The simple white dress off the rack from a local department store suited Darnisha’s need just fine. She wasn’t sure she’d done the right thing in rushing to marry Alvin; however, he assured her they were meant for each other. Neither had any regrets after the brief ceremony, performed by the unknown man, who legally joined them as man and wife forever. Alvin promised he’d take care of her always. Fairytales are nice, however reality is vastly different. Ro, had been kind enough to provide a safe place for her family and she to call home, yet even with both Alvin and Darnisha working, they couldn’t provide for her family’s needs and at the same time have a place of their own. For the moment, she let her troubles recede back into her subconscious as her new husband drove away from the justice of the peace office.
Darnisha was bursting with pride over being Mrs. Alvin Burell and couldn’t wait to tell everybody she knew. Only Ro, Alisha, and Mr. Grigsby attended the wedding, serving as witnesses. Darnisha wondered why Rolanda was in such a rush to leave once the ceremony was over, especially when she wanted to celebrate. Upon further thought she realized Troy must have wanted to take her somewhere. Knowing Atlanta’s roadways fairly well, she advised Alvin he missed their exit off the interstate. She had to laugh, thinking he was the husband who’d get them lost on their wedding day, which wasn’t what she needed.
“We’re going to wrong way. That was our exit.”
“I know a shortcut.”
“Shortcut? Admit it Alvin, you’re lost.”
He glanced away, grinned as he said, “I’m not in a rush, but I do know how to get home from anywhere in the city.”
“Maybe the long way home, because we aren’t getting any closer, and that’s for sure.”
They went at it, back and forth about who was right, just like a couple who’d been married for years instead of being newlyweds. He took an exit which totally mystified her and caused her to laugh. Joining in her laughter, he possessed a clear conscious about their squabble about him going the wrong direction. They were both right, although she had no way of knowing it.
“I’m not sure about this, but I could have taken a wrong turn somewhere,” he said, turning the vehicle onto Fox Street.
“I’ve been trying to tell you that for the past 20 minutes,” she insisted.
“I’ll stop and ask someone for directions,” he informed, parking in the driveway at 125 Fox St.
Exiting the car, he went around the vehicle to open her door.
“You don’t need me to ask for directions.”
“I’m not going to leave you alone, somebody might try and snatch ya,” he joked.
They walked to the front door of the house and knocked. Knocking again without a result, Alvin tried the knob, which turned. Opening the door, Darnisha was in the middle of chastising him, saying he couldn’t go around just opening people’s doors, when the house full of people shouted, “Surprise!” She was surprised alright, although she was under the impression he’d brought her to the house just to enjoy their reception. It wasn’t until Alvin picked her up, carried her through the threshold, that she saw the banner:
“Welcome to Darnisha and Alvin Burell’s new-home.”
She asked all the questions that anyone expected, with Alvin answering by simply stating they were home. Rolanda and Alisha saved him from the barrage of questions she was still firing by taking her on a tour of both the fully furnished home and adjacent apartment.
“But how?” Darnisha asked.
“Alvin was owed some favors by some pretty connected friends of mine. They only want the best for him and his family. I can’t have my God child raised in my tiny apartment, can I?” Rolanda said winking while staring at Darnisha’s growing belly.
She started crying and had to sit. Ro understood how much pressure had just been removed from her shoulders. Alvin made his way into the apartment and embraced his new bride.
“Did you see the twin’s room? Their beds look just like race cars,” Darnisha excitedly said.
“I know that’s why I got them. I figured they would like them.”
“You?”
“Well, I picked out the beds for the twins, but everything else was Ro and Alisha,” he informed her.
In a flash, Darnisha’s eyes zeroed in on her sister.
“You kept this a secret from me? I’m gonna get you,” she said, giving chase, tickling Alisha when she caught her.
The wedding reception was on, and everyone who attended had a great time. Ruby must have thanked Rolanda a million times. She wished she could have given her children more, although the love she always provided was still present and in plentiful supply. Everyone left the reception with full stomachs as well as a plate to go. Darnisha was left satisfied with the knowledge she was free for the first time she could remember. No Lenny, no Chris blackmailing her, no worrying about the safety of Ruby or her siblings, and no deciding what to do about her unborn child. She was totally free to become the woman she wanted Alvin to have for a lifelong wife.
I couldn’t believe we pulled it off. Darnisha’s facial expression was priceless. They might not have gone anywhere for their honeymoon, but I had a strong feeling the new home they owned, more than made up for it. I hated to drag Alisha away from her spending the first night in her new room, but she had already seen to the twins being tucked in and looked in on Ruby, who was in a deep sleep on her new brass bed. Alvin assured me he’d monitor them throughout the night. I’m just glad I had the alarm monitoring system installed for backup, as I’m sure both Darnisha and his monitoring abilities would be severely preoccupied.
Dressed down in a pair of Levi jeans and a striped polo shirt, Troy was still an impressive sight. Alisha and I wore matching red jean skirts, pink pullover shirts, and coordinating pink sneakers. Troy adapted to issuing two of everything. There were two hugs when he arrived to pick us up, two kisses to our foreheads, and two compliments on how great we looked. I should have leveled with him that Alisha wasn’t my biological daughter, yet before the movie started, while she was at the concession stand buying snacks, I realized the gig was up. Troy’s stated how admirable it was for me to mentor Alisha. He advised me he wished he had the time to tackle such a worthy project.
He knew all along, which saw me apologizing for not explaining the situation before. He put his finger to his lips to hush my confession. Anyone who might wonder how I could love a man for so long while plotting to make him mine should be able to ascertain why from how kind he treats me. He’s just too sweet, and I mean that in every sense of the word.
After locating seats, Troy sat between us, putting an arm around both of us. His cologne was causing me to become lightheaded. Don’t get me wrong, I love Alisha with all my heart, but Troy had my body craving for what was hidden in his jeans. I almost wish she would have stayed at home. When the movie ended, we ate banana splits before returning to the house. I left Alisha to entertain Troy while I scurried off to change my panties. When I returned, he was all over her. The same way I wanted him to be all over me. Let me clear up the scenario a bit. They were playing a game called Twister. Some people just have a dirty mind. Troy is all man, no pervert in him. Well, on second thought, perverted, but not that way.
I knew he had to leave too soon, since it was after one in the morning. He thanked us for allowing him to share in such a wonderful night with us, issuing a last round of hugs and kisses before he retreated into his automobile and drove away.
We talked about Troy and the fun we had while getting ready for bed. I got the impression Alisha liked him maybe a little too much. However, when she said that he’d make a great father, I understood she saw him as a father figure, something she never really had.
“He asked me to give you something before you fell asleep.”
“What?” I asked.
She didn’t say a word as she hugged and kissed me. Troy thought of everything. He always made sure I knew he loved me.
Over the next four months, Troy and I spent more and more time together. True to his word, without sex, he made me completely his. There was not a day which passed he didn’t let me know how much he loved me. We were at my Blairwood home one afternoon, when I returned from a trip to the bank and had my box of bank records with me. I stumbled, causing me to drop the box, sending all the papers inside flying. While helping me restore the statements, receipts, and old check to the container, he saw the canceled check for $50,000 I paid to Sydney Brown.
“You hired Sydney?”
I was put on the spot, and with him holding the proof in his hand, I had no choice other than to come clean. At first he pretended to be upset with me. I think he was trying to figure out where all the money came from, since I worked as a manager at a coin operated laundry.
“Why did you hire her?”
“I love you Troy,” I confessed.” I’ve loved you since high school. I would have done anything to help you win – anything!”
“Why didn’t you tell me about Sydney?”
“I didn’t know what she might uncover. I only knew you needed to win that case.”
“I needed more than that,” he said staring me right in the eye. “I saw you support me every day while the trial ran its course. I didn’t know you had such strong feelings for me. If I’d have known, I’d have asked you to marry me a long time ago.”
Whoa, I don’t know if the world started to spin faster or stopped completely. I’d been living in a dream world since spending time with Troy; that the implication of what he’d just acknowledged, shut down my brain’s processors.
“That is, if you would have wanted to.”
Everything in my world came down to one word, and I had to struggle to force it out.
“Yes!”
“Are you sure? I’d sure hate to have my heart broken,” he said, taking me into his arms.
I wanted to stay in his strong arms, yet at the same time I was glad he had to take care of some legal business at his office. I couldn’t wait to tell everybody he asked me to marry him. I hadn’t thought about Nikki in quite a while, though I wish I knew where she lived. I would have sent her an invitation to the nuptials, along with a hand written note: Hey bitch, look who’s got the ring on her finger!
The smell of burning rubber was in the air, as I opened the door to the laundry. The tires on the Lexus were still smoking. Amy and Alisha must have thought something terrible occurred, by the cautious way they approached me. I gave them the play-by-play recap of the way Troy asked me to become his wife. The three of us started screaming, high fiving, and acting just like a trio of juveniles. For some reason I got the feeling the owner of the laundry was going to put us out for making so much noise. I was on top of the world. I was flying high until my cell phone rang, delivering me back to reality. I needed to rush over to the car dealership at once.
The promotion for my one little car lot started a few days earlier, and upon arrival, I saw that the place was packed. Stanley West, the DJ from the local radio station was doing a live broadcast, keeping everybody entertained. I had never seen so many people at an auto dealership before in my life and couldn’t imagine what the problem was. Stephen saw me trying to gain access to the building and guided me inside the office to where Mr. Carson, Alvin, and two other salesmen were huddled.
“We have customers everywhere, what’s the problem?”
“That much is true,” Wallace concurred. “However, thanks to Alvin, Mark, and Cary we can’t help them.”
I was lost. What did he mean “we can’t help them?”
“We’re sold out. Hell, Alvin even sold three trade-ins before the engines had a chance to cool down,” Wallace informed.
“Sold out?” Not understanding the concept.
“Sorry Ro, last week I told a few friends of mine, who told a few friends of theirs, and so on, about the promotion. I guess their spreading the word, plus all the advertisement, well…” Alvin admitted.
“Wallace, can you get us any more vehicles?”
“Not before tomorrow,” he replied. “But Ro, by that time, these people will have torn this place apart.”
I was boxed into a corner and had to do some quick thinking. Running out of cars was both a curse and a blessing, all at the same time. I asked Stanley to announce the truth, saying how our deals were so great we sold out our entire inventory. To all those who showed up they would still receive their mystery bonus dollar with no expiration on the discount it represented. Everybody already at the car lot would receive a bag of cash as a way of thanking them for patronizing the establishment.
A woman, who didn’t want to be identified, gave the dealership a glowing testimonial before she picked out her bag of cash. She issued another, live over the radio after the opening the sack to find $1000. The lady was adamant about returning to Carson’s to purchase a vehicle once we restocked. A middle-aged man, who gave negative feedback due to us wasting his time, had a change of heart when he discovered a cool grand in his sack of cash. Once he realized the money was his to keep whether he bought a vehicle or not, begged Stanley for a chance to retract his earlier statement. He couldn’t stop praising Carson’s auto sales.
When the dust settled, we’d lost quite a bit of cash. Wallace inquired why I’d done the giveaway when no sales would come from giving so much money away. Until he asked, I never fully understood why the business hadn’t grown. With his question, the reason became obvious. I realized I needed to explain it in a way even a young child would have understood.
“You see, advertisement costs are high. A one-page ad in the newspaper can cost thousands. The same goes for radio time. A 30 second spot on television can run into the tens of thousands. The publicity will garner from today’s oddity, will reap benefits – or better put, help sales for months, if not years to come,” I preached, as several local TV stations began setting up their equipment to report the story.
I think Wallace and the crew began to see the big picture. The roughly $32,000 or so we gave away was actually an investment, which would not only put the business on the map in Atlanta, but help when we expanded. Not bad for a small little dealership I had been advised was a bad financial move.
Johnny must have seen the news that night, because he phoned to infer he was having crow pie for supper. Then I believe he offered a compliment.
“I’ve got some swamp land for sale in Florida, but I wouldn’t sell it to you. You’d find a way to make it valuable.”