by Donald Wells
“But Jason I—”
“No! You talked last week, now it’s my turn. This is what we’re going to do. We’re going to finish high school and then you’re going to take care of yourself and the baby while I work my ass off making money to live on. Fuck college! I’m going to be an artist not a lawyer. I’m begging you Lindsay, don’t give the baby away. I love you, we’ll make this work, please trust me, we’ll be happy I promise I, I guess I’m through, say something.”
Lindsay smiles and the room seems to erupt in color, as the emotional haze that encircled her over the past week disappears. She then stares deep into Jason’s eyes.
“I love you so much, but I’ve been so scared and confused. I just didn’t want to ruin your life. I don’t know why you love me so much, but now I know for sure that you do. I’m not afraid anymore, let’s keep the baby.”
They kiss, and for a time, lie on the sofa embracing in silent gratitude for their reunion.
“Jason… the doctor said the time of conception was on or about St. Valentine’s Day.”
“I figured that.”
“And?”
“And I don’t care. I love you and I’ll love the baby too, I swear it.”
“Jason she’s yours. I can feel it. It’s like the way I feel now, here in your arms. She makes me feel that way all the time, it’s like you’re always with me.”
“How do you know it’s a girl? They can tell that now, this early along?”
“It’s like a… knowing. It’s hard to explain, I just know she’s a girl and that she’s yours.”
“I understand. I felt something like that when I first laid eyes on you. I simply knew I would always love you.”
“We’re going to be parents Jason.”
“A mommy and a daddy,”
“And a husband and wife? I think we should get married—unless you don’t want to.”
“Oh no!” Jason jumps off the sofa and rushes to the fireplace, he sifts through the vestiges with a poker and spots the ring glinting in the ashes. To his amazement, it appears undamaged, the gold band rivaling the diamond with its gleam.
“What are you doing?” Lindsay says.
“I was going to ask you to marry me last week, but when you left me I was so sick I threw the ring box into the fire.”
“Oh my God, that was what you wanted to ask me?”
“I still do.” Jason returns to the sofa, and getting down on bended knee, shows her the ring.
“My God Boomer! Is this the Hope diamond? It’s so huge and beautiful.”
“Lindsay,”
“Yes?”
“Will you marry me?”
Lindsay smiles, “Yes Jason, I’ll marry you for the rest of my life.”
Jason pulls Lindsay down to lie alongside him on the bearskin rug, where they kiss and embrace.
Lindsay stares at her ring. “I know I’m not supposed to ask, but how much did you spend on this? It looks so expensive.”
“I spent every penny I had, it’s nearly two carats, I only wish it were bigger.”
“Boomer any bigger and I wouldn’t be able to lift my hand. Maybe you should have gotten a smaller ring; we’re going to need a lot of things for the baby. Jason we’re going to need a place to live, how are we going to afford all that?”
“Let me worry about the money okay? There’s only one thing I want you to do.”
“What’s that?”
“Trust me, please just trust me.”
“I trust you Jason. I trust you and I love you.”
He reaches into his pocket. “Oh, one more thing, this belongs to your mom.” He hands Lindsay an object the size of a cigarette lighter.
“What’s this?”
“It’s the rotor from your mom’s car; it’s why you had to call a cab.”
Lindsay laughs, “Oh Boomer,”
Jason stands while lifting Lindsay up and cradling her. He looks into her eyes and, as always, beholds his future.
After climbing the stairs in silence, he enters the master bedroom and lays her across the bed. A door is closed, garments removed, and heartache, forgotten.
14
Saturday afternoon,
Derek takes his neatly folded clothes off a chair and dresses.
Emily lies in her bed, watching him. While studying his face, she says. “Lindsay broke up with Jason.”
Derek’s face is a blank. “So I heard, goodbye Emily.” He turns and walks out the door.
“Derek!”
Derek returns, he sticks his head around the corner. “What now?”
Emily sends him a smirk. “Lindsay will never take you back.”
He strides into the room and stands over her, angry.
Emily sits up on the edge of the bed, naked. Her blond hair frames her pretty face and cascades down her breasts. She reaches out, unzips, and reaches in, after finding her prize, she takes him into her mouth.
Derek holds her head in both hands as she pleasures him. Emily looks up into his eyes as he meets her gaze. The moment arrives and still she holds him, willing, he thrashes against her until the final tremor, and then she releases him at last.
Emily wipes the moisture from her lips. “I love you Derek.”
Derek zips up and heads for the door again.
“I’ll call you later.”
“Why don’t we go see a movie tonight? I’ll pay.”
He turns, saying, “Sure,” and then he leaves.
Emily listens to his fading footsteps and then hears the front door open and close. She puts on her robe and goes downstairs. From her parents’ bar she pours herself a drink and sits on the couch, weeping and drinking.
* * *
The doorbell chimes at the cabin and Jason lets Paul and Simone in.
Lindsay grabs Simone by the wrist and essentially drags the smaller girl to the kitchen. They stand several feet apart, as Simone avoids eye contact and offers Lindsay a weak smile.
Lindsay steps toward Simone. “You broke your promise.”
“Lindsay I…”
“You went behind my back and told Jason everything.” A step closer,
“I know but…”
Lindsay, now looming, shouts. “Do you know what you did?”
“I had to, I—”
Lindsay grabs Simone and hugs her. “You gave me my life back, that’s what you did.”
The two women begin laughing. Jason and Paul enter and smile at each other, relieved.
Lindsay releases Simone, while grinning. “Jason and I are back together thanks to you.”
“You two belong together, but what about the baby?”
“I’m, we’re keeping her, and we’re going to be a family.”
“Oh I’m so happy you’re keeping the baby.”
“Not the baby Simone, Jason’s daughter, she’s a girl, I can tell.”
“A girl,” Simone sighs.
Lindsay shows off her ring. “We’re also getting married.”
“Oh my God, really?” Simone shrieks. “And look at that diamond, it’s huge, oh Lindsay I’m so happy for you.”
Paul gawks at Jason. “You’re really getting married? Holy shit!”
“What are you going to name the baby?” Simone asks.
Jason says. “Well, we want to talk to you about that, let’s go to the living room.” He and Paul head out of the kitchen, while Lindsay holds Simone back.
“Thank you for telling Jason.”
“I guess you guys had a long talk, huh?”
“Jason did all the talking, Simone he was so mad, and he even called me a scheming bitch.”
Simone grins, “So much for being on a pedestal.”
“For a long time I’ve feared Jason only loved his image of me and not me, now I know he loves me, even when I’m a scheming bitch. C’mon, we have something to ask you.”
* * *
In the living room, Paul and Simone sit on a love seat to the right of the sofa.
“We talked about it earlier and we’d like to
name her after you Simone.”
“Oh Lindsay no, you guys, don’t name her after me, please? That’s too big an honor.”
“I told you she’d say that.” Jason says.
“We’ll have to go with our second choice then.” Lindsay says.
“What is it?” Paul asks.
“You’ll find out when she’s born.” Jason says.
“You guys please, don’t name her after me. It’s too much.”
“Oh we won’t,” Jason and Lindsay say in singsong together.
“You guys are up to something.” Simone says, and they grin at her in silence.
“You two are the first to know about our engagement.” Lindsay says.
“You haven’t told your parents yet?” Paul says. “Oh boy, a marriage and a baby, and you’re making them grandparents, oh, and I guess college is on hold for now too.”
“Gee, thanks for making us feel better.”
“I’m sorry Jason, but your mom’s gonna go bananas.”
“She doesn’t like me either,” Lindsay says. “I’m really not looking forward to telling her. I fear that more than telling my own parents.”
“Where did you get the idea my mom doesn’t like you, honey? She likes you.”
“No she doesn’t, not that I blame her, when you were locked up for the, well, the trouble at Derek’s, she said it was my fault and that I was ruining your life.”
“I’m going to have to straighten her out then.”
“No, please, we’re going over there later to tell them I’m pregnant and that we’re getting married, I think it’s a big enough shock, please don’t say anything else.”
“Okay, I’ll hold my tongue, for now.”
“Hey guys, when’s the wedding?” Paul asks.
“We’re not sure, my sister is getting married in August and we don’t want to take away from her limelight. So, maybe not until after the baby’s born in November.” Jason says.
Simone grins at them. “I’m so glad you guys are back together.”
“We have you to thank for it Simone.” Lindsay says. “Oh Paul, tell Mike I said thank you, he was a very nice kidnapper.”
“Jason thought the cabin would be the best place to talk to you.”
“I’m so glad my last memories of it won’t be of Jason and me breaking up.”
“We’ll make new memories.” Jason says. “But right now, we have to go face our parents.”
* * *
They tell Lindsay’s parents first, while sitting in their cramped kitchen. Her mother is happy for her, while her father says he can’t possibly afford a wedding.
When Jason tells him that they’ll pay for their own wedding, he smiles and goes back out to the living room to watch TV.
“I think he’s all choked up.” Jason says.
Joyce Parker stares at Jason.
“Are you happy about the baby?”
“Yes Ma’am, absolutely,”
“Even though it might be…”
“Mom, she’s Jason’s.”
“Let him answer baby.” Joyce tells Lindsay, while never taking her eyes off of Jason.
Jason meets her gaze. “Even though,”
“You hold onto this one baby, he’ll take care of you, and I’ve seen what he does to anyone who hurts you, like that Stern boy.”
“Yes Ma’am.” Jason says.
“Stop calling me Ma’am and start calling me mom. I thought you two might stick.”
* * *
Next stop, Jason’s house, where they tell it all at once.
We’re pregnant and we’re getting married. They’re sitting around the kitchen table, mom, dad, Angie and fiancé Dave also, a full table.
During the awkward silence that follows, it occurs to Jason that nearly every important discussion in his family’s lives has taken place around this table and that he’s ingested far more than food while sitting at it.
Angie breaks the silence. “Um, Dave and I will leave you guys alone to talk.”
David Ryan brushes back his dark blond hair and stands. He is a tall man with quick blue eyes, six-foot-four and Ivy League athletic.
Marjorie also stands, gesturing for David to retake his seat as she stares down at Lindsay.
“You all stay here. I want to speak to Miss Parker alone.”
“Mom, what’s this about?” Jason asks.
Lindsay says, “It’s okay Jason.” and follows his mother down the hall to the living room.
Lindsay sits to Marjorie’s right on a blue satin sofa. Dusk approaches and the unlit room grows thick with shadows. Lindsay looks over at Marjorie, trying to read her face.
Oh God, she must think I’m trying to tie down her son with another man’s baby. I’ll just take it and keep the peace, for Jason’s sake.
Marjorie begins. “First, let me tell you how ashamed I am of my behavior at the police station the night Jason was arrested. I blamed you and I was so wrong, please forgive me?”
Lindsay, stunned, stutters out, “Of, of course, thank you,”
“Hearing that tape made me ill, I understand why my son tried to kill that Stern boy. If I were a man and someone did that to a woman I cared about… I would kill him also.”
Marjorie rises from the sofa and drifts about the room; she pauses at the mantel to view a collection of family photos perched atop it. She then turns and stares at Lindsay.
“Why do you want to marry Jason?”
Lindsay is taken aback by the question, she gives a slight shrug. “I love him.”
“I suppose you know that the Reynolds founded the Island along with the Stern family?” Lindsay nods and Marjorie continues. “My son is the nineteenth generation of Reynolds to live on this Island, over the years, the family has grown increasingly wealthier, my husband alone has tripled our wealth. Jason will someday be in control of the family’s construction business and be a very rich man, some would find that a reason to marry him.”
Lindsay turns a deep red as she glares at Marjorie. Her hands clench into fists, as her breathing grows ragged.
She springs up from the sofa, fury in her eyes as she opens her mouth to speak, but then she closes it, swallowing her indignation.
After a deep sigh she settles back onto the sofa. A moment later she speaks to Marjorie while looking down at the floor.
“Mrs. Reynolds, I love Jason very much, and that’s the only reason I want to marry him.”
At the mantel, Marjorie turns and studies a picture of Jason’s grandfather, taken years ago in front of the cabin, memories of the man flood her mind and Marjorie fights to hold back tears.
She turns and looks at Lindsay, and yet, it’s her younger self she sees. Her face softens, after turning on a lamp, she retakes her seat on the sofa.
“Lindsay, I grew up in poverty that would make your home in The Squares look like a palace. Do you know that Adam’s father absolutely hated me?”
Lindsay shakes her head no, as she’s calmed by Marjorie’s softer tone.
“All I wanted was to love his son, but because I grew up poor he thought I wasn’t good enough to become a Reynolds. That man put us through hell and I don’t ever want to be like him. Jason loves you. I see the way he looks at you when you’re not looking, and… I’ve also seen the way you look at him. At times, it reminds me of Adam and me. Lindsay, do you swear to take care of my boy? I love him so much.”
“Yes I do Mrs. Reynolds. I love him too. Jason’s everything to me.”
Marjorie exhales a long breath and nods. “Then welcome to the family, and call me Mom. You’re going to be a Mrs. Reynolds yourself you know.”
“Mrs. Reyn—Mom? I want you to know something, this baby is Jason’s.”
“Not to sound cruel, but, with the rape… how can you be sure?”
Lindsay straightens in her seat. “I simply know. It’s a girl and she’s Jason’s.”
Marjorie gives Lindsay a peculiar look. “Tell me how you know.”
“It’s hard to explain, but I woke one
morning knowing it was a girl and knowing she was Jason’s because I could—”
“—feel him all around you? As if he were always with you?”
“Yes.” Lindsay says, now returning Marjorie’s odd look.
“I understand.” Marjorie says. “I know that feeling.”
When they walk back into the kitchen, both women are teary-eyed and holding hands.
Jason goes to his mother. “Thanks mom.”
Marjorie tells him. “If you ever hurt this girl you’ll answer to me. Do you understand?”
“Yes mom,” Jason says. “I understand.”
And despite his youth, he does.
15
Saturday May 22, 1982, 10:14 a.m.
Derek watches from down the street, as Jason leaves Lindsay’s house and drives away.
“What did you forget Boomer?” Lindsay asks, while opening the door.
Derek gives her a shy grin and Lindsay tries to slam the door in his face, but he manages to push his way in.
“Lindsay please give me a chance to talk. I just want to say I’m sorry.”
“What did you say? You’re sorry? As in, ‘I’m sorry I drugged and raped you Lindsay, oops! It won’t happen again.’ that kind of sorry?”
Derek wears light blue slacks with a yellow shirt. He deliberately chose pastel colors, a trick he’s learned from reading a book on persuading people.
When going into an unwanted adversarial encounter, wear light, soothing colors, they’ll calm the other party considerably, granting you a psychological edge.
“Lindsay, about Valentine’s Day, it was the drugs honey, but I’m clean now and I want to apologize for hurting you.”
While speaking, Derek tries his best to appear sincere.
Sincerity is vitally important; use it when and where you deem it necessary.
“You raped me Derek, not the drugs, you!”
Derek covers his eyes as if to keep from crying, after sniffling he says. “I’m so sorry.”
A well-timed display of emotional regret can often soften the other party substantially.
“Derek,”
Sniffles “Yes Lindsay?”
“Leave, I don’t accept your apology and I want you the hell out of here now.”
