by Mina Carter
“It’s been a long time, I admit,” Dad said, and I could see him weakening. “Longer than I can remember off hand.”
“I’m more reliable, even with this bum leg, than most high school kids. I’d even be willing to take over for a week or two and let you take that beautiful wife of yours out of town on a second honeymoon.”
“Now boy, you know what buttons to push don’t you? You just got yourself a job. I usually start feeding at about six, but if you show up by five fifteen or so that wife of mine will feed you too.”
“I wouldn’t want to impose,” Devon said.
“Not at all,” Mom said, stepping into the room, having heard most of the last bit from the hallway. “I miss not having anyone around to feed. I spent years cooking for my kids and the myriad of their friends that were always hanging around. I’m up and cooking for James anyway, it’s no trouble at all to make enough for you too.”
“Well, if you’re sure.”
“I am. You show up by five fifteen and I’ll feed you like you deserve.”
“Thank you, Ma’am, I appreciate it.”
“When do you want to start?” Dad asked.
“Well, when do you need me?” Devon asked a question of his own.
“Would tomorrow be too soon?”
“Not at all. I’ll be here bright, early, and ready to work.”
I heard the front door open and my sister Brittney and her family come in. It’s hard to mistake the yelling and excitement of her kids for anyone else. I got up and met the kids coming down the short hallway.
I snatched Jimmy up off the floor as he ran by and threatened to tickle him into submission for running in the house again.
“What am I going to do with you?” I snarled at him, me pretending to be a monster has been a game between us for a long time. “I think I’ll take you and feed you to the mean old Grandpa monster.”
“YEAH, YEAH!! GRANDPA!!” he yelled. I tucked him under one arm and proceeded to carry him like a football toward the living room where the Grandpa monster was hiding. “Britt?” I called over my shoulder.
“Yeah?” I heard her ask.
“You remember Devon Wilson right? Ran with Pace’s group in school?”
“Oh, yeah! How have you been?” I heard her ask him as we entered the living room; I continued to wrestle with the wiggling boy in my arms. I walked over to where Dad was sitting in his recliner and I started to lower Jimmy down over him.
“Grandpa, I brought you a wiggly little boy to eat. He might be a little squirmy but he should be nice and tender.”
“Let me have him,” Dad reached up to take the squirming boy from me. “I’ve been hungry for some little boy, and I may just have to tickle him into good behavior.” Dad proceeded to tickle the already wiggly boy now lying across his lap, making him squirm and squeal at the treatment.
I turned back to my sister and lifted Tammy out of her arms.
“And how are you doing today, little one? Has your mama been treating you right?” I lifted her high above my head, wiggling her gently as she giggled at me. I bounced her up and down several times before settling her down on my hip again. “And how has your brother been?” I asked, still talking to the baby. “Is he playing nice? Or is he teasing you and pulling your hair?” She just giggled in response, Jimmy finally managed to squirm free of the tickling his grandfather was giving him and he climbed down from his lap just in time for me to set Tammy down with Dad, where she quickly snuggled against him. I lead Jimmy over to the corner and got him interested in some of the toys stacked there, before going back into the kitchen to finish dinner.
I was putting the ice bucket back in the freezer after filling the glasses on the table when the front door opened again. The newest scent in the house told me that the newcomer was Cam, just in time to sit down for dinner. Mom stepped into the living room and announced dinner was ready. Everyone walked into the dining room and started taking seats, but Devon hung back, waiting to be told where he was supposed to sit.
“Just pick one, Devon, no one bites, except maybe Tammy,” I said, watching the indecision on his face. I placed both hands in the middle of his back and gently pushed him toward the table. I sensed Cam walk into the room behind me. “Cam,” I said, “You remember Devon Wilson?”
“Yeah, I remember him,” Cam turned to Devon. “How you doing, Man?”
“Not bad, you?”
“Can’t complain,” he replied as we all took our seats, Devon snagging a chair next to mine. We had started passing dishes around the table and serving our selves.
“So, Nick, you making an announcement?” Cam asked. “Bringing someone to Sunday dinner can be quite a statement.” I heard the teasing note in his voice but I could also see the embarrassment creep up Devon’s neck.
“No, blockhead,” I snapped, sorry that my brother’s teasing was embarrassing Devon. “I ran into Devon as he was moving into my apartment complex, and we got to talking. He’s just moved back to the area and I thought it would be nice to bring him to dinner and let him catch up with everyone.”
“Ahh...” Cam grinned mischievously, as though he thought I wasn’t telling the whole truth. He turned to Devon and asked, “So, what’re you doing these days?”
“I’ve only been back in town for a couple weeks and I’ve spent most of that looking for a place to live. Once I had that that, I started looking for a job.”
“Don’t most people do that the other way around?”
“Generally, but since when have I been like most people? Anyway, my disability checks pay the rent and food, I was looking for a job for something to do and for the exercise”
“Hang on, I missed something, disability? Was looking?” Confusion replaced the teasing look on Cam’s face. “I thought you said you are looking, and how’d you get hurt?”
“Training accident with the Army, I shattered my leg. I’ve been recovering for a year, but it’s taking too long to suit the Army so they gave me a medical discharge and a disability pension. It goes farther here and my family’s still around, so I moved back. And I was looking, until this evening, but I think I’ve found the perfect job for me.”
“So what’s the new job?”
“Helping your dad around the farm. I offered to take the position that he normally gives to high-school kids, but I went a little farther and I offered to work every other weekend and let him and your mom take some time off, maybe go out of town for a change if they want,” Devon shared.
Cam looked surprised and so did Britt. I don’t think it had occurred to either of them that Mom and Dad almost never get to take vacations because someone always has to be around to make sure the animals get fed.
“That’s a lot of physical labor; do you think your leg’ll hold up?” Cam asked.
“I think so, but I need to work it and strengthen it anyway. Your dad will understand if I need a few minutes rest or to quit early once in a while, because of it. That’s not something I could do most places.”
“And I guess if you were the kind of guy to quit early and blame your leg too often then you wouldn’t be looking for the kind of job that push it and strengthen it, would you?”
“Probably not. I’d like to get back in the kind of shape it would take for me to get back into the Army. Not that I have any intentions of rejoining, but I liked being in shape.”
“I can understand that.”
I’d kept silent through all this, knowing that if I spoke up and defended Devon in any way that Cam and the others would take it as confirmation of the assertion that Cam had made earlier, that I was bringing a boyfriend home to meet the family.
There was plenty of chatter and visiting going on at the table as we ate; it was a friendly atmosphere with lots of laughter and teasing. Devon appeared to fit right in and enjoy the evening.
After dinner Mom told Cam, Raine and Brittney that Devon and I had helped her get dinner on the table, and cleaning up would be their job. With that Mom, Dad, Devon, Tracy, the kids and I we
nt into the living room and sat down. We visited for a little while and when Britt came in and offered everyone a slice of the chocolate cake that Mom had made for dessert, we all accepted. She took the kids back into the kitchen and when I offered to help serve, Britt said no that she and the boys could take care of it.
It was about eight when Devon and I left. We had a good evening, but we both had to get up early for work the next day and wanted to call it a night.
Chapter 14
ON MY WAY home from work Tuesday evening I looked toward Devon’s apartment on my way through the courtyard and saw him sitting in a lawn chair on his small front porch. I turned in his direction, as I approached I noticed he had a beer in one hand.
“Hey, how’s it going?” I asked him.
“No complaints.”
“How’s the new job going?”
“So far so good. I show up early and your mom feeds me, or I show up on time and I’m on my own for breakfast. Either way, I get up early and I work hard.
“You’re dad’s easy to get along with. He tells me what needs to be done but doesn’t micro-manage and follow me around telling me how to do it. He trusts that I can figure out how to do what he asks me to do, and if I can’t that I’ll ask for directions. I think it’s gonna to work out well for both of us.”
“I hope it does, it’s been wearing him out to have to train a new kid every year. He had to show each one how to do the most basic stuff. Most of it’s stuff you’ll already know, or you can figure out how to do on your own with a little instruction. They had to be shown over and over, and then, just as he got them trained, they’d quit when school started again, leaving him with no help. And he’d start again the next summer.”
“Well, I think he’s likely hit an end to the cycle. So far, I like the work. Sure it may be rough and dirty, but I don’t mind that part. It’s flexible, I get to be out in the sunshine and I like my boss, and I have no intentions of up and leaving at the end of the summer.”
“I wasn’t thinking that you would. I think it’ll work out for the best all the way around. So, if you’re done for the day, what are your plans for the evening?”
“Not much, I’m planning on sitting here and relaxing, maybe seeing what’s on the screen before I crash for the night. I get up and go to work early you know…” he teased.
“Have you eaten?” I asked.
“Not yet. I was trying to decide if I wanted to try to fix myself something or use the push button stove.”
“Nuke or call for delivery?”
“I was thinking delivery; I don’t think I even have anything in the house I could just nuke.”
“Well, I have some lasagna in the fridge, if you want to come up, we can nuke it. If that interests you.”
“I don’t know.”
“I have plenty, it’s no trouble.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep, you can’t make lasagna in a small pan, so when I get a craving for it I end up eating it for a week so it doesn’t go to waste. You’d be saving me from that fate.”
“So by letting you feed me, again, I’m doing you a favor?”
“You could say that.”
“Well, when you put it that way I guess I could be convinced to help you out. Especially for homemade lasagna.”
“Come on up whenever you’re ready. I’m going to go up and get comfortable. I’ll leave the door unlocked for you.”
“I’ll be up in a minute, I’m going to finish this and close up here.” He lifted his nearly empty bottle.
“That’s fine.” I turned and headed back across the courtyard to the stairs that lead to my apartment. I heard Devon starting to move behind me as I climbed the flights of stairs to my apartment. I marveled for a moment at how my hearing had improved to hear such small sounds at that distance.
I reached the top of the stairs and thumbed the lock on the door to let myself in. I went into the bedroom and quickly changed into a loose pair of shorts and a tank top, I wanted something comfortable to wear around the house after all day in a suit.
Deciding not to wait for Devon to get started I went into the kitchen and started preparing dinner. I made two plates, put them in the microwave one at a time, and I had just pulled the first plate out and traded it for the second when I heard the front door open. I caught Devon’s scent on the air still moving from the door opening and knew he was the one to open the door.
“I’m in the kitchen,” I yelled. Pulling a fork out of the drawer, I set it on the plate with the hot lasagna and put it on the table. Devon walked into the kitchen and I asked, “What do you want to drink? Water, Tea, soda, or another beer?”
“Tea sounds great, if you don’t mind.”
“If I minded I wouldn’t have offered,” I stuck my tongue out playfully at him as I grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and added ice before filling it with tea from a pitcher in the fridge. I set the glass on the table in front of him just as the microwave beeped that my dinner was hot. I pulled my plate out and picked up the fork I had used to cut up the two servings off the counter and joined Devon at the table. “So, what kind of screen do you watch?” I asked.
“Eh, depends on my mood. I prefer movies to series, nothing to miss if you get busy and miss a week or ten.”
“I can see the attraction,” I replied. “I have a few series I watch but it’s the off season, so there’s nothing new on. I do have a large movie library, you’re welcome to pick something out and we can watch it, or you can take it back to your place if you want.”
“Hmm… Let’s see... I have the choice of watching a movie all by myself, or watching one with a pretty girl... Seems like an obvious choice to me. What kinds of movies do you have?”
“Only chick flicks and sappy romances,” I struggled to keep a straight face. I couldn’t manage it and soon broke out giggling.
“Chick flicks and sappy romances, huh?”
“Well, there might be a couple crime dramas, thrillers or shoot ‘em up actions… Maybe, if you look really hard.”
“How hard might I have to look?”
“Well, it would be really hard, you’d have to go in there and look through the list of recordings…” We finished our lasagna and when I picked up our plates I shooed him into the other room, “You go ahead, I’ll load these and be right there.” I loaded the plates and flatware into the dishwasher and refilled both of our glasses before carrying them into the living room to join Devon.
I walked into the room and set Devon’s glass on the end table next to the sofa where he was seated, I sat on the other end of the same piece of furniture and set my glass at my end of the same table. I had other furniture, but the sofa was situated directly across from my viewing screen, and it had the best view. Devon was scrolling through the list of my recordings
“Chick flicks and sappy romances, huh?” he asked again dryly.
“Well… Maybe I lied.” I grinned.
“Yeah, like totally opposite, I might find a chick flick in here if I hunt... But you have some classic action flicks in here, lots of thrillers, some comedy, a few horror.” He sounded surprised, “You even have some John Wayne westerns. He died when my mom was a baby. This is a lot like what my list would look like if I had spent a few years collecting films, instead of regularly paring it down so I have less to haul around like I have.”
“I’m glad you like it. Did you find something you wanna watch?”
“There’s some good stuff here that I haven’t seen in years.” He chose a film almost as old as me. “You picked a classic at my place last time, let’s go for another.”
“Whatever you want, if it’s in there I’ll enjoy it.”
As the film started and the screen went black and foggy, you could hear a young girl’s voice singing as a ship moved slowly into the frame. I kicked my shoes off under the sofa table and pulled them up into the seat beside me, curling in to a comfortable position to watch the film.
“Make yourself at home,” I told Devon, inviting hi
m to kick off his shoes and put his feet up if he wanted to.
We sat back and enjoyed the movie all the way to the final kiss, when I shut off the screen and Devon thanked me for dinner and a nice evening before he left, citing an early morning and a need to get some sleep.
After he left I locked the door before walking through the small apartment turning things off, before showering and heading to bed.
Chapter 15
FRIDAY MORNING I showed up bright and early at the clinic. I found the small parking lot in the back with no trouble and after parking my car I realized I didn’t have a key to the back door of the clinic so I walked through the back gate to use the front door of the small office. Alexis and Caden were both already there, waiting for something to happen. We had our usual visit over coffee and soon settled into separate activities.
I tried to read for a while, but I was restless, and I just couldn’t settle down. I started looking for things to do to keep me busy. I wandered through the clinic, looking for something to clean or put away but I found nothing that needed doing.
I offered to go pick up lunch for everyone, anything to get out for a few minutes. I wasn’t sure why but I was feeling antsy and anxious. Something was obviously wrong and I could tell that Alexis and Caden could see it, but I had no clue what was causing it. They sat on the sofa in the front room for a while, just watching me pace back and forth.
“What’s up Nickie?” Alexis asked after Caden went in the break room to get away from what he called my unsettling behavior.
“I’m not sure. I’m restless. I feel like I need to move, to keep going and honestly, it’s starting to get on even my nerves.”
“You’ve paced this place until I’m dizzy from watching you.”
“I know, I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s up today.”
“How are things going at home?” she asked calmly, her voice peaceful.
“No problems. I live alone, so there’s no one there to worry with any odd behavior like this. I’ve learned to handle glass again, so I’ve been back to work for a while, and that seems to be going fine too.”