by Hannovah
“This is for you, Miss Edna,” she said with her spacey-teeth grin.
“Oh, thanks, Ashley.” This took me by surprise: totally unexpected. I set the bag on the kitchen table and opened it. “Marinating sauce from the islands! Three bottles! You shouldn’t have. Thanks.”
I was touched by her thoughtfulness, and I hugged her.
“I was in the supermarket when I saw it,” she said, smiling more than ever, and tucking her blonde hair behind her ears. “And I thought you could use it with all the cooking that you do and you can cook.”
“Oh, I really, really appreciate this, Ashley.” What a nice gesture. She’s not so bad after all.
Brandon emerged from the den to join us as we took a seat at the table. He too, was appreciative of Ashley’s gift as he picked up one of the bottles and scrutinized it.
“Nice,” he said with a smile. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Joshua said. Then he put Ashley in a pretend head-lock and kissed her cheek. “Now you see why I chose her, ah?”
Brandon and I smiled at their affectionate display, and I sensed that he too was hoping for the best for Joshua. Ashley was nothing like Joanne; she was warm, kind, and obviously highly sexed: maybe too much. Joshua was a happy man once more, and truthfully, I’ve never seen him happier.
“Josh came by my job today and hung out at the bar,” Ashley boasted.
I swallowed, not knowing what to say. I guess they knew by now that we were privy to Ashley’s job choice and they were comfy with that. These young folks are so different from our generation.
“He comes by almost every day my man I just love this man,” she said, and planted a kiss on his thin, grinning lips.
Joshua was too blissful to talk, but his actions spoke louder than anything he could say because he was smiling without break, and innocently, like a Down Syndrome child: the guy was euphoric. It seemed he could not believe he was this lucky.
“Ashley, may I ask you a personal question?” I was curious about something.
“Sure.”
“What happened to your tongue? Were you in an accident?”
She giggled like a child, and Joshua joined her. “Nooo I had it slit.”
My expanded eyes asked, on purpose?
“I thought it would be cool everyone gets piercings and tattoos I wanted something different.” She flickered her lizard tongue out at us and then chuckled.
My eyes shifted away from hers as I said, “Oh I see.”
Brandon smiled and said, “It’s different alright.”
Then Ashley stood up. “What can I do about these stretch marks?” she asked. With that, she stuck her thumbs into the waist of her shorts and dragged them down so rapidly, I thought she was taking them off. I instinctively reached out my hand to stop her, but I was a bit late. We all glimpsed the beginnings of the cleft in her cat which was easily seen because she was clean shaven down there. But a few wavy marks, barely visible were present, just a hair above. Then she yanked up the legs of her shorts like she wanted them to reach her shoulders. “And these?” she asked, pointing to her outer flanks.
“Try some cocoa butter,” I answered quickly. “That might help.”
“I will,” she said, and took her seat.
Joshua’s droopy light browns were still happy, though not as imbecilic now. And Brandon, avoiding my eyes, seemed like he was not affected one way or the other by this event. Ha. I had a good mind to ask him to go get me something, just to see if he could leave his chair without embarrassing himself. Hmmm.
“Well we only came by to give you the sauce,” Joshua said, and he got up with Ashley clinging to his arm.
“And thanks again,” I said.
Brandon bid them goodbye from the protective cover of the table and chair, and I escorted them to the door to see them off.
They skipped, arm in arm, on the driveway toward their car and they entered and cranked it up. Suddenly, there was a horrible screaming of tires and I saw a large, black car (looked like an unmarked one that police officers drive) take off from where it was parked about a hundred yards away. It barreled straight towards the Camry, stopping just inches away, and bobbing up and down from the sudden stop. It blocked them in.
I thought I was dreaming.
Joshua got out the car to see who was behind him.
“Let me see your hands!” shouted a uniformed man who jumped out of the big black car. He pointed one hand at Joshua, and with the other, he held a dull black handgun pointing downward.
Police.
“Both of you!” he yelled again.
Joshua put his hands up immediately. The man approached him and made him sit, hands on his head, on our driveway, away from the Camry.
A police car then arrived and parked behind the black one. No one came out of that vehicle.
Then a female officer came out from the first car and approached Ashley whose hands were outstretched through the open window.
The woman cop opened Ashley’s door carefully. “Step outside, m’am.”
Ashley obeyed without resistance.
“Ashley Anderson?”
“Yes officer.”
“You are under arrest for parole violation. Turn around.”
Ashley obeyed again, and the cop forced her arms down and clicked on a pair of handcuffs as quick as a hiccup while reciting rights. Tears ran down Ashley’s face as she was carried off and shoved into the back seat of the big black car. The first officer spoke briefly with Joshua before joining his colleague, and then both cars drove away as if nothing happened.
I turned and bumped into Brandon. “Oh!” I gasped. “I didn’t realize you were behind me.”
“Yeah. I saw what happened.”
We walked towards a dazed Joshua who was still seated on the ground.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
“I don’t know what’s going on. I’m heading down to the city jail,” he answered, and got into his car.
Brandon said, “Listen, call me as soon as you hear something.”
“Okay.”
Joshua returned that evening to give us the lowdown about Ashley.
“While waiting down at the jail,” he began, “I called her mom in Daytona to let her know what’s happening with her daughter, but she already expected the news. She told me that the authorities came to her home three days ago looking for Ashley because she didn’t check in with her parole officer. She informed them that Ashley was in Miami with me, and gave them my name and address, and a description of my car. That’s how they found her. I was disappointed that her mom never called to alert us, but I didn’t say anything.”
“Maybe she did tell Ashley, and Ashley chose not to tell you,” Brandon suggested.
“That could be true. So anyway, I had to wait two hours before I got to speak with Ashley, and this is what she told me. She had done some time for trafficking drugs and was out on parole. She was required to check in with her parole officer every two weeks, and not leave the county without his permission. She had permission to be in Orlando as long as she made her regular check-ins. Well, we met and fell in love. And since I’m in school in Miami, we decided that we would have to live here because we can’t live without each other or at least not that far apart. You know, it’s more than a couple hundred miles between here and Daytona.”
“So you had no idea about the time served and the parole?” Brandon asked.
“No. She thought to tell me about it, but not wanting to lose me, she took the chance that it would all work out.”
I asked, “How much do you know about this girl?”
“A lot,” he replied quickly while sitting up and pushing his palms out so as to stop any further comments. “I know everything I need to know. She had a rough childhood, you know, from the time she was born. When Ashley was three months, she had respiratory problems, and her mom took her to the hospital where she stayed for a week. But the day before she was to be released, her father stole her straight out of the pediatric ward.
”
“What!” I shouted. “Get out of here.”
Joshua continued. “The police was involved in searching for her, but never found her. Ashley’s mom, on her own, found her and stole her back. That was the last time that Ashley saw her father.”
“What a story,” Brandon commented.
“Yes, she had it rough.” Joshua looked sympathetic. “At age eight she was abused by her babysitter who did her all sorts of things. Things like . . . she would make her bathe in freezing water. She would make her kneel naked on a grater for a whole hour. She would pee in a cup and make Ashley drink it.”
“No! No!” I said, feeling to puke. “That’s gross!”
“And Ashley was too scared to tell her mom, so the mistreatment went on for a while . . . until one day her mom came home early and found Ashley on the grater. That’s how the abuse stopped.”
“This sounds like what you would hear on Oprah and Dr. Phil,” I said.
Joshua had more. “At age thirteen she was sexually abused by a family member. I can’t repeat the details.”
“That’s awful.”
“I know. And her mom wasn’t the best in the world either. She slept with a couple of Ashley’s boyfriends, and Ashley would leave home every time she found out.”
Brandon was quick. “I guess you may be next on her list.”
Joshua laughed. “I know if she got me alone, she would try.”
“Ah-hah.”
“Yes, it was rough for Ashley. And all of these experiences made her rebellious. She ended up spending most of her teen years in juvenile hall. Today, down at the city jail, she told me that when she left high school, she hung with the wrong crowd, smoking, drinking, etcetera. Her mom got fed up and kicked her out. So in order to survive, she became a drug mule.”
“Ahhh!” Brandon sighed with his eyes closed. “Josh, I think you –”
“But she’s different now,” Joshua cut in. “She’s really trying to get her life back on track and I intend to help her. I’ll find an attorney and speak with her parole officer.”
Joshua left us shortly afterwards because he had his academic commitments to fulfill.
I asked Brandon as soon as I shut the front door, “What were you going to say when Joshua interrupted you?”
“Well, I was about to tell him to be cautious. I wanted to sing: Take time to know her; it’s not an overnight thing.”
I agreed fully with Brandon; Josh doesn’t really know her. Love can be so blind, and dumb, and deaf. And, no doubt, this sudden separation would only cause them to grow even closer. I guess time will tell.
I forced the issues of Joshua and Ashley out of my head to concentrate on packing for our vacation trip to California.
As usual, we left Yvette to watch our house, and left Maxwell in charge of our rental business, while we spent ten refreshing days in splendid weather among Brandon’s family and friends. As always it was fun. But again, while we thoroughly enjoyed it, we were glad to return to our life back home in Miami.
Sometimes the judicial system here in Florida can be slower than pouring molasses, because the days that Ashley Anderson remained in custody began to add up. I felt it for her and Joshua. Today, being Sunday, they should have been at home enjoying each other or at the beach or something. Oh well. As Brandon often said, “How you make your bed, is how you lie in it.”
But I was buoyant that day because any minute now, my cousin, Cynthia, who lived a few hours away in Ft. Meyers, should pop up in our driveway. She was shuttling one of her visiting girlfriends back to the Miami Airport, and her plan was to overnight with us and then hit the road back to Ft. Meyers in the morning. She was fortunate to find Brandon and me in town because we had just returned yesterday from California.
As I greeted Cynthia in our driveway, Joshua’s old car drove up and parked on the street. He was alone again.
I introduced the strangers, and then the three of us found Brandon who was in the den watching his games. He turned off the TV, claiming that his team had no chance of winning, and we took our visitors to a more scenic part of the property: the lanai, overlooking our clear blue pool. After we settled in, the topic was the same as it had been before our vacation: Ashley’s plight. And Joshua spoke freely in front of my cousin.
“They will extradite Ashley back to Daytona soon,” he announced.
“Poor Ashley,” I said. “She’s been in jail all this time. For heaven’s sake it’s been quite some days.”
“Yeah. And I’ve been visiting her every day.”
Cynthia’s curiosity got the best of her. “Do you have a picture of Ashley?” she asked, leaning forward.
“Um-hmm. Plenty.” Joshua picked up his cell phone, browsed through it, and passed it to Cynthia. “Just keep scrolling down.”
Cynthia perused picture after picture. “Pretty girl,” she remarked. All of a sudden, she yelled, “Oh my goodness!” Almost falling off her seat, she blocked her eyes with one hand and shoved the phone arm’s length away to whosoever wanted it.
I retrieved the cell phone from her fingers and took a look, and I nearly fell off the bench too. The picture was of Ashley with both her hands gripping onto a thick dick, while her mouth was stretched to the max over the head of it. Her baby blue eyes were criss-crossed as she struggled to devour the tall, slippery member.
After catching my breath, I asked, “Joshua, is that you and Ashley?”
He smiled, but said nothing.
Brandon watched it too. “I’m happy for you,” he said.
Either he was a little embarrassed or he wanted to allow us to fully enjoy Cynthia’s company, but Joshua left soon thereafter. It was only then that my poor cousin was finally able to raise her eyes off the floor.
And Brandon decided to add insult to injury. “So, Cynthia . . . was it big enough for you?”
Blushing, she covered her brow with a hand. “Wow!” she exhaled. “I should’ve been prepared . . . but I really wasn’t expecting to see that.”
“He needs to be careful in showing people these pictures,” I said.
Brandon sucked his teeth, and said, “Why? If you have it – flaunt it. Listen, Joshua knew the picture was there and he wanted you all to see it. Don’t think it was an accident. Notice, he wasn’t trying to take the phone away. After all, ladies, you must agree – he has a lot to be proud of!”
My cousin and I only chuckled.
Cynthia and I enjoyed each other’s company as we did from ever since our youth, but unfortunately, the visit went by too quickly, and my cousin returned to Ft. Meyers the next day as planned.
Days passed without Joshua coming by. I figured he was busy with his studies, and with visiting Ashley all the way up in Daytona whenever he could. Poor guy. Just as he was getting back some happiness in his life, trouble had struck. I guess he was finding out, like we older folks did, that troubles are a part of life; nothing goes smoothly for long. Nothing.
He did call us occasionally, though, to keep us abreast of the situation. I believe this boy kept in contact with us more than with his own parents. Heck, he kept in touch with us more than our own sons did. But we didn’t mind; we were his home away from home.
One afternoon in mid-August, Joshua called to tell us that he and Ashley were coming down from Daytona, and she had worked out an arrangement with the court authorities up there to allow her to reside in Miami. On top of that, he had good news that he will share with us face to face.
Oh God, I hope she’s not pregnant.
CHAPTER NINE
Joshua and his girl arrived about six that evening.
As the young lovers entered the house, I could not wait any longer. “So what’s the good news, Josh?”
The young man was ecstatic. With an arm around his girl’s neck, he announced, “We’re getting mar-rieeed!”
I needed to hide the astonishment in my face, so the best thing I thought to do was to mask on a smile and shut up. I bit my lips together to ensure that nothing came out.
/> But Brandon calmly asked, “Josh, are you sure? Why the rush. You all should –”
“Ray, I don’t mean to be rude, but I ain’t asking for advice, I’m just making an announcement. Y’all are the first people we told, and we are definitely getting married.”
“Well, congratulations.” I didn’t think Brandon was sincere, and I suspected that he would not be saying much more.
But I had to stop the ice from forming in the room. “Let’s get something to eat,” I ventured, and invited everyone to sit around the kitchen table. I quickly heated up a few crab cakes in the microwave, and I found a dip in the fridge.
“So, when is the wedding?” I asked.
“This Saturday,” Ashley replied with a bright smile.
I was sorry I asked. Today is Wednesday. Are these children trying to kill us with one shock after another? I wanted to ask why and what’s the rush, but remembering that they were not here for advice, but only for the announcement, I rendered, “That soon, eh?”
“Yeah,” came the response from the proud groom-to-be.
“So, when did you all decide?” I inquired, purposely keeping my eyes open wide although they preferred to be in rapid-blink mode.
“Today,” Ashley was overjoyed to say. “Let me tell you how he did it this man is so sweet! I love him! I just love him! When we left the jail house and we dropped my friend off I made a friend in there and she needed a ride Josh pulled the car off to the side of the road and I heard him say to himself I was planning on doing this later but I cannot wait I think I will have to do it now he put his hand in his pocket pulled out a ring and said Ashley will you marry me I was so surprised never in my wildest dreams did I think about marrying not so young but anyway I didn’t have to think twice I shouted yes I am so excited can’t you tell today is definitely the happiest day of my life and Saturday would be too.” She drew him by his shirt collar and ground her lips on his.
They looked so happy together.
“Well good luck to both of you,” I said, trying to smile as genuinely as I could.