“Here, I heard the huge commotion over here. Is everything okay? Is your son home?” Laura Jackson asked.
Tammy was still shaking visibly. “Everything’s fine… Sort of. My son’s father came over here and I guess he was a little bit upset about something. Everyone stayed unharmed though,” Tammy said. She tried to force a smile.
Laura Jackson saw that this is her way in. She could tell Tammy wanted to talk about this and here she was, the friendly neighbor coming over to see if everything was okay. She had a distinct advantage. She offered Tammy, “Would you like me to stay over for a little while? You seem a bit frightened honey plus, you can tell me anything! I am your neighbor after all.”
Tammy figured that she had no other choice but to take up for Jackson’s offer. She had no one to talk to and she desperately needed someone. This wasn’t the kind of chat she could have with her son. Plus, Tammy was scared that Randall would come back. If he did, she definitely wanted witnesses.
“I would really appreciate that Laura,” Tammy said. she gave her aging neighbor a giant hug.
“Why don’t you sit down for a bit Tammy, I’ll make us some tea,” Laura offered. Tammy agreed and her neighbor got to work preparing a hot pot of jasmine tea.
As Laura puttered around the kitchen, she began to ask Tammy questions.
“So dear, if you don’t find it too nosy… Why on earth was Randall’s upset with you? He seemed beyond angry… I mean!” Laura asked.
Tammy didn’t even think that Laura would be feeding her story directly into the rumor mill. She figured that old woman just had no one to talk to; she wanted the story simply for entertainment, perhaps to get Tammy to open up but definitely not for anything malicious.
Tammy replied, “well… It’s complicated. I try to keep Jabari in his life and in exchange for that he typically keeps out of my way. But I forgot that Randall really and truly believes that he owns me. I try not to do anything he doesn’t approve of. But he still accuses me of being a bad influence on his son.”
“You? A bad influence? Why it’s been quiet as hell in this house for years. As far as I see, you’re the best mother on this whole street… I mean!” Laura exclaimed.
Tammy cleared her throat, “well… Yeah. It has been quiet. But I must admit, there’s a new man in my life and maybe Randall isn’t wrong to be worried.”
Laura saw her “in” plain as day. “A man? Well I mean! That’s not the worst thing in the world. I doubt you would be picking from the bottom of the barrel again. I mean… Randall was bad enough, but surely this you man you’re seeing is a good match. Hopefully he’s appropriate.”
Laura had a good feeling she was about to hear something juicy. If Tammy was banging someone’s husband, she would have that name in an instant. With that, she would have the ability to blackmail and bribe even more people in the town. The thought made her giddy. Laura maintained a calm exterior. Playing poker with the book club every week for years had clearly paid off. She was the perfect suburban spy.
“I don’t know if he is appropriate. Ms. Jackson. That’s what I’m worried about. I not supposed to say a word of this to anyone but I think I should tell you who it is. You’ll understand why there’s so much at risk. You’ll understand why my ex is so angry,” Tammy started.
She couldn’t believe she was about to tell Laura Jackson everything. Tammy put her worries out of her mind. This was just a harmless old woman who had always been there for Tammy when she needed her help. How could you ever make new friends he didn’t trust them with at least one of your secrets anyways?
Laura cleared her throat and brought tea to the living room where Tammy was sitting.
“Well dear, let’s carry on. Now let me have some tea perhaps it will make you feel better talk about it,” Laura said with a smile as she served Tammy her hot cup.
Tammy told the story about the parents teacher conference where she first met Victor. She told Laura about the ambiguity of their date. she told her about that first night afterwards when they had met up again. She told her about how Victor made her feel and how different he was from any man she had ever known.
On top of that, Tammy confessed to her neighbor how lonely she had been. She confessed to her how she wasn’t sure she could raise Jabari alone and just making it this far had been a shock to her. She confessed how desperate she was for some of the burden to be taken off her shoulders and how now that she saw a chance she didn’t care how taboo it was she wanted to go for it. Victor seems like he was interested and he seemed like he could provide her with everything she dreamed of and more when it came to love.
While Tammy confessed this, her neighbor listen attentively hanging on to every single word that she could possibly hope to use her advantage later on. This was not quite as juicy as she expected, but useful all the same. Tammy was dating a teacher at Willowcrest prep, where she had just pulled strings to get her son a seat. If she could sleep with one of her son’s teachers, presumably to boost grades, who knew who else she had slept with? Laura was excited because she knew this piece of gossip was destined to change things in their little town. Stephanie would be overjoyed to hear this little tidbit.
After her confession, Laura gave her the perfect motherly advice. Tammy wondered why she hadn’t sought her neighbor’s help before. She received comfort. She received validation. She received a hot cup of tea and a lot of love. It was just what she needed after an encounter with Randall. Maybe Laura was the one person in this town she should befriend. While some of the other younger people were judgmental, Laura wasn’t. She believed it being a good neighbor and providing a listening ear. How many people can say they are so lucky to live right next door to someone who was so kind.
It was already late evening so after a nice long chat, Tammy said goodbye to her neighbor and ushered her out the door. Tammy wanted to get to bed early anyways. She locked all the doors and double checked all the windows. Tonight she was terrified to be home all alone. Laura Jackson had promised that she would keep an eye out for Tammy but she was still not completely safe. She just wanted her son to get back home so her life could go back to normal.
But the moment Laura Jackson arrived at home, she was very different from the kind of comforting neighbor Tammy had seen. Under the cover of darkness, this innocent suburban hausfrau became a gossiping demon, grasping at straws to keep a story alive. Once she had closed her door behind her, she picked up the phone to give Stephanie a call. This information could not wait until daylight.
***
The next day, Tammy didn’t know that anything about her life was different or that it was going to change. Around midday, she received an email from Stephanie addressed to the entire PTA.
Hello Ladies,
I would like to inform you all not to drop the ball for the meeting we are going to be having on Friday. I noticed that quite a few people engage in chitchat during these meetings and quite frankly I’m sick of all the disruptions. If you don’t want to be in my PTA, form your own! I’m tired of this disrespect! You are acting lazy as hell and I expect all of this to change by the time you show up. And please make sure your little brats are preparing for the play! Oh and Jackie, stop using my house to sell your son’s ADHD meds! We get it, you’re broke, but this isn’t your stomping ground to peddle drugs.
xo ladies,
Stephanie
When Tammy saw the message she was shocked. She couldn’t believe that Stephanie was still being quite so rude and getting away with it. This hypnotic power she had over everyone needed to be put to an end. She wanted to let her know what was up. Tammy wasn’t sure if this would rub the other members of the PTA the wrong way.
Whether or not it did, she had to speak out. Tammy was sometimes faced with situations where she didn’t know whether or not to take a stand. Not taking a stand with Randall had led to the events of the previous day. He would only bully her if she let him. Tammy was done being railroaded by other people. She would take a stand against Stephanie right here
and right now. She poised her fingers to type the biggest clapback email of the year.
Dear Stephanie,
I’m writing to inform you that myself and probably many of the other women of the PTA do not appreciate being spoken to like this. Sure, people make mistakes and sometimes people don’t do things perfectly the way you would want. But you need to remember that most of us are busy and PTA is an extra activity. Everyone is trying their best and what we should do is support everyone instead of putting people down.
We are supposed to be an association. That means there should be something attracting people to working with us. We should be a family because our kids are experiencing similar circumstances at Willowcrest.
By calling our kids “little brats” you seem to be making the assumption that your kids are perfect. While I would never insult another woman’s kids, I think you should check to see if you live in a glass house before throwing stones at the rest of us.
And again, the fact that you came after Jackie for selling ADHD meds is not only purely a rumor, it’s totally inappropriate. You could harm her reputation based off of something you can’t possibly know the whole story to. And I’m not saying this to attack you, I just want to provoke everyone to think respectfully and to treat everyone in this Association respectfully.
There is no reason for us to hate each other. We are all neighbors. Our boys and girls all share the same classes and teachers. Let’s speak out of love to each other more often.
If anyone has any problems, please contact me directly. I really only mean this in good faith.
Love,
Tammy Powers
Tammy read the email ten or fifteen times before she hit send. Her heart was beating faster than ever. She couldn’t tell whether people would love her or hate her for speaking out. But Tammy was tired of being silent while other people steamrolled over her. This email, this minor coup, would hopefully put an end to Tammy’s suffering.
Tammy went on with her afternoon completely forgetting about the email she sent out. While she was cleaning her house from top to bottom, she was the hottest gossip topic amongst the ladies who lunched. Everyone was reading the email she sent out to Stephanie and marveling at how brave Tammy was. For once, she wasn’t the talk of the town because she was on the wrong end of a scandal.
So many people had wanted to stick it to Stephanie for years, but they were terrified about what she would do to them and to their reputations. Everyone admired how fearless Tammy was. Ladies took screenshots, forwarded and even uploaded the email to Facebook. Drama was unfolding in the little New England town and everyone was on Tammy Powers’ side…
Well, everyone except Stephanie. She was furious. Livid. Enraged. Every emotion you can think of to describe anger appeared. Stephanie couldn’t believe that stupid little minion had stepped out of line. Who the hell did Tammy Powers think she was? She had no idea what Stephanie knew about her or what Stephanie was capable of.
She had messed with the wrong WASPy housewife and she was about to find out just how much she was going to pay for it. Stephanie decided it was time to pay a visit to her good friend Laura Jackson and tease out the exact details of what was going down. She hadn’t understood much of what the old broad said over the phone and it was time to get some clarification.
When Tammy finally got through with her cleaning, she checked her phone. Woah. Emails were pouring in from the ladies of the PTA (except Stephanie). Tammy even got messages from people she didn’t even know.
Great going!! You are spitting straight truth Tammy!! - Marilyn
Dear Tammy, I think you are right to stand up for all of us. - Jackie
Sweet email Tammy. You should be PTA head next year… :) - Tulisa
Ms Powers, Excellent work. We should remember positivity… Love and peace. - Amira
As Tammy read note after note, they all started to blend together and sound the same. Sure she had the support of many people in the town, but that didn’t mean she was free from the consequences of speaking out. Tammy braced herself for what was coming next; she knew this bold move couldn’t end completely well. Stephanie would never let that happen. Before Tammy could plan for whatever Stephanie would do to punish her, she received a welcome phone call from Victor.
“Tammy, good afternoon… Can you talk now?” Victor asked.
Tammy was surprised to hear from him. As far as she knew, Victor should still be working.
“Yes I can talk. Honestly I’m surprised to hear from you so early. Aren’t you at work right now?” Tammy continued.
Victor answered, “ No I don’t have any classes this afternoon. Could we meet up somewhere?”
“Café?” Tammy replied.
Victor remembered their first sort of date at the café and figured that it would be the perfect place to meet Tammy so you could tell her what he wanted to.
“The café sounds fine. See you in 20 minutes?” Victor replied.
Since there were meeting in public again, Tammy didn’t want to dress up in a sexy manner that made this seem like it was anymore than a student’s parent running into a teacher. Victor didn’t seem to mind her appearance a bit. He looked ecstatic when Tammy walked to the café door. But he still gave her a decidedly platonic hug before she sat down. Victor had already ordered a cappuccino for Tammy.
He looked at her as if she was the most beautiful woman on the planet as she sat there before him. Is she far too young for me? Victor asked himself. Sure, Tammy was technically far younger than he was but there was something between them that felt right. Her age hardly felt like it was were important. After all, how could one raise a child for thirteen years without growing up?
The only thing truly taboo about their relationship was the way the conservative town react. They would paint a picture of Victor, a Spaniard predator lying in the shadows. They would paint Tammy like a wanton hussy. No one would win. And worst of all, her son Jabari’s position at school was at risk. Despite all of that, Victor decided to proceed with his next statement.
“Tammy… I’ve been desperately wanting to meet with you for a while. You have been… busy?” Victor asked. The way he looked at Tammy let her know that he wanted nothing but to reach out and touch her or perhaps kiss her on the lips. Being in a public setting, there was no way that could happen
Tammy apologized, “I’m sorry Victor. Things have been crazy with my ex. I know that I should’ve called but I’ve been terrified.”
“It’s all right Tammy. You don’t have to apologize to me. I know where your heart lies,” Victor said. He took a cool sip of his black coffee. The smell of the dark roasted beans made Tammy feel at home. She could take the faintest smell of cigarettes on his breath. It reminded her of her grandfather; the scent was putrid to some but Tammy was always comforted by it.
She stared into Victor’s cobalt blue eyes. His every motion was so suave and calculated. He was so put together in contrast to Tammy’s messiness. Why was he here? How could Victor know where her heart resided?
They had never taken a moment to qualify their bizarre relationship. As far as Tammy knew, this was just sex and she was headed deep into a love affair with a man who didn’t care for her as much as she cared for him. Tammy forgot that she was the one who wanted to keep their romance a secret.
“Where does your heart lie?” Tammy replied.
Finally, a slick answer of her own. Tammy couldn’t control her emotions as she paused and waited for Victor to speak. She realized what she so desperately wanted to hear from Victor and she didn’t know if she would hear it.
When Victor began to tell her what was on his mind, Tammy was so nervous, she thought she would pass out.
Victor pushed his dark brown hair out of his face. “Well Tammy… I must confess… I want things to be serious between us. You aren’t just a plaything to me. I don’t know what you think is going on here but that’s not it. I know this is very secretive and hush hush, but I would claim you if you wanted me to. I want to go the distance. I wa
nt to meet your son. And when you’re ready, I’m willing to accept the consequences of what might happen if this relationship goes public,” Victor spoke in a hushed tone.
His light Spanish accent made the words spilling out of his mouth sound like pure poetry.
This was his love song, his valiant admission that he would put everything he had worked for on the line to be with Tammy Powers. Tammy got what she wanted and more. There was only one problem… Now that she had Victor’s admission of love, she didn’t know how to characterize how she felt. Was she ready to go the distance?
“Victor I’m thrilled you want this to be a real thing and I want it to. I know I kind of just pressured this out of you and now I might say something that you don’t want to hear… But I don’t know if I’m ready to risk making this public right now. It’s not because of you or me; I need to think about my son. I’m scared that his father will do something drastic or that he’ll lose his place at Willowcrest,” Tammy started.
Prepped For Love: BWWM Pregnancy Romance Novel Page 8
