by Pace, Pepper
It was the only reason she approached him.
Because Leelah had a plan.
Leelah and her half sister Callista came down to thank him for the drinks and he was surprised that Leelah’s plan consisted of working with him to make money. He had to admit that he hadn’t thought of even broaching her in that way. He was just interested in her.
“So my mom asked you to pimp her?”
His face reddened at her directness. “I’m not trying to put your mom down-“
“I already know that she did. I know that she wanted away from her mother and her rules so she ran away. Callista wanted to prostitute also but you didn’t want her.”
“She told you this?”
“Most of it. She called it real talk. That’s what I’m asking you for right now. Why did you allow her to sell herself when you say you loved her?”
“I liked your mother from the first time I set eyes on her. But it wasn’t like that for her. She worked, not because she thought she was in love with me or to please me. She slept with men to make money for her own needs and that had nothing to do with what I wanted.
“I was married to Tracy and I loved her but I didn’t know that you could love someone more than if they were just your possession. I took care of her and she wanted to be taken care of. It wasn’t like that with Leelah. Around her I was an idiot. I talked like one and I acted like one. And for whatever reason she took pity on me and fell in love with me too.”
Juan Carlos sipped his coffee and cleared his throat.
“She got pregnant with you and we talked about moving away and living the American dream. And although I wanted that—I also knew that I couldn’t leave Tracy and the kids. So I lied to her.”
Juan Carlos got up and walked to the kitchen window where he looked out quietly.
“I lied and told her that after the baby was born we could leave. But then you came and I kept putting it off. She thought I did that because I didn’t love and want her. She thought I had really just tricked her into having a pimp mentality where all you care about is pleasing your pimp.”
Juan Carlos looked at her and then sat back down. “I wouldn’t say that she was completely wrong but I didn’t do it for the reason she thought. I did it because I didn’t know how to tell her that I had responsibilities and that the only way I could take care of those responsibilities was to be a pimp.”
Vanessa’s heartbeat quickened.
“Scotty,” she whispered.
“Scotty what?” He asked.
“Scotty told me that he had responsibilities and that the only way he could take care of them all was by selling drugs.” She met her father’s eyes. “Just like you.”
He nodded. “Well us Tremont men are pretty damned hardheaded. You either love us or you hate us,” he replied.
Vanessa put her hand in his. She wanted to ask him if he had any regrets, if he would do anything different. But then she decided that he wouldn’t be a human being if he didn’t.
Epilogue
Scotty and Vanessa decided that they would wait until after Vanessa’s twenty-first birthday before they got married. By then their son would be two years old and the ortho-device would come off his feet.
Also, by that time their Christmas pregnancy would hopefully have resulted in the birth of their second child.
Things worked as planned. Vanessa turned twenty-one on September seventeenth and on September twenty-seventh their little girl Leelah McKenzie Tremont was born.
In mid October during a brief Indian Summer, Juan Carlos walked his daughter down the aisle. Vanessa had three best friends but decided on only one Maid of Honor; Jalissa—her sister in heart and first best friend.
G stood beside his best friend. Besides his brothers, Scotty’s groomsmen included Anthony Johnson, whose wife Meghan sat in the audience vying for her chance to hold the littlest Tremont on her lap.
Charisma—who was going by the name Sheryl these days, sang the couple’s first dance song; At Last by Etta James. After the reception had ended Jalissa gave Phonso permission to give out the good news.
Phonso and Jalissa were engaged.
Vanessa hugged her and whispered in her ear. “You might have gotten pregnant first, but I was the first to get married.” Jalissa laughed and kissed her on the cheek.
“On this I don’t care who wins the race as long as we both make it to the finish line.”
“Amen!” Vanessa concurred.
Later the Tremont’s collected their children and slipped away from the reception with no fanfare or witnesses.
“Are you ready for the honeymoon?” Scotty asked as they buckled the children into the back of the limo.
She gazed into his eyes. “Yes.”
The limo driver got behind the wheel and drove the newly married family to their destination. Instead of an airport or train station, Scotty, Vanessa, Crash and baby Leelah’s destination was their brand new house.
Bertha Mae would not take ‘no’ for an answer. And as a wedding present she gave them the down payment for a house. They decided to wait until after the marriage to officially move in—although they had already ‘christened’ every room.
The last of their belongings had been moved in the night before. As they prepared to walk through the door, Scotty stopped Vanessa and lifted her and Baby Leelah in his arms and carried them across the threshold.
Crash, who was well acquainted with his bedroom rushed up the stairs so that he could play with his toys.
“Crash, no running in the house,” Scotty called out.
“Okay, Daddy.” And yet he didn’t slow down once.
Scotty shook his head. He still hadn’t released his wife and before he did he kissed her deeply.
“I love you Vanessa Tremont.”
She placed her hand across her cheek. “As much as I love you.”
“My soulmate,” he whispered.
“My soulmate.”
Seven Years Later
Scotty walked into the house and placed his briefcase on the table. He was in such deep thought that he didn’t even see Vanessa using the laptop.
“Hi honey.”
He jumped and then chuckled. “Hey, babe. Sorry I didn’t see you there.” He kissed her lightly.
“Anything wrong?” She asked.
He sighed and loosened his tie. “No. But we got a new student today. Everyone says his last name is Tremont.”
She turned in her chair to look at him. “Oh? How old is he?”
“Fourteen or fifteen. But I’m not quite sure because he’s in a different class.”
“Have you seen him?”
Scotty paused. “Yes. I have.”
Vanessa stood and slipped her hand in his.
“What is it, Scotty? You didn’t have a baby without me, did you?”
“Don’t joke,” he said with a smirk. He loosened the buttons on his shirt. “The boy reminds me of Tino.”
Vanessa frowned. “I think you should check his files.”
Scotty nodded.
The next morning before the children arrived for classes, Scotty logged onto one of the computers and pulled up the student’s records. He typed in the name Tremont and read the information for a fifteen-year old boy by the name of James Robert Tremont.
The family had transferred from the City of Cincinnati school district. His parent’s were Tino and De-Aydra Tremont.
“Fuck me …” he uttered.
The secretary gave him a sharp look.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
Years ago he had gone to a New Years Eve party and one of Tino’s ex girlfriend’s had been there. De-Aydra and she had been pregnant.
Scotty scanned the information until he got the telephone number and address for the Tremonts and then he logged out of the computer.
The day dragged on and Scotty was on edge. He caught sight of James once but the boy had kept his head down and moved quickly through the halls in the way that new kids did.
At lunch Scotty ca
lled Vanessa to tell her what he’d found and then told her that he would be late getting home. He planned to stop by the home of his brother after classes were over.
He wasn’t sure what he was going to say but he knew that he had to face him.
Scotty generally didn’t leave school before four P.M. and he decided to hang around another hour grading papers so that he didn’t arrive there too early. Most people worked nine to five and if his brother had a job maybe he did too.
He felt bad for thinking like that. Surely his brother was no longer a dope dealer.
When he felt that he had given it enough time headed out of the school building and then punched the address into the GPS and located where his brother lived.
It was a surprisingly nice home, small but well maintained. The house had an enclosed porch and was constructed of brick and stone. It reminded Scotty of a little cottage and that certainly was not something he could have described as a house for his brother.
He rang the doorbell and a moment later a pretty black woman answered the door. It took her a moment to recognize Scotty but when she did, she gasped and flung the screen door opened wide.
“Scotty!”
“Hello De-Aydra.” She grabbed him in a hug.
“I can’t believe it! Scotty, you’re looking good. Come inside. We were just getting ready to have dinner. Will you join us?”
His mouth parted. “Well, I actually came to speak to Tino.”
She was still smiling. “Yes, of course!” She hurried out of the room and he could hear her calling his name.
James, their son came into the living room to see who had arrived. When he saw Scotty he frowned.
“You’re one of the teachers at my school.”
“Yes.” He offered his hand and the boy shook it. “I’m Scott. Scott Tremont.”
James gave him a curious look but then footsteps could be heard coming towards them and he quickly left the room. Scotty could tell that he didn’t go far and that he was probably just listening from a nearby room.
When Tino entered the room Scotty gasped. He couldn’t help it. His brother didn’t look anything like the handsome teen that he had known when he was a kid.
His brother was still fit and toned although a bit slimmer. His hair was cut into a short military cut although his curls were still evident. He was still deeply tanned and his Hispanic roots were obvious.
What was also obvious is that he only had one eye. A black eye patch covered the missing one. Scars ran along his cheek and temple and it was obvious that his face had been severely damaged.
Tino frowned and then shoved his hand into the pants of his Dockers.
“De’Aydra made dinner. Do you want to stay?”
Scotty nodded. “Yes, thank you.”
He followed his brother into a dining room where someone had only partially set the table. De’Aydra quickly placed the rest of the plate settings out.
“James!” Tino called. His son hurried into the room and took his seat. Tino looked at Scotty and gestured with is head for him to sit down and Scotty sat down next to his nephew.
“You’re looking good.” Tino stated as De’Aydra passed around dishes of food. Tino placed two huge slices of meatloaf on his plate before passing the platter to Scotty.
“Thanks. It’s been a while, Tino.”
“Yes it has,” Tino responded.
After the platters of meatloaf, potatoes and peas were passed around Tino reached for his hand and gripped it. Scotty felt a lump in his throat and his eyes rose to look at his brother. And then he felt James grip his other hand. He looked around and noted that the family’s heads were bowed in preparation for prayer.
Scotty lowered his head and his brother began to speak.
“Heavenly Father, bless this meal and all that we are about to receive. Make us truly grateful, Lord. Through Christ we pray, Amen.”
“Amen,” everyone stated.
“So what have you been up to these days, Scotty?” De’Aydra asked as they began to eat.
James was the one to respond. “Mr. Tremont is one of the teachers at my school.”
“You’re a teacher?” Tino asked while chewing.
“Yes.”
“I knew you were smart.” Tino nodded.
James was frowning and looking from Scotty to Tino.
“Are you related to my Dad?” The boy asked.
“This is my brother.” Tino replied.
James looked at Scotty in awe. “You’re my uncle?”
Scotty gave him a half smile and nodded.
“What about you, Tino? What have you been up to?” He asked.
Tino finished chewing and looked at his brother. “I’m a minister.”
Scotty said nothing. Tino smiled.
“Unbelievable, huh?”
Scotty drank from his glass of water.
De’Aydra reached out and clutched Tino’s hand.
“Play nice.” She turned to Scotty. “After dinner we can talk.” She glanced at her son and Scotty figured that the boy probably didn’t have the entire story about his father. So for the rest of the meal he talked about the family while Tino listened quietly but intently.
He talked about his marriage to Vanessa and their two kids. He told them that Phonso was married with children and was a truck driver. EJ was an officer in the military and Erica was a registered nurse. After Miss Gloria had passed away Ginger moved into an assisted care facility where she works part-time and Tyrone was preparing for college.
The only thing that seemed to surprise Tino is when he told him that their father was a head chef.
After dinner the adults retreated to the living room. Scotty was anxious about not being able to read his brother. He wasn’t afraid of Tino any longer but his inability to know what the man was thinking reminded him of a time when he had been.
“I don’t know if you’ll believe this, but I am sorry about what I did to you.” Scotty said. “I came here to tell you that there is barely a day that goes by that I’m not haunted by what I did to you. Did you know that I killed a man with my very own hands?”
Tino nodded. “Yes. I heard about you being sent to Lebanon.”
“Well, for years I refused to allow it to bother me. I felt justified in my actions. And then I learned that my judgment can’t always be trusted.” He looked away. “I was wrong about you.”
Tino leaned forward. “What are you talking about?”
“Beady. I’m talking about Beady.”
“Beady? Is she okay?”
Scotty watched the concern on his brother’s face.
“Beady’s molester. Remember?”
He glared at Scotty. “How can I forget it?”
Scotty exhaled. “Well I thought it was you.”
Tino blinked. “Me …?” his voice was a whisper.
“After what you did to Vanessa, I thought you had probably done the same to Beady!”
Tino closed his eye and shook his head sadly.
“Little brother, when you hit me with that hammer you basically saved my life. You see, I had gone so far down the rabbit hole that I had no concept of up and down, right or wrong.
“I was so messed up in my head that I thought I was doing Vanessa a favor. Her mother had died and she was crying … Juan Carlos was in jail. If someone had to take care of her it was going to be me—at least that’s what my head was telling me.
“Everyone has to have a hustle to survive. And the easiest hustle a woman has is between her thighs. So yes I would have pimped my sister out, just like I had you and Phonso pushing dope. Because I thought it was the key to our survival.”
Scotty looked away.
“I really believed it Scotty. You were right to get rid of me. My poison was growing and I would have spread it to you all!”
Scotty looked at him again and Tino lowered his voice.
“After … I left, I was in the hospital for a long time and while I was there I had no choice but to detox. It’s not like jail where you c
an have someone sneak you junk or where you can just buy it from someone. When you detox in the hospital it is for real.
“For the first time in years my head was getting clean. When they released me I tried to live straight. But with my face being messed up I didn’t have many options and so I did some stupid things and got busted and put up in Lebanon.” He smiled.
“I met up with J.C. and he kept me straight. Then I heard about you coming. I wanted to tell you that I was sorry but you hated me.”
De’Aydra rubbed his shoulders and kissed him. He raised his face and gave her a loving smile before turning his attention back to his brother.
“This time when I got out of jail I prayed. I went to church and I testified and the people at my church accepted me. But the more I atoned the more I realized that I was horrible.”
Scotty shook her head.
“I found De’Aydra. I wanted to apologize for how I’d hurt her. And in the process we fell in love and I got to raise my son. I became ordained and when our old pastor left I took over-“
Scotty finally spoke. “That night in prison, I didn’t go see you because I thought you wanted to kill me. But Tino I went back. I went back to do what I’m doing now. Only you had already been released.”
Scotty saw Tino’s adam’s apple working as he fought for the right words and for control of his emotions.
“I put you all in my past so that I could let it go. I thought … well it doesn’t matter what I thought. You forgive me Scotty?” He looked incredulous.
Scotty smiled. “Dad says that Tremont men are hardheaded. But I think the truth is that the Tremonts are survivors—at any cost.”
He stood up and offered his brother his hand. After a moment Tino stood as well. They shook hands and Scotty pulled him into a bear hug.
“I love you bro.” Tino sobbed. “I always have.”
“I know.”
THE END
