by Pepper Pace
"You want me to work for you?"
He looked uncomfortable. "Well, I got to get my house ready to sell. After the last tenants, I just don't want to rent anymore. They trashed it. I want to put it on the market because I can't pay mortgage there and pay rent at the apartment, as well."
"I never understood why you don't just move into the house and let go of the apartment."
"It's too big for just one man." He shook his head. "That house was meant for a family." We were sitting on the front porch of my townhouse apartment. The boys were in the yard tossing the football. Tony's car pulled up into the drive and the kids ran up to him as he got out, yelling their greetings.
Tony eyed Todd and me on the front porch. He assessed me critically.
"Who's the white boy?" I opened my mouth to go off! Todd interrupted.
"The only boy I see," Todd said in a fake, lazy, southern drawl, "Is you; boy."
Awww shit! I thought silently. Tony looked at Todd with shocked, anger, forgetting that he had been the first to use the word 'boy'.
"What the fuck did you just say?!" Tony stood a good inch shorter then Todd but he outweighed him generously. Tony was built like a football player.
"You and the boys go inside." Todd said to me quietly, never taking his eyes from Tony.
"Kids! Come here." I ushered them quickly into the apartment and when they were in their bedroom with the door closed I hurried to the front door, trembling at what might be happening out there.
Tony and Todd were circling each other in the front yard and Tony suddenly threw a punch. Todd easily dodged, returning the punch that landed squarely in Tony's face. He backed off, holding his nose in surprise.
"What's the matter?" I heard Todd ask. "Can't hit me because I'm a man?" Tony's eyes flashed at me and I could read his expression; 'you told the white boy...' He cursed and wildly threw another punch. Todd open handed him across the side of the head. It was so loud I heard it up on the porch! Tony was raging and he lunged at Todd. They were holding onto each other, Todd easily got him into a policeman's hold. I kept thinking, 'of course he did, because I know what his training entails; running up stairs carrying sand sacks on his shoulders, agility, weight, maneuverability. The most Tony moves is from the couch to the car!
"I wrestled in college, muther fucker! Boxed in the navy. You can not beat me! I can fuck your shit up 20 different ways right now."
"Let me up, Man." Toney said.
"Hurt doesn't it?"
"Yeah, man. Let me up!" His voice had gone high and tight.
"Not until we have ourselves a little understanding." Todd growled angrily into his ear. "That woman in there is going to be my wife, those kids my kids. Do you read me?!"
Tony didn't answer. My heartbeat came to a dead stop. I clutched the front of my blouse. Todd roughly jerked Tony's arm and he cried out. "I understand man...You're breaking my arm!"
"This is the arm you hit her with? You don't know how much I do want to break it! And shove it straight up your fucking ass!" He spit out angrily. "The only thing keeping me from it is your son's. You see, I want them to grow up thinking their Daddy is a real man, even though you and I both know the truth." Todd released him and turned his back to him to come up the steps before stopping dead in his tracks, realizing that I had heard every word he'd spoken.
"Tell the kids that their Dad's waiting for them."
Todd was sitting on the porch as if nothing had ever happened when I returned with the boys. Tony was in the car and my boys watched Todd doubtfully.
"Have fun guys. I'll see you Sunday." He said cheerfully, looking totally laid back and relaxed. That was enough confirmation that the boys needed to know that their world was right again.
"Bye Todd!" And then they hurried to their Dad's car, convinced that everything was as it should be. "Bye, Mommy!" Tony avoided looking in our direction as he got out the car to greet his son's.
Todd and I didn't speak until they had driven away, then he turned to me and spoke solemnly. "Let's take a drive."
In Todd's car, he turned on the radio to mask the uncomfortable silence. I couldn't stop my head from spinning with the information I'd just heard. Todd wanted to be my husband. And the six months that I had known him, Todd had never even hinted to anything like that.
"Where are we going?" I finally asked when I was no longer familiar with the surroundings.
"My old house. We're almost there." I had never seen the house where Todd and his ex wife had lived. I was pretty curious. We had been driving silently for nearly an hour when he finally pulled into a ritzy suburb with oversized houses.
"Wow!" I said.
"No." He chuckled. This isn't it. Shortly, the homes became further and further apart.
"Are we there yet?" I said, mimicking my children and attempting to lighten the mood. We both laughed. "So you lived in the country?" We had crossed over into Indiana from Ohio.
"Almost."
Finally, he pulled into a long drive. I gasped. I mean, the air actually left my body!
The beautiful old house sat nestled in a growth of towering old trees. There was a wrap around porch with wicker furniture and rockers just like The Cracker Barrel restaurant! I was suddenly so jealous of the life that he'd had with his ex. He'd lived in this beautiful dream house with his wife and her children. I would have given my right hand for something like this with Tony.
Todd unlocked the front door and allowed me to wander inside. He had drop cloths protecting the hardwood floors that had been buffed to an incredible shine. A ladder was in an empty living room. The coved ceilings were 12 feet high with a gorgeous fireplace. Off the living room was a solarium with a tiled floor and upon close inspection I noted that it was rookwood.
"This is rookwood." I said to him surprised.
"Yes it is."
Silently I moved to the kitchen. Again I gasped; travertine marble floor and backsplash. Open burner stove...I counted them; eight! Eight burners with a grill attachment! There was even a Jennaire Island.
"Your wife cooked a lot?"
"She loved to cook." He replied. I don't know why that upset me so. Seeing this house allowed me to see what they'd had before me...somehow that bothered me.
I headed up an elegant staircase, mentally picturing where there Christmas tree probably sat and how a simple garland probably ran up the polished wood handrails. How had such a young man been able to afford such a spectacular house? On the upper level I headed for the master bedroom. This was actually partially furnished. There was a four poster bed encased in sheer mosquito netting. A stepping stool allowed you to safely climb in and out of it as it had to be a good three feet of the ground. Wow, this was a bed straight out of Jane Eyre!
Like a kid in a candy store I hurried to it and climbed up the stool. "Oh my god...this is beautiful." As I sat there with my feet dangling inches from the floor, my eyes began to sting and before I knew it, tears fell down my cheeks.
"Kia! What's wrong?" Todd took my hand and tried to pull me to him. I turned away embarrassed. He ducked and turned my back to him, alarmed at my reaction. "What's wrong?" He asked again.
"I'm jealous, okay?! You must have had such a wonderful life with her in this house! Maybe if she'd never cheated on you, you'd still be living here happily-ever-after!"
Todd just stared at me in surprise. Abruptly he took my hand and led me out the room, and I just knew that he was going to take me back to the car and drop my dumb ass off at my apartment. Instead he quickly led me into another, smaller bedroom. By then I was tearing up pretty bad, but now out of embarrassment more than anything else.
"Kia, look at me." I was covering my face and attempting to stop the tears.
"I love you," he said. He placed his hands on my shoulder and gently shook me once. "Did you hear me?" My heart beat so loud, but yes, I'd heard.
I nodded still cowering into my hand.
"I love you, Kia; since before we met." I felt him move away momentarily and I moved a finger to pee
k at him.
He was on his knees holding a velvet box in his hand.
"Oh my god." I gasped. And then I forgot all about my tear stained face and my running nose. Todd opened the box and I had to literally squint against the shine of the diamond ring!
"Marry me and be my wife and my lover and stay my best friend."
I started crying for real. "Okay." I said breathlessly. Todd laughed at me and I laughed too and then he was hugging me and swinging me around.
"Did you see?" He asked mischievously.
"See what?" Then he looked around. I did too. The room was fully painted in blue using a football theme. And then I noticed that stenciled around the room was the name Kevin; my son's name.
"You think he'll like it?" My eyes got big.
"You planned this?"
"I've been planning it since the first time we made love."
"What if I hadn't accepted your proposal?"
"Do you know how many hours it took me to do that? Between Kevin and Adrian's room, I was not accepting no as an answer." Then it all dawned on me. This was going to be MY house...OUR house!
I rushed back to the master bedroom, and then I ran downstairs and explored each and every room as Todd trailed me amused.
"I don't know how you can afford this and the apartment and your car on a fireman's salary."
"Well...I have a confession." He said seriously. "Let's sit down." He took me outside and we sat on the double glider together. "I lied to you about something. This house has never been rented out and it's never going up for sale. It's a part of an Estate."
"An ESTATE?!" I felt nauseous.
"You see, I grew up in this house. I'm the youngest of four. My parents died in a plane accident 15 years ago. My older sisters and brothers already had homes and families, so I got to keep the house by default; no one wanted it sold outside of the family. So...yeah. I guess I'm pretty comfortable." And he was blushing and flushing and looking ashamed.
"Well-well," I was in a state of shock. "Are you even a firefighter?"
He chuckled. "Yeah. I didn't lie about any of that. I'm a firefighter, an EMT, a house painter...well, um, a house painter of this house, anyways." He took my hand. "But I did lie about my ex-wife."
"You weren't married?"
"No, I was married, and she did cheat on me. But I left because I realized that she only married me for my money. She just wanted the house and...whatever. Now that she's remarried she doesn't get anything from me anymore. I didn't like paying her alimony when it was she that cheated. But that's life."
We were quiet for a while, he giving me time to digest the information, me trying to reconcile what I thought I knew to what I was hearing now.
"Why me?" I finally asked. "You could have anybody, some rich girl if you don't want it to be about money." I mean, I hated to sound insecure but, my question was a valid one.
"It's always about money. If you already have it you strive to get more. If you don't have money, you strive to get more." He sighed. "Besides, weren't you waiting for someone to see who you really are? So was I. And now that we've found each other, I don't want to spend another day without you."
"But...all of those dates you went on. I thought you were looking-" He shook his head.
"I went on a lot of dates and saw that no one, not one person ever compared to you. I didn't care how pretty, sexy...whatever...they weren't you." He had a thoughtful look on his face. "We can just be ourselves with each other and no one has your sexy legs, and your beautiful smile, and no one can cut me down to size one second and laugh with me the next. You are...you make me..." Todd was shaking his head. He reached out and gripped my hand. I leaned in and relaxed against his body, my head on his shoulder.
"I get to be in love with my best friend." I said dreamily. His arm went around my body and he held me close as we rocked and watched the sunset.
The End
BLAIR AND THE EMO BOY
Blair picked up half the sandwich and began munching it. Every day she dug into Daniel’s paper bag lunch…and she never asked first. Daniel never objected, he just packed things that he knew she liked; bologna and cheese sandwiches, or ham and swiss with honey Dijon mustard, two yogurts (key lime or Boston cream pie—one for her, the other for him), chocolate chip cookies, or oreos.
Oreo…that’s what some of the people in school called them. Daniel clenched his teeth. High Schoolers truly lacked imagination…that insult was ages old.
Well the relationship between Blair and Daniel did appear stereotypical. She was a thickly built, outspoken black girl. He was a scrawny yet, nerdy white boy. Their friendship had been solidified the day she’d jumped in the path of the school bullies, preventing him from receiving yet another ass whupping. In fact, she’d whupped three boys while Daniel watched in shock. He was just a third grader, and had received his first lesson in not believing in stereotypes. Boys were supposed to take care of the girls—but not in this relationship. From that very first day that Daniel had sat on the hot asphalt of the playground and watched Blair pound the daylight out of three boys…he’d been hopelessly in love.
Blair had just been sick to death of Kent and his goon squad. Though Blair was only a third grader, she knew that three bullies just shouldn’t jump on one skinny boy that was too shy to even meet anyone’s eyes!
After, Blair became curious about the boy with the green eyes and black hair. She was drawn to his quiet. It was like a balm to her loud voice and her tomboyish ways. Instead of running around trying to burn off excess energy like she and the other kids did at recess, Daniel just sat on the black top where it met the dirt of the field. He would have a small stick in his hand and would be busy poking at the ground with it. One day she walked up to him.
“What are you doing?” She demanded, though not in a mean way. It was just her way to be commanding. Daniel looked up at her with his shocking green eyes. After a moment he seemed to get over his surprise at being spoken to.
“There’s an ant graveyard here.” Instead of being grossed out, Blair was intrigued. She squatted down to look while Daniel showed her the ants that were dragging their dead to the spot. Afterwards she always made her way back to the ant graveyard to sit with Daniel. Sometimes they’d make blockades, sometimes moats with broken leaves as bridges. Eventually the other kids seemed too lame to bother with.
Now, present day Blair shoved the last of her half of the sandwich into her gaping maul while Daniel sipped from his carton of milk. “How many days left before graduation?” He asked sullenly. Wasn’t he supposed to be sitting on top of the world as a senior? Though no one actively tried to beat on him anymore, Daniel had been too shy to ever enjoy the High School experience. Blair was the only friend he had that wasn’t either a member of the band or in the Program for Gifted students.
“Three weeks, baby!” She smiled happily. She slapped her hand on the table top and Daniel grinned. Blair’s beauty wasn’t immediately noticeable. Many people were too blind to ever see it. They couldn’t seem to get past the fact that she was larger than life in size and in attitude. He wouldn’t describe her as fat, she was just too athletic for that. But others did. They got stuck on her size, her deep mocha complexion, her short, natural ‘fro, and her evil expression.
But her beauty did not have to grow on him. Daniel was mesmerized by her dark almond shaped eyes—so much so that he would often miss what she was saying. And of course she would pound him in his bicep until his muscle spasmed and he yowled. He was also quite intrigued by her voluptuous body but too scared to look at her from the neck down in case he got caught ogling her large breast, not to mention her big-black girl ass. Nothing gave him a quicker hard on then watching her walk up the stairs and her ass bouncing with each step.
He was scared to death that she would catch him looking, or worse, catch him hard after watching. Once, when they were in the sixth grade they’d dared each other into their first kiss. After an embarrassed moment of chaste kissing, Blair had pulled back but in a r
are moment of courage Daniel had pushed forward. He’d kissed her again, this time allowing his lips to part just a bit. His tongue peeked out and touched her tongue before quickly retreating, but she forged ahead and plunged her own tongue into his mouth, overwhelming him with the invasion until his soft pecker had perked up and was standing at attention. She felt it poking into her hip and pulled away to look down in amazement. Daniel was so embarrassed he just stood there with swollen lips and swollen dick, frozen to the spot.
Blair made a disgusted sound then pushed him down to the ground. She ran away and he knew that she’d been afraid of what she’d seen. Later when he’d tried to show her that he was interested in moving their relationship further than as just friends, she either pushed him and ran away, or gave him a look of utter disbelief. It soon became painfully obvious that his attraction was completely one-sided.