Reye's Gold (20 page)

“I know you see other women. We don’t have any
agreement. I know that.“

“Okay,” he responded slowly, not sure where this con
versation was headed.

“Forget I said anything. I’ll call you around noon on
Friday to see if you’re still interested in a movie.” She
opened the door to leave.

“Sure. I’ll try and find Henri and see if he can
scrounge up a date, and it’ll be just like old times.”

“Maybe not quite like old times,” she said as she
smiled, the smile not reaching her eyes. She exited the car
and his eyes followed the swing of her hips as she walked
to her apartment. Nice, he thought, just not the ones he’d
gotten used to.

Stephen caught up with Henri early the next morning.

They’d agreed to meet to play basketball at the gym.
“Dude, get ready to get your ass kicked,” said Henri.
“In your dreams,” Stephen replied as they both joined
in a pick-up game that was starting up. They played for a while and afterward sat drinking a sports drink and watching a new game with new players begin.

“I went to a party with Beth last night,” Stephen said.
“Is that so? How is she?”

“Gorgeous, as usual,” he said, his tone neutral.

“You don’t sound excited about that,” Henri pointed
out. Stephen knew that Henri had never been that fond of Beth, because he thought her beautiful in a shallow,
vain kind of way.

“No, it was good to see her,” Stephen said.

“She’s just not Reye, huh?”

Stephen gazed speculatively at Henri. “I thought
seeing Beth might jolt me out of this obsession with
Reye.”

“Did it work?”

“No, not yet. I like her, just can’t see bringing her
home.”

“I think you underestimate your parents, or at least
your dad. Your mom may require more effort, but it’s
y
our life and your woman. I think they would accept her
if you were serious about her,” Henri said. He paused for
a second. “Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

“Don’t know if I would refer to Reye as my woman. I
really think my dick has an obsession with Reye, and it
appears to be in control these days,” Stephen said.

“You know, Stephen, Reye is a nice girl. You shouldn’t
play around with her if you aren’t serious. She could be
hurt,” Henri said in a disapproving tone.

“Dude, what, you’re her guardian now?” Stephen said
with a chuckle. He looked over at Henri.

“Whatever. I like her, you could do worse, that’s all.”

“Okay, this conversation is getting way too serious for
me. I’d better get home for Thanksgiving dinner. Come
by tonight if you want to,” he said as he stood up to
leave. “Let me know if you can scrounge up a date for the
movies tomorrow.”

* * *

Stephen leaned back from the table. “Great dinner,”
he said.

“Thank you.”

“You look great Stephen,” his maternal grandmother
said. “We don’t get to see you nearly as much as we’d like.
Isn’t that right Frank?” Frank was Stephen’s grand
mother’s second husband. His mother’s dad had died
when Stephen was in elementary school.

“Are you taking Beth out this evening?” asked his mom.

“No, I am going to stay in and enjoy my family. She and I are going out tomorrow.”

“Well, that’s nice. She really is a beautiful girl.”

“Yes, she is,” agreed Stephen.

“Dad, are you and Frank up for a game of poker?” he
asked, standing up from the table.

“If you don’t mind losing,” replied his dad with a
wink. “I don’t mind taking your money.”

The men moved to the study. Stephen retrieved the
cards and chips while his dad poured drinks and pulled
out the cigars. He knew his dad appreciated this time
with him, and he loved being able to offer it. He loved
his mom as well, even with her control issues, but he’d
spent more time with his dad, and he’d always sought
him out when he needed comfort and support. It was
from his dad that he’d felt unconditional love, so it wasn’t
a sacrifice to spend time with him.

* * *

We are bunch of loud-mouths,
Reye thought to herself
fondly as she looked around the table. At the head of the
table sat her dad. He was the glue that held her family
together. She loved her mother, but her dad was her rock.
He was as soft as her mother was demanding and hard.
Tall, at six feet, five inches, and with dark, rich chocolate
skin, he was big and wide, useful for playing football
when he was younger and then helpful for knocking his sons’ heads together as they grew up.

“Everyone, grab hands, bow your heads,” he said, waiting. “Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing my
family to come together this Thanksgiving. We sing your
praises for all of our blessings and seek your forgiveness for our transgressions. Keep us in your heart and show us your
will as we complete the remainder of the year. Amen.”

“Amen!” The table was immediately filled with con
versation. Reye loved her family. Her brothers had always
looked after her. Sam, who sat next to her, hit her elbow
to get her attention.

“Pass me the turkey platter,” he said, winking at her.
She held it to her left so he could select the slices he
wanted. “How is Stephen, by the way? Are you two still
seeing each other? You haven’t called to cry on my
shoulder, so I guess everything is okay.” Her eagle-eyed
and sharp-eared mother turned to them, looking intently
at Reye.

“Tell you later,” she returned. Turning to her sister-
in-law, Reye asked about her nieces and nephews.

* * *

Friday afternoon found Stephen at Beth’s apartment at noon as agreed. Henri hadn’t been able to find a date,
or he hadn’t wanted to join them. She opened the door,
hair wet from a shower, with one of the smallest robes
he’d ever seen covering her body.

“Hi, Stephen. I’m not ready yet.”

S
he moved to allow him entrance, managing to brush
against him as he entered. In the old days, he wouldn’t
have minded and would have taken her up on her unso
licited offer, but not today. She seemed to sense his impa
tience. “Are we in a hurry?” She sauntered over to stand
directly in front of him.

“Well, the movie starts in about forty minutes and if
we don’t hurry we’re going to miss it.”

She moved her finger to his lips. “Would it be so bad
if we missed the movie? We could entertain ourselves
here in other ways,” she said coyly. She reached up and
put her arms around his neck. He caught them before
they were able to connect and placed them by her sides.

“Not a good idea. I’ve wanted to see this movie for a
while.” She seemed surprised by his abruptness and hurt
by his rejection.

“Let me finish getting dressed, then,” she said sharply.
She turned to walk away from him. This was a bad idea,
he thought to himself. He didn’t want to go anymore. But
if he could just get through the movie, he could go home.

Later on that night he lay in his room, head propped
on his pillow as he watched college football games, his
second round of football games today. Earlier, after drop
ping an angry Beth home, he’d joined his dad on the
couch in the game room and they’d watched games
together. He left his dad there a while ago to try and get
some sleep, but it eluded him.

He missed Reye. He reached for his cell and dialed
her number. She hadn’t been far from his thoughts this
week. She answered on the first ring.

“Hey, stranger,” she said softly.

“Hey,” he said, equally softly. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing much. I’m still at my parents. I think I’m
going to spend the night here, get in some major family
time. All of the brothers are here with their kids and I
don’t get to see them as much as I’d like. Auntie Reye, the
favorite and only aunt, is a popular item around here.
And as usual the brothers are giving me grief, especially
Sam. By the way, he asked about you.”

“Did he?”

“What have you been up to?”

“Nothing much, really. I’ve been spending time with
my parents and grandparents. I met Henri for some
hoops yesterday and hung out with old high school
friends one night.” He paused. “I was thinking about
coming back early, leaving tomorrow morning, actually.”

“Okay.” Reye wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Will you be home?”

“Not in the morning. I have a practice scheduled
with the kids from the center, but after that I should be
home. You could come by then if you want to,” she
offered quietly.

“I will,” he said. “Should I call before I come?”

“No. If I’m not home, you know where to find the
key, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay. See you.”

* * *

“What drills are you going to start with today?” Sam
was looking around the field, noting Reye’s practice
setup. During the last couple of practices they’d worked
on passing, shooting, and trapping, really basic stuff,
keeping it simple for those new to the game. Getting Sam
to help had been a great idea whose outcome could have
gone either way. Sam considered himself the guru of
soccer, so she’d expected a power struggle to maintain her
position as coach; twenty-four years of being the little
sister was difficult to overcome. He’d surprised her
though, by not interfering at all, totally assuming the role
of the helpful assistant, offering suggestions which she
felt free to accept or discard.

“Today I would like to introduce them to field positioning.” There were enough kids now to field a team of
eleven, with two left over for subs. The initial nine had
grown to thirteen, most from the after-school program,
others from the surrounding neighborhood, friends and
siblings of her kids. They were all here for today’s prac
tice, kicking the ball between each other, waiting for
practice to start. She called them over to form a half circle
in front of her. “Listen up, guys, today I am going to
introduce you all to your positions on the field. Then we
can begin to use the skills we’ve learned in our other prac
tices to play a game.” Between Reye and Sam, the kids
were placed in their assigned position on the field.
Shondra and Eric were the last to be assigned, and,
because they were fast for their ages, both would play in
the forward position. “Shondra,” Reye called. Shondra
trotted over, her shin guards sitting on the outside of her
s
ocks. “Baby girl,” Reye said. “Remember your shin
guards belong on the inside of your socks.”

“But I like them this way, Ms. Reye. They’re too
pretty to wear inside my socks where no one can see
them,” she said earnestly. Reye turned her head and
rolled her eyes at Sam, who chuckled.

“Ms. Reye, can we take a water break? I’m thirsty,”
Anthony said.

“Sure,” she said, signaling the other players over.
They all gathered around the thermos, waiting their turn
for water.

“Does everyone understand their positions?” she
asked.

“Yes, Ms. Reye,” the more conscientious of the group
responded.