The Dividing Line: ABSOLUTION #COMPLETED (Book 3)

7 ѱ YOU DON'T THINK (BWWM)

(DETROIT 1980)

Igor recalled when he met her like it was yesterday as he glanced down at the pitiful excuse for a leader. So much changed for him back then, and so many things were made brutally clear.

     As soon as Jedidiah became an adult, he left home to get away from an abusive alcoholic father. The young man went to stay with a family member in Michigan, where he found work at an automobile manufacturer where he started as a janitor and eventually worked his way up to a position on the assembly line. However, even when Jedidiah left home at the young age of eighteen, he never forgot his best friend, Igor.

     Every once in a while, he would travel to his hometown to visit his family, provide them with a little financial support, and visit his friends. Of course, like any other young man, Jedidiah had every intention of marrying his high school sweetheart.

     On each visit, Nell Ann Denver and her family entertained the young man who had found himself a decent paying job up North. Jedidiah brought nice material for Nell to make herself some pretty dresses, and he always brought his intended father-in-law some good whiskey and a case of cigars. He also left a little change with his girl so she wouldn't have to do without anything.

     He was sure that they had come to an agreement that he would marry the oldest of five girls, so on his last trip, he left, informing them that the next time he returned, he would be ready to marry his girl.

     Once he got a small one-room place of his own and had saved up a nice little amount of money on which to start a family, he returned home to find that his girl had left him for someone else. An older boy named Billy Sturgeon had left and joined the military about six years before graduating from high school. He returned home for the sole purpose of finding a wife, and after he saw Nell, he made a deal with the girl's father, and they were gone within the month.

     If it weren't for his best friend, Jedidiah would have returned home like a fool and been embarrassed by the situation. But, since the family opted not to contact him and say a word, he quietly went on about his way.

     He was so grateful that his friend had his back that he sent wrote him promising to buy him a ticket to come up and visit whenever Igor let him know he wanted to visit.

ѱ ѱ ѱ

(SPRING 1982)

Igor wasn't in Detroit for long before Jedidiah helped him find a job.

     One day after work, Jedidiah left, stating he would be back later that night. Because he knew nothing about the city, Igor stayed in the room where he ate hobo sandwiches and fell asleep on his pallet on the floor.

     There were times when the old pals would hop on a bus and ride to the part of town where most of the white folks hung out. There was the occasional lady of the night coming through plying her trade. Jedidiah admitted he messed around with a few of them after Nell ran out on him, but he found a real sweet girl he wouldn't mess around on for anything in the world.

     At the bar, they drank a few beers and played pool. Sometimes they would watch a ball game and shoot the shit with some of the other guys who worked out at the plant. They might have been from the country, but they were getting the hang of living in the big city.

     On the nights Igor was too beat to hang out, Jedidiah would spend time with his lady friend. Often he would wake up later at night and overhear the soft moans of a woman and his friend enjoying themselves. Of course, he'd instantly turn over and wrap his pillow around his head and try to fall back asleep, figuring it was none of his business. Igor did, however, make a mental note to talk to his friend about hooking him up with a lady.