“As long as you only turn her partway; I’d hate to think she’d never want a man in her life. My plan is to wait a few years and then pounce when her divorce is announced.”
“That’s my boy! I’m glad you have a backup plan.”
I hung up with Adrienne and thought about what I’d passed up. Uncle John was right. Sometimes it sucked to be a man of your word.
◊◊◊
I got dressed quickly, let my buddy Duke out, and we left for a run while my thoughts sorted themselves out.
When I got back, I started to make breakfast, and then Mom came down. I was lucky; she didn’t suspect I’d sinned in my mind. She reminded me of our meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Mass and the other families after church. Her comments finally popped me out of my mental bubble and brought me back to the here and now.
◊◊◊
Mom and I came home from church and found that Jack and Bev Mass had already arrived. Dad and Jack were out back, starting the grill. I decided to join the guys.
“What are we having?” I asked.
“Goat. Your grandmother had one that was causing trouble,” Dad said.
“So, she just offed him?” I asked.
“Never piss your grandmother off,” Dad advised.
“What does goat taste like?” I asked.
“Bald eagle,” Jack offered.
“I find that a little more gamey than goat,” Dad said.
I just rolled my eyes and decided the two comedians had this. Then I heard the gate open; Mom must have let someone in. I walked out and found Wolf and his parents, Jared and Tiana.
“Hey, how was last night?” I asked.
“Sarah was a lot of fun. She said that she planned to spend some time at Harper’s over the summer.”
Tim and Tami pulled up with their parents. I stepped over to the gate and used the keypad on this side to open it for them. Tim’s parents were Conner and Wendy. I had to think for a moment for Tami’s mom’s name; I’d always called her Mrs. Glade. It was Melissa.
“Mom and Bev are inside. Dad and Jack are out back, acting like they’re grilling. I think they’re more interested in the cooler of beer,” I announced.
The women went inside, and the guys and Tami followed me to the patio. Mom opened the kitchen window.
“Put the meat on,” Mom told Dad.
Dad had two gallon-size ziplock bags filled with different marinades and slices of goat meat. One looked like a jerk I’d come to love on our vacation to the Caribbean. The other had a lemon and garlic smell.
“Where’s Duke?” Wolf asked.
Duke was his official helper when he did yard work.
“Peggy and the boys are at her parents’ house. I think she heard what we’re having and bailed. They took Duke with them.”
“What are we having?” Tami asked suspiciously.
“Dad said Grandma Dawson killed one of the goats.”
“Excuse me?” Tim asked.
“I guess it looked at her funny,” I said with a straight face.
Tami smacked me on the back of the head.
◊◊◊
The jerked goat was delicious. It tasted a little like lamb. Mom had made coconut rice with red beans and fried plantains to go with the jerk. She also made mac and cheese, cornbread, and green beans for the goat with lemon and garlic.
Over lunch, we talked about my friends living with Bev and Jack for the summer.
“We live in Lincoln Park about six blocks from the Fullerton L stop, or two blocks from Lincoln Avenue where you can catch the bus. Tami would take the bus to Michigan Avenue to do her internship at Northwestern Hospital,” Bev said.
“How safe is it?” Mrs. Glade asked.
“Where we are in Lincoln Park is mostly young professionals and college kids. Northwestern Hospital is in the Gold Coast, a more affluent area. Oprah lives close to where Tami’ll be working. I would never say anywhere in Chicago is completely safe, but if she pays attention to her surroundings, she should be okay. I wouldn’t have a problem letting Harper take the bus there,” Bev said.
“What about these two?” Jared, Wolf’s dad, asked.
“They’ll be working with my team. We have several projects going, mainly close together in Lincoln Park, but we do have a couple further west, and they can be dicey. I wouldn’t plan on them going there without other employees who understand the risks,” Jack said.
“David says you live in a mansion,” Wolf said.
“I don’t know about that,” Jack said, getting embarrassed.
“Hang on, I have pictures,” I said as I brought them up on my phone.
Jared and Wendy, Tim’s mom, got the first look as my phone was passed around.
“I think I want to take Tim’s place,” Wendy said, obviously impressed with where my friends would be staying.
“If you want to come to visit, we have plenty of room,” Bev said.
“I’d like to come up for a weekend,” Mrs. Glade said.
“Of shopping,” I added under my breath.
Mrs. Glade blushed.
“Why don’t you all come up and I can take you … shopping,” Bev said, giving me the stink eye.
“You don’t have a problem with our kids invading your home for the summer?” Conner, Tim’s dad, asked.
“David told us they had worked at setting life goals, and they’re highly motivated. He wasn’t always my favorite person, but the more I got to know him, the better I liked him. I’ve been impressed with David, and during the recent political campaign, he showed me he was sharp. If David says your kids are special and just need a little help, Bev and I are more than happy to have them,” Jack said.
I kept my smart comments to myself. All the parents sat a little straighter in their chairs at the praise for their children.
“Why didn’t you like him?” Tiana, Wolf’s mom, asked.
“He dated my daughter,” Jack confessed.
“You have our sympathies,” Jared said with a smirk.
“Well, now that I can look back, he was a blessing,” Bev said in my defense.
“She’s dating Mike Herndon now,” Tami explained.
Everyone nodded. Jack looked like he was about to have a migraine. I wished him the best of luck.
Jared wasn’t entirely done, though. He wore a pensive expression and started to speak a couple of times, but finally seemed to find the words he needed.
“Wolf may not appreciate this, but I have to speak as a dad. We’re not wealthy by any means, but we do an honest day’s work, and we’ve tried to raise our kids right. I’m glad to hear about the neighborhood and to learn he’ll be in a safe environment, but what concerns me more is keeping the bad influences away.”
Wolf gave his dad a horrified, ‘how could you embarrass me like that?!’ look, and his dad caught it. He turned to his son.
“Son, I know I just embarrassed you, and I’m sorry about that. But I’d be even sorrier if I didn’t say anything, and you got messed up with drugs or the wrong kind of friends,” he said gently. Then he looked at me. “Bad friends can ruin a man’s life. Good friends are like gold.”
I really hoped he was putting me in the ‘good friends’ category. I didn’t think I’d like to find out what he’d do if he decided I was in the other one.
Tami leaned in, capturing his attention.
“Don’t worry, sir. Tim and I will be there too. We’ll have each other’s backs, and between that and Mr. and Mrs. Mass, we should be fine. I promise to let you know if either of these two big oafs gets out of line,” she said, trying to glare at Tim and Wolf at the same time.
“Can you do the same with Harper?” Mrs. Mass quipped.
The general laughter around the table got us out of the tension of the moment.
◊◊◊
Tami took me out to her car before she left.
“I have something for you,” she said as she opened her trunk.
She handed me a first aid kit. Well, ‘kit’ might not do it justice. First aid duffle?
“I did some reading on Cuba and put this together for you. Everything has to remain sealed to get through customs,” she advised.