Dangerous Ground

by Smith, Stephanie Jean

  Xavier was worried about Loretta. When he woke her up, she wasn’t as happy about their wedding as he thought she would be. He wondered if she had second thoughts. He had to admit to himself that he was extremely nervous. It was almost eleven o’clock and Leland would be picking him up in a couple of minutes. He had on a black tuxedo with a dark peach cummerbund, and he had a white rose in his lapel. He ran into Vincent and John on his way downstairs, they seemed to have a lot of nervous energy too.

  Vincent looked at Xavier as he came downstairs right away he knew something was troubling him. “Xavier are you all right?”

  “I guess I’m just a little nervous.”

  John walked up to Xavier and slapped him on the back. “Don’t worry; Loretta will walk down the aisle.”

  “How did you know I was thinking about Loretta?”

  “Please, I remember my wedding as if it were yesterday. The trick is to remember not to eat anything until after the ceremony.”

  “Thank you John. I can’t tell you how comforting those words are.”

  “You’re having a small wedding, be happy you don’t have to say your vows in front of three hundred people like Cookie, and I did. Cookie confided in me later that she almost didn’t come down the aisle. She told me that she was nervous clear up until the time she said ‘I do’.”

  “Our wedding won’t be that small, I told Loretta it would be just family and close friends, but I sent out an additional hundred wedding invitations.”

  John stared at Xavier in wonderment. “Without telling her? Are you crazy? Now I know why you’re nervous. You’re afraid Loretta’s going to think she’s at the wrong wedding and leave. What on earth possessed you to invite all those people when you told Loretta it would be a small wedding?”

  “It seemed like a good idea at the time. Her first wedding was impersonal, and I didn’t want her to feel as if she was missing out this time around.” Xavier said as he began pacing the living room.

  “Stop pacing back and forth your beginning to make me nervous.” Vincent was nervous for another reason, and her name was Diane Morgan. He hadn’t seen her since the time she practically ran away from him. Vincent knew he would have to make a decision as to whether or not he would pursue a relationship with her.

  Leland arrived at eleven o’clock on the dot. He was Xavier’s best man at the first wedding he shared the title with Vincent and Huey today. This time things would work out for Xavier. This time around he had a woman who truly loved him, and someone that he loved. Leland’s wife has been dead for three years now, and he still missed her. He knew that he should get married again. His son Jordan was growing up without a woman’s touch, and that tended to make a man hard. Leland’s mother was killed when he was thirteen, and he never knew whom his father was.

  He blew his horn and watched the three men as they approached his car. Leland had a feeling that something was wrong. Xavier got into the front seat, leaving John and Vincent to get into the back seat. “OK, Xavier what did you do now?”

  “What makes you think that I’ve done something?”

  “Oh, maybe it was the way all three of you approached my car with dread. Don’t tell me that you’re having second thoughts about marrying Loretta because I wouldn’t believe it.”

  “Xavier’s more concerned at whether Loretta will walk down the aisle when she finds out how many people he invited to the wedding.”

  “Xavier you told me that the ceremony was for family and friends. You know how nervous in large crowds. Remember your last wedding, how nervous I was. At first I couldn’t find the wedding rings and then I almost dropped them. Why don’t you just admit that you planned on having a large wedding all along? Suddenly Leland had a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wasn’t even getting married, and the palms of his hands were beginning to get sweaty.

  Vincent smiled to himself. “Now I know the real reason you didn’t want Loretta checking on the details of the wedding. How many people did you tell the caterer to prepare for?”

  For the first time, that morning Xavier felt guilty. “I told the caterer to prepare enough food for three hundred and fifty people. Whatever food is left over will go to the open door mission.”

  Vincent was laughing. “I can’t wait to see Loretta’s face when she comes down the aisle.”

  John groaned out loud. “Thanks a lot Xavier I know what topic my wife will be talking about for the rest of the night.”

  By then Leland was laughing too. “Men in love sure do some stupid things.”

  Xavier had enough of their teasing. “I’m willing to bet each of you that Loretta will be secretly glad that I sent out those extra invitations.”

  “If she keeps it a secret how will we know she was glad.” Vincent couldn’t help putting Xavier on the spot.

  “OK here’s the bet, if Loretta mentions the number of people attending the wedding anytime during the limo ride to the reception; I’ll give each of you five hundred dollars.”

  “No way Xavier that bet is too easy for you to pay off. You’ll probably want blood from us if we lose.” John was getting into this bet.

  “If I win I want Vincent to dance three dances with Diane and ask her for a date. John I want you to grant me five favors from the bureau. Leland I want you to make the annual trip to Minnesota for me.”

  Leland pulled into the parking lot of the church. “You must think I’m a fool to take a bet like that. The whole bet is set in your favor. Determine what type of pay off you want from each of us, and we should be able to expect the same thing from you. Now, I personally want you to make the annual trip to Minnesota for the next five years.”

  “What’s so significant about this business trip to Minnesota,” Vincent snorted. “It seems to me that I’m the only one who’ll be doing something that is distasteful. Diane Morgan has been avoiding me since Thanksgiving. How I’m I suppose to dance or make her date me?”

  “Yeah, Xavier you’re practically letting John off the hook. What kind of favor can you ask him that you don’t ask for already?” Leland said as he got out of the car.

  “OK, OK all three of you are worse than a team of whining children. Leland made his request of me. What do you two want me to do if I lose the bet?”

  Vincent spoke up quickly. “After the baby’s born I want you to invite Jo and Pop’s to stay with you for a month.”

  “That’s not a bet, why didn’t you just ask for my sanity.”

  “Do we have a bet?”

  Xavier sighed. Why did he make this bet in the first place? “Yeah, we have a bet. OK John what do you want?”

  “I want a reciprocal five favors from you at the time of my choosing.”

  Xavier smiled at John. “You have a bet.”

  The four men walked into the church and greeted guests. Huey was already in attendance acting as an usher. It was eleven thirty and the wedding wouldn’t begin until one o’clock. Vincent walked beside Xavier and patted him on the back. “Xavier I didn’t know this church could hold that many people. You better call you’re caterer and see if you can request more food. By the way, when the time comes, I’ll make the plane reservations for Jo and Pop’s.”

  “The bet’s not over yet little brother, you better concentrate on how you’re going to get Diane Morgan to dance with you.” To Xavier’s delight, his taunt had wiped the grin off of Vincent’s face.

  ***

  Loretta was standing in the vestibule at the back of the church waiting to walk down the aisle. She was scared stiff. What was supposed to be a small wedding with just friends and family turned into a zoo. Xavier had some explaining to do, all of these people were not invited to the wedding. The church was packed to the rafters, and Loretta just knew she was going to trip over the train of her dress.

  “Wow Loretta who are all those people? Church isn’t this packed for Sunday morning service.” Diane said as she peeked into the church from the vestibule.

  “If I had to guess I would say that Xavier invited some more pe
ople without telling me.”

  “Relax Loretta,” John said. “I’ll be walking down the aisle with you.”

  At that moment, Loretta heard the beginning of the wedding march start to play. “I guess that’s our cue.” Loretta had tunnel vision at first the only person she saw was Xavier. He looked so handsome in his tux. She smiled at him, but he probably didn’t see her with the veil covering her face. As she walked down the aisle, she saw a sea of faces. Carl Parish was there with his daughter, Tanya. Loretta saw Emelina and Clifford, as well as some other people from South Central. Martha was with May and Lionel who were sitting in the front pew as representatives of her family.

  As Loretta got closer to the altar, she noticed how beautiful Diane and Cookie looked in their dresses. While they were lined in the vestibule, Loretta was too caught up with inner turmoil to pay attention to her friends. Diane’s dress was flattering to her and Vincent obviously thought so too. Vincent couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Cookie looked elegant in her maid of honor dress. Her dress wasn’t as long as Diane’s dress; however, they were similar in style.

  John handed Loretta to Xavier; Loretta swore that he was on the verge of crying. She grabbed Xavier’s arm with a death grip. The preacher began the ceremony and Loretta stood there in a trance as she gazed at the man she loved. This is the moment she’d been waiting for all of her life. There was nothing that compared to be joined to the man you loved and wanted to spend the rest of your life with.

  At the closing of the ceremony, Xavier lifted her veil and winked at her before he gave her a kiss that she felt all the way down to the soles of her feet. People from the audience whistled and clapped their hands because Loretta and Xavier were sharing more than a kiss they were starting the beginning of the rest of their lives. At last she heard the preacher say, “I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Xavier Johnson.” Loretta knew that her dream to love and be loved in return had been fulfilled.

  After the ceremony, they spent close to an hour taking wedding pictures. Loretta was getting tired, and she knew that Cookie was too. The limo was waiting for them in front of the church. Most of the wedding guests were already at the reception hall. Leland decided to drive his car instead of riding in the limo.

  John got up front with the driver, and the rest of the wedding party got into the back of the limo. Loretta knew that something was going on between the men. It was as if John and Vincent were expecting something to happen. Loretta thanked everyone for being in the wedding and taking the time to take pictures. Then Cookie went off on a tangent about how her feet were killing her.

  Diane was sitting next to Vincent, but she didn’t have anything to say. She just stared outside the window. John was looking rather pleased with himself. When they got to the reception, Xavier was going to tell Loretta what’s going on. As soon as the limo pulled up to the reception hall, Loretta was distracted by all the well-wishers.

  The reception hall was enormous it had to be to accommodate all the guests. The table for the wedding party was at the head of the room. The caterers put on quite a spread. The wedding party was directed to sit down, and the other guests followed suit. The servers started with the wedding party, and to Loretta’s surprise they were serving prime rib instead of chicken. Loretta looked at Xavier, and he pretended not to notice her scrutiny. “You changed the menu didn’t you? Are you crazy? There has to be at least two hundred guests here.”

  Xavier smiled before replying. “This is our wedding day Loretta, and I wanted it to be extra special. Don’t worry, the wedding party gets the prime rib. Everyone else gets chicken.” He looked down at his left hand and ran his finger over the unusual ring Loretta put on his finger during the ceremony. It was the image of a man and woman kissing. “You know I wasn’t expecting such an elaborate wedding ring. When we went to pick out wedding bands, this wasn’t one of our choices.”

  “Are you trying to tell me that you don’t like it?”

  “You know I love it. Where did you get it from?”

  “The Monday after you asked me to marry you, I went to a jeweler on the South side and had him make it special. He’s a master craftsman that Cookie recommended. At first he told me that there was no way he could have it ready by today. I managed to convince him that it was the only ring that I could put on your finger. So he put all his other projects on hold and made the ring for me.”

  “Thank you baby I will cherish it always,” Xavier said as he kissed Loretta softly on the lips.

  “Can you two stop kissing long enough to eat?” Vincent said playfully.

  “Vincent you got more things to think about than how often Loretta and I kiss. I expect to see you in action.”

  “Xavier what are you up to?”

  “Oh nothing Vincent and I made a little bet, and he lost. I was just letting him know that I expect him to pay off the debt in full.”

  ***

  After dinner, it was time for Leland to make the toast to the bride and groom. Loretta could tell that he wasn’t comfortable making speeches in front of such a large crowd of people. The wedding party gathered at the front of the room where the champagne and wedding cake were set up. Leland popped the cork on the champagne and poured all of the wedding party a glass.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say a little something about the bride and groom. I’ve never seen two people so much in love as the couple before you today. Marriage is a lot of work, and love is the oil that keeps it together. Xavier and Loretta I salute and bless both of you, may the love in your hearts remain true.”

  Loretta and Xavier cut the cake, and then it was time for the bride and groom’s dance. Xavier had made a specific request, and Loretta was pleased with his choice. Loretta heard ‘Reasons’ by Earth Wind & Fire being played on the loud speaker. It was the same song she and Xavier dance to at The Club. “Good choice Mr. Johnson, you have excellent taste in music.”

  Later that evening Loretta made a request as well, she found Xavier laughing with Huey and Leland. “Excuse me gentlemen I need to steal my husband for a few minutes.”

  Loretta led Xavier onto the dance floor and ‘Love Ballad’ by LTD came thundering across the loud speaker. Xavier hugged Loretta close to his side. “Mrs. Johnson you’ve made me a mighty happy man today.”

  “I don’t think that you’re as happy as I am.” Loretta laid her head on Xavier shoulder as they danced to the song.

  As the evening wore on Loretta saw Diane dancing with Vincent; she thought that was strange since Diane had been avoiding Vincent like the plague. Xavier seemed to be having the time of his life. “OK Xavier what’s going on between you, John, and Vincent?”

  Xavier looked warily at Loretta. “What makes you think that anything’s going on?”

  “Because you look like the cat the swallowed the canary.”

  “I’m just so happy that you’re my wife.”

  “I was really surprised to see Diane dancing with Vincent; she must have had a couple of glasses of wine.”

  Xavier laughed out loud. “Are you saying that’s the only way she would dance with him?”

  ***

  Vincent was in seventh heaven, he was able to coax Diane on the dance floor, and he couldn’t believe it. At first she was hesitant then he reminded her that it was Loretta’s day, and she wouldn’t want to spoil it for Loretta. The song ended, and a slow love song came on. Diane moved to leave the dance floor, but Vincent grabbed her arm. “Dance this one with me too Diane.”

  “I think one duty dance was enough Vincent. Besides you probably wouldn’t want to slow dance with a top heavy woman with dainty feet. It might ruin your image.” Diane left Vincent on the dance floor with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

  Vincent made his way to the nearest table and sat down. Diane must have heard what he said about her on Thanksgiving Day. Now he knew why she was being so cold toward him. He had made up his mind during the wedding ceremony that he was going to try and pursue a relationship with her. His opinion of the fair sex was
gradually changing; there were still something’s he needed to work out by himself.

  Vincent was actively searching for Diane amongst the wedding guests, but she was nowhere to be found. It was getting late, and some of the guests were beginning to leave. He saw Diane heading for the door that led to the parking lot. Vincent couldn’t let her leave without talking to her. He had to try and find a way to dig himself out of the hole he put himself into. Vincent was heading for the door he saw Diane pass through a couple of seconds ago, when someone grabbed his arm.

  “Hey man where are you running off to?” John said noting the agitation on Vincent’s face.

  “Diane just left, and I want to catch her before she leaves the parking lot.” Vincent got away from John and ran to the exit door. By the time, he reached the parking lot, Diane was getting into her car. Vincent tried to flag her down, but she saw him and took off like before he could reach her car. “Damn it!” Vincent cursed as he watched Diane’s car leave the parking lot. “I’ll let you run for now Diane, but this isn’t the end.”