Chapter 17

Sunday afternoon, Richard suggests to the girls that they go out for Chinese food for dinner without telling them that their mother would be meeting them there. The girls get all their chores done so that there would be nothing left to tend to when they returned that evening. It was half-past five in the evening when they got ready to leave. The family’s favorite restaurant was only a twenty-minute drive from the house. Richard and girls arrive ahead of Brenda. They are seated at a circular table in the middle of the restaurant. Richard and the girls are looking at the menu discussing what they will order when Brenda walks up to the table. “Hey babies. What are you going order?” Brenda asks as she pulls out the available seat next to Samantha. She sits down as if this is a normal family night out. Trina is shocked to see her. Samantha becomes agitated. Richard is calm and measured. “Why is no one hugging me? Have you noticed my hair? Damn, what do you have to do to get a compliment around here?” Brenda complained.

Always searching for acceptance and approval, the girls see their mother in a different light. Samantha and Trina greet her begrudgingly. Richard just nods to acknowledge her presence. They all continue to look at the menu. When the waitress comes to take their order, Brenda is the first to chime in, “I’ll have the duck with fried vegetable rice and extra duck sauce on the side.” The children order and then Richard. The waitress leaves the table. “Tell me. What’s been going on?” Brenda asked of her children. Samantha rolls her eyes and Trina folds her arms as she twists up her lips. Richard chimes in, “We are good. How is Bruce?” Brenda is shocked to hear Richard mention Bruce. She doesn’t answer. “Oh. The girls and I have talked extensively,” Richard expressed in a calm voice. Brenda sits back in her chair, folds her arms and rolls her eyes. “Everything alright, you seem annoyed,” Richard noticed. She looks at Samantha as if to say without words traitor.

The waitress comes back to the table with the drink orders and straws. Brenda takes a sip of her apple juice when she says, “you are just mad because I am happy and the children will be coming with me.” Samantha chimed in, “we are not going with you.” Brenda replies, “You will go where I tell you to go.” “I am afraid that is not how this is going to work,” Richard interjected. “Why would we want to live with a man who is my birth father and has never acknowledged me in my fourteen-years on this earth?” Trina said with venom in her voice. Brenda is taken aback that Richard would take it upon himself to tell her daughter of her lineage. She immediately gets an attitude. “How dare you?” She shouted at Richard. “Look. I know that you don’t want me anymore and finally, I realize that I don’t want you either. Let’s not pretend that I violated you,” Richard announced. Brenda becomes flustered. “You think that because we are in the middle of a restaurant, I won’t curse you out here and now,” Brenda threatened. “Mommy, can you for once act like an adult and not like some school girl trying to even a score. It’s not a good look,” Trina explained. Brenda tries to ease the mind of her daughters. “Okay, I don’t know exactly what your father told you. Yes, I did cheat on him ages ago. Yes, Trina, the man that I am with now is your biological father. He only stayed away because he was afraid of your daddy’s violent temper. You think that your father is the greatest but he is scary sometimes,” Brenda exclaimed. Samantha shakes her head. Trina leans across the table when she says, “can you stop trying to be the victim? I’m bored with it already.”

The waitress returns once again with their meals, Brenda has lost her appetite and asks for a to-go box. Richard and his daughters begin eating as Brenda waits to package up her meal so that she can leave. “We need to talk about school schedules, weekends and anything else pertinent to the well-being of the children,” Richard said in between bites. Brenda continues to look for the waitress with the container she requested. Samantha and Trina behave as if their mother has already left. They chat amongst themselves as they eat. A busy boy brings the container and Brenda frantically loads her meal into it. She is huffing and puffing as she shovels the food into the Styrofoam bowl. Richard and the girls ignore her antics as they continue to enjoy their meal. She waits for them to acknowledge her, but they don’t. Brenda pushes back her chair so that the feet screech along the floor calling attention to herself. Richard, Samantha, Trina and everyone else in the restaurant stop to look at her. Brenda takes a deep breath when she says, “We’ll talk,” as she gives her family the evil eye before stomping out in a huff.

Richard and the girls finish their meal when his cell phone rings. He removes the phone from his hip and chuckles when he sees its Brenda calling. As he declines the call, he shakes his head and says under his breath, “Now the bitch wants to talk to me.” The three have crisp apple dumplings a la mode for dessert. Samantha and Trina behave as if their mother never crashed their evening out with their father. Richard is cool on the outside but roars like a victorious lion on the inside. Trina notices him puffing out his chest. “Daddy, that wasn’t cool inviting mommy without telling us,” she scolded. He pursed his lips as he nodded to agree with her view. Samantha chimes in, “did you see the look on her face when I said that they weren’t going with her? I thought she was going to explode,” she added. The three burst into laughter as Richard signals for the check. He pays for their meal, apologies for Brenda’s outburst earlier and they leave.

When Brenda arrives at home, the idea of not having Richard in her life sinks in. She enters the apartment that she shares with Bruce, slamming the door behind her in frustration. He is watching her antics, never once does he question her behavior. She goes into the kitchen, takes the food out of the bag and serves it on two plates for them to share. Bruce still says nothing as he is aware that she is waiting for him to inquire. He comes into the kitchen, bends over the plate of food and waves his hand to waffle the smell of the duck into his nostrils. As he pulls out a chair to have a seat, she blurts out what troubles her, “I saw Richard and the kids this evening. He has turned them against me. They want to stay with him. I can’t believe that he would do that to me.” Bruce sits, picks up his fork, and begins to eat. She realizes that he is not going to engage in conversation so she too eats. There is silence for the better part of thirty minutes. “We are going to co-parent and will discuss the specifics over the next few weeks,” Brenda explained in a sad voice. Bruce puts down his fork, puts his elbows on the table and looks at her from across the table. “Is not having the girls with us that big of a deal? I mean, we’ve been here for close to four months now and you seem to be happy,” Bruce questioned. “Of course, I’m happy. It is just that the plan was for the girls to be with us, not him,” Brenda quipped. “Hmm. I think you like the idea of having Richard in the background as a back-up,” Bruce surmised. “No. I hate him. My vision for us included our children. Yours and mine,” Brenda stated.

On Monday morning, Richard and his daughters continue with their normal routine. He feels like a brand new person, full of energy, hope, and ready to take on the world. His daughters practically float out to the bus stop. Everything about them feels light and airy. As he gets ready to leave for work, the house telephone rings, he answers, “Good morning. Yeah. I need to know when would be a good time to talk about children,” Brenda states solemnly. “Ah. I am trying to get out the door. Can we coordinate later?” Richard requested. “Of course, I will call back this evening,” Brenda stated. He hangs up the telephone. He skips towards his bedroom all smiles. Richard lays out a navy blue suit, a pale blue-striped shirt and a red power tie. Today he would be invincible, at least that how he saw it. He hit the nail right on the head. The red team worked through several issues getting three clients to the closing table. The blue team also managed to get as many files approved. Richard’s boss sent him an email with only two words, Great Job! All of this forward motion occurs before lunch. It was turning into one of the best days ever for him.

He leaves for lunch. Richard doesn’t have a taste for anything special so he goes to the Taco Bell across the street from the office. As he stands in line looking up at the menu, a woman barely five-foot-five-inches tall bumps into him. He looks down, the top of her head stops in the middle of his chest. She looks up to say, “Sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going.” He smiled at her and replies, “No worries” in a deep voice. The hair on the woman’s arms stands straight up as she backs away from him and walks around him. He watches as she scurries away from view. It is his turn in line. He orders two soft chicken tacos with a grape soda. The clerk fills his request and he decides to find a seat to eat there. Just as he is about to bite into one of his tacos, the same woman who bumped into him appears at his booth. “Hello again. It’s me, clumsy. I wanted to let you know that if I have scuffed your loafers I would be happy to pay for the shoe shine expense.” Richard slides his legs out from under the table to inspect his shoes. “Nope. No harm was done. Thanks for being considerate,” he said. The woman smiles and slowly walks away and that’s when he notices her. As she swayed in the distance, her body language spoke to him. He chalked it up to him being out of the game for so long that he did not recognize when a woman was flirting with him.

When he returns to his office, there are four messages on his desk and they are all from Brenda. He does not return any of them. “She wants attention that I no longer have to give,” he whispered to himself as he crumbles the pieces of paper and tosses them in the wastepaper basket. The workday continues and Richard continues to outperform. Everyone on his staff can tell that he’s in a good mood and working feverishly to surpass team goals. They rally alongside him. At four o’clock, the receptionist rings his line. “Richard here,” he answered. “Excuse me but you have a visitor in the lobby,” the receptionist said tactfully. “Uh. Okay. I will be right out,” Richard announced. He finishes a few entries into his computer, grabs his suit coat, and walk to the lobby of the company. Before he could push through the glass doors, he sees her silhouette. The shape of her, her stance and mannerism, he would know her anyway. He slows his stride. “What can I help you with?” Richard asked. Brenda turns to face him. “I am not good at leaving things unresolved. Can we just talk for a moment?” Brenda begged. He escorts her to a small conference room off the lobby. He gestures to her to have a seat. He follows. “Okay. Talk,” he insisted. “Well. I think that you should convince the girls to come with me. After all, what do you know about handling a couple of teenage girls?” Brenda queried. “I know just as much as you. Besides, they want to be in their home. A home that they know,” Richard expressed. “Fine. I would like you to talk to them about coming to spend at least one weekend a month with us,” Brenda suggested. “I can do that,” Richard replied. “I think we should both continue to go to their school events,” Brenda beckons. “I agree,” he answered. She notices that he has nothing outside of the children to discuss. He no longer concerns himself with why she chose someone else. “Okay. Thank you for your time. If you think of anything else, let me know,” she said. He gets up to lead her out of the conference room. She looks magnificent and for the first time in more than a dozen years, her appearance has no effect on him.