The End of the Rainbow by Dontá Morrison Page A

way. I don’t want to seem forward but time is of the essence since our table will be ready soon. I was wondering if you were single.”
    Khalil smiled and although somewhat unprepared for this sudden advance, played it extremely cool “Wow. Unfortunately not, but thank you so much for finding interest in me.” She smiled and said, “Well to be quite honest it wasn’t for me; it was for my sister sitting down beside me.” Alyria leaned to the side to expose her sister and continued in saying “Today is her birthday and I thought you would be the perfect gift for her.”
    Khalil smiled and extended his hand to the sister that was bashfully sitting behind her more aggressive sibling. “Happy Birthday and although you are a beautiful woman I am in a relationship that I truly cherish. However I would love to send a bottle of wine to your table to help you celebrate this blessed day.” She smiled and humbly said, “Thank you and I apologize for my sisters’ forwardness. She is just a tad bit eager to get me to the altar. You are extremely courteous and I am sure that your girlfriend feels like the luckiest woman in the world.”
    Tyrin walked up behind Khalil to let him know that their table was ready. Before he could say a word, Alyria gave him a once over and asked “What about him?” Tyrin was confused by the question, as Khalil confidently stated, “He’s not single either.” The women let out sighs of disappointment and chuckled in defeat.
    “Come on baby, I’m hungry.” Tyrin said. Four pair of beautifully arched eyebrows rose up in unison and stared at the two unavailable men. Khalil gave a sly smile and said, “I’ll send that bottle of wine, OK.”
    They were seated at a table off to the side, which was cool with them because they didn’t come to be seen, they came to eat. Their steak entrees were cooked to perfection and when it was time for dessert they opted to share one instead of forcing another complete dish into their already stuffed bodies. “I need to tell you something.” Tyrin said.
    Khalil had noticed shifts in his demeanor all night but kept quiet and chalked it up to a situation at work. He knew that if he left it alone long enough Tyrin would eventually open up to him. What’s up? Who do you need to fire at work?”
    “It’s not work baby.” He turned his eyes away from him in an effort to find something else to focus on but it was to no avail. He looked back at him and figured that he had better spit it out before his mind came up with something far worse that what he was about to hear. “Remember that guy that called the other day that I told you about?”
    Khalil sat straight up in his seat and sternly asked, “What about him?” He sensed from the tone in his voice that he was already about to start thinking the worse, so he had to clear that up first. “It’s not what you think, so don’t let your mind start drifting. Now remember I talked to you about the last girl I was ever with and how she moved to Europe to further her studies?”
    “Yeah.” Khalil said, without batting an eye.
    “Well the guy that called was her brother and he informed me that she passed away.” Khalil softened his disposition and the air became a bit more relaxed. “I’m sorry to hear that. Wow. So are you going to fly back for her funeral?”
    “Not quite. She died three years ago.”
    ”Three years ago, so why is he popping up now? Why didn’t he come around to tell you then?” Before Tyrin could answer, the server appeared with their dessert. As he picked up the fork to get a quick taste of the fattening delicacy, he glanced over and noticed that Khalil had his head propped up on one fist staring directly at him. He put the fork down, took a deep breath and blurted out, “I have a son.”
    “What?” he responded with a slight giggle.
    “Deja had a little boy and he’s mine.” He responded looking down at the table.
    Khalil never took his eyes off of Tyrin because he knew that