by Kahele, J
“I know, I just want to make sure I don’t do anything to ruin it.”
“You won’t, Chain, I have faith in you.”
“Thanks, David.”
He slid the papers across the desk. “Can you sign these?”
“Sure.”
The rest of the day I spent practicing what I would say to her parents, how I would act. Christ, I even thought about what I would wear. The more I thought about it the more it was apparent that I didn’t want to go. I just wasn’t ready, I needed to tell Violet. She knew me, she knew that this was not something I could do.
After I drove up her driveway, I sat and drummed up a bunch of excuses why I couldn’t go. I was going to get out of this if it was the last thing I did.
I walked into the house and went straight to the fridge, grabbing the gallon of milk, pouring it into a glass.
“Hey.” I glanced up from my glass of milk to find Violet standing in the kitchen.
She fiddled with her fingers, indicating to me she was nervous—really nervous. I grabbed her hands and rubbed them gently, trying to calm her fidgeting.
She frowned, looked down then let out a deep exhale. “Chain, I know you don’t want to do this, go to my parents’. So I’m going to let you off the hook. If this is not something you want to do, then you don’t have to.” She said it, she gave me my escape. It was that easy, well it would have been if I hadn’t caught the glimpse of the disappointment on her face. I slid my index finger under her chin, lifting her eyes to mine. “What’s wrong?”
She faked a smile. “Nothing.”
I clutched her hand and walked her into the living room, sitting her down. I searched her eyes, reading them before saying, “It’s very important to you that I meet your parents, isn’t it?”
“Not really,” she responded unconvincingly.
“Yes it is, Violet.”
“It is important, that’s true. But you don’t want to go and the last thing I want to do is force you into doing something you don’t want to.” There she was again, my considerate, beautiful and amazing Violet. The woman I loved. The woman I would move the world for, put my life down to save hers, if I had to. Yet I couldn’t get past my own selfish needs to do the one thing that was important to her, meeting her parents. I felt like a self-centered prick. I didn’t deserve her, I didn’t deserve her one bit. I had to do this, for her, for me, for us.
I cleared my throat, clutched her hand and sat straight up. “I want to go.”
Obviously I wasn’t convincing enough, because she mumbled half-heartedly, “No you don’t, Chain, you’re just saying that to make me feel better. You always say things to make me feel better.”
I squeezed her hands and put on my biggest smile. “No, sweetheart, I really want to go. I want to meet your parents.”
She perked up. “Really?”
“Yes, really. I love you and your family are a part of you and I want to know every part of you there is.” Just like that my fear of meeting her parents dissipated. It was true, I wanted to know everything there was to know about Violet, including her family. She snaked her arms around my neck and pulled me into an embrace.
“Oh, Chain, I love you too. Thank you, you don’t know how much this means to me.”
She pulled away and a smile beamed across her face so brightly, I felt my heart flutter. That smile, that wonderful, beautiful, heart-warming smile. That alone was worth it all.
I gave her a quick kiss, patted her thigh and stood up. “I’m going to change, I’ll be right back.”
***
We drove up to Violet’s parents’ house and I was a little surprised, with the amount of money that Violet’s father’s business brought in, that the house was a simple, lower-middle-class ranch, yellow sided with a black roof. The sidewalk was a brick-stamped gray and the front was decorated with large flowery bushes. Violet pushed open the front door and we walked inside. The small foyer had a dark table leaned against the wall, with an array of pictures. I glanced at the pictures and they were of Violet and her brothers growing up. I lifted up a photo of Violet. Her name was embossed on the bottom and by the year, I could tell it was her senior picture from high school. Her hair was blonde, obviously bleached, and it made her look so different. Although her beauty still shone, I definitely preferred her natural dark locks.
“Do you like my hair blonde?” Violet asked as she leaned her chin on my shoulder, her eyes tilted up at mine.
“It is pretty, but no, I prefer your hair the way it is now.” She took the picture from me and placed it back down. “Come on, time to go meet the parents.”
Violet clutched my hand as we stepped down into a large living room. A large brown playpen couch with an attached chaise covered one wall, along with two side tables. Pictures covered the rest of the walls along with large paintings of flowers.
“Mom, we’re here,” Violet screamed out. A tiny woman with short dark hair and Violet’s eyes scuttled towards us. She had a purple knee-length dress on and a blue apron strung around her neck.
She smiled as she approached. “Hello.”
“Mom, this is Chain. Chain, this is my mother, Janis Townsend,” Violet introduced.
I held out my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Townsend.” She waved my hand away then reached up and wrapped her arms around my neck, giving me a big hug.
“Sorry, I should have warned you, my mother is a hugger.” Violet chuckled.
Mrs. Townsend gave me a tight squeeze before releasing me. “You are a handsome devil, aren’t you?”
“Mom!” Violet exclaimed.
“Well he is, Violet.” I bit my lip, trying to stifle a laugh.
“Thank you for the compliment, Mrs. Townsend. But I do have to say that you and Violet could pass for sisters!”
She blushed as she waved her hand in response. “You are a charmer, Chain. So tell me, where do you buy your suit coats at?” she asked out of the blue as she adjusted my collar. That was a very odd question. Who asked such a question?
Violet leaned to my ear. “I told you she asks weird questions.” Ah yes. Violet had told me that about her mother.
Vince and Victor walked into the room.
“Chain, how the hell are you?” Vince queried as he shook my hand.
“I’m good, and you?”
“Couldn’t be better.”
Victor eyed me before holding out his hand. “Chain,” he grumbled.
“Hey, Victor,” I responded as I shook his hand.
Violet’s mother wiped her hands on the side of her apron. “So dinner is just about ready, how about you all go in and have a seat at the dining room table. There are appetizers and wine.”
Clutching Violet’s hand, I followed her brothers into a large room. The walls were a dark oak with large candle holders attached to the walls, flames burning from the white candles. The table was long and could sit at least twenty people. It was dressed in a white linen tablecloth and large black leather chairs encircled it. In front of every chair, there was a set of three plates all stacked on top of each other, with a white linen napkin shaped like a hat in the middle. The silverware was set up like a restaurant, two forks, two spoons, a butter knife and a steak knife. A wine glass and a filled water glass sat to the left of the plates. I slid out a chair for Violet and she sat down and I sat down next to her.
The middle of the table had white platters filled with escargot, tomato slices beneath circular pieces of mozzarella, and breaded mushrooms.
Vince and Victor sat across from us. Vince reached with his fork for a few breaded mushrooms.
“So how’s business, Chain?” he asked me.
“Good, really good, Vince.” Violet took the small plate from my stack, then stood and reached with her fork in hand to the appetizers, taking a little of everything. After she was finished, she placed the filled plate in front of me.
“Thank you, baby,” I whispered to her.
Victor lifted two bottles of wine from the table and walked over to Vi
olet and me.
“White or red? Mom is making steak and shrimp as the main course, just to let you know.”
“I’ll take red, Victor, thank you,” I responded. He poured it.
“And you, Vi?”
“I’ll take red too.” He filled up Violet’s glass than walked back over to his seat.
“You made it,” a voice bellowed. I glance to the side and saw her father; I remembered him from the courthouse. He was very tall and large with dark bushy eyebrows and slicked-back black hair, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a gray polo shirt. Violet met him halfway as he approached us.
He took her in an embrace. “Hello, little girl,” the man said as he kissed the top of her head.
“Hi, Daddy.” I stood up, standing next to my chair nervously. Arm in arm, Violet walked her father over to me.
“Daddy, this is Chain. Chain, this is my father, Joe Townsend.”
I held out my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”
He laughed, pushing my hand away, then wrapped his arms around me in a man hug. “Good to finally meet you, Chain,” her father said as he patted my back hard, before releasing me.
I went to say something when the doorbell ringing interrupted me.
“I’ll get it,” Violet said as she turned and rushed to the door. Were there more people coming? Did they have another sibling they didn’t mention? I thought this was an intimate dinner with just me and Violet’s family. Violet’s father walked over to the head of the table and sat down.
I picked at my plate and popped a piece of mozzarella into my mouth.
“Hey, guys,” Vince blurted out. I turned to see that following behind Violet were David and Callie. I was shocked. I stood up to meet David.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him quietly as I shook his hand.
David leaned to my ear. “Moral support. Violet invited us, thought you might need me.” She did this for me? I was surprised, but ecstatic at the same time. I had never had a person go out of their way to ensure my happiness like Violet did. I couldn’t believe that she had invited David—yes I could. That was how my Violet was, consideration her middle name. She knew I didn’t want to go, she knew I would feel uncomfortable. So what did she do? Invite the very person that would put me at ease, my best friend, my brother, David. I knew then she loved me almost as much as I loved her.
She walked up to me, sliding her arm around my waist.
“Is this okay?” she murmured.
I bent, kissing her quickly on the lips.
“I can’t believe you did this for me, thank you.”
“I felt that if David and Callie were here, you would feel more comfortable.” That was my Violet, always thinking about others before herself.
“Have I told you how much I love you today?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, like five times.”
I pinched her behind and she jumped. “Now it’s six, little miss sassy pants!”
Callie and David walked into the kitchen and I could hear them talking with Violet’s mother. Violet and I sat down at the table.
“So, Chain, Violet tells me you build malls,” Violet’s father said as he filled his plate with escargot.
“Yes, sir.”
He dug the snail out with his small fork, popping it in his mouth. “Quite a lucrative business.”
I half tilted my head. “I can’t complain.”
“Your father must be very proud.” I lowered my head and Violet rubbed my back gently. This was it, this was when the bad happened. I knew as soon as he found out that I was parentless, he would be pushing me out the door. Who wanted their daughter with a man who had no family?
“Daddy, Chain doesn’t talk to his father, it’s not something he likes to talk about.”
“Why not?” her father queried.
“Because they don’t talk,” Violet answered.
Her father paused for a minute, as if he was searching his mind for the right thing to say. “I completely understand. I did not have much of a relationship with my own father, as it happens. Your mother?”
Before I could answer, Violet did. “Chain’s mother and sister were killed years ago in a car accident.”
This shocked her father and he sat back hard on his chair, as if Violet’s words hit him hard in the chest, taking the breath out of him. “I’m so sorry, Chain, that had to be very hard.”
“It was, sir, very hard.” Violet squeezed my hand and I turned to her, flashing a quick smile, and was relieved that her father took the news so well.
Violet’s father folded his hands and leaned forward. “So let’s get to the point, I am not one to beat around the bush. I am not too happy about you being with my daughter. I hear things and your reputation with women isn’t the best. My daughter is a good girl, not a girl you just have fun with, so if that is what your intentions are, then you best move on right now. Because I’m telling you right now, if you purposely hurt my little girl, I swear I will rip you apart with my own two hands!”
“Daddy!” Violet exclaimed. I rubbed her hand to calm her. If I was going to gain any respect from her father, I had to handle this.
“Mr. Townsend, I have no intention of hurting your daughter.”
Violet’s father scowled before saying, “Then what are your intentions?”
“You don’t have to answer that, Chain, it’s none of his business,” Violet chimed in.
I patted her hand. “I want to answer it, Violet.” She lightly nodded.
I cleared my throat, sitting straight up, facing her father. “You ask what my intentions are, sir? I intend on doing whatever I can to make sure your daughter is safe and happy for as long as I breathe. I love her, Mr. Townsend, very much.”
“So what you are saying is you intend on making an honest woman out of her?”
“Daddy,” Violet scoffed. I hushed her with my hand.
I smiled at Violet’s father, before saying, “Yes, sir, with your permission of course, my intentions are to marry your daughter someday.”
“Chain,” Violet mumbled, disconcerted.
I turned to her. “I’m not saying right now, Violet, I’m saying someday.”
Her father’s bushy eyebrows furrowed and I couldn’t tell if he was happy or mad. “Well that is good to know, Chain, and when that day comes, you come see me and we will talk about it.”
“I will, sir, I promise.”
Violet exhaled before saying, “Chain, marriage?”
“Violet, I—” Violet’s mother’s voice bellowing from the kitchen interrupted. “Violet, come help me bring the food in.” I was definitely happy for the interruption. It might have been wrong for me to blurt out my marriage intentions to her father, but I wanted him to know that my heart was in the right place, that I planned on doing right by his daughter.
She patted my arm. “I’ll be right back.”
David sat down to the left of me. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m good.”
“That was some quick thinking with her father.”
“It wasn’t quick thinking, David, it was the truth. You know I want to spend the rest of my life with Violet.”
He smiled. “Yes, I know.”
“So how’s married life, David?” Victor asked as he sipped on his wine.
“It’s good, Victor, thanks for asking.”
“No prob. Can’t believe you did it. Talk about strapping up your balls.”
David’s eyes thinned. “What the fuck are you talking about, Victor?” I could tell right away this was not going to be good. David was as quick tempered as Victor and not afraid to express how he felt.
Victor chuckled. “When a man gets married, he basically hands his manhood over to his wife.”
“Oh, you think I’m not a man because I am married?”
I leaned to David. “David, calm down.” The last thing I needed was my best friend and Violet’s brother fighting.
“No, Chain, I’m not going to fucking calm down, this guy is
being a complete prick!” David was right, Victor was out of line. As much as I wanted to intervene, I couldn’t. It was against the man code to interfere in a man’s fight to defend himself against another that was being disrespectful.
“David, it’s not a biggie. All I’m saying is why the fuck did you do it, you two were living together, you had all the sex you wanted. Why buy it when you get it for free!” Victor laughed. I was starting to get upset. Not only was he degrading David, he was basically calling his wife a plaything. Not cool, not cool at all.
“You’re an idiot, Victor. Marriage isn’t about just sex, you asshole, it’s about spending the rest of your life with someone you love.”
Victor shook his head. “I couldn’t imagine sleeping with the same woman for the rest of my life, fuck that.”
“That’s because any good woman would be out of her mind to marry you. You’re an arrogant piece of shit! What little brains you have are in your dick!” David retorted. I glanced over at Violet’s father and he was actually chuckling.
Victor growled as he stood up, leaning across the table towards David.
Vince grabbed Victor’s arm. “Sit down, Victor,” he commanded, then yanked him down to his seat.
“This piece of shit just told me that my brains are in my dick. I’m not taking that, Vince. Fuck this guy!” Victor bellowed angrily.
“Your brains are in your dick, so just shut the fuck up!” Vince shouted. Victor sat back in his chair, folding his arms, still fuming from his argument with David.
Vince smiled at David. “I’m really happy for you, David. You’re lucky that you found someone. Most of the women my age are already settled down or attached, so I have to settle for the younger ones. I don’t know what these younger chicks eat, but I’m telling you they are into some crazy shit! And the energy they have, I can barely keep up with them. They are literally breaking my back!” He laughed.
The room burst into laughter.
David leaned back on his chair. “When you have that one woman for yourself, it is much better. You don’t have to teach her what you want, she already knows. Making love is way better than sex.” He paused as he glared at Victor. “Way better than fucking! She is there for you through thick and thin and loves you unconditionally—there is nothing better than that.” And I agreed. Sex was sex. Fucking was fucking. But making love to the woman you loved was the most amazing feeling ever.