Red Hats by Damon Wayans Page A

me, OK?”
    “Alma, we give hats to all those who are special to us. We’re just trying to be your friends,” Dee tried to explain.
    “I don’t need no more damn friends! I pick my friends, they don’t pick me. Y’all keep that red hat, I don’t want it.”
    Alma hurried out of the café, leaving the Red Hats dumbfounded.

chapter
nine
    Alma couldn’t stay inside another
minute and decided to take a walk in the park. The leaves were gone, and it was unusually cold. She enjoyed it nonetheless, at least until she saw Bob and Seymour playing a game of chess. They raised their heads to see her and give each other a look but did not speak. She didn’t speak, either. But she felt slighted. How dare they? The least they could do was show some respect on the strength of their friendship with Harold. But neither had been welcomed in her house for the longest. Why did she care now?
    When she entered the building, she noticed something different: the light was out in the hallway. Her heart beganto beat faster, and not just because of the stairs. She was digging down in her purse for the door keys when she heard a voice.
    “Hello, young lady,” a male voice said.
    Alma didn’t give the words time to reach her ears before she started spraying the man in the face with her pepper spray. The man howled in pain.
    “My eyes! Oh, my God, Alma, I can’t see!”
    Alma recognized the man flailing about in front of her. It was James Debron.
    “James! Is that you?” she asked.
    “Yes, what is wrong with you, woman?”
    “What’s wrong with you, sneaking up on me like that?”
    “I can’t see. It’s burning!” he cried. “I need to wash my eyes.”
    “OK.”
    Alma opened the door and pulled James inside. She took him by the hand and led him to the kitchen. She turned the cold water on and leaned him over the sink.
    “Hang on.”
    She went to the bathroom and came back with a handful of face cloths. They seemed to stay there for the longest, splashing water in his face. After a while, he sighed and pulled back from the sink. Alma stepped back and watched, wondering if he was going to cuss her out or something. She noticed how nicely he was dressed and how the water was soaking the front of his shirt and messing up his nice cashmere jacket. She’d noticed how soft it was as she wastrying to get him positioned to rinse his eyes. Her stomach was in knots.
    James opened his eyes and looked at her. He shook his head and smiled.
    “Now, what are you smiling for? I nearly put your eyes out. I’m sorry, but you scared the daylights out of me.”
    “You’re beautiful, even as a blur.”
    She felt her face turn hot and her emotions go haywire. “What are you doing here? How’d you know where I live?”
    James patted his pocket, as if he remembered something. He pulled out a glove. “You dropped this at the dance, and I wanted to return it to you.”
    Alma reached for the glove recalling that, yes, it had been missing.
    “Who gave you my address? Dee?”
    “No, Dee didn’t. She wouldn’t. She said you were private. I used to be a lawyer. I have contacts in the police department. I’m sorry, I should have called.”
    “Yes, you should’ve. I’m a married woman and—” She stopped in mid-sentence, feeling awkward about what she was saying. She stood up and gestured toward the door. “You have to go now. I’m really sorry. Thank you for bringing me my glove.”
    “Thank you for taking care of me, Alma.”
    Her eyes got big, and she wrung her hands, walking toward the door and reaching for the knob. He straightened his shirt and jacket as best he could and set the face cloth on the dining table.
    “Alma, take care of yourself. Listen, I was hoping we could, I could take you to dinner one night, sometime.”
    “Didn’t I tell you? I’m married.”
    She looked at the floor, then right into his eyes.
    “Please.” She motioned for the door.
    James gave her one last look and smile before walking away. She shut the door