Leon

“You look like you cold.”

I was waiting for a train when a maintenance man began emptying the trash can next to my bench. Even though I was bundled up pretty good, I must have been shivering.

“You need to put some clothes on.”

I smiled politely.

I guess that was an invitation for him to sit next to me on the bench. He was a beautiful chocolate brown. Heavy set. Maybe in his ‘50s.

“Can you cook?”

Yeah, I finally answered him.

“I can tell.”

If my eyes were bullets they would have killed him.

“What? I was giving you a compliment.”

Calling me overweight is not a compliment, I said, annoyed.

“Hey, I like women your size. You got kids?”

I didn’t answer.

“Every woman I meet got kids. I don’t have any kids. I don’t smoke. I don’t drink. I work hard. I work every day.”

I didn’t say anything.

He continued. “I mean when I meet a woman I not only take care of her, I take care of her kids. You know you got to take the whole package. I buy them shoes, coats. But they daddy usually come back in the picture because they get jealous that somebody else treating they kids better than them.”

I listened.

“You got a man? Yeah, you do,” he said before I could answer. “Somebody look like you gotta have a man. What yo’ man do?”

I remained silent.

“If I was your man, I would treat you like a queen.”

Finally I spoke up: “Every man says that when they first meet you, but for whatever reason they fall short. It’s a lot of talk.”

That got him riled up.

“My daddy always told me when you find a good woman treat her right. And my daddy taught me a lot of things. I didn’t learn about love out there in the streets. He told me when a woman cheats it’s because she’s trying to prove that she still got it. But it’s like ice cream. It feels good when you’re eating it, but once you’re finished the feeling is all gone.”

By that time my train had come and I got up.

Have a nice day, I said while walking toward one of the open doors.

“Oh, by the way my name is Leon. You never told me what your man does for a living.”

I smiled and waved goodbye as I stepped on board.