If It Ain't Broke
Page 6
"So where did Lance sleep?" Chris asked his hazel eyes fixed on her.
Pinky chuckled and answered sarcastically. "With me of course. The nights are very chilly now you know. A warm body is very welcomed."
Chris frowned. "Seriously?"
Pinky threw up her hands in the air. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to check up on you, " Chris said slowly, his head snapped up when a bare-chested guy stepped out on the veranda rubbing his eyes blearily.
"Where's my Pinkylicious, we were in the middle of something."
Pinky sighed. "Over here, Lance."
Chris stiffened and glared at Lance hostilely. "I can't believe that you are carrying on like this in your parents’ house."
"They endorsed it," Pinky said cheekily, "my mother even insisted on it."
Chris gasped. "You told me they were good Christian folks."
"They are," Pinky said grinning, "but every year at this time they allow me to do it."
"Hey," Lance waved to Chris, "are you coming to join us?"
"What?" Chris asked confused.
Lance sighed. "The rubbing of the cake. Aunt Sophia has all of us taking turns. This year she shared out the cake to everybody and left none for the family, so we are baking on Christmas Day. You are Pinky's Chris?"
Pinky was gesturing wildly behind Chris. "Don't tell him anything." She was jumping up and down and mouthing to Lance vociferously but he ignored her.
Chris smiled slowly. "She told you about me?"
Lance nodded. "You are all she's going on and on about all week. The whole house is sick and tired of hearing about you."
Pinky sighed dejectedly. "This is going to be one Christmas."
Chris looked at her and smiled softly. "Oh yes it is."
*****
Pinky's parents were jovial folks. Her mother loved to cook and every opportunity she got she told stories about the various dishes she had made through the years. Pinky's father was just starting out into rearing livestock and he had several tales to tell about his new venture.
They treated him like they had always known him, as if he had been invited for the holidays. He began to see where Pinky and Charles got their people skills from. He felt relaxed and part of the Black’s family in no time.
The kitchen was a flurry of activity; Lance and Pinky were mixing butter and sugar together when he went in. He was feeling a little awkward but after the introductions Pinky's mother, Sofia, gave him an identical smile to her daughter's, declared him a fine looking young man and handed him a wooden spoon and a pan of batter.
She was an older version of Pinky; they even had in the same blonde braids—she was a little rounder, but she looked much younger than he had imagined.
Her father was just as effusive; he was a big muscular man, almost as tall as Chris and sported an eye patch. He came in from the fields with a big bunch of plantains and proceeded to make breakfast, all the while commenting on his farming activities. He made some large flour dumplings with ackee and salt-fish and strong chocolate tea from cocoa that they had growing in their back yard.
They had breakfast on the back veranda with Charles moaning about his newest managerial venture.
"That girl Phoebe really lit a fire under your ambition," Peter Black said laughing. "I like it. How did it feel going to her wedding?"
"It was cool," Charles said grinning. "She looked really pretty but Tanya was just as gorgeous."
"Tell me more about Tanya," Sofia said coming around the table. "Why haven't we met her yet?"
"Her mother has a young baby, they are big on Christmas too, so I couldn't get her to tear herself away," Charles said fondly.
Sofia looked at Chris with a pleasant expression. "So how long are you staying?"
Chris was surprised; he had no idea he would have been so easily accepted by the family, they were even asking him how long he was staying. "Well, I only came for the day."
Both Sofia and Peter nodded. "You are welcome."
Chris nodded back and then glanced at a blushing Pinky. What had she been telling her parents about him? Lance had said she talked about him all week.
He looked over at Lance who was tucking into his breakfast like a starving man. He didn't appear as if he cared one way or another that Pinky had a male friend coming to visit.
Chris concluded that Pinky had been putting him on about Lance. He reluctantly conceded that Pinky knew just how to make him jealous and she exploited it constantly, but why was he so jealous and possessive over her, though? It's not as if he loved her. He stopped staring at her long enough to get back to his breakfast.
*****
Christmas at the Black's was loud, boisterous and full of laughs. Chris found himself on more than one occasion guffawing with the rest of them. They had roped him into playing dominoes and helping out in the kitchen at intervals. He barely found himself alone with Pinky; the place was just so busy.
Every few minutes a community member would stop by and they would have a relaxed talk and laugh with whoever it was. They would introduce him as Pinky's friend.
Pinky's cousin, Hal, came by in the mid-day with his parents and his girlfriend. His girlfriend, Sherifah, was studying law at Harvard; she kept seeking out Chris and smiling at him brightly.
Pinky was watching Sherifah closely and when she cornered Chris on the veranda, she went out and said loudly, "Sherifah, your dainty hands are needed in the kitchen."
Sherifah looked up resentfully, she was just about to engage Chris in conversation.
She got up with a huff. "I'll soon be back, Chris."
"She has a crush," Lance said grinning." Hal needs to rein that girl in, but if he doesn't Pinky will."
They had finished helping Sofia with vegetables in the kitchen and were sitting on the back veranda.
Lance had a glass of sorrel in his hand. "Pinky has been trying to avoid you, but since you arrived she has lit up like a Christmas tree."
Chris had to smile at that.
The back veranda had several lounge chairs on it and overlooked rolling hills in the distance and a plantain grove just below the house—with most trees having bunches of fruit on them.
"I love this place," Lance said sighing. "I started coming here with Hal from college days."
He laughed, a hint of nostalgia in his voice. "Pinky was a skinny little thing with bright pink pouting lips who wanted to follow us everywhere."
Chris was assessing him. "Do you like her?"
"Of course," Lance said shaking his head. "I love my little Pinky like a sister… I love the whole family. I am closer to them than my own. I think of myself as the honorary nephew. I stay with them rather than with Hal when I come to this part of the world."
Chris exhaled. "That's a relief."
Lance guffawed, "I knew it would be, that's why I am telling you this to put you out of your misery."
Chris protested. "It's not like that with Pinky and me. We are friends, I think."
Lance laughed again. "This is too funny. I haven't played pretend since I was nine."
Chris grunted uncomfortably. "I am going to get some sorrel."
*****
Dinner was a lively affair, filled with several dishes, each one seeming to outdo the next. The dining table could only seat eight persons, so Chris followed Pinky under an almond tree where there were tables and chairs arranged for the spill over of people.
"I can't believe I am having Christmas dinner with you," Pinky said wonderingly, "it's surreal."
Chris shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal."
"Don't your folks celebrate Christmas?" she asked with a smirk.
"Yes," Chris said, "they make a big production of it."
"Yet here you are," Pinky said triumphantly. "I feel special."
"You weren't answering your phone," Chris shrugged, "had to make sure you were all right. How were your exams?" he asked hurriedly.
Pinky looked as if she was going to dance on the table from excitement.
"So what's next after that?" Chris asked. He had never really thought about that before, Pinky could decide to move away from the St. Ann area. He'd never see her. That filled him with sudden dread.
"Next?" Pinky thought about it and then looked up in the air. "I'll get married to a gorgeous hunk and have two children with very high IQ's."
"Are you serious?" Chris asked her alarmed. Did she have somebody she was planning to marry? One never knew with Pinky.
Pinky smiled softly. "No, just wishful thinking. I think I'm going to do my masters in forensic science, or apply for medical school, or set up a lab at home and make perfume, or," she snapped her fingers, "I could do environmental law or write a science thriller. The possibilities are endless with chemistry. I could basically work in any industry I feel like. Chemistry is a very versatile science. Students of chemistry are supposed to be able to solve problems and think things through, so my options are numerous."
Chris nodded while staring at her animated face; while she was talking he had this urge to kiss her.
"But anyway," Pinky said eating her food again, "I wouldn't mind doing something that is life changing preferably in the cosmetic industry. Maybe find a new formula to make hair dye that isn't harmful to the skin or find a way to make hair relaxers without using harsh ingredients."
Chris smiled. "For that you'd need your own lab at home. Coincidentally I have a big part of my basement that would be perfect for that."
Pinky frowned at his last statement but declined to say anything about it.
Chris finished eating and leaned back in his chair, some family friends had started playing dominoes at a table in the distance. He glanced at his watch. "I am going to leave shortly. I want to catch a little piece of the Christmas with my family."
Pinky nodded. "I am so overwhelmed that you came today. I don't know what to think about you now."
"Well," Chris scratched his chin, "you could come back to work for me in the New Year. I promise I won't fire you for the rest of the time you are there."
Pinky shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "Chris I don't know if you know this," she lowered her voice, "but I have a thing for you, working at your place is not going to help it go away. You love somebody else and you are emotionally unavailable and I'm not going to be waiting around for you to take fifty years to get over her so that I can have a chance. So, I am going to have to pass on your offer. Maybe I can find a job somewhere else where I am not emotionally invested in my boss."
Chris stared at her, stunned. He never expected her to be so blunt about her feelings and refuse his job offer. "Are you saying that you will not work for me unless I love you or something like that?"
"You got it," Pinky said standing up and stacking up their plates. "I love you. Some days I hate you but most times I love you. I am weak with it and I am not going to work for you so that I can get more embroiled in you and your damageness."
"Damageness is not even a word," Chris said getting up too. He followed her through to the kitchen and watched as she scraped together the excess food into a container. "Pinky." She looked up at him sadly, her pink lips trembling. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. His curls were too low for it to have any effect but he still continued the gesture. "How did emotions like love get into this?"
Pinky shrugged. "I don't know, I am usually a logical thinker. This whole love thing has blindsided me."
He leaned forward and gave her a hard kiss on her lips. "I'll call you. Answer my calls, okay."
"Okay," Pinky whispered, touching her lips in awe. She watched his retreating back and leaned on the counter weakly.
Chapter Nine
When Chris arrived home from his parent's house on Christmas night he was feeling extremely sleepy.
His mother had pressed a business card into his hand. "Geraldine Brown, Attorney-at-law. She is expecting your call at the end of the month," Hyacinth had said with a hopeful look in her eyes. "I think it's a good way to start the New Year—sorting out this whole mess in your favor."
He had left the card on the desk in his study. He wasn't sure that it was a great way to start the New Year. He was torn. If he made that call, he would be starting the wheels in motion to get access to his son, to maybe exact some revenge on Kelly.
He couldn't deny that when he saw her at Phoebe's wedding that her plaintive cry of, "Why can't you move on?" had made him angry. She and Theo had no right to look at him like that.
He felt like punishing them both. He was not the only one who had been involved in their sordid little triangle but he was the only one being punished. But then, he thought about Mark. He was a happy well-adjusted child. If he truly loved him he would leave him alone or would he?
Shouldn't a child grow up knowing his roots? He couldn't imagine not knowing who his real father was. Harlan had been present in all aspects of his life. His father had set a sterling example of what it meant to be a responsible man and a family man.
He pondered his options throughout holiday period. He had several debates about it with Camille and Kenneth. Camille was all for him trying to get Mark but Kenneth told him to leave it alone.
He called Pinky occasionally and found himself depending on the phone calls to brighten his day. He didn't say a word to her about his current dilemma. He didn't dare. Pinky would tell him to just snap out of it and move on.
He often wondered why he found Pinky, with her casual attitude and plain speaking, so attractive. He wasn't sure how he really felt about her; all he knew was that when she wasn't around he missed her and that she brought out extreme emotions in him—like anger and jealousy. He could not recall feeling such a range of extremes before.
He tapped his hand on his desk and glanced at the card surreptitiously. Should he or shouldn't he?
He picked up his cell phone and dialed the number, almost reluctantly.
"Geraldine Brown speaking," a snappy business-like voice said over the phone.
"Oh, hi Geraldine, Christopher Donahue here. Are you free anytime today?"
"Christopher Donahue," Geraldine said laughing softly, her snappy business-like attitude forgotten. "I bet you don't remember little Gerry with those infernal pig tails and those hideous braces I used to wear."
"No I don't remember," Chris said warmly, "so are you free today?"
"I am free right now," Geraldine purred. "I am once more single and disengaged. My divorce became final today."
"I... er." Chris was puzzled. "Didn't my mother tell you about my situation? She said you could help."
"Oh!" Geraldine laughed uncomfortably. "Your mother and I spoke about many things; one of them was that you were single and wanting to mingle."
Chris cleared his throat. "Well I was calling about that little issue of my son. Not the single thing."
"Bummer," Geraldine said grumpily, "I was hoping you were calling to comfort my recently divorced heart. That's why I told your Mom December 31, you know."
"Well," Chris leaned back in his chair, "if it's not convenient to discuss the legal issue, I can understand."
"No—no," Geraldine said quickly, "give me directions to your place and I'll be up there as soon as possible."
Chris hurriedly gave her directions and when he hung up the persistent thought that this was not going to be such a good idea came back to haunt him.
*****
Geraldine arrived at the house an hour later. Chris was in his study and Maud showed her through. He looked up from the computer and got up hurriedly.
"Geraldine Brown, you look great." He smiled at her genuinely.
Geraldine was almost as tall as he was. She had long thick black hair, which she wore in a ponytail and a roundish face that highlighted her mixed Asian parentage and slanted eyes that shone with intelligence. She wore a bright burgundy lipstick that matched her business suit, whi
ch fit her slim frame neatly.
He could vaguely remember her now. She was one of four or five little brats who his mother used to baby-sit on those rare occasions when her parents couldn't pick them up from school.
Geraldine smiled at Chris easily. "And you look handsome, as I am sure you know."
"Can I offer you anything?" Chris asked her before he sat down, "juice, water, food?"
"No," Geraldine shuddered, "I am on a strict diet, imbibed too much of my mother's food over the holiday. My parents were compensating for my heartbreak over the divorce."
"Sorry to hear about that," Chris said. "I didn't even know you were married, or that you were practicing law for that matter. You have really grown out of sight."
Geraldine shrugged. "That's okay, when my parents moved to Florida it was expected that I would grow up and out of sight." She laughed. "I've always loved jurisprudence so I went to law school. As for my marriage, it lasted exactly six months."
"What?" Chris asked interestedly. "What happened?"
"Well, my husband," Geraldine said bitterly, "forgot to mention that he was not originally born male. That's the kind of deception I can't live with; we knew each other for years. Had to sue him/her for fraud."
"That's unbelievable," Chris said astonished. "How could you not know? I mean, was there a... you know...penis?"
Geraldine laughed. "You'd be amazed at how real genital reassignment looks and feels."
Chris cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I am sorry to hear about it."
Geraldine settled back in her chair. "That's not the really bad part, I mean I could probably stay and see how best to deal with the whole sorry mess but that beast had the nerve to cheat on me with another man. I thought my husband was gay. Then he explained that he was not technically gay because he was born a girl."
She shook her head in disgust. "Enough about me." She drew out her notepad. "Let's talk about you."