“Okay, okay just hold your horses.” Savannah shouted loud enough for her giggling boys to hear, but not loud enough for the stranger at the door to stop the incessant knocking.
“Who you talkin’ to mommy?” Jayden and Tyler stopped climbing on their bunk beds long enough to make sure their mommy wasn’t talking to them.
“Never mind boys. Mommy will be right back.” Savannah headed downstairs toward the direction of the pounding noise.
Who in the world is banging on this door like the police?
“Al right, all right I’m coming.” This time Savannah was sure the source of the commotion could hear her.
Opening the door she snapped at the tall dark stranger.
“Yes?”
“First Lady Middlebury?”
“Yes?” Savannah repeated with agitation seething from her voice.
“Bishop Middlebury sent me to check on the leak.” The tall dark stranger responded noting the irritation in Savannah’s voice.
“What leak?”
“From what Bishop Middlebury said, there seems to be a leak in your mother’s bathroom.”
“My mother’s bathroom? That’s impossible. My mother doesn’t even live here. You must be mistaken.”
“Well Bish….”
“Oh you must be talking about my mother-in-law, Mother Middlebury. Her bathroom has a leak in it.”
“Well Bishop Middlebury said somebody’s bathroom had a leak in it. I’m here to take a look at it.”
“Come in, come in. It’s up the stairs, last door on your left. You can’t miss it. Just make sure she’s not in there.” Savannah smiled as she nodded toward the stairs.
“Just holler if you need anything.”
“Yes ma’am”. The tall dark stranger replied.
“Ma’am?” I’m probably not much older than you!” Savannah feigned offence.
“Oh my bad, I didn’t mean anything by it.” The tall dark stranger bared all his teeth in a sheepish grin.
“You didn’t?” Savannah pressed him.
“No, no ma’…, I mean no, absolutely not. I mean you look as young as my older sister.”
“You’re older sister? How old is older?” Savannah raised her eyebrows.
“Not much older. She’s just eighteen months older than me.”
“And that would make her how old?”
“I’m thirty-two.”
“Mmm..” She nodded satisfactorily. “The leak, up the stairs, to your left.”
“Okay First Lady Middlebury.”
“And you can dispense with the first lady stuff. Sister Savannah will do.”
“Yes ma’…I mean okay.”
Savannah peered at the stranger again.
“By the way what’s your name?” Uncharacteristically examining the stranger from head to toe.
“Bro. Hazleton. But you can just call me Ricky.”
“Nice to meet you Bro. Hazelton.” Savannah extended her hand. “Holler on your way out.” Savannah turned and left the tall dark stranger standing at the door, but what she didn’t see was the tall dark stranger studying her every move as she left the room.
Fifteen minutes later, Rickey Hazelton was literally hollering on his way out.
“Sister Savannah?”
Savannah heard her name being called and hurried to the foyer where the noise was coming from.
“Brother Ricky you finished already?”
“No. I just checked out what was going on in her bathroom. The leak is not too difficult to take care of, I’ll let Bishop know how much it will cost, and hopefully I can get started on it this weekend.”
“So soon?”
“He said it was somewhat of an emergency.”
“Well my mother-in-law keeps complaining about it, so the sooner it’s fixed the better.”
Two days later Savannah was awakened by loud banging at the front door.
Who in Hades is banging on the door like the house is on fire? Savannah was not a happy camper. Her Saturday mornings were special to her. Brice had taken the boys to breakfast at McDonald’s so she could sleep in, so whoever was at the door had better had a darn good reason to be there.
Bam, bam, bam.
“Okay. Jes…..”
Savannah snatched the door open.
“Brother Ricky.”
“I’m sorry did I wake you?”
What the devil do you think? Why would I be standing here in my gown and robe?
Savannah was glad people couldn’t read minds.
“Don’t worry about it. What are you doing here?” She responded a little too abruptly.
“I spoke to Bishop about fixing the leak in the bathroom and he said today would be a good day to start.”
“Mmph, that’s strange. He didn’t say anything to me about it and he’s not here. He usually takes the boys to breakfast and they spend the day hanging out over to the church.”
“Well if it’s okay with you, I’d like to get started anyway. I don’t need the Bishop, and he did say it was a rush job.”
“Well I guess it’s okay. Let me check with my mother-in-law, she may still be in bed.”
“I ain’t in bed. He can get started anytime, the sooner the better.” Mother Middlebury sputtered.
Savannah turned around to see her mother-in-law standing right behind her sporting an equally annoyed who-had-the-nerve-to-wake-me-up-on-a-Saturday-morning face too.
“Mother Middlebury, I didn’t see you stand there. I thought you might still be in bed.”
“In bed? I’d have to be deaf or dead not to hear all that bangin’ on the door!”
“Well Brother Ricky, there’s your answer. I guess its okay to get started. If you need anything you know the drill.”
That was three weeks ago. To Savannah’s horror, the bathroom leak had turned into an ongoing remodel project with Brother Ricky all but bringing his toothbrush and clothes. Each time she asked about the status of the work, something else had surfaced and needed to be replaced. If she didn’t know any better she would have thought that Brother Ricky was trying to take advantage of them, but when she discussed the costs of all these projects with Brice it didn’t add up to much at all. She decided she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If the house needed all this work, she could put up with his intrusion a little longer. What harm could it do?
Ricky Hazelton stood silently in the doorway watching the goings on in the backyard. Securely hidden in the shadows, where he stood he could observe all the activity without being discovered. He watched as Savannah and her three boys played happily on the securely walled trampoline.
Mmm…..Ricky furrowed his brows as he greedily watched the movement of Savannah Middlebury.
First Lady’s got much junk in her trunk he thought unapologetically as a slow grin erupted across his face. For a woman her age, she’s still got it. Ricky was free to continue his dissection. As if his eyes were lenses to a camera, his eyes roamed freely her frame, measuring her firm but sizable breast, traveling to her tiny waist and finally coming to rest on her high riding behind.
Yeah, First Lady’s definitely got back.
“You need somethin’ young man?”
Mother Middlebury’s question shocked and stung him.
“Ahh, yes’mam.”
Mother Middlebury stared at him with that I see you devil look.
“Well what do you want?” The elderly woman hissed.
“I need to get some more parts for the bathroom.”
“That little old bathroom sure is taking a long time to get fixed.” The elderly woman eyed him from head to toe. “Didn’t you just go down to the hardware store yesterday and come back here with a lot of stuff?”
“Yes ma’am, but you know these older homes, once you start fixin’ something, something else goes bad.”
“It does, does it?” The older woman sucked her teeth before rolling her eyes at him.
“Well go on and ask Savannah, or do you expect her to read your mind while you stand here peeping at her and the boys.”
“I wasn’t pee..”
“Aw go on.” Mother Middlebury cut him off waving her hand as she headed for her bedroom.
She’s a nosey old bat. Ricky thought out loud, but not loud enough for her hear. He gathered his composure shaking off the encounter. Putting on his best smile he quickly opened the screen door that led to the back yard.
“Savannah”
Savannah turned her face reflecting a hint of surprise.
“I mean Sister Savannah.” Ricky felt the heat of embarrassment rising on his face.
“Yes?” Savannah paused momentarily noting the interruption.
“Sorry to bother you, but I need some more money.”
“More money?” Savannah’s tone flat.
“Yes, unfortunately when you work with older plumbing, once you fix one problem, something else seems to go wrong.”
“Oh” Savannah was noticeably saddened. “How much money are we talking?”
“I could probably get by with fifty dollars.”
Mmm she thought out loud.
“If you want, I can come back tomorrow.”
“No, no, might as well get it done today if you can. I’ll have to see if I have any cash. You mind watching the boys until I get back?” Savannah asked over her shoulder already on her way back into the house.
“No not at all.” That’s not all I’ll watch. Ricky grinned as he watched her disappear through the doorway.
Mother Middlebury caught up with Savannah on the stairs and followed her into her bedroom.
“You watch that boy.”
“What?” Savannah turned to see her mother-in-law’s ominous expression on her face.
“What boy? What are you talking about Mother Middlebury?” She repeated.
“You watch that Ricky Hazelton boy Brice sent over here.” The old woman’s declaration included a pointed finger and a firmly planted hand on her hip.
“Mother Middlebury what are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about him starin’ at you and the boys just a few minutes ago. I tell you he’s up to something besides fixin’ the plumbing in my bathroom.” By this time she had come in the bedroom firmly planting herself on foot of Brice and Savannah’s king sized bed.
“Mother Middlebury what are you talking about?” Savannah raised her voice from the inside the walk in closet where she was searching through the mountain of purses that adorned the top shelf.
“I’m talking about him peepin’ at you and the boys for about ten minutes ‘for he got up the nerve to ask you for more money.”
Savannah stuck her head out of the closet. “How do you know he was watching me and the boys?”
“’Cause I watchin’ him.” She snorted.
Savannah laughed out loud. “Mother Middlebury you’re something else.”
The old woman sat with her legs crossed at the ankles on the edge of the bed not cracking a smile.
“Mother Middlebury you cannot be serious.” She continued to laugh.
“I don’t see what’s so funny.”
Returning to search for cash in the closet she asked “Mother Middlebury what do you think he has on his mind?”
“What do you think he’d have on his mind?” she snapped back.
“I don’t know, I’m not the one who saw him, you did.”
“Well from what I saw, he looked like he had designs on fixin’ something else besides the plumbing.”
“Mother Middlebury!” Savannah snapped.
“I’m just makin’ an observation. You just keep your eyes and your ears open.”
“Okay, if you say so.”
Now it was Savannah who stood quietly in the doorway watching Ricky Hazelton. He had climbed into the caged trampoline with all three of the boys. She noted the easy way he played with the children. Gently roughhousing as the foursome bounced and jumped on the huge rubber mat. For an instant Savannah pained that it wasn’t Brice who was sharing this joyous moment with the boys.
Did Mother Middlebury see something I missed? For an instant she let the thought hang in her mind. No way. Savannah was sure her mother-in-law was mistaken or just allowing her imagination to run away with her. But she thought she’d have some fun with it any way.
“Here’s the money.” Savannah said waving the crumpled bills so Ricky could see them.
“Mommy, mommy, we love playing with Ricky, he’s fun.” Jayden and Tyler chanted.
“I’m glad you had fun, but now Brother Ricky has to go.” The statement seemed to carry a little weight with it.
Easing out of the cage, Ricky Hazelton took the crumpled bills from her hand.
“I’ll be back as soon as possible. I’ll try to finish the job today.” He smiled broadly as he pushed the bills into a tight hip pocket.
“I’m sure you’re tired of me being under foot.” He added as he made his way to the driveway.
“Oh you haven’t been a bother to me, but I can’t say that about everybody.” Savannah rolled her eyes toward the house as Ricky stared at her quizzically.
“My mother-in-law seems to think I should keep my eyes on you.”
“She does?”
“Yeah, she seems to think you have other things on your mind than just fixing the plumbing in her bathroom.”
“Oh no!” Ricky’s face clouded over.
“I guess she saw me watching you and the boys playing earlier.”
“She said you were watching for a long while.”
Realizing he was caught, Ricky quickly made up an excuse.
“I’m sorry I gave your mother-in-law the wrong impression, I was just admiring how you seem to be so attentive to your kids, I didn’t have that as a child.”
“Don’t worry about it, people often make mistakes, she didn’t mean any harm.”
“Please tell her if I made her uncomfortable, I’m so sorry.”
“Go on, don’t worry about it, you know old folks.”
Ricky smiled as he left the yard. Yeah I know old folks and that one is smart as a whip. I gotta be more careful next time.