Chapter 10
Fresh air was just the thing she needed. Rollerblading through her neighborhood, getting sun on her face allowed her to kick away the cobwebs. She also used the time to do some soul searching. Noah. Watching him help that woman on the street today sent her hurdling back to that day at Leddel High School. Not only was he still that same kind, selfless person, she’d met all those years ago, she could see where he got it from. She’d watched as the older man, who she overheard being called Big Daddy, come out to lend a hand, along with his sister and two children. This kindness was ingrained, woven throughout the fabric of their family. They truly were giving people.
Having grown up with a father who waxed poetic, preaching to others about living Christlike, yet at any given opportunity, behaved as sinfully as any nonbeliever, made her cynical. Years of secrets, posturing, dealing with people that appeared solid gold when their insides were rusted made it difficult to see authenticity in others.
Once she was physically free of that mess, it took years of therapy and antidepressants before she could call herself mentally unshackled and she felt as if she could navigate the world and discover who Leah Vines truly was. During college, she made a few good friends and better connected with her younger sisters, things that helped her start to blossom.
And Uncle D. No matter how her father tried to put a scourge on his name and lifestyle, Leah clung to the last vestiges of her mother. Dayo took her for her first mani/pedi for her fourteenth birthday, clear polish of course, which left her feeling like a princess. When she spent weekends with her grandmother, he would style her hair, using her to try different hair styles. He would often thread her hair using hair rubbers in a traditional style called kiko, something he used to do to her mother’s tresses.
Yes, she would consider giving Noah a chance. She’d dodged relationships, true deep connections with men for fear that they were all superficial liars like Malcolm Vines. If the man that raised her, a purported man of God was the poster child of “do as I say, not as I do” what could she expect from other men?
“Hey, Leah.”
She waved at Mrs. Bradford, the smiling, vivacious seventy-year-old widow who was out front watering her hanging ferns. “Good Afternoon.” As she rolled on down the block towards the park, she wondered if Noah thought she was wishy washy. Dodging his phone calls and being down right frosty when he visited her uncle again in the hospital. At least he was giving her another chance. On that note, she needed to call him to set things in stone. “No time like the present.”
Coming to a stop, she fished her phone from the pocket of her lime green leggings and dialed his number. “Hey Foxy.”
“Hi Noah.” Even though he couldn’t see her, she felt her face flame. The two simple words made her feel bashful. “I’m calling to solidify plans, if you’re still free tonight.”
“Free as a bird. What do you have in mind?”
“Frying catfish and drinking beer. You still wanna join me?”
“Are you trying to seduce me?”
Leah laughed. “I’m making potato salad and French fries too. Be here by seven thirty.”
“I’ll pick up a peach cobbler from Anita Kay’s for dessert. How does that sound?”
“If you pick up some of her frozen biscuits, we can have fish and grits in the morning.”
When Noah grew quiet, Leah wondered if she’d gone too far, too fast. She had given the man the cold shoulder recently. He probably wondered what game she was playing. “Will a dozen be enough? I don’t share food.”
“It will be plenty,” she said, letting out a relieved giggle. “I can only eat two at the most.”
“I’ll see you at seven thirty.”
She ended the call and dialed her uncle. “Hey, Baby-Niece.
“Uncle D, guess who I just called?”
“Please tell me you phoned Big Country.”
“Yes, I did.” She knew he could hear the smile in her voice.
“Thank God. That boy just needs one chance and he’ll be kissing the ground you walk on. Put him out of his misery. He looked like somebody shot his dog when you were giving him the ice queen treatment.”
“I’m going to apologize.” She poured out her heart to Dayo, filling him in on why she behaved as she had. “Just when you think you’ve dealt with things, you get tested.”
“Sweetie, if you don’t stop letting that man, cuz that’s all he is despite the delusions of grandeur he suffers from, throw poison on every relationship you try to build. Just because his wife can’t let him go out to the mailbox without an ankle monitor don’t mean every man is like that. I know I’ve told you that hypothetically, but right here you have a possibility, live and in some delicious looking flesh. Give him a chance and if he’s not the one, oh well. But if he is…”
“Yeah,” she sighed.
“Sweetie, every man is not gonna wound your heart like Malcolm did. That being said, you’re a grown woman. You’ve lived more than a decade longer than your mother. You have discernment. Use it instead of assuming men are a monolith.”
“But I’m still considering hoeing this summer.”
“Oh, I see we are picking up that sack of delusion again. Is it at least sequined? Because if we”re gonna be stupid, we can at least be fashionable.”
“Bye, Uncle D.” Ending the call, she started back to her home, smiling as she thought of the evening to come.
***
“Smells good, Foxy.” Noah walked into the kitchen, pacing like a puppy waiting for an errant treat to drop onto the floor for him to enjoy.
“Here boy,” she said, stabbing a hushpuppy and a few fries with a fork and handing it to him. She’d set him up on her all-seasons porch with a beer and the remote, but the man seemed constantly drawn to the kitchen. “The fish is nearly done. Now behave.”
“Can I have a spoonful of potato salad?” he asked as he chewed the mouthful of food.
Leah rolled her eyes even as she dug a fork into the cold dish. “You’re incorrigible.”
“A closed mouth don’t get fed.”
“If you’re gonna be underfoot, you might as well make yourself useful. Open a bottle of beer for me and provide some entertainment.”
As she flipped the fillets, Leah heard the hiss and the sound of a metal cap landing on the countertop. “Here, Foxy.” She wrapped her fingers around the bottle, only to find his still lingering. Their eyes met and she couldn’t help but mimic his soft smile. When he arrived this evening, her breath caught in her throat. He wore a pair of dark khaki shorts and a royal blue polo shirt and his dark blonde hair, combed away from his face, appeared to be still damp from a shower. He’d placed a peck on her cheek upon entry and before she punked out, she discussed why she’d been so flaky and that it had everything to do with her insecurities.
She also told him about the interaction she’d seen between him and the stalled motorist. That his act of kindness had been the catalyst for her asking him to dinner. He let her know that it had been a simple matter of replacing the upper radiator hose and after a couple of hours, they were on their way. The teenager’s mother had promised to pay for the repair and Noah only asked that she help someone in need in the future.
After clearing the air, Leah suggested that they turn the date into an adult slumber party and the man was game. An assembly line was started, with her placing the hot fish onto paper towels to drain while he dished out the sides onto the plates. Soon they were sitting on the sectional situated on her enclosed back porch watching a marathon of her favorite cooking show and their dessert was in the oven warming up. “We’re gonna have to cook together one day, Foxy.”
“You can cook, Texas?”
“I’m a grown man that lives on my own. Who else is gonna feed me?”
“You’d be surprised at the number of adult men that live off frozen dinners. Do you know the reason that frozen chicken nuggets are now precooked is because so many men weren’t cooking them properly and the cases of salmonella exposure spiked?”
“I would say they could just read the directions, but you know our reputation about following instructions.”
“I just remembered what I wanted to ask you. You never told me exactly what made you fall out with Stacie.”
“Remember earlier when I told you that I don’t share food?” She nodded her head as she bit into a hushpuppy. “Well, we went out to dinner, and I told her to order whatever she liked, just as I tell any date. So, our meals arrive. She had lamb chops and mixed greens while I had a porterhouse, steak fries and asparagus. She asked for a fry, and I told her no but when the server came back around, I would order her a serving. She said she only wanted one and reached across the table and took one. After that moment, I knew we weren’t going out again and told her so. If I’d accepted her disrespecting a small boundary, that’s just giving her license to disrespecting bigger ones.”
She nodded her head. “People will push limits if you allow them to.”
“And I know I don’t owe you an explanation as to why, but I’ll give it to you. My mother died while giving birth to my youngest sister Paige. My dad and Big Daddy were both still in the Army. My dad was on deployment to Korea and wasn’t home for her birth. Big Daddy was here and was in the process of retirement. So, for a short time, maybe three months, we were in Clover with my maternal grandparents. They were good hearted people, but poor as Job’s turkey. The time we had on their little farm was fun, but food was at a premium. My granny made magic most days, but sometimes, we had very little. I stand corrected. My grandparents had enough to feed themselves, but the addition of five kids, one of them a newborn, was a strain. We lived off eggs from their chickens, vegetables my grandmother canned and homemade bread, which she made once a week. A loaf goes fast when you have to feed four little kids and two adults. She would top it with pear preserves she made, and it was the best. I didn’t learn that it was called food insecurity until I got much older, but that short snippet of time stuck with me. I can buy you whatever you want, but don’t ask for any of mine, because I don’t share.”
This was one of the things Leah could say she never had to deal with growing up. The Vines’ children were well fed, physically anyway. “It’s funny what sticks with you as a child. And how it can shape you years later.”
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t change anything. Of course I wouldn’t have wanted to lose my mother, but the way that I was brought up, to be thankful and generous, I wouldn’t change any of that.”
Her eyes closed, fighting the tears she felt burning her eyes. Noah had gone through trauma and although it had left scars, the love and support he received from his family compensated for it. He might have been underfed physically for a short stretch of time but love never appeared to be in short supply. Leah rose from the seat next to him, snagging his empty plate. “Let me check on the cobbler. It should be warm enough for us now.”
“You need any help?”
“No, I think I can handle it. You want anything? Another beer?”
“I’m good,” he said. “But you give me a shout if you need something, Foxy.”
The sweet and buttery aroma of the dessert greeted Leah upon her entry to the kitchen, and as she took in deep breaths to soothe herself, the delicious scent banishing the swell of sadness and bringing a smile to her face. After plucking the small container of vanilla ice cream from the freezer and placing it on the counter, she removed the square baking pan from the oven and golden-brown crust filled her gaze. “Foxy.”
She couldn’t stop the shriek that left her. “Boy, if you don’t put a bell around your neck!” Leah couldn’t believe such a big man could walk so quietly. “You nearly scared me outta my skin!”
“Sorry about that. Walking around in socks is pretty quiet.” Noah pulled the oven mitt off her hand and placed it on the countertop. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“What do you mean?”
He pulled her close, tipping her face up until her gaze met his. “Your eyes looked sad. And don’t tell me it was nothing.”
“I was just thinking how I would have traded spaces with you on your grandparents’ farm, food insecurity and all.” She could feel the weight of tears brimming her eyelids. “Some things are more important to a child than food.”
Noah kissed her forehead then hugged her close. “I wish I could take the pain away, Foxy, but I can’t. What I can do is keep a smile on your face when we’re together.”
“My happiness isn’t your responsibility.” The words were mumbled into his chest.
A large hand made soothing circles in her back. “I know, but when you care about a person, you want what’s best for them. You want what makes them happy.”
“Do you know what would make me happy right now?”
“No. What would make you happy, Foxy?”
“Some cobbler and ice cream.”