«CHAPTER TWO»
Virginia Beach changed a lot. The roads led to various shopping outlets and restaurants. Houses expanded upward and outward with lavish landscaping, newer high schools and businesses appeared every fifteen miles, and I relied on the street names to know my whereabouts. My feet tapped the bottom of the taxi’s floor, and my fingers joined the dance. A warm hand touched my lap. Janice cuddled up close to me and wrapped her arm around mine.
“It’s going to be all right. Your mom is going to be happy to see you.”
I hid my face and mumbled, “I am still a disappointment. I just know it. What do I say?”
“Hi, Mom,” she joked, and then said, “Say nothing.”
Failure, fear, and disappointment danced in my mind because I had been gone for so long with nothing accomplishments. The taxi took a sharp turn down a familiar street, and my heart leaped. I was almost home, and for the first time in a long time, I felt at ease. I guided the taxi driver every bit of the way as I pointed out familiar places where I used to hang out to Janice.
“There. That's where Aaron and I used to play this game called Boat.” I giggled. “We used to stand on that green box and push each other off.” I referred to the green electrical box between the alleyways of the townhouses.
Janice chuckled.
The taxi slowed down as we passed a few houses. We turned onto the block, and I watched for the crab apple tree and red fence. The taxi stopped in front of a house, an older home with no crab apple tree and with a white fence.
“We’re here.” The taxi driver tilted his head backward, and I quickly reached into my pocket for my wallet.
“You’re ready?” Janice asked.
“Umm, I am not sure.”
The taxi driver opened Janice’s door, opened the trunk, and rested our bags on the curve.
“Is everything okay?” Janice asked.
“No. I don’t think so.” The house looked completely different, so I took the letter out of my back pocket and skimmed for a new address. However, it was sent from this address.
“I’m sure everything is okay. Let’s go knock.” Janice grabbed my hand and off we went, leaving our bags on the driveway. My legs jiggled like Jell-O as the smell of newly cut grass filled my nose.
“Sir,” The taxi driver yelled at me, and I quickly turned around. The green binder slouched inside of his hands.
“Don’t want you to forget this.”
“Yes, of course. Thank you, sir.” I took it and joined Janice as she knocked. I took a deep breath, and we waited silently. We heard chatter and then a gentle touch of the doorknob.
“Who’s there?” a mature woman’s voice hummed. A big smile wiped across my face.
“Wellington,” I said with tears in my eyes.
The door latches clicked off one by one. The door swung open, and two surprised eyes stared back at me.
“My baby!” she hollered and ran into my arms. Her eyes burst with tears, and I could hardly hear anything that came out of her mouth.
“Wheatly!” she screamed into the house.
“Hi, Mom.” My nose flared, and I cried. Janice covered her mouth. Happiness and reassurance filled me.
We moved inside of the foyer between the stairs, the kitchen, and living room. “This is unexpected. Why didn’t you call? I could have prepared a meal for you and your. . . ” Mama noticed Janice and a bright smile covered her face. “I am sorry, Wellington, who is this?”
“This is . . . my girlfriend.” I stepped backward, and she hugged Janice.
“Hi, baby. How are you?” Mama asked.
“I’m fine. I am happy to be here. You have a lovely home.”
“Well, thank you. You can help me prepare lunch, and we can talk.” She guided her to the kitchen.
“Ah. Mom, be gentle and Janice . . . ” I tried to remind Janice to not say too much, but they chatted, and I hoped my career and job faded to the back of their minds. Excitement swept into me as I held the green binder tightly.
“I can do this. I know I can.” I convinced myself when a short, stocky man with brown hair and a goatee walked into the room. He wore a gray sweater and jeans. He stood there with his arms crossed over his powerful chest and with a stone-cold face.
However, I smiled. I smiled big. Happiness flickered inside me as if I had butterflies dancing in my stomach. “Wheatly? You are grown.” I stepped back to check out my little brother.
He raised an eyebrow trying to maintain his mean composure, but soon his cheeks spread revealing his white teeth. I gave him a long overdue hug. We wept and sniffled.
“I’m sorry for sending you all those hate letters. I was mad that you just left and never looked back.”
“No. . . I deserved all twenty-five of them. I missed you,” I admitted.
“You didn’t act like it.” Wheatly wiped with the back of his hand. “But I understand why you did it. It’s better than being here.”
“No. There is no excuse to not return home for all these years.”
“Yes. You’re a scientist that cures people. That’s amazing.”
I released him and said, “Ah, Wheatly I know when I left, I promised that I will be. . . well, I’m—I am not exactly.” I lifted the green binder up and said, “I am working on doing that now.”
He rested his hand on my shoulder. “Wellington. You’ll always be my hero because you take chances and always kept your promises.” He patted me on the shoulder and walked into the kitchen. My heart sucked into my stomach. I flipped through the green binder while my mind raced with memories of Israel, but I re-focused my thoughts on the delicious, southern, homemade food that Mama and Janice started to prepare and the nicely decorated living room, which seemed smaller than I remembered.
It was the only place where our family came together to decompress from the day, putting our differences and worry aside. Wheatly and I would sit on the green carpet that had now been replaced by brown hardwood floors. I tapped my foot against it and wondered how anyone could be comfortable sitting on it to watch television. The couch had been replaced with leather, which was more comfortable than the old fabric couch.
However, I missed the old white fabric with printed flowers decorations. I stretched my arms to the ceiling. My hands touched it. I walked over to the pictures displayed on the wall, bigger to smaller. One was of Wheatly and me at our school’s science fair and the other of us outside digging in my garden. Dad held a shovel in his hand, wearing a sunhat that halfway covered his face.
Mama held an award in one photo while standing next to an older man dressed in a suit. His arms wrapped around her and they cheesed for the camera. However, before I could get more in depth in thought, I saw the black-and-white photo that Pastor Patrick took of Dad, Wheatly, Aaron, and me in Israel. My heart fluttered as I remembered how simple life was back then and how motivated I was to discover a plant at that camping site.
Comments (0)
See all