Chapter 44

“Move?” asked Bill with a slight frown.

“Yes, we’d have to move,” answered Jerry. He reached over and grabbed one of the hot rolls. He ripped it apart and grabbed his butter knife. His control slipped as he buttered the roll with far more energy than benefited the roll or the butter. He hated the fact that the promotion required moving. He didn’t want to move.

Silence descended on the table. Bill and Melissa turned to watch Jenny, hoping to take a clue on how to react from her. Neither one of the children were willing to express their absolute hatred of the idea of moving. Bill had managed to create a huge circle of friends at school and Melissa was beginning to get her life together.

Jenny watched her husband as he tore apart the roll and buttered it. She smiled as she watched him attack his food, guessing exactly what was on his mind. In a soft voice, she said, “You don’t have to take it.”

“What do you mean?” asked Jerry startled by the suggestion. His ex-wife would have butchered him if he had even suggested that.

“I mean that you don’t have to take the job,” answered Jenny. She glanced at the kids and could see the relief spread across their faces upon hearing her answer.

Jerry put down the tattered remains of his roll and stared at Jenny. He wondered why she would suggest that he not take the promotion. Did she consider him unworthy of it? It had been his hope that she would support him through this terrible decision.

Cautious, he asked, “Why do you say that?”

“Your happiness means everything to me and I can tell you one thing for sure - you would not be happy if you took that promotion. You’ve made a great life for yourself and us in this town. Your friends are here. You have a wonderful little side business with Henry. I know how much you enjoy producing those interior waterfalls. You’d be miserable moving away from here. Even giving up this house would tear you up inside,” answered Jenny. She shook her head and added, “You don’t really want that promotion.”

“I’ve just settled into high school. It sure would be tough moving away now,” commented Bill hoping to reinforce what Jenny was saying.

“Don’t forget that Jenny has the restaurant. She’d have to sell it,” added Melissa.

Jerry looked from one person to the next trying to decide if they were serious. After a long minute, he asked, “Do you mean you’d rather have me be a lowly manager in a small town store than an executive of a national chain?”

“I’d rather have you happy than miserable,” answered Jenny. Shrugging, she added, “It doesn’t matter to me what job title you have.”

“What about the money?” asked Jerry.

“You’d have to double your salary just to break even after we give up our businesses here,” answered Jenny.

“Yeah, you’d have double that again to pay for finding another slum house with a smart ass kid living next door. That’s not to mention getting shot while closing down a crack house so you can regain your heroic stature in the slum,” Bill quipped with a wink.

The image of going through all of that again made Jerry laugh. He replied, “You’re right. It would require a lot more salary to go through that again.”

“Are you going to turn it down?” asked Jenny. Holding their breaths, Bill and Melissa leaned forward to hear his answer.

Jerry shook his head and answered, “I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem right to turn down a promotion. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

Disappointed, his family sat back and sighed at his answer. Jenny said, “Promise me that you’ll put your happiness first when you think about it.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Promise me!”

Smiling at Jenny, Jerry knew he couldn’t deny her anything. He replied, “I promise.”

“Good, now eat. I’d hate for you to lose your strength and drop me when you are carrying me off to do nasty things to my body,” replied Jenny with a smile.

Looking at his roll, Jerry answered, “I guess I kind of tore this roll up.”

As Jerry absently ate his stew, Bill watched his father with concern. One of the things his father had drilled into him was that when you worked with tools, you needed to pay attention to what you were doing. It didn’t look to Bill as if his father would be able to concentrate. He asked, “Are you sure that you want to work on the waterfall tonight?”

Realizing that he had zoned out, Jerry looked up at Bill and said, “Well, I might not work that much tonight, but I’ll definitely talk to Henry.”

“That’s a good idea,” commented Jenny. She knew that the two of them would talk in the mysterious manner of men. Henry would help him come to the right decision.

Breaking out of his silence, Jerry turned to Melissa and asked, “So are you worried about your date?”

“Not really,” answered Melissa avoiding the truth. She was scared to death about her date, but wasn’t going to admit it.

“Take your cell phone along. Call one of us if anything unpleasant happens,” said Jerry not believing her denial for a minute.

“Got it with me,” replied Melissa with a smile. It was good to know that her father was there for her. She glanced over at Bill and noticed that he was smiling. Curious what he found so humorous, she asked, “What’s so funny?”

“Just picturing Ben Sanders and how he would react to seeing Dad or me angry if he does something bad,” replied Bill.

“Oh, I didn’t think of that,” replied Melissa. Undoubtedly Ben would wet his britches at the sight of her brother angry. She didn’t even want to think of what Ben would do at the sight of her father angry with him.

Jenny patted her arm and said, “Be happy that you have two protective men in your life.”

“Okay, I guess,” replied the young woman. She didn’t really know why she should be happy, but she accepted Jenny’s advice.

Jerry winked at Melissa and said, “No young punk is going to take advantage of my daughter against her will and get away with it. I doubt that any will try if they have an idea of what is waiting for them if they do.”

“Oh,” replied Melissa realizing what Jenny meant.

Everyone finished eating at about the same time. After everyone cleared their plates from the table, Bill and Jerry washed dishes while Jenny and Melissa chatted over coffee. Since moving out, Bill and Jerry took care of the slum house while Jenny tended to take care of the big house. It was an unconscious division of labor, but one that worked well for them. For Jenny, coming to the slum house was like taking a vacation away from the house.

The men had just finished the dishes when there was a knock on the door. Melissa answered it expecting to find Shauna. Instead it was Abe standing there with a large grin on his face. Stepping into the house, Abe said, “Hey you guys, you have to see my new motorcycle.”

Surprised at the announcement, Jerry and Bill came out of the kitchen. Jerry asked, “New motorcycle?”

“Yeah, I got a new one,” said Abe.

“What’s wrong with the Indian?” asked Bill wondering if Abe had wrecked it or something.

Abe shook his head and answered, “Nothing is wrong with it. I just don’t feel comfortable leaving it parked in public. I keep thinking that someone is going to steal it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, the other day I found myself taking a bus because I didn’t want to drive the bike to the mall. Kinda stupid, isn’t it?” commented Abe with a sheepish grin.

“Not at all,” said Jerry. He understood that growing up in this neighborhood made one very aware of crime. He stepped to the front door and added, “Let’s see the new bike.”

The whole family trooped outside to check out the motorcycle. It was a new Honda street bike that was painted a dark blue. Bill whistled and said, “Nice.”

“Thanks,” said Abe. He was proud of the fact that he had been able to arrange the loan for the bike himself, although Henry had co-signed for it. The past few months he had come to understand the importance of credit.

“Very nice,” said Jerry as he walked around the bike. It was a basic street bike, functional but not gaudy.

“Well, I wanted something basic. I figured that if I wanted to show off, I could always ride the Indian,” said Abe.

Melissa looked over at Abe and said, “You’re all dressed up. Are you going on a date?”

“Yeah,” replied Abe. He added, “I’ve become quite popular with the ladies at school. It seems they like being able to go on a date without having to take the bus.”

“I can imagine,” remarked Jenny with a smile. She knew there was a little more to the story than that. Abe had become quite a catch in this area of town. He was going places and every young woman within three miles knew it.

Curious, Bill asked, “So who are you dating?”

“Ah, you don’t know her. Her name is Tanya Crowley,” answered Abe.

From behind him, Shauna laughed as she asked, “You are taking out Bookworm Crawler?”

The unflattering reference to Tanya produced a flare of anger in Abe. He turned to Shauna and said, “Her name is Tanya.”

“I’m just surprised that you went for brains over beauty,” said Shauna with a grin. She shook her head at the idea of Abe going out with the smartest girl in school.

“Hey, she’s pretty,” argued Abe. He knew that by dating Tanya he was going to get teased by a lot of the kids at school. Tanya had a reputation as being very straight-laced and studious. In his school, that was not a good thing.

Melissa asked, “She’s a nerd?”

Although she would never have thought to apply the term to a black woman, Shauna answered, “Yes, she’s a nerd.”

Tanya was the first woman who actually challenged Abe to be a better person. She asked questions that made him think. They discussed topics that went beyond sex, drugs, and music. He was even keeping up with political events so that he could hold his own in discussions with her. Defensive, Abe said, “She has plans for the future. She wants to go to college and study engineering.”

Smiling, Bill said, “Melissa has a date with a nerd, too.”

“Way to go, girlfriend,” exclaimed Shauna forgetting for the moment that it wasn’t just the two of them talking. She was surprised at the announcement that Melissa had a date. Leaning over to Melissa she said in a voice that was a little louder than intended, “So you’re finally gonna have someone to replace that vibrator I gave ya for your birthday.”

Melissa, bright red in embarrassment, shot a look at the black woman as if she wanted to kill her. She had kept the vibrator Shauna had given her for her birthday a secret. She replied, “They don’t know about that!”

Completely shocked by the revelation, Bill exclaimed, “Vibrator? You got a vibrator!”

Surprising everyone, Jerry said, “Hey. It’s her business, not ours. Drop it ... everyone.”

His words stopped all further teasing of Melissa and brought a smile to Jenny. She appreciated the way that he wouldn’t let his daughter be teased about something so personal. Deflecting the subject of conversation, she said, “I hope you both enjoy your dates.”

Looking forward to a nice evening with Tanya, Abe said, “I’m sure I’ll have a good time.”

“There’s no way she’s putting out,” countered Shauna.

Abe shrugged to indicate that he didn’t care whether he got laid or not. The fact of the matter was that he had gotten tired of the girls at school who used sex in exchange for attention. The more he studied at school, the less content he had become with respect to just getting by on as little as possible. That discontent extended to easy sex.

He replied, “So what? Pussy is cheap.”

The young black woman was quiet for a moment as she considered what he said. In a very serious voice, she replied, “You’re right.”

Jenny said, “You’re both wrong.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Shauna.

“There are costs and there are costs. Even if something doesn’t cost you a dime, it can still cost you your life. There are always consequences. Just because you aren’t the one paying the price doesn’t mean that it is free,” replied Melissa.

“You mean like getting VD or AIDS?” asked Abe although he knew exactly what she meant. The last few times in bed with willing young ladies had been fun, but something was missing. He’d left the bed feeling empty, as though he had lost something.

“Or the girl getting pregnant or even losing respect for yourself,” replied Jenny.

Bill listened to the discussion with interest. He’d had a sexual relationship with Shauna that had been exciting, but without a future. In some ways he still felt weird about the relationship. He’d had fun, but couldn’t talk about it with anyone. There hadn’t really been an emotional connection and it still bothered him.

“Perhaps you’re right,” said Abe.

Silence was the only response that Shauna gave. Jenny put a hand on Shauna’s shoulder and said, “It’s time for us to get to work.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” replied Shauna. She glanced at Bill, Melissa, and Abe in turn while wondering what they thought of her.

“I’d better head out on my date,” said Melissa deciding that the serious atmosphere was making her feel uncomfortable. She paused and looked at Abe. He had surprised her once again. She was amazed that he was dating a nerd.

“Me too,” said Abe as he went back to his bike. He looked over at Jenny and said, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied.

Abe started his bike and in the sudden noise, it was difficult to talk. Jerry leaned over and kissed Jenny. She knew that he was heading out and returned his kiss with a wink. Grabbing Bill by the shoulder, he headed down the street on the short walk to Henry’s house. Abe roared past on his new motorcycle, waving an arm as he went by them.