The Decks and the Road
book 1- Freeborn
Chapter 8
Erilyn- My Husband was a strong and handsome
man. He had so much heart. I knew he still had heart for me, but I didn’t
know how much. We were happy to have
each other, but I don’t know if we were happy with each other anymore. I saw him every day, but I wasn’t sure if he
saw me. We danced around each other,
sometimes we bumped into each other, other times we pecked each other on the
lips, and we always slept together, but the distance between us continued to
grow. I knew the secret I held had
always kept me at a distance, but I didn’t know if all the distance between us
was my own. Over the years it grew. It felt as though it was too big now to
close, and now that Natalie didn’t need us as much, even she looked
uncomfortable with it. Each of us looked
at it, thought about it, and probably in our own mind examined it, but none of
us dared to go near it. Anyway, I had
too much respect for my husband and the way he had fought for me when his
father was alive, to tell him I was thinking about leaving. Instead, each day I passed the purple cat
shaped card I’d picked up in the bathroom at Jennifer’s engagement party, and
thought about calling the number. It’s
funny, Nathan never seemed to take notice or mention the card, even after so
long. After all that wasn’t so
surprising. Nathan was not
bothersome. He was like this quiet
entity you knew you could count on. I
didn’t want someone else; I just wanted a different feeling. Sometimes I wanted to shake him and say wake
up, but he was too big, and I was too small.
The family name alone could crush me, and it did. Everyone knew I wasn’t his wife, and in
public I was referred to as Nathan’s lady.
It just felt like anyone could have that title—although, his actions
said different. He tried. We’d tried.
I don’t know… it had worn me down.
If I could hide my face, at times I would. This day, I decided to put the card in my
purse. I hadn’t decided on calling, but
I felt like the move meant progress. Anyway,
we had a lot to be proud of in Natalie.
She was smart and beautiful. She
was always in her own world, but her world was not small. She only mingled with a couple of girls, but
they all had big goals and lots of commitments.
I enjoyed standing aside and watching her put her life together; even at
this age. It was impressive. I hardly got in her way, and she never seemed
to need much advice on anything. Even as
a child. I always made her breakfast
though. It was just a little thing we
did together. Sometimes we didn’t speak,
but we came and we sat, and our hearts knew what we were saying. I was always the last to leave out in the
mornings, and this day when I left, I thought maybe I’d go somewhere after
work. It wasn’t etched in stone. It was just a thought.
Chapter 9
Dr. Kat Shepherd- I met a guy at a funeral. Hopefully, he’s thinking, “I met a girl at a
funeral”, because I don’t have his number.
Well, he is more than just a guy.
I actually know more about him than he would probably like for me to
know. It wasn’t supposed to be a
thing. I was just following the
protocols. Then his eyes started dancing, and his face started smiling, and
none of them wanted to stop. I think my
heart wandered a bit on this one. I’m
not sure if I have it back with me yet.
I didn’t have time to fully consider these things. Mr. Simpleton was coming in. I always needed all my faculties to work with
him. He came fully loaded with more
wisdom than answers. I sometimes felt as
though we would switch places. He made
my questions seem small. I still didn’t
know why he came. I knew something about
his family and an inheritance. After
many months this was still all I really had.
Anyway, I was trying to relax for the remaining fifteen minutes I had
before he was scheduled to come in.
Thirty minutes with Mr. Simpleton was like a day in the sun doing
construction work. It was more than I
had prepared for the first time I met him, but now I knew not to pack my
schedule the evening before his days or the hours after he left. I’d tried to get rid of him by raising my
prices, but he didn’t blink or ask any questions. So, I had turned my attention on what I could
learn from Mr. Simpleton because certainly he felt he had a lot to share. Five minutes hadn’t even passed since I’d sat
down, and then I got a knock at the door.
My receptionist informing me; Mr. Simpleton had arrived. And that was the other thing, why couldn’t he
wait. He always came early, but didn’t
seem to acknowledge that fact. He
expected to be seen right away. I had
learned not to combat his antics. No, it
took too much energy from me. So, I got
up, and washed my face in my adjoining restroom. I needed to be fully awake for this.
“Good
day Mr. Simpleton. Come on in.”
“Hey
Kat. How’s it going?” He acted as if we were friends.
“Great. How was your weekend?” I went along.
“Great. Couple of my buddies came down. Had a blast.”
He took his place on the sofa with his legs stretched out. I took the moment his back was turned to shake
my head.
“Okay,
so let’s continue down the path with your brother. Have either of you taken a step towards
meeting in the middle?”
“Kat,
sometimes the middle is a luxury the ego cannot afford.” He offered with no follow up.
“And
what is your definition of a luxury Mr. Simpleton?” I had to try.
“Well,
luxuries are the throwaways, you know.
The stuff you don’t need.”
“Do
you feel your brother is a luxury?”
“I
wouldn’t say that. There are always
things we don’t throw away, but we never seem to use them or remember where we’ve
put them.” He was so laid back; so
unreachable. Yet, he spoke so much. It was puzzling to me. But I sometimes enjoyed putting my money to
work and testing my knowledge and capabilities.
“What
is the outcome you would like to see in this matter Mr. Simpleton?” I’d tried this question before, but I thought
to try again.
“Well,
you know Kat, if we’re set on the outcome we miss the whole journey.” He laid back with a blue rag he always
brought with him covering his face.
“Right,
and how would you describe the issue you’re facing with your brother right now?”
“Well,
I tell you, I haven’t reached my end yet.
He’s a fighter. We both are. I suspect we’ll both fight on.”
“If
there was another route you might take, what would it be Mr. Simpleton?”
“This
road is in pretty fair condition, but I’m not opposed to other roads.” He may not have heard the question. I don’t know.
He was impossible. I glimpsed up
at the clock and only eight minutes had passed.
I reach into my bottom draw and pulled out my favorite paper
weight. It always brought me joy, and
got me thinking about all the bliss that awaited me outside of my meetings with
Mr. Simpleton. I was officially at the
point where I would begin thinking of things I might learn from him.
“Tell
me about growing up with your brother?”
Now I’d met silence. He was
thinking. It was the magic question I
thought, and I was right.
“My
brother and I have been in contention for a long time… “ I listened and listened, and before I knew
it, my alarm sounded. I was relieved,
but more importantly I had grown up in my field. Mr. Simpleton had taken me down a trying
road, only to bring me to wisdom. All of
a sudden, I thought about God. I thought
how he was using this man. I also
thought about the invite he’d given me again, and the purple card. What if Mr. Simpleton had a bigger role to
play than I’d considered? I was
intrigued. This time after he left I
didn’t feel so abused and beat up. This
time I made lots of notes, and when my next client showed up I wished I’d
scheduled a bigger gap.
Freeborn, a novel
Freeborn
© Grace Call Communications,
LLC
Copyright © 2017
by Natisha Renee Williams
All rights reserved
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