THE CURATED COURTSHIP: 2002
By the time Jason Singleton was a senior in college, he was the “Hope of the Heights.” He was a man who smelled of laundry detergent and library books—the polar opposite of the cigarette smoke and metallic scent of the back room at Auntie Earl’s.
Draco watched him from the shadows of his black sedan. He saw Jason’s potential. He saw a man who would build a house with a white picket fence. And Draco realized that a fence is only as strong as the man who owns the dirt beneath it.
The “Chance” Encounter
Draco knew Noreen was becoming restless. The “Fast Money” had lost its luster, and the “Fine Dining” felt like a bribe for her soul. She was starting to miss the ghost of Irene, her mother. She wanted a man who would marry her at a courthouse and take her to the turquoise water, not a man who took her to the back room of a social club.
Draco didn’t tighten the leash. He loosened it.
He told James Singleton to bring his “square” brother, Jason, to a community fish fry at the park. “Tell him it’s for the neighborhood,” Draco told James. “Tell him we need a ‘college man’ to show the kids there’s a way out.”
Porcelain Meets Pavement
Jason arrived in a pressed polo shirt, looking like a man who had never seen a “Killing Field.” He stood near the grill, feeling like an outsider in his own zip code.
Then he saw Noreen.
She was standing by the cooler, wearing a simple sundress that Draco had bought her, but she wore it with the grace she’d inherited from the Caribbean. To Jason, she was a miracle—a girl who had survived Auntie Earl’s “lived-in” nightmare with her spirit intact.
“You look like you’re waiting for a bus that doesn’t stop here,” Noreen said, offering him a soda.
“I’m waiting for a reason to stay,” Jason replied, his eyes locking onto hers.
The Watcher’s Blessing
Draco stood fifty yards away, leaning against a tree, watching the “Golden Boy” fall for the “Shadow King’s” girl.
James walked up to him, looking nervous. “You okay with this, Draco? My brother… he’s a good guy. He doesn’t know about… us.”
“I’m more than okay, James,” Draco said, his voice a low, satisfied purr. “Jason is the perfect gardener. He’s going to build a beautiful life. He’s going to create a world so safe, so ‘Vanilla,’ that when I eventually put my seeds in it, they’ll grow without any thorns.”
Draco realized that if he kept Noreen, she would eventually wither. But if he gave her to Jason, Jason would nourish her. Jason would provide the health insurance, the mortgage, and the “Good Home” that Draco’s reputation would never allow.
The “Gift” of Freedom
When Noreen told Draco she was leaving him for Jason, she expected a war. She expected the Glock. Instead, Draco offered her a small, elegant box. Inside was the Brass Key to a new apartment in a better part of town—a “going away” gift.
“Go be happy, Noreen,” Draco told her, his eyes cold as stones. “Go live the life your parents wanted. Jason is a good man. He’ll take care of you.”
Noreen wept with relief. she thought she had escaped. She thought the “Concrete Inheritance” had been settled.
She didn’t know that Draco had already talked to the realtor. He had already talked to the bank. He had “allowed” the escape because he knew that in nine months, the “Vanilla” life would be interrupted by a “Concrete” reality.
The Fourth Rule of the Blueprint: You don’t have to keep the bird in the cage if you own the sky she flies in.
Ramblings, Rants and Raves with T. RaShane 