moving … ever.”

  They all laughed.

  Anna said, “Since I have the two of you together, let me ask you something.”

  Leila struggled to sit up as Toni joined her on the floor. “Sounds serious,” Leila said, looking up at her friend.

  “Oh, no.” Anna waved her hand in the air. “I just wanted to invite you to lunch at my house next Thursday. I’m starting a new foundation–a literacy program for children–and I need your ideas.” She paused and smiled. “So, as the mayor’s very significant other, can I bribe you ladies with a wonderful lunch at Gracie Mansion–low calorie, of course.”

  “Count me in,” Leila said. It was always a reality check to Leila whenever she was reminded that her fun and humble friend and workout buddy was New York City royalty.

  “Me too.” Toni glanced at her watch and jumped up. “I’ve got an interview with People.” She glanced at Nona, who was talking to a client. “Our leader is still holding court. Tell her I’ll catch her later,” Toni said before she rushed from the room.

  A moment later Nona glided toward them, and Leila shook her head. “You just taught this class, and there’s not a sweat gland on you that’s been used.”

  Nona took a swallow from the water bottle she carried, then chuckled.

  “It’s not fair,” Leila whined.

  “Get over it.” Nona tapped her friend playfully on top of her head. “Anyway, are you guys having lunch here?”

  Anna said, “That’s a good idea. There’s something I want to talk to you about anyway.”

  Nona turned to Leila.

  Leila stood, shaking her head at the same time. “Can’t do it today. I’ve got to … get home. The kids … I planned to do … something with them,” she stammered.

  “Hey, I wish you’d told me,” Nona said. “I would have loved to have seen Steph and Shawn Jr. You know what? Kelly is coming down in a little while. She’s supposed to go to the movies, but she’d love to get together with you and the kids …”

  “Oh, no,” Leila said before Nona could finish. “We couldn’t do a group thing today.” She lowered her eyes and spoke to the floor. “What we’re going to do … it’s been planned for a while. And I don’t want you to have to drive all the way out to Jersey … you know.”

  Nona squinted. “Okay. We’ll do it some other time.” She stared at Leila. “I guess it’s just you and me.” She spoke to Anna, but her eyes were still on Leila.

  Leila looked up. “We’ll get together soon. Next weekend, maybe. Let’s check our calendars.”

  Nona nodded.

  Leila said, “Well, I have to get out of here.” She took only a few steps before she turned back. “Nona, what’s up with Allen?”

  There was silence for a moment, before Anna strolled away from her friends, to the other side of the studio. Both Nona and Leila followed Anna with their eyes. When Nona finally turned to Leila, she grimaced.

  I’m sorry, Leila mouthed.

  “What do you mean, what’s wrong with Allen?” Nona whispered.

  Leila exhaled. She was glad Nona wasn’t going to lecture her about mentioning Allen in front of Anna. It was so hard, since they’d all been friends and spent so much time at Brickhouse.

  Leila said, “Allen seems different. I worked weights with him yesterday and he was … I don’t know … weird.”

  “He’s fine. There’s just a lot of business stuff going on right now.”

  “I know, but this seemed … personal for some reason. Like something is really bothering him.”

  Nona frowned. “He hasn’t mentioned anything to me.”

  Leila shrugged. “Okay. Maybe he was just having a bad day. I’ll see you on Monday.” She paused and glanced at Anna, who stood waiting across the room. “See you, Anna.”

  Anna waved without a smile.

  Leila glanced at Nona before she dashed from the studio. She felt bad for Anna, but she couldn’t spend this time thinking about her friend. She had big plans for today.

  In the locker room, as the heat of the shower’s water hit her, Leila thought about lingering, but she stepped from the stall after just a few minutes, knowing that sometime this afternoon, she’d be back in the shower again. The warm, titillating thoughts of the afternoon delight that lay ahead brought goose bumps to her skin. She dressed and hurried outside, through the full parking lot. As she put her key in her car, her eyes wandered to the Lexus SUV parked next to her. A man and woman were tangled in the backseat, but suddenly dipped from her view.

  Her face warmed with the rush of blood, and she looked away. She hated seeing that. It only reminded her of the times she might have been seen. In the same parking lot. In the same position.

  She swerved from the parking lot and pushed thoughts of the couple in the car, and Anna, and Allen, and Nona from her mind. Most importantly, she pressed thoughts of her husband, Shawn Lomax, far away. She turned her G500 Mercedes truck down Second Avenue, driving in the opposite direction of her Alpine, New Jersey, home and grinning as she fantasized about the time that awaited her.

  three

  Allen leaned against the edge of his black lacquer desk. “I really like these ideas, Isaac.” He flipped through the pages of the proposal for the Golden Citizens Health Guild. “You put a lot of thought into this.”

  Isaac grinned.

  “I particularly like the health screenings. Anything we can do to educate our people.” Allen tossed the proposal onto his desk. “Black people just don’t have access to the medical information we need.”

  Isaac nodded and leaned his broad shoulders against the back of the chair. “I want to teach some of the senior citizen exercise classes.”

  Allen laughed as he looked at the bulky trainer. His black T-shirt made his already bulging biceps protrude more. Isaac was the only trainer at Brickhouse who was bigger than Allen. “Man, you’ll hurt those ladies. They may save money with the free classes, but they’ll make up for it when they go running to their doctors with aching muscles.”

  Isaac chuckled with his boss. “No, man. I know what to do.” He crossed his legs. “Anyway, I want to run one last thing past you. When I speak to the churches about advertising in their bulletins, I want to also see about using their facilities,”

  Allen frowned. “I thought we’d have all the classes here,”

  “Yeah, but I really want as many people as possible to attend these outreach programs. And, as I thought about it, I began thinking about my grandmother. She doesn’t like going to unfamiliar places. But her church? Man, she’ll hang out there all day and night.”

  Allen nodded.

 
“So I was thinking,” Isaac continued, “that the churches would be a good place to do these classes. Make these folks feel comfortable and they’ll be more likely to attend.”

  Allen smiled as he thought back to the beginning–he and Nona had started in a church basement.

  Isaac stood. “So think about it and let me know.”

  Suddenly Allen closed his eyes.

  “Hey, man.” Isaac rested his hand on Allen’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”

  Allen rubbed his fingers between his eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.”

  He opened his eyes, and it took a moment for him to focus on Isaac’s concerned face.

  Allen walked around his desk. “I’ve just been keeping long hours while Nona was away. Not to mention the extra stress with the rezoning issue.”

  Isaac shook his head. “Man, I try not to think about that. What would happen to Brickhouse … and to all of us if this place were closed?” He continued to shake his head as his own words began to sink in.

  “That’s not going to happen,” Allen said, pointing his finger at the trainer. “Nona and I have a plan, and when we’re finished, Brickhouse will still be here.”

  Isaac smiled. “Maybe we should get some of the clients involved too. Many of the people who come in here have major pull.”

  Allen held up his hand. “No. Even though I know everyone has heard, I don’t want us talking about it around here. No need to have the clients panic.”

  Isaac nodded.

  “We don’t want to get anyone excited.” Allen paused. “And speaking of excited, do you have a minute?”

  Isaac glanced at his watch. “I have a session in fifteen minutes.”

  “I’ll make this quick. You need to talk to Eric.”

  Isaac chuckled as if he knew what Allen was going to say.

  “I don’t understand him,” Allen continued. “The Brickhouse parking lot is not lover’s lane for the social elite.”

  Isaac laughed. “That’s a good one, man.”

  “This isn’t funny,” Allen responded, although he couldn’t keep the smile from his lips. “It’s getting ridiculous.”

  “I know, but Eric isn’t the only one,” Isaac said, trying to defend one of his top clients.

  “That’s my point. The parking lot needs an X-rating. Look, just tell Eric that he needs to curb his sextracurricular parking lot activities. The guy is an MBA with IBM. Surely he can afford a hotel room.”

  Isaac smiled. “True, but I don’t think I should be the one to handle this with Eric. What about if I call a couple of my friends on the force? We could have them cruise the lot for a while. You know, nothing serious. Just enough to put a scare into Eric.”

  “No,” Allen exclaimed. “New York’s Finest is the last thing we need, especially with all of this rezoning stuff going on. We’ll handle this. You just talk to Eric.”

  “Okay.” Isaac shrugged. “But you need to talk to your clients too.”

  Allen’s eyes widened. “Like who?”

  “Leila Lomax.”

  “Get out of here.”

  “You didn’t know?”

  “Obviously not. Who is she doing in the parking lot?”

  Isaac shrugged. “I don’t know … it’s been a while since I saw her. But some jock, and it’s not her almost-seven-foot-tall, basketball-dunking husband.” He laughed and tapped his watch. “I’ve got to get to my client.”

  Allen frowned as he watched Isaac rush from the office. He wanted to go after him and ask more about Leila, but he didn’t have the strength. He rested his head in his hands and rubbed his temples. Maybe if he had something to eat. He reached for the salmon wrap that had been delivered from the gym’s restaurant. But the moment his hand touched the wax paper, he drew back. It had returned–the dizziness, the nausea, the pain in his abdomen.

  He closed his eyes and took a breath. “I’ve got to eat.” When he opened his eyes, he dragged the sandwich to the center of the desk. It took only a few seconds for the blend of smells of mayonnaise, cream cheese, onions, green peppers, fish, and cheese to reach his nose. A tidal wave of bile rolled through his stomach, and he shoved the salmon wrap into the trash can.

  “Damn,” he muttered. Perspiration sprinkled his forehead.

  What would Nona say if she knew? he wondered. But he already knew the answer. “She would kill me.”

  They’d been through this before, and he sighed as he remembered the look of disappointment in her eyes every time she looked at him during that time.

  “You’re risking everything that we’ve worked to build, Allen,” she had said to him. “If anyone finds out about this, we could lose Brickhouse. I won’t allow you to do that to me.”

  “I promise, Nona. This will never happen again.” He had repeated those words a thousand times, trying to get her to trust him as she had in the beginning. He had meant every word of that vow six years ago. But here he was again–breaking his word, and risking their operation when Nona needed him the most.

  He slammed his fist against the desk. “I can’t do this,” he scolded himself. “If anyone finds out, it’ll be over.”

  Allen wiped the water from his brow. He had to stop–Nona needed him, and he needed to protect her. But on top of those thoughts, another one more menacing entered his mind–while he was the only one who could protect Nona, he was also the only one who could bring her down. Because of him, she could very well lose Brickhouse.

  four

  Nona sauntered into the restaurant packed with patrons as if it were a five-star eatery. But even though it was part of Brickhouse, many Harlem residents came just to partake of the healthy, yet delicious dishes that rivaled those of some of New York’s finest restaurants.

  She spotted Anna at the table reserved for her and her guests.

  “Hello, Ms. Simms.”

  The greetings followed her as she made her way through the room. She waved, but didn’t stop to talk. It was an unspoken rule–she was not to be disturbed in the restaurant.

  “Hey, hey. Sorry it took me so long,” Nona said in her sister-girl voice. Even though Anna Leone was the first lady of New York City, Nona still considered this woman whom she’d known since her college days her homegirl. Anna was a graduate teacher’s assistant in the English department during Nona’s sophomore year. They met at a nearby Thai restaurant they both frequented during their lunch breaks. Recognizing one another from campus, the two women bonded quickly. They’d been close at Barnard–becomingknown as Ebony and Ivory. When Anna left Barnard to go on to Fordham law school, the two friends didn’t let a day pass without a phone call, email, or coffee break.

  “No problem.” Anna smiled. “I was looking over the menu. I don’t know how you do it. On top of everything, you’ve added all of these new items.”

  Nona chuckled. “Like you didn’t know.”

  “I didn’t. I wasn’t here at all while you were away.” Anna’s eyes scanned the menu. “There’s so much, it’s hard to decide.”

  Nona watched as Anna studied the five-page booklet, and she beamed. Her friend was looking good. Anna had added mahogany tints to her shoulder-length brown hair, and although she’d always been small, she looked especially fit now with the muscle definition she’d added to her arms and legs. But the best part was that the glow that Anna had when they first met was back–after its five-year absence. It seemed that Anna had finally found a way to accept the curveball life had thrown her.

  Anna looked up. “Why are you staring at me?”

  “Do you know how good you look?”

  “I work out with you. I pay you a lot of money. I’d better look good.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  Anna lowered her eyes. “I’m trying, Nona.”

  “You’re doing great.” Anna covered her friend’s hand with her own. “It’s good to have you back.”

  “Well, one can’t grieve forever.”

  “There’s no expiration date on mourning. You did it in your own time.” Nona
opened her napkin and placed it on her lap. “But I know Todd would be happy to know that you’re back in your groove,” she said softly.

  It seemed to Nona that Anna almost smiled at the mention of her son’s name. It was the first time she’d mentioned Todd and not seen tears come to her friend’s eyes. “And I’m sure that Anthony is glad to have his wife back.”

  Anna shook her head. “He hardly notices that he has a wife.”

  “That’s not true. He just has a lot on his shoulders. Running this city is more than a full-time job.”

  “I know, but still, ever since he became mayor, I feel something’s missing from our marriage. It’s like he’s distracted by more than his job.” She paused. “But complaining does nothing. That’s why I’m going to do something about it. And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Anna moved to the edge of her chair. “I want to tell you about a program I’m putting together, and I need your support.”

  “Whatever it is, I’ll do it.”

  “No.” Anna shook her head. “I don’t want this to be a friendship thing.”

  “I won’t do it because of that.”

  “Good.”

  “I’ll do it because you’re the mayor’s wife.”

  Nona laughed, but Anna rolled her eyes.

  Nona said, “Okay, honey. What do you need?”

  Anna leaned forward as if she couldn’t wait to get the words out. “I’ve come up with an idea. A Children’s Literacy Outreach program.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It’ll be a children’s foundation that encourages reading. But it will be more than just a message or commercials on television. I’m thinking of tools like mobile libraries …”

  As Anna continued, Nona rested her chin in the palm of her hand and watched her friend. Anna was the mature, intellectual, intense one in their friendship circle. Even now,she looked as if she were making a presentation to a corporate board–reviewing her objectives, detailing every point, outlining the entire program.

  Nona nodded as if she were listening intently, but her mind wandered as she recalled her friend’s journey.

  Five years ago when Todd, Anna’s son, died, Nona had doubts whether her friend would ever recover. She had never witnessed a person overcome with such sorrow. At the funeral, it took three men to pull Anna back from Todd’s coffin when she tried to climb in.