by Lenise Lee
Patricia Right was a tall, lean woman. Adam guessed she was in her fifties based upon Denise’s age but the woman did not look a day over thirty-five. Her sleek dark hair was pulled up into a sever bun on top of her head. She wore a two-piece peach pants suit and it hugged her feminine curves so well he was sure it was tailor-made to her exact measurements. Her high-heeled shoes were the exact peach color of her outfit and she had tiny white pearls piercing her earlobes and strung on a thin necklace around her neck. Had it not been for the persistent scowl on her face made up with a light powder foundation and burgundy lipstick and matching eye shadow, she would have been an strikingly handsome woman and Adam had no doubt she was the one from whom Denise received her good looks.
After a few tense minutes of neither party addressing one another, Patricia finally broke the silence.
“Denise,” she plastered a small across her face, “so lovely to finally see you again, dear.”
She glanced briefly over her daughter’s head.
“I see you brought a visitor with you. How nice.”
Adam could feel the distain for him rolling off of Mrs. Right in waves. Subconsciously, he glanced down to ensure he was presentable. When he looked back up, he saw that Patricia Right had given him the once over to confirm the same.
“Hello, Mother. Sorry, Mom. Are you going to let us in?”
Patricia stepped back from the doorway and waved her hand back toward the inside of the house.
“Of course, dear.”
She turned sharply on her heels and disappeared inside.
“Tell your friend, to take the bags upstairs to your room. I will have another room prepared for him.” The last word rolled off her tongue with a hint of mockery.
“His name is Adam Aggeliki.”
“I will be sure to remember, dear,” were her last words as she stepped stealthily up the stairs and disappeared.
****
“I don’t think your mom wants me here.”
Adam spoke to Denise over his shoulder as he unpacked his belongings in the room Denise’s mother showed him before disappearing again.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said as she placed her small arms around his thick waist and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, “I do.”
He turned in her arms and swiped her long bang from her face to around her right ear.
He smiled before saying, “You were not kidding about your dad not being here. We have been here since noon and I have not heard a peep in this house other than you and me.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said as she turned away, “now, imagine being a fourteen year old kid in a house this quiet for hours on end. It’s was enough to drive a sane person such as myself a little nutty.”
“Come here,” he drawled and dragged her back away from the door and toward the bed.
“Adam, my mom might here us.”
No sooner than the words left her mouth, he covered her lips with his own and pulled her on top of him. He ran his fingers through her long waves and then moved his hands down her back and to her rounded bottom and squeezed hard. Denise squirmed with delight as she ran her hands down the front of his shirt and allowed them to slip under. Her hands probed until she found his pert nipples and gave them a squeeze of her own in return.
A second later, the doorbell chimed and Patricia raced passed the open doorway of Adam’s room.
“Next time, please close the door, thank you,” she snipped without bothering to turn her head toward the stunned couple.
Chapter 11
Denise ran her fingers through her hair in an effort to comb it down while Adam straightened his shirt and adjusted his pants, and willed his hard member to go flaccid once again.
Denise was the first person down the stairs with high hopes her father had finally arrived home. The elation in her heart at the possibility of laying eyes on him after several months of constantly missing him while on her return visits home suddenly fizzled. As she approached the entrance to the foyer it dawned on her a person who lived here would not need to use the doorbell unless the locks had been changed.
As her mother stepped to the side to allow another visitor into the entryway, Denise’s breath caught in her mouth. Kenneth.
He stood tall and firm in a royal blue three piece suit. His ebony skin contrasted with the brilliant whiteness of his shirt. Dazzling white teeth shown through broad brown lips. Cocoa colored eyes lit up the minute he set eyes on Denise.
“Denise. It is so good to see you,” he said as he stepped to her in two long steps and pulled her into his arms.
Not sure what to do and caught in the suddenness of his presence, Denise forced a return hug and then allowed her arms to fall to the sides as she stepped back from him and next to Adam.
She turned and looked into his green eyes, now somewhat paler than usual, and shook her head to acknowledge ignorance of the situation.
Her mother, who watched the scene with a thin smile on her face felt it necessary to enlighten Adam whose face, she surveyed, had turned to stone with a hint of anger.
“Denise, you remember Kenneth, don’t you? After all, you two were inseparable before you went off to the university.”
Kenneth continued to smile down at Denise. Under his intense gaze, she felt a little intimidated and stepped further into Adam’s side, and hooked her arm into his. She felt his arm muscles tense. She looked up and saw the line of his jaw harden and then twitch. After looking over the where Kenneth stood, she understood the sudden adjustment in Adam’s demeanor. The two men were squaring off and, being only an arm’s length from one another, each waited for the other to make the first move. The two were almost matched in build, though Adam was slightly taller and wider. Denise knew that she had to defuse the situation before one of them actually did make a strike.
“Yes, mother, I remember Kenneth,” she said while watching the two men, never taking her eyes from them. “You didn’t tell me he would be coming for a visit tonight.”
“Well, dear, you did not inform me you were bringing a guest either. I guess that makes us even?”
Denise would deal with her mother soon enough. Right now, she needed to attend to once crisis at a time.
“Kenneth, it has been such a long time. I want you to meet my, uh, friend from school, Adam Aggeliki.”
At her words, Adam snapped his head in her direction. She was sure they had become much more but had not bothered to put a label on their relationship and Denise did not want to bind him to anything without his consent.
“Nice to meet you, Adam Angel, is it? I am Kenneth Houser.”
Kenneth extended a dark hand and offered a small smile.
“Aggeliki,” Adam accepted the other man’s hand as he corrected him, “likewise.”
While the rivals cooled their heels somewhat, Denise took this opportunity to move on to the next situation that needed her attention.
“Mother, may I talk with you in private for a moment?”
“Why, dear? Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of Kenneth. He is practically part of the family now. He visits you every time you come home. Actually, I thought the two of you had become much more than friends by now. That is until today.” Patricia let the last comment hang in the air for everyone to digest.
Although Denise still held on to his arm, she did not feel Adam respond to her touch. His arm was at this side, though his muscles remained tense with Kenneth so close.
“Mother, why are you playing these games?”
“Denise, you are the only one playing games. If you are leading this young man on in seriously believing there is a future for the two of you, I suggest you stop it at once.”
“Mother, what are you saying? You don’t even know Adam. He’s a good man.”
“That’s what they are all say, dear. This young man obviously has no idea how to present himself when he enters a home such as ours. What does he do for a living? Where is his car? What do his parents do? I have no idea what kind of man he i
s. Kenneth, however, is a good man. He has a wonderful job, a fabulous home, and that gorgeous car waiting outside. He adores you, Denise, if you would only open your eyes to acknowledge his sentiment. And – and,” she hesitated at admitting the final statement, “he’s black.”
“Mother, how could you! Would you listen to yourself? You sound insane!”
“No,” Adam slowly removed Denise’s arm from the crook of his, “your mother is right, Denise. She has no idea who I am, and neither do you. I won’t stay in our family home any longer because I will not disrespect you or your mother, and I fear I will do just that if I stay.”
“Adam, no, I – I”
“Denise, it’s okay. I understand. I should go. I guess I will see you back at the campus. I can get the train back, just bring my things with you and I can pick-up them up when you return. I can’t stay here any longer.”
He rushed to the door and as he opened to leave, he turned and faced Mrs. Patricia Right.
“To clarify, ma’am, my parents are deceased. I don’t have all the luxuries that you mentioned because I go to school on a scholarship and I work off and on part-time so I can help support my little brother who currently lives with our grandmother. I hope those answers satisfy all of your questions. It crossed my mind that Denise’s home life could not have been as bad as she explained; now I see she was absolutely correct to stay away from here as much as possible. Have a good evening.”
The door slammed behind him and he was gone into the night before Patricia could respond. She stood there gaped mouthed and speechless.
Chapter 12
“Perhaps, I should leave,” Kenneth offered looking first to Denise then back to Patricia.
When neither woman answered he moved toward the door.
“Wait, Kenneth,” Denise walked toward him, “I am so sorry my mother put you in the middle of this mess.”
He smiled.
“It’s okay, Denise.”
She held up her hand.
“No, it’s not okay. I want you to know that as much as I appreciate you always taking the time to visit me when I come for visits; I am not interested in you in that kind of way. I have never been and probably never will be. I should have told you that a long time ago, and for that I apologize. I was confused and unsure of myself before; however, I can assure you and anyone else I am thinking clearly as of right now.”
Kenneth nodded solemnly and bent down to give her a light, chaste kiss on the cheek.
“Good luck with your studies and I still hope to see you some other time.”
As soon as she heard the door click, she walked right up to Patricia.
“Mother, this has got to stop. You cannot, and will not, try to control my life from this point forward. How could you insult Adam like that? What is wrong with you? Calling him out on his finances, on his family, on his race?”
Denise crossed her arms over her chest and stood her ground as she continued on the defensive. The time had come to settle this simmering battle of wills between mother and daughter. Denise was at her wits end and had come to the point of needing a resolution to this current state of affairs or she may have to force herself to cut ties with her mother completely.
“What happened to the sweet woman who would tuck me in at night and cuddle on the couch with me with a bowl of popcorn? The woman who would sing me to sleep and make special meals for me and dad?”
“She’s dead, Denise!”
The sudden revelations left both women quiet.
“She died when the man who promised to love her forever abandoned her with not a sliver of guilt to be found. He not only left her, he left her to raise a daughter on her own. He left me for a white woman, Denise, and demanded I continue this charade of a marriage because of how he thought it would make him look to his colleagues. He refused to be put through a messy divorce in front of them. That is why he is never here. He is with her right now living the life he always wanted to have. I was always just a show piece and now he needs me in name only.”
Patricia’s eyes watered and then a single tear streaked down over her flawless mocha skin. Soon others flooded over her cheeks. She gasped and put her hand to her face and released a heavy sniffle. No longer caring about her appearance or her clothing, she became seized with a fit of spasms as years of inner turmoil boiled to the surface.
“Mother. Mom.”
Denise moved closer to the woman and opened her arms to the disheveled woman, and Patricia fell into her daughter’s arms and exhaled more cries.
****
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
Denise questioned the woman sitting next to her.
Patricia had ceased her tears hours ago but her face still hung low and solemn. She had removed her make-up and replaced her suit with a pair of khaki shorts and blue tank top. Her long, dark hair hung down her back and in loose waves.
“I didn’t want you to hate him. I know how much you looked up to him. You beamed every time he smiled down at you. I wanted you to remember him as a good man. He was a good man for a long time and then something changed.”
Patricia reflected on her memories of the past twenty-five years of marriage to George Right. Everything had started off so wonderful. He was an up and coming black professional. He was a real prize to the girls in her South Philadelphia neighborhood. Patricia felt so lucky to have him give her any attention much less ask her to be his wife. She promised her parents she would do whatever it took to make them proud. She was the wife of one of the first African-American doctors to come from their neighborhood. She wore the right clothes, befriended the right people, presented herself well in front of all of his co-workers and, for a while, a long while, she knew that Dr. George Coolidge Right III was happy to have her on his arm. That was until the late night meetings started, all of the phone calls in the middle of the night, and the hang-ups during the day if she answered the line. Then, he became bold enough to avoid coming home at all. Small pools filled her eyes as she remembered the day when she finally confronted him and he laughed at her. Yes, he had the audacity to laugh right to her face. George came right out and said the marriage was a sham. He said he knew there was no way a black doctor could marry a white woman back then and expect to have any kind of lasting career. He admitted he and Claire had been together for years before he had married Patricia and the other woman had acquiesced herself to the role of mistress because she loved him so much. Patricia demanded a divorce and he laughed again saying he would never give it to her. She played the role of faithful wife and mother better than any of the other wives and that is how it would stay. He actually convinced himself everyone would be happy with the arrangement. Patricia would be able to keep her status and all the benefits and financial security of life as a top physician’s wife. He would be able to finally spend the time with the woman he was really in love with. George stated he would make visits to the home as often as possible so Denise would have a father figure for as long as possible. Everyone would be happy, he said, except it was far from the truth. Patricia had not had an ounce of rest or peace since that day. However, now the secret was out and Patricia felt no need to continue with the old ways any longer. Whether George agreed or not, she was exhausted and was finished with the theatrics and needed to move on with her life.
She looked over at her beautiful daughter and smiled at the concern her sympathetic face offered.
“Denise, I am sorry for the way that I have been. I did not want you to make the same mistake as me. I wanted you to have the best and I wanted you to be with the best. I thought after the situation I was in, I would be able to weed out all of the degenerates and find you someone who would really love and care for you. I did not want you to be hurt and destroyed like I was.”
“Mom, don’t you see when you changed, I changed. When you lost your love with dad, it felt like you lost your love for me, too.”
“O, honey, never!”
“Now, I know the truth, before I didn’t. I walked around empt
y and lonely inside wondering what I had done to ruin your marriage. Then, I met Adam and he held the same loneliness and we comforted one another. I think we completed one another. He didn’t have parents anymore and I believed any real sentiment from my own had been forgone years ago.”
As the salty tears rolled down Denise’s face, her mother wiped them away.
“Denise, forgive me. If that young man makes you feel authentic love and fulfillment then he is who you should be with and forget about all that non-sense I said earlier. I was a fool but am no longer.”
She cupped her daughter’s face with one hand.
“Always remember I love you, Denise. As long as you are happy, so am I.”
“I love you, too, Mom.”
For the first time in a long time, the two women sensed a bond forged, never to be broken again.
Chapter 13
The train ride home was almost unbearable. Adam could not get what Denise’s mother had said out of his mind. She was right, of course. He could not offer her the home, the cars, or any other aspect of the lifestyle Denise was accustomed to – not yet. He would be able to offer only his love, his attention, and his support for many years to come before his law degree might bring in a substantial enough income to support them both. Why he had taken a chance on approaching her that day he could not be completely sure of except his heart had told him it was the right thing to do at the time. Even now, Adam was convinced he and Denise belonged together; it was only a matter of him sorting his life out so he had the means available to take care of her the way she deserved.
He had not heard from or seen Denise since Saturday and today would be the first day back to the lecture hall. To his dismay, Denise did not attend class. He was surprised and a bit worried considering the course midterm exam was at the end of this week during the next scheduled class meeting. He willed the class to hurry on and barely heard anything that the instructor spoke.