Page 57 - Contrast2004

. "What are you talking about?" Angel asked
g·ettmg ready to get out of her seat and begm. her
Journey to the other table.
"I'm talking about you! Goodness, have
you forgotten what it's like when innocent flirting
s~~mmingfrom deeper feelings start casual relation-
s ip that could lead to something more?"
"Wb y are you making so much out of their
gesture of kindness Shante?"
"Why are you so afraid to accept it Angel?"
D· amn I.t, she was right. Angel froze for a moment
Just standimg there. Should she even honor that
;~:~ion.with a response or was it rhetorical? Was
olding all men accountable for what only a
hseIecr fiew had done? There goes another door she
T~ to.walk through and another wall to climb.
of IShm~ it was fear, fear of being hurt again, fear
.one thmg leading to another. His lines on the
hllUcrophone may be the same ones he says later to
o~:the? she's trying to spark conversation. Obvi-
· y this gesture means that he wants to talk on
slltlatereact. on some level. When he was up there on
g did he scope out the scene searching for the
one f.erna1e who caught hi.s' eye. Was I.t Angel? Or
Was It Shante' and she would have to tell them oh
no, she,'~ engaged. Angel rolled her eyes.
Idon't know why I'm afraid, guess Idon't
Want to start anything right now because I'm not
ready to face the pnotential consequences. "
"Yet you yearn for the benefits of male
Compam.onshlp. and of finding your soul mate. I
SWe.arWhoever hee iIS, he can J.ust say hiI to you W hiIl e
Passmgyou on the street and you are oblivious
bsuerceause yo ' analyzm. g ' the content 0f hiISmes-
~~~ For once, Angel, stop thinking with your
thIn and start thinking with your heart. Go over
ere and thank them."
"" "I'm going over there to give them this
..loney", Angel mumbled and walked towards their
table. The three young men, all sitting there,
dressed to impress and wearing fresh smiles and
light conversation; in a way they kind of intimi-
dated her. Who knows what could become of this
encounter. No, Angel thought, I'm not putting my-
self through this again. Not convincing myself that
it wasn't wasted time later when I'm trying to piece
the puzzle back together and he's too busy to call.
Angel sighed in an attempt to release the miscon-
ceptions in her mind out into the air, attempting her
own personal, symbolic, spiritual cleansing.
When she got their attention they stopped
their conversation, and thefloetic gentleman, now
seated on the right, offers a reassuring smile that
melts her heart. Compose yourself, she thought, and
give this man the money, which she was now clinch-
ing tightly in her palm. Relax, she sighed, because
his smile just spoke to her in that way.
"I see you got my kind gesture," he said.
"Yes, I did, 1-"
"My name is Jahem," he interrupted, still
smiling, "but Ididn't catch yours."
"It's Angel," she said not thinking but that
didn't seem to matter at the time.
"Oh, Angel," he went on, "angelic, deriving
from a heavenly being, spiritual, with roots in the
Greek word angelos, meaning 'messenger.' But I cut
you off in the beginning, so what message do you
have for me?"
"Thank you."
The Awakening 55