“They aren’t going to be happy. I can talk to them and they’ll grudgingly accept it, but I doubt it’ll keep them from making comments that might be hurtful. You need to decide if you want to go through what’s coming or not. I wouldn’t think any less of you if you decided not to.”
“To know me is to love me,” Lisa said with a big smile.
I could almost feel the earth tilt on its axis when Lisa crawled onto my lap and kissed me. I wasn’t aware that everyone in the lunchroom had watched us. Lisa and I both noticed the whole room go quiet. Lisa looked me in the eyes and started giggling.
“Oh, shit. I think we may have just become the top targets for gossip around here,” Lisa almost whispered.
“Then let’s give them something to talk about. Take my hand and we’ll walk out of here with our heads held high,” I suggested.
We did just that. The lunchroom was quiet until we hit the door and then pandemonium erupted. Lisa and I laughed as we walked to our next classes.
I EXPECTED SOME BACKLASH, but I didn’t expect it so soon. Waiting for Jeff and me when we went home to let Duke out was Peggy.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she started.
Jeff, wise man that he was, fled to my apartment. He’d let Duke out while I dealt with this. I raised my eyebrows and looked at her. This, of course, didn’t unnerve her at all. She knew me too well.
“Don’t even go there,” she warned me. “I want to know why I hear you’re going out with Lisa Felton only a few days after we broke up.”
I think even she realized how dumb it sounded.
“I think you just said it. You broke up with me.”
I would leave the rest unsaid, like that she no longer had a say in who I decided to date. I figured it would just get me chewed on even more. Tami had taken the time to teach me little things like that the hard way. No one ever said I wasn’t trainable.
“I don’t care. It doesn’t give you the right to go out with her.”
“I’m sorry if I’m about to say something really stupid, but how does our breaking up—you know, where you said you no longer wanted to date me, then you started to date someone I happen to loathe—how does that not take the right to say who I date away from you?” I asked.
“I’m glad you realized you were asking a stupid question. I was afraid I was going to have to explain it to you,” she said as a jab at me, so I gave her a dirty look in return. “I have the right because you still love and respect me as a friend.”
I thought about it for a moment, but it only made my head hurt, so I gave up. It had to be a girl thing. This was what every guy thinks if he can’t figure something like this out.
“Let’s assume I understand why you get to pick out who I date,” I said to set the hypothetical premise. “Why can’t I date Lisa Felton?”
Peggy gave me a smug look. I suddenly didn’t feel like I was on firm ground, for some reason.
“Lisa’s related to you. Your mom’s maiden name is Felton,” Peggy informed me.
“I call bullshit!” I snapped back.
“Oh, really? You might want to verify it before you act like you live in the backwoods and knock up your cousin.”
That brought me up short. Peggy gave me a peck on the cheek, got into her car and left. Jeff had heard the last part of the exchange and had a silly grin on his face.
“Now I know why you want to go to Kentucky,” he said as he took off running.
Duke thought it was great fun when Jeff ended up in a snow drift!
BEFORE I WENT TO THE gym and did sixty minutes of hell, I called Kendal.
“Do you work for me?” I asked.
“Yes, why do you ask?”
“I just want to make sure you don’t work for my mom or dad. I want to be sure you answer to me!”
“That’s an interesting question. Technically I work for your dad, since he signed your contract papers. Why do you need to know? Are you thinking of getting emancipated?”
“No, I just need you to do something and don’t want my mom to know.”
“This is interesting. Tell you what: I give my word I’ll not tell your mom as long as what you’re asking me to do isn’t immoral or illegal.”
“Define immoral for me,” I asked for clarification sake.
“Just spit it out. If you don’t trust me by now, then you never will.”
“I need you to find out if Lisa Felton and I are related, before Friday.”
“Oh, Dear Lord! Did you knock her up? You know I saw what you did to poor Hannah and Adrienne.”
“Bite me! Chop, chop, get to work,” I ordered.
“Keep it up and I’ll call your mom,” she threatened, and then hung up on me.
I think she was working on it.
I GOT HOME FROM THE dojo to find cars in my driveway. Peggy and Kendal had beaten me home, and I had to park on the street. Of course, Duke spotted Precious, and the two of them were rolling in the snow. Duke had gotten to be all legs and clumsy. Poor Precious, the evil cat from all nine levels of hell, had the upper hand. I had to pick her up by the nape of the neck to get her to let my puppy go. I was amazed when he just shook it off and led me to the back door.
Duke barked to announce our presence.
“Oh, good, David’s here,” Mom said cheerfully. “Let’s go to the office.”
I made a point to ignore Kendal. I had serious doubts if she would be my agent after this betrayal. It was so hard to get good help these days. Even Dad followed us into the office. I wondered what was going on when Mom dialed the phone and put it on speaker.
“Hey, Mom, did you find your genealogy chart?” my mom asked my grandmother.
“I did. Now tell me again. What was the girl’s name?”
“Lisa Felton. She’s David’s age and has a brother Billy, who’s a couple of years younger,” I said.
“Yep, here they are. Your great-grandfather had two boys, Claude and Jedidiah. So, you are related to Lisa.”
“Thanks, Mom,” my mom said and then hung up.
Everyone looked at me.
“If you decide to start dating your cousins, make sure you’re serious about it,” Dad advised. “I’d hate to start trouble within the family.”
Of all the people in the room, I had not expected my dad to take a shot at me. I think my mom was as shocked, because she turned and looked at him with her mouth open, and then burst out laughing.
Then I remembered a conversation I’d had with my mom. Grandpa Felton wasn’t her biological father. Her biological father had had a drinking problem and had died. Grandpa Felton was Mom’s stepfather. I looked in her eyes, and she saw I’d figured it out. She just shrugged. They all left the office except Peggy. She grabbed my hand and we sat down.
“Look, it was just a shot in the dark. I needed to think before I talked to you,” she explained.
“Lay it on me,” I said.
“You’re one of the good ones. Everyone knows you’re a slut, but a lovable slut. You don’t go out to ruin a girl’s reputation or do anything mean-spirited. You’re like that uncle we all have who’s not quite right, but we love him. If you didn’t have a really good heart, I would never have dated you.”
“Okay,” I said, waiting for the other shoe to drop. There had to be a ‘but’ in there somewhere.
“Lisa Felton has a reputation, whether she deserves it or not,” she said as she held up her hands so I wouldn’t interrupt her. “David, I want you to think about something. Why would I come to you and try to stop you from dating her? I know you’ve dated other girls. I might not know all of them, but have I ever come to you and warned you off? I think you know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have strong feelings about this.”