'Sistah's Prodigal

It is another warm night in the city. Otis is out in his cab picking up fares. He is still angered from that little fiasco with Ruthie yet there was still a nagging in his heart. It would be a lie if he told himself that he didn’t miss her. Many times during his shift he stopped his car abruptly, thinking he saw Ruthie. When the moment came that he did see Ruthie, what he saw did not please him in the least. He watched as Ruthie entered and exited this hotel, each time with a different guy. ‘Come on man. You can do better than this. This chick is a bonafied whore. You can do better.’ Otis knew that his reasoning’s were in vain because the hurt was tremendous. As he watched, his grip grew tighter around the steering wheel. He would shut his eyes tightly while nodding his head from side to side wishing this was all a bad dream. When he would look up again, Ruthie had faded away into the night. Having enough, Otis parked his cab in front of the hotel where Ruthie is lodged. Once inside, he headed up to Ruthie’s room where he slipped a white envelope beneath her door and then departed. Later that night, Ruthie and a ‘john’ walked down the hall to her room. Immediately upon entering, Ruthie notices the envelope that Otis left. She picks it up but does not read it; instead it is tossed on the bureau. “May I use your bathroom?” Ruthie’s customer asks. Ruthie points to the bathroom. “Yeah, and make sure you lift the seat. I’m tired of yall pissin’ all over my toilet seat!” Ruthie is standing at the bureau taking off her earrings as the white envelope catches her attention. She picks it up then sits down on the end of the bed. At first, the handwriting was not recognizable to her but once she saw and read the contents, Ruthie knew its origin. ‘Dear Ruthie, Yes, I’m still mad as hell at you but I still love you. It’s hurting me beyond imagination to se what you’re doing to yourself and what you’re doing to us so please take this and give yourself a rest. Love, ‘O’ Nothing else mattered on that note, not even the large sum of money that came with it, but the words “I still love you” tore into Ruthie’s heart and settled to her stomach. As shame crept over her body, she knew that her night was over. When Ruthie’s ‘john’ came into the bedroom, he was somewhat surprised that Ruthie was still dressed. He sat on the bed beside her, leaned in and attempted to kiss her on her neck but Ruthie pulled away. “Hey…are you alright? Are we gonna do this or what?” The customer asked. By then Ruthie’s arms were folded tightly against her breast as if she were hiding them. “I’m sorry honey, but suddenly I’m not feeling well. In fact, I feel like I’m going to throw up. Here, here’s your money. Could we put this off until another time?” “Well…sure, if you say so. Can I get you something…anything?” “No. I think I just need to lie down. Hopefully it’ll pass.” “Hmm. I would sure like to lay with you…be of some comfort to you…” “No, I can do this alone. I think it may be a ‘woman’s thing’ if you know what I mean. You wouldn’t want to be around that, you know? It could be real messy.” “Yeah, yeah I get it, I get it.” The man puts on his sports jacket and started towards Ruthie to kiss her goodnight but changes his mind. By now Ruthie is ready to bust her gut in laughter. “Ruthie you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” she chuckled to herself. “Sorry to spoil your night.” Ruthie added. “I…its O.K. Goodnight” The ‘john’ leaves and gives Ruthie the chance to read the note again, and then hold it to her chest as she lay back across the bed to reflect.