Love Story: Amber & Larry

Chapter 10: A Restart...Maybe?

COVID-19 didn't hit West Virginia until much later unlike some other states. Surprisingly, we took it very seriously with the mask mandate and washing hands. Larry was very much against anything to do with the illness that would take many lives. AWP gave masks that look like panties, no joke. Larry made the smart remark to his boss that he would rather grab from my underwear drawer than wear what they gave out. I held onto hope that he would leave AWP and our love life would get back to normal. In May, he stayed until we went to see my older brother, his wife, and their dog in Pennsylvania. That was a fun short trip visiting as I showed the candy store, we ate at my older brother and dad's favorite deli. We weren't home long before my uncle called on the news about Grandpa, he died that June. I knew the time was coming, we had no choice but to go down urgently. Larry was all against it until my dad told him, "You are going. Call your job and let them know. You aren't getting out of this." My dad wasn't playing games and I was sick of being told no at that point.

I've let Courtney know and a few other friends that we would be down. I was excited to be going back home. Larry, on the other hand, had a fear that no one from his family would want to see him. I have yet to meet his dad and step-mom at this point. We left that following night, yes, we left in the middle of the night to make it down to Florida to be there for the funeral. We rode through that whole night into the morning and afternoon to make it home, it is a long trip from West Virginia. After not being back in our home town for so long felt so weird. Everything had changed and it literally threw me off on how much I missed. Once we got to the hotel, we had to wait for my older brother to get down from Pennsylvania and then any other family members that could make it, which wasn't many sadly because it was a rushed service. The funeral was held on a Monday afternoon. So, we didn't see anyone until afterwards. Me and Larry were good the first afternoon and night that Sunday. We slept in a bit Monday and let Melanie get swimming in before the funeral. Now, me, mom, and dad had Larry wear his security shirt the day of the funeral. You may be asking why? My mom's brother, who is my uncle, had a bad way of doing things when it came to family and Larry being the big guy that he is could protect my mom. Luckily, at the viewing nothing happened and same with the burial, it was all good. Granted, my dad wanted to beat my uncle's ass but no scene was made.

So, before I begin this next part that led to a very bad way of my emotions. I had given Larry permission to talk to a classmate of ours Heather, the one I mentioned before is the same one that would flirt with Larry before we headed down there and she wanted to see us also meet Melanie. All good and fine. So, that Tuesday we went with Courtney to meet with Heather. Biggest mistake on all parts. Me and Larry's relationship was already in hot water. This added fuel to the fire. Heather and her brother met us where we planned, no biggie. Courtney could sense my jealousy because she kept asking in hush whispers if I was okay, truthfully, no. Heather was literally all over Larry, what pissed me off? She wanted him over her house to get laid because her husband made her unhappy. I already had bad enough jealousy issues prior to High School. This sent me over the edge. I was going to kill her if I wasn't in the stable mind like my dad to not hurt a damn soul and keep myself from being in trouble. Courtney knew the situation was getting bad and made the urgent move of making it seem like I wasn't feeling well, truth was I wasn't because my salt was acting up and I needed Gatorade. Once we left the location, Courtney tried to keep me calm but I was in a temper from hell. All I saw was killing Heather for trying to steal my man from me. Larry admitted that he was waiting for me to lose my shit and make a scene. I was never raised to do that as my dad is also that way when I saw the way he handled himself around my uncle. We didn't go back to the hotel, instead we went bowling and my temper was still flying. Larry, Courtney and my dearest child Melanie had no idea that I would be so mad over a woman but I was. I let it be known. I blamed Larry for it too, directly. After hitting pins and making some decent points, I have calmed down. That evening, Courtney took it upon herself to watch Melanie while me and Larry had a date night to recover from my temper. My parents did ask what took us so long. And I flat out told my parents that Heather tried to steal Larry right from under me. My mom looked at Courtney for confirmation which she said the same thing I did. Me and him went to Sonny's BBQ that night, it was a good dinner date that we got along on. We got Courtney home after babysitting Melanie then settled for the evening.

The rest of the trip, Courtney went with us everywhere including meeting with his family. Seeing his dad changed Larry's mood drastically but it wouldn't last knowing that my health issues would become a worse factor being in Florida. We made it through that week though with no other issues and came back to West Virginia.