Reg said, “I’ll keep you under observation here for a few more hours, then we’ll let Luis transport you to Tamar’s.”
“Okay.” He saw the worry in Trent’s face. “I’m fine, son. Go on back to the reunion.”
“I can stay if you want.”
“I appreciate that, but Reggie’s got my back. You go ahead. Check on me tomorrow.”
“You sure?”
“Positive. You go home, too, Tamar. I’ll see you at your place.”
She nodded.
Mal could feel the pain meds kicking in. He’d be asleep soon. “Clay, thanks.”
“You’re welcome, but it’s Rock you need to be thanking.”
“I will.” As soon as the thunder in his head subsided. He owed Luis thanks too, but not for the sirens and flashers.
Reg said, “Okay, everybody, visiting hours are over. Let him rest. Anyone wanting to see Mal can do it at Tamar’s in a few days. No more visitors today. Doctor’s orders.”
Clay, Trent, and Tamar gave Mal a final call of good-bye and left the room.
As Mal was drifting off to sleep he heard what sounded like an argument outside his partially closed door. It was Reg and Bernadine!
“What do you mean I can’t see him?” she snapped.
“You can’t. Not today. He’s sleeping.”
“I just want to put my eyes on him,” she said firmly.
“No. It’s not like you two are a couple anymore. I’ll let him know you stopped by.”
“Get out of my way, Reggie Garland.”
“Or what? You may turn the world in your office, but here, I’m the hand on the wheel. No visitors.”
She didn’t respond.
“He’s fine, Bernadine. You two are beefing. I don’t want my patient yelled at or upset.”
“I’m not going to yell at him or upset him.”
“Doesn’t matter. Go home. See him at Tamar’s. Luis will be transporting him there in a few hours.”
The hallway quieted after that, so Mal assumed she’d left, realizing she wasn’t going to get her way. Very few people said no to Bernadine Brown. He had to hand it to Reg for standing his ground.
Reg stuck his head in the door. “Mal? You awake?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you hear that?”
“I did.”
“Interesting?”
“Very.”
“Okay. Go to sleep now.”
“Thanks, Reg.”
“You bet.”
Mal thought the conversation interesting indeed. Did the visit mean there was a thaw in the cold war? He hoped so, because he wanted to explain everything to Bernadine—from why he’d taken up with Ruth and gotten punched to how bad he felt not having Bernadine in his life. And sometime soon, after his ribs and nose healed, he needed to make a run to Franklin’s hardware store to buy a couple of gallons of paint. He was musing over color choices when he drifted off to sleep.
After Trent returned to the reunion and explained what had happened with his dad and assured everyone he was okay, Gary and the other reunion attendees got ready for the cookout. The grills were manned by Rocky’s employees Siz and Randy and they soon had the air filled with mouthwatering scents. There were hot dogs and sausages, steaks and chicken, along with fajitas, burgers, and succulent chunks of lamb on skewers. Gary, still in a mood from dealing with his ex, found a place at an empty table and sat. He wasn’t intentionally being antisocial, but he needed a minute or two to himself, until . . .
“Mind if I join you?”
Nori startled him so badly he knocked over his can of cola. The drink went everywhere. Embarrassed, he hastily jumped up and grabbed his napkins to mop up the mess, all the while chastising himself for being such a clumsy fool.
“Here,” she said, smiling, offering him her napkins. “I think you may need more.” She set her plate down in a clear spot. “I’ll grab some.”
“No, I—”
But she’d already started back to the main tables, and he wondered if he could’ve done anything more stupid. He felt like a boy in junior high interacting with the prettiest girl in school. When she walked back, it gave him the opportunity to silently relish just how beautiful she was in her loose-fitting red blouse, black jeans, and red high-top Chucks—the sight of which made him inwardly chuckle. Like last night, there was silver around her neck and matching silver hoops in her ears.
“Think this will be enough?”
He took in the large stack of napkins in her hand and shot her an amused quelling look. He took them from her. “I see you still got jokes.”
“Always.”
For a moment time seemed to stop as their gazes held. Only then did he acknowledge to himself how badly he’d missed her.
She must have read his thoughts. “Been a very long time, Gary.”
“Yes, it has been.”
“Is your car here?”
“Yes, why?”
“I thought maybe we could go someplace quiet. Sit, talk, eat.”
He was so caught by surprise he was sure his eyes looked ready to pop from their sockets.
“No?”
“Um, yes, sure,” he replied quickly. Is this really happening?
“How about I grab some foil for our plates and we can go.”
“Okay.” He was nodding like a bobblehead but couldn’t help himself.
She took off again. He was left staring stupidly, his brain scrambled.
They wrapped up their plates and walked to his car. Passing the main group, he girded himself for the smack talk and good-natured heckling sure to follow the sight of him and Nori sneaking off, but instead, applause rang out and then cheers. A couple of people broke out singing the old Shalimar tune “Second Time Around.” Nori grinned and looked a tad embarrassed. Gary didn’t know what to do, but his smile was wide.
In the car, she said, “They play way too much.”
He chuckled and agreed. “Where do you want to go?” He stuck the key in the ignition.
“Where do the teenagers go these days?”
He stopped with his hand on the key and realized he had no idea. “I don’t know.”
“Lily said you have two teenage daughters. And you don’t know?”
He laughed. “I don’t.”
Nori shook her head. “C’mon, Dad, you need to be doing a better job.”
He supposed she was right, but it wasn’t like he could just come out and ask Leah where she and Preston went to hang when they wanted to be alone. He wondered who would know. Rocky? Jack? His generation used to sneak inside what had been the abandoned Sutton Hotel movie theater. Realizing he was wasting precious time, he started the car and headed for July Road. He hoped Tamar was home by now.
She was. Answering his knock, she smiled seeing him. “Hey, Gary. What can I do for you?”
“Is it okay if Nori and I sit on the bank for a while and eat our lunch?”
She peered around him to get a look at Nori in the car. “Of course. Glad to see you two together finally.”
“Thanks.”
“Second time can be sweeter. Don’t let it slip away.”
He nodded, not sure what else he was supposed to do, but he did wonder if this would be a second chance for him and Nori. He was walking back to the steps when Tamar said quietly, “Gary?”
He stopped and turned back.
“I’m sorry no one here had the power to help you back then. What happened weighed heavily on all our hearts.”
He was moved by the sincerity in her eyes. “Thanks for that, Tamar.”
“You’re welcome. Go have some fun.”
He parked as close as he could to the bank of what he and Trent called Seminole Creek, and he and Nori got out and walked the rest of the way. The old picnic table was still there, making him wonder how often it was used these days.
“It’s so nice out here,” Nori said, looking out at the water and the bank on the other side. The area had some of the only trees for miles around. “Beautiful su
nny day. Been a long time since I’ve been here, too. This is just perfect.”
He thought her perfect as well. Back in the day, he and Nori and Trent and Lily had come out to the spot often, using the picnic table for cards, laughter, sneaking beer and smokes. Kissing, too. He turned his mind away from that.
Gary sat and watched her. He didn’t want to crowd her and spoil the moment. He removed the foil covering his plate and was glad to find his burger still warm.
“What’s it like living here now in the twenty-first century?”
“About like it was in the twentieth but with better infrastructure, more money, and a new school.”
“I promised myself I’d never come back.”
That surprised him. “Why?”
She shrugged. “I was so unhappy. My mom dying sophomore year. Daddy marrying so quickly after because he was lonely. And then there was us.” She viewed him over her shoulder for a moment before turning back to the creek. “I heard later that she lied.”
“Yes.”
“And yet you stayed with her.” She stated it as fact, not a question.
“I wanted to divorce her after I learned the truth, but her father wasn’t having it. Once again threatened me with jail. Said he’d make it look like I was embezzling from the dealership.”
“Lord,” she whispered.
“I know. And having two daughters, I can almost forgive him for the forced marriage. Almost. Of course he’d believe his daughter over me no matter how many times I denied being with her. I hope he roasts in hell for holding the embezzlement thing over my head to make me stay married to her, though.”
“I’m so sorry you had to deal with that.”
“So am I, but I had no choice. Then, after the girls were born, my responsibility was to them, even though she didn’t let me have much say in their raising. Colleen had never worked a day in her life. If I’d left after her father died, my daughters would’ve probably starved.”
“Were you at least happy?”
“No.”
She turned his way again.
And he confessed honestly. “Never.”
“Damn,” she said softly.
He whispered, “I know. Had she not divorced me, we’d probably still be together because I’d given up. I figured I’d stay married to her until I went to my grave.”
“Are you happy now?”
“I am. My daughters are the only good thing to come out of the marriage. It took me some time to adjust to being a single parent, but we’re doing well.”
She walked to the table and sat down.
He said, “Your turn. How’s life been for you?”
“Pretty good,” she said, opening her foil and extracting her burger. “Taught algebra, retired, have a good pension.”
“Never married?”
She shook her head. “Couldn’t find anyone who could keep up.”
“What do you mean?”
“I like adventure. Travel. Mountain climbing. White-water rafting. Camping. Everything society says black women have no business doing, and many of the guys I hooked up with seemed to believe that, too.”
“What mountains have you climbed?”
“Denali. Kilimanjaro. Even some of the peaks in Nepal.” She glanced at him and laughed. “Close your mouth, Clark, before a fly goes in.”
“The Himalayas, too?”
“Yes. Didn’t get close to summiting but I wanted to check it off my list.”
“Wow.”
“After I did Denali and started planning a trip to Tanzania to prep for Kilimanjaro, the guy I was dating got really snippy.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t understand why I wanted to climb another mountain. He said one should’ve been enough. I dumped him immediately and went on with my prep.”
Gary was impressed. “So how did you fit all this in while teaching school?”
“Used my free time during summer vacation.”
Of course. He felt like an idiot for asking such an obvious question. “Blown away here, Ms. Algebra.”
She smiled and chewed. After taking a sip of her cola, she placed the can off to the side. “Don’t want you knocking it over.”
“More jokes. You surprised me.”
“Surprise is good.”
“Last night you were so chilly, I didn’t think you even remembered my name.”
“Oh, I did. I was chilly because . . .”
He waited.
“Truth?”
“Please.”
“I got overwhelmed by all the feels, as the kids say. The feels and the memories, and how much seeing you again made me wonder if a second chance was possible. Silly, right?”
“No, Nori. Not silly.”
She whispered, “I’ve missed you my entire life.”
“Same here,” he whispered back, his tone just as emotional.
Next thing he knew, she was in his arms and they were holding each other like the lost souls the past had forced them to become. “Missed you so much, baby,” he confessed. “So much.”
She was sobbing, and he held her and prayed for the chance to love this woman the way he was meant to love her thirty years ago.
They eased apart a bit, and he wiped at the tears on her cheeks and she did the same for him. She said, “The night you called me and told me why you couldn’t take me to prom . . .”
“I died that night, Nori. I spent the entire dance watching you.”
“I did the same and hated Colleen with the heat of a thousand suns.”
“She wants us to remarry.”
“What!”
The anger and shock on her face made him smile a little. “My sentiments exactly, but not a chance.”
“Good. It’s my turn.”
He paused. “You mean that?”
“Am I being too real? One of the many duds I dated said I didn’t have any filters and it scared him.”
“You’ve never had any filters. You and Fontaine are the most filter-free women I’ve ever known.”
She chuckled.
He asked, “Do you really want us to try again?”
“Yes. If that’s not too scary. I would’ve contacted you after the divorce, but I wasn’t sure if I should or how you’d feel if I did. I don’t want anything formal. Definitely not a ring. I just want to be able to call you. Send you a text. Come visit. Have you visit me when you can and see if a second chance is doable.”
He couldn’t believe how right this felt. “I’d like that, too.” So many years had passed them by and he’d didn’t want to lose a second more. Life was too short. He refused to be leery of jumping in with two feet so quickly because the payoff was worth giving it a shot.
She continued, “And I don’t have to meet your girls this weekend. Let’s just do us. A month from now we may decide this isn’t a good idea after all and I don’t want them to feel jerked around.”
He agreed. They were jerked around enough by their mother. “The dance is tonight. Would you, Ms. Algebra Mountain Climber, do me the honor of being my date?”
“Yes.”
He traced her lips with a slow finger. “Can I kiss you now?”
She grinned. “Always the gentleman. Yes, son of Jor-El, you may kiss me.”
And so he did.
After another hour or so of reconnecting, he finally dropped Nori off at Trent and Lily’s but not before sharing a few more kisses in the car in front of the house. “I’ll be back to get you later.”
“Okay,” she said softly, and opened the door. “Bye, Gary.”
When he entered his house he was walking on air. He had his Nori back. He couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon.
He heard the speakers in the media room and stuck his head in. Tiff was playing with Mario on the big screen and Leah was on her laptop with a book open, making him think she was doing homework. “Ladies.”
Tiff paused her game and Leah looked up. Both wore huge grins.
Tiff said, “We hear you and your lady had a good
time.”
He froze.
“Brain said you were so engrossed in PDA you didn’t see him walk by the car.”
“PDA?” he asked warily.
“Publicly displayed affection.”
Gary’s jaw dropped. “He didn’t take pictures, did he?” He knew nothing was sacred with his daughters’ generation.
Leah shook her head. “No, Dad. Brain has more respect than that.”
Relief filled him.
“So,” Tiff said, “tell us about this woman who has my daddy so turned up he’s kissing her in public.”
He laughed. Knowing he was caught, he sat and told them all about her.
When he was done, Leah said, “She climbs mountains?”
He added, “Yes, and wears red Chucks. And as you say, I have receipts.” He took out his phone and showed them the pic he’d taken of Nori’s high-tops.
“Sweet!” Tiff said.
Leah studied the footwear and said, “Mom wouldn’t be caught dead in a pair of Chucks.” She handed him back his phone. “I like this lady.”
“I do, too,” he said.
The girls grinned at each other.
“Are you taking her to the dance?”
“Yes.”
“Can we meet her?”
“Probably not this weekend. Let’s see if this works out first. She may think your dad is too slow to roll with.”
“If she does, she doesn’t deserve you . . . or us,” Tiff declared.
Leah said, “I hope you do work out. You deserve some happy, Dad.”
He agreed. “Any plans tonight?”
Leah said, “Physics test prep.”
Tiffany said, “Bingeing on Star Trek, I’m half a season behind.”
“Okay. I’m going to shower and get ready for my date.”
The girls nodded, and he let them get back to what they’d been doing.
The rec’s gymnasium was decorated in the high school’s colors of purple and midnight blue. There were streamers and balloons and tables circled around the open floor where the dancing would take place. Along the back wall was the food for the fancy dinner they’d be having later. Gary, dressed in a new black suit, had Nori on his arm as they entered. She looked heavenly in her midnight-blue gown complete with wrap, and he felt like the luckiest, happiest man in the world. They joined Trent and Lily at a table near the middle of the room. The place was filled with formally dressed classmates, laughter, and conversations.