Mugs of Tea

"Oh, I know; they the one's own them some dogs," Wendy had agreed. "You know they let their dogs kiss them? On the mouth?"

It was nearly three o'clock in the morning when Latisha and Manny returned from St. Elizabeth Parish Trauma Center. The only reason Kyle knew what time they came home was because Latisha was complaining about how much the hospital bill was going to be. She was not quiet in her blaming and complaining.

When Kyle returned after his Sunday shift at A & A Soaps, Manny demanded to know where the cast iron skillet was. Kyle pointed to the kitchen.

"Fuck it is," Manny said, obviously high on his pain pills. "Went make me some fucking eggs, Ain't nothing in there."

"No, it's, right..." Kyle said, jerking open the cabinet. "It's...uh! Excuse me! Uh, where the fuck is my stuff? Huh? That, that was my fucking skillet. And where's my other pots and pans, huh?"

Kyle then jerked open the other cabinets. Manny looked into the kitchen drawer were the silverware tray had been. He then looked into the other drawers.

"Aw just look at this shit, huh?" Kyle snarled, loudly slamming cabinet doors. "You just look at this shit. Need call your boys, hear? Need call your boys, see which one them mother fuckers helped themselves to my shit, hear?"

Manny immediately got on his cell phone and started calling his friends. In his room, Kyle had a good laugh over the whole thing. He knew Manny and Latisha would be losing a few friends over this. No one likes to be accused of anything, especially if they were innocent.

Short Moves was there at ten o'clock; three burly men and a pickup truck. By ten o'clock, Kyle had emptied his car's trunk into his new apartment and had also brought all of his clothes to his new apartment. The power would be coming on at two o'clock that afternoon, but, thankfully, it was a nice, mild day. He could live without air conditioning for a few hours.

Just as he'd enjoyed a good laugh over successfully removing the pots and pans and other kitchen goods from the apartment, Kyle knew Manny and Latisha would be God-smacked over the loss of the couch and recliner, television and kitchen table and chairs. At the last moment, Kyle remembered his rocking chair on the back porch. The wicker chair had been on the back patio when he and Latisha moved in so he left it there.

After emptying his car at his new address, Kyle ran back to the duplex and quickly vacuumed his bedroom and the living room. He put the vacuum cleaner into the back seat of his car, then did one last walk-through. Kyle put both keys onto the kitchen counter and figured there was no need to leave a note. The lack of furniture, his wide open door and the keys for the front door and the bedroom door on the kitchen counter should be note enough for Manny and Latisha to understand.

When Kyle returned to work on Wednesday, Latisha pointedly ignored him. Just after clocking in, Kyle let Latisha know that she had seven hours to have the utilities put in her name or she and Manny would be without power. For the briefest of moments, Kyle feared Latisha would hurl the tray of hardened soap at him.

"Latisha, its like not break time yet," Toni called out as Latisha stormed into the employee break room, her cell phone glued to her head.

"It's an emergency," Latisha spat angrily at Toni Delacroix.

"She was like spitting nails like all day yesterday," Toni confided to Kyle.

"No, I ain't making the shit up; need get on down to there, get the lights on up in our name," Keisha screamed into the phone.

A moment later, with no explanation, Latisha stormed out of the building. Toni shrugged her shoulders and grabbed Latisha's time card and personally clocked Latisha out. Kyle proved to be management material as he grabbed Latisha's tray and completed Latisha's task. When Latisha returned at nineteen minutes after two that afternoon, Toni called the Human Resources office of Thibodaux Investments; A & A Soaps outsourced their HR to Thibodaux Investments. Thirty minutes later, Randy Bogdanovich, came in and Toni, Randy and Latisha went into the break room. Kyle did not react to the openly hostile glares Latisha shot his way for the rest of the workday.

On Saturday, Kyle entered his apartment after his shift at A & A Soaps and gave a satisfied sniff of the air. His chicken and dumplings was cooking nicely in the crock pot. After showering, Kyle would make himself a pot of green beans with artichoke hearts and a garnish of slivered almonds. He'd donated the small refrigerator to A & A Soaps; the refrigerator that came with his apartment kept his St. Elizabeth's Lager at nearly ice crystal temperature.

"Hello?" Kyle answered his cell phone as he was climbing out of the shower.

"Hey, where are you?" Keisha Mouton softly asked. "I need me some apple tea."

Kyle gave her the address and directions to his new apartment. He cautioned her to park in the space marked 'Visitors' unless she liked having her car towed.

Thirty minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Kyle opened the door and smiled as a beaming Keisha stood on his doorstep.

She looked good; she looked beautiful in her bright red blouse, lips and fingernails painted to match. Her hair was teased up slightly, giving her an untamed look. Her skirt was a black and red pleated skirt that ended two inches above her knees. Her four inch black pumps had them almost eye to eye.

"You, you look beautiful," Kyle said and Keisha smiled wider.

"You looking good too," Keisha said, softly rubbing her hand on his chest. "That, blue? That's your color, hear?"

Keisha then stepped up and pressed her heavily painted lips to Kyle's lips. Kyle's arms went around her slender waist and her arms went around his neck. Kyle thanked God for reminding him to brush his teeth and gargle right after he and Keisha had disconnected their call. Keisha's tongue was soft, wet, and exciting as they kissed.

"Ooh, what you got cooking," Keisha asked went they broke the kiss. "Man, something smells good."

"Chicken and dumplings, some green beans, and the tea my woman said she had to have," Kyle said.

"Chicken and...there enough? I don't want you going hungry," Keisha teased, sashaying into the kitchen to look at the food.

"Mm, you need meet my momma," Keisha enthused after peering into the crock pot. "Says she ain't had good chicken and dumplings since her Momma's momma died."

Keisha had never had her great-grandmother's or her grandmother's chicken and dumplings; apparently Mrs. Thibodeaux had disowned Clarissa when Clarissa let that 'N-word' Jerome Mouton get her in the family way.

"I bet this is just as good; might even be better," Keisha enthused as she had a second helping of the savory dish. "And what this is, this string bean stuff?"

"It's a dish the next door neighbor showed me," Kyle smiled, watching Keisha enjoying his food. "You take a can of artichoke hearts and a can of green beans and saute' them in about a tablespoon of olive oil. Right before serving them, you garnish them with slivered almonds."

"You doing all the cooking," Keisha decided, scraping the last of her meal into her mouth.

"Then you doing all the cleaning," Kyle countered.

Keisha and Kyle cuddled on his couch, mugs of apple-cinnamon tea in hand. Keisha told Kyle she'd asked Latisha for his phone number; Latisha and Manny had held another party at their place last night. Keisha admitted that Latisha didn't want to give Keisha the phone number until Keisha claimed that Kyle owed her some money. Then Latisha was only too glad to give Keisha the number.

"Man! They are some mad at you, you hear?" Keisha giggled.

"Yeah, well, I'm not too happy with them either," Kyle shrugged.

"I, that first time?" Keisha murmured, lips breathing warmly into Kyle's ear. "When I seen you at Latisha's?"

Keisha did not finish her declaration, just brought her lips to Kyle's lips. After a few more kisses, Kyle was squeezing and fondling Keisha's 32C breasts. They were full, round orbs, each capped with a dark brown areole and fat nipple. Keisha groaned and panted as Kyle sucked one, then the other nipple into his mouth. She gently but firmly pushed his hands away from the waistband of her skirt, though.

"I, I man! I need get on out of here," Keisha panted the fourth time she gently eased Kyle's hands away from her skirt. "I, we keep this up, I'm going do something I, oh man I want to, you hear? I oh I want to but..."

At the door, it took several kisses before Keisha finally managed to leave. In his bathroom, Kyle held the mental image of Keisha's perfect breasts in his mind's eye as he furiously stroked himself to a knee-buckling climax. Thankfully, he remembered to set his alarm before falling asleep, a wistful smile on his lips.

Sunday was a hard day at work; Matt Lyles showed up absolutely knee-walking falling down drunk. Kyle did not believe he had the authority to fire the employee, but he did have the authority to send him home. Kyle called for an Uber, though. He was not about to let the drunk man get behind the wheel of his car.

(Matt went home, drank a few more cans of Gratchley's Beer, then walked the eight miles from his studio apartment to A & A Soaps. Getting behind the wheel of his car, he had a right, God damn it, it was his fucking car, God damn it, and drove out of the lot at a high rate of speed. Kyle did not hear the car racing out of the parking lot; the clanging and thumping of the shaker shaking the air bubbles out of the cooling soap mixture was truly deafening. Kyle and the other employees did hear the sirens a few moments later. On Wednesday, Kyle would learn of Matt Lyle's one car accident with a large oak tree and the death of an A & A Soaps employee.)

Monday night, Kyle answered the phone with a smile. He'd assigned 'Lips Like Sugar' by Echo & The Bunnymen as Keisha's ring tone.

"My momma don't believe you as handsome as I'm telling her," Keisha said when Kyle said 'Hello.' "You need come over here; we having red beans and rice."

Kyle knew he should be nervous, meeting the mother of a girl he had only begun dating. But he shrugged and showered and shaved, then found some nice slacks and a button down shirt of light pink.

"Is, does chicken and dumplings count as a date?" Kyle wondered as he drove to the address Keisha had given him.

The home was a small, comfortable DeGarde home. It was a modest home among other modest homes in the lower middle class neighborhood. Kyle smiled; his mother's home was four blocks west and one block south from this home. He wondered if his mother was aware that there was an 'N-word' and an 'N-word lover' less than four hundred yards from her front door.

"Hi, Timmy's mother is running a little late," Clarissa greeted Kyle as she snagged a four year old boy before the boy could dash out the house.

"She's in the kitchen; Timmy, let's put, Timmy let's finish putting, Timmy it's not your mother, let's finish putting our things away," Clarissa said, gently but firmly guiding the child into the living room of the home.

"Hey," Keisha beamed at Kyle and craned her head for a kiss.

"Hey," Kyle agreed and kissed her.

Kyle assisted in cutting up some green onions for the rice. A moment later, Kyle heard the doorbell and then heard voices. A moment later, Clarissa entered the kitchen and gave Kyle a weary smile.

"Honestly? I don't blame the woman. Boy's autistic. That was my kid? I'd drop him off and 'see yah!'" Clarissa admitted. "Hi; Clarissa Thibodaux. And you must be Kyle Thomas"

"Yes ma'am, I'm Kyle Thomas," Kyle smiled, giving the attractive blonde woman a firm handshake.

"Momma! I'd been autistic, you'd left me somewhere?" Keisha challenged.

"In a heartbeat," Clarissa said, smiling widely at her daughter's squeal of indignation. "Hell. You're not autistic and I thought about it a couple of times."

During their meal, Kyle enjoyed hearing about Keisha's embarrassing childhood. Clarissa's love for her only child was very evident. Kyle also noticed, even though Jerome Mouton had bailed on Clarissa and their daughter when he decided family life just wasn't for him, Clarissa never spoke disparagingly of Keisha's father.

After the meal, Kyle and Keisha cleaned up the kitchen. Clarissa gave Kyle a very warm embrace, then announced she was taking a shower, then going to bed.

"Five thirty comes mighty early, whether I want it to or not," Clarissa stated. "Good night. And, no, Keisha, he's not as handsome as you been saying."

"Mother! Really?" Keisha exclaimed.

"He's even better than that," Clarissa smiled and kissed her daughter on the lips before leaving them alone.

"I changed my mind," Keisha said as they sat on the comfortable loveseat. "Pink. Pink is definitely your color."

"And you look good in green," Kyle said, kissing her. "Then again, you look good in anything."

The kisses led to touches and the touches led to Keisha wiggling out of green blouse and light green bra. The sound of running water shutting off spurred Keisha into wiggling into her blouse again and gently pushing Kyle to the door.

Tuesday, Kyle smiled when he heard 'Lips Like Sugar' playing on K.U.L.D; the college radio station. Thinking of Keisha also gave him a bit of an erection. Continuing to think about Keisha, Kyle went into his bathroom to take care of the problem.

Wednesday was a somber day; the death of Matt Lyles hung over everyone at A & A Soaps. Kyle resolved within himself, he had done the right thing. He had tried to avoid the certain consequences by sending Matt home in a ride share.

Saturday night, Keisha showed up, unannounced at his apartment. Her question of 'I'm not interrupting anything, am I?' let Kyle know that this beautiful young lady was actually insecure. Despite her almost brash mannerisms, the girl was insecure.

"The only thing you interrupting is me thinking about you," Kyle said, pulling her into the apartment. "Doing a pasta primavera; that sound good?"

This time, Kyle managed to get Keisha out of blouse and bra and snug jeans. Her very skimpy panties did not show any tendrils of black pubic hair; her excitement had the fabric of the gauzy material nearly transluscent. Kyle could smell Keisha's arousal and the aroma had his cock so hard it ached.

"Oh, I, I oh my God, I, need get on out of here; we, we moving way too fast," Keisha gasped and hurriedly pushed Kyle away.

"I, good night, I, I think I love you," Keisha babbled as she dressed while hobbling to the door.

"Slow down; I'm not going tackle you," Kyle assured her.

"I, no, but I'm 'bout tackle you," Keisha stated, hurriedly stuffing her blouse into her jeans.

"I know you off today; you make some chicken and dumplings and bring them on by?" Keisha asked on Monday.

"About six thirty," Kyle agreed, already mentally assessing the contents of pantry and refrigerator.

At six fifteen, Kyle entered the small home, carrying a heavy pot. Timmy and another child were in the living room, playing with Legos. Kyle could not tell what the children were constructing; he was sure they knew exactly what they were building, though.

"Are you Miss Keisha's boyfriend?" the little girl asked from the doorway of the kitchen.

"Yes ma'am, I sure am," Kyle agreed and was rewarded by the little girl's excited squeal.

"Miss Keisha, he says he's your boyfriend," the girl informed Keisha.

"He did? Oh, isn't that wonderful?" Keisha said. "And do you have a boyfriend?"

Kyle didn't hear the girl's answer, Clarissa was in the kitchen, on her cell phone. Apparently, she was none too happy with whomever was on the other end of the conversation.

"Well, Ms. Jensen, you do what you think is right, but no, no ma'am, I will not be watching your child again. Good bye," Clarissa snapped.

"Hey; good to see you again; really? You really cooking me supper?" Clarissa said, giving Kyle an embrace.

"Yes ma'am, Keisha says you like a good chicken and dumplings," Kyle said, trying to remember the last time his mother gave him such a loving embrace.

"Chick, you made chicken and dumplings? Keisha, he made chicken and dumplings?" Clarissa whooped, trying to peer into the large pot.

Timmy's mother came and got Timmy a few minutes later. When Kyle turned, he saw that there were four places set at the table.

"Melissa's mother is on a date," Clarissa explained, face tight. "So..."

"Well since I know chicken and dumplings is Melissa's absolute favorite in the whole wide world, that's great," Kyle said.

"You can marry him," Clarissa said to Keisha as Keisha helped the small girl sit in a booster seat.

"Mother," Keisha shook her head, light brown skin dark from her blush.

Chicken and dumplings proved to be a hit with both Clarissa and Melissa. The child asked for and was given a second serving. Clarissa did not ask; she served herself a second, heaping plateful.

"My grandmother, my momma's momma? Oh man! Hers? I mean, this is almost as good; thank God you use all of the chicken," Clarissa enthused. "I mean, all them others? They all seem just want use the breast, but there's no flavor in the breast...man this is good!"

"She's just being polite; she don't really like it," Keisha teased Kyle.

"I know, but Melissa likes it, don't you?" Kyle asked the small child.

Because of Melissa, Kyle and Keisha did not have any alone time. They kissed a few times at the door before Kyle took his sparkling clean pot and spoons home.

"Good night, I think...I love you," Keisha said.

Melissa Jensen's mother made good on her threat and reported the illegal day-care center. Which meant seven families had to scramble and find somewhere to bring their children for the day that Tuesday morning. Clarissa ran a good, clean facility. She fed the children a good breakfast and a good lunch. She also employed Katrina, a neighbor girl to help on a part time basis; the girl had Downs Syndrome and if she worked more than twenty four hours a week, her Social Security benefits would be reduced. And since Katrina loved children, it was a perfect job for her.

"Man! I, I just want take that bitch, slap the shit out of her," Keisha shrilled as she stomped around Kyle's apartment. "Hear? Bitch don't pick Melissa up 'til three. Three! Believe that shit? Three in the morning, then calls and reports my momma, oh! I, I just want slap the shit out of her."

"Drink your tea," Kyle suggested.

"That, that's what I love about you," Keisha gently murmured.

"My tea?" Kyle asked.

"No. You, I know, I know you going do your best take care of me," Keisha murmured into his neck.

"I, I yeah," Kyle agreed, squeezing her.

At work the following day, Kyle learned of the passing of Matt Lyles. He mourned with the rest of the A & A Soaps employees

On Friday, Kyle had a quiet heart to heart talk with Toni Delacroix. Since his first day of employment, he'd admired and respected the beautiful woman. Since becoming a manager, Kyle had begun to regard the woman as a friend.

Toni smiled a genuine, warm smile as Kyle poured his heart out to her. Her own eyes filled with tears as Kyle sobbed about his shame.

"I, I mean, from the first moment I met her, I knew I wasn't good enough, but then on Tuesday?" Kyle sniffled. "She said she knew I would take care of her. Toni, I, I can't even graduate high school; how can I take care of her?"

"You can, and like you will, Toni smiled a reassuring smile. "And I like know just who to like get."

Toni shocked Kyle when she gave him a firm hug. She then kissed him on is cheek.

"And like thank you; I know that must have like been so hard but you trusted me enough to like tell me about it," Toni said. "That like means a lot to me."

Collette Simone was an incredibly beautiful blonde with pneumatic breasts and a genuinely sweet smile and gentle nature. Looking on-line, Kyle and Collette saw that they had four weeks to cram in as much studying as possible before the G.E.D. exam would be administered.