by Robyn Steele
DESTINY’S PATH
By Robyn Steele
The tranquil, coral sky at twilight is probably my favorite time for relaxing on the verandah on my cherished porch swing. Grandpa made this swing for me while I was still a toddler. He and I would swing until I fell asleep and he would swoop me up and carry me upstairs and tuck me into my little princess bed. Most of the time, it was the only way to get me to sleep. I was an indulged child, to say the least. Being the only child and only grandchild, I got smothered with attention from everyone. But I often wondered what it would be like to have siblings. I may have felt left out in that department. However, they made up for it everywhere else.
Momma married daddy right out of high school and “adorable little me” followed soon after. The trouble was that daddy disappeared when I was very young. Momma never got over him. She never remarried or even dated. She said daddy was the only man for her, ever. Subsequently, there were no siblings for me.
We immediately moved in with grams and grandpa so they could help mom raise me, making yours truly one of the most pampered little girls in town. No complaints here, though. I adored my grandparents as well as momma.
No one ever spoke about daddy or his mysterious disappearance. The newspapers alluded to the fact that he ran off. That he wanted to disappear. That he didn’t want to be found. Momma never believed that for one minute, although she didn’t elaborate on what she supposed happened. I could tell from the pictures of my parents that they were truly captivated by each other. No one could convince me that daddy had left on his own accord. Deep in my soul I knew he loved me and momma and would be here with us if he could.
I had spent the last 15 years of my existence living in the big Palladian-style home that grams and grandpa had lived in since they were married and where daddy grew up. I loved this handsome home, with its tall, arched windows and massive porticos surrounding the entire structure. It was fashioned so one could walk or sit on any side of the home to view the breath-taking vistas. This European-style structure was not indicative of any other home in our town. Being an architect, grandpa had built the home the way he and grams had wanted, nestled on top of a little knoll over-looking the small little town of Harrington. Which by the way is my last name.
My parents named me Talitha, after one of the stars in the Ursa Major constellation. Momma says they put great thought into choosing my name because I had a destiny of great importance. Sometimes momma can be so dramatic. I think she was born in the wrong decade. She seems more like a hippie from the 60’s. She laughs at me when I say that. “Talli dear, you have no idea of what you speak. But we love you all the more.” I call her drama momma for endearment.
Grams is more like me. Rather, I am like her. Grams and I would rather go for a hike in the red rock; while momma would prefer to ski down a slope of powdered snow. Momma loves shopping and I absolutely loath it. However, I do indulge my mother and accompany her on shopping excursions. I know how she hates to go alone. Mostly she takes Gabrielle shopping because Gabrielle lives for major mall trolling.
Gabrielle, or Brielle for short, and I have been best friends only for forever. Gabrielle Marilyn Monroe is her real name. Her mom thought naming her after someone famous would be an assurance of stardom someday. Since her last name was Monroe, she just put the “Marilyn” in the middle. Although Brielle hated that part of her name, she bore quite an uncanny resemblance to her namesake. She could command anyone’s attention whenever she entered a room. She was graced with the most beautiful, deep brown eyes and smooth blonde hair that just dipped below her shoulders. Her looks were so stunning that every boy in our high school would have loved to call her his own.
That privilege was bestowed upon the star quarterback Pason Johnson. Pason was tall, muscular, and dreamy. His brown eyes and cinnamon hair could lure you in and his fun loving personality kept you there. However, my attentions were spent on Nathan Broadwell. I had been friends with Nate all through elementary and junior high. He had sparkling green eyes and wavy blonde hair that he wore “Jimmy Dean” style. So when I was finally old enough to date, I set my sights on the tall, gorgeous boy next door. Well, actually it was down the road-next-door. Although the Broadwells were our closest neighbors, they were a quarter mile down the road.
Conveniently, they were close enough for Nate to pick me up every morning for school. That was my routine, comfortably so. Nate was so reliable. I knew when I heard the front door open in the morning it was 7:45 on the dot. Momma, grams and grandpa liked Nate well enough. However, they weren’t too fond of our exclusive dating. They always told me to “have fun” and see the world before I became involved with someone. “Get your education before you ever get serious with a guy,” Grams would advise me. “Don’t settle for the first boy that comes along,” warned momma. Grandpa would just tell me he wanted me to be happy and to make sure whomever I chose to be with treated me like a princess.
It was Sunday evening and I was just chillin’ out on the porch swing until it was time to get ready for bed. Nate had just gone home after spending the day with me. After dinner we had gone for a ride on the four-wheelers and then met up with Brielle and Pason. It was pretty much a normal Sunday afternoon. Life was comfortable with these three people. I didn’t think I would ever need anything more in my life than these three friends and momma and my grandparents. I was contented. At least, for the time being. So I thought.
Just before I was going to go inside, a red sports car pulled up in front of my house. I turned slightly to see if I knew anyone inside. Sitting in the driver’s seat was a dark, mysterious man, or rather a boy about my age. He wore dark sunglasses and a leather jacket. All I could do was stare at him. We lived on a dead end road, away from anyone or anything. What the heck was this person doing here? Maybe it was someone grandpa knew. “Gramps. Someone’s here for ya.” I called out into the house while still facing the vehicle in front of me.
The door opened slowly and he stepped out of the car. He had dark brown hair that feathered onto his collar. He was about 6 feet tall, well-built and very attractive, with chiseled cheek bones and a firm jaw. He pulled down his sunglasses and revealed the best part of his appearance; beautiful ombre blue eyes that faded from black to several hues of blue. His long lashes covering them when he chose to hide them. He slipped off his jacket and tossed it into the back seat. Holy biceps! That dude definitely works out. He sauntered halfway up the steps and stopped. I wondered who he was looking for. OK Talli, I thought, just ask him already. Don’t just stand there like an idiot.
I made a lame attempt to clear my throat. It seemed to restrict and I felt it difficult to speak. Why was I so captivated by this stranger? I know he was extremely good-looking but so are a lot of guys. What was it about him that seemed to have me in a trance? “Can I help you find what you’re looking for,” I incited him.
“I certainly hope so my dear lady.” How strange. He looked about my age but he talks like someone much older or maybe from a different era. I gave him a puzzled look as I slightly turned toward the house and called out to grandpa again. No way was I turning my back on this mystery of a man. Grandpa stepped out on the porch with me and immediately thrust his arm in front of me and crossed over to completely block me from this unannounced visitor. Of course I peeped around grandpa to maintain my gaze on the beautiful creature before us.
“Name’s Cruz DaMonico.” He extended his hand to grandpa as he approached the steps. But his eyes were on me. Did I detect an accent? I couldn’t quite tell what kind and for sure if it was an accent, but there was something about his voice that attracted, no, compelled me to him. He couldn’t
be much more than 18 by his looks, but his mannerisms were a different story. His speech avowed to much more maturity.
Grandpa was not impressed with our visitor, in the least. “DaMonico? As in the Salerno DaMonicos? As in Alessandro DaMonico?” Grandpa spoke with caution or maybe it was thoughtfulness. I wasn’t sure what was going through grandpa’s head. However, he wasn’t his usual jovial self. The silence seemed to last forever. Although I’m sure it was only a few seconds, the awkwardness made it seem longer. There were definitely unspoken words between the two men in front of me.
“Gramps, what or who is Salerno and DaMonico and Alessandro?” I tried to mask the silence. For good measure, I locked my arms around grandpa’s waist. I could afford to be curious with grandpa there to protect me.
“Talitha, just go inside. Nothing here concerns you.” Grandpa had always been over-protective of me. In fact so were grams and momma. However, I was not easily compliant with their protectiveness. There was far too much interest here to leave. “Talitha, I mean now.”
Most kids knew they were in trouble when they were called by their middle name. I, however, did not have a middle name to be used in such incidents. I knew, though, when my full name was used instead of my nickname, to take them seriously. I stepped inside the door but stayed close enough to eavesdrop.
“Yes, sir, you are correct in your assumption. Alessandro is my father.” Cruz seemed benign. Certainly polite. Grandpa shut the door and moved down the stairs so to keep my ears from hearing anymore. I went to the window, put my fingers between the shutters enough to peak out and see what was happening. Grandpa was shaking his finger at the visitor. Cruz slowly backed away, nodded and departed. Now I would never know what that was about. I thought to myself. I felt a pang of disappointment.
Grandpa came back in the house and tried to ignore me. However his efforts were futile. “Gramps, who was that guy you were talking to?” I probed.
“No one. Nothing that concerns you.” Grandpa answered hastily. There was something that didn’t sit right with me. It wasn’t his answer, but the way he said it. I wasn’t buying it.
“Gramps, who was it and what did they want?” I asked relentlessly as if he hadn’t answered the first time.
“Talitha, don’t be disrespectful. It doesn’t concern you and you need to drop it, now.” Grandpa kept his voice at normal volume, but he answered sternly. I knew to leave it alone. I went upstairs to my room and got ready for bed but didn’t sleep at all. Thoughts of this mysterious guy kept playing through my head. The gorgeous “Cruz DaMonico” occupied my mind the whole night.
Monday morning I got out of bed as usual. I got ready for school as usual. Despite not being able to sleep all night, I was full of energy and enthusiasm. I don’t know what it was but I felt as if I could tackle the world. Something had changed in me. I didn’t know what. I could just feel it.
I ran down the stairs and into the kitchen where my nose led me to grams waffle and strawberries and cream special. They smelt wonderful. Sometimes grams really spoiled me. I wasn’t really hungry but I ate some since she went to all the effort to make them. “Talli, you sure are chipper today. What’s up?” Grams asked me while I was savoring my breakfast.
“Idk. I’m not sure what you’re talking about. Just going to school as usual.” I answered, because I didn’t know why I felt this way, so I definitely couldn’t tell anyone else why I felt this way. I finished eating, brushed my teeth and Nate was at the door to take me to school. “Bye grams. Love you. See you later.”
We met up with Brielle and Pason at the school. Brielle and I were talking about the cheer tryouts for next year and Nate and Pason discussed the baseball tryouts. It was a pretty normal day. It just didn’t feel normal. It felt like there was something about to blow into town that would change my life. That’s silly, though. Sometimes my imagination just runs away with me.
“So have you ordered your graduation announcements yet?”
“Huh?” I wasn’t sure what Brielle had just said. My mind was still on the cute guy at my house last night.
“Well okay then. Am I boring you or what?” Brielle asked.
“Sorry, just thinking about a guy that came to my house last night.”
“Oooo. Let’s hear about it. He must have been a hunk if you’re still thinking about him.”
“I don’t know. There was definitely something about him that I can’t forget. But let’s drop it. You know Nate and I are together.”
“Okay, but something tells me you’re not going to drop it. What was he at your house for, anyway?”
“I wish I knew. Grandpa chased him away real fast and made me go inside. So I have no idea what he was doing. At first I thought maybe he was lost or looking for an address or something. Then grandpa knew who he was. He wouldn’t tell me anything and it’s really bugging me.”
“Well if he shows up again be sure and call me. He sounds interesting to me.”
First period was cheer. I worked hard to become good at cheer. I had practiced and practiced my back tuck until it was perfect! Cheer is a tough sport. A lot of people don’t realize that. Some people don’t even think it is a sport at all. I’d like to see the football team or basketball team put in the workout that we do in cheer. Or even better, the tennis team. They don’t do anywhere near the workout that we do every day. We have practice in the morning, sometimes even early morning too. We run and workout and practice stunts over and over. We learn new cheers every week to perform. And practice them every day. Then starting in the afternoon we cheer at all the events on into the night, usually not getting home until midnight. And it’s not just one event, it’s all of them! All year long. Not just a season. There’s football and girls and boys basketball and girls softball and baseball and wrestling and girls and boys volleyball and track. Then on top of that we still have to get good grades. So we’re usually up late doing homework. If others understood what we did, they would have more respect for us.
Even though cheer was always a hard workout, this morning it was a breeze. I didn’t even work up a sweat. That was so strange! And basing a flyer is hard work. Lifting a girl up that’s my own weight is not easy stuff. However, today it felt like lifting a feather. And when everyone did their four laps around the track, I did four extra laps. I just couldn’t stop.
Next period was calculus. Not my best subject. I had always struggled with any kind of math. I passed with good grades, but I had to work extra hard and use tutors to do it. Not today. For some reason, everything the instructor was teaching was clicking so well it made me second-guess my answers. However, they were always right. I even finished my assignment before class was over and went around helping other students. Normally I would have to take it home, meet up with my tutor, and then do my assignment.
The rest of the day went the same way. English was always easy for me. However, today it was a breeze. Science, economics, everything was so easy. All the time I was breezing through my school work, my mind was on the stranger that had been at my house the night before. I just couldn’t quit thinking about him even when I tried. Those mesmerizing eyes, his chiseled physique, it all played over and over in my mind. Who was he and why had he taken control of my mind? Well, not really control of it but I certainly couldn’t shake him out of it.
When I got home I did my chores and rearranged my bedroom and fixed dinner and cleaned up after dinner and was still not tired when it was time for bed. I just didn’t know where this burst of energy came from. I wasn’t complaining though. I loved the energy I was feeling. Momma and grandpa and grams kept giving each other looks like they were talking to each other without speaking. I’m sure they thought I had lost it. Maybe they worried I was using some kind of drug. I hope not. I would never do that. I’m pretty sure they knew that. I wondered if maybe it was something they had fed me. I tried to thi
nk what it could be but I don’t think I had anything different. I just had no clue why I had all this energy and why school had become so easy. I was just enjoying it.
Brielle came over after dinner to do homework. I didn’t have any to do but I helped her with her homework. I could tell Brielle was wondering why I didn’t have homework but she didn’t ask. I was glad for that because I had no idea what to tell her. I couldn’t explain it to myself.
Nate and Pason came over and we just hung out for a while. We were sitting on the porch talking. My mind kept wandering back to that elusive stranger that came to our door. I was definitely attracted to him but why was I still thinking about him. I’m sure I’ll never see him again. I don’t even know who he is. So why is he still occupying my head?
“Where are you tonight Talli?” Nate asked me in an attempt to get my attention.
“Idk. I thought I was right here.”
“Physically, yeah but where is your head? I don’t think you’ve heard a word we’ve been saying.”
“Sorry. Just tired I guess.”
“So do you want us to leave?”
“Heck no. It’s still early. Maybe we can go for a ride on the four wheelers.” I suggested to get the spotlight off of me.
“I think I’m gonna head home. I’m pretty tired.” Brielle said.
“I’ll take you home.” Pason left with her.
“If there’s something on your mind or if you need anything, you know I’m here for you, right?” Nate told me.
“Of course I do. I’m just thinking about how close we are to graduating. It’s kinda good and kinda scary. But I’m still excited for it. You know what I mean?” I tried to deflect the conversation. I couldn’t talk to Nate about the cute guy that came to my door.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel the same way. I’m excited to go on to college but it is a big step. What about us, Talli. Have you decided where you want to go to college?” Nate asked.
“I can’t decide. Momma doesn’t want me to go far away but you know I don’t always follow her advice. I think she just thinks she’ll miss me or something. She’ll get over it. She needs someone in her life. You know, like a boyfriend or something. She wants me to stay here and go to school locally. I haven’t decided what to do. Maybe I’ll have to go here for a year while I decide. I just don’t know what I want to go into yet. Maybe I will take a year off from school and do some travelling.”
“I was really hoping you would go to Southern University with me. You know, since that’s where my scholarship is. You can still get in there. They take late applications.” Nate said hopefully.
“Yeah. I might still do that. I just haven’t decided yet.”
“What are you waiting for? I didn’t think it would ever be a question of going. I always thought we would just go together.” Nate said.
“I’m not saying I won’t go there. I just want to be sure. I don’t want to go just because I’m following you. Not that I don’t want to be with you but I want to make it my own way. You know, go to school for what I want to do.” I said.
“Didn’t you apply for scholarships there?” Nate asked.
“Yup. They offered me one for cheer and an academic one, full ride. That’s not the problem. Grandpa said he will pay my way to any school I want to go to. I did accept the scholarships so I can still go. I promise I will think about it some more.”
Nate looked at me with probing eyes. “I don’t understand, Talli. You and I have always been together. I never thought we would be apart after high school. Do you want me to stay here with you? I could go to school locally too.”
“No! Don’t give up your scholarship, Nate. You worked hard for that and you deserve it.” I told him.
“But it means nothing if you aren’t with me. I would stay if you wanted me to.” Nate looked sad.
I needed to cheer him up. “Okay Nate, we’ll work it out. Don’t worry. Keep your scholarship. Promise me.”
“Sure. As long as you promise me we’ll be together.” Nate said as he kissed me. Good thing he kissed me because that saved me from having to promise him anything. I wasn’t sure why, but I just couldn’t make that promise.
When I went to bed I still couldn’t get the elusive stranger out of my head! It was almost annoying. However, He was so gorgeous and interesting that he could never be annoying. I couldn’t help but wonder who he was and what he was doing here and why grandpa didn’t want me to talk to him. Was it the mystery that kept him in my head? Or was it his alluring looks? Or was it both? I did sleep that night. I dreamt that I met Cruz and went with him. In my dream he was very polite and sweet. Nothing amiss about him. The beautiful stranger played in my head until daylight.
