Chapter 4

For two days, I lay in bed, wondering why I had not responded to Kelly. I couldn't blame him for moving on; I had not given him a reason to continue his efforts. I pushed him back into the arms of his treacherous ex-girlfriend.

We had spoken numerous times about her. How she had cheated on him twice and he had forgiven her and finally, after the third time he cut her off for good. She stated that she was jealous of his friendship with me, but I called bullshit because she had cheated on him long before our friendship became what it was.

I heard my doorbell. I was not in the mood for company. I didn't budge. Yet, I heard the door open. I knew it had to be Ro. "Where you at chick?" she bellowed as she walked into my room, "well damn, what's wrong?"

I sat up. She saw the look on my face. She hurried over to me and hugged me, "What happened?"

I could only sob in her arms. I felt heavy. Little D stood by the foot of the bed, "Mommy, what's wrong with Auntie J?"

"She's just sad baby. Go sit in the living room for a second."

"Okay, mommy."

She touched my face, "Talk to me."

"I told him that I loved him. He loves me too."

"Okay. That's good right?"

"He's getting married. She's pregnant."

"Wow. Fuck."

"So, you didn't tell him?"

I shook my head, "I can't do this. I just can't. I can't."

"I'll be there Jackie. You know I will. Whatever you need."

"Thanks, sis."

******

I rested for a few days and was semi-back to normal. I had to be. I had to press on. That was life. Ro's husband had returned and she had this party planned at her house. I wasn't in the mood to be around people, but she insisted I needed it to get my mind thinking of other things. I told her two hours was my limit.

I showed up at her house on base early. She eyed me with suspicion, "Don't even think helping set up is part of your two hours."

I laughed, "How do you know me so well?"

"Auntie J is here, Papi," Little D said as he ran over to me.

I looked up and saw his father in person for the first time, a handsome man. He had this Daddy Yankee vibe about him. He was representing his culture with a Boricua t-shirt, "Hello," I said to him.

"Babe, this is Jackie, my friend."

He walked over and shook my hand, "Hi, I'm Diego. You must be good people because Ro doesn't mess with anybody and my son's always walking about his Auntie J."

"I love them too; they are my family away from home."

"Then our home is your home." He smiled. He kissed Ro, "I'm going to get some stuff from the store. I'll be back."

After he left, I nudged her, "He looks even better in person, like the rapper from Puerto Rico."

"Daddy Yankee?"

"Yeah."

"Please don't tell him that." She joked.

We headed to the kitchen to prepare the food and set up the patio for the cookout.

******

By late afternoon most of the guests had arrived. One of the things I loved about being in the military was meeting people from different backgrounds and cultures. A cookout or a potluck could morph into an international festival with all the variety of foods people would bring. We had lumpia, pancit, flan, arroz con gandules, tostones, jambalaya, jerk chicken, ribs, steaks, and tamales. There was a lot of food and even more drinks.

I sat listening to everyone laugh and joke. I looked at my phone. My two-hour time limit was almost done. But then something interesting happened. They started talking about dreams, aspirations, goals, and what they wanted.

Diego sat at a table with Ro by his side. "All I know is one day, I want to buy this woman a big house with a huge backyard for a dog and have a couple more kids. And I want to take her on a vacation every year. That's why I work so hard. I want to give her everything."

They all continued. Then he spoke, he looked at me for a split second. For a moment, I thought he was about to spew some bull shit, but then he said, "I hope to find a good woman one day. I want to shower her with all the love she can stand. Show her that I appreciate her as a person and not some extension of me. That I respect her dreams and her wishes. I want to share the load with her. I want her to be my partner. I want to build a legacy with her."

"Okay, TSgt Wilson, I see you," joked Ro. She looked over at me and smiled.

"And what about you Jackie?" asked Diego, you haven't said anything yet."

"I want to make it to Chief Master Sargent. I want to finish my degree in English, and hopefully, find a companion who understands my need for writing. I want kids. We would raise them together and eventually; we'd retire on a beach in Cancun."

He smiled.

I stood, "I have to head out. My mom is visiting tomorrow, yay me."

Ro laughed as she stood to hug me, "Thanks for helping with everything. You should bring your mom by."

Diego stood, "Yeah, we can all hang out on the pontoon boat."

"Um, we'll see. She hates water sports. Always afraid her hair will get messed up."

They laughed. "I'll call you tomorrow, Ro."

"Okay, girl."

I headed through the patio door inside, and I heard, "Hey Jackie," I turned and saw him standing looking at me sweetly.

"So, what did you think?"

"About what you said?"

"Yeah."

A single head nod and I spoke, "It was nice. I can't help but feel like maybe you got it from somewhere. I don't know like maybe...you read my blog."

He pointed, "You have a blog," he joked. We shared a laugh.

"I did read your blog. I found it interesting. You can get a lot out of reading a person's work, be it fiction or not. Art often imitates life. You've been through a lot."

"I have. Most of us have, right?"

"Some more than others. Listen, I meant what I said. Not all of the guys out here looking for roommaids that we can sleep with. Some of us want genuine companionship."

"Is that so?"

"It is. I know you might not be ready right now but I'm here as a friend if you need an ear."

"That's good to know. TSgt Wilson."

"Call me Warren."

"Warren." I nodded, "Have a good night, Warren."

"You too Jackie."

*****

Chapter 5

Sunday morning, my parents arrived. As soon as her eyes fell upon me, she stated, "My goodness, Jacqueline, are you eating down here?"

I hugged her, "Of course, I'm eating."

"Leave the girl alone, Marva, she looks fine," said my father as he hugged me. He looked around, "this is a nice place." He sat on the sofa and looked out the patio door to a nice view of the ocean.

My mother looked around, "It's so small. I feel closed in."

"It's just me living here. So."

"And long will it be just you?" she asked as she strutted to the patio door with her hips swaying.

"We didn't come here to harass the girl," my father commented as he flipped through the channels looking for ESPN.

"I'm not harassing her. Just wondering how long it's going to take for her to find someone. She ain't getting any younger. She'll be thirty before you know it."

"I still have three years before that happens. So, hungry?"

"No. We stopped and got something before we arrived. Maybe later." She said as she sat next to my father, "What are we doing today?"

"My friends invited us for a boat ride."

"Really," my father said excitedly.

"Ugh, boat ride, girl, I just got my hair pressed. This humidity here is something."

"It's no worse than South Carolina."

"Yes, it is. We live by the mountains, not by the coast."

"Come on Mom, Dad wants to go. We'll be on the boat. It's not like Yemoja will come on the boat and pull you into the ocean."

She turned her lips over, "I told you about talking crazy to me."

I chuckled. She hated it when I spoke of Orishas and Yoruba culture. She thought it was demonic. I don't know why. I had researched our lineage and found out we had roots in Nigeria but she wanted to distance herself from anything that wasn't Christianity.

Dad smirked; he got his kicks watching me mess with her. She turned to him and he pretended to be watching the sports news.

"Let's just go for a little while. There might be a guy there you can check out for me," I said with puppy dog eyes.

This piqued her interest, "A guy?" she smiled from ear to ear, "Is he black?"

"Yes. Mom."

"Okay, call your friends and let them know we'll come on the lil boat ride, but only for an hour. These curls cost me a lot of money."

"Great."

**********

When I called to ask Warren to join us on the boat ride, he was ecstatic. He planned to meet us after the church service. He stated he had to go home, get changed, and afterward, he'd meet us at the docks.

While we were waiting, I introduced my parents to Ro and her family, and later when Warren showed up, I introduced him to my parents. I could tell by her smile, that she approved. He was a handsome fellow, tall cinnamon brown, clean-shaven, low-cut faded hairstyle, well-spoken, and a Christian. In her eyes, he was the next best thing to marrying Jesus himself.

When we got on the boat, she forgot about her hair and had a good time. She played with Diego. She loved kids and becoming a "gi-gi," was a dream for her. I wanted to give her that. I smiled as I watched her teach him how to spell different words. She was a teacher by profession and later rose through the ranks to become a principal and later an administrator on the school board.

My father was retired Air Force and a disabled veteran who spent most of his time volunteering at the VA hospital driving golf carts and taking patients from their cars in the parking lot to the entrance of the hospital. He loved to talk and it gave him plenty of opportunity to tell his war stories to fellow veterans and their families.

"Girl, your mother is loving her some Warren. Does this mean—"

"I don't know. It's a perhaps, I'll allow him a chance to see what he's about."

"That's a start." She smiled and nudged me. "You'll be wifed up in a year and pregnant just like I was."

I chuckled, "We'll see." I looked at Warren as he sat speaking with my father happily. Laughing at his jokes, eating up his stories. He looked up at me and winked. I smiled.

Later that night before my parents got ready for bed, my mother stopped by my room, "I just loved your friends. I feel much better now that you're a little closer to us. I can get to you in a day's drive."

"Thanks, Mom. I'm happy to be closer too."

She went to the guest room. I took a deep breath. My cell phone sounded with a text from Warren, I looked, "Did I pass the test?"

"Level one is complete."

He sent back smiling emojis and, "I can't wait to see what level two is like."

"You sure?'

"Can I call?"

"Sure."

That night, we talked until my eyelids became heavy. We finally hung up around 2:00 am and I got some rest.