Honesty Falls

2too

"Everyone has heard about the commotion up at your place." She pointed to Nevaeha's arm. "Silas do that?"

            "No. He would never__."

            Alison Babb waved away the rest of what Nevaeha was going to say. "I know he'd never do it on purpose, but sometimes he can be accident prone. You tell him if I hear of him slapping you again for any reason, I'll be handling it."

            Alison was always in motion. Cooking and cleaning. Drawing and painting. The woman was never still.

            She was short, and round like her daughter had been. She also dressed liked Trinity. A cross between a peacock and a gypsy.

            Being around Alison was like having a piece of Trinity with her.

            Today she wore a flowing green skirt and a pink blouse. A pink scarf was wrapped around her hair, and she had at least two pencils and a paint brush sticking out of her loose bun. Her fingers were always covered in paint, and sometimes even her face.

            This woman was as close as Nevaeha ever got to having a real home.

            "I haven't made you any paints lately. Do you still have plenty?"

            "Of course, dear. You never let me run out."

            As much as Alison loved art, art didn't love her. The only reason she sold so many paintings was because Nevaeha made her special paints.

            It brought the other woman such joy, Nevaeha couldn't help but help the other woman.

            "Is Silas the one who did that to your face?"

            "That he did do. He was trying to wake me from a nightmare."

            "Did he send you over here too?"

            "Yes."

            Alison sat a plate of eggs and grits down in front of her. "I love my boy, but he must learn that I'm no longer married and I'm free to be with whoever I want."

            With a nod, Alison went back to work. Nevaeha ate and watched Silas's mom moving around the kitchen in fast mode.

            The woman knew no other speed.

            "I can't tell you how excited I am to have someone to cook for. Can you stay for lunch? The mayor never makes it for lunch, but he's almost always here for dinner."

            That's because he spent most his lunch breaks at the brothel.

            "Maybe it's not that you're seeing someone, so much as who you're seeing."

            She paused for a moment. "Is that what he said?"

            "Something like that. Alison, tell me you honestly care for the mayor, and I'll go home and tell Silas he has to deal with it."

            "Neevy, you're still young. When you get older, you'll find out it's not always as black and white as that. There are different kinds of love. Different kinds of relationships. I loved Oliver, and he was everything I needed, but that was a different life ago. He's not here now and what I need now is different, too. I'm trying to find the new me. The me without him."

            "The mayor isn't good enough for you, Alison."

            "It's kind of you to think so, Neevy, but men aren't exactly lining up at my door. Oliver has been gone nearly five years and I haven't had one suiter. Everyone else is always going to see me as Oliver's wife, and Silas's and Trinity's mother."

            "I'm sure that's not true. If anything, it's because there's so few unmarried human men available right now."

            "That's no lie either. The mayor isn't so bad, Neevy. I'm learning quite a bit from him and it's nice to have male company. If you want to help someone, Neevy, help Silas. He needs a girlfriend and I need grandchildren. I can't tell you how much of a wonder that would be to me."

            She'd be less shocked at finding out that the mayor was prince charming than finding out a girl wanted Silas to father her children.

            Alison laughed at her look and sat a large baking dish in front of her. "This is his favorite, minus any animal product. Bake at three hundred and seventy-five for one hour. He looks much too thin. Have you been making sure he takes his vitamins?"