“When I show this video to your brothers, what do you think they will say about this?” Deana asked.
“When I show this video to your father, what do you think he will say and do? Your father told you to cooperate for me. Do you think this is appropriate behavior?”
“No Ma’am,” Luke said fighting back his tears. “Please don’t show this to them. I will do gooder next time.”
Deana did not want to laugh. “Tell me you will do ‘better’ next time. I also expect you to do better every time. If you ever do this again, I will tape your next tantrum and edit it with this tantrum to make one long video. I will then show it to everyone on the big screen television.”
Luke never challenged Deana again.
Around 2pm, Deana sent Leon a text message: If I may use your stove again tonight, I will make my fried chicken you guys liked. I’m off work again tomorrow so I can stay up late. I would love to have someone to watch the football game with.
She did not need to wait long for Leon’s response: That would be great.
Luke was already asleep in her bed. Since she’d be staying up late tonight, a nap seemed like a great idea. She set her phone alarm for 3:30 and dozed on the couch.
Luke, Deana, Matthew and Mark all got to the Samuels’ house at the same time. Deana cooked fried chicken and the boys studied and did their schoolwork. After dinner, Deana cleaned up and then played Luke in soccer on the PlayStation. Later, she helped Matthew and Mark finish their assignments.
At 8pm Matthew and Mark were allowed to play the video games. Deana read a book to Luke and put him to bed. Just after 8:30 the football game came on. At 9:00 she kissed Matthew and Mark good–night.
Deana walked into the living room. “Well it’s just the two of us.” She took a seat in a chair next to the couch Leon was on.
Every time Leon watched football with Deana it never ceased to amaze him how well she understood the game. She recognized many of the players and appreciated the strategy. Plus, it was pretty cool to watch football with someone that could give the cheerleaders a run for their money in the looks department.
Late in the fourth quarter, the game was out of hand. With about four minutes left, Leon got up which Deana took as a cue to head for home. Leon went to kiss her good–night but she was exhausted and missed his signal. She walked right past him and out the door.
It wasn’t until she was sitting in her car that she realized what had just happened. She thought to herself: I hope I didn’t hurt his feelings. It might be a good idea if I show him at least some affection. I’ll have to see what I can come up with tomorrow.
The next morning Deana picked up Luke and they did their usual routine. For dinner, she’d fix hot dogs for the boys and a rib eye steak for Leon. She wanted him to be in a good mood.
At 9:30pm all three boys were in bed. Deana and Leon watched TV together until eleven. As Deana was getting ready to head home, she took the initiative to kiss Leon good–bye. Leon was sitting on the couch and looked pleasantly surprised when Deana approached him.
Deana put her left leg in between Leon’s legs and leaned over to give him a very small kiss on the lips. Deana completely lost her balance and realized there was no way for Leon to keep her from tumbling onto him without having to grab her in a very private part of her body.
She knew it was all her fault and she was preparing to be completely humiliated. Deana had no idea how Leon did what he did. He somehow got his right arm all the way around the small of her back. His large strong hand caught her in between the top of her hip and bottom of her lowest right rib. Deana’s mouth was now three inches from Leon’s.
Deana was so grateful. Instead of a one second kiss, she gave Leon a ten second kiss. It was Deana’s way of rewarding the most chivalrous act any man had ever shown her.
With most twenty–five year old women the above incident would not have been a big deal. With Deana things are different. Because of what had happened to her in her past she had trust issues with men.
By treating her with respect, what Leon had just done went a long way to alleviate those trust issues.
CHAPTER 7
MEET THE IN–LAWS
It was 4:55pm, Wednesday night. Deana was back at Vito’s. Thanksgiving was only eight days away. In previous years the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving were particularly slow. Mr. Vito said he’d only need two waitresses on those nights. Besides getting Thanksgiving off, each waitress would get a bonus day off.
Peggy had the most seniority and wanted Sunday off. Delores chose Saturday. That left Deana with Friday off. With two days off in a row, she would have time to drive back to Tampa early Thursday morning, have dinner and spend Friday with the Wilsons like she usually did. She could drive back Saturday morning and be home in time for work Saturday night.
But, something was telling Deana to stay in Georgia. The six hour drive really made her nervous. Recalling the drive up three weeks ago still gave her the shakes.
Also, Deana was hoping Leon would invite her to spend Thanksgiving with the Samuels. It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to stay home, catch up on her sleep and practice some new songs on her guitar.
Saturday morning would be the next time she would have time to talk to Leon. Due to their work schedules, Leon and Deana did not get to see each other that much Wednesday through Friday.
At the restaurant, Mr. Vito had been noticing a change in his customer base. The number of families and couples was about the same. But a lot more single people were stopping in. It wasn’t just young single guys either. It was a mix of men and women; young and old.
When Deana first started working at Vito’s three weeks ago, she did something he had mixed emotions about. If the restaurant was slow and a single person came in Deana would make an extra effort to talk with them. Perhaps, more importantly she would listen to them; kind of like a bartender for people that didn’t go to bars.
One day Mr. Vito asked her about it; he wasn’t sure he liked one of his servers chatting so much with the customers.
Deana explained, “No matter how good our food or service may be, there are only so many times a family can afford to eat out. Single people, however, can afford to dine out more frequently. As a matter of fact, sometimes they can even save money because they aren’t buying food at the grocery store that ends up getting wasted. Being single, I can empathize with anyone who would prefer not to eat alone. It’s nice to have a place to go and have a friend who will listen to you and your problems. With the holidays coming up, single people may be our best customers.”
After hearing her reasoning, Mr. Vito nodded his approval.
On Saturday morning, Deana arrived at the Samuels at 9am. She had not seen Leon since Tuesday night. Leon had gotten a haircut. He was starting to look more like the attractive man in the photograph that had caught her eye.
She made breakfast and helped the boys with their schoolwork. For three solid hours they studied. Deana focused on math and how to construct sentences. She also gave them some pointers on how to take good notes.
By 1pm, major strides had been made. Deana let Matthew and Mark play video games while Luke took a nap. Deana peeked into the living room and noticed Leon was watching football on TV. “Could you stand a little company?”
“Absolutely” Leon replied. “By the way, have you decided what you’re doing for Thanksgiving? Are you going home to Tampa or staying here?”
“I haven’t decided yet. Next week is going to be strange. I’m off Monday and Tuesday. I work Wednesday and I’m off again on Thursday and Friday; but I have to work all weekend.”
Leon nodded. “I have a favor to ask you. We always go to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving. My folks are in their early seventies and my mom doesn’t really cook much anymore. Claire, my sister– in–law, and Rebeccah always cooked turkeys and sides at home so we could bring all of the food prepared to my parents house.”
Leon continued, “You’re so great in the kitchen; I was hoping you m
ight be up for handling the cooking and spending the day with us. I understand how much work it is and I understand if you say no, but you are such a great cook and I would love to spend Thanksgiving with you. The boys feel the same way. I know it’s a lot of work, but I promise to make it up to you.”
“I’m pretty sure I can put together a decent Thanksgiving dinner for you. You do have my curiosity going though. What did you have in mind when you said you’d make it up to me?”
“Every Thanksgiving night, Rebeccah’s parents take the boys for the long weekend,” Leon said. “I was hoping Friday night you’d let me take you out to dinner; just the two of us.”
“So you are finally ready to make all your friends jealous by showing off your hot new girlfriend?” Deana joked. “I guess this has become a little more than a girl needing a good stove.”
The game ended at 3:30 and Deana excused herself so she could go home and get ready for work. Leon got up to walk her to her car. This time there was no missed signal; Leon kissed Deana with warmth and passion. She had never been kissed like that before.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw the boys looking at her and Leon through the window. She wasn’t sure how they’d react to her and Leon becoming a couple.
Sunday morning, 8:30am found Deana in the Samuels’ kitchen making breakfast. Leon, Mark and Luke appeared to be in good spirits but Matthew seemed a little down. Deana planned to talk to him alone after the church service.
When church ended, many stayed after to mingle in the courtyard. Mark had been keeping Deana’s football in Leon’s truck so they could play on Sundays. Mark wanted Deana to teach him how to throw tight spirals.
“Mark, there are two things to remember” Deana explained. “If you have small hands like I do, only put your pinky on the laces when you grip the ball. Also, the power and velocity is created by flicking your wrist.” Deana set up Mark’s hand on the ball. Matthew was about twenty yards away. Mark threw a great spiral and put the ball right in Matthew’s hands.
Before they left to get home in time to watch the 1pm NFL game on TV, Deana was able to get Matthew alone for a minute.
“I know you saw your father kiss me yesterday,” Deana said. “I’ve been praying this did not upset you. Leon and I are becoming closer and I hope this will be a positive for all of you and not a negative.”
“When I first met you three weeks ago I thought you were really cute,” Matthew explained. “I knew I liked you and I thought you liked me. That is why I wanted you to come to our house for dinner.”
“Thank you Matthew,” Deana replied. “I am really cute and you are too. I do really like you. But, I can like you only in a certain way because I am twenty–five and you are ten. It is wrong for an adult to have romantic feelings for someone your age. These feelings are for adults, like your father and I. I hope you are not mad at me.”
At that minute Leon called out he was ready to go home. The five of them jumped in the truck and headed back to Leon’s. Deana made corned beef and cabbage. Being at least half Irish, she considered it one of her specialties.
Monday was very cold. She did not want Luke to get sick so they worked out inside her half of the duplex. She did her sit–ups and push–ups but instead of running outside, she skipped rope inside. Luke was able to count faster now and he was able to keep her count. She was very proud of him.
At 3:30pm they met Matthew and Mark back at Leon’s house. She cooked her fried chicken dish and helped the boys with their homework.
At 8:30pm the football game was starting and she wanted to watch it with Leon. But it was cold now even inside the house. Deana usually sat in a chair next to the couch Leon sat on. Tonight would be different.
Deana went and got a blanket. She then sat down next to Leon on the couch. She pulled her legs up onto the couch and tucked the flair of her skirt between them so the material would be pinned in by her knees. She lifted Leon’s left arm so her head and body leaned against the left side of Leon’s torso. Her knees and body faced the television. Her feet were up against the back of the couch. Leon put the blanket and his left arm around her. She took her right hand and held his dangling left hand. They looked absolutely perfect together.
6am Thursday morning Deana arrived at the Leon’s house with a fourteen pound turkey, bread, onions and celery for stuffing, real potatoes and a block of yellow American cheese. For the vegetable she had bought three pounds of green beans which she would smother in butter.
Deana mixed the bread, the celery, the onions and the seasonings to make Mrs. Wilson styled stuffing. She then got the turkey in the oven fully seasoned and stuffed before seven. Every hour she took the turkey out of the oven and basted it with its own juices and butter. She did this four times. Having worked in restaurants for so many years, she knew how the food looks is almost as important as how it tastes. The continual basting gave the turkey flavor, but it also gave it a nice light brown coating which made it look absolutely delicious.
While the turkey was cooking she peeled the potatoes, boiled them and then mashed them. She took thin slices of the yellow American cheese and baked the cheese into the potatoes. She boiled the green beans then drenched them in real butter.
At 11:15am, Deana, Matthew, Mark, Luke and Leon loaded up the Dodge Ram and headed to Leon’s parents house in south Athens. Deana was very nervous about meeting Leon’s parents, brother, sister–in–law, and niece.
On the way Leon did his best to describe to Deana the five new people she would be meeting.
“You will love my mother Gracie,” Leon started. “She is a sweet, easy going Christian woman. She gets along with just about everyone. I think her secret is she is on the quiet side and keeps her opinions to herself.”
“My father is the opposite,” Leon explained. “He is very outspoken. He likes to be called Colonel. He was in the military in the late 1950’s. He served between The Korean War and The Viet Nam conflict. He never really saw heavy action, but don’t tell him that. He is in a wheel chair. He had a stroke a few years ago. He likes people to believe it is from a combat injury. He has a problem keeping his hands to himself. The first time he met Rebeccah he grabbed her inappropriately and she never forgave him. It caused a lot of hard feelings. If you want to ignore him and stay away from him I would understand.”
“My brother Lester is four years older than me,” Leon continued. “He is thirty–six. He was a Parade All–American award winning football player. He’s even taller than me. I’m 6’1, he is 6’3. He played Division 1 college football for The University of Georgia. He hurt his knee his junior year. By the time his knee was completely better, he was close to graduation. In his day he was a phenom. He played tight end. There was no pass he could not catch. He married his wife Claire fourteen years ago. They have a daughter Julie, who is eleven.”
“Claire is thirty–three years–old. Claire has been the ‘it’ girl since she was like four years old. She has won beauty contests, Little Miss Georgia pageants and State Fair pageants. She was the Homecoming Queen in high school. She has done modeling. She was the girl the parade sponsors wanted riding on their floats during parades. She’s never been a big fan of mine, but she got along real well with Rebeccah. I hope she is nice to you also.”
“Julie can be a pain in the butt. I guess many eleven year old girls are. She also is very beautiful but I’ve never liked her attitude. I’ve never really liked the way she carries herself either. She would be easier to deal with if she were more respectful.”
“So that is what you have to look forward to today. I hope I didn’t scare you off.”
“You gave me quite a bit of information to process,” Deana replied. “I just hope everyone likes me. I said a little prayer last night. I hope it helps.”
There was one thing Leon did not tell Deana. He had told Lester and his parents how pretty she was. Lester told Claire the rumor was Leon’s new girlfriend was very attractive. This did not sit well with Claire at all. She wasn’t nineteen anymore. On top o
f that, she and Lester were trying to get pregnant again. So it wasn’t like she could go to the gym and get into great shape like Deana. The weight gain from the pregnancy would make it hard for her to compete.
What really hurt Claire was the way Lester responded the first time he met Deana at the elder Samuels’.
When Leon, Deana, Matthew, Mark, and Luke got to the elder Samuel’s home, Leon brought in the huge pan with the turkey and the stuffing. Matthew carried in the cheese mashed potatoes and Mark had the green beans. Deana, carrying Luke, walked in last.
As she entered the foyer a large man said loudly, “My Lord, what a firecracker! If that girl was seven or eight inches taller she would be completely unstoppable. Put the baby down and let me get a good look at you.”
Deana was not completely sure what Lester meant and she was very uncomfortable. She was wearing church clothes. She had on the long tiered skirt and the full jacket. She was carrying a three–year–old. It wasn’t a response she was expecting.
Deana asked Mark if he would go get the football out of the truck. That way she could be outside with the boys for a little bit. She wasn’t quite ready for more Lester. She needed time to figure out Lester’s statements and how she wanted to proceed.
As they threw the football, Gracie came outside and walked toward them. Deana stopped playing and walked over to her meeting her half way.
“I am so sorry for seeming disrespectful,” Deana said. “When Lester called me a firecracker, I looked at his wife’s face and I could see how badly what he said hurt her. I did not know how to react. I was hoping maybe Leon could sort this out before dinner.”
“You did nothing wrong honey,” Gracie said. “That was just Lester being Lester. Trust me, Claire is used to it by now. Lester obviously thinks you are hot.”
“As a Christian woman,” Deana replied, “I put the onus on myself to be humble and demure. The meek shall inherit the earth.”
“I work as a waitress,” Deana continued. “Everyone tells me if I work at the chicken restaurant in the next town wearing shorty–shorts and a too tight white T–shirt I could make double the money. But that’s just not me. Yes, we make jokes about how ugly our conservative uniforms are. Because we parade around men all day, sometimes I thank the Lord for the ugly uniform.”
A Deal With God: The Power of One Page 6