trip down South and was giving Lily her best comedic descriptions of the trip’s adventures. The two of them laughed so hard they often cried. In the middle of their fun, Lily told Deja she had a brother who had been very sad lately and asked if he could come over to laugh also. Deja agreed; well shoot, Deja would probably consent to just about any favor for Lily simply due to her lovely spirit. Deja heard the subtext of her conversation with Lily after she knew her brother was on his way; it was irritation. Deja didn’t want to share Lily with anyone. She was having such a good time with a beautiful spirit; why add someone else to the mix? In the middle of those thoughts, in walks Denzel. He introduces himself again to Deja and greets Lily. As the siblings briefly chatted, Deja found herself once again fascinated. His smile seemed so approachable, his manner so comfortable. Denzel easily joined in the laughter and jesting as though he had been in the conversation from the start. As Lily’s proclamations about her brother were interjected, Denzel performed, whether it was rapping or poetry or cooking. It seemed as though there was nothing Lily could announce that Denzel couldn’t do. His cooking and presentation were delightful, his humor engaging, and conversation refreshingly substantial. She didn’t know why, but Lily found herself talking openly about the work with the young people in her former church that she missed doing now, and her sadness about not being able to get the church to see its value. Unbelievably enough, Denzel talked about the work he did with the young people at his church and some of the programming he had done with them - programming that he had created and facilitated himself. Deja stayed into the evening and found herself enjoying a movie with Lily and Denzel. By now the socializing had moved over to his house. This turned out to be a particularly easy transition since Denzel lived within the same townhouse development; it was just a drive to another section of the large parking lot. More food was prepared by Denzel, and they all settled into enjoying the movie until Deja noticed she wasn’t feeling well. Deja had been experiencing intermittent pain in her legs for a few weeks, and tonight was one of those times. She hoped it would settle down so she could keep it to herself, knowing that if it escalated she would not be able to hide its intense effect on her. Her hopes were disappointed this evening, as the pain reached a level where she could not stay involved in the movie. She pretended to go to the restroom and tried deep breathing and softly rubbing her legs, hoping it would calm down. When it became so severe she could not comfortably walk, she had to call out to Lily and Denzel for assistance. As they were rushing to her side, she felt embarrassed at making such a scene in the middle of the night’s festivities. Denzel was kind, patient, and attentive. Lily was as well, but she expected that response from her. Denzel was a man, the movie was an action movie, and Deja expected annoyance. Once things had finally calmed down enough for Deja to feel comfortable getting back into her car to drive home, she couldn’t help replaying the night. Here’s this Black man: kind, funny, talented, intelligent, and seemingly as much in love with God as she was. Where did he come from? And, more importantly, how could she see him again? Would he think her to be a burden because of the evening’s temporary chaos around her situation? Would he not want to deal with her ever again because of it? Deja knew she had to rest, but would definitely try to get answers soon. Now settled in at her apartment late afternoon on the following day, Denzel re-entered her thoughts. She had already called her out-of-town hosts that housed her every weekend to advise of her safe return. She had already gotten things ready for work on Monday. She had no more distractions from the nervous questions nagging her mind, so they were flooding back. She dreaded hearing the distant sound in his voice if he 15
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