Shawn took off up the stairs and heard some pounding at the front door. As he opened the basement door, he met his wife getting ready to come down. "Who's that pounding on the fucking door like that?!" He asked angrily, "Who slammed it?!"
"I DID - I SLAMMED IT!!! AND BANGING ON IT, LIKE SHE HAS LOST HER GODDAMN MIND, IS BENJAMIN'S MOTHER! I'M THIS CLOSE ..." Sylvia help up her hand using her index finger and thumb, to emphasize a pinch measure. " ... TO PUTTIN' MY FOOT UP HER ASS!"
Shawn couldn't believe it, "Oh, no you don't, go in the basement, I'll handle this. Go on, and calm down... please."
Sylvia stepped through the basement door and slammed it closed, just as hard as she had the front door.
Shawn rushed and yanked it open.
"WHAT IS YOUR FUCKIN' PROBLEM!? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"
Christine stood with her chin up, braving Shawn, and said, "Give me the address and phone number where Benjamin is, so I can call him."
"He - doesn't - wanna talk to you!"
"You've spoken with him, then! What did you tell him?!"
"What do you think I told him?" Shawn asked, stepping out on the porch and pulling the door to.
"Did you tell him - that you might be his father? That I slept with you?" She asked, breathing hard, glaring up at him.
"Sorry, but you've lied to him enough, I had no reason to."
"YOU BASTARD!!" She shoved at his chest, pounding on it with her fist. Shawn grabbed her wrist, and shoved her away from him. "Do that again, and you'll be sorry!" He threatened.
"What are you gonna do - beat me up? Huh - big, bad, Shawn?! You didn't have to tell him that! I told you who his father was! Why couldn't you just accept that!? Noooo, you had to go running to him-..."
"I didn't fuckin' run to him! I called him to ask what the hell he was doing! Telling him to call you and talk to you! Now, I see why the fuck he's run off!"
"Screw you, Shawn!"
"Believe me - nobody regrets that you did, more than I do!"
"No! I believe I regret it more, Jake was a better fuck than you were, anyway! If I'd done him first, I wouldn't have needed to do you both!"
"You know what, get the hell away from my home. If you show your ass up here again, you'll be carried away in a police car."
"Tell me where my son is!"
"You're crazy, you know that? You are out of your goddamn mind! Have you heard a word said to you? He doesn't want to speak to you! When he's ready, I'm sure he'll give you a ring."
"I wish you'd never come back here! You came back, just to make my life a living hell!"
"Don't flatter yourself! Don't push me too far! You've upset my wife - who is pregnant right now, and just came out of the hospital! Don't spend a night in jail, Christine. Go home and wait for your son to call you."
Christine felt panic rising in her chest, "I need to know what you told him, Shawn!"
"You wanna know what I told him? I told him, the reason you won't tell him who his father really is, is because you don't know your damn self! That sound about right?!"
She went to slap him and he caught her wrist, squeezing it tightly, until it hurt, making sure it hurt.
"Let go o'me!"
"Get - the fuck - away from my home!" Shawn bit out through clinched teeth, then slung her arm to the side away from him. "I'm going in now, if you're not gone in five minutes, the police will be here to escort you away. You ever come back, we'll be taking a restraining order out on you. Don't you think you've humiliated your son enough? Imagine what he'd think if he knew all of this?" Shawn backed away from her, leaving her there, he opened his door and went inside. With the door now closed, he leaned back against it, trying to calm down. Listening to hear if she was leaving. He turned and peered out of the window, she was backing out of their driveway and heading down the road. Turning back, Shawn leaned there for a few moments more.
Now he had to face his wife.
Pulling the basement door closed behind him, with dread, he headed down the stairs. She was checking the pork chops, bent over in front of the oven. He looked over to where Angela was now watching TV. She looked back at him, Shawn tilted his head towards the stairs, a clear indication that he wanted her to go upstairs. Without a word, she did as she was told, going to her room. She had a small TV set in there and turned it on to resume what she'd been watching in the basement.
"She's gone." Shawn started out.
"You know what?..." Sylvia replied, closing the oven door and tossing the hot mitts down on the counter with a { plap } sound from the force of it. "... mess like that..." She pointed up for the front door, "...is gettin' old! Every - time - I turn around - there's some goddamn woman - in my face, or in my goddamn bed!"
"What the hell are you talking about, Sylvia? Who's been in your bed?!" Shawn had forgotten, Sylvia hadn't.
"EDWINA!!!"
"That was not my fault!"
"NOTHING'S EVER YOUR FAULT - SHAWN!!! YOU AND YOUR FREAKIN' LIFE - IS STRESSING ME THE HELL OUT!!! I DON'T NEED THIS SHIT!! FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE, I HAD PEACE AND QUIET!! AND I HAD TO GO AND SCREW IT ALL UP!!! 'CAUSE O'YOUR GRINNIN' ASS!!!"
"Will you calm down and stop yelling."
"I'm so tired of this shit - Shawn! If it's not, Sherry the little whore from town, it's Deidre's mother! If not her, then it's Paul's wife! Then Edwina! Now - Christine! I don't know what the hell went through my mind with you! I must be the worse kinda fool!"
In a panic, Shawn walked up to her, "Don't say that."
"Don't touch me! Just leave me the hell alone!"
He couldn't, putting his arms around her to hold her, he pleaded, "Come on, Sylvia, calm down - you think I wanted this to happen? The last thing I expected to happen, was for her to show up here."
"You know what - I don't care, let go of me!"
"Please... calm down."
"I said - let go - of me - now!"
With the look in her eyes, he forced himself to turn her loose, something told him she was on the verge of hitting. She turned from him and went to get her purse, "Where you going?" He asked. "I need to get the heck out of here!" He rushed by her and grabbed her purse before she could get it. Sylvia stopped, livid. "Give me - my purse!"
"No - calm down, and let's talk - please, Sylvia."
"If I wanna leave, I have every right to leave! NOW GIVE ME MY PURSE AND KEYS!!!"
"Why don't you go to Shanna's - go talk to her for a while and calm down."
"I don't wanna go to Shanna's! I wanna go - where I wanna go! Not where you want me to go! And I'm not ready to calm down!"
"Okay, okay, where you wanna go? I'll drive you!"
"Thank you, very much - you've driven me far enough! Now, give me my purse and keys, I can drive myself!"
"Now, baby, come on, please, I can't just let you take off like this."
"Shawn! I want my keys - now!"
Holding onto her purse, he rushed by her, to the key hooks by the basement stairs and took all the keys off and turning back, he went to her and picked out a set, handing them to her. Sylvia took the keys and looked at them.
"What are these?!" She asked, a puzzled look on her face, her head tossing to and fro.
"You said you wanted your keys." Shawn muttered sheepishly.
"These aren't my keys!"
"Yes, they are, what's mine is yours, what's yours is mine - those are your keys to the hog."
"The hog? Man, you know I can't drive that dag-blasted Harley Davidson!" And then, hated him, because she burst out laughing, diffusing the situation.
"All bets are off now! Made you laugh! If you laugh, end of argument, that's the rule."
"I ain't agreed to no rule like that!" She protested, trying not to grin some more.
Shawn carefully placed his arms around her, "Nooo, maybe not, but how can you laugh with me, one minute and then leave me the next, hm?" He asked softly, looking up into her face as he squatted low. "Jesus H. Christ, the only thing worse than an angry black woman, is a pregnant, angry black w
oman! Baby, you worry me when you get like that. Come on, don't be mad at me. Please? I'm sorry, really I am." He coaxed, rubbing her back, trying to look into her eyes. "You can really be mean sometimes, you know that? Things you say. You really regret being married to me? Really?"
Sylvia wilted, Shawn pulled her into his arms. She wrapped hers around him, holding on as he squeezed her to him, his chin placed carefully on top of her head, so as not to hurt her wound. "Well?" He asked again.
"Nooo, of course not." She admitted.
"I would hope not. I don't mean to stress you, really I don't. That's the last thing that I want. I love you, God knows I do. You know I do. That's why I can't let you go when you're angry with me. In the heat of anger, people have had accidents, things have happened that scare me. I can't - let you leave me like that, I just can't."
Sylvia had her eyes closed, laying against his chest. She could hear his heart beating in a crazy, rapid rhythm.
"I don't want her coming back here, Shawn. Benjamin, that's something else, but I'm not gonna be putting up with her."
"You won't have to. I told her, she ever comes here again, she'll go to jail. I meant every word of it. I'm not going to have anyone upsetting you."
Sylvia tilted her head back to look up at him. "I'm sorry - that I said what I did. I didn't mean it, I was just so angry."
"Baby, you got me convinced!"
Sylvia suddenly sniffed the air.
"YOUR DINNER! AAAH, SHAWN!" She rushed out of his arms to the kitchenette, grabbing her mitts to open the door and pull out the stuff chops. It was just the grease that had dripped below the rack, but they did look overcooked. She put them on the counter with a shove, disappointed.
"Now what?" She asked.
"Come on, I'll take my two favorite ladies and my son, out for dinner tonight."
Chapter 164
Jake had borrowed his parent's John Deere to take Vivian for a tour of their property. And then to a section of the woods that was his favorite spot. They strolled, enjoying the evening as he sipped a beer, a cooler in the back of the vehicle held a eight pack of Old Style and coolers for her.
"All right, lil' girl, last night you had me telling you things about me, now it's your turn." He stated, walking at an even pace beside her, as she absorbed the wonder of all she'd seen. The woods surrounding their home were incredible. Jake had shown her the borders of all of their land, and it stretched pretty far. His father grew crops upon crops of corn, barley, and wheat. Explaining how much he got per bushel some years. He'd told her stories of what it took for him to gain the land that he now had, the equipment and the work that went into it all.
"What do you want to know?" She asked, keeping in step with him.
"Tell me about your family. How many brother's and sisters?"
"All girls! Four in total! Lacy is the oldest, who is brown-skinned. Ella is the second one, she's light-skinned, like our mother. Candace is the third, she's a coco color, and then there's me, their lil' black, baby girl!"
"The prettiest one." Jake inserted, with a grin.
"And how do you know that?"
"I can't imagine anyone being prettier than you."
"Other people thought they were the prettiest."
"Oh, yeah? How so?"
"They did, because they weren't so black, like me."
That stopped Jake. "What? How can that be? What do you mean, were they white people?"
"Nooo, black people. Sad to say, we too, have a color preference, and I'm not it. The top glorified shades are smooth brown to light skinned."
"Huh? I don't get it, black is black."
"So, what are you trying to say, that we all look alike?" Vivian teased.
"Of course not! I mean, I can't see how black people as a whole, who are all black, prefer one color over another."
"We may be all from the black race, or African-Americans, but we are by no means, all the same color."
"And that matters?"
"Yes, it does."
"I don't get it."
"Neither do I - I've ceased to try."
"I see. So, among you four, who was the troublemaker?"
"Guilty as charged." Vivian grinned, holding up her hand.
Jake grinned, "And which of your three sisters did you antagonize the most?"
"Most definitely Ella."
"Which one is she?"
"The light-skinned one."
"And why her?"
"Because, I thought she looked like our mother, and I hated that! I wanted to look like our mother."
"So, who do you look like?"
"I'm my father's coloring, and - low and behold, I look like my mother, or rather, her mother. Who - brace yourself, had a white mother."
"What? You have a white grandmother?"
"Great-grandmother. Wanna hear something crazy?"
"What?"
"My mother, does not like the idea of me dating outside of our race. The black race, yet - she has a white grandmother."
"Wow, how much more complex can it get? So, what is she going to think about me?"
"She'll have to accept you, won't she? It's not like she doesn't know about you already." She informed him, as they strolled. Smiling, Jake reached down and grabbed her hand, holding it. He was on his fifth beer and showing signs of feeling it. "So, you told her about me, huh? All good things, I hope?"
"Are there any good things?" She quipped, grinning.
Jake threw his head back and barked with laughter, "Lil' girl - you know me too well!"
"I'm trying."
"So, what'd you say? You tell her you love me?"
Hearing him say that stumped Vivian, "No! Why would I tell her that!?"
"Because it's true." He dared. His drinking was making him bolder than normal.
"I never told you I love you!" She denied.
"Not in those exact words, but you do. I can see it in your eyes, when you look at me. I can feel it in your body, how you tremble, when I touch you. You love me."
"Ha! I find you interesting. Compelling, a worthy study! I'm merely shopping, you see, and you fit pretty much what I'm looking for."
"And that is?" He stopped, moving in front of her.
"You sure you wanna know?"
"I wanna know." He simpered, staring down at her.
"Okay, I made plans, you see, that included you. I'd already pretty much figured you out, and so, was going to strike a deal with you."
"This sounds interesting, what kind of deal?"
Vivian looked up into his eyes, took a deep breath and said, "I was going to contract you, to father my two children."
"Wh - wh - what! Father your two children?! What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, I figured you the type who would never settle down. So, I was trying to move us to a good time to ask if you would allow me use of your sperm. To sire my sons or daughters, or - son and daughter. With an agreement that you wouldn't have to pay child support, nor would you have been under obligation to participate in their upbringing."
Jake didn't know why, but the smile suddenly dissolved from his face. Vivian noted it as well. He turned away from her and started walking ahead, not real fast, just distancing himself from her a bit.
"What's wrong? What was that look all about?" She asked, trying to catch up with him.
"You know what, thanks for the insult!"
"What? What insult?"
Jake turned back to her, "Just so you know, for future reference! I've fathered three sons, and in their lives I rarely participated. I'm not interested in doing that again! Any child that comes forth due to my sperm, I'll be participating in - thank you!"
"Well, I'm glad to hear that, why are you upset?"
"I don't know..." He mumbled, turning back to walk, "... so - do you love me - or not?" He asked, looking ahead and not at her.
"I'll know in time, won't I? Should I find that I do, I'll let you know." She returned.
He glanced back at her, and grinned again, shaking his head. "Tel
l me more about your family, your sisters, you ever get beat up for messin' with 'em?"
"If Lacy could catch me, she would beat me up, but she had to catch me first, and I was fast, so that was easier said than done. What about you?"
"Shawn used to beat me up all the time. I tried to outrun him, but he always caught me." Jake confessed, turning back to grin at her, "That sonofabitch was fast!"
Vivian laughed, asking, "There were five of you, who was your favorite?"
Jake paused from walking, giving it some thought and stated easily, "Shawn."
"Even though he used to beat you up?"
"I deserved it, most of the time."
"I see, of your sisters, which is your favorite?"
"Shanna is the easiest to deal with, Kathy Ann is too much like Shawn, in a woman's body. She's tough as hell, punches like a man, I swear!"
"How do you know, she ever punched you?"
"Plenty of times."
"Why?"
"'Cause she's fuckin' nuts!" Jake laughed, thinking about her, "You'll more than likely meet her this weekend, or while you're staying with my parents, she'll pop up sooner or later."
"You think she'll like me?"
"It's possible, I won't promise it. We'll just have to see, won't we?"
"I guess so." Vivian agreed.
"So, tell me, why me, and not a black man?" Jake remembered to ask.
"To be totally honest with you, I'm not attracted to them. Besides, I'm too black myself, I'd like to help my kids out."
"What? Why'd you say that?" Jake stopped by a large tree to ask, leaning on it as she stepped towards him.
"It's the truth, black like me, is hard to be. Shades of white, bring delight. Olive or yellow, will always get the fellow. Brown too, is better, you see, because - nobody - wants to be black - like me."
Jake couldn't believe his ears. He stared at her dumbfounded. She smiled, but tears filled her eyes. In stone disbelief, he reached out and grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her, squeezing her close to him. Speechless, his stomach hurt. Maybe it was the beer, but to hear those words, coming from her mouth - to see the pain in her eyes, tormented him. Vivian sniffed, loving the feel of him. The way his arms held her tight, squeezing as if he could take from her, all the things that hurt. Suddenly, he wondered about something, and asked her, "What will you do, if - we were to have children, and they were dark, like you?"
BOMAW 7-9 Page 22
