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Authors: Monique Miller

BOOK: The Marrying Kind
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Chapter 12
Weeks passed before Travis secured another job. It was the Friday before Father's Day and he would be starting his first day at a place called Alley's Pizza. Alley's was a kid-friendly restaurant with a play zone for kids to enjoy. The place put him in the mind of a Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant, except in addition to the little games the children could play to redeem tickets for prizes, they also had the gigantic jumping toys where kids could climb, jump, run, and slide until their hearts were content. Alley's had party rooms for special occasions like birthdays.
Travis's job was to be Alley the Alligator. At various intervals, Travis had to walk through the establishment and greet the customers. He also had to make appearances in each one of the birthday rooms to greet the happy little birthday boy or girl who was being honored for their special occasion.
He was told that the establishment was geared toward children between the ages of two and ten. He wasn't too keen on having to wear the alligator suit, but was glad that no one would know who he was underneath the protruding felt, shaped teeth.
Travis donned his alligator suit and felt foolish. Each step he took was awkward and he had to be careful when he walked because of his big, bulky feet. For the first two hours he waddled from room to room greeting children for parties, and standing outside in front of the store to try to entice more people to come in and check Alley's out.
A couple of times he had to shake a couple of children off of his tail as they wanted to try to climb onto it and ride. Although he didn't like wearing the alligator suit, he did like the fact that the head of the alligator muffled the sounds of the screaming and shrieking children. And as the hours ticked on, he really didn't know how long he was going to be able to play the role of Alley.
Just as he was about to step into the dinosaur birthday room to greet a little boy who was turning five years old, Travis thought he saw a woman who favored Beryl, but this woman had a short haircut, unlike his ex-wife who had beautiful flowing dreads. He'd done a double take, but when he did, whoever the woman was had gotten lost among a crowd of people who were coming in the front door. He figured the heavy suit with its claustrophobic feel was finally getting to him.
After greeting the little boy in the dinosaur room, Travis made a round around the perimeter of the big play area, while the manager played the theme song for Alley's, which went to the same beat as the song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”: “Come on, kids, follow Alley. Jump and play and eat, yippee.” The deal was that Travis was to do a walking dance around the perimeter while the children danced and walked behind him with a conga-line type of feel. Once he'd gone around the perimeter two times the music would end and the children could go back to playing.
As Travis walked back toward the break room, he did another double take. On the giant dragon, he thought he saw a little boy who looked just like his youngest son Jayden. Then a moment later he stared at another boy and knew for sure it was his oldest son Cameron.
He blinked his eyes and wondered what was going on. It was surreal seeing his boys there. He wanted to pinch himself but couldn't because of all of the padding he was wearing. The boys sat at the top of the slide on the dragon.
He looked about, knowing Beryl would never let the boys go too far out of her sight. He turned his suit-clad body around, almost knocking a child over with his tail. He bent over to make sure the child was okay and then continued looking around. That was when he saw Beryl smiling up toward the boys, encouraging them to slide down. She looked the same but very different: she had cut all of her dreads off and was now sporting a short haircut, which didn't look bad with her oval-shaped face.
His first thought was to try to duck out of sight so that Beryl would not see him. Then he wondered how she might have found out he worked there. He realized there was no way she would recognize him in the alligator suit, and besides that, she was watching the boys play as if she didn't have a care in the world. So it was clear that she was there on her own and not seeking him.
As he stood there watching Beryl, who was oblivious to the fact that Alley the Alligator was staring at her, Travis saw a tall, skinny-looking guy who reminded him of Urkel from the old
Family Matters
television show. This Urkel lookalike didn't wear any glasses.
The guy walked up to Beryl, handed her an ICEE drink, and then put his arm around Beryl's waist. Beryl took the drink and placed her arm around the guy as well as if they were a couple.
Travis's jaw dropped wide open. “What the ...” His voice trailed off as he was tapped from behind.
“Hey, T, we've been waiting on you. You've got to go to the princess birthday room to make an appearance,” Travis's new boss said. The boss called him T because there was already another Travis who worked there, and it made things simpler for everyone to distinguish who was who.
With reluctance Travis followed his boss to the princess-themed room. In the room he danced the Alley the Alligator dance and sang “Happy Birthday” to the little girl, who turned out to be afraid of him the whole time he was in there. In Travis's mind he and the little girl had something in common: she didn't want him to be there and he didn't want to be in there either. As soon as was humanly possible he'd hightail it out of the room to seek out his ex-wife and her friend, whoever he was.
This time when he found them the guy didn't have his arm around Beryl but he was whispering something into her ear. Whatever he said she must have liked because she started giggling as she hit the guy playfully on his arm. The guy smiled like he'd just scored a point in a game.
Travis felt himself getting hot, and not because of the heavy suit he was wearing. What was that man doing whispering sweet nothings into his sons' mother's ear? And the guy had the nerve to do it right in front of his kids. The next thing he knew his baby boy, Jayden, ran up to the guy. The guy scooped his son up and swung him around in the air. Travis's youngest son giggled with glee. The guy put him back down on the floor, so he could go back and play with his big brother.
Before Travis knew it his body was off in a forward-moving, wobbling run headed toward his ex and the guy. Just before reaching them he tripped over his two oversized alligator feet and fell into the guy, causing the bright red ICEE drink he was holding to fly into his face and down to the Urkel lookalike's sky-blue Polo shirt and the white linen shorts he was wearing.
Just as Travis picked himself up off of the floor, the guy pushed him, asking what his problem was. Travis pushed the guy back and a fight ensued. Neither man received any bruises during the tangle due to the fact that Travis suit was well cushioned and because Travis's big alligator hands were soft and could only throw soft blows.
The manager had to end up coming over to pull the two men apart. Before Travis could say a word the guy started telling the manager what happened. Travis tried to catch his breath in the meantime. He was seething within.
Travis's manager looked at the whole mess. “T, go to the office. We'll talk in a few minutes.
Travis was about to say something. He wasn't going leave without telling his side of the story. But then he realized the place was quiet. As he looked around, people watched, trying to see what would happen next. Then he ended up keeping his mouth shut when he saw his two little boys hugging their mother with tears in their eyes. Travis realized what a complete spectacle it must have all been. And now his two little boys were seemingly terrified of the big bully alligator.
With newfound humiliation because of his actions, Travis turned to go to the locker area so he could take the slushy, stained alligator suit off. As he walked away he heard his boss apologizing profusely to the guy he'd just fought. As he passed them, children shied away and he received glares from the adults.
As he wobbled past the princess party room, the little girl from the party he had recently visited screamed to the top of her lungs as she cried, “Alley's hurt. Blood, Daddy, blood.”
Now Travis really couldn't wait to get out of the outfit and couldn't get out of the place fast enough.
Chapter 13
The Sunday of Father's Day Travis sat in silence in the recliner of the bonus room. He'd tried to concentrate at church that morning and then later tried to watch a movie when he got back home, but kept having to rewind it because it wasn't keeping his attention. Father's Day came and went without a phone call from Beryl or the boys.
That night he tossed and turned as his thoughts kept wondering why in the world Beryl had been in Silvermont. It was true that Silvermont was less than two hours from where they used to live. But she hadn't usually frequented Silvermont. Greensboro or even Raleigh, but not Silvermont. What was she doing there on a weekday, no less?
By Monday Travis had had enough of stewing over everything and trying to figure out what Beryl was doing in Silvermont as well as who the Urkel-looking guy was. He picked up the phone and did something he hadn't done in months: he dialed Beryl's cell phone number ready to give her the third degree with the barrage of questions he had swirling in his head.
As soon as he heard Beryl's voice say hello, he asked, “Who was that guy you were with at Alley's the other day?” His voice was louder than he had intended for it to be. He'd intended to ask her more, but realized he'd actually gotten her voice mail. She'd changed her message since the last time he'd spoken with her and her pause just after saying, “Hello,” on the message made it seem like she was actually answering the phone.
When the phone did finally beep for him to leave his message, he hung up instead. He didn't want to give her a heads-up on why he was calling. He wanted her honest reaction and response to the questions he had. So next he dialed her number at work. He knew Beryl didn't like to be disturbed at work, but this was one time she was going to have to make an exception. He had questions that needed to be answered right then. After punching in her direct extension from memory, he again poised himself to ask the questions.
“Hello,” a woman's voice said.
Travis's words stuck in his throat for a moment. It wasn't Beryl's voice.
“Hello,” the woman said again.
“Ah, yes. Who am I speaking with?”
“Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Betsy. I was supposed to say my name when I answered. Please forgive me. How can I help you, sir?”
“Uh, yes, may I please speak with Beryl Highgate?”
“Beryl Highgate?” The woman repeated in question.
“Yes, Beryl Highgate,” Travis repeated.
“Oh, that's how her name is pronounced,” Betsy said.
Beryl's name was pronounced just like the name Cheryl but with a B. Travis didn't feel like talking with the woman and didn't feel like going through all the formalities and niceties. “Look, Betsy, I am in a bit of a rush. Is Beryl available or not?”
There was a pause on the other end. It was obvious that the woman had been offended. “Well, sir, I am sorry but Ms. Highgate is not available. She no longer works here.”
“Say what?” Travis asked in disbelief.
“She no longer works here, sir. Now is there anything I can help you with, sir?” The woman sounded snippy now.
“No,” Travis said.
He guessed Betsy was tired of being customer service friendly as well because the next thing he heard was a click in his ear. Now he sort of wished he'd been at least a little more cordial to the woman, because now he couldn't ask her any questions about where Beryl was and what happened for her not to be there anymore.
Travis sat dumbfounded for a moment, wondering what was going on. Beryl had worked at that office for almost a decade. She was a dedicated employee who had been employee of the month several times and employee of the year once. Now new questions formulated in his mind. Beryl no longer worked there? He wondered what was up. Had they had layoffs? Did she quit? How was she getting along financially without any support from him?
There were many times when they were married that Beryl used to nag him about working and keeping a job. It was hard for him to find steady work. He often applied for jobs but the people hiring didn't appreciate his associate's degree in general studies. At that time it had been hard enough for their family to make ends meet on Beryl's steady income.
Now he felt a twinge of guilt. He wondered if Beryl had been calling him so much the last few months because of her job loss. She probably really did need some money.
His cell phone rang, and without looking at the caller ID, he picked it up hoping to hear Beryl's voice. Instead of hearing his ex-wife, he heard the sultry voice of Jade on the other end.
“Hello, may I speak to Wayne?” Jade said.
“Hey, Jade,” Travis said. Even though he was disappointed it wasn't Beryl, Jade was a pleasant distraction.
“Well hello, handsome,” Jade said. Her voice held a seductive tone.
“Well hello to you too, stranger,” Travis said. He wondered what Jade was up to and why she was calling and trying to sound so seductive.
“I am so sorry I haven't made contact with you. Things have just been really busy for me at work and there were a few personal things I had to take care of. So pleeeaaassse forgive me.” She'd held out her please a little longer than needed to stress her need for forgiveness.
“You are forgiven,” Travis said, now sort of glad she had called to take his mind off of the situation with his ex-wife. “So to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?”
“Well, I was wondering if you were going to be busy this Friday,” Jade said.
“Well that depends. What's up?” Travis asked.
“There is a dinner party for my job that I completely forgot about until yesterday and I need to take a date with me. You immediately came to mind,” Jade said.
“Are you serious? I am the first person who came to mind?”
“You sure were.”
Travis didn't believe the woman. She was so good looking that she would surely have her pick of many men. So she either asked a few other people and they had declined or her original date had to back out at the last minute. But all was well and good.
“Where is this dinner and when?” Travis asked.
“It is at Ginny's this Friday, the twenty-fourth, at seven,” Jade said.
“It's at Ginny's?” Travis asked, thinking that it sounded like it should be a nice dinner party and that whatever company Jade worked for, they had a lot of money.
“Yeah, Ginny's. Have you been there before?”
“Oh, yeah. It's my favorite restaurant. I love their food.”
“Great. So how about it? Can you make it?”
“Sure,” Travis said.
“Oh yeah, and Wayne,” Jade said.
“Yeah?” Travis asked with question in his voice.
“There is one more little thing,” Jade said.
“What's that?” Travis wondered.
“It is a formal affair. Do you happen to own a tuxedo ?”
“Baby doll, are you serious?” Travis asked.
“Ah, yes,” Jade said with what sounded like concern in her voice.
“Only real men own tuxedos,” Travis said.
He could hear what sounded like a sigh of relief in her voice. “Great. I knew you looked like a man who would own your own tuxedo. Wonderful. You can pick me up at six,” Jade said.
“Ah, say what?”
“You heard me. You seem like a nice enough guy. Not a stalker or anything or a serial killer. So you can pick me up. Do you have a pen so you can write my address down?”
“Ah, yeah,” Travis said.
“Great. I live at 61 LaFayette Street. It is in the Wellington Down's subdivision.”
“Okay, 61 LaFayette Street in the Wellington Down's subdivision,” Travis repeated.
“So I'll see you at six Friday night?”
“Yep. I'll pick you up at six,” Travis said.
“Bye,” Jade said.
“Bye.” Travis hung the phone up as he thought about his dilemma. All of a sudden he was going to have to figure out a way to pick Jade up. She would be expecting him to pick her up in his candy apple–red BMW. He thought about using the excuse of the car being in the shop. The he wondered how much it would be to rent a candy apple–red BMW, but figured Enterprise Rent-A-Car or Alamo wouldn't just happen to have one sitting on their lots waiting to be rented. Somehow he was going to have to figure something out.
That Friday evening Travis rang the doorbell on the front door to Jade's home. It was a two-story brick home situated at the middle of a cul-de-sac. She came to the door wearing a tight-fitting off-white A-line dress that hugged her in all the right places. Again she looked as if she had just stepped out of the beauty salon.
She greeted Travis as she stepped out of the front door and locked it. “Hey, Wayne. I like a man who is punctual.”
She hadn't invited him in or anything. He figured she wanted to make sure she made it to the dinner party early. He let her walk in front of him down the sidewalk and to the driveway.
“So this is your BMW?” Jade asked as she walked around to the passenger side door.
“Yep,” Travis said, hoping she wouldn't hear the nervousness in his voice.
He opened the door for Jade to let her in and then returned to his side of the car to let himself in. Just after cranking the car he paused for a moment and said a very quick silent prayer to himself, praying he wouldn't get a scratch on Brent's car.
“Are you okay?” Jade asked.
Travis opened his eyes, clinched the wheel, and said, “Yeah, I'm good.” Then he gingerly backed out of Jade's driveway.
It wasn't until he was fully out of her driveway and driving safely down her street that he spoke again. “You look very nice,” he said.
“Thank you. You look pretty nice yourself,” Jade said.
“Thanks,” Travis said. Again Travis had returned to Brent's closet to put on the tuxedo he'd seen. It fit perfectly and now he actually looked like Richard Gere from the
Pretty Woman
movie.
They rode most of the way in silence as Travis paid as much attention as he could to the road and the other drivers. He would be glad when he got back home and could park the BMW back in the garage. Not only was he scared of damaging the car, but the trip to Jade's had already cost Travis twenty-five dollars in gas money. As soon as he'd cranked Brent's car he realized it was almost out of gas. He'd gone to the gas station to fill it up. But he realized that the gas meter was reading almost twenty dollars and it had only filled about five gallons worth of gas. So instead of filling up the tank, he decided to only pump twenty-five dollars worth.
“So, how was your day?” Jade asked.
“Good,” Travis said. He didn't offer anything further. His mind was on figuring out where there would be a safe place to park downtown. The last thing he needed was to have Brent's car stolen.
Jade made a couple more attempts to make small talk with him and Travis answered the couple of closed-ended questions she had, but didn't offer any questions in reply to her. He knew he was acting a bit strange, but at that point he didn't care.
When they got downtown much of the parking close to the restaurant was taken, so Travis ended up parking in a parking garage that cost him ten dollars. He wasn't pleased with this additional expense, but did at least feel slightly better about the safety of the car. So far he had spent thirty-five dollars on his date out with Jade. And by his calculations the savings he'd started was now going to be down to about only forty-five dollars. He knew he was going to have to start watching his spending and he was going to have to do better in the savings department.
He still had a paycheck coming to him from the car wash, and would have received a check from Alley's, but was informed that his check would be used to buy another alligator suit and to pay for the cleaning bill of the customer whose clothing had been stained with red ICEE juice.
As he tried to enjoy the night with Jade at the dinner party it reminded him of something. And after racking his brain, it came to him. In a way, Jade reminded him of Gabrielle Union when she played the role of Eva in the movie
Deliver Us from Eva
. In the movie Gabrielle was a beautiful business woman who focused on work and had a heart of ice. Jade seemed like she was on some sort of mission that night and the mission wasn't really to get to know Travis better.
Travis felt more like an arm piece or an accessory to Jade. Her demeanor toward him changed drastically when they hit the doors of the restaurant and Jade saw some of her coworkers. She clutched on to Travis as if the two had been a couple and had known one another for years. She was trying to put up some kind of front for them. It was a fakeness that Travis had never noticed before and he didn't like it at all. He played along with her game of “this is my boyfriend” as he enjoyed the ambiance and food.

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