Episode 81
Episode 81
A Simple Man
MEMPHIS
Once I walked my parents and granny outside of the restaurant and saw them off, explaining that we’d discuss what happened in greater detail later, I rushed back in to find Naomi sitting with her arms crossed, her body practically vibrating with anger. She had fiery daggers in her gaze pointed directly at her father when I took my seat next to her.
“I can’t believe you,” she seethed, hissing between clenched teeth.
“Me?” her father blustered. “You’re the one that set all of this into motion. If you’d just fall in line like the daughter I raised you to be, none of this would have happened.”
“You embarrassed me, Memphis, and yourselves, in front of three people I deeply want to impress,” Naomi continued.
My heart squeezed at her conviction. Naomi was the real deal, and she genuinely wanted my family to like her. She wasn’t the problem. Her stuck-up, high-handed parents, on the other hand, were not going to be easy to get past. Not to mention how upset I knew my family had to be. My father and mother worked hard to get where they are today and even with the tough times they’d had as of late, they were prideful people and didn’t deserve to be treated the way they had.
“Frankly Naomi, I don’t care what those people think of any of us. We are not like them.”
“I’m sorry to interject, Mr. Shaw, but what does, ‘like them’ mean exactly?” I ground down on my molars, trying to be steady and calm, but losing that battle with each new minute that passed.
“Middle class,” Abraham sneered as though the two words were poison on his tongue.
I jerked my head back. “Damn, brother, you go straight for the throat, don’t you?”
“I don’t mince words, if that’s what you’re getting at. And I am not, nor will I ever be, your brother in anything,” Abraham snapped.
I chuckled lightheartedly, disbelieving how whacked in the head he was. I stretched my arm out across the back of Naomi’s chair and looked him dead in the face. “Maybe not my brother, but you will soon be my father-in-law, so we should probably try to find equal footing.”
Abraham scowled as he glared. “You and your kind will never be equal to the likes of me and my family. And you’ll never be good enough to marry my daughter.”
That’s when Naomi stood abruptly. “You know, that’s too bad, Dad,” she sneered as she shook her head. “I shouldn’t have even tried to share this part of my life with you. I was an idiot to think that there was some shred of decency hidden behind the pomp and circumstance. You’re a narcissistic, money hungry, lonely man whose own wife can barely stand to be in the same room with you. So much so she’s spent years drinking herself to near-death and ended up in the hospital with a heart attack from drowning her sorrows in booze.”
“Naomi, that’s not fair,” her mother interjected.
“Isn’t it? And you expect me to live that life. A lonely housewife that spends my days shopping and lunching with the ladies at the club?” She scoffed. “I want more for my life.”
“You can have everything ,” Abraham blasted, his hand smacking the table like a gavel. “I’ve created this empire for you! For my future grandchildren. All I have can be yours.”
Naomi shook her head. “That’s what you don’t see and are not”—she pointed to her ear—"hearing. I don’t need or want your life’s work. I want my own. What I’ve been working toward and what I’ve created so far is my dream, Dad. Mine. And this man,”—she hooked my arm—“he’s what I want for me. For my future.”
Abraham looked me up and down and apparently found me lacking when he stated, “Unacceptable.”
“You know what’s unacceptable? Being rude to my fiancé’s family. Trying to force me into an unhappy marriage with a man I do not love. My mother killing herself slowly by drinking herself to death to avoid you. That’s what’s unacceptable.”
“I’ll not have you talk to me like this,” Abraham stood and tossed his napkin onto his uneaten plate. “You are my daughter, and you will speak to me with respect!”
“Respect is earned, not given, Dad.”
“I am your elder. Your father. You do as I say, young lady.” He used a phrase my own father might have said to one of my little sisters during an argument. However, Naomi was a woman in her mid-twenties and knew her own worth. I didn’t see her as the ‘do as I say type’. I feared Abraham was about to see a side to his daughter he wouldn’t like.
“Nay…” I took her hand and squeezed, trying to deescalate the situation. “Let’s maybe let things cool down, yeah?”
Her gaze darted to mine, and she shook her head once before turning back to her father.
“I’m not a child, and I answer to no man. Now here’s what’s going to happen. Memphis and I are going to go to his parents’ house and apologize for your actions. Then I’m going to plan my wedding. It will be held in the backyard of my fiancé’s family home. The two of you”—she pointed to her mother and then her father—“are no longer invited. I want you to get back on your jet-fuel-hogging plane and go back home. We”—she pointed at me and then herself—“are going to get married, go on a lavish honeymoon paid for with my own damn money, and plan out the rest of our lives together. While I’m on a beach in Tahiti with my middle-class husband who makes me happier than any first-class Ivy League bozo ever could, I’ll think about whether or not I want either of you in my life or the lives of our future children.”
She leaned forward, picked up one of the uneaten appetizers, and tossed it to the center of the table. It made a loud clanging noise that rattled throughout the kitchen. “Don’t forget to eat your five-star meal. It looks delicious. Come on, baby, I’m starving. You think we can drive through McDonalds on the way to your parents?” she asked as if she hadn’t just gutted her parents like a fish.
I took her hand and nodded as I led her out of the kitchen area, through the throngs of patrons staring at us as we hoofed it past the tables, then through the hotel lobby out to the sidewalk.
“Holy Moses, woman!” I yanked Naomi against my chest, then swooped my arms around her, holding my wrists below her juicy ass as I lifted her up and spun us both in a circle.
She clung to my shoulders and squealed as I cheered.
I let her slide down my body and cupped her cheeks, staring into her pretty eyes with such pride I couldn’t even find the words right away to tell her how amazing she’d been when she stood up for herself.
She whooped, fist bumping the air. “That felt so damn good!”
“Baby, I’m so proud of you. You told them off! That was some Oscar-worthy shit!”
Her face split into an ear-to-ear grin. “I was so mad!”
“You were well within your rights to be angry. He was all kinds of wrong. I had no idea it was that bad. He really does see himself as being above others, doesn’t he?”
She nodded and then her smile shifted. “Not me, though.” She looped her arms around my neck. “My whole entire life I’ve been trying to escape the weight of his discontent. It started with me being born a girl and not a boy. Then, when my mother couldn’t have any more kids, it became worse. My whole life was him telling me what he wanted for me. What I was going to be because of him. I never wanted any of it.” Her bottom lip began to tremble, as though all of what she had done just sank in. “I’ve never been what he wanted. Never lived up to his high standards.”
I ran my hand over her long hair. “Baby, I don’t think anyone could. That man doesn’t yet realize that he lost the best thing he’d ever created. I can only hope one day he learns from this and figures out how to earn you back.”
She closed her eyes and let her forehead hit my chest.
“I’m sorry. I know you love him and your mom.”
“I do, but I can’t be anything other than me. And I want you , Memphis. I want a wedding where the smell of your mother’s roses tickles our noses. I want your dad grilling the best Atlanta barbecue any of us have ever tasted. I want all of your sisters there decorating and helping to make things just right for their brother and his bride. I want Granny telling us what to do and asking when we’re going to have her first great-grandchild. I want all of it, because I’m in love with you. And I’m in love with all of them, even after only one freaking night.”
My heart stopped at hearing those three little words. When I entered the marriage auction, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be in a marriage based on love.
“Naomi, you did not just admit you love me out here in the middle of the street in downtown Atlanta after blasting your parents, with strangers all around?” I gestured to where we stood.
Her eyes widened as I suspected she didn’t realize what she’d said. Then, suddenly, my girl burst out laughing.
“Woman, if you’re about to give me everything I ever dreamed of, you best make sure you mean it. A man like me will get to thinking some things…” I warned, my heart leaping for joy as my mind wanted to be sure it was legit.
“As a matter of fact,” she cupped my cheeks, “I meant every last word. I love you, Memphis. And I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Hot damn,” I dipped my head and took her mouth in an obscenely wet and deep kiss.
The PDA was so off the charts, a few teens on skateboards made fun of us as they rode by, screaming “Get a room” and “Right on man, give her the tongue” until we broke apart, her giggling with pink cheeks and me chuckling, a shit-eating grin on my face. A smile that likely wouldn’t go away for quite a while. Maybe never when I had a woman like Naomi on my arm.
“Come on, Nay, let’s continue this back at my place.”
“Oh, hell no,” she clipped. “You’re driving me through Mickey D’s for a Big Mac, fries, and a chocolate shake, then we’re going straight to your parents. I wasn’t kidding about apologizing. I’m not starting my marriage with my new family hating me. Nuh-uh, no way, no how. Oh, and I hope you have your wallet on you, baby, because you’re buying,” she said and flounced—yes, flounced —her cute ass to my car.
“Yes, ma’am,” I stated instantly.
* * * *
As expected, my parents were incredibly gracious about what happened at the restaurant. Granny, not so much. Until, of course, Naomi asked Granny if she’d be willing to walk her down the aisle, since her father was no longer invited. Granny was surprised by this revelation and pulled a three-sixty on her ire, claiming that she would be taking Naomi under her wing as her grandchild from here on out and that no man, including her father, would be allowed to say cross words to her granddaughter. Then, she and Naomi prayed about it.
I was going to intervene, but Naomi dutifully took Granny’s hands and bowed her head as my grandmother prayed that all would be well, that we’d have a splendid and blessed wedding, and that one day, if the good Lord saw fit, maybe He’d help her family work out their problems.
And that was it. Nothing more needed. Once the apologies and prayers were out of the way, the discussion went straight to planning the wedding. Mom and Dad got all of us beer and wine while everyone talked over one another, sharing their ideas for our nuptials.
The conversations were light, filled with joy, and by the time we made it home, Naomi was shining as golden as the day we met.
“You look happy,” I murmured from where I stood behind her in my tiny speck of a bathroom. She had just finished washing her face and applying her multitude of skincare products.
“I am happy. I’m getting married in less than two weeks to a hunk of a man who I think might actually love me,” she hedged, reminding me that I hadn’t said those three important words back.
“Oh yeah? What’s this guy like? Maybe I know him, and I can ask him for you?” I teased.
“Well, he’s big. Strong. Has the best smile I’ve ever seen.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist and pressed my chin to her neck. “And…”
“Smart and compassionate. Oh, and he’s a tiger in the bedroom.”
My eyebrows rose. “A tiger?”
“Mmm hmm. Best I’ve ever had.”
“Is that right?” I laid tiny kisses to the ball of her shoulder and slowly started to kiss my way along the exposed skin.
“Yeah. And he makes me feel…” She sighed as I kissed up to her sensitive ear, flicking the cartilage with my tongue.
“He makes you feel…”
“Like my happiness matters,” she finished.
I pulled my mouth away and slowly eased her around to face me as she leaned against the small sink. I kept my hands curled around her hips. “Naomi, your happiness does matter. What you want in life is important. No one gets to decide that but you.”
“And what about you?” She put her hands on my shoulders and caressed up and down my arms, sending pleasurable chills running along my spine.
“If you’re happy, I’m happy. If my sisters are settled and enjoying their lives, I’m happy. If my parents can retire and live out their golden years together, I’m happy. I’m a simple man. There’s not a lot I need.”
“I love that about you too.”
“And I love you, Naomi.”
Her bottom lip quivered as her eyes shimmered with love. “Really?”
God, I loved how shy she became sometimes. “Yeah, baby, really. I told you before, I practically fell in love with you at the first kiss.”
“Our goodbye kiss?”
I nodded.
“That was hard. I felt like I was losing something important, and I didn’t know why.”
“The Universe had other plans.”
“Good plans.” She rose onto her toes and nuzzled my neck, leaving warm kisses in her wake.
“We’re going to make it through all of this, you know that right?” I asked.
“I wish my family was like yours.” She blew out a long, frustrated breath.
“Poor?” I choked out teasingly.
“ Kind ,” she countered while playfully smacking my chest.
I brought her into my arms for a big bear hug. “I know you do. If I could make Abraham see reason, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
She shook her head. “He is who he is.”
“People can change.” I wanted to give a man I didn’t know, who didn’t like me, a shard of a chance with his only child.
“Not him. He comes from a different stock. He will be angry I’m getting married without him. See it as a personal slight when it has nothing to do with him and everything to do with us.”
“He’ll survive. It’s not his life.”
“I don’t know, something tells me he isn’t going to leave this alone. My father has never lost a battle a day in his life. I’m worried about what he’ll try next.”
“Maybe I could talk to him again. Man to man?”
“I wish I could tell you that it would make a difference.” She yawned. “I’m so tired. How about a quickie before bed?”
My manhood rose to the suggestion, but I ignored it. “How about I put on a cheesy romantic movie, you and I get in bed, cuddle up, and relax until we both fall asleep.”
“That sounds like heaven. Except you forgot one thing.”
I interlaced our fingers. “Popcorn?”
“That…and the quickie.”
I burst into uncontrollable laugher. “My woman has a one-track mind!”
“Yeah, so what are you going to do about it?” she taunted.
“I’m going to give her what she wants,” I lifted her up and tossed her onto the bed before Supermanning it right on top of her, bracing my weight on both sides so I didn’t crush her completely.
“Good answer!” she squealed with delight.