Secrets On Lake Drive

by Tina Martin

  “Girl, I had to wait after school again with Roman. We were there for an hour, and then the secretary came into my class and said that Roman’s father had called and wanted me to bring Roman home.”

  “Wait a minute…the secretary came to your class?”

  Keisha had me laughing already. I knew where she was going with this.

  “Yeah, the secretary.”

  “Well, dang, it must have been serious. The last time I seen her come out of the office was when the principal bought those pizzas and put them in the teacher’s lounge. She wobbled in and got like three slices, then wobbled back out.”

  Keisha was laughing so hard, she made me laugh even harder. “Girl, you wrong.”

  When Keisha finally stopped laughing, she asked, “So Sean told her to tell you to take Roman home?”

  “Yeah, and when I got there, Sean was already standing at the door. He proceeded to send Roman to his room, then he’s all up in my face talking ‘bout I don’t know him and I can’t judge him and all that nonsense.”

  “Well, everybody and they momma knows the Beauvais men and know of their ways.”

  “I know, and that’s what I told him. I was like, I see you have time for all those women, but you can’t make room for your own son. Girl, he was pissed. I just got in my car and left.”

  “I can’t believe you went off on him again like that. Girl, you bold.”

  “Right is right and wrong is wrong. Now I’m just waiting to see if he’s going to pick up Roman on time tomorrow.”

  “Probably not,” Keisha said, in a way that you could tell she was rolling her eyes, mixed with a little bit of neck snapping.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right. Well, I have to run. I’ll see you later.”

  “Okay, girl.”

  A FEW WEEKS later, I was still on my grind, going to work every day with the same routine. Just one more week is all I kept saying over and over in my head, as I pranced into class with my usual 16-ounce cup of Breakfast Blend coffee from Starbucks. I desperately needed a break and could hardly wait until school is out for the summer.

  Upon checking daily attendance, I noticed Roman wasn’t in class. Maybe he is out sick, I thought. He’s been here every day for the past two weeks, and then all of a sudden today, he doesn’t show up. Then I got to thinking about the look on Sean’s face a few weeks back when he was talking to me. What if I pissed him off to the point that he would remove Roman from my class? Maybe I should not have been so in-your-face with Mr. Beauvais. If I’d just kept my big mouth shut, Roman would be in class and life would be back to normal. Still, Roman shouldn’t have to be left after school so frequently, waiting for a ride home. So, I’m guessing I did the right thing. However, his absence has me thinking otherwise.

  I didn’t want to do it, but I had to call and find out what the deal was. Knowing Sean, he probably would look at the caller ID, see my number, and not bother to answer. I decided to call anyway. It was my duty.

  “Hi, this is Ms. Smith calling. Roman has been out for a couple of days. Is he sick?”

  “Nah, he’s not sick. I’m actually in the process of moving him to a different school for next year. He won’t be back anymore this week, so don’t look for him.”

  I knew the dark, manly, powerful voice belonged to Mr. Beauvais.

  “Why is that?”

  “Because I don’t want him anywhere near you and your negative influences.”

  Me, negative? Everything I’ve done has had positive effects on Roman and the rest of my students for that matter. I knew this was a ploy from Sean to ruffle my feathers, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

  “I’m sorry you feel that way.” I admit I was a little choked up and didn’t know what else to say. All I know is that I didn’t want to lose my favorite student. “Tell Roman I said goodbye at least. Can you do that?”

  “Yeah, whatever.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  Never have I been in a situation like this before where a parent didn’t like me and even went as far as to remove their child from my class. I’m harmless. Everybody likes me. Well, that is up until now.

  Chapter 5 - Visit to His Crib

  With school out for the summer, I got the much-needed break I’d been longing for. No more getting up at five o’clock in the morning, roaming around like a zombie until I received my first dose of caffeine. No more screaming kids and rush-hour traffic. I finally had a break from all the madness. It was just me and my apartment.

  Now that I think about it, being cooped up all alone in my apartment for the summer sounds depressing. Trust me, I thought about dating. I had the desire to get out and find Mr. Right, but I didn’t have time for that. Besides, no one could be more perfect for me than Cornelius was, and if I were to find a man worth dating, he would have some big shoes to fill.

  While at home alone, I thought about Roman a lot, wondering how he was doing and what school he would be going to next school year. I thought about him even more when I received those extra classroom portraits I ordered in the mail. That’s another nice thing I used to do. Whenever we took class portraits, I made sure to order extra copies in case my kids’ parents couldn’t afford to buy some or if they forgot to order them. I remember sending an order form home with Roman back in March, but his father never took the time to order any pictures. He probably never even looked at the form.

  For as long as I can remember, I’d always admired photography, partly due to the fact that my father used to enjoy the same hobby. He used to take me to the lake as a child and take pictures of me playing near the rocks. Using the beautiful, shimmering lake as a backdrop, he would make my cute little face glow like the sun, while the relaxing sound of water crashed against the rocks.

  Those were the days – the days when I didn’t have a care in the world. Now I find myself sitting at home thinking about a man that left me heartbroken, a child that was no relation to me, and getting in verbal altercations with a man that I hardly even knew. How pathetic is that?

  I missed Roman for the few weeks that school was out. I wanted to undo what was already done and apologize to Sean. After all, I was rude to him. Brainstorming for a moment, I thought of the perfect idea. Since Roman’s father didn’t order any of the class portraits, I would just take him a copy. That way, I would have an excuse to go over to his house. Good idea, Monica, I thought to myself.

  I put one of the 8x10 photos in an envelope and I hopped in the car. On the spur of the moment, I was on my way to Sean’s home. There were a couple of times when I thought about turning around, but I pushed through and was willing to accept whatever Sean came at me with.

  When I arrived, I parked behind his Escalade in the driveway. After nervously walking to the door, I rang the doorbell, which sounded more like a world-class symphony orchestra. In a house that huge, apparently that’s what it took for residents to realize someone was at the door. After a few seconds of standing there with sweaty palms and a nervous belly ache, Sean came to the door shirtless, with a well-sculptured frame, a rippled six-pack, a bare chest, and muscles that looked like a miniature replica of the Rocky Mountains.

  To say I was impressed is an understatement. I’ve seen models that can’t stand up to a frame that perfect. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of his body. I wanted to touch him. No, I wanted to slather him with lotion, rub him up and down, and get a good feel of that six-pack. Focus, Monica, I told myself. You’re here for a purpose.

  “Hi.” I had a slight smile on my face, trying to be as friendly as possible. I wasn’t sure what would come next or if he would even say hello back. All I knew was that it was too late for me to turn back now.

  “Hi,” Sean responded, and that’s all he said.

  I thought maybe I would be yelled at or have a door slammed in my face, but that didn’t happen, which was definitely a good sign. Still, I didn’t know where I stood with him. Is he mad at me or not? Not knowing made me more uneasy.

  “Ah, I just wanted to give, ah…ah…u
h.” I just couldn’t get Roman’s name out of my mouth. Not only was I still jumpy, but I was also distracted by the beauty of this sexy beast standing in front of me like a mound of coconut maroons piled on a serving dish just for me to enjoy. Those good looks of his were throwing me off track. Focus, Monica, I chastised myself again.

  “Roman.” Sean helped me along, sensing I’d temporarily forgotten his son’s name.

  But I hadn’t. And in my defense, Sean’s body was enough to make any woman stutter. I swear I was beginning to smell macaroons baking – the vanilla, the coconut, and condensed milk all slammed together to create this man standing in front of me.

  “Ah…uhm…yeah…” I took a deep breath. “Roman. I wanted to give him and you a…ah…class portrait.” I handed the brown, letter-sized envelope to Sean, who took and opened it immediately.

  “Very nice,” he said, as he looked at it briefly and put it back into the envelope. “Thank you. I’m sure Roman would love this.”

  “Ah…where is Roman, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “He’s at his grandmother’s house.” Sean propped his arm up on the door just enough so that I could see the shadow of hair underneath his armpit. “Do you want to come in?”

  He opened the door a little wider, but there was no way I was about to step a foot into his house. He already didn’t have a shirt on, and those navy blue cotton shorts were so revealing, they left nothing to the imagination. On top of that, I heard some soft reggae music playing in the background.

  “Oh, no, I don’t want to intrude.”

  “No intrusion. Come in. We’ll have coffee and biscotti.” He bit his bottom lip and shifted his body to the right so I could enter.

  The invitation seemed innocent enough, with the exception of the seductive lip biting, but I didn’t know Sean well enough to go and sit in his house like we were old friends.

  “Thanks for the offer, but really, I just wanted to give you this picture.”

  “You sure?”

  He was persistent, and my first thought was to just go with it, but I fought off the persuasion and stood firm.

  “No, really, I should be going.”

  I was preparing to walk away when I noticed him smiling. Why is he smiling at me? After all, we hadn’t officially apologized for our behavior to each other. On the way over there, I had prepared myself for the worst, expecting Sean to be belligerent, but he wasn’t. And along with his glowing demeanor, he looked good. In my opinion, he was wasting his true talent by being a realtor when he should’ve been a model. He looked like one of those guys that could do an entire calendar – a calendar I surely wouldn’t mind hanging on the back of my bedroom door.

  I walked as fast as I could toward my car. I knew Sean was staring at me because I could feel the heat of his eyes beaming down my back. I turned around halfway to the car and sure enough, he was standing there looking.

  “Could you tell Roman I said hi?”

  “Will do,” he said, then shut the door.

  I drove off, smacking myself in the head, saying over and over, “How can I be so stupid?” I was straight up checking the brother out and I know he saw me studying him. I know he did. But it’s all good.

  Any woman would’ve looked.

  Chapter 6 - Summer Job

  A week later, I was wandering around alone on opening weekend of Summerfest, the world’s largest annual music festival held in Milwaukee. I would normally be kicking it with Keisha, but Keisha was too busy kicking it with her man. I could’ve asked a few people to join me at Maier Festival Park, but I was selfishly independent. I was one of those women who would go to a romantic restaurant and have a candlelight dinner alone. I didn’t need anyone else, really. And I didn’t need a man to define me – I define myself. Besides, Milwaukee isn’t called the City of Festivals for nothing. There was a festival popping off just about every weekend during the summer months. So, I had plenty to keep myself occupied.

  Granted, being single was tough at times, especially during this time of year. I hated being the third wheel whenever I went anywhere with Keisha and Daryl, but I wasn’t going to be depressed over it. Summer days in Milwaukee were too beautiful to be wasted on spending time cooped up in my apartment with a pint of rocky-road Häagen-Dazs, watching reruns of Girlfriends. I usually waited for cold, rainy days to be stuck at home. And when summer finally arrived at the end of an interminable Milwaukee winter, I made sure to make the most of every day because another one of those long winters was right around the corner.

  I had just purchased a banana-flavored SnoCone, when I saw Roman Beauvais eating some cheese fries at a brick-red picnic table by the Briggs and Stratton Big Backyard stage. Sean was sitting next to him. So, he does spend time with his son, or maybe I brought the guilt out of him. Who knows?

  My eyes met Roman’s and he came running towards me, leaving Sean, who was calling him back, sitting there. I’m sure he was frantic that Roman just took off like that, until he looked up and saw who Roman was heading to. Roman stretched his arms open as wide as they could go and wrapped them around me. I hugged him back and it wasn’t one of those petty hugs. It was an all-out bear hug, a hug that said I love and miss you. Seeing him made my day. After releasing him, I wiped some cheese from the corner of his mouth with a napkin.

  “Hey, sweetheart. How are you?”

  “Fine,” Roman responded in his little-boy voice.

  Sean came walking over to us, wearing a pair of stonewash Levis shorts, a sleeveless, sky-blue Armani hoodie that showed off those biceps, and a pair of white Air Force Ones. I was still bent over to Roman’s level, but as Sean got closer, I stood straight up to greet him.

  “Hi, again,” I said, looking at him.

  I couldn’t see his eyes through the black Gucci shades. He looked good and smelled good, and I knew the scent because Keisha’s boyfriend, Daryl, wears that same cologne – Hugo Boss. It was irresistible. Nothing makes a good-looking man look even better like a bangin’ outfit and the perfect cologne.

  “Hi,” he simply said and nothing more.

  I took that as a hint to get to steppin’. Besides, I didn’t want to encroach on valuable father and son time.

  “Well, I should be going. I’ll see you around, Roman,” I said, while walking away.

  It would’ve been nice to talk with them a little longer, but I enjoyed the time I spent alone by myself. It was refreshing and the day was beyond perfection, if you can imagine that. The conditions were ideal for Summerfest – clear skies, eighty-five degrees at the lakefront, with the smell of grilled bratwursts, roasted corn, pizza, nachos, Italian beef, Usinger sausages and barbeque pork cooking for the masses. To add to the excitement was the loud music pouring out from various stages and all the Miller Lite a person could stand. I loved the atmosphere – the rumbling motorcycles, the fireworks, the kiddie fountain, the Hawaiian shaved ice, and of course, the martinis at Jojo’s Martini Lounge – my personal favorite being the Margaritatini. Summer doesn’t get any better than that.

  I was getting tired, though, and the noise of out-of-control kids made me think I was back in school. After about four hours of hanging out, I listened to some local poets read their work and then I got out of there. I walked through the main gate, and headed back to my car, which was parked about five blocks away. During my hike to the car, I heard someone call to me from behind.

  “Monica!” I knew it was Sean. I could recognize that sexy voice anywhere. I pretended not to hear him so I could have the satisfaction of hearing him say my name again.

  “Monica!” He called my name again, this time louder than before. Before turning around, I wiped the grin off of my face.

  “Hey. What’s up?” I had no idea what he wanted with me, but I guess I was about to find out.

  “I have a proposition for you,” he said, like we were having an impromptu business meeting right there in the parking lot.

  “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

  “You like my boy, right?”

>   Now how is he going to ask me a dumb question like that right in front of Roman? I thought my adoration of Roman was obvious. “Ah, yeah. He is…I mean, he was one of my favorite students,” I said, rubbing my hand across Roman’s head.

  “Well, I need a sitter for the summer and you need a summer job while school is out, right?”

  “I wasn’t planning on working this summer. I have enough to get by.”

  “Well, Roman is already crazy about you, so I thought I’d ask if you wanted to watch him over the summer for me. I’ll pay you thirty dollars an hour for ten hours a day, even on weekends. What do you say?”

  Thirty dollars an hour? That caught my attention, and I cleared my throat.

  “Ah…hmm, I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

  “Pwease, Ms. Smith. I don’t want another babysitter,” Roman said, as he pounced up and down, similar to the movements of a child that had to pee really, really bad.

  “Hold on, lil’ man. Let her think about it. Listen, Monica, I don’t want to hold you up, so think about it and give me a call. You know the number, right?”

  I smiled. I don’t know what it was about cocky men that drew me in, but I liked

  the attitude. There’s nothing sexier than a confident man that knows he got it like that.

  “Yes, I know the number.”

  “Alright. Hopefully I’ll hear from you a little later on today.”

  “Okay.” I waved to Roman and walked to my car. As soon as I got in, started it up, and turned the radio down, I called Keisha.

  “Girrrl, you won’t believe what just happened to me,” I said as soon as she picked up, not giving her any time to say hello.

  “What? What’s going down? Are you okay?” she asked with concern.

  “Nothing bad. Calm down. Are you calm?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay…I was just calling to tell you that I went to Summerfest today and you won’t believe who I ran into.”

  “Wait a minute. You went to Summerfest without me?”