BOMAW Vol. 10-12 (112 page)

"You hear me boy?" Bart questioned.

"Yes dad, I heard you."

"This here about that gal you brought home and said to us, she's the one. It's about her. You don't let nobody, make her feel what you just say to your mom and I. We know our Meri, and she can't be replaced. So you better get that through your head boy, there's only one of her, somethin' happen to her, what you gonna do then?"

"I know dad, I know."

"Well then, you stand up and be the man I raise you to be! Family first! Your wife - the mother of your children - she is it! Now you get yourself in gear. Mother'll get your rooms ready. Ben is here with us too by the way, no matter - we got room for all."

Having little choice now, Derrick knew what he had to do. "I'll talk it over with Meribel, I'm sure she'll agree."

"Well that's good enough for now then, see you all when you get here. One more thing son..."

"Yes, dad?"

"Heard from your sister? Kathy Ann?"

"No, I gave her money, and she took off, don't know where to, haven't heard from her since."

Bart, nodded, worried about her, exhaling deep, he ended the call with, "All right, speak with Meribel."

*

Chicago

At the end of her day, Vivian was happy to see that once again, Paul was right in sight at the L-train station to pick her up after work. He popped the auto unlock for her to get in, smiling at her as she did.

"Hello my dear, oh am I glad you're here, I am so tired, I just want to get home." Vivian started right away.

"I'd never keep a lady waiting, hard day?"

"Oh my goodness, I swear to you, I must have walked from one end of that bank to the other, up and down in the elevator, from one meeting or matter after another, for today, it's over."

"Yes, and in a few more days, it'll be over for good, you excited? No more having to do this day in and out."

Vivian went into thought about it, and looking at her future husband's son, she admitted, "I have a feeling I'm going to miss it. I've been on the go my entire life. I've always taken care of myself and never depended on anyone. This, needless to say, will be a challenge for me."

"But it's different when you get married, the husband is supposed to take care of the wife. You just have to give it a little time, to adjust, right?"

"As you said, in a few days, I'll have no choice, it's going to be a done deal. I'm sure I'll find something to do with my time when I get to Wisconsin with your dad."

"Getting that house in order is going to take some time, let me tell you. There's a lot of work to do in there."

"It's that bad, huh?" She asked, reluctant to know the truth.

"It's - old. Even so, my dad can handle it. When he gets done with that house, it's going to be incredible! I'll be helping him when I get back and so will Kevin, in fact, he's probably helping him now."

"Is it a really big house?" She asked, curious.

"Really really big, I'm thinking, bigger than your friend Sylvia's house, bigger than Sheila's, bigger and taller than Ms Martin's building."

"Wow!"

"Yeah, it's a doosy. Old Victorian and grand, needing some serious TLC. My dad owning it, it'll get it."

"Thank goodness for that. Anyway, what would you like for dinner?"

"Actually, I've eaten. Sheila brought me such a big lunch today, I'm still not hungry from that."

Hearing him mention that reminded Vivian of their earlier talk, her eyes automatically went to his clothes, which were neat and clean. And, he smelled nice as well, no sign of what Sheila worried, even though Vivian knew that he could have showered by now, and so, being subtle asked, "How's your work at that house going by the way, almost done?"

"I'm getting there, working alone as I am - takes longer than it would have if my dad and Kevin were here, but I'm making good progress."

"That's good. I bet uh, what's her name again?"

"Jackie! Jackie Pemberton."

"Ah, yes, Jackie - I bet she's really pleased with what you're doing huh?"

"I think so, she's really nice. Single mother with two kids, she needs all the help, she can get. I'm just glad that I can be of assistance to her."

"Yeah, it is nice of you. I wonder what happened with her husband, did she ever have one, or is she just a single mother?"

"Not real sure, they must be divorced or something. All I know for sure is that he's just - gone."

"Oh, so is she nice to you?"

"Yeah, like I said, she's a nice lady."

"Her kids, are they nice to you? I mean, you haven't had any trouble working there, have you?"

"Her kids are great, well the little girl, she doesn't say much to me, just stares at me..." he stopped to chuckle, "...her son, Ronnie, we're cool, I've helped him with his homework."

"Wow, look at you - just an all around good guy. She's really lucky." Vivian complimented trying to think of a way to get to her other concerns about his time spent in the company of this woman.

Smiling to himself, Paul nodded, "Yeah, the experience is good for me."

"I suppose that's true, but - you shouldn't spend all of your time here, there - helping her. We should go to the movies one evening or something after I get off of work, or, do whatever you wanna do, can't be all work while you're here."

"No, I really don't mind it. Besides, like now, tired as you are, I wouldn't even consider, bugging you to see a movie. You should be able to get off of work and relax. Ahhh, did you want to - well - go to Sheila's and Dennis again tonight?"

"Why? I thought we'd go home tonight, give them a break from us."

"Oh, uh, okay, sure ... if you want, I just thought - well, seeing as how you'll be moving to Wisconsin over the weekend, you'd want to spend as much time with them as you could, before we leave here, that's all."

Vivian could see it now, he was different. Once more, no deep blushing, no little boyish bashfulness. To a degree that couldn't quite be measured, his confidence level had risen in a way that could only be spotted if you knew him before and after ... the question plaguing her mind was, after ... what? Had he really been doing what Sheila swore was true?

"Thank you for being so considerate of that. But I'm not going so far away that I can't drive back here to visit when I need to. After all, we're only a three and a half, to four hour drive from here; look how often your dad was up and down that road to come and see me."

Suddenly, Paul smiled, a big fat, beaming, light has turned on smile, that lit his face up like a beacon, "Yes, that's true, you're right. We are just a few hours drive away, what was I thinking?"

Vivian knew then, what she just saw, had nothing to do with her, and spending time with Sheila, nothing at all.
'Oh shit!'
her mind blasted,
'Now what?'
Once more, she was plagued with should she -or-should she not inform Jake of what Sheila suspected, and now she as well? What was the age that a parent should back off and leave their son to live his life and not try to interfere, eighteen? Or twenty-one? Even his mother had turned him loose to get on with his life, however, not completely, in a sense, she had turned him over to his father, so could that be construed as completely letting him go? Her mind was spinning with all the what if's now, and to think, she was the one who talked Jake into letting him stay.
'Damn!'

"So ah, you're wantin' to just stay at home tonight and, chill, huh?" He broke into her thoughts asking.

"Yeah, I could fix something light for us to eat, because you're bound to get hungry later at some point, maybe play some video games or something, whatever you wanna do."

"Oh, okay, whatever - I wanna do, hmmm?"

"Is there, something else - you'd rather be doing? Have you any other plans?" She asked.

Paul chewed his lip, a nervous gesture, it took him a moment to decide, and then answered, "No, I guess we could just chill at home tonight, got nothing particular going on."

"Good! That's what we'll do then." Vivian was relieved to accept that decision, thinking her and Sheila could very well be overreacting.

Soon as they walked into the door, with Vivian taking her shoes off, the phone rang, Paul went straight for it.

"Hello?"

"Have you gone and gotten Vivian?" Jake asked right away.

"Yep, we just got in the door, your timings perfect dad. She's in the room changing out of her work clothes."

"You gettin' done what you set out to do?"

"I sure am, everything is moving along smoothly."

"And there hasn't been any problems?"

"None, not a one - you worried for nothing, dad."

"How's my truck?"

"Just as you left it with us, not a scratch - well, can't really say that, I haven't given it a complete once over, but for the most part, it's good to go."

"Hmmm, I'll see when we get there this weekend."

"Yep, you'll see. You gettin' much done on the house?"

"I'm here now, your grandma got them out here already to turn the phone on. All the crap is cleared out of the house and off of the land. I'm working on the main bathroom right now, getting it done. Stripping it back to the beams, scraped out all the shit in the walls, insulating them and the floors; putting in new piping, plumbing, wires and sockets, then fresh new, insulation - walls and new wood flooring. Kevin is on his way to help me. I'm determined to have this bathroom done before I get there to bring her back - I'll leave the decorating of it to her."

"Wow dad, talk about motivated! Sounds good."

"Yeah, so when you get back here, I'm expecting you to help me as well."

"I know dad, I will."

"Get Vivian."

Paul shook his head smiling, "Vivian!" he called out to her, "Dads on the phone."

"Okay, I got it." She called out, picking it up in their room. Paul waited to hear the clicking of her on the line and then hung it up once they started talking. He walked into the kitchen, going to the refrigerator, looking for something to eat, suddenly he
was
hungry. He thought back to Jackie's offer of dinner, which he'd turned down. He figured he hadn't handled her sudden rejection of him very well. He'd remained focus on getting as much work done as he could and basically left her alone. When she returned with her kids, Ronnie had come looking for him. He wanted to help him. Keeping things cool and in order he'd asked her if that was all right. The look she'd given him as much said, his sudden manner with her was unnecessary. Shaking her head she gave her permission and so, Ronnie had been his little apprentice until it had been time for him to leave. He'd asked him as he was cleaning up to go, "You gonna come back tonight again?" Paul could see by the look on his face, that he really wanted him to. Sadly, he didn't think it was a good idea. "Not tonight, but I'll be back again tomorrow." He promised.

Ronnie physically deflated from disappointment, but accepting, nodded, okay.

Paul didn't know how long he stared into the refrigerator with the door open, seeing nothing, before he realized what he was doing and closed it. He would wait on Vivian to fix something. Heading back to the living-room, he fell back on the sofa and turned the TV on. Remote in hand, he began channel surfing. The last thing on his mind, what was on TV.

*

La Jolla Cove

They'd all had a fantastic time at the beach party. Sylvia had cautioned everyone from eating there, saying they'd eat when they got back to the beach house. Shawn, Ben, Mundo - all three of them had been drinking, Crystal, controlled herself deciding that she didn't need anything to drink with her boys in her charge. Basically, the women were all sober, the men were uninhibited. Especially Shawn. He'd danced just about the entire time they were at the party, with her, with Crystal, with Angela and the boys. Sylvia couldn't remember ever having so much fun. They'd walked into the house, and he was still dancing, his hands all over her.

"Shawn! Behave yourself! You need something to eat. Gonna make us a great big seafood salad, because all of you tripping." She laughed.

It was Mundo who had turned the stereo on, getting the jams going in the house. They were all laughing because Mundo was trying to teach Shawn a few new moves, some of which he got, but others he simply made a complete fool of himself doing, and Sylvia thought, on purpose, because he was feeling so free spirited and at ease. Isaac and Darren were out like a light, having burned up loads of energy. Soon as they got into the house, Crystal had fixed them sandwiches, with carrot, celery sticks and cucumber chips. Which they inhaled, Darren dropping off as he ate, his head rolling forward and back so that, Ben, caught him as he was leaning off to the side of the chair. He gathered him up in his arms and headed off to bed with him, Crystal behind him with Isaac. Sylvia had groaned at the sight of it, only to turn and find her husband watching her, warning in his eyes. She'd tossed her nose up and went back to prepping their salad, that is when the dancing had begun, once more, in the house. With Crystal and Angela joining in now that the boys were down for the night.