Bet on It (10)
“You see what I’m dealing with all alone here without you?” The other woman sighed deep from her core. “You picked a hell of a time to leave me.”
“I haven’t left you, Niecy. I just needed to live somewhere that wasn’t so … on all the time. Especially while I try to get myself together. It’s not like I’ll never be back in DC.”
Her decision to move to Greenbelt had been rather abrupt. She’d known for a long time that she needed a change, a chance to get out of the city and someplace quieter. Some late-night internet browsing had brought her to an article where Greenbelt had been named one of the quietest small towns in the country. All it had taken was a few pictures on Google Images and a little research before she’d decided to make it home. The distance it put between her and her family had been about the only downside, one she’d realized she could live with.
“Yeah, I know … I’m just saying, you’re missing out on a lot down there. Especially all the new brunch spots. We went to one last week where the bottomless mimosas were basically just champagne with the nearly dissipated spirit of orange juice.”
Aja snorted. “The next time I’m there you can drag me to all the brunch spots you want, Sis. But I have to go. I have a lot to get done before I leave, and you’re distracting me.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Reniece waved a dismissive hand at her. “You have fun at your little elderly gambling den or whatever.”
* * *
The energy at bingo was always kind of strange during the weeks in the middle of the month. She wasn’t sure what caused it, but something in the air made people behave differently. Worse somehow. Accidentally claiming a false bingo was enough to get you booted out. Players were especially finicky about the speed of the game. Even the cooks at the food counter were on edge lest someone try to jump over the counter at them for serving chicken wings without enough lemon pepper seasoning.
Aja hadn’t been the only one to notice the mid-month mayhem. The bingo hall always made sure to assign Mr. Rodney Zane as the caller during these weeks. A no-nonsense Black man with a barrel chest and a stark white beard, he reminded her of her middle school principal. Stern and unflinching.
She was surprised to see that Walker and Ms. May were already seated when she got there. Ms. May normally showed up fifteen minutes into the first game, shout-whispering her apologies as she skirted the dirty looks to squeeze past other, more dedicated players. Aja didn’t think Ms. May had ever shown up before her.
“Hey,” she said to them both with a smile before turning to her friend. “You’re here early.”
Ms. May rolled her eyes as she adjusted her pink casts on the table. “This one rushed me out the door.” She jerked her head towards Walker, who was sitting in the seat closest to Aja’s again. “Couldn’t get here fast enough.”
Walker groaned low in his throat, which Aja found hilarious.
“Well, maybe he fell in love with the game. You know how easy it is to get hooked on that bingo adrenaline rush.” Aja kept her eyes on him while she spoke, unable to keep the smirk off her face.
“Uh-uh,” Ms. May commented blandly. “I’m sure his enthusiasm had nothin’ to do with the fact that he gets to sit next to some hot young thing after spendin’ all day with my old behind.”
Aja raised an eyebrow at Walker. “You’re about to go sit next to little miss Anita, huh?”
He looked back and forth between them, the tips of his ears reddening. “Now y’all are just tryin’ to embarrass me.”
“Just havin’ a little fun, baby.” Ms. May patted his cheek.
It was Wednesday, and Aja felt good. All the shame and anxiety inside her wasn’t gone, but it was sleeping. Like always, it decided when she got relief, not the other way around. And it would only last so long, so she decided to go with it.
“You shared your cobbler with me, Walker.” She gripped the back of her chair, swallowing when his eyes caught the movement and his gaze narrowed in on it, “I figured we were friends now.”
He pointed his long index finger in her direction. “You’re mean.” Then he turned to his grandmother. “And you’re meaner.”
Ms. May shrugged. “It’s tradition to haze the newbies. Ain’t that right, Aja?”
“My second time here, the man at the front desk pretended to refuse to sell me bingo cards for, like, five minutes. I almost cried.”
She tried to keep her tone light. She recognized that the joke had been in good fun. And the last thing she wanted was to come across as someone who couldn’t have fun. But the whole thing had mortified her. She’d been hot and humiliated and forced to try and remain calm under all those staring eyes. She almost hadn’t come back. The only thing that had gotten her to step foot back in the hall again was her incredible need to be around other people. Even if those people were elderly folks who thought shitty pranks were funny.
Walker frowned at her, his eyes stormy. “I see folks in Greenbelt still love messin’ with people for no reason.”
The air between them became thicker as his tone changed into something much less playful.
“It’s all in good fun, Wally,” Ms. May said.
He grunted, turning his head away from his grandmother as he rolled his eyes.