The Atonement (13 page)

“So how are you today, Mother Bynum?”

“Blessed as always, Ted. Thank you.”

“It’s Tim, ma’am.”

“Isn’t that what I said?”

“You called me – never mind.”

“Tamiko, do you really think it’s wise to be
entertaining guests on a school night when you have work to do?”
said Mother Bynum to her daughter who had just come back from her
errand.

“We’re just trying to organize Jim’s
homecoming celebration. It shouldn’t take that long.”

“She’s right. It’ll only be a half-hour
tops.”

“I should hope so. Your father will be here
soon and after a long day at the church he’s going to want to eat
his dinner in peace”

“Have a seat, Tim. Would you like anything?
Something to drink?” said Tamiko.

“No. I’m fine, thanks.”

“Oh! I forgot to get my notepad. Excuse me,
Tim, I’ll only be a second.”

“No problem.”

Tired of standing, Tim cautiously moved
toward the sofa, all the while Mother Bynum’s eyes followed him
like targeted missiles. Tim took off his suit jacket and laid it on
the arm of the sofa before sitting down. Mother Bynum remained at
her post standing guard.

“Young man, I will remind you that guests are
entertained on the first floor of this house only and I do not
expect to meet with you on any of the floors above, especially in
the presence of my daughter. Is that understood?”

“
Yes, ma’am,” said Tim as
respectfully as he could and struggling to conceal his
exasperation.

“
And I will also make you
aware that, under no circumstances, is my daughter allowed to have
male company at this house when either myself or the Pastor is not
present.”

“
Mom, he knows,” said Tamiko
who had reappeared with a legal pad and a pen. “You say it every
time he comes over.”

“Tamiko, I will be finishing dinner, if you
should need me,” said Mother Bynum before she reluctantly returned
to the kitchen.

“Thanks, mom, but I don’t think I will,” she
said before plopping down on the loveseat across from Tim with a
pen and pad. “Okay – I thought we’d start by discussing
decorations, since that’s the least controversial of our duties”
She was looking at her pad and not at him, which she often did when
she was in a bad mood. Tim decided to try to lighten things up a
bit.

“What?”

“I said, I thought we should start by talking
about the decorations.”

“I’m sorry, it’s kinda hard to hear you when
you’re sitting so far away.”

Tamiko let out a huff and came to sit next to
him on the sofa.

“Better?”

“Much. Now I don’t need a megaphone to talk
to you. By the way, are you upset with me?”

“Annoyed is more like it.”

“Why? Because of what I said the other
night?”

“You called all my ideas lame!”

“Miko, I was just jerking your chain. You
know? - Like old times. I thought it would bring you out of your
mood. You looked kind of sad when I came in.”

“I wasn’t in a mood. I was just
concentrating.”

“You sure?”

“Yes” she answered a little testily. Whatever
the problem was (though after their conversation last night, he
assumed it had something to do with Davis) it was still bothering
her. He could tell she wasn’t ready to talk about it so he decided
to let it go – for now.

“Okay - if you say so. Would it make you feel
better if I said I’m sorry?”

“Is that what your gift is all about?” she
said as she ran a hand through her hair.

“No, I wasn’t trying to buy my way into your
good graces if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s just that I was
getting your mom the spice rack and I didn’t want you to feel left
out.”

“That’s another thing - why did you buy my
mom a spice rack?”

“Because she needed it. Plus, I’m trying to
do like the scriptures say and do good to those that hate you.”

“My mom does not hate you,” said Tamiko
beginning to brighten.

Tim sent her a look that conveyed his
skepticism.

“She’s just being a worry-wart. That’s
all.”

“What would she have to be worried
about?”

All of a sudden Tamiko looked a little
nervous.

“She thinks that you…I mean - she thinks that
I…”

“What?” said Tim softly. Her hesitation made
Tim curious.

“You know what? Never mind about what she
thinks. It’s ridiculous and we’ve wasted enough time. So, anyway,
like I was saying, I was thinking of decorating things according to
a theme. I had two ideas in mind. The first is a New Year’s theme,
since Jim is starting his life over, and the other possibility
would be a football theme. Sort of like to let Jim know that we’re
all there for him, the same way we’d cheer on our favorite football
team. I was thinking we could all wear jerseys in Jim’s favorite
colors: green and gray, and we could all have different numbers.
What do you think so far?”

Tim had gotten lost in thought studying her.
He couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she was – her medium
length dark brown hair, parted to one side, that grazed her
shoulders, her glowing chestnut complexion, and her deep liquid
dark brown eyes. Her dress was a loose, jersey material that draped
delicately over her petite but shapely figure as she lounged on her
end of the sofa with her legs tucked in against her. Tim had never
really noticed how radiant she was until recently. He had always
thought she was merely cute before, but now he found her completely
captivating. What made her stand out from all of the other women he
dated was that she had a natural beauty. She didn’t need make up,
or those creepy eyelashes that looked like spiders, or the hair
extensions. Everything about her was real and genuine which he
found comforting.

“Tim?”

“Oh, sorry,” he said snapping out of his
daydream. “New Year’s sounds kind of formal and I doubt anyone’s
going to want to dress up so they can sit around at home and eat
barbecue. I’d go with the football thing. But do you really think
we’ll be able to get the jerseys on such short notice?” He had to
remind himself that he couldn’t afford such indulgences of
mind.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of the jerseys.
I know a place that can get it done pretty quickly. It’s the same
place where I got my students jerseys for our school’s field day.
Besides, we’re not getting that many. There’s only about eleven of
us altogether and I know everyone’s size. I’ll call them tonight
and they should be ready by the afternoon of the celebration.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

“
I was also thinking we
should have tumblers, napkins, and all of the party favors to match
the color of our jerseys, too.”

“Wait a minute – what kind of party favors
are we talking about?”

“You can relax. There aren’t going to be any
bubble wands; just regular party hats for those who want to wear
them, balloons, streamers, noisemakers, horns, and those felt
banners like you see on college campuses. We could even get novelty
banners with like those funny sayings on them -things like that.
And maybe we should even have everyone dress in green and gray just
to keep with the theme.”

“Sounds a little cheesy but I think Jim could
use some cheese in his life right about now. It’ll make for a good
laugh if nothing else. But about the dress code: What if our guests
don’t have anything to wear in those colors?”

“No one has to wear both colors. They can
wear all green or all grey in the shade of their choice. Anyway,
they’re basic colors. It’s not like we’re asking people to wear
mauve or taupe.”

“Fine. I’ll agree.”

“Now, we have to finalize the entertainment
portion…”

“Which I still think should be a dominoes
tournament and a movie.”

“C’mon, Tim. Why can’t we have a little slide
show about Jim? After all, the party is in his honor.”

“I told you, no guy wants people gawking at
his awkward kid pics.”

“But I have some really sweet ones that I
know would cheer Jim up.”

“Maybe and then maybe not. Jim’s past is
loaded. When you’re as depressed as he might be, even good memories
have a way of turning on you and making you feel bad. Nothing would
sink our celebration faster.”

“How?”

“For example, let’s say you put up some
graduation photos, and he starts to associate those with his past
aspirations to be a lawyer. Next thing you know, he’s all bitter
about how he didn’t get that legal assistant job, he goes into a
race rant, and it snowballs from there.”

“What if I just use the ones from when we
were kids?”

“And what if those pictures remind him of
when his mom was alive, and he starts to miss her.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“If I were him, I’d rather sit through that
headband thing.”

“Really?!”

“I was speaking relatively, Miko.”

“What if we have just one round?”

“Miko…”

“Please.”

“You really want to play this game that
badly? Why? Do the kids at school play for money or something?”

“Tim!” she laughed, nudging him in the
shoulder.

He knew he was going to look like a punk in
front of Allen when he found out what was on the events list, but
he couldn’t resist Tamiko, not when she looked at him the way she
did. At least she was looking at him now. Tamiko seemed to be in a
better mood and he liked seeing her in such good spirits. Besides,
Tim didn’t think it would hurt the festivities any.

“One round during the appetizers and that’s
it.”

“I promise, you won’t regret it.”

“I hope not.”

“Now are you going to bring the dominoes or
should I try to find some.”

“I have a set, but we’re probably going to
need at least five or six if there’s going to be a tournament.”

“So, we’ll have to get more. Oh, and about
the movie…”

“Don’t worry about that. I already streamed
it on my laptop. It’s that film ‘Courageous.’”

“
Oh! I’ve always wanted to
see that.”

“And now you’ll get your chance.”

“So that’s it. I guess we’re done then – and
in less than 20 minutes.”

“I know your mom will be happy about that.
Anyway, I’ll report back to Allen tonight, and I’ll pick you up
early tomorrow. We’ll do some shopping and then we’ll head over to
Al’s and set up.

“Great. Do you think you can get here by
8:30? I know this amazing dollar store in mid-town where we can get
everything we need and they open at nine.”

“You got it. See you tomorrow.”

“See, you.”

Tim put on his suit jacket, and Tamiko went
to retrieve his raincoat from the foyer closet before she escorted
him to the door. He had not walked more than a few feet from the
entrance when he heard her call him back.

“Tim!”

“Yes,” he said turning suddenly.

“Thanks again for the organizer. It’s really
beautiful.”

“Your welcome, Miko.”

Tim could feel his temperature rise as he
walked down the drive toward his car. When he got in he noticed,
that she was still standing in the doorway looking out. “Don’t get
your hopes up,” he warned himself as he started the ignition and
backed out onto the road. Whatever was going on between her and
Davis, he wasn’t going to take advantage. Still, he couldn’t help
but look forward to being able to spend some time with his best
friend.

Thirteen

Allen was keeping watch at gate 13 of
LaGuardia Airport and had just finished off a coffee he got from
one of the overpriced chains that were in the terminal. Considering
it tasted like dishwater, he couldn’t believe what he paid for it.
He wouldn’t have bought it at all if it weren’t for the fact that
he needed the energy. He had been up late at a study group last
night after work in preparation for moot court on Monday. His
friends had done a great job planning the celebration for Jim, and
he was surprised they were able to work together in his absence
without incident. He wanted to be able to sleep in, but he felt
guilty about not doing any of the major work for the party so he
insisted on picking up Riley from the airport. He had to fight for
the job with Miko, who was more than thrilled that her best friend
was in town. Allen himself was also looking forward to seeing one
of his favorite cousins whom he hadn’t seen in person in years.

Allen checked the board again, and then
looked at his watch. She was supposed to be on flight 419, which
was supposed to have arrived twenty minutes ago. He hoped he hadn’t
missed her somehow. He scanned the crowd of people heading toward
the gate, but he couldn’t find her. He was worried that he wouldn’t
recognize her when he saw her since it had been so long. “What if
she’s changed her looks?” he wondered. He went to throw away his
empty coffee cup before returning to his post. Then he saw a huge
afro among the crowd. Allen knew that afro anywhere.

“Riley?!” he called out.

The afro picked up its pace and it wasn’t
long before he could see her clearly. Her afro was pushed back by a
dark green bandana. She was wearing a cute little ladies hunting
jacket over a grey camouflage t-shirt, and green army pants and
desert colored army boots. She also had her signature gold hoop
earrings. Despite the fact that her clothes were decidedly not
feminine, the fit was. The camouflage did nothing to hide her
svelte, hourglass figure. Her caramel complexion was glowing with
the brightness of health.

“Little Al!” she screamed as she threw her
five foot ten inch frame on him for a bear hug. Allen picked her up
off her feet.

“Little? I haven’t been little since I was
thirteen. Are you forgetting that I’m a whole five inches taller
and sixty pounds heavier than you now?”

“But you’re still two years younger, so
there!”

“Girl, you look good! Old NC has been good to
you,” said Allen pulling out of the embrace and taking her luggage
from her as they began to walk to his car.