💃🏽 Intro: The Setup

It started out as another Friday night at the old man hole-in-the-wall spot. I wasn’t as old as most in there, but I liked going because the men still knew chivalry, how to do a smooth cha-cha, and how to make you feel like a lady—even if they were all going home to somebody else.

Me and my girls didn’t go to find anybody—we went for the music, the dance floor, and to put a smile on somebody’s uncle’s face.

That night, though… there was a sprinkle of seemingly unattached men. One in particular seemed in charge—and interested.

🕵🏽‍♀️ The Warning

We were talking, laughing, nothing too deep—until one of his boys slid up beside me and whispered: “Be careful.” And I noted it. Always do.

🚨 The Ask

The night was winding down and as I grabbed my keys, he stopped me: “I’m too drunk to drive.”

I waited, not wanting to assume. Then he said, “If I get a room, will you stay with me while I sober up?”

I didn’t blink. Didn’t gasp. Didn’t even flinch. I just asked, “What does ‘stay with you’ mean?” Because let’s be clear, people love to play word games.

He said, “Nothing intimate. Just stay with me until I sober up.” Cool. I followed in my car—because I always make sure I can get myself home.

🛌 The Hotel

We pulled into a place I’d always wanted to try, but back then? My pockets weren’t lining up with those kinds of prices. I was newly single, balancing being a mom, working, and figuring out what “me” even looked like.

He got the room. It was nice. We laughed, talked, nothing too deep. My guard was still up.

I started dozing off and then—out of nowhere—this man asks: “Are you on birth control?”

My stomach didn’t flip. My face didn’t move. I’d heard lines like this before. He forgot who he was talking to.

I turned to him and said: “Why do I need to be? I’m just keeping you company until you sober up, remember?”

He said, “Oh yeah… right.”

🌅 The Aftermath

Morning came, no touching, no kissing, no cuddling—just checkout. He paid for my parking. That room was $300. A few weeks later? I find out this man had a whole wife and family. I never saw him again at the hole-in-the-wall.

🙌🏽 Closing: The Lesson

God really be watching over me in my foolishness. He thought he was getting a night. All he got was a $300 hotel bill, some light conversation, and a story he probably couldn’t tell anybody.
I stopped entertaining situations that required me to ask clarifying questions about basic decency.
Me? I got a reminder:
Discernment is a gift. Use it, even while cha-cha sliding.

Such is life.