Magnet & Steele (18 page)

“No,” he simply put it.

“No?”

“No.”

“Why, not?”

“Because I didn’t think you wanted
to go to a wedding where adultery was involved.”

Francine swallowed hard and thought
about it for a second. He was right. Cheating on one’s husband was
considered a sin and adultery, wasn’t it? And Ian was a Preacher
albeit a Naval Chaplain and was supposed to uphold God’s word,
wasn’t he? So, of course he would think that this marriage was
ill-fated, of course he would think that her mother sinned and
broke one of the Ten Commandments, of course he would.

“Then I just want to go see her
then,” Francine strangely put it. “Wish her
congratulations.”

“You could send her a card,” he said
unsympathetic.

“Yes, I could also do that, but I’d
like to see her in person,” she just said, thinking of Derrie as
she said it.

“Fine!” He gave in, scooting away
from the dinette. “Fine then, go! And don’t let the door hit you on
your way out!”

Francine just sat there unsmiling.
Distrust didn’t look good on a Preacher, she thought. Jealousy
never looked good on anyone.

California, 1971

Francine stood in awe of her new
mother in the doorway. Pink in her cheeks, hair flowing wild and
full of strawberry blonde; Capri pants with a tight-fitting white
cotton shirt that accentuated her bosoms and tied at the waist, her
bare feet.

“Mom…,” Francine said astonished,
surveying her from head to toe. “You look fantastic!”

“Thanks honey,” she said, giving
Francine a hug; a big unexpected long hug.

“I guess congratulations are in
order?” Francine asked, being welcomed through her front door. “You
really got married?”

“Yes honey, Angelo and I got married
several months ago, I wrote to you and asked if you two could
attend but you never responded. Since you don’t have a telephone,
it’s so hard to get a hold of you.”

Francine was in disbelief now. “Mom,
Ian never told me. I just found out recently, found out from
Derrie.”

Nancy held back her feelings.
Looking into her daughter’s eyes she knew exactly why she came back
to the states. It wasn’t for her and it wasn’t to wish her
congratulations either, it was Derrie. Her daughter wanted to come
see Angelo’s son. He must have written to her, she realized right
away, that was why Francine flew all the way back to the states.
Her daughter was in torment. Yes, the torment, the anguish, the
pain. She recognized it instantly on her daughter’s frightful face
and noticed it through her red eyes and then straight away in her
body posture. “Francie honey, so you know?”

“Mom…” Francine burst into tears all
of a sudden, “I can’t do this anymore, I can’t play pretend any
longer…he’s having a baby mom…a baby.”

“I know honey,” Nancy agreed,
pulling her daughter into her bosom, “I know how this must hurt.
Come sit down, sit down here.” She asked of her, guiding them over
to a nearby couch.

Once there, Nancy held Francine’s
hand and began to tell her daughter her remarkable love
story.

“I want to tell you something,”
Nancy said, continuing to caress her daughter’s hand within hers.
“I’ve known Angelo for a very long time. Angelo and Jerry, Derrie’s
father, are one in the same and I’ve always loved him. Let me
see…it was springtime. The sun was about to set on the hills
covered in Daffodils. Its rays leave a brilliant view of an
orange-glow over a golden blanket hovering over the
horizon…

Indiana, 1971

Francine drove towards the
University of Notre Dame, travelling fast down Lake Road towards
the famous college. She couldn’t believe Ian let her go so easily,
but he did and his ineffectiveness hurt, she had to admit. She
thought he would have fought just a little bit harder, just a
little bit longer, but after his little tantrum, he didn’t utter
another word and folded his napkin and handed her a hundred dollars
to purchase her ticket back to the states.

Francine watched along with the
other fans, a football game in progress. The Notre Dame Fighting
Irish versus the UCLA Bruins; and it was the fourth quarter and a
minute left to play. Francine watched fondly as the fans cheered
and waved their pom-poms in the air. She thumbed through her
football program and noticed a 5x7 photo of Derrie in a quarterback
football pose. She then looked up and down at the game and watched
as Derrie threw a 30-yard pass down to the receiver taking the ball
to the end zone. The fans all around her go wild, and the Irish
win, 27-26.

Later, after the football game was
over and the frenzy calmed down, Francine sat still watching the
janitors sweep up the trash and scattered paper cups throughout the
stadium. She looked up behind her and was surprised to see two men
still arguing.

“Aaah, quit your cryin’, the Bruins
lost fair and square!”

“Next year man, your teams gonna
drop.”

“Are you ready now, mister cry baby?
Wanna head down now to get our boys?”

“Yeah, in a minute, let me enjoy my
last sip of beer.”

Francine had an idea.

Moments later, Francine
inconspicuously followed the two men to the players’ locker room.
What the heck was she doing anyhow? What the heck was she going to
say to him? She came all this way, swallowed all her pride and
hesitated when she spotted a water boy strolling along outside. She
had another idea.

“Hey kid!” Francine yelled at
him.

The boy winced, “Yeah?”

“Do you know who Derek Magnet
is?”

“Huh! That’s a stupid
question.”

“That was a stupid question,”
Francine agreed with the boy. “Could you tell Derek Magnet that
his…” She hesitated, not knowing if she should use her real name,
“…That his wife is outside waiting for him?”

Francine then watched the boy as he
turned away and disappeared through the flapping doors of the
player’s clubhouse.

Inside, the water boy put down his
jug of Gatorade. He walked around aimlessly searching for Derrie
through a pack of disrobing football players. The water boy then
spotted Derrie through the crowd of sweaty and dirty flesh. “Hey
Derrie!”

“Yeah?” He looked up, pulling his
gear up over his head.

“Your wife’s outside.”

“What?” Derrie asked,
dumbfounded.

“Your wife’s outside. She’s waiting
for you.”

Derrie slowly grabbed his belongings
off the bench and placed them back into his locker. He then grabbed
his shirt and shoes off the bench and put them on while walking and
exiting through the doors.

Outside the locker room, the sun was
about to set and Derrie spotted someone waiting for him in the
shadows. He relaxed just a bit realizing it was his wife then bent
down to tie his shoelaces. “Donna? What are you doing here?” He
asked, tying one shoe and then the other. “You said you were gonna
visit your mother in California.”

“Hi Derrie.”

Derrie leaned back up and then
squinted his eyes from the sunlight being in them; he still
couldn’t see her clearly. “Donna…what’s wrong?”

“Is this how you treat an old
friend?”

Derrie stepped in closer to where
she had been standing and was amazed to not see his wife, but
someone he thought he’d never see again. “Fran!” And he
instinctively threw his arms around her shoulders for a hug because
of it.

“I watched the game,” she said,
releasing his body quick. “I forgot how great you were!”

“Thank you, thank you, but enough
about me, what are you doing here? Where’s Ian?” He asked, looking
around them. “Did he watch the game too?”

Close-mouthed, Francine looked away
from him. “He’s still overseas. I wanted to see my mom, wish her
congratulations.”

“Isn’t that something? How our
parents knew each other before? Did she tell you? I couldn’t
believe it when dad told me!”

Francine then looked at him and her
then nodded, “Derrie…”

“Fran, before you say anything
else,” he waived, halting her. “There’s something I need to tell
you, something about Donna.”

“Oh Derrie, I…”

“…
Donna almost lost the
baby.”

Francine clutched her handbag
closely to her stomach. She wasn’t prepared for so much resentment
to creep in and now the resentment was well mixed with empathy and
she didn’t quite know how to handle the two blended
together.

He continued, by saying, “He’s OK,
he was born a little premature, but Chris is OK. That’s his name,
Christopher Magnet to be exact. Donna took him to see her mother,
he’s had a high fever these past few days and I begged her not to
go, to leave him here with me, but she was too stubborn and took
him anyways. That’s why when I heard Stevie, the water boy, telling
me that Donna was outside my heart sunk.”

“Oh God, I’m sorry Derrie, I didn’t
know.”

“She’s been through a lot of stress
lately,” he continued, explaining to her the reasons as to why.
“Raising a kid is stressful, especially when his father is off
chasing a pipe dream.”

“I’m sorry Derrie, I really didn’t
know,” she said, grabbing his hand. She felt him give it a
squeeze.

“I’m up for the draft this year,
I’ve been offered to play professional by New York and Chicago, but
I want to weigh out my options. I’m waiting to see if I hear from
Oakland or San Diego, move back to California.”

She let go of his hand hastily.
“Wow…I mean, wow, that’s really great.” Liar; and she held back her
bitter tears.

“Yeah, I can’t wait. We moved into a
larger apartment, off campus and when the baby’s about six months,
I’m gonna buy a house with dad’s help.”

“Wow!” Oh, the inner anguish…the
pain, the pain!

“How about you…How are you and Ian
doing?”

“Oh, I can’t complain, I guess,”
Francine decided to say instead of spelling out her whole life back
in the Philippines.

“Dad told me that Ian asked to
extend his tour? That Ian has a church? So you’re gonna stay in
Subic Bay?”

“Yes, yes in Subic Bay…”

Derrie noticed Francine shaking and
looking around for a chicken exit. “What’s wrong, Fran?”

“You love her now,” she spat out
without thinking.

Derrie closed his mouth and felt his
heart drop. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt in quite some time.
Frowning at her, he let go, “What?”

Francine looked deep into his eyes
and wiped the wetness away from hers before saying, “Oh God, I
promised myself I wouldn’t do this.”

“What are you doing?” Derrie asked
now, beginning to get angry.

“What…this?” Francine said impishly,
continuing to wipe away her tears. “Oh, it’s nothing. It’s nothing
really Derrie, wow, you’re really married and you’re having
this…whole family.”

“Fran, enough of this!” Derrie
demanded, truly getting upset now.

On command her tears stop. “Enough?
Enough of what?”

“This…this thing that you
do!”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Teasing me to death! That’s
what!”

Now Francine’s mouth completely shut
tight. Whenever had she teased him? “Teasing you? I’m not trying to
tease you, I’m sorry Derrie, I made a mistake, I’m gonna
go.”

“No Fran!” Derrie snapped, cutting
her down and then grabbing her arm to detour her into a small
private area where the trees sheltered them from all
view.

“What are you doing?” Francine
wondered, gazing down at his arm holding tight across her
forearm.

“What are you doing?”

She jerked away from him. “I don’t
know what you mean.”

“Fran, you’re married. I’m married,”
he explained, angrily. “We’ve both made a commitment, a commitment?
Do you know what that means?”