Mahogany Coffee
Mahogany Coffee
Part 1
By Patrick D Collier
Broken coffee mugs shattered before my red crackling eyes I haven’t slept in days. She just left leaving a letter I dare not to open kissing me on the forehead with one tear drop falling from her right cheek. I wished I could have captured it before she turned to leave me. Mother always told me that one day a woman would break my heart being that I give it up so easily. Mother was right. Father never spoke to much about relationships, but he always mentioned that there are always more fish in the sea son. Even today this means nothing to me. She carried my heart in her bare hands without even knowing this. Who can I run to? Who can I talk to about this broken heart? I turned to the dictionary that only read that a broken heart was nothing more but a “love sickness that one carries around”. Mother and Father are passed on and I born an only child. I begin to pick up the shattered pieces of coffee mugs broken by my now bleeding hands. Cuts on my skin never healed so rapidly even as a kid I once scrapped my knee on Concrete, and it bleed for days. Susan Becker stopped playing dodge ball to check on me, she ran to me and said are you okay? I smiled I was a tough kid and pain never really bothered me normally like others. Susan Becker later died that same day. She was hit by a drunken driver she was only 10 years old I remember attending her funeral wearing black church shoes. I kept my head down the entire service looking at these black church shoes for this black day of a lost, of a potential friend. Susan Becker would have been my only friend. I was always a loner, my mother hated that about me. She would place me in many programs after school to break this habit, but I remained the same throughout my years that she gave up. My father worked a lot in the chemical plants long hours and came home in the night smelling of gas and oil. I remember waking up early school mornings tip toeing out the house to catch my bus trying to not wake him. He would be stretched out on the sofa in his steel toe boots and blacken oiled hands with his yellow hard hat on the floor full of dry sweat. Mother would be whispering behind me standing in the kitchen holding a brown bag folded up saying “Don’t forget your lunch”. I miss my parents I never thought pain would cut me so deep without seeing a scar or blood. I miss seeing my parents dance on Sunday nights which was my fathers only day off. They would slow dance in the living room I would peep around the corner smiling at them. Now as an adult I finally understood everything my parents tried teaching me. What they were preparing me for, life without balance is a life without growth. My balance was her and her name was Mahogany I met her on a hill on a late night. This story is amazing and scary. I only had Sundays off from work just like my father did. I would go to this hill top about 4 miles from my apartment and I would just write in my note book. I had created a book titled “Far and Lost” I’ve been writing on it for 5 years now. I never thought I would come so close of finishing it, but I am. 10 pages exact and it is finished. I never thought I had a talent for writing, but I do. I became a, operation manager at the chemical plant. The same chemical plant that killed my father with Cancer. I figured what the hell I soon shall follow, I have nothing to live for a man in his mid-40’s and never married, no kids, just a book and a hidden talent for writing. Then she came. Approaching the hill with a notebook in her hand. She screamed! Out of fear seeing me sitting so quietly. I calmed her down by introducing myself, she laughed at my name. By the way it’s Coffee. My parents named me Coffee because my mother never drunk coffee until she was pregnant with me. Women have different taste buds while carrying a child and my mothers was coffee. I told Mahogany the story and she laughed all night. Then we spoke on my book and she loved it. She wanted to help me finish my last 10 pages. A whisper came to me, it was my mother saying, “Son don’t give your heart so easily”. I then told Mahogany I had to leave. She was talking in the moment about her notebook of poetry and was reading me one of her dearest poems. I felt bad interrupting her as she read away with passion on her tongue. But I was never one to mingle nor open up like this so fast it freaked me out. She waved bye with a confused look and I moved so quickly I left my, notebook behind filled with my creativity. I didn’t notice it was missing until the next morning before heading to work. I was in a panic mode my entire shift. I couldn’t wait to get off to drive 100 miles per hour to the hill top. I get there and it’s gone. 5 years of work and creativity gone I thought I had it in my hands walking away from Mahogany. Yea, Mahogany she has my book! How can I find her? When all I did was run from her. Dammit Coffee! Is what I told myself heading home. Maybe she would be back on the hill tonight? The night grew like my mind of wondering. I drove back to the hill top praying the entire way to see this beautiful dark skinned, woman with pearly white teeth and a curly afro that smelled of jasmine. I prayed that she would be in here in her notebook writing and on the side of her would be my notebook waiting for my arrival. Wow! There she was and writing in her notebook and thank God my note book was at her side. I ran up to her and said thank you! I was about to lose my mind 10 times. She smiled and said 10 times? Like the last 10 pages you had left? I smiled and said, I guess So, yea thank you again I said to her eagerly wanting to leave out of fear. Goodnight and good luck with your poetry I have to head home and finish my last 10 pages. She looked at me and smiled, then said its finished. I said how? She said your very talented Coffee and your book intrigued me in so many ways and I couldn’t help but to add poetry to the ending of this beautiful touching book. Please! Don’t get upset. But I did, yelling at her, keep it! it’s yours now! I ran to my car with tears in my eyes of anger telling myself how, could another person take the only thing I had to cherish. In the back of my head I still couldn’t get over how beautiful she was, even how angry I was at her for finishing my book with poetry at the end of it. Really poetry? The morning came quickly because I was up so late angry at Mahogany and my book of 5 years of writing now destroyed! I called in at work and sit in my apartment with a new notebook with the biggest writers block I have ever had. Visions of Mahogany haunted me. Her lips and her eyes and pearly white teeth along with her beautiful afro that smiled of jasmine danced in my mind. I begin to grow tired and just fell asleep the entire day awaking in the morning making coffee. A knock is at my door and I never have guest, so who the hell could it be? Maybe Mr. Welch he’s my neighbor a very old man at times walks around in his bathrobe knocking on random doors when he is off his meds. I grab my coffee and open the door. Standing in front of me is beautiful Mahogany with a white man in a suit. The man has a huge smile and is holding my notebook and a book with a hard cover that reads “Far and Lost” By Coffee Williams. The white man with the huge smile reaches out to shake my hand and Mahogany standing with the sexiest smile I have ever seen. The white man says Hi, I’m John Watts and this book is a stellar. We sold over 10,000 copies and here is your book and your check for 100,000 dollars and please tell me you are writing something else. I dropped my coffee and looked at Mahogany and she nodded yes, it’s a hit Coffee. The white man name John gave me the check my notebook and my hard cover book and his business card, leaving me saying you have an amazing wife who believes in you Coffee please call me when your next masterpiece is created, I look forward to it. He shook my hand one last time and walked away, Now standing alone is Mahogany right before my eyes.
The End
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