Chapter 29

And then there was a problem: he was not alone. But on the upside, he was with his old bud not his fiancée. It was Friday, 6:11 p.m. The two of them likely had the habit of hooking up after work at the end of the week. They’d gotten a choice booth. They did not immediately see him. He caught the floor girl and asked her to deliver the two of them a refill of their drinks, beers. Rodney Barnes took a seat at the bar and waited for the beers to be delivered to the two of them. They were, and he raised his in toast to them when they looked barward.

The older Barnes brother had raised and an eyebrow as well; it was a question, and the younger nodded his okay. He grabbed his drink and headed for the booth.

“Let me guess, Horace has briefed you?” I said, as my brother came up to us.

“Yes. Okay if I sit?” said Rodney. I shrugged. “Oh, and nice to see you Leonard.”

“You too, boss,” said Leonard.

“So, what are you here for, Rodney?” I said. He shrugged.

“It’s been a while since we saw each other. I was hoping that everything was all right,” he said. I mean, I know you weren’t real happy about the Valentine’s Day thing. That’s why we set up the alternate thing for that Saturday two days later. We really missed you,” he said. I shrugged but did not comment, not then.

“So, you guys hook up here on Friday’s then?” he said.

“Yes, sir, occasionally,” said Leonard. “And I do have permission from my P.O. to interact with Adam.”

“Yes, I know. Horace told me he was able to finally work it out for you,” said Rodney.

All of a sudden I had a problem. Leonard had not told me about this. If Horace had worked out a special deal for Leonard, who was still on parole, it had to be with Rodney’s influence.

“So, you helped him out?” I said.

“Horace did it all, did I approve, of course,” he said. “But I was just a behinds the scenes, an ‘in case’ kind of thing.” I was nodding. Just his name being used would have been enough. He would have to accept responsibility, probably, but by now he knew Leonard was no risk.

“Horace mentioned your engagement,” said Rodney. “Congratulations. Any chance of getting the two of you to come by our place. Maybe have dinner with us?” I gave him a look.

I was kinda halfway trapped because he’d once again helped out a friend of mine. I nodded.

“Okay,” I said. “Give us a call when would be good for you and Riley.”

“That shall I do,” he said. And just like that, well, whatever.

A few more words with us, and the rich guy decided it would be a good idea to leave. I tacitly concurred.

Leonard was looking down. It was clear that he’d been told to keep me in the dark. He knew my feelings toward the rich guy were not real positive.

“It’s okay, Leonard. I know they told you to keep it to yourself. It’s okay. I wish you had told me though. I hadn’t actually been worried, not here, but anyway...”

“Thanks for that,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of friends. I talk some to guys and Parker at work and to Albert some, but really...”

“Yeah, I can dig it. It’s the same for me,” I said.

Apart from the big man’s impromptu appearance at Abby’s; it’d been some three months plus since Valentine’s Day that I’d been accosted by any of them. Now I would. Because a large sedan was pulling up outside, right in front of my front door. It was all of the Barnes kids. All of them this time.

They got out locked the car up, well, James did; he was the driver. They came up the walkway and saw me standing at the entrance to our place, the front door wide open behind me. Well, I had seen them coming. I was the welcoming committee.

“So, the whole team,” I said. “Been a while.”

“Uncle Adam, yes, it’s been a while. Can we...” Briana motioned toward the open door. I motioned them to follow me inside.

They all flaked out on the couch or chairs where they would. It was like they considered my place their home, and the niceties of mannerly formality was passé. I guess, I liked that particular reality.

“So?” I said. “What brings the whole gang here today.” It was Sunday, the 14th of May.

“Well, it’s been a while since we visited, Uncle Adam, as you mentioned. And, I thought since we all happened to be at mom and dad’s at the same time, kind of a rare thing these days. I decided to ask the others if they’d thought it would be a good idea to come over; I mean here,” said LeeAnn.

“So, you took the lead today, then,” I said.

“Yes, she did,” said Briana. “Like she said, we all have different schedules and stuff, and it is kind of unusual for us all to be together at the same place at the same time, so...”

“I see, well good. You all know where the drinks and snacks are, so help yourselves accordingly,” I said.

James helped himself to a beer and Briana and LeeAnn got bottles of water. Talk was mostly related to the comings and goings and doings of the kids, but then it got around to Willa and me and our comings and goings and doings.

“Yes, Willa is out for a while. She’s getting a manicure or something. But she’ll be back pretty soon,” I said.

“Uncle Adam, mom asked us to ask you, if it would be all right with you and miss Willa, if you could come to dinner on Thursday,” said LeeAnn. I smiled. So, the youngest, read the hardest to turn down, was tasked with the big job.

“This Thursday?” I said.

“Yes, sir,” she said. The two older siblings actually looked like conspirators. I smiled. I nodded. I guess I was okay with their little subterfuge.