The Jade Emperor

by Suzanne Jenkins

While Steve’s family ate pizza at Kelly Boyd’s house, Steve and Lee began their apartment search. Steve drove through one of the nicer neighborhoods in town, holding Lee’s hand.

  Although it was dark out, it was obvious this was a nice development. They were impressed by the landscape lighting. “We still have to see it during the day,” Lee said. “It could be ugly.”

  “Okay, we will,” Steve said.

  The rental agent was waiting for them at the unit. Each building had four units, and this was an upper in the rear. The flight of stairs wasn’t as bad as Lee feared. “This is nice,” she said, nodding her head to him.

  “The area behind the building is parkland,” the agent said. “I’ve talked to the manager, and he said Lee’s welcome to use the strip of dirt behind the building for a garden.”

  “Oh, that’s nice,” Steve said. “I wish we could see what’s out there.”

  It was a black nothingness after sunset. “Maybe we put lights,” Lee said.

  “That’s a possibility,” the agent replied.

  The apartment was nice, two bedrooms, two baths, a large balcony overlooking the black void.

  “I like this one,” Lee said. “We don’t need to look no further.”

  “She’s spoken,” Steve said, pulling Lee close to him. “Our new home. So now that we’ve settled that, what’s next?”

  “We get furniture and go back to Chicago to get my stuff. I want my kitchen stuff. It what I bring from Vietnam, what my sisters send me before they come here. That way, I can get ready for Tet. It right around the corner.”

  “We have Thanksgiving, first,” Steve said. “I can’t believe I just said that. I never cared one way or another if I had Thanksgiving. I hate turkey, so that wasn’t anything to look forward to.”

  “You hate turkey? I fry a turkey for you and you love it. I bet Kelly Boyd’s turkey is as dry as a bone.”

  “It’s pretty dry. And everyone raves about it, so I had to keep my mouth shut.”

  Lee looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “You not treat Kelly with respect,” she said, shocking him.

  He turned away and headed for the stairs. “Let’s get out to the car before you do your assessment of my former marriage,” he said. “We don’t need the agent knowing our business.”

  Shrugging her shoulders, Lee followed him down. When they got back to the car, he turned to her. “I’m sensitive about my marriage. I know I didn’t do right by her, but it’s too late now. I’m with you, so I can’t very well make it up to her.”

  “You can be nice,” she said.

  “Lee, I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but it goes both ways. You’re not exactly nice to her.”

  The words were out of his mouth when his phone rang. “It’s Titan,” he told her.

  “Hello?”

  “Kelly has everyone here for pizza and she’s inviting you and Mom,” he said. “Are you busy?”

  “We just chose an apartment. Let me ask your mother.” He looked over at her. “You want pizza at Kelly’s?”

  “Sure, I eat pizza to be nice,” she said.

  Steve leaned over to kiss her. “I love you,” he whispered. And then into the phone, “We’re on our way. Tell her thank you.”

  “Your father is on his way,” Kelly said to the others, just as the doorbell rang.

  The pizza delivery guy had arrived. Everyone pitched in, grabbing paper plates and napkins, glasses and bottles of soda and wine.

  Before long, Steve and Lee arrived, standing awkwardly off to the side. “Come in,” Kelly said. “Someone get a china plate for Lee.”

  “No, I eat off paper to be nice,” she said.

  “That’s not necessary,” Kelly said. “I want you to be comfortable.”

  There was murmuring among the kids, Titan included, and then a shout of laughter. Steve knew they were offended by the way Kelly had been treated, and yet still catered to Lee. He felt he had to address it to move on with his children, even though it might offend Lee.

  “Thank you, all of you, for going out of your way to be nice to Lee. I’m not very good at this, but I want to try to be more, what the word? Talkative.”

  Quiet blanketed the room.

  “Communicative,” Reggie said. “You’re doing fine, Dad.”

  “What brought this on?” Karen asked.

  “I know I’m not easy,” Steve said, addressing her. “I’m sorry. Give me a chance.”

  “I’ll take it under consideration,” she replied. “No offense, Lee, but the way you two handled this could have been better.”

  Kelly, rescuing Steve and Lee, put her hand on Karen’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Karen,” she said. “We’re going to try to make this work. I’m willing to move on. I hope Lee can respect me in my own house.”

  “I tell Steve that today,” Lee replied. “He don’t respect you.”

  “No, that’s true. So if Steve respects me, I hope you’ll follow suit.”

  “Suit? What’s suit?” Lee said.

  “Let’s eat,” Ken called out. “I’m starving.”

  “She was kidding, right?” Liz asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Karen answered. “As dumb as a rock.”

  Anne frowned. “That’s not nice,” she said. “Lee reminds me of my Italian grandmother. She played dumb to get a laugh. Obviously it backfired here.”

  “She did cause the breakup of my sister’s marriage,” Karen whispered.

  “Well, not exactly,” Anne said. “Maxine told me the husband is a putz.”

  “Ha! That’s a nice word for what Steve is.”

  Putting her arms around their shoulders, Maxine joined in. “Okay, you two, knock it off. The man is trying, okay? He’s been a jerk for fifty years; this isn’t going to happen overnight.”

  “I’ll never forgive him for hurting Kelly,” Karen said.

  “Ah, take a look. Does that look like a woman who’s pining away for her man?”

  They glanced into the kitchen, and Kelly was bent over laughing at whatever Titan had said. He was standing close to her, whispering, looking out in the living room to make sure they weren’t heard.

  “His wife just died,” Karen said, appalled.

  “Not even a week,” Anne said.

  “Don’t judge,” Maxine said. “They’re just having fun. She’s introducing him as her stepson, not her lover. That sounds like a woman on the forgiveness end of the spectrum, in contrast to you two.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t have to forgive him because he didn’t screw me,” Karen said. “Not that I’d want him to either way.”

  “Gross,” Anne said. “Shush, here she comes.”

  “If you two will keep it down, this hallway is like a funnel,” Kelly said, handing them paper plates of pizza slices. “We can hear everything you’re saying.”

  “You lie,” Karen said, and Kelly started to laugh again.

  “Okay, so I didn’t hear everything you said, but putz, screw, what else did I hear?”

  “It’s true, right?” Karen said.

  “That he’s a putz? Maybe. But I stayed with him all those years for the same reason that I’ll embrace him and Lee now - my kids.”

  “I’m sorry,” Karen said. “Forgive me? I know it’s not my problem but the guy just pisses me off. He’s got the biggest balls.”

  “I don’t want to think about his balls, if you don’t mind,” Kelly said, grimacing. “Go out among them and socialize.”

  She pushed them back to the living room just as Lee embarked on a critique of Kelly’s decorating. Kelly chose to nip it in the bud, so to speak, immediately.

  “Lee!” she called out, getting her attention. “It’s not nice to make unkind comments about another person’s decorating, especially when you are a guest in their house.”

  Chastised, Lee stopped right away, her hand going to her mouth.

  “I’m sorry, Kelly Boyd,” she said. “Forgive me, please. My house in Chicago is out of date, too. That’s why I thought I could say somethi
ng about this,” and here, she covered her mouth and pointed at the flower upholstery.

  Against her will, Kelly agreed. “It’s awful, but Steve didn’t want me to spend the money on new furniture when the kids were home, and then after they left, it seemed like a waste since they wouldn’t be here to enjoy it.”

  “We’re here now,” Ken said. “And we all agree that is the ugliest couch we’ve ever seen.”

  “It was the latest style when I bought it twenty years ago,” she said, feeling defensive.

  Rolling his eyes, Ken fell back in the chair while the others roared laughing. “I rest my case.”

  “Okay, okay, I’ll get a new couch,” she said. “Jeesh! See what you started, Lee?”

  “You deserve a nice couch,” she said. “If I get a new one, you should get a new one, too.”

  “Lee, do you mind?” Steve said.

  “Oh, so old Dad is going to buy Mom new furniture, is that the story?” someone shouted from the group.

  “Don’t worry, Steve, I can buy my own couch. So tell us about your new place,” she said, sitting on the arm of the sofa.

  For the next few minutes, during Steve and Lee’s description of their new place, they had the family’s rapt attention. It was during this time that Kelly happened to glance over at Titan. He was staring at her, his expression a cross between hopeless devotion and overwhelming desire. Taken aback, it flustered her, because she couldn’t remember having a man look at her like that since, well, since forever. Perhaps she was misinterpreting his signals. But when he realized she’d seen it, he smiled a slow smile, just for her and working his eyebrows up and down, gave her the thumb-sup so no one else could see.

  After pizza, Alice got Monopoly out, and those who wanted to play crowded around the kitchen table.

  “It’s a work night,” Ben said. “We’re going to head home.”

  “We’re right behind you,” Augie said.

  The early risers left and the partiers started to party. Out at the curb, Ben helped Liz buckle baby Nicole in her seat. “My family is getting on my nerves,” he said.

  “Shush, Ben. Your mother is standing in the doorway,” Liz said, waving at Kelly, but frowning at him.

  “I should come out and tell her that this whole charade is not doing it for me. Why in the hell are we even talking to my father? He’s an idiot.”

  “Get in the car,” she said. “I’m driving.”

  They buckled up and she pulled away from the house. “I’m still hungry,” he said. “I’m not eating pizza with Lee and Steve. I don’t know whose idea that was.”

  “Kelly’s doing it for you,” Liz replied. “Let’s go to Daly’s.”

  Heading to the other side of town, Liz worried that Ben was going to take his latest frustration with his family to the extreme. They didn’t know how to do things in moderation.

  They arrived at the restaurant and Liz parked in back. The carhop came right out and took their standard order: chili cheese burgers, fries, and chocolate milk shakes. “If it doesn’t keep the baby up all night, I’ll probably die after this,” she said. “I already ate a piece of pizza and the acid is developing as we speak.”

  Ben looked out the window, and Liz could tell he was choosing how he was going to approach a topic.

  “The job in Sterling Heights opened up again,” he said. “I want to take it.”

  “Ben, I don’t want to move to Sterling Heights. It’s too far away from everyone,” she said.

  “It’s only an hour,” he replied. “We’ll still visit every weekend.”

  “I like being able to drop in whenever I want and for them to come to us, as well. I had six people over this week already. Your family dropping in on me to make sure I wasn’t swinging from a light fixture after being up all night has saved me.

  “And what about Lisa? How do you think she’ll handle being an hour away from us?”

  “After her fourth slice, she leaned over and said these exact words. ‘Why don’t you find a job closer to Algonac and I’ll come and live with you.’”

  “She did not,” Liz said, anger growing. “And Algonac will still be an hour away.”

  “Unless we move closer to it,” he said. “We don’t have to live right in Sterling Heights.”

  “I don’t like this,” she said. “I feel like I’m being backed into a corner because you’re pissed off at your dad. Why don’t you take it up with him instead of running away from it?”

  Frowning, he didn’t like getting caught. “I’m ready for a change,” he persisted.

  “Well, I’m not,” she said. “You love everything about our life except your father. Deal with it. The issue is still going to be there no matter how far away we move.”

  “Well, shit,” he said. “Look who just pulled into Daly Drive-in.”

  “Quick! Scoot down!” Liz said, sliding down on her seat.

  But it was too late.

  “The scourge has arrived,” Ben said.

  Steve backed into the space next to their car. Ben rolled the window down to say hello. “The baby is in back. I’d better roll up again.”

  “Can we come over there?” Steve asked, unmistakable through the closed window.

  “Jesus Christ, can you believe this? Please God, no!”

  “Ben, stop it! Tell him to come. There’s room for both of them in back.”

  He rolled the window down again. “Sure, Dad, come on over.”

  “This is a nightmare,” Ben whined.

  They watched Steve get out of the car, go around and open the door for Lee and then, taking her arm, leading her and her giant cloth bag to the car. “What does she tote around in the bag?” Liz asked.

  “Hide your purse. Is there anything valuable in the diaper bag?”

  “Stop it, Ben,” Liz said, unlocking the door for Lee.

  “Oh, is the baby sleeping?” Lee whispered.

  “She is, but that’s okay. You two should fit back there just fine.”

  It took a few moments for them to get settled. Then the carhop walked over and got their order.

  “I guess no one wanted pizza tonight,” Ben said.

  “I was too nervous to eat over there,” Steve admitted. “Benny, let me get this out before you jump on me.”

  “Dad, when in the hell have I ever given you reason to believe I would jump on you?”

  “Everyone said you were the maddest at me,” Steve answered.

  “Me? That’s bullshit,” he said.

  “The baby,” Liz warned.

  “Ken is angrier than I am,” Ben said.

  “Ken’s in recovery, so nothing he says counts,” Steve said and when they looked at him he added, “I read about it. Reggie told me, too.”

  “Dad, I’m tired. I don’t want to get into it with Lee here. Although you are the one who started it, Lee. What I don’t understand is why did you drag us through all of those years of misery instead of owning up to it that you were miserable?”

  “Stubborn pride,” Steve said. “I’m going to get help. Reggie’s helping me find a therapist.”

  “Your dad loves you,” Lee said. “He just don’t know how to show you. It easier when the boy is small, you pay attention to him. He miss out on that. But when he big, the boy don’t want the attention.”

  “I sure as hell don’t,” Ben said, sighing.

  “I have an idea if you’ll consider it,” Steve said.

  “Go ahead,” Ben replied.

  “I’m asking each one of you to meet me for coffee or a beer once a week. Just an hour. Give me an hour of your time to get to know you better. I’d like to know what you enjoy doing, how you spend your free time.”

  “I have an infant,” Ben said. “There is no free time. But I do have an idea.”

  The next evening, Lisa waited on her porch with yet again new walking shoes and a warm jacket, waiting for Ben. He arrived right on time, pulling in front of her the wrong way as usual, and she walked down to help him get baby Nicole into her fancy stroller. But th
en the top of another head popped out of the passenger side.

  “Dad?” Lisa said, dumbfounded. “No way.”

  “He wants to get to know us better, so this is as good a time as any.”

  “How long have you two been doing this?” Steve said, winding a scarf around his neck. “It’s freezing out.”

  “You’ll warm up. We’ve been doing it since we were kids, so thirty-six years?”

  “Oh come on,” Ben said, laughing. “We’ve been walking for a year. We started last year as a New Year’s resolution.”

  “I think it’s nice that a brother and sister stick together like you two do. I haven’t heard from my brothers and sisters in years. I don’t even know if they’re alive.”

  “Dad, you should get in touch. I want Nicole to know family. Mom’s only got Aunt Karen.”

  “That’s enough,” Steve said, and they laughed. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. Karen is all the relative anyone needs. She’s always been there for Mom.”

  “Does she know you feel that way about her? I don’t think so,” Lisa said. “It would probably mean a lot to her.”

  “Yeah, well, keep it to yourself,” he said, but he chuckled.

  They did the lap around the park and then headed back toward town, making small talk that would hopefully fill in the gaps a lifetime had left wide open.

  Chapter 19

  Checking for Augie from the picture window in the living room every five minutes, Sandy ran to the kitchen to stir pots on the stove, to the bathroom to make sure no child was drowning unattended in the bath, to the basement to throw a load of clothes in the washer, and then back to the window. By midnight, the children asleep, the house sparkling, dinner ruined, she knew he wasn’t coming back.

  It would be so easy to blame his problems, their problems on Kelly, but Sandy wasn’t going to do that. Sitting with her legs curled under her, nursing a glass of red wine, she had to be proactive. Fantasizing Augie was okay would no longer work for her. Her mother-in-law had a fabulous ability to pretend when everything crashed down around her. She was doing it now. During that ridiculous pizza party, with the son of the loathsome woman practically licking his chops every time Kelly was in his sight, Augie noticed it and finally couldn’t take it any longer.