Blind turn, p.12
Blind Turn, page 12
“There’s rough road there, man. Real rough road; they’re going to need counseling,” One Way advised.
“Maybe. I think they mostly need acceptance,” he said. “When you feel acceptance for the first time or at least acceptance after a long time of absence, your feelings change. I mean, it even makes a stone-cold hard ass like you cool to go out and eat pizza in a public place with your family.”
“I think I might actually hate you,” One Way said.
“Because what I speak is true?”
“Yeah, and you’re making me like you and root for you and these damned kids,” One Way said, following him to the greenhouse. “Plus, I thought you were stupid and liked to poison people for fun. You actually have a brain in that head that jumbles together words when you get nervous.”
One Way had figured out his tell. In another worldly situation, Merge would’ve made the man a cup of tea and given him a comfortable spot to lie down. This all felt different. A good kind of different.
And he didn’t mind.
ONE WAY DIDN’T LIKE the idea of sitting in back with the kids to go for pizza. He didn’t like the idea of sitting in the back period, let alone with the kids. However, it would be rude to make Doc Tootie sit in the back, so he took the third-row seat, sitting alone, sulking like a third grader, a little something Merge didn’t miss.
“One Way, if you’re going to sit back there and sulk, you can stay home and we’ll all go out and bring you back a slice,” Merge told One Way, who shot him a bird. When Merge didn’t respond, he lifted his other hand and doubled up on the fingerplay insult.
Ayana giggled because the men actually acted like brothers. Dex looked over his shoulder, smiling at One Way, excited he was coming along to the Pizza parlor.
“I want a soda. Can I have a soda, Mr. Merge?” Dex asked.
“You can call me Joel,” he told Dex, but when he said it, his eyes were on Ayana.
“Your name is Joel Merge?”
“No, my name is Joel Thomas. My secret agent spy code name is Mr. Merge. His is Mr. One Way. However, since he’s Japanese, when you say One Way, people think it is an Asian name, so continue to call him One Way and me, you can simply call Joel,” he said. “We’re going to go and pick up Doc Tootie.”
Dex leaned forward in the seat and asked, “Did you get the ring?”
“I got the ring,” he repeated, patting his pockets.
Ayana sat up in the seat. “Wait, are you proposing to her at the pizza place?”
“Yeah, why?” Joel asked.
“She’s going to turn you down, that’s why I asked,” Ayana said. “Does she know about me? If she doesn’t and she’s finding out tonight, plus there are two more kids on the way, and you pop the question over greasy pizza, I would turn you down flat and catch a cab home.”
Joel climbed into the SUV and started the engine. He looked in the rearview mirror at the young lady. Surprised himself, he asked the question, “Well, what do you think I should do?”
Ayana pressed her lips together tightly. She thought long and hard and understood more than he’d initially assumed. The woman was supposed to be their foster mother. The girl also appreciated the fact the man was making a change to his home so she wouldn’t be the only girl living with a bunch of boys. She wanted to help.
“First, you have to let her meet me and determine whether or not she likes me. Dex she’s met, me...she knows nothing about. You’re asking her to marry you and move in and be like a mom or something, right?”
“I guess,” Joel said frowning.
“Then let her decide if she wants to be our...foster mom,” Ayana said. “Let’s get through dinner. Dex and I will put on our best manners and offer some form of reasonable conversation over the table, and she’ll decide if we’re worth the investment. Then, you walk her to the front door, and ask her if she’s in on this family thing. If she says yes, then bam, present the ring.”
Joel stopped the SUV and turned around in the seat to stare at the kid. He looked at Dex. Then he looked at One Way.
“Yeah, what she said,” One Way added.
“Okay, just no one spoil the evening,” Joel told them as he arrived in front of Tootie’s Patooties, Podiatry for All. He took a deep breath and stepped out of the vehicle, leaving it running.
The doorbell jangled as he walked in. The two nurses she always complained about were still in the office. He gave a nod of his head.
“Evening, ladies,” he said, thankful he’d changed into a pair of dress pants, a light green shirt with a collar, and a pair of shoes that matched his belt.
“Doc Tootie, a gentleman is here,” Ellie said aloud. “You know we’re closing in five minutes. I can make you an appointment.”
“Don’t need one, just came to take my girl to dinner,” he said to Ellie, adding in a flashing white smile.
Tootie rounded the corner as he spoke the last words and came to a hard stop. She’d never seen him in anything other than a pair of lounge pants and a wife beater or jeans and a wife beater. She didn’t even know the man had a wardrobe.
“Ready gorgeous?” he asked.
She looked around, wondering who he was talking to. Joel winked and pointed at her. “I did bring you flowers and all sorts of goodies from St. Louis, but, yeah, you know how it goes. You ready to roll?”
“Sure thing Joel,” she said, waving goodbye to her staff. Arm in arm, he escorted her down the front stairs and even opened the car door for her.
Tootie looked in the back seat to see the boy, and now a girl and a scowling One Way, who appeared to be pouting. Dex took the lead.
“Doc Tootie, this is Ayana Mitchell,” he said. “She and I are friends, and it seems we’ll also be foster siblings.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Doc Tootie,” Ayana said, scooting up in her seat to offer a handshake.
The kids said nothing more until they reached the pizza parlor. Ayana complained the pasta sauce had entirely too much sugar in it and way too much sodium. She bragged about her pasta sauce, which she made from scratch. Dex moved the subject to movies, ones he wanted to see, and of course, his love of action movies. This started a debate between him and One Way about the best martial arts movie star. Ayana dismissed them both, feeling better about having a woman present.
“Personally, Doc Tootie, I will take a sappy romance any day,” Ayana stated. “They are never realistic, but a girl can always hope.”
The entire evening seemed so normal that Tootie didn’t know what to make of any of it. She had even less to say when Joel drove her to the office to pick up her vehicle after the date. He walked her to the car, opening the door and waiting for her to get inside. He knelt beside the car door, bringing the little black box to her hands.
Joel cleared his throat.
“I don’t have much. What I have I will share. Those kids, plus two more, need a good home. I wouldn’t say they need a mom, but if you’re up for the job, they will take it. More than anything, they just want to be loved and nurtured. Honestly, that’s all I need too. I’m asking. Here’s the ring. Let me know,” he said, opening the box, and sliding the one carat diamond onto her chubby fingers.
“Joel Thomas, you’re still an asshat,” she said to him.
“Does that mean your answer is yes?”
“My answer is yes, and those kids are cute; they laid it on a bit thick, but it worked. I’m buying into it, even your weird creepy friend,” she chuckled.
“Regina, I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time, and I want us to work. We can if we try. I want to try,” he said softly. Joel leaned in, rising just a bit until his mouth touched hers. The kiss was brief. “Let me know when you’re ready to move in.”
“We aren’t going to get married first? No long engagement?”
“Nope, none of that shit. You’re mine, you’ve agreed, and I want to wake up next to all of that. All. Of. That,” he said with a wink. “Call me later. Gotta get the kids home.”
He walked to the car, feeling proud of himself. His chest poked out, there was a pimp to his strut, and to his surprise, applause greeted him when he opened the car door. One Way had his fingers in his mouth whistling.
“Oh, shut up all of you,” he said, closing the door, putting the vehicle in gear, and heading for home.
“You did good Joel,” Dex congratulated him.
Evidently, he did really well. Less than an hour later, Dr. Regina Musgrove arrived at the house. Her suitcase was loaded, and she walked past the kids, heading to the other side of the farmhouse to Joel’s bedroom. She staked out her half of the closet and began to add her belongings.
“Is this half of the closet okay with you?” Tootie wanted to know.
“Just fine by me,” Joel said, heading for the shower to wash off the day.
Chapter Twelve – Adulterate
You can really dance...
In four years of doing whatever it was they called themselves doing, Tootie had never woken up in Joel’s bed. Well, technically, after a Sunday afternoon siesta and a break between the love making marathon, she’d doze off, but she’d never stayed over nor woken up beside him the very next day. This was a first.
She also discovered on that bright Saturday morning that Joel Thomas was a morning man; an eager, rambunctious morning man that nearly made her call for Jesus, three apostles, the guy in the straw market in Jerusalem, and the dude who molded the gilded angels on the Ark of the Covenant. He stuffed part of the pillow in her mouth as he took his painstaking time to ensure the lady that she belonged next to him every morning.
Satisfied, he rose after giving her a hearty smack on her bottom and headed towards the shower. Tootie lay in bed, reveling in the afterglow when a tap came at the bedroom door. Clearing her throat, she answered.
Dex called out, “Breakfast is ready.”
“Be right there,” she called back, wondering what those two little mischief makers called themselves making for breakfast.
She thought of joining Joel in the shower, but by the time she’d made it to the bathroom door, he was turning off the taps and stepping out.
“I was going to join you,” she said, blushing a bit for the oddest reason, “Dex said breakfast is ready.”
“Good. Good. Put on a robe and come on out. I’ve got a lot to get done today, gotta get One Way on the road, work on the girl’s bedroom, and she needs some clothes, socks and shoes,” Joel said in one exhalation. “I would take her, but I don’t want to buy panties, not even for you. Can you help me out?”
“I guess,” Tootie replied, feeling the entire scenario to be surreal. “Joel...this is all happening so fast.”
He pulled on a pair of boxers and stood before her. His slim form was muscled in all the right places. The sandy brown hair on his head matched the rest of the body hair on his torso and man parts.
“Tootie, you having second thoughts?”
“No, not at all. It, this, the kids, it just doesn’t seem real to me,” she said, inhaling deep, feeling the emotion overtake her. “You and me. Getting married. A family.”
“Not married yet, but I’m working on it. Monday, let’s get the blood test done and get the license, and I’d like to do something small here, nothing fancy,” he said, “unless you want the church wedding, with maids of honor and shit? If so, let me know.”
She didn’t have time to say anything as she watched him go to the wall, move the old painting of a church lady that hung crookedly on a rusty picture hanger, looking over the bed in judgement. The painting moved and behind it was a safe.
“The combination is your measurements,” he said, giving her a wink.
“How do you know my measurements?” she asked, frowning at him.
“I handle all of that every week. I know every inch, divot, crinkle, sprinkle, and twinkle. All. Of. That. Right there!” he said, laughing, and the safe opened.
Inside were papers, containers, and stacks of money. He pulled out a stack, rolled it through his fingers, and yanked out six bills. Joel passed them to her.
“This should take care of anything the girl needs and if you need something too,” he told her. “If there’s a mortgage on your place, let’s talk about it, or if you want to mix and match my stuff with yours or just buy new furniture, we can talk about that too. Or we can keep what we have, pay off your car, and bring down the credit card bills that I know you have, and you should be ashamed of having that much debt from buying nonsense.”
“How do you know so much about my finances, I mean, I am a medical doctor,” she scoffed at him.
“Anyone close to me or around me, the Archangel keeps an eye on the debt ratios. Medical malpractice insurance, taxes on the land, you paid off the second mortgage on the farm that covered your medical school expenses, which is why you’re living off the credit cards, which again are too high,” he said, “but we’ll figure it out.”
Tootie fixed her lips and sighed deeply. “I can’t deal with you and all of this before coffee. I need some real bad. You think those kids made coffee?”
“Ayana and Dex,” he said. “I like the sound of Ayana and Dexter Thomas. This is my wife, Dr. Regina Thomas. Yeah, that sounds cool as hell.”
She didn’t respond. After cinching her robe around her waist and locating the slippers she had left beside the bed, she unlocked the bedroom door and stepped into the morning sun in the living room. Her eyes went to the kitchen to see the table set. Perfectly round, buttery biscuits were piled high on a plate. The girl stirred a pot, asking her to hurry before breakfast got cold. The odd Asian guy was already at the table.
“Morning all,” Tootie said, taking a seat.
A hot cup of coffee was placed in front of her. A small ceramic cow filled with cream also materialized with a small bowl loaded with sugar and a spoon. Joel joined them at the table as the girl spooned grits on each plate, followed by scrambled eggs, and two sausage links, and she passed the butter.
“The biscuits should still be hot,” Ayana said. “If you grow any fruit on the farm, I can easily whip up some jam.”
Tootie sat blinking at her. “Where did you come from child?”
Dex interjected, “She ran away from her disgusting daddy. I think he’s gonna show up, but you’re sixteen next week. Technically, you can file for emancipation.”
Joel leaned forward. “Dex, that is not your story to tell. When Ayana decides she wants to confide in either me or Tootie, let her do it on her own terms. Wait, you think he’s gonna show up?”
“Look at this table,” Dex said. “She can cook. She keeps a clean kitchen, and she’s no trouble. You think a man like that is just going to let her go? I wouldn’t, and I don’t even like girls.”
The moment the final words exited his mouth, the trail of dust could be seen coming down the driveway. The tell-tale signs of the Sheriff’s worn-out cruiser with the squeaking shocks made an appearance, stopping in front of the door. Joel stood slowly, going to open it, biscuit in hand, so feathery light and fluffy he immediately wanted a second one before the first one had been eaten. He greeted the man at the screen door.
“Morning Sheriff, how can I help you?”
“Just came out to chat with you,” the Sheriff told Joel, who watched the oddly shaped man roll out from the inside of the car.
“About what?”
The Sheriff, rounded belly and all, leaned back, shooting a wad of black spit into the grass near the porch. Joel didn’t like the man. He considered him to be a waste of good oxygen and a shame to the badge, but Skeeter Shilkins was an ideal lawman, too dumb to make a difference and not smart enough to connect the dots in a puzzle book left in the shitter for a two-year-old to make a good poop.
“Word is, you were in town last night with Doc Tootie, that ward of yours, a friend, and a young woman,” the Sheriff said. “The young woman matches the description of an APB put out for one Ayana Mitchell from up towards Conway. You know anything about that?”
Sheriff Shilkins expected Joel to deny it. His face read as much when Joel answered. The biscuit he held looked pretty danged delicious, and Skeeter truly wanted to ask for one.
“Yep, she’s here,” Joel said. “She and the boy, Dex, go way back. She showed up yesterday. Being the weekend and all, I was going to wait to Monday to talk to Connie Braselton, the social worker, about what can be done. The girl wants to stay here. She’s welcome to.”
The Sheriff stuck his fingers in his belt loop, wanting to place his hand on the butt of his weapon, but he knew that would be taken as an act of aggression and acts of aggression wasn’t going to get him one of those biscuits.
“I hear what you’re saying Joel, but it don’t seem proper for a single man to be living here alone with a teen boy and teen girl under your roof,” the Sheriff said. “People are gonna talk and it’s not good for the girl or the boy. Plus, her Daddy wants her back home. You don’t need to be in there with all this alduteration.”
“Well, Sheriff, that is not a word. The word you’re trying to say is adulteration,” Joel said, observing the man’s eyes watching him eat the biscuit. “You know what, come on inside. Come get one of these biscuits and maybe a sausage to stick inside of it as well. Come on in.”
Joel opened the screen door, allowing the man inside, who stopped short when he saw the scene at the table. His eyes rested on Tootie, then went back to One Way. Skeeter’s eyes didn’t know what to focus on first, the girl or Tootie sitting at the table in a robe. His eyes took in the rock on her finger, quickly dismissing what his eyes were telling his tiny brain.
“Doc Tootie,” he said, almost in disgust.
“Skeeter,” she replied, “you want some coffee and one of these delightful biscuits Ayana made?”
“Here, let me pull you up a chair,” Joel said as One Way got to his feet.
“The Sheriff can have my chair. I must pack and prepare to head home,” One Way said, excusing himself from the table. “Ayana, breakfast was very good; well done.”
The girl beamed as she smiled, happy to have the modicum of praise for work she did every day for her daddy who said nothing about the efforts she put in. Just a single night away from the man, and the weight on her slender shoulders had begun to lift.
