"Did I ask you for money?"
"No, but I don't like you being broke. I could've put gas in the truck." She explained; because she'd ridden with Gert and Bart, she hadn't noticed them pulling over to fill it up.
"It's not your place to put gas in the truck. While I'm gone, that's different. I told you, I'm with my family, I'll be fine. So drop it okay?"
"Okay, fine ..." She sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know what the big deal is." She had her license out writing the info on a sheet of paper.
"The big deal is, you're not gonna be taking care of me! My dad's opinion of me is low enough."
Vivian looked up at him, "I wish you wouldn't get carried away with that, this is different."
"Didn't I say drop it?" He repeated firmly, waiting.
Dropping it, she looked away, finishing putting the info on the sheet, folded it, stood and passed it to him. He took it, put it away in his wallet and opened the door for her to exit first.
Out front, Vivian said her goodbyes and thank yous to his parents, his sons and then gave him the last kiss goodbye. Standing on the sidewalk, she waved watching them pull off with her most precious possessions. Resigned, she turned and made her way back into her new, temporary home. One consolation, the basement apartment was fresh, new, clean and safe. Filled with things his sons helped him shop for. She looked around trying to decide where to begin to finish settling in. Kevin had set up her TV and stereo system; she went there, turned on the TV, turned it down low and then put on some music as well. Classical, it helped her to get things done. Next, she needed to change into her working around the house clothes. She put on her shorts and noticed one of Jake's flannel work shirts, sleeves cut off of it, laying on the chair in their room. Unable to resist herself, she put it on. It was threadbare and soft, smelling like him. She was in heaven as she buttoned it up. Several sizes too big for her and long enough to cover her shorts. It felt incredible to be in it and found comfort in wearing it as she put their home in order. A smile came to her as she realized that it was indeed, their place. Feeling at home, she placed her plants in permanent places, while some of them would not survive with the basement lighting. They needed a better spot; she went up to Lydia taking many with her and asked if she could place them on her back porch for temporary. Of course, Lydia was proud to house them for the time being, noticing her change in attire, wearing light weight old blue tennis shoes.
"You gettin' settled in down there?" Lydia asked as she provided a place to set her plants.
"Yes ma'am I am, its beautiful down there, everything is so fresh and new. I love it, thank you for having me here."
"That's his place, your Jake, he the one, having you here. I admit though, I like it too, having you here."
Smiling, happier and feeling more content, back down she went and put her clothing away, the closet was too small, so her clothing had to be distributed out between the two bedroom closets and the hall closet. In no time, she had everything in its place and once she was done, she stood looking around and laughed out in joy. Spinning in circles and hugging his shirt to her body. Yes, now that the move was done, she was on top of the world. Feeling carefree and joyful, she took a quick shower, changed into something casual, grabbed up the keys to the truck, once more smiling with beaming pride and headed out the door. First, to Sheila's where she would shoot the breeze a bit and from there, she would do some grocery shopping, they'd brought over all that was in the house, but there hadn't been much. She would do shopping for the week, having the truck allowed a certain amount of freedom that made everything else so easy. Not to mention the fact that it belonged to her man, the man of her dreams.
Yes ... life was good and right now, she was happy.
* * *
"Aaah, back to work tomorrow. Feel like I've been off forever." Jake sighed in comment, trying to fit his long legs in the front seat of his son's car comfortably.
"So when are we coming back to Chicago dad? Vivian's here, we can't leave her here alone like that for long, right? Not with you two getting married pretty soon." Paul leaned forward from the back seat to ask. Taken by surprise at his enthusiasm about her, Jake glanced back at him.
"What's going on with you all'o'sudden?"
"Nothing. I'm just saying that we shouldn't leave her alone for long, that's all. When are we coming back?"
"We?"
"Well yeah, remember; we're supposed to be spending more time together this summer. Plus, I wanna go back and check on that ol'man with the bad roof, he probably thinks we've forgotten about him. I should have stayed here so I could go and check on him."
Jake stared at him a moment in disbelief. "You seriously wanna do that?"
"Of course I'm serious. Dad, if I say something, I mean it. I'm a man of my word."
Jake grinned at him, "Oh are you now?" He looked at Kevin, nudging him, "Hear what he said, he's a man of his word."
"Don't make fun of him dad, he's serious. Paul's like that."
"Oooh, excuse me. Okay, so you're a man of your word."
"Yes, I am. That ol'man needs his roof fixing. I've got my drivers license, just no car. Come to think of it, I could have just stayed here with Vivian, took her to work and then went to look for building materials the way I told you-..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on here, okay ... first, it's nice that you're having such noble intentions, but - you're just 18 this is Chicago and you're a white boy from Wisconsin! Second, that ol'man lives in a predominantly black neighborhood. Besides that, you can't carry out that kind of business unsupervised by an adult! No - way!"
"So when can we do it then? Can we come back down Friday, after you get off of work?"
"I don't know if you noticed this or not, but I no longer have my truck."
"Well dad I suggest you figure out what we're gonna do, because we need to get back here and fix his roof! Right is right, we went there making it like we did that for a business, our good name is on the line."
"If my memory serves me correctly son, "Murphy" is not our name! It was a lie Paul, just a rouse to find her!"
"Well that ol'man doesn't know that now does he? We owe it to him to go back and look at his roof. We're gonna have to fix his roof, dad. How can you sleep at night knowing how he's living and been taken advantage of? You're giving white people a bad rep dad."
Jake exploded in laughter, "Hate to tell you this kid, but our rep was shot to hell a few hundred years ago, no savin' it now." Jake grinned shaking his head.
"And we're not gonna add to it, now come on dad, how we gettin' back here?"
"Good grief Paul!" Jake exclaimed growing exasperated.
"I'll bring you two down Friday, how about that? I don't mind." Kevin volunteered glancing over at his father, "You were coming down any way right?"
"If you must know, no! I want Vivian to turn Chicago loose and get her ass to Wisconsin, start looking for a place there. I start that coming every weekend, she'll never get around to turning this place loose." He argued.
"She'll do it when you get married, set a date dad! Assert yourself!" Paul advised seriously.
Jake looked back at him as if he'd lost his mind, "I assert myself plenty enough, thank you!"
"Not where it counts! Set a date dad."
"And just how do you suppose I do that?"
"Just think of a date and tell her, say, this is the date, we're getting married, that's that!" Paul added.
Jake started laughing in earnest now, "Yeah, I'd like to see you try that one day. She is moving as fast as I dare make her. She's feeling cornered and pushed enough - any more, she'll run for it."
It was Kevin's turn to laugh now, "Are you saying you're losing your touch dad? I can't believe you're actually wanting to get married."
"Hey! I'm not losing anything-..." Jake quickly replied defending his abilities before Paul cut him off.
"Never mind about that Kevin, he needs to start losing that touch, let's just stick to the wedding date. You're doing just fine dad."
&n
bsp; Jake sat up and turned looking at him, "Thank you, I think."
"No problem dad, besides, it was bound to happen one day right? This is a perfect time."
Jake eyeballed him strangely wondering what was going on with him? Deciding to discard it, he turned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest to relax during the drive home.
"Right dad, the perfect time? You're really ready right? I mean, this is finally it, right? Because I really like her, she's cool, ain't it Kevin?"
"Yeah, she is." He agreed, a bit quiet with his enthusiasm.
Jake lay for a moment wondering where, exactly, was this all going?
"Well dad, this is it ... right?" He repeated wanting an answer.
"What exactly do you mean by this is it, right?"
Kevin knew what he meant and said as much, "He means, are you gonna be good now?"
"Good?" Jake grinned, "I'm always good, I don't do it if I can't do it good!" He joked, but was the only one laughing.
"Dad, no more joking around. Time to get serious here, I wanna know are you gonna do right by her? You know what we mean." Paul reiterated.
"I'm marrying her ain't I? Can't get anymore serious than that. I'm the one ready to head down the aisle! I'm the one waiting for the date! I'm the one wanting a few kids, a couple of girls. She's the one not taking things seriously, how come you're not badgering her?"
"You do? You want more kids?" They both asked at the same time, clearly surprised by it.
"As a matter of fact I do! A couple of girls; don't want no more boys, little shits are a goddamn pain in the ass!"
Both grinned looking at each other, Kevin started it off saying, "Why, I'm just hurt."
"Wrecked!" Paul added.
"Devastated is more like it, imagine him not wanting any more like us? I may never play on my Playstation again!" Kevin finished with Paul laughing with him.
"Ha ha ha, perfect example right there." Jake slid further down in his seat, lifting his hat to place on his head over his face.
"A couple of little girls huh? Little sisters? Wow... cool." Paul thought the idea appealing.
"Yep, that's the plan, I figure one'll be born less than a year from now."
"If that's the case, you really gotta be good now dad, that makes you a full blown family man."
"Yeah yeah yeah, drop it already." Jake grumbled from beneath his hat.
"That's okay, I'm here for you dad. I'll keep you out of trouble, make sure you stay clear of things that'll mess this up."
That sat Jake back up once more and around at Paul, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You gotta learn how to treat a woman right dad, that's all."
"I resent that, I treat her good! Damn good!"
"So then, your cheating days are over, right?"
"Huh?" Jake was stunned and staring.
"Yeah, you heard right. You're gonna be right, true and faithful to her, no more straying and seeing other women, right?"
"That mean I have to walk around with my eyes closed?" He tried to joke and shift the seriousness of the topic, covering his eyes with one hand and feeling around with the other as if blind. "Hell son, goin' this route bound to get me in more trouble!"
"Will you get serious for just a moment?" Paul asked.
Kevin started laughing as his father's hand ran through his hair, squeezing on his head still playing blind man.
"Kevin stop laughing at him, that's what he wants, you're only making him worse."
"He poke me in the ear, I'm ticklish in that ear." Kevin snickered.
"Jeez Paul, lighten up man, you're older than me!" Jake turned back to resume his position.
"Lighten up my foot! You're getting married, time you got yourself together and start being a proper husband."
"Godalmighty, you're starting to sound like my father; that or a damn naggin' woman."
"You're avoiding the subject dad, you're gonna be faithful and true right? This is the big step, you've done plenty of running around, sowing oats, time to settle down now, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll be right as rain, I will."
"I'm not convinced."
"Cross my heart and hope to die... there, happy?" He lifted his hat to ask.
"In order to make sure of it, no more hanging out at the bar, drinking and carrying on. That's where you pick up most of your women, that's all gotta stop."
Jake looked over at Kevin, "Is he serious?"
"You heard him."
"Yeah, I am. I love you dad and because of that, I have to help you, help yourself. You actually have a nice lady who likes us, talks to us for once; that Doris never gave us the time of day."
All humor left Jake in an instant, "Hey, do me a favor, okay? Leave her out of this, you got me? Don't bring her up again." His tone of voice told them both how serious he was.
"God, sorry ... I was just sayin'." Paul apologized.
"Well don't say! She's dead, because of me. I'm not allowing anyone to bad mouth her. She's paid her dues and then some. Say all you wish about anything else, but not about her, end of discussion."
"Said I was sorry." Paul repeated, a bit hurt by his father's brusque rebuke.
They were all quiet for a spell, until Kevin spoke up asking, "You coming down next weekend or not?"
Jake lay quiet, possibly thinking for at least five more minutes. Then finally he answered, "Yeah, we're coming down. An ol'man needs a roof, we'll be back."
Paul smiled, "Thanks dad."
Jake grunted.
Chapter 224
L.A.
"Shawn, who are they? What's going on?" Sylvia asked stunned by the four men surrounding them. They had the look of very intimidating bodyguards. She stood at Shawn's right, her hand on his arm, looking at them, just as surprised as he was.
The flight had finally ended with only one other episode.... the landing.
Sylvia knew of nothing so far, that had scared her as that when it came to her that it was time for the pilot to bring the giant aircraft down.
Once more, Shawn held her hand, distracting her the best that he could in order to take her mind off of it. For once, he didn't have time to worry over the landing because of putting up a brave front for her. When the wheels touched the tarmac and the plane was definitely down, no greater relief was there for them. Slowly they'd gathered all of their things, each of them feeling elated and excited about this new adventure. Now, that they were safely on the ground, Sylvia was back to smiling. It was a slow process waiting their turn to disembark, but finally they emerged from the boarding tunnel and made their way to the baggage area, heading for the luggage racks, waiting to pull their things from it. Even collecting luggage because a competition of play between Mundo, Crystal, Angela and Benjamin, they raced around having a good time looking for their bags and catching them before going around again. Of course Isaac and Darren had the most fun of it, trying to keep up with them running from one to the other, not grabbing anything, but their laughter was infectious to those who stood around waiting as well. Every little bit about their trip was turning out to be enjoyable right up until; with all of their bags loaded on luggage carts, they turned to find four serious looking men waiting for them.
One of the men walked up to Shawn, "Mr. McPherson? Shawn McPherson?" He asked.
"Yes, what's going on?"
It was then that Sylvia had asked her above question, for Shawn to turn to her, "Hang on a minute sweety, I'm not quite sure what exactly is going on." He turned back to them and asked that very question, "What is this about?"
"Just courtesy escorting. We were sent by Ms Wherrington, she wanted to see to it that you and your entourage were comfortably and safely transported to your destination sir."
"I see, well, thank you, but no thank you. I always rent a vehicle when I get to town, I'll be doing the same for this trip."
"Sure about that sir? We have two limousines standing by to deliver you, family and luggage to your condo. How about this; by all means, pick up
your usual rental, as you do so, we'll see to it that your luggage is loaded to one limo and treat the ladies to a luxurious ride in the other."
Mundo and Benjamin looked at each other with wide eyes. Mundo would love to ride in the limo, but knew that if Shawn said no, that was that.
Shawn looked at his family and then down at Sylvia, "Well, what do you think? Would you like to go in the limo? You would be more comfortable; all you need is the key to the condo, which I will gladly give if you wish to take the limo. The boys and I won't be far behind ... what'aya'say?"
Sylvia was undecided, she would have rather rode with Shawn, she looked at the four men, still wondering what this was all about. "Ma'am, I assure you, its the perfect way to end a long flight, we'll even take our time to make sure they catch up to us." The initial guard spoke up, realizing that the final decision would be left up to her.
Sylvia looked to Crystal and then down at Angela.
"Well, what do you think?" She asked her.
With a bright smile of excitement, she gave an enthusiastic nod. She couldn't imagine anything so exciting as seeing Sylvia and Crystal treated with a ride in the limo. It wasn't that it excited her, she'd been in one every day for the last few years of her life once her parents split. But having them to share the experience with, made it all new. She loved them so much that she wanted to shower them with all the best there was, so naturally being escorted in the limo was desirable to her.
Sylvia glanced at Shawn, smiled and nodded, "We'll go the limo."
"Yes! Oh Crystal, aren't you excited?" Angela grabbed her arm, pumping it with joy. Crystal laughed and didn't have the heart to tell her she'd ridden in one before, yet, this was a new experience and she wanted to fully enjoy it. "We gone be ridin' instyle baby girl!" She bragged in a sing song tempo, lifted her hand high to slap a five on Angela, who eagerly laid her palm out to receive it and slapped Crystal's palm back, fighting down the jitters. She was thinking about all of her friends that she wanted to call and tell that she was back. She wanted them to come over and meet Sylvia, her new step mother and Crystal, her big sister. There was also Mundo to show off, she was already laughing at the things she knew he'd say to make them laugh as he had her and if that weren't enough, she also had Ben. They looked like brother and sister, she couldn't wait to introduce them. She also couldn't wait for her mother to finally meet them.
BOMAW 10-12 Page 2
