July 10, 2008
“Baby, I don’t know if I can wait until my birthday to see you…” I say. I’ve been just feeling very whiny and wanting some attention. “Then don’t” he chews, throwing his head back to get the final few Raisinetts from the bag.
I think for a moment and then say “Well you can’t come here on the 18th and I have to work that weekend anyway.” I pause for a moment then sigh and continue reluctantly. “Then the 26th is Jackie’s wedding, so I can’t come then either”.
“So…you come to me this weekend” He says, looking off to the side at the TV. I respond with silence. “Hello?” he says. He glances back at me and chews.
“I heard you”. I say and contemplate this. “Okay” he says and looks back at the TV, and then “You didn’t say anything.” He swallows and asks, “What’s stopping you from coming to me this weekend?”
“This weekend?” I echo. “This weekend. Tomorrow. Friday. Be there when I get home”. He says and puts his face close to the camera and fans his nostrils. I laugh. “Okay” I say. You know the things men find funny that are sooo juvenile.
“So what are you waiting for” he asks. “You” I answer. “Why are you waiting on me?” he briefly glances at me and he goes back to watching TV, laughing at the movie he’s been watching. “You’re serious?” I say. “Let me know when you are ready for the credit card number. Better yet you should already have the number. Just book it”. He goes back to watching TV.
“You’re serious” I ask again. “Hurry up now, its 11:30pm. I gotta call momma to see if her or Pop will be picking you up or do I need to call my sister”, he says. “Cause you will be where?” I ask. “At work” he says. “At work? So what am I suppose to do while you’re at work?” I say. Without looking at me he says “Hurry up and make the reservation woman”. Obediently, I log onto Continental.com, then Orbitz, and then go back to Continental. I find the flight schedules for this weekend.
“Momma can bring you to my house and you can be there when I get home, or you (he’s opened the other bag of Raisinetts and pours out a handful and begins to eat them) can go home with her and I can pick you up when I get off.
Umm...I don’t know about all that. He continues “Better yet, you and momma can go to the movies” he says. I look down taking my eyes off the monitor, pretending to read some imaginary papers from my desk. “Me and your momma?” I say, “The movies?” I’m thinking popcorn, more popcorn, a movie. I’m wondering if his momma is the type who loves to see scary movies so she can see who screams the loudest, her or the person getting killed on the screen. I imagine her clutching my arm, screaming, eyes wide, popcorn…everywhere.
“Or…” I start; “I could go to your house and start dinner” I glance up at him on the screen. He’s looking at me with his eyes narrowed almost to slits. “You don’t want to take my momma to the movies?” He asks quietly. I smirk and suck my teeth. “Man, whatever” I say. “Look, we can do whatever your momma wants to do. If she wants to go to the movies then the movies it is.” I smile sweetly.
He’s still staring at me. He looks off as if he just remembered something. He quickly smiles and adds, “Ya’ll could go to the mall and then go eat. I’ma leave some money with her in the morning, when I head out.” Now his eyes dart about, his excitement of me and his momma having a play date is obvious.
“Baby” I say...looking back down at my imaginary papers, “how long are you planning on working, I mean it is Friday” I don’t want to look up. I heard his smile when it dropped and hit the floor. I know without looking that he’s back to staring at me through slitted eyes.
I don’t look up and without pausing I say, “Well, if it’s too late you can always meet me and your momma at the restaurant…I mean after we see the movie…and go to the mall…and shop.” My eyes take the long road back to the monitor. He’s smiling again. Damn. The things we do for love.
I check reservations and reserve my ticket. He reads me out his credit card number. I book the flight. Giddy now, my mind starts to wonder on what to wear. What’ll my kids say? What will the Spawn try to pull off while I’m gone…another pool party? A pajama party maybe?
I email him my reservation confirmation. I hear his computer ding notifying him he’s got mail. He brings his face close to his monitor. His eye movement changes as he opens the email from Continental and rapidly begins to read. Quickly he says “Hold on baby, let me call my momma.” And with that…he’s off. He quickly turns from the monitor reaching for the house phone. I can tell when the other party picks up.
“Momma? How you doing this time? No Mam. No mam. Yes Mam. I’m fine. Momma I need you to do me a favor tomorrow. Okay. Yes Mam. Well TX is coming back here tomorrow and I got that job up in Glassy Mountain and won’t be down until late. Can I ask for you or Pop to please pick her up at the airport. No Mam. Yes Mam. 4:00pm. Yes Mam.” I stare at him and can only wonder what all those Mam’s are in response are to. Finally he says, “That’ll be fine. No Mam. She wants to stay with you”. Huh?!!!It gets worse.
He continues “I told her ya’ll could go to the movies and then to eat. Yes Mam. Okay. Mam? Yes Mam she told me she would really like that. Okay Momma, thank you. I’ll come by there in the morning and leave some money for ya’ll”. Now granted, what he actually said was “…in the moaning”. Which is pretty much what I was doing about now. Dang, dinner and a movie and some shopping too. He ends the call and turns back to the camera with all 32’s gleaming brightly at me.
“Well” I say…”so it seems we’re all set”. I smile back at him. He just looks at me like he’s in love, and then tells me “You are so pretty”. I think to myself, whatever and smile again. “Yep” he says as his eyes dart around the room. And then adds quickly “I got something I gotta go do. Leave the cam up, I’ll be back”.
“Cool” I say.” I gotta finish some contracts, so do your thing.” I watch him go back and forth in and out of the cameras view. Carrying clothes from his room to the laundry room. He crosses back in front of the camera with the mop and pail headed toward the master bathroom no doubt. He returns and pulls the brown thermal blanket that is so soft and lovely to sleep under, from the couch, along with two shirts and a pair of jeans.
Over the course of an hour or so he’s come into view carrying shoes, clothing, different odds and ends, only to disappear into another room and reappear empty handed. At some point he mutes out the sound, but I can clearly see his elbow going back and forth from the hallway. Does he really think because I can’t hear the sound that I don’t know that he’s vacuuming?
I finish my new listing agreement, complete another offer for contract, and send Washington another Fri-Monday leave slip. They gotta be wondering what the hell is going on. I never take off. Who cares? I wish I could submit a leave slip for the next 8 years. Show up in 2016 and turn in my accountable property.
“Wow TX” the Human Resource manager would say. “That must have been some vacation, 8 years. Did you go anywhere special?” “Umm… yeah." I would answer and then, "I took a trip to Life. I met a wonderful man, sold some real estate, got my broker’s license, opened my own real estate agency, and took care of my parents."
"Bonded out the Spawn, he’s still in college now and doing well, it's his 8th year, but whose counting, you know?. Baby girl graduated and finished law school, she’s married now. And I got married too. Yeah, he’s a great guy. He loves me to death. Somewhat of a workaholic, but you know me, so am I, so there we are, right?” We laugh for a moment. “Any way, we had a great time and I can’t wait to go back.”
“Wow” she would say again. “You know? That sounds wonderful. I had a vacation to Life once, boy it was wonderful…just too short. Hadn’t ever had a chance to go back since” She sighs and looks down at the government bureaucracy manifested as the sky high piles of paper on her desk. “Yeah” I sigh and then ask “so where did you want the gun and badge?” I ask and smile at her. Startled she says “Why TX…are you leaving us again? So soon?” “Yep” I’d say, “I’m going back to Life…for good this time.”
Back from La-La Land, I take the new listing agreement and send it via a real estate form software called Zip Form, to the client. Set up new folders for the lease and also for the contract offer. I run comparables on the offer and email those to the client as well. I log onto the Long Hair Care Forum and because I cannot contain my giddiness, leave a post on my thread that I’m going back to South Cacky...smile.
I can hear SC in the kitchen busy cleaning. Banging pots and slamming cabinet doors. There is the occasional “ouch” or “got dog that hurt” every now and then. I guess he decided not to enlist the sister to clean house this time.
He comes back to the camera. He has a dish towel thrown over one shoulder. He’s taken off the T-shirt he’d had on earlier. I remember him stripping it off and later using it to dust the end tables in the living room. Men? Go figure.
I finish up and skip (literally) from my home office to my bedroom to pack. Throughout the night we “nudge” each other(ring the others computer to get their attention) just to smile sleepily at each other in anticipation of being together tomorrow.