Settling Old Scores: BWWM Second Chance Romance

by Sposs, Mike

  "It's funny I started out as a token for the law & order guy, and then became part of cleaning things up once the next mayor came along." Willie said with a chuckle referring to the first black mayor the city ever had. The sandwiches were served and they started in on them.

  "I worked at a fast food place in a white part of town when I got out of the paper business. Cops stopped by all the time on Friday and Saturday nights to keep the teenagers in line. One time, one of the officers told me they shot an escaping black guy in the back down in our old neighborhood. The investigating officer came over when the scene was taped off and planted an old starter pistol at the scene,” Kevin said.

  “Then the investigator told the patrolman that the story was you that saw the gun and knew he was armed. Then he told them to write up their reports and he would do the same. I don't think he was making this shit up," Kevin said.

  "I remember more than one story about people getting arrested and then getting the shit beaten out of them on the elevator, too. Really nothing more scientific than the time you and I did the same thing to that hapless prick that slapped around Janice. One guy grabs and holds, the other guy clubs," Kevin said.

  "That reminds me, you carrying still? I wouldn't want to have to arrest you," Willie said with a grin.

  "No, I don't have to do that anymore cause the cops have turned this into a law & order town," Kevin shot back.

  "Speaking of law & order but not justice, when I talked to Janet, she told me that Tammy works for those McCanns," Kevin said switching gears.

  "There is a couple of niggers I would like to book into my jail. Those motherfuckers got her under their spell. She is only nineteen and she thinks she is smarter than everyone. She is making big money and thinks she’s got the world by the tail. If they lay a finger on her, I will be on them. They will get some Willie Smith justice then," he said with menace.

  Willie continued on, "That element did take over the neighborhood after the riots. To put it in Marine terms, they were the insurgents. They filled the void left as the legitimates pulled out. The whole law & order thing was a misplaced effort to take back the neighborhoods. For every head they cracked, five niggers joined the insurgency. The populace won't talk to the police. The city couldn't afford enough cops to police what was happening. Now, we are trying to win back hearts and minds, so to speak. I wasn't a bad kid, I was an insurgent."

  "No street kid is going to rub shit in your eyes. I know that," Kevin said.

  Then Kevin told him the story of Marcy Greenberg and what a dead ringer she was for her mom. Willie laughed as he recalled Kevin falling down the stairs, eleven years earlier. He knew she disappeared after the grocery store burned. He knew she was probably a freelance hooker too. He pointed to a guy eating his lunch on the other side of the room. "That is the detective that has the case now. His name is Tom Perkins," he said.

  "Pretty sure they didn't look that hard for a body or a murderer in those days. Most of their efforts were going into busting heads. It was a lot more gratifying, even if it was in fact making things worse," Willie said.

  23. Seeking Approval

  "Do you think the McCanns had anything to do with Sylvia's going missing?" Kevin asked.

  "I really never thought about it. She was nineteen, same as my sister is now," said Willie, frowning at the realization of what he had just said. "It's all just speculation. If you really want to know, talk to the detective."

  "You know, I probably will. I bet he hasn't looked at that case in a long time. In the absence of new info, I don't see why he would," Kevin said.

  “If you want, I could ask him what he knows about the case. I could tell him your story about the daughter being a dead ringer for her mom down to the voice prints. Maybe, just knowing that would make him look at it closer. I think he even has a daughter about Marcy's age. He is bound to have a little empathy," said Willie.

  "It could work the other way too. Guy with a ninth grade daughter probably is sick of her bullshit. They are either so sweet they can melt your heart and wrap you around their finger or so bitchy you would like to strangle them yourself," Kevin said with a laugh.

  "Yeah, don't I know it? I have two daughters and already they play me like a fiddle," Willie said, reaching for his wallet and pulling out some pictures. He showed Kevin some pictures of two little girls and said, "Sheila is my wife's name. I met her after I got out of the Marines, in sunny California."

  Kevin looked at the girls. They were gorgeous and biracial too. Then he flipped to a picture of a striking blond woman. "Willie, you married a California blond white girl! Why, am I not surprised? Janet didn't tell me that part," Kevin said smiling.

  "You don't want to go there with me! Here, you are banging Pat Washington! Are you serious about her? Once you go that way, you know what happens. We used to call her Zebra, Oreo girl, and my favorite ─ Inside Out Oreo, in grade school," Willie laughed as he recalled Pat.

  Kevin winced as he heard the names. "Willie, you are going be amazed at me. I didn't even realize she was mixed until last week when she told me. She practically has a doctorate in music these days. I am serious about her. I’ve been dogging her for years. Finally, it's paid off," said Kevin.

  "Some detective you would make. Did you miss that she is great looking and has a great ass too? Inquiring minds want to know," Willie said as he fed the last of his sandwich into his mouth.

  "Yeah! As a matter of fact, I noticed the great body just last night when I was intimate with her. She has a fear that I will just screw her and then run off with some white chick. You and Sheila must have had some of those same kind of conversations. Abandonment and illegitimate children are the real fears for Pat," said Kevin.

  Willie sighed, "Yeah, we have had a lot of those conversations. Too many, to be specific. You can't spend your whole life worrying about what other people think, or what might happen. All I can tell you is, do what makes you happy and fuck what people think. Janet and Sheila are never going to be sisters-in-law that are like sisters. Sheila and her mother-in-law are never going to be like a mom and daughter. I ain't never going to be a brother to my brothers-in-law either. You know, we should all get together sometime. Sheila and Pat would get along just fine. Intimate with her? Listen to the college boy. You and I, well that might be pushing it," Willy said with a laugh while slapping Kevin on the shoulder.

  "You know that would be fun! I will talk to Pat. I can't imagine that she wouldn't enjoy seeing you again. I will tell her you noticed she was good looking and had a great ass," Kevin said with a grin.

  "I suppose you would just have to do that within earshot of Sheila. Don't do me any favors asshole. Remember that I got plenty of goods on you too. Seriously, I have always admired Pat. She put up with a lot of torment in grade school. She never seemed to let it get to her too much. She is smarter than smart, too. Everybody had a crush on her by the time we got out of high school, except for some very jealous girls on both sides of the color spectrum. I don't know what the fuck she sees in you. Must be something not visible on a clothed man. I have to get back to work now, but let's try to get together," Willie said.

  "I will give you a shout in a couple of days, after I talk to Perkins" Willie added.

  Kevin had one more stop to make before he went home. That was to make a quick call on Mr. Sharp at the AA chapter office. He had five or six old books with him that explained Vedic Math. He thought Mr. Sharpe would like to read them and make them available to some of the math club kids. He wanted to set an appointment to come back to the club after the books had been circulated for a while. He thought he had one more interesting little talk in him about fractions.

  Mr. Sharpe was waiting on him, drinking coffee by the gallon and smoking his Pall Malls. "Kevin, how ya doing?" he said.

  "Oh, just fine. I brought some books that you and the math club might find interesting. Next week, can I come in again? I have at least one more rather fascinating lecture about fractions and conversions in me," Kevin said as he
pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and wrote down some numbers.

  He wrote down the fraction 1/7th and the decimal .142857. "The decimal is the equivalent of 1/7th. It is a repeating decimal that repeats after six digits, one less than seven. Notice that if you split it in half and put one half under the other, the sum of the digits equals .999? That's part of what I want to talk about," Kevin said.

  Mr. Sharpe said, "I guess I need to look at the books so I can follow along to some extent. I saw in one book a little chapter about this."

  "By the way, I did read some of those old clippings about the riots. There wasn't much new in them. Actually, it was depressing to read them over eleven years after the fact. I have to say the neighborhood lost the war, so to speak," Kevin said solemnly.

  "They have, but I ain't giving up. If anything, I am more determined than ever to make a difference with these kids. That's why I keep getting on you about teaching. I think you could make a difference too. Keep working on getting your Captain's ticket. I know that means a lot to you. You could sail in the summers and teach the rest of the year, you know. Your relationship with Pat Washington isn't likely to last once she is done going to school unless you are ashore with her. If you are serious about her, give that some thought. I have given you a lot of advice over the years and I haven't been wrong yet, have I?" he challenged.

  "You have been like a father to me and you have never steered me wrong. I always marvel at your wisdom. Like the time you talked me out of joining the Marines instead of the Navy. I don't know where my life would have gone if I hadn't followed your advice. I do know I wouldn't be working at getting a Merchant Captains License," Kevin said with feeling.

  "I have more things to ask you about too. I didn't know until just this weekend that Pat was biracial. You must have known that she was, right?" Kevin asked.

  "Yeah, I knew it. This must be getting more serious than I realized. I just about said something to you the other day, but then decided against it. I have seen her on occasion over the years. She is a gorgeous woman. She has a great head on her shoulders, I know that too," Mr. Sharpe continued on.

  "What’s not to like? We have both been to places where race is not an issue. It is going to happen here, too. I have been at it so long, I am as color blind as you apparently are," he said with a smile.

  "Yeah. Well, I am blind when it comes to her. I have been smitten for a long time. I think I have found my match in this girl," Kevin said.

  "Kevin, that's great. If she makes you happy and vice versa, don't let anything stop you. I have counseled enough people over the years to have heard a lifetime of regrets. Don't let that happen to you! I am not saying relationships are easy. I still have spats with the old lady. After a while, you just have a bond that transcends all that. You two have been friends a long time before you became more than that. There has to be something there that binds you together," said Mr. Sharpe.

  "Still, she has issues," Kevin said doubtfully.

  "So what! Who doesn’t?" Mr. Sharpe said.

  "She doesn't really think of herself as biracial. She thinks of herself as white. I don't think it's a good idea to deny half your genes, or more accurately about a fourth of them. She has nothing good to say about her father, although she never met him or heard his side of the story as to how he abandoned her. I am smart enough to know that if you don't address your demons they win. It is that plain and simple." said Kevin.

  "All that is true. As you get older, you learn to define yourself on your terms rather than let someone else define you. She is going to get better over time; not worse, you will see. You can solve the male trust issue with deeds, not words. I will say it one more time for emphasis. Deeds not words, Kevin! I know you can do that because you have great personal integrity," Mr. Sharpe said.

  "If it helps any, I don't think either you or Pat realizes how tough it was for Hannah or Dwayne, I think his name was.

  Lots of people made it tough for them. Imagine for a second that instead of telling you to pursue your love, I told you to get the hell away from Pat. Imagine that I questioned your morals, your sense, and actually acted on my beliefs. Imagine I did everything in my power to make sure you and Pat would fail. Then, maybe you would get the feel for how hard things were for them," Mr. Sharpe said.

  "Do you know what happened to Dwayne Washington?" Kevin asked.

  "I know he made a lot of bad career moves at a bad point in time. Let's put it that way. He was black and employed. A lot of returned veterans needed jobs and were white. He was involved in labor issues up here that made him even more visible in a negative way. Then he went and got a single white girl pregnant that actually worked at the same company causing them to lose a valuable worker. I ain't saying it was racism. I am saying he was the nail that stood out for hammering. He quickly lost his job. Their economic prospects were zero. What would you do in that situation?

  "I follow you there. I bet he couldn't even collect unemployment when they were done with their case on him," Kevin said.

  "Well, as a matter of fact, neither of them could. It wasn't as though he could go across the street and get another job either. The few mills up here were all going out of business or moving to right to work states in the sunny South. It was a declining industry up here," Mr. Sharpe said.

  "Are you saying he didn't have much choice but to bail out?" Kevin asked.

  "Look, I won't pretend for a second I know what he thought. I know his bridges were burned up here. Maybe, he did the brave thing and bailed out knowing that it would be better for his soon to be born daughter, and his new wife. Maybe, he even knew that if he ever set eyes on his daughter, he wouldn't have the courage to do what was best for her. How would you like to have to make that choice? Now, you tell me who is the good and decent man?" Mr. Sharpe asked.

  "Looks like you have given me yet another assignment," Kevin remarked quietly.

  "We don't get the luxury in life of choosing what decisions we have to make. We just have to make the decisions and play the cards. Maybe, he was in the same boat," Mr. Sharpe said.

  "On another note, I have been trying to help Matt Taaunen get some help from the VA. He was the kid that came back from being a tunnel rat to become a train wreck once he got out. You must remember him too," Kevin said.

  "I do. Once you have been my student, I am your teacher for life. That's just the way it is. Once you have been a marine, you are a marine forever. That is just the way it is, too. He was both and has been a friend of Bill's twice over the years, never for more than six months. At some point, he will get there. It may take another ten years like it did for me. Don't let up on him. Try to get him in here to see me. I am impressed with you, Kevin. You are out there trying to help your fellow man and woman as best you can. Your dad would be proud of you," Mr. Sharpe said tossing a beefy arm around Kevin's shoulder.

  "Yeah, that's another area I have to work on. I know I am getting too old to blame everything on my dad. Accept, change what you can, and hopefully know the difference as they say," said Kevin.

  "You are getting there buddy. Stay the course!" Mr. Sharpe concluded as they walked to the door.

  As Kevin went home, he mulled over his day. He felt pretty good. He had been reassured by Willie and Mr. Sharpe. His time with Matt had been beneficial. He made plans to get Matt some help with his hearing and maybe even his teeth. He looked forward to talking with Pat about his day. He also wondered if Tammy Smith could tell him anything about the McCanns he didn't know. It was hard to believe the girl was now so grown up that she was stripping for a living. In Kevin's mind, she was frozen in time as the little girl that still idolized Willie and him whenever she saw them. It pissed him off to think she was making money for those two assholes.

  Then there was the Dwayne Washington question. Should he chase around trying to find him, or just let the past alone, he wondered.

  When he got back to the apartment, Pat was at the kitchen table working on her thesis. She looked up and gave him a big smil
e. "I woke up and you were gone this morning. I am sleeping so late these days," she said.

  "Maybe, we should switch to afternoon delight, or morning delight instead of staying up half the night fooling around with each other," Kevin said as he suggestively massaged her shoulders and kissed her neck.

  "What do you think you are doing Mister?" she purred, and kissed him back.

  "Well Pat, since you won't ask me about my day, I am going to tell you about it in boring detail, after I get done delighting you," he said.

  24. At the VA

  Kevin and Pat were still intertwined in the sheets when Kevin started to tell her about his day. He told her about seeing Janet. He told her how with just a few questions she was filling him in on her sister Tammy. He got her caught up on Matt too. "I actually think I can at least get him to go in for a hearing test. I am going to guess he will at least get some disability pay out of it. You can't go in a dark tunnel looking for the enemy without your hearing. They surely didn't wear ear plugs down there. I bet he came out of some of those places with his ears ringing like there was no tomorrow," Kevin said.

  Then he told her about meeting Willie for the first time in about eight years. "You wouldn't believe what he looks like now! He is 270 lbs of solid muscle. He filled out more than even you did in the last eight years," Kevin said as he fondled her boob tenderly.

  "Willie turned into a body builder? It's hard to imagine," Pat said batting his hand away with a smile.

  "Anyway, he did ask me about my relationship with you. He thought it was funny that I didn't know your story. He has two mixed kids, both little girls, and a very blond California girl for a wife. So, we traded some gibes about that. He told me some of the names they used to call you. Jesus Christ! Hearing them come out of his mouth was more painful than hearing about it from you," Kevin said.