Red Stories 6 - Friends

Me and him never was really all that close
Guess cos I never was really all that cute
But talanda
She was more
Been friends 60 years and I wont try to splain her kinda special
But that what I called her
More

She was more than the better what thought they was something round there
Only thang
She thought bein more meant she had to put up with bottom
So quite natural like she married the biggest asshole she could find
Who confused fucked up real life with bullshit on the daily
I guess on the other side of thangs he was more too
Shoot
He was the most

Yeah I did everything I could to stop that weddin'
Cos I just knew
A monkey knew
I was one playerhatin'
Cock blockin'
Jealous at the same time
Protectin'
Best friend

I know what you thankin'
Here anotha story 'bout anotha brotha don don anotha sista wrong
Not this time
Not from me

Yeah he had everything to do with the technical parts of her death
But dammit now she did it to herself
May as well gon call a lie a lie and let the livin' live
What I always says

I told Talanda time over time
Talanda
A woman's gotta love herself enough to love herself all by herself if she got to
You gotta go
You's a dead woman in this house
Every time I tell her she just look at me cross
Tell me shame on me for not showin family respect
I never did tell nobody but Talanda
But me and him is first cousins on my daddy side
But that don't never no mind to me

Woman is thicker than blood
Always has been
Besides
Talanda was my friend
My very good friend

Now I need yall to 'scuse me
But I had to tell yall that before I could begin this story right

I saw her blood all over me before he even shot her
For years she put up with senseless beatin's and name callin's
Some stabbin's and gamblin's
Cheatin's was a given cos it was the time we lived in
Time we livin' in now
So quite right he was a liar too
To this day I'll never know why he bothered with that
The truth was right there in his draws
And she washed them out every night for forty and nine years
But habit is habit I guess

I was sittin' right there where you are
He was over there about ten feet from us
And Talanda was standin' above me to my left
Course the room was facin' a different way

She and I had been in the house alone at first
She was still prancin' around in the dress she bought that day
I didn't too much care for it
But I was glad to see her proud
With her head up finally
Some strength about herself

Talanda was a tall woman about 5'9"
Thin too
About 125
Cute little shape though
Lil ole waist and OK breast and hips for a woman our age
Course she never did have no kids she was allowed to keep

The dress was red
Not really blood red
But I bet it useta be when it was new
In good shape though
It had small small blue and yellow flowers or something all over it
A long dress
Red buttons goin' all the way down
'Cept the one at the waist didn't match
Not by design though
Like somebody did best they could to replace it 'fore they passed it on
It had short sleeves
A swoop neck collar
An elastic band on the back
Rayon?
Rayon

Yes indeed
She was somebody new in that dress
Somebody I didn't even know
And I knowed her a long time

She bought the dress from a secondhand store
And I like to believe that the woman who owned it first
Was some kinda kin to her
Was sendin' her some kinda message
Some kinda strength through the dress

Me
I was just sittin' there drinkin' wine
I keeps me a short dog in my purse you know
Then he comes in pushin' right past us like he high offa somethin'
Walk straight to the room mumblin' somethin' loud don't nobody know
The woman I useta know would be shakin' in her slippers by now
But this new Talanda
With the dress
Shiiiiiiiittt
Didn't pay him a bit a mind
And I told you
I had a little ripple in me

I starts laughin' at him
What I do that for
I shol wish she had left him like I told her
Like she knew she wanted to
Just scared is all

Once I even offered her five thousand dollars of my own funeral money
I will have me a very nice funeral
With a fine cherry wood casket
And plenty of 'spensive wine to go around you know

I offered her the money to just go
Go somewhere far away
Somewhere and have a better life for the both us
I shol wish she took it
He came home marchin' in the room with all his man on
Goes over and slaps Talanda in the face
Real hard too
I have told you
Talanda was my very good friend
But I spent almost my whole life in the middle of her and him

You can't see it
But right here under my right breast where he cut me once
Tryin' to kill her
For a while I thought I had done something honorable like
Aint no honor in riskin' yo own life for a woman
Lookin to git on the death train anyway
Leastways aint lookin' to stop it from comin'
And I gots kids!
Un ummmmmmm

I told her after that
That was the last time
And like my daddy says
I keeps my word like I keeps my money
I kept right on laughin' too

He slapped her again
This time she look at me like I'm the one crazy
Like I'm the one spent my life up under somebody call me ugly and do me wrong
Come to think of it
I kinda got mad at her for lookin' at me that way
I started to get up and get in both they faces
But I didn't
I sought right down there and didn't say a word

You would think that would be enough
Then from nowhere he is holdin' a gun to her head
Lookin' straight at me and said
Laugh again and I'll kill yo friend
Dancin' wit it too
Like it's some kinda jump rope song
I just didn't know which to do

Until I looked at Talanda in that dress
I thought about the woman who was her great grandmother
Who maybe useta own the dress
Holdin' her real strong and real proud
I thought
One day he is gonna die
And it will shol be nice if he meets her in that other world
While she is wearin' that dress
So she could whip his natural ass good

I looks up at him
And I laughs the meanest
Coldbloodnest laugh I could muster
I laughed for what she was gon do to him one day
If she was gonna die
Cos everybody is
She was gonna die in that dress
I would see to it

Like I have already told you
Talanda was my very good friend
I laughed and laughed
Laughed right through the gunshot
Laughed while she fell slow in my lap

I didn't stop laughin'
I laughed when he walked out the house
I carried her bloody body to my car and drove her to my house
Buried her in my own backyard

Now every year on September the 23
I sit on his porch with a candle all lits up
Every year when his new wife askes what I'm doin'
I looks up at the sky and says sadly and happy at the same time
I'm laughin'