“Will do,” Loretta said, bidding him goodnight with a casual wave, though she was bursting with excitement on the inside.
Alonzo tooted his horn to say goodnight as he backed out of her driveway.
***
That evening, Loretta hummed as she prepared dinner for herself, experimenting with a new seafood recipe for the restaurant. It was Thursday, and she knew she’d be taking the next day off from restaurant work to visit with Velma. Things had been so busy that she hadn’t seen much of her friend lately. Loretta decided to pay her a visit the next afternoon, knowing Friday was usually Velma’s afternoon off. She couldn’t wait to lay eyes on her friend, and to tell her she’d finally gotten up the nerve to ask Alonzo out. It would be good to see her friend; she was looking forward to catching up.
Chapter 11
Later that night, when Alonzo returned to the home he inhabited on the eastern front of the vineyard, he studied himself in the mirror.
No; he was not as young as he used to be. He remembered the younger, stronger, head-strong Italian with wide-eyed dreams of becoming a championship boxer. He’d made great strides in the small region of his own country, becoming known as the spirited, young fighter to watch. But his father had different plans for him. He was only fifteen when his old man sent for him to come to America.
He remembered he didn’t want to leave Galonias Harbour, knowing he’d be leaving behind comrades he’d known all of his life. They watched out for and protected each other. And he was making his way up the ranks in a sport he loved, which would mean nothing in America. He’d have to start all over.
And there was Marissa.
He’d fancied her since he was a boy, though she seemed to have eyes for anybody but him. He believed that was one of the things he loved most about her, though. Unlike the other village girls, Marissa didn’t pay much attention to him. But be believed she would come around in time just the same. After all, their fathers had already paired them as future husband and wife.
He reflected fondly on his father …
Vincent Thornton had not been a wealthy man back then, but he’d worked enough doing odd jobs to finally send for his only child to come to America. It was what his late wife always wanted: the dream of America for their family, and it had finally come true, God rest her soul.
Coming to America changed Alonzo’s world. He was no longer the young man everyone knew and looked up to in Galonias; he was now just the new kid from a little village in Italy. When he and his father were finally able to afford a permanent place to live, their apartment was on a block filled with migrant families who worked the vineyards for wealthy owners in Bordeaux and the surrounding Napa County valleys. Alonzo went to school during the week and worked alongside his father on the vineyard on the weekends.
There was no time for play; and there was certainly no time for pursing a boxing career.
Three years after Alonzo’s arrival to America, his father had finally saved enough money to buy a small parcel of land bordering the vineyard they worked on. As a result of that purchase from an old widow, their lives changed forever. While digging the well on their property, they hit a vein of black gold -- oil -- that made their father a wealthy man.
Not long after that, Vincent Thornton outright bought the vineyard he, his son, and most of his friends, had worked as field hands.
Alonzo was promptly sent off to college to study business and finance so he could be prepared to run the vineyard they now owned.
Though Alonzo dated a few women in college, Marissa was always at the front of his mind. A few months after graduating and returning to the vineyard, he sent for his future wife to come to America.
But Marissa had a mind of her own and a flirtatious manner. Her eyes had wandered as a young lady in Italy, and they continued to wander after she became Mrs. Alonzo Thornton in America.
Alonzo sighed as he thought about his then-young wife and her leaving his side.
He’d lost her too soon, and during the process, he’d lost his courage to get attached to anything, and anyone, that he adored. He’d lost his friends when he was a boy; he’d lost boxing; and he’d lost his wife. After she left, he decided it was better not to get attached to anything at all -- except his son, Umberto, whom he adored.
So over the years, he’d remained alone, not getting attached to anything but hard work.
But after meeting Loretta, something changed. Something about her presence made all those fears disappear.
He wanted to get to know this woman. She’d breathed life into him again -- and hope … hope for love -- and maybe hope for a future with someone who seemed to adore him as much as he’d come to adore her.
Loretta had no idea how her invitation had made him feel. There had been a loneliness in Alonzo for a long time, and outside of the occasional sex he afforded himself by partaking in a long-time sexual arrangement he’d setup in a village forty miles away, he craved companionship and a real connection on a different level.
Loretta made him want that even more.
There was a natural easiness to their interaction, and there was commonality in their experiences as parents that he didn’t realize he’d appreciate someone understanding until he met her.
Their children were around the same age, and they were all immersed in their own young lives, as they should have been. But through their conversations, he knew Loretta felt that unique loneliness as a result of children growing up and moving on that he, too, felt as a single parent living in a suddenly empty nest.
Alonzo didn’t associate with too many people in town. It was just his way; he preferred his work over socializing. He found that he felt most at home on the vineyard, working with the crew, than he did in formal settings socializing for the sake of socializing -- which made his attending Velma and Malachi’s gatherings even more of a treat because they were casual and genuine.
But Loretta made him light up. Being around her made him happy, and it made him desirous. His loins were suddenly filled with wanton, borne from an unspoken connectedness, respect, and growing friendship, and stoked by the carnal hunger of a man lusting for a woman who makes his thunder rise just by being within earshot of her voice.
He found himself longing to hold her, talk to her, listen to her, caress her gently, kiss her until her lips were swollen from his probing … and yes, longing to make love to her until she was tender from his passionate strokes. The fullness of her curves made his manhood throb with dizzying sensation.
Little did Loretta know, he’d already taken her sweetness over and over again in his thoughts before he drifted off to sleep, and in his dreams many nights in his bed.
He longed to feel her body under his probing strength.
But Saturday, maybe a kiss, if she’d allow him. Loretta’s lips parting to his and the feel of her bosom pressed against his solid embrace could hold him. Just a kiss would satisfy him, for now.
Chapter 12
The next morning, Loretta was awakened by her cell phone blaring. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand next to her bed, she could see it was barely five a.m.
She picked up the phone, still in a foggy haze. It was Brianna’s number. Her heart sank as she pressed the green button to answer.
Something had to be wrong.
“Brianna, what’s wrong baby?” Loretta said, sitting up on the side of the bed.
“Nothing, mom, I’m fine,” her daughter sang.
Loretta put her hand on her chest and exhaled. Thank God.
She glanced at the clock again. “Well what’s going on, Bri’?” she said, knowing it had to be important for her to be calling before daylight.
“Mama, I’m so excited, I can barely sleep!”
“Well what’s going on?” Loretta asked, wide awake now.
Brianna took a deep breath and began. “John wants me to come to Martha’s Vineyard for the summer, to meet his parents!” Loretta could hear glee in her daughter’s voice, as if she were talking to some of the girls in th
is new clique she’d joined on campus.
“Well, that’s nice, Brianna,” Loretta said, not fully understanding.
“Mom, it’s more than nice. It’s the prelude to a marriage proposal. He wants me to meet his parents!” she said using that high-pitched tone again.
“Brianna, I didn’t think you liked the boy like that,” Loretta said, surprised her daughter was considering marrying John if he proposed. Brianna had met him at a sporting event when he was visiting Detroit over a year ago.
“I do, Mama, we’ve gotten closer.”
“Brianna, have you forgotten who you’re talking to? This is your mother. John seems like a nice young man --“
“And from a prominent family, Mama,” her daughter interjected.
“But do you love him?” Loretta asked. “We’ve talked about this before. You can’t go marrying that boy because he has money and comes from a prominent family. I didn’t raise you like that.”
“Mama, it’s not like it’s a bad thing, to want security,” Brianna cried. “I--, I just don’t want to struggle like--“
“Like what, Brianna? Like I did?”
“I don’t mean to be disrespectful, Mama, but I don’t want to grow up poor. I want to have something.”
“You will have yourself when you don’t settle on a man for his money,” Loretta said, standing up in the dark with her hands on her hips.
“Why can’t you just be happy for me?” her daughter shot.
“Watch your tone, young lady,” Loretta warned.
“Yes, Ma’am.” She could hear emotion filling her daughter’s voice.
Loretta sighed and looked up to the heavens for calm. “Sweetheart, calm down,” Loretta said. “We can talk about it when you come to visit on your break in a few weeks.
“I can’t come, Mama, that’s why I’m calling. John’s family meets every year in August. I will be away with him.”
Loretta was quiet. She saw her daughter getting ready to make a mistake. John was a nice enough young man, but Brianna didn’t love him. She knew that, because she didn’t have that look about her when she talked about him, or that tone in her voice when she mentioned his name.
Loretta had only known love twice in her life. Clarence -- and she realized that second -- Alonzo.
“Do you know how much your father and I loved each other, Brianna? You were conceived in that love, before we were even married.”
“You never told me that,” her daughter said.
“Some things parents keep to themselves. But it doesn’t matter. Your father and I adored each other, and we would do anything in the world for each other. We weren’t rich, by a long shot, but we had a love that, if you’re lucky, you will get to experience before this life is over. Just don’t sell yourself short, sweetheart. You are so young, there is no rush. But whatever you decide, I’ll be right here for you. If you’re happy, I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks, Mama,” Brianna said. “That means a lot. And I’m really sorry about the opening, but I’ll come out soon, okay? I promise.”
“Okay, sweetheart,” Loretta sighed quietly. “Will I see you for the holidays this year?”
“I’m not sure. We’ll probably come out and spend Thanksgiving with you, and Christmas with his family.”
“That’ll be fine,” she said, but Loretta’s heart sank as she thought of having Christmas without both her children present.
After she hung up the phone, she went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet with her head in her hands. After a few long moments, she lifted her head and shook it, realizing that kids grow up, move on and start their own lives.
But so fast?
Like never before, she finally fully realized that her children were grown, and all she could do was be there when -- and if -- they called on her.
“God, watch after my baby,” she exhaled, looking up to the heavens.
Loretta glanced at the clock. It was almost time to get up, so she slipped into her exercise gear and headed out the front door of the cottage.
The early morning breeze on the vineyard was nice. She was up and out for her morning exercise well before the sun began to shine, and it felt good. Trying to shake off the worry about Brianna, she picked up pace and added a little jogging to her usual walking routine. As she tried to find her rhythm, she reminded herself that her daughter was a smart girl and would eventually make the right decision.
***
Later that day when Loretta was lounging on Velma’s back porch verandah, she received a call from her son Terrell. They talked for minutes that always seemed too quick. Just she was saying goodbye, Velma came back outside carrying a small African-themed wooden tray.
“Well, is he still coming out?” Velma asked noticing the worry on Loretta’s face.
“Yes, he’s coming for a long weekend. He wanted to make sure I’d spoken to Brianna and that I was okay. And then he gave me his news.”
“Well, he’s still coming, so that’s good,” Velma said, squeezing her friend’s hand as she sat another cup of herbal teal on the little table between her and Loretta’s Adirondack chairs.
“It is, but it’s not for an extended period like I thought it would be,” Loretta said, nodding a thank you to her friend for the tea. “And it won’t be until Labor Day,” she said, staring out at the Pacific Ocean in the distance as she took a sip of the hot liquid.
“It’s something,” Velma said hunching her shoulders, trying to reassure her friend as she took her seat next to her. “And he’ll be here for your grand opening.” Velma watched Loretta in deep thought as she brought her cup to her lips.
“Velma, he has enlisted,” Loretta finally sighed.
“The Navy?” Velma asked.
“Yes, he did it. He always said he wanted to join, I just never expected--,” Loretta‘s eyes began to tear.
“Oh, Loretta,” Velma said reaching over to embrace her friend. “It’s not like the boy’s going off to prison.”
“No, just maybe war,” Loretta said, trying to make light of it to keep from crying.
“It’ll be fine. That’s an admirable thing, him wanting to serve his country.”
“I know, but that’s my baby.”
“Not anymore, Loretta. The boy is grown,” Velma said, a sternness to her voice. “Not anymore. You’ve got to let go, honey.” Velma gave her a long stare. “I’ve wanted to say it, but I know how you are about those kids.”
Loretta looked over at her, taking in her friend’s advice.
“Loretta Devon, do I need to remind you that those children are of you and Clarence, and because of that, they will be just fine? You’ve raised them well, but you’ve got to face the fact that they are going to make some choices that you might not always agree with, but they will be okay. They come from good stock, you hear?”
Loretta turned to her friend, realization, truth setting in. “Velma, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Why surely you’d perish,” Velma teased. “Or you’d be a complete mess!”
Loretta chuckled, feeling lighter.
“Now tell me about this hot date you have with Mr. Thornton!” she pried.
A warmness came over Loretta at just the mention of Alonzo’s name.
“You asked the man out?”
“Yes, I sure did,” Loretta said, surprised at her own self.
“I hope you make it count,” Velma said.
“What do you mean?” Loretta asked, already knowing Velma’s mind was in the gutter.
“Don’t play crazy. You know good and well what I mean. It’s been how long since you’ve had a man on top of you?”
“Velma Jones!” Loretta howled.
“Well, how long?”
“I plead the fifth,” Loretta chuckled, sipping her tea and avoiding Velma’s stare.
“Like I said, I hope you make it count,” Velma laughed.
The friends sat and talked for a long while on the back porch that evening.
A little later as Loret
ta prepared to leave, they vowed to get together again soon. Loretta hugged her friend’s neck, hopped into her SUV, and headed back down the winding road toward Thornton Vineyard.
Through all the chatter and joking, Loretta couldn’t help noticing a sadness lurking just below the surface in her friend. Though Velma appeared to be her usual spirited self, there was something about her demeanor, ever so slight, that led Loretta to be believe something was going on with her that she had not yet shared.
From This Day Forward: Multicultural Romance Page 7