Old Flames

Old Flames: Chapter 25

Old Flames: Chapter 25

Chris sat with his sister on the floor in front of the television.  Wall-E was playing, but neither he nor Chloe watched it.  How could they?  Mama kept walking in front of the movie, mumbling to herself.  She’d go from the back of the house to the front, peek out the window, look at her watch and then repeat the pattern.

They knew what was happening tonight.  Mama told them.  She was going to go play with her friends and they had to stay home with a stranger.  Mama said it was Miss Amy, their teacher’s daughter, but Chris didn’t know her.  And he decided right then, he didn’t like Miss Amy.  But he didn’t say anything.  Mama was excited about seeing her friends, and he knew what that felt like.  He liked going to school and playing with Bart and Curtis, his two very favorite friends who knew all the best games and liked to chase the girls on the playground as much as he did.

“She’s late,” Mama muttered again, looking out the window.  “Oh, no, and Dusty is here already.”

Miss Dusty?  Chris perked up.  He liked Miss Dusty.  She was funny and told the silliest jokes, and she talked funny.  Maybe Miss Dusty would be staying with them.  That was better than someone he didn’t know.

Both he and Chloe ran to the front door and tore it open.  Miss Dusty got out of her car and Chris grinned.  He liked her in a dress.  She was so pretty.  Then Miss T’reesa got out of the car, too, and Chris scowled.  He didn’t like her.  She was weird.  

“Hey, you ready?” Miss Dusty called as she bounded up the porch steps.  

“No,” Mama moaned.  “Amy is late.  Let me just call her and see what’s going on.”

Miss Dusty and Miss T’reesa followed Mama into the house.  Miss Dusty got down on her knees and opened her arms.  “Come give Dusty a hug,” she said to him and Chloe.  Chris beat Chloe to her and Chloe stuck her tongue out.  Miss Dusty giggled, and Chris like the way she smelled.  He was going to marry Miss Dusty.

Miss Dusty started tickling him and he squirmed, and Mama came back, her face sad.  “I’m sorry, guys.  I can’t go tonight.  Amy came down with the flu, so I’m out a babysitter.”

“Oh, no,” Miss Dusty said with real sadness in her voice.  That’s why he liked her so much.  Even her voice never lied.  “Is there not anyone else you can call?”

“I’m afraid not,” Mama said.  “Mom is out of town, and I don’t really know of any other babysitters.”

“What about the Captain?” Miss T’ressa asked.  “He’s watched them before, and I know he’s not working tonight.”

Uh, oh, Chris thought.  Mama’s face just got dark.  That was never a good sign.  He felt an urge to go pick up his toys.

“It’s too short of notice,” Mama said.  “I’d rather not inconvenience him.”

Chris didn’t know what inconvenience meant, but from the way Mama said it, it sounded like she wanted to hit him.  Miss T’reesa shrugged.  “It doesn’t hurt to ask.  Look, there he is now.”  Mama and Miss Dusty glanced out the open door.  Mr. Aaron stopped his truck in his yard and climbed out of it.  Miss T’ressa stepped out onto the porch and yelled, “Yo! El Capitan!  Come here!”  She waved at him like she was slapping at mosquitoes.  Mr. Aaron looked across the street and started in their direction.

Mama was moaning behind her.  “Teresa, don’t...”

Something was wrong.  Mama and Mr. Aaron liked each other, but they hadn’t talked in a while, and whenever Chris saw him, Mama steered him and Chloe into the house and shut the door.  Didn’t Mama want him to have another Daddy?

*****

Lainie twisted her fingers together as Aaron loped over into her yard.  She couldn’t very well explain why she didn’t want Aaron to watch her kids.  She didn’t understand it either.  He went against her wishes when dealing with his father earlier that week, and though she tried to stay mad at him for it, the more she thought about it, the more she realized he was right.

With little more than a week to find another place to live, Lainie dragged her feet.  She’d start packing up some of the kids’ stuff, but then they saw all those toys in those boxes, and the looks on their faces just about broke her heart.

“Are we moving again?” Chris asked yesterday.

“We have to, honey,” she told him, fighting back tears.  “The house needs a lot of work because of the fire, and the owner just wants to tear it down.”

“I don’t want to leave,” he said, pouting and getting angry.  “I like it here.”

“What about Mr. Aaron?” Chloe asked, wide-eyed and confused.  “Is he coming with us too?”

“No, Chloe,” Lainie sighed.  “He isn’t.”  Chloe curled up on her bed and turned away from her mother, and Chris ran out into the backyard and hid under a bush in the back corner until dinner time.  And to top it all off, she felt guilty about going out tonight, but Dusty and Teresa had been relentless.

She felt bad that Amy came down with the same sickness she herself was still getting over, but at the same time, she was relieved.

Aaron stopped at the bottom of the porch and smiled at the three women, lingering on Lainie for a second longer than the rest.  A flicker of sadness and regret settled in the smile for her, but she wasn’t to be swayed.  He made her mad, and she wanted to still be mad at him, but he was making it so freaking hard.

She loved him.

Not the kind of teenage-crazy love, but the mature, adult, we’ll-have-our-problems kind of love.

“What’s up?” he asked, stuffing his hands into his back pockets, making the denim fabric stretch around his hips in the most enhancing way.

“Lainie’s babysitter got sick,” Teresa piped up before Lainie could say anything.  “You busy tonight?”

Aaron’s gaze brushed Lainie’s.  She got a warm sensation from his light-green eyes, yet she looked away.  “I have no plans,” he said cautiously, and Lainie soon realized he was waiting for her to ask.  She tipped her chin up, her stubborn streak showing it’s ugly face, and said, “Thank you all for trying to help, but I should just stay home.  I have a lot of things to do tonight anyway.”

Like watching my kids hearts break as I stuff their clothes into more boxes.

“Oh, no,” Teresa said.  “You’re not copping out tonight.  We’re going, and we’ll drag you along with us.  Now, ask Aaron to babysit and do it nicely.”

Dusty stepped up before Lainie completely lost it.  “Teresa, stop it.  If Lainie doesn’t want to go, then she doesn’t have to.  It’s not like I won’t get another night free in the next century.”  She turned and gave Lainie the most innocent of smiles.

“That’s cheap,” Lainie muttered.  “Fine!”  She stomped over to Aaron, stayed a step up from him to give her some height and asked, “Aaron, if you don’t mind, would you watch the twins tonight for a few hours?”

He grinned at her.  “Sure, Lainie.  I’d love to.”

Behind her, two cheers shouted out.  “Yay!  Mr. Aaron is staying!”

Lainie just shook her head, gathered her purse and kissed Chris and Chloe good-bye.  “You two be nice to Mr. Aaron.”  She handed him the instruction sheet she wrote up for Amy and stared him right in the eye.  “You are to call me if anything -- anything at all -- happens.”

“Don’t you trust me, Lainie?” he asked, completely guileless.  Lainie didn’t answer.

*****

Mr. Aaron clapped his hands together after Mama left and smiled.  “Well...since your Mama is mad at me anyway, how about we have ice cream for dinner?”

“We already had dinner,” Chloe said frowning at Mr. Aaron’s logic, and Chris jabbed her in the back to shut up.

Mr. Aaron said, “Then you’re ready for dessert,” and hustled them into the kitchen.  Chris grinned and grinned and couldn’t stop grinning.  Maybe they could live with Mr. Aaron.  He really liked Mr. Aaron, and he had all those great trees in his backyard where his tree house could be built.

Then Mr. Aaron said, “You’re Mama looked great tonight, didn’t she?  She’s one beautiful lady.”

And Chris decided he really, really liked Mr. Aaron.  He always talked about Mama in the nicest way, almost like she were an angel, and he couldn’t remember Daddy talking to Mama like that.  Yeah, they could live with Mr. Aaron, but Mama might not like that, and Chris asked, “Why is Mama mad at you?”

Mr. Aaron scooped a large chunk of ice cream into a bowl and looked over at Chris.  He knew that look when grown-ups frowned that way, they were going to tell him something just to please him, and Chris wanted the truth.  The truth was important.  It’s easier to figure out problems when he knew everything.  But Mr. Aaron smiled and said, “Your Mama is mad at me because I was worried about you guys living in this house with the fire damage, and she didn’t appreciate my help.  She’s very independent.  It’s a remarkable trait to have.”

Chloe dragged a stool over to the counter so she could see how much ice cream she was getting.  “What’s indy-pendy mean?”

“Well, it means your Mama likes to do things all by herself.  She likes to solve her own problems and be the boss of her life.”

Chloe nodded her head, accepting his answer, and Chris thought, yeah, that’s Mama.  She never let Daddy help either, and now he’s dead.  His eyes grew wide as he stared at Mr. Aaron.  Would Mama kill Mr. Aaron, too, because he wants to help and she won’t let him?

Mr. Aaron glanced down at him.  “What’s wrong?  Not enough ice cream?”  Chris threw his arms around Mr. Aaron’s legs.  “Whoa, there,” Mr. Aaron said with a startled laugh.  “What’s got you so clingy tonight?”

But instead of pushing him away like Daddy would have done, Mr. Aaron picked him up and sat him on the counter next to the ice cream.  “You alright, Chris?”

Chloe dipped her finger in the ice cream bucket and stuck it in her mouth.  “He don’t want to move,” she said around the dollop of ice cream and her finger.

Mr. Aaron sighed and gave Chris a quick hug and smile.  “That makes two of us,” he said, handing him his ice cream.

“What about me, Mr. Aaron?” his sister asked, scooting her own bowl closer.  “I don’t want to move either.”

“Then we’re up to three,” he said, picking up his own bowl.  “If you’re Mama’s on board, we’d have a game of Whist.”

“Oh, Mama don’t want to move either, “ Chloe said, shoveling ice cream into her mouth.  “She cried when she packed my Barbie dolls.”

“She cried when she packed my cars, too,” Chris said, pushing his ice cream around in his bowl, making mush.  “But this morning, she was happy.  She said she had to sign some papers while we were at school, and they gave her a check.”

“What’s a check?”

“It’s a like a letter to the bank, telling them you’re giving some of your money to someone else, so the bank knows it’s okay.  If your Mama got a check today, then someone gave her some money.”  Mr. Aaron stared down at his bowl, still full of melting ice cream, and set it down.  “I guess that means your Mama will be able to find a really nice place for you guys to live.”

“I guess,” Chris said.  “I’d rather live with you.”

Mr. Aaron smiled and put his hands through his hair.  “I’d like that, too,”

Chris smiled back because Mr. Aaron meant it.  He wasn’t just saying that to make him happy.  There had to be a way to make Mama want to live with Mr. Aaron, too.  He looked over at Chloe, who was scraping her bowl with her spoon to get every drop.  They looked at each other and she smiled at him.  Sometimes it was creepy that Chloe knew what he was thinking.  

Together, they would find a way to keep Mr. Aaron and their Mama together.

*****