Tree Huggers, Children and Broken Decoys

by Ali Vali

  "Could you do me a favor?" She put her hand on Junior's arm getting the woman to bend down and nod her head. "Please stop calling me Ms. Sterling."

  "What's new, Junior?"

  "Plenty, but let me start by introducing you to Jillian Sterling. Jillian, this old codger is Avery Baxter." Shooting Junior a dirty look, Avery smiled up at the petite blonde then handed her a drink. "Jillian wanted to talk to you about a job."

  "You wouldn't be the Jillian Sterling that caught Junior with her pants down, would you?" He had drained the first shot and was pouring himself another one while he waited for her to answer.

  "Excuse me?"

  "The inspector that fined her for everything but taking a shit at the wrong time."

  "That would be me, sir."

  "Don't call me sir, it makes my skin crawl. Only bankers and lawyers call you sir, and then they stick it to you without benefit of a jar of Vaseline. My name is Avery and if it's a job you want you need to talk to Avery Junior." Both Avery and Jillian looked at Junior wondering what she was up to.

  "I'm sorry to bother you, Avery, but that's who I thought I was coming to see."

  "You asked to see Mr. Baxter, and there he is." Junior supplied helpfully.

  "Forgive my kid, Ms. Sterling, she thinks she's funny." Avery scowled when Junior got up and took the bottle away from him when he went for a third.

  "Elaboration would be good," Jillian pointed out.

  "I don't run Baxter Oil, young lady, Junior does. You want a job you have to talk to her. My advice, Junior, is make an offer before the day is out. This little lady looks like she could kick your ass if she sets her mind to it. Kinda reminds me of your mama."

  Jillian faced the now smiling Junior looking a little confused. "What's your full name?"

  "Avery Leland Baxter, Jr."

  The small blonde let out a laugh that sounded more like a squawk causing Junior's smile to get bigger. "You're kidding me, right?"

  "My father also thinks he has a wonderful sense of humor, Jillian, so no, I'm not kidding. I'm sorry for tricking you but I didn't want to make the drive alone. If you give me few minutes alone with my father, I'll be happy to discuss your future with the company then take you home." Jillian shook her head like Minnie had just done minutes before but smiled anyway. "You," Junior pointed at her father, "Don't touch that bottle until I get back."

  They walked toward the house in silence until Jillian asked, "Why in the world would he name you Junior?"

  "I'll tell you the whole story on the way back, but the short version is this. They brought me out after my mother delivered and dad was so drunk he thought the woman said boy. While my mom was in recovery he filled out the paperwork including the name. When he sobered up he thought it was cute, and would be bad luck to change it." Junior put her hands out as if it was a reasonable explanation and waited for the jokes she had endured from the time she could walk.

  Jillian looked at her and decided at that moment that Junior was the one. "Ok, you realize I'm not calling you Junior, right?"

  "Everyone calls me Junior, it's my name."

  "I'm not everyone, I start tomorrow, and we aren't leaving, Avery. Minnie invited us to lunch and we aren't going to disappoint her." Minnie applauded her from the kitchen door then waved the girl inside.

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  "What brings you out here, Junior?" Her father asked when she walked back and sat next to him.

  "Quinton and his wife died in a car accident last night." They had never sugarcoated anything between them before and she wasn't starting now.

  "I'll tell you something, Junior, that boy was my son because some of my swimmers made it up stream but I never did like him. He was a mistake after your mama died and the bitch that bore him tried everything she could think of to break me. It was our bad luck her son inherited her black heart."

  "Susan left me something in her will." Avery looked at his daughter not voicing his opinion of the dead woman, but she ranked up there with his son for the hurt she had caused Junior.

  "What's that?" Avery accepted the glass Junior was handing him. Diabetes had put a serious crimp in his choice of refreshments and he only knocked back a few when Junior came to visit.

  "Their kids."

  Fuck, thought Avery, what a perfect waste of good liquor, as it came spraying out of his mouth.

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  "Where did you and Junior meet?"

  Jillian watched the woman move around the kitchen with efficiency. The lunch she had been cooking was put aside as Minnie started collecting the ingredients to make one of Junior's favorites instead. "On Pegasus."

  "That thing is all Avery talks about. He'll be the proud father until the day he stops breathing."

  "Tell me about them?" Jillian accepted a large bowl of green beans from the cook and started snapping off the ends like Minnie demonstrated.

  "Avery Baxter was a hard drinking, womanizing piece of oilfield trash that ended up building a good company before he was ready to hand the reins over to Junior." Minnie laughed at the arched eyebrow Jillian was giving her.

  "Sounds like a mouthful, and like you don't care for him very much."

  "I love the old fool, but he's too rough to polish up, so you have to go with the truth. He walked into a bar one day and fell in love with the girl serving drinks. In six days he convinced her to marry him, pack up and move to Louisiana where he was going to make his fortune. A year later he had three working rigs, a wife that adored him despite his faults and a new baby."

  Jillian stopped snapping beans before the story continued wanting to ask a question, which made Minnie look up from kneading dough to see if the girl had finished. "That was Avery, I take it?"

  "It was our Junior all right. Watching her grow up, it was hard to picture my sister having any input at all."

  "You're Avery's aunt?"

  "Yes, Hope, her mother, was my younger sister." Minnie went back to her kneading once she jutted her chin out to the pan of beans to get her helper going.

  "What happened to her?"

  "It's like having Junior back in here asking questions."

  Jillian bit into one of the beans from the pan and blushed. "Sorry."

  "Nothing to be sorry about. My sister died when Junior was barely two. She got the flu one winter that kept getting more and more complicated until it killed her." Minnie stopped to wipe the tears from her eyes getting flour on her face. "You'd swear we were on a wagon train or something having someone die of what is ultimately a bad cold. I came to help him out with Junior, and I'm still here."

  "That's so sweet. You must love them both very much."

  "Those two are bad eggs, Jillian, but they are both my bad eggs and I wouldn't change them for the world." Jillian looked out the window and wondered what the two Baxters were talking about that required drinks at this time of the morning.

  "Is Avery seeing anyone that you know of?" Gosh that didn't sound desperate.

  "Yes, I assume she is."

  "Oh." Minnie looked up after hearing the dejected answer, smiling that her guess was right the minute she saw Junior had run to open the young woman's door.

  "I mean, I assumed she was seeing you, dear." The biscuits she had been busy with were formed and ready to bake so Minnie moved to the next item.

  "Oh no, not me. I just came to ask for a job."

  "Uh huh, and did you get one?"

  "I start tomorrow."

  "How many constellations did she point out before you figured out you couldn't live without her?"

  "Three." The two in the backyard never heard the ringing laughter or saw the deeper blush it caused to go up Jillian's face.

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  "Junior, what are you going to do with three kids?"

  "A mighty good question, Daddy, unfortunately I don't have an equall
y good answer for you. I have to see Maria tomorrow then we'll take it from there." Junior pulled two cigars out of her briefcase and handed one to her father. "Here, light up, I'm a daddy."

  "Can I tell you a story, Junior?"

  "Of course, I love your stories, Pop, you know that."

  "When you were born and they brought you out I thought I was going to die of happiness. You had a head full of hair and you looked so cute all bundled up in that pink blanket the lady brought you out in."

  "Wait a minute, I thought you were drunk and under the illusion I was a boy!"

  Avery laughed at the fact his daughter was half way out of her seat ready to pummel him. "Nope, cold stone sober and the pink gave it away. The drinking part of the story was for your mother's sake. You looked so much like me I couldn't help myself but name you Avery."

  "I know you named me Avery, but no one calls me that, pop."

  "Don't you want to know why I named you Avery, Junior?" He puffed on his cigar knowing he had her now.

  "Ok, why?"

  "I figured you looked so much like me there was a good chance you were going to take after me too."

  Junior smiled thinking about just how much alike they were. "I'm with you so far."

  "It makes me feel good to know beautiful women are still screaming the name Avery in the height of passion. Makes me feel immortal in a way." They laughed together at his explanation, forgetting for that moment what had brought Junior home for the day.

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  Minnie beamed having her two favorite people sit at her table and rave over the huge plates of food before them. Of course the two had done the same when she was still learning her way around the kitchen, but it had been years since anyone had reached for the antacids.

  "Want to go for a walk with me?" Junior asked Jillian after they had both helped clear the table and Avery had gone off to take a nap.

  "Will you hold my hand?"

  "No," Junior snorted, "I'm your boss now." Minnie closed the kitchen door behind them so they wouldn't think she was listening in on their conversation.

  "Then I'm not going, and I don't start until tomorrow." She smiled when a big hand was offered up and Junior didn't say anything. "And if you pout I'm going without you."

  "Why do you want to work for me?" They headed back down toward the water and a boat shed that jutted out into the water.

  Jillian walked where Junior led her but didn't answer the question right away. There was no way to do it honestly since she hadn't come up with the idea until the night before, and admitting it was so she could be close to Junior didn't seem like a great response. Junior let go of her hand when they reached the wharf so she could unlock the door to the shed. Inside were a small rowboat and a speedboat; neither one looking like anyone had taken them out in a while.

  "Are you going to take me out?"

  "Are you going to answer my question, Jillie?"

  "I thought I could help you. You know, become an important part of what makes Baxter work the best it can and still keep a clean environment." The small motorless boat made a splash as it hit the water and Junior moved to hook on the oars.

  After a good dusting where Jillian was going to sit, Avery pulled it close to the side so Jillian could get on board. The dress Jillian had on wasn't going to make getting aboard easy, so Junior tied the boat securely and put her hands on the slim hips to give her a boost. The only problem was that once she had Jillian on the boat she didn't let go of her.

  "Do you want to become important to me, Jillie?"

  "Avery, how many girls have you brought out here for their first kiss from you?"

  "None, you'll be my first kiss out here."

  "Good answer." Jillian pulled Avery's head down and pressed her lips softly to the ones just above hers. As Junior's lips met hers, Jillian wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon out there committing them to memory. When they broke apart because of a lack of air, Junior kept her arms around Jillian's waist. The kiss was something Junior had wanted to do from the day she looked up and found this beautiful woman on her rig.

  "That was nice," said Junior blinking down at her.

  "Damn, I'm going to have to try harder if all you can say is nice."

  "How about spectacular?"

  "Better, but let's try it again and see if I can't change your mind." Jillian pulled Junior back down to her level by pulling on the back of her neck and kissed her again.

  Not wanting to give her aunt and father a free show, Junior sat Jillian down and pushed off from the wharf. Before setting off she had pulled out one of the umbrellas her dad kept in the boathouse and offered it to her passenger. They looked like a picture out of a romance novel with Junior rowing the boat and Jillian looking at her from under the small canopy of protection.

  "You may want to change your mind you know." It was the only way Junior could think of to start this conversation. She still hadn't made up her mind as to what she should do with her sudden inheritance, but dating a woman with three children would have made her run for the nearest exit and she intended to give Jillian the same escape.

  "Avery, don't start making excuses not to see me. I'll be in the building and everywhere else you think to escape to, so don't even try it."

  "You sure make up your mind easily, you don't even know me." The oar plowed into a batch of purple water lilies breaking them into four different floating bouquets.

  "That's what we are doing now, getting to know each other. I already know you like fried chicken, apple fritters and expensive cars."

  Junior stuck her tongue out making Jillian laugh. "There's something I have to tell you before you go packing the U-Haul."

  "Is this where you tell me that you snore and leave the top off the toothpaste in the morning?"

  "I snore and I don't brush my teeth so you won't have that problem." The white smile that could have been used in a dental adds told Jillian the comment was meant in fun.

  "You're a great kisser so I can let the snoring and dental hygiene thing go. What else you got?"

  "Three kids it would seem." The only thing that broke the silence for a good five minutes were the turtles sliding into the water as the boat floated by, and the sound of the oars churning through the brown current.

  "You have three children?"

  "Sort of."

  "Could you come over here and sit with me for a minute?" Jillian moved over and pointed to the space next to her. Junior secured the oars and carefully moved next to Jillian, confident the boat would float along in the middle of the waterway.

  "They aren't mine, they belonged to my half brother and his wife."

  "You have a brother?" This learning phase of their relationship was turning out to be a fruitful afternoon.

  "Sort of."

  "Will you stop answering my questions with that phrase, you're driving me nuts." Jillian slapped her on the arm and smiled to soften the reprimand.