Love in the Lineup

by Deborah Fletcher Mello

  “Chen and Allison should be here in about ten minutes,” she said, cutting her eye at Dixon as she stepped into Angel’s outstretched arms.

  “Miss Bradsher, please—” Dixon started before being interrupted.

  Roshawn held up her palm. “Save it, Dix. I’m sure Ming’s father is going to want to hear whatever it is you have to say.”

  The boy’s body sagged, his crestfallen expression moving Roshawn to give him a slight smile.

  “Relax. I promise he won’t kill you. If that were going to happen you’d be dead already. But since you and Ming seem to think you’re grown, you’re going to have to have an adult conversation about what you two were doing here. And we do know exactly what you two were doing.”

  The boy’s cheeks reddened, embarrassment sweeping through him. Angel could feel the young man’s pain and he shook his head ever so slowly.

  “Why don’t you and I go take a quick walk,” he said, rising to his feet. He turned to Roshawn, kissing her cheek as he winked an eye. “We’ll be right back.”

  Roshawn nodded, her gaze moving from Dixon to Ming who’d finally found her way back to the room.

  “Come on, Ming,” she said, heading in the direction of the kitchen. “You can help me make a pot of coffee.”

  Dixon stood up and followed behind Angel. Outside, the man stopped at the edge of the pool, the sight of it bringing a wave of memories over him and he grinned broadly. As Dixon stepped up beside him, he tempered his emotions, shifting his attention back to the matters at hand.

  “I didn’t mean to get Ming in any trouble, sir. I swear I didn’t,” the young man said, his tone pleading.

  Angel nodded. “A man’s daughter is his most cherished possession. A daughter is like fragile glass and fathers put them on pedestals to keep them safe from any harm. Ming’s father is not going to be happy that you have put his child in harm’s way.”

  “I wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt Ming. I swear I wouldn’t. I love Ming.”

  “Maybe so, but you are very young and Ming is even younger. Her parents want only the best for her and what you’ve done doesn’t show them that you respect that.”

  Dixon heaved a deep sigh. “What do I do?”

  “Tell the truth. They will respect you for being honest with them. You sneaking Ming around and having her tell them lies and do things they don’t want her doing says that you don’t respect them. They can’t trust you. You will have to prove yourself to them. If you love Ming then you will show them that respect by following the rules they have for her.”

  Dixon nodded, taking a deep breath. “They’re not going to let me see her again, are they?”

  Angel shrugged, his broad shoulders tipping skyward. “I do not know. But if that’s what they ask of you, then you need to honor that. If you are any kind of man you will respect what they ask of you.”

  The boy shook his head.

  “And if you don’t,” Angel said slowly, his tone firm as he turned to face Dixon, “and Ming gets hurt, I won’t be very happy about that. You do not want to see me if I’m not happy. If you hurt Ming, I will have to hurt you. Do you understand me?” Angel asked, his dark eyes narrowed into thin slits.

  Dixon nodded, his own eyes widening.

  Ming stood staring out at them from the kitchen window as Roshawn pushed the start button on the automatic coffeemaker.

  “Dix looks sick,” she said, looking to her mother and then back outside. “What is Angel saying to him?”

  “Probably what your father is going to say to him.”

  Ming shook her head as she turned back to face her mother. Roshawn leaned back against the kitchen counter, her arms crossed over her chest.

  “How was your trip?” Ming suddenly asked. “Are you and Angel a couple now?”

  Roshawn smiled. “My trip was perfect. Angel is a great guy.”

  “Are you in love?”

  The older woman nodded. “It feels very much like love. Angel is a very special man and I enjoy him being in my life.”

  Ming moved to give her mother a hug. “I’m glad. I like him a lot. Are you getting married?”

  “I don’t know about all that now. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

  The two women were still holding one another when the front doorbell rang. Roshawn could feel the girl begin to shake in her arms. She tightened her embrace. “You’ll get through this, Ming. But you have to act like an adult if you want your father to treat you like one.”

  Ming nodded. “I understand. Would it be okay if I spoke to Dixon for a minute before we have to face Daddy, please?”

  Roshawn nodded. “Sure, why don’t you ask Angel to come inside. We’ll call the two of you back in a minute or two,” she said as she moved toward the front of the house. At the front door Chen stood anxiously, Allison standing at his side. His mood was less than pleased as he rushed inside.

  “What’s going on? Ming sounded upset.”

  At that moment, Angel came through the back entrance. “John, hello,” he said softly.

  The man stood stunned for only a brief second before he extended his hand in greeting. “Angel, it’s good to see you. You’ve met my wife, Allison, haven’t you?”

  Angel nodded. “Mrs. Chen, it’s very nice to see you again.”

  “You as well,” the woman responded softly. “And please, call me Allison.”

  Chen turned back to Roshawn. “What’s going on? When did you get back from your trip?”

  “Just an hour or so ago. When Angel and I got here we found Ming alone with Dixon.”

  “With Dixon? She was supposed to be at the Children’s Center working this afternoon.”

  “We need to talk with the two of them, Chen, and I need you to stay calm.”

  Chen bristled. “Calm about what? Please, don’t tell me she’s pregnant, Roshawn.”

  Roshawn sighed. “Not that I’m aware of, but then there’s always a possibility it could happen. She says she’s protecting herself, but you never know.”

  Chen groaned, shaking his head, ire rising in his eyes as he stared at his ex-wife. “She’s sleeping with him?”

  “You’ll have to ask her that, Chen. She says they’re in love. You were that age once and in love, remember?”

  “I remember that we had a toddler before your twenty-first birthday. I don’t want that for Ming, Roshawn.”

  “Don’t raise your voice at me, Chen,” Roshawn said, her tone warning that she was not in the mood to fight with him. “I don’t want that for her either, but she’s eighteen now and we can’t watch her every second of every day and expect that she isn’t going to become intimate with a boy she cares about. But we need to keep talking to her so that she knows we’re here for her. She needs to know that she can trust us to be supportive of her no matter what.”

  “I’m not supporting this, Roshawn. She’s not going to see that boy again.”

  “That’s intelligent, Chen. Remember what happened when your father and my father insisted we not see each other? We got married.”

  The man skewed his face, tossing up his hands as he raged in Cantonese. Allison’s eyes widened, making her appear even more fragile and scared than normal. Roshawn just shook her head at him as she turned back to the kitchen. Angel reached out to squeeze her arm, entwining his fingers between hers as she pulled him along behind her. In the kitchen, the two took a seat at the heavy oak table, no one saying a word as Chen and Allison joined them.

  Chen sat in silence, staring intently at his ex-wife, his paternal spirit shattered by the reality that his baby girl was no longer a baby. Although he’d always known this moment would one day come, he had never expected it this soon and before he’d had the opportunity to walk her down the aisle. As if reading his mind, Roshawn could sense the depth of his disappointment and she reached out to draw her palm down the length of his arm. Chen nodded, the duo seeming to have a silent conversation that Allison and Angel were not privy to.

  “So, where is she?”
Chen finally asked, his tone just a hint calmer.

  “She and Dix are out by the pool.”

  Angel interjected. “This is a family matter. I should probably leave you all alone. I can send the kids in on my way out.”

  Before Roshawn could respond, Ming answered for her. “No, Angel, you should stay. You’re a part of my family now. My mother wants you here and so do I.”

  They all turned toward where the girl stood side by side with Dixon, the young couple holding hands in the doorway. As Ming smiled in the man’s direction, Angel nodded, reaching to grasp Roshawn’s hand in his own. For a brief moment, Roshawn imagined that to Dixon, the four adults must have looked like a delegation from the United Nations sitting around the table staring at the two of them.

  Ming greeted her father in Cantonese, leaning to kiss his cheek before she and her boyfriend pulled two more chairs up to the table and sat down. The young woman took a deep breath, glanced quickly toward her mother who smiled her support, then turned to face her father. His expression was stone, his displeasure pouring from his eyes.

  “Daddy, I lied to you. I didn’t work at the center today. I spent the day here with Dix. Mom caught us together when she came home.”

  “We’re sorry, Mr. Chen. We didn’t mean to deceive you. We just wanted to spend some time together alone,” Dix said, his voice quivering with nervousness.

  Chen bit down against his bottom lip. Allison’s hand rested against his leg and she squeezed his thigh gently, the quiet gesture of support stalling his desire to yell and yell loudly.

  “Daddy, Dix and I have become very close. He’s very special to me.”

  “How close is close, Ming?” He focused his gaze on Dixon. “Are you having sex with my daughter?”

  The duo exchanged a quick glance before Ming responded. “I think I’m old enough to make my own decisions about who I do or don’t have sex with, Daddy. But you should know that I love Dix.”

  The man shook his head, his eyes closed as his body shook. As he opened them, refocusing his gaze back on his daughter, his stare was glassy, misted over by the warmth of saline forming behind his eyelids. “I don’t appreciate you lying to me, Ming. Not at all. I trusted you. And I don’t like that you did it because Dix made you.”

  Roshawn rolled her eyes and the man glared at her.

  “Dix didn’t make me do anything,” Ming asserted. “Whatever I’ve done, I did because I wanted to or thought I had to.”

  “Mr. Chen, Ms. Bradsher, I love Ming. I love Ming very much. We were wrong, but we only did what we did because we thought you would think we were getting too serious too soon. We weren’t thinking. We made a mistake.”

  “You are too young for this, Ming. Way too young,” Chen said, ignoring the boy’s statement.

  “You and Mommy were young and you two knew you were in love.”

  Chen couldn’t help but look to Roshawn.

  “Ming, you and I have had a number of conversations about that. Yes, Chen and I loved each other but the fact that we were so young was one of the reasons our marriage didn’t last,” she said.

  “But your love did.”

  Her parents locked eyes for a second time, then Roshawn’s gaze moved from Allison to Angel and back again. She sighed. “Ming, our love lasted because it was in your best interest. Your father and I remained friends because we loved you and loving you kept us connected. But how he and I loved each other wasn’t enough to sustain a relationship the way you’re thinking it will. That kind of love comes with maturity and experience. Your father has that now with Allison, and I—” she paused, turning to meet Angel’s eyes “—I’ve finally found that with Angel.”

  The room grew quiet for a brief moment. Angel leaned to kiss Roshawn’s cheek and on the other side of the table, Allison smiled with relief, her palm dropping down against Chen’s thigh.

  “None of us want you to make any mistakes that you might regret later on,” Allison said, looking from Ming to Roshawn and back. “We all love you, Ming, and we want you to be safe and happy more than anything else.”

  Roshawn smiled and nodded her agreement, the two women exchanging a quick look between them.

  “I don’t think being with Dix is a mistake. I know how much I love him. And we’ve talked about this. We both want to finish school before we make any decisions about our future.”

  “What if you get pregnant, Ming? What then?” Chen asked, his voice rising slightly.

  “Then we’ll deal with it, sir. Together. I would never let Ming deal with something like that alone,” Dix said.

  “But I’m not going to get pregnant. I’m not ready for that. I know this is a lot to ask, Daddy, but I need you to trust me. Please? I promise I won’t disappoint you or Mommy again.”

  The room grew quiet as the adults sat staring from one to the other. In the distance the drip, drip, drip of a leaky faucet seemed to be magnified. The sound vibrated loudly in beat with the lull of the refrigerator and the ticking of the clock that rested against the wall.

  “You will not have any privileges for the next month for lying, Ming. None.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And, Dix, you are going to have to regain my trust. I don’t appreciate you sneaking around with my daughter the way you have.”

  “I understand, Mr. Chen.”

  Chen nodded. “Ming, show your friend to the door and say goodbye. Then take yourself home. Allison and I will be right behind you.”

  Ming nodded. “Yes, Daddy.”

  They watched as the two said their goodbyes, Dix moving to shake Angel’s hand and then Chen’s, who eyed the boy with pure disdain. Ming hugged her mother tightly, then moved to wrap her arms around her father. Chen held her tight for only a moment before releasing his hold, reaching to wipe the moisture from his eyes before it fell. No one spoke until they were both out of earshot, the front door closing firmly behind them.

  “I hate this,” Chen finally muttered. “I really hate this.”

  Angel nodded his understanding. “They grow up too fast.”

  The man smiled, looking from Angel to Roshawn and back, appreciating the obvious bond between them.

  Roshawn shook her head. “We were just as bad, Chen. If our parents had half a clue what we were doing when we went to Spain they would have killed us both. And we probably would have kept it a secret too if we hadn’t gotten pregnant.”

  Chen nodded, his eyes meeting Angel’s briefly before he dropped them to the floor.

  Angel smiled. “I was fifteen. My father caught us in the fields, my girlfriend and I. He was not happy. Not happy at all. She was much older than I was. Almost twenty-four. Her family sent her away and I never saw her again.”

  Allison chuckled. “I was a little older than that and my mother found my birth control pills hidden in my sock drawer. She went ballistic. It was horrible.”

  Roshawn rose from the table, grabbing four coffee mugs from the cabinet and filling each with the hot brew that she had made earlier. Sitting back down the group talked for a while longer, reminiscing, planning, sharing, and getting to know one another before Chen and Allison moved to head for home.

  Chen hugged his ex-wife as she stood at the front door wishing them both a good night. “I don’t know how much more my heart can handle, Roshawn,” he said, his eyes searching hers.

  Roshawn smiled. “Your heart will be fine. Ming’s a good girl. She’ll be okay.”

  Shaking his head Chen tossed her a wry smile, grabbed Allison’s hand and sauntered slowly toward the car. She and Angel stood arm in arm as they watched the couple pull out of the driveway and drive down the street, disappearing out of view.

  Angel kissed her forehead. “I should be going,” he said. “My father is probably wondering what has happened to me.”

  “You know you can always stay. I really don’t want you to leave.”

  The man grinned. “I don’t know if I would get any rest if I stayed. You could get me in deep trouble.”

  Roshawn
pressed her body tightly against his. “Now would I do that?” she said facetiously as she kissed his mouth.

  Angel chuckled. “Yes, you would.” He hugged her, molding his arms tightly around her.

  “Thank you,” she said as she brushed her cheek to his. “Thank you for being here.”

  He nodded. “Thank your daughter. She made me feel very welcomed.”

  “That’s my baby girl.” She kissed him one last time. “Drive safe and call me once you get settled.”

  Minutes later Roshawn had locked and secured each door, her body finally feeling the effects of jet lag and the difference between time zones. She was too tired to call Seattle, she thought, making note to do so first thing when she woke the next morning. As she entered the master bedroom, switching on the lights in the room, the disheveled bed was the first thing that caught her attention. Shaking her fists, Roshawn screamed at the top of her lungs. “Ming Louise Chen, I’m going to kill you!”

  Chapter 19

  The two men sat comfortably in the lobby of the hotel, occupying two upholstered chairs that adorned a back corner. Both were sipping on large mugs of coffee spiced with Kahlúa and rum.

  Israel was shaking his head, his concerned expression belying his good mood. “I’m sure they will do what’s best for the child,” he said. “That is such a difficult age. Your children think you know everything there is to know in this world and they know nothing. I remember it well.”

  Angel smiled, having heard the same dissertation from his father more times than he cared to count over the years. He took another sip of his drink.

  “So, what do you and Roshawn plan to do now, hijo?” the man asked, his good mood swinging into high gear.

  “We’ve not made any plans yet, Papí, but soon. This is still very new to both of us. We have much more to learn about each other.”

  “You love each other. That is all that is important. It will be as I said it will be and I will be holding my grandson before I die.”

  Angel laughed. “Then it is well that you will be with us for a very long time, Papí.”