I noticed that the Disney Channel was on. “Flower, why don’t you finish watching television while I go into the kitchen and see what Mommy and Daddy are doing?” I cringed when I called them Mommy and Daddy, but I really didn’t have a choice. I was on a fishing expedition and I was just now baiting my hook. After Flower sat down, I said, “Be right back.”
“Okay, Sis,” she said.
That stunned me. She was referring to Jon as her sister already, like they’d known each other for years.
I got to the doorway of the kitchen and almost lost it when I saw the Leave It to Beaver action going on. They both had on aprons. Henry was taking a batch of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven while Meredith was stirring a pitcher of iced tea. Give me a break!
Part of me wanted to turn around and storm out the door but I had to get the real deal. I cleared my throat to get their attention.
“Jonquinette, Precious, we didn’t hear you come in!” Meredith exclaimed.
Precious? She was really tripping.
“Flower let me in,” I said. “Imagine my surprise when she answered the door.”
That’s when Henry chimed in, grinning from ear to ear. “We were just about to call you and invite you over. I went to pick up Flower yesterday and drove her right back.”
“What about school?” I asked.
“Aw, she can miss a couple of days,” Meredith replied. “Henry thought it was important for her to go ahead and meet me.”
I shifted from one leg to another. I was getting more pissed off by the second. “And why is that important? For Flower to meet you, I mean.”
They both eyed each other uneasily. Then Henry said, “Jonquinette, we have so much to tell you.” He held up a cookie. “Have a cookie, straight out the oven. Your momma made them from scratch.”
I didn’t take the cookie. I looked at Meredith instead. “Since when did you start making cookies from scratch?”
“Oh, Jonquinette, please! You remember when I used to bake you fresh sweets all the time when you were a child,” she lied without missing a beat. She never baked shit when Jon was a child.
“Oh yeah,” I said. “And they were delicious.” If she was going to stand there and tell bold-faced lies, I might as well join the party. “So, what is it that you have to tell me?”
First Henry sat down at the kitchen table and then Meredith. I thought I was seeing things when they started holding hands.
“This can’t be!” I said loudly. Then I caught myself. “Okay, I take it that the holding of hands means something momentous.”
Meredith sighed. “Um, yes, it does. Henry and I have been doing a lot of talking these past several days. Making up for lost time, so to speak. This has been a complicated time for all of us but something good has come out of it.”
Henry interrupted her. “What your momma is trying to say is that we’ve decided to make another go at it.”
“You’re kidding!” I exclaimed. “You can’t be serious!”
Henry said, “We’ve never been more serious in our entire lives.” He leaned over and kissed Meredith on the cheek. “In fact, we’re going to get remarried sometime in the spring, after we make sure that your therapy is going well and things have settled back down some.” He held on tighter to her hand. “Besides, none of this should have ever happened. We want you to know that we don’t blame you. It was that other person, that Jude wench, that caused all of this trouble and we’re going to make sure we put a stop to that.”
If it was actually physically possible for smoke to come out of someone’s ears, it would have been coming out of mine right that second. No! That motherfucker didn’t call me a wench! I took a few deep breaths before I went off on both of them.
“Does that mean you’ll be moving here to Atlanta?” I finally asked. The thought of him moving closer to Jon was revolting but I had to pose the question.
Meredith replied, “No, I’m planning on relocating to North Carolina.”
I had to refrain from break dancing, I was so damn happy all of a sudden. While I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of the two of them getting back together, not having to worry about the Queen Bitch stopping by Jon’s place unannounced or worrying the hell out of her did have its appeal. “Really? Cool!”
Meredith seemed staggered. “Wow, we weren’t expecting that reaction. We assumed you would be upset.”
“Upset about what?” I went closer to them with my arms wide open and they both stood so I could hug them. “I’m thrilled for the two of you. After all, what’s meant to be is meant to be.”
“But we feel kind of guilty about leaving you here in Atlanta alone,” Meredith continued. “We were hoping you might consider moving also.”
She had lost her fucking mind!
“That’s impossible, Momma. I have a good job here, my place, and most importantly, Dr. Spencer.” I couldn’t believe those words had just left my mouth but I had to make it sound legitimate. “I’m also kind of seeing someone now and I want to find out where that can go.”
Meredith and Henry both yelled out in unison, “Seeing someone?”
Okay, Jude, I told myself. Make it look good!
“Yes, his name is Mason and he’s one of my neighbors.”
“I don’t believe I’ve ever met him,” Meredith said.
“You’ve never met any of my neighbors, have you?” I asked, thinking back and trying to recall whether or not Jon had ever introduced her to any. “Besides, he hasn’t been living there that long.”
“Is he a nice man?” Henry asked. “I don’t want you mixed up with some rascal.”
“He’s not a rascal, Daddy. He’s extremely nice and really has it going on.”
“Well, if he can afford an apartment in your building, he must be halfway decent,” Meredith commented.
“He’s more than halfway decent,” I said. “He’s an incredible man.”
Henry cleared his throat. “Does he know about, umm, does he know…”
“About my situation?” I asked.
“Yes. Your situation.”
I really didn’t want to respond to that. I was still trying to deal with the conversation Jon had with Mason in his car and him coming up to her place afterward. Not to mention all the other shit they had been doing together.
“Well, does he know, Jonquinette?” Meredith inquired. “It’s okay, Precious, you can talk to us.”
There she went with that damn Precious again!
“Mason knows everything. He’s accepted it and plans to help me through this. So, you see, while it would be nice to have the two of you around, I can manage. I’m a grown woman, even though I act childish at times, and I have to start living my own life. I’ve got Mason now, and I can understand your logic behind moving to North Carolina. Flower needs both of her parents nearby during her upbringing and I’m sure her mother has no intention of moving to Atlanta.”
Meredith seemed uncomfortable when I mentioned Flower’s mother. That was her stupidity because she knew that she didn’t birth her. Thank goodness because the poor child would have been doomed if she had.
I knew what both of them were thinking, even though they weren’t talking about it. Jon had never had a boyfriend, not ever, and now all of a sudden she had one in her mid-twenties. Not to mention during such a tumultuous period in her life.
I decided to elaborate. “It’s weird, finding a man that I mesh with after all these years. He took me completely by surprise. I met him in the hallway one day, the next week he stopped by with a pie, and it’s been a whirlwind romance ever since.” Meredith didn’t seem like she was quite buying it so I added, “Momma, that’s one reason why you haven’t heard from me too much lately. I’ve been seeing a lot of him. We even attended a wedding together.”