The Passion of Sepia

ART: "The Skin I'm In" By Laurie Cooper

My perfect "date" with a fellow blogger had turned into something else. It was all out of control now . There was a murder. I am not a Detective, this is not The First 48 on A&E and I am under no obligation to solve it. Sepia was quiet as we drove to my place. I kept glancing over at her as I drove...God she looked good in those jeans..she really knew how to fill up a pair of jeans...Most Black women do..I chuckled to myself...and her hair was perfectly braided and long like I like. She had the most perfect dark skin..and the whitest teeth I had ever seen.. How could I not help a woman that looked this good. That was one part of my anatomy talking..My common sense told me to stay out of this...but who ever listens to their common sense?

"Sepia, who called you?"

"Huh?"

"Who called you and told you that
Opal was dead?"

"Cock"

"This Cock Robbins you talk about,
the semi pro football player??"

"Yes...He said that he and Opal had
a falling out and that he went back
to apologize to her and found her
dead."

"And you don't think he's the killer?"

"No, I told you, Cock aint no killer
He's a ladies man, but he aint violent
like that?"

"Did Opal have another man?"

"I don't know....you sound like a
cop ,Kevin."

"Well, we need to talk to this Cock
Robbins fellow. Where does he stay?"

"He stays up in West Oak Lane with
one of his buddies...a guy named Brett
Jano."

"Let's go..."

"No Kevin...We can see Brett some other
time...I did come here to see you..Let's go
to your place."

Now that's what I'm talking about...I could care less about trying to solve a murder of someone I didn't even know...I wanted her in my spot..right now. I took the expressway and got off of it and cut through the parkway and made a spirited drive through my old West Philly haunts until
I came to my little Housing development in the "Brewerytown section" It was really North Philly, but when White people started rehabing the homes and actually moving into the little streets on the other side of the zoo, it became "Brewerytown"Any Black person would tell you-"Thas jus North Philly."
I drove my car into the garage and we walked up the stairs into my house. She looked at the Afro centric art on my walls and my shiny wooden floors and at least seemed impressed to me.

"Nice place you got" she remarked...

"Want anything to drink?" I asked

"Got any Vodka?" she remarked.

I poured her some Cirroc and some Cranberry juice into a tumbler and I grabbed a Corona out of the refrigerator...I turned on my Ipod sound dock.... Amy Winehouse's "Love is a Hurting Game"
played softly as we drank and talked about everything except the murder.. I eased over next to her and began to slowly lift her top off of her..She was wearing a black bra...We began to kiss deeply..She unbottoned my shirt and began to dig her fingers into my back...I carressed her soft
petite body and began to kiss her along her neck...She began to breathe very heavily...She tugged at the zipper of my pants...and then...her cell phone rang!!!!!

"Hello...Cock..where are you?
Josie's Bar and Grill...What
Happened? Oh my God NOooooo."
She dropped the phone... I looked at her-

"What happened? Who was that?" I asked

"That was Cock...There's been another
murder...His room mate, the guy I told
you about..Brett Jano..He's been shot to
death."

What was going on? Two murders in the space of 12 hours? As bad as I wanted to get it on with Sepia..I was beginning to see that she could be more trouble than she was worth...She put her bra back on as well as her top...She looked at me and said-

"Cock is at someplace called Josie's
do you know where that is??
We've got to go there and find him
He's in trouble."

What did I care if he was in trouble??...He's the cause of my weekend being jacked up..I may have to drop her phone in the toilet next time she's over here. I fixed my clothes and got my keys...
We were off to Josie's.

(To be continued.........)