Jacuzzi suddenly lost most of its appeal. I was depressed and I sorely missed my dad’s booming voice. I soaked for a while but didn’t nap as I had previously intended to do.
I changed into a pair of shorts and a halter-top. Atlanta was hotter than Baltimore and Mom kept her house fairly warm. Although Mom was not yet sixty, her prior health problems were aggravated by cool temperatures.
I was sweating again by the time I finished my bath. I used the ceiling fan to cool myself off as I dressed. It was 3:30 and I expected to hear from Dennis at any moment. I didn’t know where we were going, but I suspected we would find something to do downtown.
“Where are the kids?” I asked when I got back to the kitchen.
“Sleeping. They claimed they wanted peanut butter sandwiches, but fell asleep before I could put it on the table. I wrapped the sandwiches up and put them in the refrigerator,” she said, chuckling.
“It figures. They were wired the whole trip!” I said.
“Your friend called. Said he would be by at 7:30.”
“Oh, okay.” I was sorry that I didn’t get a chance to speak with him. I wanted to warn him not to say too much about us but I knew that he would play along with whatever I said.
Dennis is such a joker. We met at a Halloween party. I was dressed as Tina Turner coming out of a club that he and his friend were going into. His friend talked me into coming back inside. He turned out to be a jerk but Dennis and I had been friends ever since. The memory brought a smile to my face.
“Where did you say you met him?” Mom inquired again as if she had ESP.
“Okay, Mother, I will explain this to you one time but I will not be interrogated about him. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” she said, eagerly pulling out a chair for me to sit on. Even though it was just 5:00, she had already prepared hamburgers and mashed potatoes with gravy so we both decided to eat and get it out the way. The children could eat when they got up from their nap.
After pouring us both some fresh lemonade, I began telling her our story.
“I met Dennis at a Halloween party. He asked me to lunch the next day and I went. That’s it. We are friends, okay.”
“Must have been some lunch,” she said with a grunt.
“Actually, he played a joke on me,” I said, laughing.
“A joke,” she said, frowning. Mom had zero tolerance when it came to jokes. I inherited my sense of humor from my dad. Ignoring her sarcasm, I continued with the story.
“We were going to have lunch the next day, and I got this call from the FBI…”
“The FBI!” she exclaimed.
“Calm down, Mother. Don’t get your panties in a knot,” I jokingly said. “The caller said they were from the FBI and that I was seen in the company of a suspected rapist.”
“Oh my Lord!”
“Mom, it was a joke. The caller asked if I would be seeing the guy again and I told him that I was having lunch with him that day. They told me they did not want me to alert the guy that they were on to him. They had been following him for some time and wanted to monitor our next meeting.”
“Marie, this is not funny. You could have been raped!”
“I know. I flipped out and kept telling the agent that I didn’t want any part of the date. The agent, I forget his name, kept saying that I had a civic duty to see the guy again. He reminded me of all the people that I might save if I played along and assured me that if he tried anything, they would be right there. I hemmed and hawed and was almost in tears before Dennis told me that it was him.”
“That’s some joke,” she snapped, wanting to get mad.
“Mom, it was perfect. I remained friends with him ’cause I want to get him back but I’ve never been able to really catch him off guard like he did to me.”
Shit, if she is flipping out like this, I ain’t even telling her about David , I thought.
Chapter 9
A fter my initial separation from Keith, I went buck wild. I ain’t ashamed to say it ’cause I had a hell
I changed into a pair of shorts and a halter-top. Atlanta was hotter than Baltimore and Mom kept her house fairly warm. Although Mom was not yet sixty, her prior health problems were aggravated by cool temperatures.
I was sweating again by the time I finished my bath. I used the ceiling fan to cool myself off as I dressed. It was 3:30 and I expected to hear from Dennis at any moment. I didn’t know where we were going, but I suspected we would find something to do downtown.
“Where are the kids?” I asked when I got back to the kitchen.
“Sleeping. They claimed they wanted peanut butter sandwiches, but fell asleep before I could put it on the table. I wrapped the sandwiches up and put them in the refrigerator,” she said, chuckling.
“It figures. They were wired the whole trip!” I said.
“Your friend called. Said he would be by at 7:30.”
“Oh, okay.” I was sorry that I didn’t get a chance to speak with him. I wanted to warn him not to say too much about us but I knew that he would play along with whatever I said.
Dennis is such a joker. We met at a Halloween party. I was dressed as Tina Turner coming out of a club that he and his friend were going into. His friend talked me into coming back inside. He turned out to be a jerk but Dennis and I had been friends ever since. The memory brought a smile to my face.
“Where did you say you met him?” Mom inquired again as if she had ESP.
“Okay, Mother, I will explain this to you one time but I will not be interrogated about him. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” she said, eagerly pulling out a chair for me to sit on. Even though it was just 5:00, she had already prepared hamburgers and mashed potatoes with gravy so we both decided to eat and get it out the way. The children could eat when they got up from their nap.
After pouring us both some fresh lemonade, I began telling her our story.
“I met Dennis at a Halloween party. He asked me to lunch the next day and I went. That’s it. We are friends, okay.”
“Must have been some lunch,” she said with a grunt.
“Actually, he played a joke on me,” I said, laughing.
“A joke,” she said, frowning. Mom had zero tolerance when it came to jokes. I inherited my sense of humor from my dad. Ignoring her sarcasm, I continued with the story.
“We were going to have lunch the next day, and I got this call from the FBI…”
“The FBI!” she exclaimed.
“Calm down, Mother. Don’t get your panties in a knot,” I jokingly said. “The caller said they were from the FBI and that I was seen in the company of a suspected rapist.”
“Oh my Lord!”
“Mom, it was a joke. The caller asked if I would be seeing the guy again and I told him that I was having lunch with him that day. They told me they did not want me to alert the guy that they were on to him. They had been following him for some time and wanted to monitor our next meeting.”
“Marie, this is not funny. You could have been raped!”
“I know. I flipped out and kept telling the agent that I didn’t want any part of the date. The agent, I forget his name, kept saying that I had a civic duty to see the guy again. He reminded me of all the people that I might save if I played along and assured me that if he tried anything, they would be right there. I hemmed and hawed and was almost in tears before Dennis told me that it was him.”
“That’s some joke,” she snapped, wanting to get mad.
“Mom, it was perfect. I remained friends with him ’cause I want to get him back but I’ve never been able to really catch him off guard like he did to me.”
Shit, if she is flipping out like this, I ain’t even telling her about David , I thought.
Chapter 9
A fter my initial separation from Keith, I went buck wild. I ain’t ashamed to say it ’cause I had a hell
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