She pointed at the caramel suede boots in the window.
“They are nice,” Matt said. “Maybe they’ll go on sale.”
“I don’t think so,” she said. “But I can always hope.” She looked at her watch. “Well, I’ve got to run. See you later.”
Matt watched her walk off. He turned back around and looked at the boots.
He would buy them, but he didn’t know Max’s size.
He walked into the store, and a salesperson walked up to him.
“How much are those?” he asked pointing.
The young girl smiled “Those are popular today. They are $325, real calf leather, and we have gloves to match for only $75.”
Matt looked at her “Did that lady that just left here happen to say what size boots she needed?”
The salesgirl looked puzzled. “Why, yes, but why do you want to know that?”
“She’s my girlfriend’s mom,” he replied.
“Oh!” she said with a smile “You’re in luck. Size nine is what she told me, and I just have one pair left.”
“I’ll take them and the gloves too,” Matthew replied.
He quickly made his purchases, not sure if he were more surprised at the fact that he bought Max these gifts and planned to give them to her at the Thanksgiving party or the fact that he had called her his girlfriend.
CHAPTER 16
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. Ephesians 5: 11
Thanksgiving Day had never been more hectic. Max had made ten lemon chess pies for the massive get-together. They were expecting more than 150 people.
The family rented the Conway Recreational Center for the event, and Max had to meet Rachel there early to help organize everything. Dinner was at four, and she had been up since six that morning cooking.
Nadine and Eric had been up late the previous night making potato salad from a ten-pound bag of potatoes and were still in bed. Max knew that Nadine could make good potato salad, and she had been the one to convince her to do so. Max looked at her watch. It was almost ten-thirty and they were still asleep.
She knew that pretty soon the twins would wake up and demand attention. They were lucky that the twins were not fussy toddlers. They rarely cried except when they were wet or hungry. Max knew that pretty soon they would be hollering, even though they had stayed up longer the night before with their parents.
Max quietly opened the twins’ bedroom door to see them playing with each other in their crib.
One of the babies looked up, noticed the door, and pulled herself up. She began to squeal. Too late, Max tried to shut the door but realized that she had been caught. The second baby followed suit and stood next to her sister. Max darted into the room and tried to shush them, but they weren’t having it and got louder.
After a few moments Nadine came into the room.
“Is everything all right Max? What time is it?” she asked, her eyes barely open.
“It’s ten-thirty,” Max said, patting each baby.
Eric walked in behind Nadine yawning. “Hey, Max.”
“Morning. I’m on my way down to the center to take the pies,” Max said as she gave both girls her attention. “The girls are awake, so the two of you need to wake up.”
“Uh-huh,” Nadine replied, sleepily snuggling in Eric’s embrace as she leaned back against him.
Max watched as Eric’s hand wandered over her sister’s body while he leaned against the wall and Nadine leaned against Eric. He wasn’t touching her in places that he shouldn’t, but still his actions were intimate, and Max quickly looked away.
“Well, I’ve got to go.” Max kissed the babies on the head, feeling a little embarrassed. She could tell that Eric and Nadine were still half-asleep and rolled her eyes at them.
Both girls began to cry as she walked to the door. Nadine, dozing on her feet, jumped at the sound and her robe came undone, revealing she was naked under it. Max wondered if the two of them always slept naked because Eric also had on a robe and she could see his bare chest. Max felt a pang of jealousy. She quickly exited the bedroom and began putting the pies in the trunk of her car.
When she came back into the house to retrieve the remaining pies, Eric was in the kitchen getting the potato salad out of the refrigerator.
“I’ll put this in the car. Get Dad to help you unload,” he said, yawning again.
“You can’t come outside like that,” Max said, looking at him with nothing on but a robe that was gaping open as far as she could tell.
“I’m fine. It’s about fifty degrees outside.” Eric walked to the door with the big container of potato salad. “Besides, I have on a robe and my boxers underneath.”
Max was glad to hear that bit of information and watched him as he put the salad in the trunk. She was glad that he no longer sent her into one of her episodes, but she still remained somewhat cautious.
“See you later, Sis,” he said, patting her on the head while still yawning.
She gave him a smirk. “Put some clothes on!”
“You said it didn’t bother you anymore,” Eric said, chuckling. “Besides I have on clothes.”
“It doesn’t bother me!” Max insisted, glaring at him.
“Uh-huh.”
“No hanky-panky between you and my sister!” she said, waggling her finger at him. “You all need to get yourselves together. Mom needs all of our help. There will be plenty of cousins to help with the girls! So get dressed and keep your hands to yourself!”
“Like we have time for that!” Eric said, laughing and waving goodbye.
Max pulled off and waved, smirking to herself.
Matthew looked at his watch and saw that it was after one. His mom was still running around the kitchen, and his car and his father’s truck were full of stuff. How much food had this woman prepared?
“Ma, come on!” Matthew yelled into the front door and then walked back into the yard crossing his arms. He looked at his father who rolled his eyes.
“Your mother is really excited about this ‘combined Thanksgiving.’ It’s going to be a mob there for sure!” He shook his head in disbelief.
Matthew walked over to the truck and leaned against the door as his dad sat in the driver’s seat.
“I want to ask you a question.”
“Sure.”
“I need to ask if you have totally changed your mind about Eric and Nadine. Do you now accept their marriage totally without reservations?” He watched his father closely waiting for his response.
Matthew’s father paused for a moment. “It’s not what I wanted for Eric. He is only nineteen, but I can see now that he’s happy and that he loves her. The babies are obviously his; something he kept telling me from the beginning, although I was in total denial. I didn’t want this for him at first, but when I see how happy he is, and those babies, they look just like your Mom. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she’d had them herself! I can’t help but to accept the marriage, him and Nadine. She’s a nice girl, and I can see that she loves Eric. I know what it’s like to fall in love with your high school sweetheart. I fell for your mom in high school. I had to rethink the whole thing. So I just decided that, if my son is happy, what have I got to be mad about?”
Matt was quiet. Had his father changed his mind just because of the babies? What would he say if he told him about his attraction to Max?
“Why are you asking me this now? Are you still having a problem accepting their marriage? You’ve got to admit that Eric looks happy,” his father reasoned. “We both have to accept the fact that times are changing.”
“Yeah, I know. I was just thinking how when I was in middle school, remember, and you kept telling me to stick with my own kind. There were so many black people in my school. I became friends with Rodney Allman, and you were worried. Then when I was in high school and I told you about that girl, LaKeisha, you told me that it wasn’t acceptable. You told me to stick with my own kind, and I did just like you advised me to.”
&n
bsp; His father looked surprised. “Is that what this is all about? That was years ago. I remember what I said. I thought that I was doing what was best for you. Why are you bringing that back up now?”
Matthew leaned against the car and avoided making eye contact.
“I don’t know what to think. You were all against Jeremy’s marriage, you and most of the family, and now all of a sudden this total about-face. You were the one who kept telling me this stuff, but you didn’t do it with Eric, and now you’ve totally accepted his marriage like it never bothered you to begin with. Why did you ride me about it, but never say anything to Eric? I’m just trying to understand.”
His father looked at him seriously. “Son, I was stupid. I realize that now. I thought I was doing the right thing when I told you those things. You always played with the black kids and hung out with them. I was afraid something was going to happen to you, that you’d get mixed up with the wrong crowd, that you’d get some black girl pregnant and God knows what else. There’s eight years between you and Eric. I guess I had mellowed out by the time he was in high school. I could see that you turned out all right, so I didn’t panic when Eric had black friends. I never knew about Nadine, or more than likely I would have said something to him.”
“Yeah, but you weren’t the only one telling me that it was wrong. I heard it all the time. Now you’re saying that it’s no big deal?” He gave his father a challenging stare. “I’ve shot my mouth off repeating the things you told me, and now I feel like a fool.”
His father looked at him and smiled. “What are you trying to ask me? What is this really all about?”
“I’m just trying to sort out in my mind what you told me all those years,” Matt snapped. “It’s hard to change your mind after you’ve been told something for as long as you can remember! First it was wrong, and now you’re trying to tell me it’s no big deal? C’mon, Pop!”
“Why? Is there some black girl you’re interested in now?” He father looked at him, and Matt looked away, unable to meet his gaze or answer his question.
“Who is she? Do I know her?” his father persisted. “Why all of a sudden does my opinion matter so much? What girl are you interested in? You’ve never cared before, and now you come to me with this? Who is the black girl that’s caught your eye?”
“Max,” he mumbled, looking at the ground instead of his father’s response to his confession.
“Max? You mean Nadine’s sister, the one Rachel says that argues with you all the time? The Max that can’t stand you and vice versa according to your mother?” His father chuckled in disbelief when Matthew didn’t reply immediately. “So you’re going to carry on the family tradition of two sisters’ marrying two brothers?” he teased.
“I don’t see what’s so funny,” Matt said dryly. “You told me all this stuff, and I took it to heart, and now you’re saying it’s all right?”
“I’m just surprised that she’s the one. I like Max. She’s been taking your mother out driving. Rachel adores her. So what’s the problem? If you like her and she likes you, what does my opinion matter? I say go for it.”
Matthew looked at his father as if he had two heads. “What’s the problem? You’re asking me that after all you’ve said to me in the past? What about what you said when Jeremy came home? What about everything you said to Eric? What about what you told me that the races shouldn’t mix?”
“Son, I told you that I was stupid and narrow-minded back then. What more do you want me to say? If you like Max, what can I do about it? You’re twenty-eight years old. You’ve always done what you wanted, and now you’re trying to pin this on what I told you ten, fifteen years ago?”
“You know I want that county seat. Those good ole boys will have a fit if I have Max on my arm. I won’t stand a snowballs chance in hell!” Matt declared.
His father burst out laughing. “Half those good ole boys, as you call them, have daughters who have done the same thing. I don’t buy that crap that you’re just doing what I told you in middle school. Hell, you have always had your own mind Matthew, so cut the crap! What’s the real problem? If you want the woman, go after her.”
“But—”
“According to you, there’s been something wrong with every girl you’ve ever dated,” his father interrupted. “I don’t recall you ever seeing the same girl longer that a couple of weeks. Now you and Max have been fighting for months, I hear, and you’ve come to ask my opinion when you never have done so before? Why is that? I’ll tell you why: because she’s gotten to you. She must be the one you really want! You’ve fallen hard for a black girl just like Mama predicted.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “Now you’re here expecting me to try to talk you out of what you’re feeling when you’ve never asked my opinion about any girl you’ve dated before? Why is that? What’s so different now?”
“Our families are too close already,” Matthew complained. “What if it doesn’t work?”
“What if it does?” his father countered. “Obviously you have strong feelings for her to come here and talk to me about it. Just man up and go and get your woman. You don’t need my consent.”
Just then Rachel came running out.
“Sorry to make you guys wait. I think this is everything,” she said, walking to the back of the truck.
Matthew did not reply but got in the car and slammed the door, quickly starting the engine.
“Bye, Son,” Matthew Sr. said, smirking at him. Matthew glared back at his father defiantly, mumbling under his breath.
Rachel looked toward her son’s car, puzzled as he backed out of the driveway causing a cloud of dust and rocks to fly. She climbed in the truck and looked at her husband.
“What’s up with him?”
Matthew Ferguson, Sr. laughed. “I think our boy’s in love.”
Carl Jessup was happy that the job in Aynor was finally complete. It had taken him longer than he had planned, and the last thing he wanted to do was to work on Thanksgiving Day.
Rogers had volunteered to work, and they completed the job by noon. He began to load his equipment back on the truck.
“I appreciate you agreeing to come out on Thanksgiving, Rogers,” he said.
“No problem. I didn’t have any plans,” he replied, pointing to his ankle bracelet. “My only other choice was to sit around the halfway house and look at television.”
“What you doing for the holiday?”
“Nothing. The house told us that they would take us to the local mission for a free dinner. That’s later on this afternoon.”
“Well, my family is having something at the Conway Rec Center, and you’re welcome to come with me if you’d like,” Jessup said, grinning.
“Really? I’d like that,” Rogers said. “I don’t know if I can, though. You’ll have to run it by the folks at the house. You’d have to sign me out and take responsibility for me.”
“It’s just dinner. I’ll ask them when I drop you off,” Jessup replied. “I’m sure they won’t mind since it’s Thanksgiving.”
They got in the truck and headed down route 501. “Look, if you want to come, that’s fine. I’ll just tell them that you’re one of my workers who don’t have a family. I don’t know all that you did that caused you to be locked up to begin with, but according to the work release officer you have been a model prisoner for over ten years, and that says something to me. I believe that you want to get your life together, and I respect that. I don’t hold your past against you.”
“I appreciate that,” Rogers said, looking out the window.
“Just stick close to me. I’ll be responsible for you, so you’ll have to agree to that in order to come. It’ll be a bunch of people there anyway. You’ll fit right in.”
Rogers laughed. “Are you sure? They won’t be all speaking Spanish, will they?”
“Spanish? What are you talking about?” Jessup looked over at him.
“Aren’t you Hispanic?”
Jessup laughed. “No, I’m Black!”
; “Oh, sorry,” Rogers said. “How do you expect me to fit in anyway?”
“My cousin’s family is white. The two families are having dinner together. They will be plenty of black and white people there. You’ll fit in, don’t worry.”
They stopped at the halfway house, and Jessup got out and went in with him. Rogers went up to his room to take a quick shower and change. When he came down, he found Jessup waiting in the truck.
“It’s all settled,” Jessup said. “I just have to have you back by eight. No problem. The dinner is at four.”
“Great,” Rogers said. “Look, since we are going over to Conway, can we stop at Hillcrest Cemetery? My mother is buried there. I’d like to visit, and I may not get another chance.”
“Really? I thought you were from Florence.”
“My mom died when I was a child,” Rogers lied. “I was raised by my grandmother in Florence. She used to take me to the cemetery from time to time. I know exactly where she’s buried. I can visit while you go change, and you can come back and pick me up, unless you are too far from there.”
Jessup looked at him. “Actually, it’s only about ten minutes away from my house, and it will be on the way to the rec center. All right, but this is unscheduled. You make sure that you are at the gate when I come back. It’ll be about thirty minutes.” He paused. “And don’t wander off. I’m going to trust you just this one time, Rogers.”
“That’s fine,” Rogers said. “I’ll be there. As I said, I can’t wander off and not be found with this thing on my ankle.”
Jessup nodded in agreement. Not long afterwards he dropped him off at the cemetery gate and pulled off. Rogers couldn’t believe his luck. He had slipped a trowel in his coat pocket and headed into the cemetery.
He looked for the large tree under which he had buried his treasure. It was right next to a woman’s grave, but it wasn’t his mother’s. He quickly found the tree and began to dig. The plastic bag soon came into view. He looked around. No one else was in the cemetery as far as he could tell. He pulled out the bag. Inside were white panties with pink hearts and a piece of notebook paper. He quickly opened it and read: Maxine James Grade 8 English Period 3 Mr. Wyche.
Broken: The sequel to THE PREACHER'S SON Page 20
