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“Gabe, walk with me,” Zeke said, stepping off the front porch. He rounded the side of the house and headed towards the garage, his younger brother traipsing behind him like when they were kids. “I want to show you some of the ideas I have for expanding the cabin.”
“Oh, okay,” Gabriel said, following along after getting the notepad from the car. “Are we giving the ladies some space to have a private conversation?”
“Sure, if you could call it that,” Zeke said, looking at the tall Georgia pines. Thankfully, he wouldn’t have to fell any of the trees to complete the expansion of the home. There were tons of upgrades he wanted to add, but he needed a blueprint. Right now, he only had a few ideas.
“Zeke, do you think it’s going to turn into a catfight? Maybe we should go back inside,” Gabriel offered, turning to head towards the front door. Zeke stopped him.
“They are about to have a conversation which is twenty years overdue,” he said to his brother. “The woman who left Cleveland a year ago is not the woman who is in that cabin. Your wife is about to meet Tameka Neary.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Gabriel said with concern on his face.
“It’s all good. We will give them some space,” he said. Zeke verbally expounded on his mental picture of how the cabin could be expanded, with the extra rooms, closets, and a bathroom.
Gabriel kept one ear on his brother’s conversation and the other on the house, just in case he needed to run inside and rescue either lady. After watching his wife handle Judy, he wasn’t so sure Tameka was ready to meet Cabrina Neary. She too, was not the same woman who Tameka had left in Cleveland.
****
TAMEKA TOOK A SEAT on the couch, looking at her daughter sleeping peacefully in her bassinet. The past few days, Mary Neary barely put the child down, and when she did, Joe Neary scooped her up. It surprised her to no end that the child willingly slept in the baby bed after being held so much, but Michelle was a good baby. A little darling.
Cabrina sat quietly, nursing a cup of tea that tasted like grass mashed in with brown sugar and pine cones. The drink bordered on disgusting and it took everything in her not to hurl. She put the cup down.
“Do you realize that tomorrow officially commemorates one year since you left Cleveland?” Cabrina asked, starting the hardest conversation she would ever have in her life.
“Yes, I do,” Tameka said. “What a year it has been.”
She offered nothing else. Cabrina cleared her throat, wanting to ease into the discourse and she commented on the beauty of the child as an opener. Tameka offered a soft thank you in response, waiting for the bullshit about to tumble out of Cabrina’s mouth. Cabrina had never been told how long Tameka had been held captive by the man which would give her an idea if the child was Zeke’s or otherwise. It was the otherwise which made her want to step in and drag Tameka back to Cleveland.
“Is her father the man who kidnapped you?” Cabrina gently asked.
“Her father is the man I married,” Tameka said, looking at Cabrina with a challenge in her eyes to say nothing further.
“Ai...I mean Tameka, have you spoken to your husband about how you are going to press charges against these people? I mean really, I find it hard to believe that after everything you have been through, that a yellow wall and some pictures on it is going to erase the harrowing ordeal you endured.”
“Cabrina, I don’t give a shit about what you or anyone else finds hard to believe,” Tameka said, sitting back on the couch.
“Aren’t you going to press charges? I mean, the Nearys represent almost every arm of Federal law enforcement. Aren’t they going to do anything about what happened to you?”
“And what do you expect them to do, Cabrina, prosecute a ghost? The man who kidnapped me is dead. The first time I saw that Sheriff is when he walked through this door last week. The Macklemores didn’t know what he’d done, and from what I understand, the shack where he kept me has been washed away,” she said. “There is no evidence remaining except my word against a dead man’s.”
Cabrina’s eyes went to the child.
“The difference between me and you, Cabrina, is that you are always looking to provide solutions for everyone’s problems without considering the ramifications and consequences,” Tameka told her.
“I am thinking of the consequences. How are you planning to have a life on this mountain with those people?” she asked. “If the child is proof...”
Tameka slammed her cup down on the table making Michelle jump in the bassinette. “Proof of what, Cabrina? Proof that those hillbillies will have a permanent connection to this child? A reason for them to insinuate themselves into our lives, her life? This child is Zeke’s.”
“You can’t continue to run away from the truth,” Cabrina said.
“Did it ever dawn on you that maybe what I was running away from was you?” Tameka said watching the shock on her friend’s face. “See, it never crossed your ‘save the poor wretches from themselves mind’ that maybe I didn’t call because I didn’t want to talk to you. I didn’t want to have this fucking conversation!”
“You didn’t want to talk to me...running away from me?” Cabrina said, her hand pressed to her breast in disbelief as if her pearls had come unstrung.
Sighing loudly, the moment was here to say what Tameka had wanted to say for years but always bit her tongue.
“Please, don’t misunderstand. I am grateful to your parents, but they aren’t my parents. I had a mother and father, losing them both tragically, but that didn’t make me a stray dog for you to bring home to feed and water,” Tameka told her.
“I have never treated you that way!”
“If the Devil is a liar, he is sitting in your soul!” She countered. “You have always treated me as if I was a poor wretched child without anyone to love her but only you. The Lord takes care of the motherless and fatherless, just as he did me. I left Cleveland to start fresh, to get away from you and your smothering friendship.”
“You say I smother...I only tried to help you!” Cabrina said with hurt feelings.
“Doing what you are doing right fucking now. Sitting there questioning my judgment,” she said. “I was nothing but a crutch for you!”
Cabrina was hurt at the words. “I have no idea what you are even talking about!”
“You used me as a go-between with your parents, a way that you didn’t have to deal with your own issues with them and their smothering behavior. Instead, you smothered me, treating me as if you were doing me a favor by sharing your mother’s love.”
“Forgive me for wanting you to feel the love of a mother since you lost yours in such a horrible fashion,” Cabrina retorted.
“I knew my mother’s love, Cabrina. She provided for me even after her death. My mother was a successful businesswoman. We had money. I still have money. I’ve always had my own. I lived with your parents in their perfect home with perfect artfully adorned walls and moved into a replica of their home living with you. To me, you have always been the one who was lost. Being maneuvered by your controlling parents, being a small reproduction of your mother. It makes me so mad that you feel like you are always right. Well, you aren’t!’
Cabrina bounded to her feet and pointed at Michelle. “Looks to me like I was right. The proof of your poor judgment is lying there shitting on herself!”
There was no time to react as Tameka’s jumped to her feet providing a powerful open-handed slap to Cabrina’s face so hard that she spun around in place before hitting the floor, her eyes wide in shock that Tameka had hit her.
“I am not the woman who left Cleveland a year ago. Yes, I have had it rough, but it made me a stronger person,” she said. “You have the audacity to walk into my home, be it ever so humble, and dole out advice to me. Advice about what, Mrs. Neary? When you go home and sadly shake your head, telling your parents that poor lost Aisha married some man she doesn’t even know, isn’t going to make their heads spin. Especially, when they see your hand and learn you married his brother. A ninja you barely know, a man, I might add, you married on the same day you met him. In their eyes, it makes you no better than me!”
“Is that what this is about? You believe I think I’m better than you?”
“Yes, and you do,” Tameka said. “I’m telling you that you’re not. Only a sour bitch can see my story and have questions about seeking justice and questioning my happily ever after. Karma doesn’t always come around, Cabrina. Happiness must be snatched, hugged, and treated with respect. I am doing that.”
“But is that happiness real?”
“Bitch, is yours?”
“Yes, I love Gabriel,” Cabrina said.
“After only a week?” Tameka asked.
“Yes, it has been a magical week of getting to know him, planning our life together, and I’m looking forward to my future with him,” Cabrina said, getting up off the floor.
“Then why can’t you let me have the same?” Tameka asked. “You spent a few days on the road with a man, sharing meals, sights, and a hotel room. That is nothing! Zeke saved my life. Not only did he save my life and Michelle’s, he delivered her, brought my child into this world. He nursed me back to health and even sewed up a vagina he has yet to penetrate. Yet each morning, he wakes up beside me, enthusiastic about life, and so I am.”
“Tameka...,” she said pausing. “...I guess it never occurred to you that it wasn’t about you needing me, but me needing you. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to question your happiness.”
“Well, then shut the hell up. I won’t lie, I needed you as well, but we aren’t kids anymore. So, fine. We needed each other,” Tameka said, offering a faint smile at the corners of her lips. “Go open us a bottle of wine and catch me up on the last year of your life. How are your parents, the business, and all those details?”
Cabrina chuckled. The old Aisha would have harbored a grudge and given her the silent treatment. This was different. They addressed the issue, discussed it in some detail and she wanted to move past it.
“After everything you have been through, you want to talk to me about my life and insurance,” she said. “That’s rich.”
“I have nothing to tell that you don’t already know. I am not going to rehash or relive what I went through. It is behind me. I will start counseling next month in Athens, and we move forward,” she said.
“You are really different,” Cabrina said.
“Tameka Neary ain’t no joke,” Tameka replied laughing. “Go, get the wine.”
“This isn’t over, Tameka. I am pissed that you fucking hit me, we still have more to talk about, and yes, I am going to get you back,” Cabrina said getting the bottle of wine. In the past when they fought, her friend had treated to her two weeks of silence as punishment. For her to strike out at her was not the woman she knew. Honestly, she respected Tameka Neary versus the passive aggressive Aisha. She did have a point about her parents. Breaking the news to them about her new husband was going to be tough. She would handle it as she handled most things in life, one step at a time, however, she quickly realized that new skills were required in dealing with this new version of her friend.
Painfully, she admitted to herself that she didn’t know Tameka Neary, and what she knew, she wasn’t sure she liked. What hurt most of all was the simple knowledge that she didn’t think Tameka liked her. The stinging of her face was a solid reminder of where she stood with her gal pal in this new itineration of their relationship.
The back door opened, and Zeke and Gabriel came back inside. The first thing Gabriel noticed was the angry red handprint against his wife’s face. He turned to look at Tameka.
“What? She had it coming,” Tameka offered, tossing her head with a bit of defiance.
“Violence is never an answer,” Gabriel said with a tinge of anger in his voice.
“It is when a chick oversteps the threshold,” Tameka said, challenging him to say another word.
Gabriel looked at his wife. “I overstepped and deserved it,” Cabrina said.
Zeke asked next, “Tameka, are you okay?”
“She and I both are just fine. We cleared the air on a few things we should have discussed years ago. My focus is to enjoy your brother and my dear friend’s visit to our home,” she said.
Tameka clapped her hands as if she’d just been hit the brightest idea ever. “We should call the Manns and see if they are up for company tomorrow night!”
“I was planning to visit them before I left, so that would be nice,” Gabriel said, his focus still on his wife’s face.
“Zeke, baby? Will you give Nate a call and see if it is doable?” Tameka asked her husband.
“Calling now,” Zeke offered, watching his brother with his new wife. Gabriel was fawning over the handprint on her face like his most prized possession had been chipped by a child playing ball in the house. His brother was different. The vibe about him felt different. This version of Gabriel he actually liked. He looked forward to spending a few days with him and his new bride. He only hoped that there wouldn’t be any more slaps doled out by his wife.
****
THE REMAINDER OF THE day progressed nicely as Zeke and Gabriel shared childhood stories of summers and hunting seasons at the cabin. Wine flowed as laughter filled the small space, offering Gabe a new understanding of why Zeke and Tameka wanted to make the cabin their home. Plans were made between the brothers to get up early and hit the old fish pond to catch fresh dinner for the next day. Eyelids grew heavy from the multiple glasses of wine and a need for sleep as the hour reached ten. The baby miraculously was sleeping all night and the brothers wanted to turn in early to be prepared for the coming morning.
Cabrina looked around the tiny cabin, wondering where they were going to sleep. She also questioned where Gabe’s parents had slept in the one-bedroom home. She was looking at the couch. Freshly upholstered, she knew Tameka would have a fit if someone was sleeping on it already.
“Gabe? I take it the couch lets out into a bed,” she said, staring at it.
“No, but that chair lets out into a twin sleeper,” he said. “We are going to sleep in the bed.”
The bed must have been invisible because she didn’t see one. Gabriel walked towards the back door, releasing two latches on the wall cabinet which let down a full-sized Murphy bed. The small footlocker which sat under the framed photo on the wall by the door yielded two pillows and an extra blanket.
“That’s pretty cool,” she said.
“It works, but we may have to save our showers for in the morning,” he told her. “I don’t feel like waiting for the water to heat up, plus it is already warm in here. I would have to fire up the pot-bellied stove to heat the water.”
“Sounds outdated,” she mumbled, looking for her PJs.
“Imagine doing a load of laundry,” he grumbled. “I think on Saturday we will stop by Bleu’s for lunch– maybe take a full shower.”
“I take it they don’t have a washer and dryer here, but things have to hang on the clothesline.”
“There is one, but it is a combo thing that’s made for people who live off the grid. You can’t wash and dry at the same time,” he said. “I’m looking forward to how Zeke is going to transform this place. He is really good at making things with his hands.”
“You’re pretty good with your hands as well, Mr. Neary,” she said, giving him a coy look as she turned back the covers.
Gabe, already in bed, lay on the pillow, watching her quickly change into sleepwear and join him under the covers. It didn’t escape his notice that she only put on the sleep top and no underpants. The cabin was too small to be intimate without his brother hearing how close his relationship really was with Jesus.
His hand went to her cheek, which still bore red marks from Tameka’s fingers. He became angered all over again as his fingers trailed across the bruise. If there was one thing he abhorred, it was violence against women. It still didn’t stop him from wanting to do something about it, but the women were friends and their relationship had stood the test of time. Still, there was no reason to strike out in anger.
“If she hits you again, we are going to have a problem,” he said.
“Let it go, Mr. Neary. The words I uttered in frustration were uncalled for, callous and insensitive to everything she’d been through. I made it all about me, what I was feeling and acting out over the loss of my best friend,” she said.
“You made it about you,” he said, pushing back a strand of the curly black hair.
“Yes, she was my crutch and the go between me and my parents. I realized that after she left. The past twenty years she’s been a buffer and I used her as a prop that prevented me from getting out there into the real world to live. When she left, I took it personally,” she said.
“Was her departure personal?”
“Yes. She left to get away from me and do her own thing,” she said. “I never realized until today how she truly felt.”
He asked, “will this change your friendship with her?”
“Everything has changed, Gabe. I don’t know that woman in the other room. The next few days, I am going to get to know Tameka Neary,” Cabrina said softly.
“Getting to know a person can be a beautiful thing if you are willing to meet them where they stand. You walk to the center of the ring with no preconceived notions, accepting them as they are, where they are,” he said to her.
“Like what you did with me.”
“It is also what you did with me,” he said, snuggling closer to her. “You saw past the looks and talked to the man. Most people see me, hear that I am a minister and make snap judgments about what I am supposed to be, do, and accomplish. Rarely if ever do people have a conversation with me about me. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, it makes perfect sense,” she said. “Most people see me and assume I am dumb.”
“I thought so when I saw your picture,” he said, and she thumped him in the throat. “Ouch. Violence never solves anything. Love is the key to all our problems.”
“I agree, Mr. Neary,” she said, her hand going low under the covers.
“No, we can’t. If Zeke comes out of that room, he is going to see your happy face and ...,” he started to say as his mouth made a perfect O. “Ooh, that feels good, but we will make too much noise and this bed will squeak.”
“Men! You know nothing about sex,” she told him, freeing him from the underwear. “Making love is about the connection, not thrusting your hips until you expel all the anger in your body.”
Shifting her position on the bed, Cabrina rotated her hips until she and Gabe were able to connect.
“Be still,” she whispered as she rotated her hips counterclockwise. His eyes grew wide, his toes spanned out as he gripped her arms. One finger pressed to his lips as she made incremental moves, which sent goosebumps down his back. The inner love muscles gripped him tightly, milking, pulling, tugging at him to let go of his release.
“Not yet, Mr. Neary, not yet,” she whispered in his ear as her muscles clamped around him and she shifted her weight, making small circles with her hips as she went along. Gabriel’s vision began to blur, his mouth was open, and no sound came out. Flexing her inner muscles, she clamped down on him in a grip so tight, he had no choice but to give into the demand.
“Now, Mr. Neary,” she said to him as she continued to make incremental movements of her hips. The bed didn’t squeak, and no sounds were made as he held tightly to her body, letting go in a means he had yet to experience.
Cabrina collapsed beside him, connected intimately and on a deeper level as man and wife. Gabriel, sated with heavy lids, tried to open his eyes but were unable. He managed to get out the words that darted across his mind.
“Upon this rock, I shall build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it,” he mumbled, running his finger across her bottom lip. He liked sleeping next to her. More importantly, waking up next to her killed the sense of aloneness.
