Mr. Tan

What Became Of Us (Epilogue)

Its been two years since Earl and I have gotten married. Its late September of 2004 and I am now 22 years old. Earl is 45 years old, Ava is 15 and a high school sophomore and Roman Tan is four years old and in pre-school. Let's see, what else can I say? Oh yeah, Earl felt it was unfair for us to uproot everything that we know and move someplace else, especially after I got a job. Earl had enough funds to rebuild his juke joint in the same place. So many blessings came through, from the mayor, the governor, an old friend Maynard Nolan, some local celebrities, and charities. A petition even circulated around the inner city neighborhood where his juke joint was located. There were enough signatures on that petition to get help from the state of Mississippi. Earl's Place was a fixture in that neighborhood, and it didn't look for feel the same after that tornado hit it years back. Check this out, my husband not just owns the building out right, he even OWNS the land it was rebuilt on. Ava attends Harriett Tubman High and she still hates attending school, some things never change. However, we now live in a neighborhood that's really close to her school and she can ride her bike to and from school. Roman Tan is talking in full sentences and surpassing other kids in the pre-school class. His pre school teacher is this little tiny, petite white woman in her mid 20s and we've became pretty friendly towards each other. Her name is Chrissette Deetz. Roman can't quite pronounce her last name, so he calls her Miss. Dees. I still work at Sunshine Acres Day Care, but I'm no longer a secretary. I am an event coordinator that works with a team of six other people. Sunshine Acres Day Care is not just a place where folks can put their kids, it also helps the community. We have all sorts of fun activities for people in the community; face paintings, arts and crafts for kids, BBQ's, sporting events, giveaways, ect. We even have guest speakers reading to children, kids birthday parties. For people who have trouble keeping their kids fed during the summer and holidays, we serve lunch and breakfast and send them home with free bags of groceries three times a week. Earl drops off Roman at school in the mornings, and I pick him up in the afternoons. Despite the fact that Ava hates school, she does do her to best to stay on top of her grades, and she's growing into such beautiful young lady. She's almost as tall as me with dark hair that comes to her waist. What else is there to be said? Oh yeah, we've been living in our modest two story house ever since Roman turned one. Its a beautiful dark brown bricked home on a quiet and shady neighborhood lined with Southern magnolia trees and honeysuckle bushes. Earl was able to sell the trailer for twice the amount of what he was asking for. He sold it to a black couple in their mid 50's who has a teenage son and a pre-teen daughter. Our house is fenced in with a wooden picket fence with a nice front and back yard. Our new address is 2409 Mapplewood Rd. There's a huge tree in the backyard that Earl and Rhett constructed a tire swing on. Earl wanted to get a outdoor play set but I am against it because Roman is a BIG boy for his age, a little too big for a play set that he might end up breaking. However, he does have plenty of toys, including a dark blue tricycle.  Sheila Rae is now working as a cab dispatcher and still living in Atlanta, what she likes to call "home of the worlds most beautiful women". She broke things off with both chicks she was messing around with. Yvette, cause she could no longer deal with being with a woman who wasn't honest and was too afraid to come out of the closet. The other one, who's name escapes me because of the simple fact that the woman "bored the panties off of her". Sheila Rae is now single for the time being. Mr. Hannibal Elijah Tan, is doing well.....whatever that means. We were surprised as hell when Earl's father arrived at our new residence a week after we moved in. He was actually quite pleasant, well, as pleasant as he could be. He told us of what became of some of Earl's family. Earl's cousin Clancy is now being sued for malpractice and his daughters are moving to San Francisco to be with their mother. Cousin Daphne, RIP, was killed in a fatal car crash along with one of her sons. The rest of the boys are now living with their biological father, Chet Hung. 

That's all I have to say for now. If you wanna know more, tune in for book 2.