For Better or For Worse

by Desirae Williams

  “You mean you had to wait until my father in law lite a fire under your ass to move huh?” I stared at him waiting for him to tell me I was lying…he didn’t. Detective Trent shrugged and walked across the room for some coffee. “I don’t know what you want me to say Mr. Smith.” “You don’t have to say anything I’m sure my father in law put you up to this.” He smirked a little. “And why would you assume that?” I rolled my eyes and kicked back. “Obviously he is not my biggest fan for superficial reasons.” It was no secret Oden Dobson hated having me for a son in law, he didn’t see me fit to be his daughters husband; mainly because I wasn’t some uncle tom from Hillman that he always dreamed of. To Oden Dobson I was nothing more than hoodlum who was going to eventually ruin his daughter’s life.

  ***

  Grant/2001

  “Are you sure he said I could come?” I asked Lucy. We were driving back home for the holidays. Her father Oden had finally decided to accept our relationship after many years of fighting our union and invited us over for dinner. Ever since she told her father about me he had been suspicious and leery, so detective private eye decided to do a background check on me to confirm his suspicions…and just guess what he found. Once Oden had found I had had a couple of run ends with the law he went postal, telling his daughter I was a no good jail bum set to ruin her life. He failed to acknowledge the fact that I had a job and was providing for her and myself, but to him I would forever be street trash. But Lucy was not a woman who you could tell what to do and so she defied her father by refusing to listen to him. Oden saw that there was no fighting us and I guess by the grace of God he finally gave in…or so we thought. “It’s just a couple of hours what is the worst that could happen?” Lucy chuckled. A lot, I wanted to say. I just shook my head, keeping my eyes on the road bracing myself for the worst. Lucy patted my knee and smiled. “Everything’s going to be ok baby. Don’t worry.”

  She said kissing my cheek. I could only hope what she said was true but with Oden there was no telling what he had up his sleeve. There was no stopping him if he was determined to get what he wanted. One might find that characteristic admirable but for me it was pure annoyance. Lucy pulled some cover out of the back seat over her white sweater to warm her body up. Being that the heater was on blast in the car I wondered was it the weather that was really making her chilly. I shook all thoughts from my mind and stared ahead in deep concentration as our turn appeared into Alachua. As we made our way into the city we drove directly to Oden’s house and pulled into the parking lot.

  Lucy rang the doorbell in enthusiasm, she hadn’t seen her father in a while and the fact the he didn’t approve of me didn’t help bring them together more often either. Oden swung open the door and greeted his daughter. “Daddy…” “Baby girl…” He swung her around as they embraced. He finally looked up at me. “Grant...” I nodded. “Mr. Dobson.” After the awkward silence faded he invited us inside. “Well you guys are coming a long way from New York how you Fairing there baby?” Lucy and I removed our coats and made our way to the fireplace. “Just fine daddy, I’m finishing up with school and Grants getting more work with his job.” She said patting my knee. “Oh yeah, how is that going Grant?”

  He asked with a slick grin that he always gave me, a grin that told me I was beneath him and nothing I ever did would be good enough. “It’s good; I’m getting more work done so that means more money to take care of this young lady.” I leaned over kissed Lucy knowing it always angered her father. Oden stood and walked into the kitchen to set places at the table while choking down his anger. “Well that’s good Grant, you are taking care of business, most felons aren’t able to get a chance like that.” “Dad.” Lucy shot a cold glare at him. Although I could have flipped out I decided to play it cool…he wasn’t worth it. “Well I guess I’m blessed huh?” Oden nodded while setting the food out .“Well aint that why the jailbird sings?” “Ok, Seriously?” Lucy yelled.

  Oden fixed his face as if he couldn’t understand why she would be offended. “Joke”. He lied trying to appease the situation. I smiled although I didn’t find this amusing at all. Just one hour, I said to myself, just make it through the hour. We all gathered at the dinner table to eat. It was a nice house, full of antique merchandise and plenty of memories of Lucy’s growing up. I tried to focus on the real reason why I was here so Lucy could spend some time with her father, even if he was the devil. “Lets us pray first.” Oden bowed his head and we followed suit. “Lord thank you for everything you have done and are going to do for this family. I ask you to bless this food we are about to receive Jesus and bless the bodies that it will nourish.” Well so far so good, I thought. “Lord also bless our minds father. To make the right decisions concerning our futures and the people we decide to build that future with Jesus.” You got to be kidding me, I mumbled. “Just guide our way Lord and show us right from wrong, and please, please, please, Jesus keep us from going down the wrong path. In your heavenly name, amen…So who ready to eat?”

  We both looked at him like he was plum crazy. As we passed the food around I couldn’t help but ask Oden some much needed to know questions…mainly to get a reaction out of him. “So Mr. Dobson, what do you think about coming to visit me and Lucy in New York?” I could tell he was thrown off by my willingness to talk to him…and now that I had his attention I planned on turning up the heat. “Well I think that is something to think about.” Lucy smiled at his answer but I knew that it was just said to appease her…the thought of me being with his daughter made his skin crawl and I knew it. I continued to put on the pressure. “Well that’s good because we were thinking of buying a house soon, once we get on a more permanent basis.” I said while grabbing her hand and flashing my million dollar smile his way.

  He gave me a twisted look but eased it off just in time. “What do you think about the market in New York when trying to buy a house?” Oden took a sip of wine before answering. “Well New York can be very costly I wouldn’t consider purchasing a home there.” Lucy decided to chime in intrigued by the conversation. “Well Grant is making good money at Good and Weldness, plus I’m doing great at my internship. Pretty soon we’ll both be bringing in a lot of income to buy a home dad.” Oden tried to chuckle off his frustration but the vein popping on his neck was still throbbing. “What’s with this talk of houses and what not? You guys aren’t trying to get hitched anytime soon…Are you?” The smile on his face was warm but the look in his eyes was desperate. Lucy looked to me then back to her father. “Well of course not now but soon I hope.” That vain of his nearly popped out at the thought of me being a permanent part of his family. Oden gave a faint smile trying to stay cool. “Honey you are a little too young to even be thinking about that right now.” I cleared my throat as I jumped back into the conversation. “Well Mr. Dobson, the keys to a successful marriage is love, security, and commitment. We got plenty of that to at least consider holy matrimony.” If looks could kill I would be a dead man right now. Oden had a tight grip on his wine glass.

  “But you’re still young, you need to wait it out a little longer…explore all you options.” I looked at Lucy who appeared to be irked by his comment. “What options, there are no other options. I want to be with Grant.” He shook his head. “Lucy you haven’t even lived yet baby. Neither of you have, you don’t want to be tied down to the first man you have ever been with.” “I don’t understand, I love Grant, I want Grant, and there is no one else.” I nodded. “And I feel the same way.” Oden finally stood up unable to mask his true feelings anymore. “Ok I can’t do this…I can’t sit here and let you throw your life away.” Finally the real Oden Dobson showed up, Lucy shook her head and looked at her father and placed her fork down on the plate. “Dad, Grant is going to be a part of my life, if you don’t agree than that’s just too bad.” “Honey this man is going to ruin you. He sees you’re going places. He’s just a leech trying to live of your success, don’t you see that?” I rose from the table having had enough of his insults. “I don’t ha
ve to listen to this.” “Grant wait...” Lucy called for me.

  “No let him go…you don’t need a man like him…” I stood frozen in my tracks and turned around. “A man like what?” He eyed me up and down like I was worthless. “A street thug that is going to use and abuse my daughter till he moves on to his next victim.” “Dad that is not true…he loves me.” Lucy pleaded with him. “Of course it’s true, when are you going to see him for what he really is, a product of the ghetto and he aint going nowhere. God forbid he drags you down with him.” Ok that did it…that did it. “Look old man I love your daughter and you can throw all the shade you want to at me but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m not going anywhere. You might not want to realize this but I’m her man not you…and if you focused more time worrying about yourself you would have your own woman and leave us the hell alone.” He stood in shock at first but soon turned boiling red angry. “That’s it, that’s it.” He turned to Lucy who was trembling at her father’s wrath. “I will not sit back any longer and let this man destroy you. You decide right now him or me.” “What?” she stared at him hurt by what he was making her do. I shook my head at this man’s audacity, he didn’t even care that he was hurting his daughter by doing this. “After tonight I don’t ever want to see him again, now unless you want the same fate you better make a decision. Him or me, make a choice.”

  Oden continued to pressure his daughter. I had enough of this and I grabbed our coats off the rack. In my eyes she didn’t need him anymore, he had served his purpose and now it was my job to take over. “Lucy are you coming?” She looked at me teary eyed then back to him. “Yes.” She stood slowly as she walked away from the first man she had ever loved. The drive to a hotel was a silent one ,every word Oden had slithered out still replayed in my mind. “I can’t believe him…after all the things I have done for you he still thinks I’m not good enough.” Lucy sulked in the car disappointed by the demise of the holiday dinner. “Well once we show him that were serious about each other, he’ll have no choice but to accept it.” I was so caught up in my anger I failed to see what she was saying. “What are you talking about?” She looked up at me. “You said you wanted to marry me right?” I swallowed and remembered I had let that slip out and now had put myself in a whole lot of trouble. “Yeah but…no time soon.” Lucy eyed me strangely as she sat up. “Then why would you say that?” I glanced at her then back to the road. “I meant what I said. Just, not right now.” She took inventory of my tone and sighed in the passenger seat. “So let me guess you just said all of that marriage stuff to piss my father off right?” “I meant what I said baby, I did.” Lucy looked out the window trying to hide the tears sliding down her face. “I can’t believe you.” I shook my head. “I meant what I said Lucy I want to marry you just...” I could hear her sobbing with her head down, I reached out to touch her but she smacked my hand away. “Don’t!” She continued to sob. I road through the icy snow regretting the pain I had just caused the woman I love.

  ***

  Detective Trent looked at me intently and sat across the table. “Grant your wife fell down a flight of stairs and was admitted in the hospital with numerous injuries and I need to know how she got there.” I was getting frustrated; this was insane. “You can’t be serious? You really think I would try to hurt my wife come on now.” I was sick of this I needed to be there for Lucy right now, not entertaining Oden’s hired help. Instead of the smart ass approach I tried to reason with him. “Did it ever occur to you that this may have been an accident?” There was a knock on the door, Detective Trent rose up and chatted with another officer for a minute then returned back to me. “Well Grant looks like we are going to find out everything we need to know now….The hospital called your wife is awake.” My heart pounded loudly at those words….she’s awake.

  Chapter 19

  It was an Accident right?

  Lucy

  Oh damn, I thought. I woke up and felt so groggy, like a ton of bricks had toppled over me. My body was hurting and I could barely move. What happened, I thought. What’s going on? As my vision became clearer I looked up to see an older looking familiar man at my bed side. “Dad...” I managed to get out softly. He smiled at me. “Hey baby girl…I thought I would never see those pretty eyes again.” I became uneasy as I saw tears began to form in his eyes. “What are you doing here daddy?” I asked. He patted my hair trying to comfort me in my time of need. “You had an accident honey….The doctor called.” Accident, I thought. Blurred visions filled my brain and I recalled the whole scene at the hospital. I spotted Grant with Alexia, I ran away, and then somehow fell down the stairwell. I leaned up trying to regain control of all of my limbs but my dad reached up and stopped me.

  “Don’t do that honey. You’re going to need all of your strength.” Just then a young attractive Spanish man entered my room. “Honey this is Detective Trent from the police station…he’s going to ask you some questions about what happened ok?” I looked at him in confusion. “Mrs. Smith, I understand you had an accident here at the hospital?” I nodded as he continued. “Can you tell me what happened?” I struggled as I tried to recall the events that led up to my accident everything seemed hazy after so much time. “I was feeling sick…at work…so I made an appointment…. I saw my husband at the hospital……” I hesitated to finish the story. “And what happened?” Detective Trent pushed on. “I ran…to an exit stairwell….I couldn’t breathe…I was looking for my phone….in my purse… then….I.” Detective Trent and my father leaned in closer. “You what? What happened?” I shook my head. “I don’t remember....” Detective Trent nodded. “Did you see anything or anyone?” I was trying to see could I remember if I saw or smelled something that was familiar so I could trigger something in my brain but I couldn’t recollect anything. I shook my head and my father stood up. “So what do we do now? We can’t make an arrest on that.”

  “An arrest?” I nearly bust open some stiches at the sound of that. “You have someone in custody?” “We are currently questioning someone.” Detective Trent clarified staring at my father sternly. “But I’ll keep in touch.” And with that he exited the room. “Dad what’s going on?” I asked in utter disbelief. “Nothing honey just relax while I’ll go check on little Greg.” Little Greg…With everything that had been going on I failed to remember my own child. “Little Greg …where is he? Is he ok? Let me see him.” My dad tried to calm my nerves but it was too late I was in a frenzy. “I’m going to go get him now sweetheart…just calm down.” I finally tamed myself and eased back on the bed. My dad kissed me on the head and I watched him exit the doors. While this commotion was going on all I could seem to think about was Grant. Where is he? Does know I’m here? Does he care? I wanted to call him but then again I didn’t. I was so confused but one thing was clear I needed rest.

  Grant

  As soon I left the police station I went home to the babysitter to get little Greg knowing I had to get to him before Oden did. I was filled with so much frustration with Lucy being awake, I wanted to see her but I knew her father would never let that happen. Damn, out of all the times he picked to show up. Why couldn’t that bastard have stayed where he was? Damn! I thought. I picked up a nearby chair and wanted to smash it but thought against it. “What’s wrong dad?” my son asked me while I paced the living room floor back and forth. I turned to him I almost forgot he was there. “Nothing son, I just got a lot on my mind.” “Is it about mama?” I glanced his way I could tell he looked disturbed. I exhaled trying to remain calm in front of my child.

  “Yeah kid it is…but its ok because we are going to see her real soon….matter of fact we are going right now go put your jacket on.” Little Greg raced to his closet. I grabbed my keys and wallet and headed for the door, I was going to see my wife even if it killed me and whoever didn’t like it could surely kiss my… At the exact moment as I opened the door I was greeted by Oden and Detective Trent. Immediately I thought something was wrong. “What happened? Is Lucy alright?” “Everyt
hing is fine Mr. Smith I just need a moment of your time.” My anger was showing and I wasn’t trying to hide it. “I think you have had enough of my time today Detective, I want to talk to my wife.”

  “Like hell you will.” Oden barged through the door. I swear I was going to clock that man if little Greg hadn’t come into the room. “Grandpa.” He yelled running into Oden’s arms. “When did you get here big man?” Greg asked slapping his grandfather’s chest making Oden laugh. “I just arrived here lil man.” “Well daddy is going to take me to go see mommy.” “Oh he is..” He said giving me a side look. “Well kid how about I take you.” Oden glanced in my direction. “If that’s ok?” I looked at him sternly knowing I wouldn’t dare act a fool in front of my son so I reluctantly nodded. “Yaaaaay.”Little Greg cheered. While oden and little Greg headed for the car I stared at detective Trent. “So is it back to the station?” I knew that I didn’t have to go but it would look better on my part if I just cooperated with the investigation. Detective Trent looked at the couch in the living area then back at me as if he were asking for a seat, I nodded. As we sat down the real conversation began, “No Grant we are not going back to the station. There is no need I’m not arresting you.” “So it was an accident?” I asked looking at him for conformation. Detective Trent shook his head. “She said she doesn’t recall the accident ….” I gasped. “But you still think she was pushed?” Detective Trent was giving me a questioning look and I took offense right away. “You can’t possibly think I would do that. To my own wife man.” “What I think Grant was that you two were at the same place at the same time the incident took place….now that’s too much of a coincidence for me. Don’t you think?”