In a Perfect World

Brushing off the thick dirt of her black work boots, Sheila pulled her the long strings of her boots and tied them quickly as she hurriedly grabbed her heavy bag. Grabbing her helmet and tucking in her blue and white plaid shirt, she patted her pocket to make sure she had her work keys, and shut the door of her beautiful home. Gingerly placing her brown and black backpack on her small frame, she struggled with the weight, and then let it settle as she twisted and turned her body to adjust to the extra load. It was always this way, every day, and every moment, when she left in the morning. The great thing about the morning was the sweetness of the birds…the beautiful way they sung their melodies and seeing the sun peek from its hiding place. That made the ache on her back a doable thing. Not that she did not love her job, she did, but there was a price to be paid. Moreover, she had paid for it dearly.

Sheila paused as she tied a multi-colored scarf around her head to cover her thick well-coifed dreadlocks. Her thick full lips formed a frown as she nervously licked them and she groaned when she felt her pager vibrating against her not-so-firm stomach. Looking at the numbers that flashed before her she pursed her barely there eyebrows together in confusion. Shaking her head, she thought long and hard about Lyrell. She really was not in the mood for his games today, especially since she had a lot of work to do, and she wasn’t ready for the confrontation. Not just yet. Her heart was still bleeding with nullifying dissatisfaction that was like a bitter pill under her tongue, and her fragile nature was too scared to take any real action. Standing still Sheila felt frozen but knew she did not have time for emotional entanglements this morning. She had too much work to be done and little time in which to complete her projects. She shook it off with determination and put on a brave face because life was too damn short. He would have to wait.

Ignoring the constant vibration of her pager, she switched it off and placed it into her pocket as she walked down the street towards Foster and Sheridan. Hurriedly walking she caught the 147 Express Bus just in time. She looked at her watch, knew without any doubt, she could still make it on time, and closed her eyes as she settled back into a short nap on the bus.


Lyrell’s spirit was dampened like a drowned bird and he did not know if he should stand still or move forward. His love for Sheila “Rah” James was deep and it was real. Whether she wanted to face it or not, he was in it for the long haul. Yes, maybe some of the men in her life had hurt her deeply, but that was not his M.O. Paused in deep thought, Lyrell didn’t notice the blinking light of his answering machine nor the flashing voice mail icon on his Nokia cellphone. His brown eyes were marred with frustration and his lips were tight like a fist that had been raised up. His long thick fingers scratched his smooth baldhead as he looked towards his white bureau. Suddenly he noticed that he had a message waiting. He pushed the play button on his black answering machine.

“Hey Rell, what’s up?” a smooth lilting voice spoke, “It’s me. Why don’t you go ahead and just marry that girl already? He he he…anyway, I miss you. I know you are into Miss Sheila but don’t forget about your friends.”

Lyrell smiled as he listened intently to Monica’s voice. It had been a long hot minute since they spoke. When she spilled her guts to him that she had a mad crush on him, he kind of backed away, and pulled out of their close relationship. Moni was a real cool sister. The kind of earthy woman a man wanted by his side, but Lyrell didn’t want to lead her on and didn’t want her to get the wrong ideas, so he stopped calling her. He stopped hanging out with her and sometimes he really missed her. Its not like he did not want her, but the timing was all wrong. He did not want to mess up a good friendship by getting involved with her. Besides he was in love with Sheila and wanted to do things right. That included giving her quality time and removing temptations. Monica, with her smooth brown skin, natural curly hair, voluptuous curves and sensuous nature, spelled trouble for Lyrell Robinson. He just did not want to tempt fate. Because he sure did love some of Moni.

Thinking of the wonderful conversations that he had with Moni, he wondered if just one call could mess up his happy home, or maybe just bring him back some beauty that had been missing. Moni had one of the most beautiful spirits of any person that he knew. She had a full heart and was always ready to help someone out. She wanted to do so much and did not worry about the consequences. Sometimes things went good and sometimes not, but Monica never complained and never made any regrets about her life.

He lifted the phone as he dialed the digits quickly before he’d have a change of mind. “Hello.” She spoke softly as if in a deep slumber.

“Moni.” He paused and then continued, “It’s me. Lyrell.”

She purred, “Heeey!”

“What’s going on lady? Still giving brothers a hard time?” He laughed heartily as he waited for her reaction.

“Come on! Brothers don’t want a real woman like me. They want a sistah to lay ‘em down and lick ‘em up. They don’t want a intelligent sistah will demand time and energy…naw they ain’t ready!” She lightly laughed.

“Dang girl! You always hard on ‘em. Well, I just wanted to call and say hi. So how are things?”

Slowly and sensuously she chuckled as she answered him. “Look, I tell it like I see it. Brothers always saying they want us to be a lady and then they want a freak on top of that. I’m fine..fine..fine. Things are rollin’ as usual. So what’s up with you and Miss Sheila. How’s the love life treating ya?”

“I asked Sheila to marry me. She didn’t give me an answer.” He paused and Moni could feel his sad spirit seeping through the telephone. “She said she loves me but that she needs to tell me something important before that happens.”


Lyrell’s eyebrows stretched close together as if they were kissing cousins. The frustration of the situation marred his usual happy face. “I just can’t believe her saying that. I’m still tripping.”

“Well, maybe she’s not ready to be married yet. I remember her saying she had a messed up relationship with her father. Maybe that has something to do with it.” Moni said.

“Well, I just can’t believe it. It’s like we have had the most beautiful relationship up until now.”

“Lyrell, nothing is perfect. You know that.” She paused briefly. “Don’t worry to much. It might not even be you. It may be a serious situation that she needs to speak to you about. Try to be open-minded and patient. She’ll tell you.”

“I know what you are saying sounds right but in my heart I feel like somethings up. I can’t put my finger on it but something is definitely not right.”

“Well, my friend. I am so proud of you. You asked the woman to marry you and that’s saying a lot. I hope she knows you are a good catch. Any blind woman can see that.” Moni’s light voice whispered as she cleared her throat. “But anyway, my friend, I gotta go. Let’s try to hang out soon. I miss ya.”

“I know. I’ve been bad. If I’m not with the boys, I’m with Sheila. I’m always busy doing something. Thanks for listening to my issue.”

“You know you can always call me. Well, give me a call when you wanna hang. I’ll keep you in my prayers. I hope she’ll tell you the real deal. Wishing you the best my friend.”

“Later…”

“Bye, Moni.”

Lyrell’s face broke until a half-smile as he put the phone back into it’s cradle. As he stretched his six-foot frame against his king-sized bed, he thought of Sheila’s reaction to his proposal. What he thought was all good turned to be all strange and kind of a bad. He shook his head and fingered his thin cornrolls as he thought of that day.

(Part II, Coming Soon)