Chapter 36

I arrived back at home around two o’clock, I carried all of my gear back up the steps to my unit. For the time being, I stored everything in the extra bedroom, I would put the signed gear for my foundation in there as well. I called Ms. Claire Simpson, who was the only full time employee of the foundation. She was a retired school teacher, I had met her when she was doing volunteer work at Children’s Hospital. I offered her the position, which really didn’t pay very much, she graciously accepted. She was basically responsible for handling the details for the foundation’s business, then running the paper work back and forth to the attorneys. I informed her of the items I had received, she suggested that we hold an auction inviting some of the players. With the sudden superstar status we all had, due to the Super Bowl victory, she felt we could make a very tidy sum. She promised to get the ball rolling, then call me back to finalize the details.

I was considering taking a short trip back home to unwind, get out of the city for a while. The only thing was, I hated to be away from Alexis, I knew she had just taken a week off herself, I doubted she could go again. She called me on her way home from work, telling me she had picked up some Chinese take out for dinner, I was to come down to her place. I took a shower, changed clothes, then made my way down to her unit. I let myself in, she was in the kitchen making two plates. I sat down on the sofa, she came in with my plate and drink. She went back to the kitchen, then returned with hers.

“So what’s on your calendar for the next few months?” she asked.

I told her about the idea I had for the auction, then mentioned I would like to go home for maybe a week or two. I could sense from her reaction to the latter, it was a sensitive subject with her. In three weeks we were going to ber measured for our Super Bowl rings, so I had to be in town for that. On top of all that, my landlord was due back from Spain in four months, I would have to give up the condo.

“Well, do you think maybe before you go back home, we could spend a weekend together in Santa Monica?” she asked softly, with a smile.

“What’s in Santa Monica?’, I asked, curiously.

“My mother.” she replied, “I want you to meet her.”

I was taken a bit by surprise, this really came out of left field. Never had Alexis mentioned anything to me about her mother.

“Of course we can, I would love to meet your mother.” I answered.

“Good, how about this weekend?” she laughed.

“That’s fine with me.” I answered.

We made plans to leave Friday night after Alexis got off work, it was a little over two hours away. I was packed and ready to go by the time Alexis got home, she had taken care of all of the details. We took my car, she once again offering to drive.

The traffic was rather bad, the drive took almost three hours, before we were exiting the freeway to her mother’s house. Alexis navigated the streets like a pro, she was in her old hometown. She pointed out the local high school she had attended as a teenager, then several other familiar hang outs as we passed them. We finally pulled up to a neat, but really worn home, the white building badly in need of paint.

As we got out of the car, the older lady next door, who was watering her lawn, yelled over to Alexis.

“Alex, how are you darling? It’s great to see you.” she shouted.

Alexis motioned me over, making sure I followed her to the neighbour’s yard. The two women greeted each other with a warm hug, obviously it had been a while since they had seen each other.

“Miss Mabel, this is Brian Stevens, a friend of mine.” she said, introducing me.

The older lady had a huge smile on her face as she looked me up and down, then finally extending her hand to me.

“I like your choice of friends Alexis, he is adorable. Big as hell too.” she laughed.

“Thank you ma’am. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I told her.

“Oh, he’s polite too. Better keep him close darling, I gotta believe he’s in demand.” she laughed, holding Alexis’ arm.

They talked for a few seconds, then we made our way back to her mother’s house, up to the front porch. Alexis knocked on the door, then opened it slowly, called out to her mother.

“Mai.” she shouted.

I heard a scream from the back of the house, then rapid foot steps on the hard wood floors. Within seconds, a dark haired, short pretty woman, wearing an apron came running into the room wrapping her arms around Alexis. She was in tears, it was apparent she was overjoyed to see her only daughter.

“Anh yeu em”, the older woman kept saying.

Finally they broke their embrace, both of them wiping tears from their cheeks.

“Mom, I want you to meet Brian Stevens.” she said softly, “Brian, this is my mother, Mai.”

“It’s very nice to meet you Mai, I have heard a lot about you.” I said, softly shaking the woman’s hand.

“Hello Brian, nice to meet you too.” she answered, bowing slightly.

I told Alexis to stay with her mom, I went back to get the luggage. Even though she had told me we were going to stay at her mother’s house, I was unsure of the exact arrangements. The last thing I wanted to do was offend her mother the very first time we met. I made two trips to the car, I finally had all four bags stacked neatly in the front room. Alexis came back in the room, telling me to grab the bags and follow her. I did as I was told, going down a short hall to a room which was quite obviously Alexis’ when she was growing up. The room had wall to wall trophies, certificates, plaques and photos of Alexis playing ball. I placed the bags on the bed, noticing it was only a single, then leaned over and asked quietly.

“Where am I staying?”

Alexis directed me down to the end of the hall, to another small bedroom, with a single bed as well. I set my bag down on the bed as well.

“I hope you don’t mind Brian, my mother is a bit old fashioned.” she whispered softly.

“Not at all.” I said, quickly kissing her lips.

We went back into the small living room where we sat down and I basically listened to the two women catch up on what was happening to each other. The whole time Alexis was talking to her mother, the older woman would keep moving her eyes toward me, then smile when I noticed her looking. My father always told me, one day a girl will take you home to meet her parents, earning their trust will be extremely difficult. It’s hard for parents to think any man is good enough for their daughter. After an hour or so, Alexis suggested we get ready for bed, it was getting late.

The following morning, I was up early for some reason, it was barely past five o’clock. As I laid in bed, I heard someone walking through the house, I thought Alexis might be up. I opened the door to my bedroom, then followed the noise to the kitchen. Alexis’ mother was already up and dressed, scurrying about the small room.

“Oh, good morning Mai, I thought Alexis was up.” I said.

“No, she sleep late all the time. You want coffee?” she asked.

“Yes, please.” I answered.

It was clear to see where Alexis got her looks from, her mother was very pretty. What surprised me was she still had a heavy Vietnamese dialect which was surprising considering she had been raised in the United States. She quickly poured me a cup of coffee, asking me to sit down at the small kitchen table. She handed me the cup, then went back to preparing what appeared to be a big meal, I wasn’t exactly sure. I was on my second cup of coffee when Alexis walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes. She had a short robe on, tied at the waist with a tee shirt on underneath. I made sure I didn’t stare at her in front of her mother, I was on my best behavior.

“Morning Mom.” Alexis said, kissing the woman on her cheek.

Her mother quickly got her to sit down across from me and poured another cup of coffee for her daughter. It was apparent, Alexis was the most important thing in Mai’s life, the older woman was on cloud nine.

She buzzed around the kitchen, the two of them talking non stop.

We drove into town around noon, I followed Alexis and her mother in and out of different shops, they were having a great time. We ate at a nice restaurant in town, then did some more shopping. Alexis bought her mother a few articles of clothing, even though the woman objected the entire time. I could tell though, Mai was proud of Alexis, her daughter was a very beautiful, successful business woman. We finally arrived back at her mother’s house around five that evening. As soon as I entered the door, the smell coming from the kitchen was incredible. Mai quickly ran into the kitchen, donning her apron, resuming her task.

About an hour later we sat down to an incredible dinner, it was absolutely the best asian food I had ever eaten. Mai was indeed a great cook, something I’m sure she had learned from her mother.

“You like?” she asked.

“Yes ma’am, very much.” I answered.

“She, no wanted to learn to cook, she only wanted to play ball.” Mai laughed, pointing to Alexis.

“Mom, I can cook ... a little.” Alexis said, almost apologetically.

Her mother laughed, shaking her head at me as much as if to say, don’t pay any attention to her. Alexis helped her mother clean up the kitchen, then both of them rejoined me in the living room. They made plans to attend church the following morning, something I was not accustomed to. I was told services would be at nine in the morning, so once again, we went to bed relatively early.

I woke up the next morning about seven thirty, got dressed and was ready to go by eight o’clock, Alexis and her mom joined me about thirty minutes later, we took my car then drove a few miles to a very large church. Mai commented several times about how much she liked my car and that I was crazy to let Alexis drive it. All during the drive Alexis and her mother carried on their banter, it was something that I was not familiar with, growing up as I did. In fact, as hard as it was to admit, I was very jealous of the relationship they had, my mother had wanted no part of me. We parked in the large lot next to the church, then walked up the stairs finally sitting in the middle of the large facility.

Within minutes it was obvious, several people had recognized me, I saw several people whispering and pointing. After about an hour and five minute service, the pastor dismissed everyone, the crowd slowly made it’s way through the double doors. The pastor had situated himself at the door of the church, so he could greet the congregation as they exited the church. Both Alexis and I were following her mother through the doors, the pastor greeted her with a smile.

“Good morning Mai, how are you today?” he asked with a smile and a soft handshake.

“Father, do you remember my daughter Alexis?” she asked.

“Oh my, she was barely a teenager when I last saw her, what a beautiful young woman you have become.” he told Alexis, shaking her hand as well.

“Thank you Father, this is my friend Brian Stevens, we are in town visiting my mother.” she answered, introducing me.

The pastor looked up at me, he was a relatively short man, a bit over weight. He extended his hand to mine, then looked up at me.

“You’re not the Brian Stevens who plays for San Diego are you?” he asked.

“Yes sir, I am.” I answered.

“Oh my goodness, what a pleasure it is to meet you. You had an incredible game in the Superbowl, I’m a huge fan.” he responded.

“Thank you Father.” I replied.

As we walked towards my car in the parking lot, I couldn’t help but notice Alexis’ mother, walking hand in hand with her daughter. Even though a few hours distanced them on a daily basis, they were very close. Before I could get in the car, several people came over asking for an autograph. Josh had told me once, I think it was on the first day of training camp, even though it can be tedious at times, people following you asking for an autograph or picture, one day they will stop. And as hard as it is to believe, you will miss the attention, so enjoy it now. I signed several articles including the church bulletin, which was a first for me.

We made our way back to Alexis’ mother’s home, changed clothes and were trying to decide on what to get for lunch. Mai suggested fried chicken from the fast food chain just down the road, it didn’t matter to me. I got up to get my keys, but Mai grabbed me by the arm then told me to stay, Alexis could go get the food. I could tell her request surprised Alexis as much as it did me.

“Mom, what are you up to?” Alexis asked.

“Nothing, you go. I talk to Brian.” she requested, waving her hand towards the door.

I handed Alexis some money, she reluctantly headed thru the front door, looking over her shoulder. The car had no sooner left the drive, when her mother made her intentions known.

“Brian, you like Alexis very much, yes?” she asked, taking my hand in hers.

“Yes ma’am, I do.” I answered.

“I know she like you too, she talk about you all the time. She tell me how wonderful you are, make her feel special all the time. For a long time she was very different, not very happy. She try to hide from me, but I know, not hard to see when your child in pain. But since she meet you, everything different.” she started.

“Something happen to her at school, she not think I know, I find out from teacher. Man hurt her very bad, but she no tell me. She very sad all the time, only study and play ball. But now you give me daughter back, I thank you.” she ended.

“She’s a very special lady, Miss Mai. She means the world to me.” I answered.

“Did you tell her that, tell her you love her?’”, she asked, squeezing my hand.

“No, not yet.” I confessed, “I am afraid that maybe she doesn’t feel the same way, or that maybe she thinks I am moving too fast.” I replied.

“You tell her very soon, yes?” she inquired.

“Yes ma’am I will.” I promised.

We were still talking as Alexis pulled back into the driveway, her mother got up and went back to her chair. I got up, opened the door for Alexis as she brought the food inside. She looked over at her mother, then back at me.

“What have you two been up to?” she asked.

“Nothing, just talk.” replied Mai, “Bring food into kitchen.”

We followed Mai to the kitchen, the subject was closed for now. We spent several more hours with her mother, finally packing up and heading back home around three o’clock in the afternoon. We were barely on the freeway when Alexis began her interrogation.

“Ok, spill it buddy. What was that all about?” she asked.

“All what?” I asked, trying to be nonchalant.

“You know what. What did my mother tell you?” she demanded.

“Oh, she just wanted to be sure I was treating you right.” I answered.

“Bullshit, tell me the truth.” she laughed.

“I am telling you the truth, she was just curious about us. Moms are like that.” I argued.

“Uh huh.” she said, I knew she wasn’t buying it.

We were back at the complex, shortly before seven o’clock, I took the luggage upstairs then went to my place to unpack. Several minutes later, Alexis knocked on the door, then walked in.

“Hey, I had a message on my machine from Jessica, she lost your number. She wants to talk to you.” she told me, handing me the number on a small piece of paper.

I dialed the number without thinking about the time change, I could tell I woke Jessica up.

“Hello.” she replied, still half asleep.

“Jess, this is Brian Stevens, I’m so sorry, I forgot about the time difference.” I apologized.

“Oh Brian, it’s ok, I’m glad you called. I wanted to give you the heads up, I will be coming back in about three months. I wanted to give you enough time to find a place.” she informed me.

“Oh, ok. Thanks Jess, I will start looking right away. I will let you know when I find something, I will try to time my move with yours if that’s ok?” I answered.

“That would be great Brian, thanks so much.” she replied, hanging up.

I closed my phone and tossed it on the sofa, then dropped into the chair behind me.

“Well, I have to find a place to stay, she is coming back in about ninety days.” I told Alexis.

“Oh really, I thought she would be gone a lot longer.” she answered.

“I’ll call Cindy tomorrow, see if she knows any real estate people she can hook me up with.” I said.

I could see Alexis was uneasy about something, I wasn’t sure exactly what it was. I was guessing it might be that we wouldn’t be so close together anymore, this was an ideal situation. She sat down on the sofa next to me, it was like she was trying to think of something to say.

“What’s wrong Alexis?” I asked.

“Uh ... nothing, I just figured it would still be awhile before she came back.” she replied.

“Well, I knew it was coming, it’s no big deal. I have the time now to start looking around.” I offered.

“You uh ... want another condo, an apartment, maybe a house?” she inquired.

“I’m not positive, but I think I might like a house.” I told her.

We watched a bit of TV, then around nine o’clock, Alexis told me she was tired, she kissed me goodnight and went home to bed. I was sort of surprised, I was hoping we would sleep together, it had been quite a while since I had held her close. I tried not to appear too disappointed, although I’m not sure I succeeded.

The following morning, I woke up about nine o’clock, showered and dressed. I called Cindy Taylor over at PSA, asking if she knew of a realtor, I could use to find a new home. She told me she had a very good friend in the business, she would call her and give her my number. I thanked her and hung up. It was strange, this being a Monday and I had no place to go. It was less than thirty minutes later when my cell phone rang.

“Mr. Stevens, this is Amanda Mansfield, I’m with ERT Realty, Cindy Taylor asked me to give you a call. How can I help you?” she asked.

I explained to her my situation, then listened as she went over several options. She was with one of the largest realtors in southern California, she had hundreds of properties listed, as well as access to thousands more. We arranged to meet at her office at two o’clock to set some parameters for the search.

I was early for my appointment, fortunately so was Ms. Mansfield. She was an middle aged woman, impeccably dressed, extremely professional. She was the type of person who could definitely make you feel you were out of your league.

“Come in Mr. Stevens, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” she said, shaking my hand.

“Call me Brian, please.” I asked.

“Very well Brian, I’m Amanda.” she answered, sitting behind her desk.

She grabbed a huge folder from the right side of her desk, opening it and laying out several smaller folders. She explained to me that she had several directions in which we could go, condo, high end apartment, or single residence. She quickly showed me on the map which were the more desirable sections of town. I was quickly overwhelmed as I knew I would be.