BOMAW 7-9

by Mercedes Keyes

  Shawn took a last cleansing breath, looked up at Mundo, then at Benjamin. "It appears, that Victor signed the divorce papers. According to his mother, he's done with the matter. The bastards broken her heart." Shawn was angry. "If I see him, I swear - I may end up dislocating his jaw!"

  "Damn! That's harsh!"

  "No! What she's going through is harsh! And I fucking hate it!"

  "Dad, I know, its messed up, because all the rest aside, she did love him." Mundo shrugged, "But, maybe its for the best. She be ah'right after a while. Time you know, they say time heals it." Mundo offered not sure what else to say. "I need to get in the shower, got some running round to do 'fore I get the boys, then Angela. I might have me a lil'summer job at the Motor-box Jammin' in Tomah, got a interview in a hour." He informed Shawn smiling.

  "Make sure they know, its for summer only. Not during school, remember?" Shawn informed him.

  "I know, I know, if I get it, its just for the summer. Something to keep gas in my ride and my insurance paid." He winked at Shawn, looked at Benjamin, "Ben m'man - check you later dawg." They did a fist tap shake and Mundo headed off back upstairs.

  "Well - I guess I better head off now. You absolutely sure, I can't help you? I can build websites - I can create characters for you. Anything to do with advertising, design and layouts for whatever. All you have to do, is pass me the info, you saw it, I can do any graphics you need. Think about it - the pressure will be off - you'll get caught up - and stay caught up. Instead of you paying me - I can use whatever work I do for you, in my portfolio that will only help me in freelance work. Come on, let me do this for you." Benjamin didn't want to leave. He wanted to spend time with Shawn. He'd never known anyone who was such a force of power and passion. Just that day, he saw the difference in him, from Jake and Quincy. Jake had always dealt with them like an older uncle, humoring them, while protective still, yes he had been, but he hadn't been like a hard-core disciplinarian father. Quincy had been gentle with them, always talking to them; reasoning with them. However, you hardly saw him upset, and he would never get into a physical confrontation with anyone, because he wasn't that type. If he could avoid confrontation, he would. He would back down and simply tell him and his brother, its best to walk away and ignore people. Whatever the case might have been.

  As Benjamin knew from talk, and from what he'd seen, not Shawn. The man that he was sure, was his father was like a raging bull. In his pen, within his corral, you dare not go in, or he, with head down, clawing earth, would charge at you, toss you, turn you, and scar you so bad, you wouldn't dare go in again. He knew that, because he'd heard. People talked about him. Even Quincy had talked about him, told them many stories of him. While they hadn't been friends, he'd attended the same school with him. His father, "Quincy" admired Shawn. Had said to them many times, when they brought him up due to something being said that day, and their mother wasn't around to change the subject, he'd told them, he admired him because he'd never started anything, "fights" that is, with anyone. He didn't pick on anyone. He came to school, did his assignments, excelled and guarded his siblings. Period. Long as you didn't mess with them, he wouldn't mess with you. Quincy had emphasized that many times about him. However, the moment that line was crossed, there was hell to pay. Quincy had said, that's why he always won in any fight, because he only fought for what was right. Shawn equalized the bullies. Quincy told them of how, sometimes, if someone was being picked on, all they had to do was run and find McPherson, the older brother, if they did, jump behind him, grab hold of him. Those chasing would immediately put on breaks. He told them of how Shawn would look down at the one hiding behind him, holding onto him, begging with scared eyes to be protected, and without a word, would look at the ones causing injury, doing the chasing and dare them to cross him. Quincy would smile saying, they never did. All knew, that it wasn't worth it. Because when Shawn beat you up, it was in a way that said, "You will never do this again." They never did. Reflecting on it, Benjamin realized that Quincy enjoyed talking about him, about that. Sometimes, Quincy would look at him, at Benjamin, as if he too knew the truth. As if he knew, and had always known, who his father was. Benjamin wondered now, if that's why he did it. He also wondered, if he knew, that by doing that, telling tales of Shawn, singing his praises, he was feeding Benjamin's hero worship of him. It was as if, Quincy, in his kind heartedness, was giving him, what he most desired, a piece of his real father. A man who was indeed a legend in that area, a small legend yes, but one still the same, one they all remembered and would never forget. Everyone knew and talked about the elder brother McPherson. Now today, Benjamin was compelled, would gladly do all he could to be with him, if only for stolen moments. If it meant doing all of his work for free so he could spend a little time with him. So be-it.

  Shawn stared at him a moment.

  "Thought you were going to move out of your mom's?"

  "She doesn't leave until 2 this afternoon. It's only 11:30 - that gives us plenty of time to get a lot done. You show me what you need. I'll bring my laptop in, and work right here alongside you. Everybody gets in a fix and needs a bit of help out of it, now and then, right? Let me do this, I'll only benefit from it."

  Shawn smiled, letting out a long sigh; finally he gave in. "Okay - go get your laptop."

  A smile burst upon Benjamin's face, that shook Shawn, it was like seeing himself in a mirror.

  * * *

  Nosy co-workers!

  Vivian barely made it into the bank and to the elevator, before she was accosted by the first nosy, Dean Currey.

  King/queen of nosy, Dean Currey was flamboyantly gay. The kind of gay that sometimes, got on her nerves. Dean didn't care. So what, was his attitude if he got on her nerves. Made him no difference if he got on her nerves. As far as he could see, it was all her fault that he got on her nerves, because all he wanted was to be her friend. Unfortunately for him, sometimes Vivian had her own agenda. She wasn't about to cater to Dean and doing the "Girlfriend thing" with a gay guy, therefore, she felt not the slightest inclination to pretend otherwise. A black/white gay guy, a 50/50 who, in her estimation, had not turned out right. She made no bones about it, telling him this, "Your mother and father, should have backed off immediately, 'cause you came out all wrong!" She would tease him. One of the things that made her say this to him was that he was already light skinned, but he couldn't be happy with that, he had the audacity to add foundation make-up that made him even lighter, making Vivian say to him, because he kept putting it on, that he looked like Michael Jackson's love child. She tried telling him it didn't flatter his skin tone one bit. He wouldn't listen. Wearing his hair relaxed straight, eyeballing her all the time waiting for her to make a remark about that, so he could put her in her place. Which he'd done many times, however, Vivian only laughed at him - teasing him even more saying, "Me woman, you man, get used to it - pussy envy is so ugly!" Of course she only said those things when they were alone. There were times when he could be just as nasty, yet, the rule, while they were alone, retaliating with, "If I had a pussy, it would be better than yours; Ms Thang!" He did a head rotation and snapped his fingers. Laughing, Vivian's return was, "Perhaps, but then, you'll never know, will you? Reason being, yo'ass - will have to do - won't it now? Fudge packer."

  "Be-otch!" He would spit.

  "Jealousy - so ugly." She would grin. Still and yet, he followed her around, always in her business, wanting to know what was going on with her every turn. It was clear to everyone, they had a love-hate relationship. He said things to her, no one else would dare. She said things to him, no one else would dare. They both crossed the lines of political correctness and didn't care. It wasn't that she had anything against him being gay, it was just the way that he was gay. As if thrusting it in everyone's face and daring them to correct him on it. He carried about a gay chip on his shoulder that the bosses tolerated because he was their token gay. Just as she and the few other black persons working there filled their other token quotas. They had their Span
ish, their Asian and their Eastern Indian so that everything evened out and made the bank look good. They especially loved Vivian. Because she was such a dark black women, who also happen to wear an afro, they loved that. Neither did it had hurt that she had far exceeded their expectations thus, holding a position of authority as manager over customer service to some of their highest accounts, as well being a loan officer.

  That particular morning, as Jake had pulled up to the bank, needing no help or directions from her, bringing her straight there, to which he arrogantly grinned in her face about; a face that remained closed following their morning squabble.

  Dean had been at the entry to the bank, the revolving doors when his eagle eyes caught sight of her afro in the truck.

  She thought to jump right out, Jake wasn't having it. "Oh no you don't!" He grabbed her arm. "Kiss, or you'll be late and traffic will start blowing."

  She cut him an evil eye, making him laugh even more, sure enough horns started blowing. "See, kiss - now!" He demanded, refusing to let her go. She had little choice, and leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "I love you." He murmured gently, watching her eyes. She only grunted. "Don't you love me?"

  "I'm thinking about it." She sassed him. He laughed at her, released her arm. "What time to pick you up?" He enquired before she stepped from the vehicle. "4:30... and - I love you too. See you later!" She conceded. She couldn't be angry with him when he was refusing to go along with it. He winked, smiled, said, "I'll be here!" She slammed the door and turned around to see Dean standing with his hands on his hips, ogling her with his mouth wide open, his head on a rubber neck following the truck, trying to see as much of Jake as he could pulling away. Next came a gesture purely gay, the flip of his hand over his mouth, his wide eyes darting back to her, staring her down. Vivian rolled hers with little choice than to approach.

  "Good morning Dean."

  "Obviously! Who - was that!?" Mr. Dramaticus stated, ready to dig in and get the 411 out of her whether by coaxing, or by force via; irritation, whatever it took, he wanted to know.

  Due to the revolving doors, Vivian was given a respite before he made his entrance, mincing his speedy steps to catch up to her. "No no Ms Thang, just slow yo'black ass down!" *stk* He clicked his tongue, "You know what time it is." He informed her, elongating the letter s wherever he could, adding un-necessary emphasis to other consonants and vowels. "Who - the hell - was that? Unless Dr. Chan has suddenly gone white, with blonde hair and by the looks of him, long and tall - emph - thirsty-thirsty - gimme that drink of water." They stepped into the elevator, towards the back. Others stepping in as well, he curbed his over enthusiasm for the sake of their bank colleagues. However, the moment the doors opened on their floor and they stepped free, he started up again.

  "His name?" Asked in a way that left no room for argument. Vivian shook her head, sighed and answered.

  "Jacob - Patrick - McPherson."

  "Oooh - Mc-Pher-son - hmmm, sounds Scottish - or is he Irish?"

  "More than likely a combination of the two." She returned as they made their long corridor walk. Vivian smiling at many in her department, "Good morning." Was the greeting given back and forth as they approached the area of their offices.

  "How long has he been in the picture?"

  "Not long."

  "How long is not long."

  "A bit-an'-a-while."

  "I see - and is it serious?"

  "I would say - pretty serious."

  "How serious?" He asked.

  Vivian threw the back of her left hand up for him to see her ring.

  "Oh hell no! No uh ah Ms Thang! How in the hell!? That's fast!"

  Vivian grinned, "What can I say - the man wants, what he wants."

  "You bitch! Stop boasting, makes you ugly!"

  Vivian stopped, "Dean! Sling that label at me one more time - and you'll be getting any scoops on me, through the grapevine - two months old! We both know you wouldn't like that, now would you? So chill on the B-word, okay?"

  "Oooh that's nasty! You know how I love to use the B-word! Fine then. Sorry - I'll try to behave myself and keep all comments pertaining to ones character to myself - true or false."

  "You pushing it. Keep it up, and I will start not to like you and you will no longer be my friend."

  "Oh?! You like me, since when pray tell? Friends? Ha!" He grinned and winked saucily.

  Vivian walked into her office, ordering - "Get to work Dean."

  "What?! Wait! Are you kidding me? Enquiring minds need to know, I have more questions!" He announced just as Stephanie Jones stuck her head in the door. A petite black woman who spent most of her time chit-chatting with Dean - they were the best of friends. They might as well have worked for the news stations because the two of them always had something to report on someone.

  "Good morning Vivian! You find your purse yet? You lose your ID's too?"

  "Morning Stephanie... no I haven't found it yet."

  "When you lose your purse?" Dean asked looking from Stephanie to Vivian.

  "Didn't you hear? Vivian was mugged last week! I thought you knew?!" Stephanie threw that out, of course knowing that he didn't know, because she hadn't told him yet.

  "You a damn lie! You knew I didn't know - ho! Yo' triflin' stingy ass been holding back! That's okay 'cause I know somethin', you don't know!"

  "What?! What you know?" Stephanie asked.

  Vivian sighed, just as Janna peaked in, "Hey you! You're back! You okay?"

  "Hey, back... yeah, I'm fine."

  "So fine she got a new man!" Dean informed the two.

  "What? She got a new man? Who?" This from Stephanie, sounding like an owl.

  "What's this I hear?" Janna asked stepping into the office passed the other two.

  "Show'em the ring - show'em the ring! Wait 'til you see the ring! I saw the man!" Dean crowed with the rotation of his head, putting one hand to his chest, the other on his hip.

  "What ring?" Janna asked.

  "DEAN! Get out of here and get to work!" Vivian fussed at him.

  "Excuse me, I don't think so! My productivity malfunctions when vital information I need to know, is withheld! You still owe me details Ms. Thang!" He fussed, hanging onto the wall, reluctant to go. Vivian turned to Janna, who had a hold of her hand, with her mouth wide open.

  "Oh - my - God! Dr. Chan?" She asked looking from the ring to Vivian. "I thought that was over?"

  "It is over! Not Dr. Chan!" Dean rattled off.

  "Who then-who then!" Stephanie asked with big eyes.

  Vivian looked at Janna confessing, "Not Dr. Chan... that is over." She informed her.

  "Well then, who put this on your finger? I know I've been paying close attention and I don't remember you telling me anything about a new man."

  "What can I say? Things happened rather quickly. Remember the wedding I went to a while back?"

  "Yes."

  "I met him there. Brother to the groom."

  Dean and Stephanie stayed in the doorway, quiet and looking back and forth between each other, hoping to hear as much as they could before being sent off.

  "And there's a ring on your finger already? This is mighty sudden!"

  "Yeah - I know. But - it was kind of, one of those, love at first sight events. A world wind, passionate sweeping affair that took my breath away. It may seem like a short period of time, but - it felt like forever."

  "So - its love then? For sure?"

  "Yeah ... it is."

  "What's his name?"

  "Jacob Patrick McPherson!" Dean answered excitedly. Vivian and Janna turned around. Vivian's look was clearly stating, 'Go!'

  "Please tell us a brief before we have to go!" Stephanie pleaded.

  Vivian gave in.

  "It's simple - we met - we hit it off - I knew right away - he struggled - but as you can see - he's come around." Vivian smiled flashing her ring.

  "Jacob Patrick McPherson, huh? Doesn't sound like the name of a black man." Janna pointed out with a nervous l
augh. Although they talked, Vivian had never fully divulged her taste and preferences. Their conversations had always centered around superficial things, like fashion, clothing, shopping, make-up, work - vacation and what they would be doing for the weekend. Janna knew about Dr. Chan because she'd been around when the relationship developed. Very guardedly, Vivian had spoken on certain things, but not everything. Just enough to pacify - not satisfy. Now - Janna clearly had a strange look crossing her features as if waiting for Vivian to correct her. It was one thing for ethnic minorities to date each other, it was to be expected, but - this.

  "That's because he's not!" This from Dean again. "I saw him, blonde hair, that I could make out. I couldn't see the rest of him because her damn afro was in the way! You need to straighten that shit! I bet people at the movies hate yo' ass sittin' in front of them!" He fussed. Vivian laughed at him and winked.

  "Well, the day has begun, we better get to work." Janna stated, "Lunch later?" She asked Vivian.

  "Well I'll see - I should be trying to get myself a new ID - and my drivers license." Vivian informed her.

  "So we'll have lunch together and then you can take the rest of your day for that." Janna suggested.

  "Oh can we come - can we come?!" This from Stephanie.

  They didn't regularly eat lunch together, but Vivian suddenly wanted them present, she instinctively felt something shift in Janna, hearing that Jake was white. If Vivian was correct, Janna would have to guard herself with Dean and Stephanie present, for once, the reinforcement of numbers may be needed.

  "Okay I guess we can do that. I'll call Jake and have him come and pick me up afterwards so I can take care of my other matters."

  "Oooh! You call him Jake? Emm um!" Dean flashed big eyes at Stephanie. "Oh please have him join us for lunch so we can meet him!" Dean was just about jumping up and down, clapping.

  "Oh yeah! So we can meet him!" Stephanie parroted, giddy with excitement.

  "If he feels like it. He may not, we'll see. Otherwise, you'll just have to settle for me."