“Hi,” she said, kicking herself that she could think of no better way to greet them. She had to force herself to speak, and her words echoed through the lobby. “You can call me Jennie, if you’d like.”
“You’re their mother…” her father began in a loud voice from behind her, but she heard her sister tell him to be quiet.
Both girls nodded. They stood in silence for several moments.
“My father and my mother, my sister, Sarah, and my brother, Si, are here with me.” She motioned to her family, who were waiting across the lobby. “We need to check into our hotel. Then, maybe you can tell us where to have dinner. Is that all right?”
Alexis looked at Christa, who nodded.
“That’s fine,” Alexis said as she looked away. Christa shuffled her feet.
Thomas finally broke his silence. “I need to talk with Jennie for a minute.”
“Why don’t you girls come with me?” Jennie’s sister had come up behind her. “I’ll introduce you to the others.”
Thomas hugged Alexis and kissed Christa on the top of the head. “You have your cell phones. You have money. Call me if you need anything. I’ll be with Emma.”
“Are they going to dinner with you?” Alexis pointed to Tasha and Amy.
“No. Emma stopped for pizza.” Thomas turned to Jennie. “Tell Ms. Green that I’m having my fourth date in twelve months.”
“I’m Jennie’s sister, Sarah,” Jennie heard her sister say as she led Alexis and Christa across the lobby.
Jennie and Thomas stood in silence for a moment.
“You’re looking good,” Jennie finally said. “Congratulations on your engagement.”
“Thanks. You’re looking good too. I signed your copy of my book?”
Jennie nodded.
“I should have recognized you.” He glanced at his watch. “You were not expecting to take them to dinner. They have money for theirs.”
“We’ll be fine, Thomas.” Jennie touched his arm. “Thank you, though.”
“Christa has allergies. She knows what not to eat, but if there is a problem, she has medication. Alexis will help her. Let them deal with it. They both know what to do.” He glanced across the room. Alexis and Christa were standing, silent, staring at the floor.
“I’ll be home by nine. See you then. The girls will show you where we live.” Thomas picked up the girls’ book bags, and he and Emma’s daughters walked away.
Chapter Four
The seven of them sat at a large square table overlooking Meeting Street—Jennie and Sarah across from Alexis and Christa, her mother and father on her right, and Si to her left, across from her parents.
Jennie had not known where to eat. Without the girls, they would have chosen Ruby Tuesday down the block, but she wanted her first dinner with her daughters to be special. When she had asked the girls where they would like to go, Christa had whispered in Alexis’s ear, but Alexis had shaken her head. “Dad told us not to suggest a restaurant like that.”
“What is it? Where would you like to eat, Christa?”
“She suggested Riverview. It’s really expensive and…”
“Your dad doesn’t think I can afford a nice restaurant?” Jennie’s anger had flared, and she had immediately regretted it.
“You can spend whatever you’d like,” Alexis had snapped. “Dad said our uniforms would be inappropriate in an expensive restaurant.”
The girls had said little else. Jennie had consulted the desk clerk and he had directed them a few doors down, to Joshua’s.
“Do you like seafood?” Jennie asked Alexis as she studied the menu.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You eat it often?”
“We live on the coast,” Christa reminded her.
“Right.” Jennie’s mouth watered as she scanned the menu. She loved seafood, but seldom was able to find it fresh. The grilled shrimp sounded heavenly.
“All they have is fish.” Her father turned the menu around, searching for another page.
“It’s a seafood restaurant, Daddy,” Sarah told him. “You knew that when we decided to come here.”
He sighed.
“What looks good to you?” Jennie glanced across the table. Alexis had never opened her menu, Jennie noted, and Christa had already closed hers.
“Stuffed flounder,” Alexis said.
“Stuffed shrimp,” Christa smiled. “I love their stuffed shrimp.”
“You’ve eaten here before, then?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“It’s one of our favorites.”
Alexis looked up as another party was seated.
“Hi, Alexis.” A tall boy with black hair waved as he passed.
She smiled. “Hi, Robbie.”
“A friend of yours?” Jennie noted that Alexis’s face was red.
“Yes. A friend.”
Christa giggled, but stopped when Alexis glared at her.
Her father finally settled on a seafood casserole, and they placed their orders.
“It has a little bit of everything,” he said. “If I don’t like something, I can just eat around it. Anyway, it has cheese on it. The taste of cheese covers a multitude of sins.”
Alexis shook her head and looked at the ceiling.
“You have a problem with my order, young lady?” He fixed his eyes on Alexis.
She opened her mouth to reply, but Jennie touched her hand and shook her head.
“No, sir.”
The waiter left, and the group sat in silence.
“What grades are you in? How old are you?” Jennie’s mother asked.
“I’m sixteen. I’m a junior,” Alexis replied.
“I’m fourteen,” Christa said. “I’m a freshman.”
No one spoke after that. Jennie felt like crying. None of her scenarios for their first meeting ran anything like this.
“Do you girls like football?” Sarah finally asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” they answered in unison.
“Si is a football coach at the University of Georgia. Maybe he can get us tickets to a game next fall. Would that be fun?”
Alexis and Christa looked at each other.
“She asked you a question.” Jennie’s father slammed his hand on the table. Christa jumped, and several people at other tables turned to look.
“Daddy, stop.” Jennie held up her hand. “They’re as nervous as we are.”
“I’m not nervous.”
“I am.” Jennie looked at the table. “I’m scared half to death.”
He stared at the girls. “Are you planning to answer your aunt’s question?”
After a moment, Alexis turned to Sarah. “Our dad and…Jennie…went to UGA. Dad has season tickets to the games.”
“Dad told us Jennie’s brother was one of the coaches,” Christa told Si.
“Where do you girls go to school?” he asked.
“Porter Prep.”
Really? We’re interested in one of the guys who plays for Porter, Robbie Padget. Know him?”
Christa giggled and Alexis blushed again.
“That was Robbie, the guy who spoke to me a minute ago.”
Si turned around, craning his neck to see. “Is he a good friend? He’s quite talented and I’ll need all of the help I can get to sign him. Think you can put in a good word for me?”
Alexis looked at the table. Her face turned even redder. “I’ll try.”
Jennie guessed that Robbie was more than a casual friend, but decided that further questions would be prying. Then, too, discussing boyfriends might antagonize her father.
Another period of silence ended when the waiter delivered loaves of bread and their salads.
“Oh, good,” Jennie sighed. “I’ve hardly eaten all day and I’m starving.” She broke off a piece of bread and dipped it in the herbal oil that the server had placed on the table. “So good.”
As she finished her salad, Jennie turned to Christa. “We hear that you like horses.”
“Yes, ma’am.
”
“And you won a ribbon last fall. Tell me about it.”
“It was…you know…we rode around the ring and we had the horses trot…and canter. The judges watched.” She shrugged.
Two sentences, Jennie thought. That’s improvement.
“Alexis, you play soccer?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What position?”
“I’m a striker and—”
“Silly game, soccer,” her father interrupted. “They just run around the field and kick at the ball. Hit it with their heads. Never made much sense to me. Not like football, is it Si?”
Jennie glared at her father.
“I always enjoyed soccer, Alexis,” Si said. “I never could get the hang of it, though. Always wanted to catch the ball. It takes a lot of endurance, doesn’t it? You’re on the field for an hour or more, moving the entire time.”
“I enjoy it, Mr. Bateman.”
“Now, no Mr. Bateman. Call me either Si or Coach, okay? I have trouble answering to other names.” He smiled.
“Yes…Si.”
Jennie closed her eyes. The conversation was going nowhere. The two-word responses were driving her crazy. If they would only try, just little.
The waiter approached carrying a large tray.
“Good, our dinner is ready.” Sarah moved her salad plate to one side.
When everyone had been served, Jennie looked across the table at the girls. “We usually ask the blessing before meals, if that’s all right—”
“Of course it’s all right,” her father cut in. “Bow your heads.”
“Daddy, I was asking Alexis and Christa if they minded…”
“Doesn’t matter if they mind.”
Alexis sighed and Jennie had the impression that, given the choice, she would rather be anywhere else in the world.
“It’s fine,” Alexis said softly.
“We ask the blessing,” Christa added, “but not always in public.”
“Maybe one of you can ask it for us.” Jennie looked from one girl to the other. Her father was opening his mouth to speak, but Alexis shrugged.
“Okay.” Without waiting for anyone else to speak, she bowed her head. “Bless us, O Lord, and what we’re about to receive from your bounty. For the sake of Christ. Amen.”
Everyone was silent as they raised their heads.
“You call that a blessing?” her father’s voice boomed across the table.
“Yes, I do.” Alexis picked up her fork and began to eat.
The others looked at her father’s red face, and Jennie held her breath, expecting him to retort, but, before he could speak, Si chuckled and followed Alexis’s example.
Everyone began to eat and no one spoke for several minutes.
“Mine is very good,” Jennie’s mother broke the silence. “You can’t find fish like this at home.”
“Mine is delicious,” Sarah said.
“Best seafood I’ve had since last June.” Si took a sip of tea. “A couple of friends and I went deep-sea fishing. Left from Murrells Inlet, just north of here. We caught grouper, flounder, sea bass. The crew cleaned the fish and filleted them for us. That night, the B&B where we were staying, they cooked some of it for dinner.” He closed his eyes and smiled. “I dream about it still.” He pointed to his plate. “This, though, is every bit as good. Probably just as fresh too.”
“How is your dinner?” Jennie looked across the table.
“It’s good,” Christa said.
“Mine too.” Alexis excused herself to go to the restroom.
“Can you find it by yourself? Do I need…”
Alexis laughed. “I’ll manage. Thanks.”
***
Alexis hurried away from the table, stopping when she reached the next room. She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms and staring straight ahead.
“What are you doing out here?” Robbie stood beside her.
“Hi, Robbie.” Alexis smiled. “Taking a break. On my way to the restroom.”
“How’s it going in there? Who are all of those people?”
“I told you the plan was for us to have dinner with my mother tonight. See if she could cope with us for a couple of hours.”
“Right. That would be a tall order for anyone.”
She rolled her eyes. “You seem to manage.”
Robbie laughed. “Who are the others?”
“She brought her whole family with her.”
He peered into the other room. “Which one is she? Your mother?”
“You see the younger guy? The one with his back to us? She’s next to him.”
“What’s she like.”
Alexis shrugged. “Don’t know. We haven’t really talked. I mean, there’s nothing to talk about. I know nothing about her. She knows nothing about me…Robbie, you can talk to anyone about anything. Come in and help me,” she pleaded. “She’d like to meet my boyfriend.”
Robbie laughed. “Probably not a good plan.”
“Well then, tell me what to say.”
“Read any good books lately?”
Alexis playfully punched his arm. “You’re a real help, you know?”
“Seriously, it might work. Worth a try.”
Alexis sighed. “I know I should be polite to her, but, Robbie, she ran off and left me when I was four years old. What kind of a person does that to a kid? Now she wants me be her daughter? To love her? Her father wants me to call her Mom?” She shook her head. “No. Not going to happen in this life.”
“What if the judge says you have to visit?”
Alexis placed her hands on her hips. “The judge can make me visit. She can’t make me be happy about it, can’t make me enjoy it, can’t make me like her.”
“True.”
“I’m angry and I feel like screaming. It’s all I can do not to cry. I don’t want to be rude, but I do want her to go away…This is just awful.” She sighed. “Well, I’d better go.”
“Me too. My mom is giving me that look.”
As he turned to leave, Robbie looked into the other room again.
“Is that Coach Bateman, from the university?”
Alexis nodded. “He’s her brother. Wants me to put in a good word with you for him.”
Robbie laughed. “He didn’t recognize me, did he?”
“He knew your name.”
He smiled. “Better than I thought…I need to get back to our table. Good luck.”
***
“This casserole is outstanding,” her father declared. “And there is so much of it. Here,” he placed some on his wife’s plate and passed a bite to Jennie, “have some.” He turned to Christa. “You too, little lady, give it a taste.” He dropped some on her plate too.
Jennie sat quietly, paying no attention to the others. Si and Sarah were talking. Her mother had finished her meal and was looking around the restaurant. Her father was attempting to clean his plate.
Maybe when they got back to the hotel, she and the girls could sit in the lobby, or somewhere else, and talk, she thought. She had noticed a little sitting nook on one side of the lobby. A large winding staircase—she could imagine a bride using it for a grand entrance—partially blocked it from view, making it seem rather private. She listed the things she felt she needed to say: she was not trying to take them away from their father, she was not trying to ruin their lives, she simply wanted to get to know them and to enjoy being with them occasionally.
Her father’s voice dragged her back to the present. “Eat the casserole, little lady. Don’t be impolite.”
“No, thank you.” Christa looked toward Jennie as if seeking help.
“Daddy, leave her alone. Don’t—”
“Her father may not care if she does as she’s told, but in this family, children obey.” He looked back at Christa. “Eat the casserole, or…”
“Daddy, stop.”
“I said to eat it.” His voice carried through the restaurant as he stood, looming over Christa. Other conversations ceased and peo
ple turned to watch.
Christa stared at him for a moment, scooped up the food, and put it in her mouth.
“That’s better. Not hard, was it?” He glared at Jennie as he sat down. “You’ll learn. You need to be firm with them. That’s what’s wrong with America today…”
Jennie closed her eyes and sighed as he launched into his familiar litany of why America was going to the dogs. Her father, she would need to talk with the girls about her father. She opened her eyes as she heard Christa coughing, then gasping for air.
“Christa, are you all right?”
Christa’s face turned pink, and she placed her hand to her throat. She wheezed as she tried to breathe. She reached beside her chair, picked up her purse, and dumped the contents on the table. She reached for what appeared to be a large hypodermic needle.
Jennie’s chair crashed to the floor as she rushed to help. “Christa, honey.”
Si reached across the table, placing his hand on Christa’s shoulder. “Are you choking?”
“My throat…” she whispered. “Need my med…”
“Stand back. I’ve got this,” her father said in a loud voice. “Heimlich maneuver. Learned it in the army.” Jennie knelt beside Christa.
“Is something caught in your throat?”
Christa opened her mouth, gulping for air. Her face was red. Jennie thought she heard a whistle, but realized it was air forcing its way through a narrow opening.
“Si, Sarah, call for help. She can’t breathe.”
Christa reached for the needle and placed it on her thigh, but Jennie’s father yanked it away. “No drugs in this family.” He tossed it on the table and, pushing Jennie away, he grasped Christa’s arm, turning her around.
“Si, we need help,” Jennie screamed, as Christa sagged in her father’s arms.
“Christa,” Alexis shouted as she ran across the room, pushing through the crowd that was gathering. “Is it your throat?”
Christa nodded. Her lips were turning blue. “Can’t breathe…”
“Sit her down.” Alexis reached out to move her toward her chair.
“I’ve got this, move back.” Jennie’s father pushed Alexis’s hand away and reached for Christa’s arm.
“She needs her injection,” Alexis screamed. “She can’t breathe.”
When he ignored her, Alexis slipped between him and Christa. As he tried to push her away again, Alexis raised her foot and slammed it into his instep. He howled, released Christa and stumbled backwards. Alexis caught her sister and eased her to the floor. She placed the needle on Christa’s leg, and slammed her hand against it.
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