Suds - Season 1, Episode 10

… a mini-soap opera that bubbles with Love & Drama

[Last time on Suds, while Leilah and Terrance were busy becoming chums on the drive back to campus, Shantel curled into a ball on the floor, crying profusely. Am I the only one that’s concerned here? Meanwhile, Darien fastened on his Mighty Mouse hat ready to save the day, except…]

Opening his car door, Darien attempted to swing his foot out. It didn't move. His body became heavy like a mixture of iron and lead. His legs were cemented to the floor, and try as he might, he could not shift his posterior in any direction. He struggled unsuccessfully to climb out of the vehicle, tiring himself in the process.

Finally, the heaviness won, and he closed his car door, confused. Resting his head on the steering wheel, Darien prayed.
“Tell me what to do, God.”
Go home.

Darien lifted his head from the steering wheel, looking around although he didn’t exactly hear anything. He only sensed that he was being guided back to his house. Perplexed, he turned the key in his ignition and drove away slowly.

~~

After a warm shower, Shantel slid into a pair of boy shorts and a fitted white tee. Brushing her hair into a dangling ponytail, she couldn’t help but to appreciate the radiance of her cocoa-brown skin even without make-up. Darien will be here any minute, she thought. And, I’ll be aloof. He won’t be able to leave if he thinks I’m disconnecting from the world. She smiled into the mirror, pleased to see her eyes were not puffy from her previous emotional down pour. Sitting on her bed, she slid on a pair of checkered, knee-high socks. Sexy and innocent, he won’t know what to do, she grinned.

“Hey.” Shantel practiced her surprised appearance in the full body mirror between her bed and Leilah’s. Her absentee roommate was the next best thing to having a single room. Shantel tilted her head to the left, testing the greeting in a dry tone, “Hey.” Nope, that’s too Eeyore.

She tried again, saying more with her eyes as they widened in synthetic shock, then returned to normal. She followed the expression with a quick, low “hey”. Then cast her eyes away. Perfect, she thought, and she practiced the greeting until it became second nature.

~~

Leilah was excited to find a parking space less than ten feet away from her dormitory. She thought she would have to park in the furthest lot and trek back to her dorm.
“Thanks again, Terrance,” she said into her speakerphone. “But really, you don’t have to walk me to my room.”

Leilah’s car, wound into the last parking space. Seeing no other spaces, Terrance parked in the tow zone directly in front of the dorm. I’ll only be here for a few minutes, he thought. As he pulled up, he recognized Darien’s car as it drove away. Terrance’s eyes darkened as he contemplated what reason other than Shantel, his former roommate would have to be parked in front of the 21 and over dorm.

“Are you sleeping?” Leilah asked.
“Naw, naw, I’m here.”
“You heard me, right." Her voice sounded labored through the phone, "You don’t have to come up. I’m a big girl, and the problem is already parked.”

He glanced over and saw Leilah had already locked her car and was walking toward the entrance, trying to balance a large duffle bag, while keeping the phone close to her ear.
Terrance turned off his cell phone, hopped out of his truck, and ran to help her.

Leilah's eyes were happy in spite of the tiresome shadows that framed them. “If you insist,” she teased allowing him to carry her bag.
“Man, what you got in here,” he complained dropping the bag to the floor.
“Really, you don’t have to do this,” she offered again.
“It’s cool, I gotta check up on your roommate anyway.”
Leilah nodded.

~~

Ugh, Shantel groaned when she heard the key twisting the door. Doesn’t she have a toilet to scrub or a load of laundry to wash, she thought. Leilah’s two jobs kept her so busy that Shantel rarely saw her, and now when Shantel was seconds away from having Darien back, the hopeless girl decided to show up.

The door swung open. Shantel didn’t bother to look up. Instead, she pretended to be engulfed in the Sex and the City rerun that ushered light into the otherwise dark room. As custom, she didn’t expect to exchange pleasantries with Leilah. How am I supposed to do this now? She wondered as she watched Carrie smoking a cigarette on the front stairs, when cutie pie Aiden caught her cheating, in more ways than one. Shantel cracked a smile at the commonality she and Carrie shared – the sweet, loving, and doting boyfriend.

“What’s up, Shantel,” the doting boyfriend said, wielding Leilah’s bag.

Shantel’s eyes leapt from the bag to his proximity to her roommate, and searched for clues as to why they were together.
“Uh, hey,” she responded with authentic surprise.

“Thanks again,” Leilah said taking her dusty duffle bag from Terrance. She works at a Laundromat you’d think she would at least wash the bag, Shantel criticized.

The cat inside Shantel clawed when Terrance said, “No problem. Next time you’re heading out to the city, you can catch a ride with us. That way you won’t have to worry about your car making it.” How long were they together? Is that why he didn't answer my calls? Baffled, Shantel noticed her roommate's blushing smile before Leilah shifted her eyes quickly from his face to the floor. That downtrodden trick is trying to steal my man, she fumed.

[Stay tuned: Lil Mama said, “It’s poppin, it’s poppin, it’s poppin, it ain’t stopping”]