Promise To Keep

by Rainwater, Priscilla Poole

  Turning, she called for Abby. In the meantime she busied herself rocking Shawn in her arms and cooing. When Abby came huffing back with Jonus close behind, they gathered the things up and left for the house, with the dogs right on their heels, barking.

  Connell watched her walk away, thinking how regal she looked, just like that homecoming night so long ago when they were in college. He was a bit flushed when he realized that he had also been hypnotized by the way her firm backside swayed back and forth. He blinked and tore his gaze away with difficulty, thinking, God, I’m lusting after her again, she was my wife’s best friend! I can’t let this happen.

  Rising to his feet wearily, he looked at Jonus and said, “Well, let’s get back to work.” He needed some sort of distraction, desperately.

  ********************************************

  Megan drove to the farm after leaving the beauty salon, still feeling the sting of humiliation. Earlier she had called the house, wanting to talk to her son, but Aisha told her she wasn’t sure where he was at the moment, that he and Jonus had been doing work on the fence line. That woman has completely taken over Connell’s house, like she has the right…she thought angrily.

  It had been bad enough when one of her bingo friends, Faye O’Doul, had let everyone know that Aisha had been paying Connell’s bills. Riley’s don’t take handouts! She’s ruining my good name, and it’s going to end tonight….she vowed to herself.

  Arriving at the farm, she saw the pickup parked in front of their largest barn, the one used to shelter the tractor and various equipment, and pulled in just as Connell stepped out of the drivers seat. It was just as well, she wanted to speak to him in private, where neither Abby nor Aisha could overhear them.

  Putting the car in park, she killed the engine and got out. “Connell, I need to have a word with…“ she faltered when she saw Jonus step out of the passenger side.

  Sensing something was bothering her, Connell turned to Jonus and said, “Uhhh, why don’t you head on to the house, let’s call it a day. And put me a couple of cokes in the fridge, would ya’? Take the truck, I’ll ride back down with mom. After that I‘ll help you get the camper set up.”

  Jonus nodded, greeted Megan politely, then got in the truck and left.

  Walking over to his mother, he could tell she was upset, her thin lips were pinched tight, displeasure clearly stamped on her wrinkled face. He knew her well enough to know that she was angry with him, but was puzzled as to why. Inside he flinched, hoping it wouldn’t be a late sermon on the drinking binge he had went on earlier. “Hey Ma, you look nice. Got your hair done, I see.” he said, forcing a smile, playing it safe.

  She simply huffed and shrugged off the compliment. “Well, it won’t be looking nice in the future, since I will NOT be showing my face at the beauty shop, ever again! I’ll have to go all the way to Kingsport from now on if I want to get my hair done, and you know how much I hate driving that far.”

  Oh hell, here we go… he thought as he did his best to keep a neutral expression. Crossing his sore arms, he leaned his tired body against her car, crossing one long leg over the other. “So, what’s got you all upset?” he sighed, suspecting he knew the answer.

  “I’ll tell you what! Do you know what Ruth Hodges said in front of everybody?“ she snapped.

  “No, what did she say, Ma? Did she finally admit that freak-show son of hers peeks at women in the dressing room at Wal-Mart? That he was caught and banned from the premises? Or that he got caught stealing women’s underwear from his eighty-year-old neighbor’s clothes line? Everyone in the county knows Humphrey is a peeping tom and a freak.” he replied sarcastically.

  Megan glared at her willful son, and wagged her finger at him like she did when he was a little boy. “Unlike you, Humphrey is an obedient boy!”

  He simply snorted and rolled his eyes towards the heavens, further enraging her.

  “Ruth said that Aisha all but admitted to her that she was sleeping with you, in JENNY’S bed! To top it off, she cursed at her and Alice Lane at the grocery store the other day, with God and the whole world there to see it! Said she got rude when they didn’t move fast enough to suit her! Fancy that, everyone gawking at her behavior, and your daughter right there to see it! Alice tried to be polite to her, asking about you and the kids, and you know what she did? She threatened to attack them! After that they ran off, and Poor Alice had to take nitro pills she was so scared! Imagine that, a woman less than half their age threatening them! And YOU, young man, are allowing her to influence my grandchildren!” Her amazement was supreme when Connell burst out laughing, almost doubled over, and she looked at him as if he had lost his mind. Jenny’s death, and the drinking, it’s addled his wits! she thought.

  “You actually believe that?” he said as his laughter subsided. “And what’s worse, do you actually care? Jesus, mom! Everyone in town knows those two do nothing but spread vicious rumors about people. Or have you forgotten the rotten things Ruth said when dad died? She had people believing you killed dad so you could be with that fellow who owns the Cadillac dealership in Gate City! No, mom, Aisha would never in a million years go off on a tangent like that for no reason. My guess is that she probably overheard those two old bats saying nasty things about her, and then got mad. And I don’t blame her, to tell you the truth. And what’s the big deal anyway? I mean, you don’t even LIKE those two.“

  Megan fumed. The fact that she didn’t like them didn’t fit into the equation, what did matter to her was that people would believe them. “Connell, I want you to ask her to leave! You have all the help you need with Helen and me. I can move in with you, I‘ll……”

  But she was cut short when Connell threw a hand up in a halting gesture. “No, mom, I can’t do that. I won‘t”

  “Connell, I want her GONE, do you hear me? It doesn’t look right! Her parading around town with Jenny’s children like they’re her own! It’s shameful! This is no way to honor your dead wife’s memory! When your father passed I didn’t bring a man to his bed, I was and still am a respectable widow!” she yelled, then flinched when she saw she had hit a nerve, and knew she had overstepped her boundaries.

  Finally angry, he uncrossed his arms and stood to his full height of six feet four, a storm brewing in his gray eyes. “First of all, mother, dad left ME this farm, and the land it sits on. Left it to ME! No one can, and no one will, tell me who can stay and who can’t! As me for respecting Jenny, she ASKED Aisha to be here! She WANTED her here for us, and so do I.” he finished while she tried to control the trembling in her legs. She had never been afraid of him til’ this moment.

  Taking a deep breath, he spoke in a slightly more calm voice. “She can stay as long as she wants, and I want you to respect her, she deserves it, believe me. You best be getting home, its getting dark.” he finished, and turned to walk home. Turning back around, he spoke softly. “Night, I love you, mom.”

  She gave him a curt nod, and blinking back tears of frustration, opened the driver’s door, but hesitated. “Alright, fine, you want to put her needs ahead of mine, go on ahead. But you may as well forget about her staying much longer, that ex-husband of hers will see to that.”

  Connell frowned. “What does he have to do with her staying? He is her *ex-husband, * after all.”

  “He came to the house after Jenny’s funeral, wanted her to leave with him. I believe she would have done it too, had it not been for the children needing her. As a woman, I know what was going through her mind, I could see it plain as day on her face, oh yes! She was sorry after he left! She’ll get tired of this place sooner or later, and I know who she’ll go running back to, so don’t be disappointed when it happens.“ she replied with satisfaction.

  Connell felt a keen stab of jealousy and fear run through him, and it must have shown, because he saw her actually nod her head slightly in satisfaction. “Well, all I can say is she’s free to do as she pleases, but I want her to stay. So does Abby.” he replied numbly, feeling slightly nauseous.


  Without another word, she got in her car and drove off.

  *************************************************

  Jonus looked around the camper, pleased. Unknown to him, at some point in the day Aisha had came in and set him up nicely. There was a heavy duty power cord running from the camper to the inside of the barn it was parked behind, and a water hose had been ran from the outside of the house to the unit’s water supply hook up. There was a full tank of propane outside, also hooked up. So he had electricity, hot running water for the shower, cold for the toilet and sink.

  The camper itself was a fairly large one, obviously a well thought-out purchase for the family, since it had comfortably slept up to four people. Further investigation showed she had stocked the small pantries and the refrigerator, and put fresh linen, towels, blankets, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes and deodorant in the tiny closet. There was a 19’inch color television mounted on the wall, with a built in VHS player. She had even thought to bring a stack of thirty or so movies from the house, everything from drama to horror to comedy. It had been a long time since he had a space where he could be alone, and he was thankful he had it.

  His cell phone rang, and picking it up from the small table he looked at the caller id. His father. Placing the phone back down he chose to ignore it, not allowing it to ruin his good mood.

  Hearing a light rap on the door, he opened it and greeted Connell, then stepped back to invite him inside.

  “Well, I see she got you set up real pretty here.” he said looking around and smiling for the first time since his mother had stormed off.

  Gesturing with one hand at his surroundings, Jonus said, “Yeah, I can’t think of anything I need, I mean, anything.” To illustrate the point, he gave him a brief tour of the camper.

  “Well, that saved us a bit of work, huh? Uh, have you eaten yet?” Connell asked once they were finished.

  “Yeah, I polished off the rest of the sandwiches, told Aisha she had done more than enough for one day. This,” he said, gesturing once more, “must have been what she was doing all morning, why she was a little late for lunch, bless her heart. I think the laundry thing was a little white lie, she wanted to surprise me.”

  Rubbing his jaw with a thoughtful look in his eyes, Connell said, “Yeah, must‘ve been. Well, night, see you at breakfast.”

  “Goodnight.“ he answered as Connell left. Closing the door, he looked around and said, “I have a home.”

  ******************************************

  Connell stepped in the house and saw Abby sitting at the kitchen table, looking in his direction as if she was expecting Santa Clause, and he was jolly old St. Nick himself.

  Perking up, she said, “Hi Daddy, Aisha said I could wait for you before I had supper. You‘re late.”

  Even though dinner was the last thing on his mind, he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint his little girl. “Yeah, I’m hungry, darlin’. Where’s Aisha and Shawn?” he asked as he looked around.

  She got up and pulled a footstool up to the kitchen sink, where she joined him in washing hands. “She’s puttin’ him to bed for the night. Daddy, aren’t you going to take a shower before we eat? She always makes me do it.”

  Looking up at the ceiling, he sighed. As tired as he was, he knew if he went upstairs and felt the soothing relief of hot water on his tired muscles, he wouldn’t come back down until morning. At the moment he couldn’t care less if she didn’t want him to sit at the table dirty. He opened his mouth to tell her that, but hesitated when he looked down at her. She was standing on tip-toe to whisper something to him.

  Leaning down, he heard her whisper, “It’s ok daddy, sometimes I don’t do what she tells me to do.” He looked at her for a moment with a frown on his face and finally said, “No, its not OK. If she tells you to do something, you do it. She deserves our respect, do you understand, young lady? Now go sit down while I get showered, then we’ll eat.“

  Giving him a hurt look, she stepped down, but was swept up from behind into his arms. He have her a kiss on the cheek and a wink. She loves you a lot, you know. You don’t want to hurt her feelings, do you?” he asked.

  “No sir.” she answered in a small voice.

  “Alright then, how about you make daddy a big glass of ice tea while I’m in the shower, Ok?” he said as he put her back down.

  He pulled his body up the stairs as if he was on a death march, stopping outside Shawn’s room first. Peeking inside, he spotted them both, seated in a rocking chair. The baby was fast asleep in her arms, and she was asleep as well, obviously exhausted. He felt a strong surge of emotions running through him, feelings that both frightened him and exhilarated him at the same time.

  Stepping inside, he gently lifted Shawn from her warm embrace. Kissing his brow softly, he carefully laid him in the crib and covered him.

  Making his way to her, he shook her shoulder gently. “Aisha? Aisha?” he called in a soft voice, but she didn’t answer, only mumbled and fell back into a deep sleep immediately.

  He stood there, debating what to do. He didn’t want to leave Abby alone too long, and he didn’t want to just leave her there, asleep in that hard chair. Bending again, he picked her up and stifled a groan as his aching back screamed in protest. He was surprised he hadn’t awakened her, and thought, Must be a few month’s worth of rest she’s catching up on.

  Snorting, she suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against his neck.

  As tired as he was, he had to fight to keep from laughing; She would have a fit if she knew she was snuggled all up against me. he thought. “Come on, hellcat, let’s get you to bed too.” he whispered.

  Chuckling softly to himself, he held her a little closer and headed towards her room.

  Chapter 8

  Waking up, Aisha looked around groggily, and was surprised to find she was in her own bed. “How the hell did I get in here?” she mumbled, getting up. Shaking off the cobwebs, it occurred to her that Shawn wasn’t with her. Panic swept through her, and instinct to protect the baby kicked in.

  She rushed to his room, thinking about the stories she had seen on television about children being taken from their bed by some crazy pervert, and let out of a sigh of relief when she saw him sleeping soundly, safely in his bed and sucking on his thumb. She caressed his soft hair and pulled the cover back over him.

  Stretching, she turned and went to check on Abby.

  *******************************

  Connell looked over the papers he had been looking at the previous night, after he had tucked Abby in. Sipping his coffee, he turned his head from side to side, trying to loosen up the sore muscles.

  “You should have woke me.”

  He turned to see Aisha padding into the kitchen, looking as if she’d just stepped out of the shower. Her locks were wet and resting on her shoulders, and she was wearing a pair of gray pj bottoms and a black sweatshirt that read, ’Photographers Do It In the Dark ’. He looked at the shirt for a moment, then back at her face. She was smiling sweetly, unaware of the craving the shirt’s slogan had sparked in him.

  With some effort he pulled his eyes away and tried to focus on the paperwork. He mumbled, “You were so tired I couldn’t wake you, short of throwing cold water on you. So I carried you to bed.”

  Unexpectedly, her body tingled at the words. He carried me to bed…she thought, and before she realized it her eyes fell on his muscular arms resting on the table. She turned away quickly as a fire in her stomach began spreading downward to her center.

  Going to the refrigerator, she opened it, letting the cool air hit her burning face. Lord, give me strength. Maybe I need to call some escort service to get a man, because I’m not going to lust after him, no way! Yeah, I’ll just tell them I want a big guy…no… a big COUNTRY boy. Maybe he could dress up like…. she thought, as she shot a furtive glance in his direction. She grabbed a carton of orange juice and absentmindedly shut the refrigerator door, thinking, Ye
ah, a handsome, country looking guy, a little rough around the edges.…I can get all sweaty while he takes me in those big arms, and we’ll roll around in the hay loft…and…

  “Earth to Aisha, did you hear me?”

  She yelped, her heart racing as his bellowing snatched her from the hot daydream. Snapping out of her naughty thoughts, she shook her head to come out of her lust filled haze. Blinking at him, completely embarrassed, she prayed he hadn’t noticed. “Uhhh, what was that again?” she asked as she took a seat across from him.

  He gave her a strange look, but repeated his question. “I said, that Abby said these were delivered just for you.” He pointed at the eighteen cream colored roses at the center of the table, in a Georgian footed vase. “She said you get a vase of those every week, like clockwork. Someone courting you?” he finished, trying to act aloof, but already knowing who sent them.