Written by Mercedes Keyes
Interracial drama series
[Overall] Rated R

Chapter 46

 

"Aaah, hell, she's pissed," Shawn muttered as he lay on the bed of the motel they'd booked into. A tiff over the living arrangements ensued. Sylvia went silent, and refused to answer anything more or carry on the discussion from the moment he "tried" to put his foot down and have the last word, which didn't seem to work as simply as he would have liked. He had to use the bathroom, which she knew. The moment he opened the door, she'd pushed her way in with her bag, charged into the bathroom, slammed the door and locked it, where she presently occupied as he lay back on the bed, calling her to come out and let him use the bathroom. His legs were shaking, one hand at his forehead, the other scratching his belly.

"Sylvia…come on! I gotta pee, darlin'!" He dug his head back into the mattress yelling, grinning and rubbing his tired eyes. He tried to wait it out and called his family, telling them that they were there and staying in town at the Hills Roadside Motel. He promised them that they would be there first thing in the morning. Everyone was so excited about finally meeting Sylvia.

"Aaah, man! Sylvia! Woman, let me in that bathroom!" He tried once more, using his best demanding voice.

"I'm not done yet…you wait!" she finally responded to him.

"Wait hell! You did this on purpose!" he finished, muttering loud enough for her to hear him. "I'm telling you—you better open that door! Stubborn-mean-ass!"

"I heard you! Now—you can just go piss up a tree!" she ordered spitefully.

Shawn burst out laughing. "Aaah, hell…God, this woman…don't make me break that door down!" he threatened in his gruffest voice.

"Go t'hell, Shawn!"

"Hey! Watch that! You don't tell your future husband to go to hell!" he barked, laughing and trying to sound serious, but all he could do was grin and shake his legs. "Baby, please…I have to pee!" he reminded her. She went silent and said nothing. Shawn leaned up, looking at the dark brown wood-panelled door. "Goddamn women…can't live with them—SYLVIA!" he shouted, sitting all the way up.

"Quit shouting like you crazy, Shawn, for somebody hear you!" she hissed from inside the bathroom.

Shawn stood, walked to the bathroom door, his long arms stretched above his head, grasping the door frame as he leaned his ear against the door, trying to listen to what she was doing. The water was running, bad idea. "Aaaaah, baby…I gotta pee, come on…please?" He groaned. "You gonna make me piss my pants!" he warned her.

"There are trees out there," she returned.

"Sylvia! I am not pissing up some goddamn tree! Now open this door!"

His pleas were met with silence. Shawn did a dancing fit, very reminiscent of a tantrum. "Sylvia! You're asking for it! Don't make me break this door in!"

"Shawn McPherson! You can kiss my black ass! I'll come out when I get ready! You ain't gone be tellin' me what to do," she mumbled low, but he heard her.

"I'll kiss that black ass all right! You know I will…right after I spank it blue! You pushin' it!" he warned.

More silence…he whimpered and did his dance again. "Baby, pul-leeease—let me in. We'll talk about it some more. If you give me a chance, I got a really good idea. While you were giving me the stubborn silent treatment, I was thinking up one helluva solution, but you got to let me in to hear it."

"What solution?" she asked.

"I'll tell you all about it, if you let me in the bathroom," he promised.

"You ain't thought up nothin'! You just want me to open this door."

"Baby…I'm serious…I've got a really good idea, two really good ideas," he promised.

"Lemme hear'em, and I may open the door," she responded, leaning on it from the other side listening to him.

"One: Let me build you a brand new home—using mine as the base for it—but you can choose the layout and everything…it can look just the way you want it to, and as you know, there's enough land there to make it as big as we want it." He had her attention.

"Hmmm, go on…and the second idea?" she asked.

Shawn was dancing with his legs twisted. "You can use your house as your own personal home business! We'll fix it up, five star quality, as a bed and breakfast! You'll run it! We'll do seasons for the area and the whole nine yards! Sylvia!" Her name came as an urgent plea from panic.

The door came open, she stepped aside as he rushed in, knocked her bag to the floor, tossed up the seat and whipped it out, leaning a hand against the wall above the toilet and started pissing a river. The pleasure of relief was clear with his sigh and smile, eyes closed dreamily as he went.

"You splashing that seat! Better clean it up!" Sylvia pointed out, grinning to herself when she heard his low throat growl at her. She grabbed her bag from the floor and went into the room to leave him still peeing in the bathroom. She'd changed into a little slinky hot pink number…satin, soft, and her favorite cut to mid-thigh sleeper. She was sexy as hell in it and knew it. The thin spaghetti straps and clinging fabric was sheer shimmer-perfection for showing off her shapely legs, strong thighs and ample butt. It hung just enough past her bottom to do the job it was intended to do.

Shawn wiped up the toilet and flushed and washed his hands afterwards. Leaning back, he stared out the door at her as she pulled the covers back on the bed, looking like a pink-wrapped chocolate candy treat that he definitely wanted some of. She kept her eyes away from him, bit into her lip, fighting down her grin of victory. Her mind clicking over the idea of a newly-built home, and then…the prospect of turning hers into a bed and breakfast; the thought had never entered her mind. But now that it had, it didn't take her fertile imagination long to see the wonderful possibilities of it.

"So…you gonna hear me out now?" Shawn asked, standing in the doorway, shucking his clothing down to his briefs.

"I'm listening." She opened the floor and glanced up at him fighting back a grin.

"You little…hellion!" he announced, springing across the room to pounce on her, tossing her to the bed as she squealed out laughing while he tickled her, she squealed even louder, turning and rolling with tears running from her eyes as he punished her, hitting all of her ticklish spots until she was laying on her stomach laughing and crying, begging for mercy. The little slinky top had ridden up and exposed her bottom, clad only in the matching pink bikini panties. Shawn shifted positions quickly and before she knew it, she was over his lap with her butt up and out, right where he wanted it.

"Shawn! What are you doing?" she cried out.

"Yeah! Got your lil' black ass right where I want it now, baby! Want me to kiss it, hmm?" he was threatening; his hand high over it, holding her there with his upper body and strong arm across her back.

"Shawn…don't…I'm sorry…I'm sorry!" she squealed out, laughing, but worried he would really hit her. Her butt was tender; one thing she didn't want was one of his big hands slapping her rump.

"Yeah! Talking all that stuff! Go t'hell! Kiss m'black ass! Em hm!" The way he said it made Sylvia laugh even harder, even though he held her in a vulnerable position. "Yeah…who the man in charge now?"

"You, baby! You in charge!" she whimpered, trying to bite back laughter.

"That's right! Who the man here?" he asked.

"You da' man, baby! That be you!" she was quick to respond.

"That's right…and you da' woman! One with one…sweet…sweet black ass—yes indeed!" he finished, stroking over her bottom admiringly. "Definitely gonna kiss this later," he promised huskily, his hand massaging her smooth round cheeks. He took a really deep breath and shook a bit to snap himself out of it.

Sylvia was turned on as he finally turned her, sitting her on his lap, staring into her eyes. "You are so fuckin' sexy—do you know that? And your ass…is perfect! Emph!" he declared low and huskily, his eyes told her all she needed to know, coupled with the growing activity beneath her bottom. "Shawn…" she whimpered. "I wanna talk about this—building a new house and…this bed and breakfast idea—I hadn't thought of that."

"Let me get into this lil' pink number with you first." He flexed his brows.

Sylvia was grinning. "No, Shawn, we need to finish our little discussion first."

His legs were moving beneath her, opening and closing with slight up-thrusts of his hips, an erection was clearly making him uncomfortable. "Look…we can finish that afterwards—you see how you got me? You knew what you were doing, parading around in front of me with this on." he chastised her while his hand crept underneath the hem of it to slowly snake up her belly to one of her breasts, his fingertips encountered the nipple of, it was instantly sensitive to his touch and hardened up. He began kissing at the column of her neck, warm, soft pecks where he sucked in a bit of skin, letting his tongue touch along the way.

"Sha-awn! Nooo, I'm a bit sore there," she whispered, growing excited by his attention to her despite it.

"I'll go slow. I'll be careful…" he promised, still working on her.

"Nooo, I don't feel like it."

"Please?"

"Sha-awn!"

"Come on, Sylvie…I'll make it quick. Come on, give me a quickie," he pleaded. Sylvia giggled. She really was sore, and although he turned her on, she didn't feel like making love. With him it was never quick; they'd yet to make love—one time—that was less than forty-five minutes. Most of the time, it would be an hour before he finished with her. She regretted putting on the little number now, had only done it to tease him, because the original plan was to ignore him and make him suffer with her silence and seeing her in the sure-fire nightie. Now, here they were talking, laughing and he was turned on to the max.

"No, Shawn," she said, pushing up from his lap, he was trying to hold onto her. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait—come here. Aaah, come on, now…don't leave me like this," he begged.

"Shawn, you want sex too much!" she accused.

"Too much! How do you figure that? I only get it every now and then! It's not like I get it everyday!"

"And you ain't gone get it everyday, either!"

That stood him up from the bed. "Bullshit! If I want it everyday…what you put that on for then?"

"Because! I wasn't speaking to you then! You made me mad, so I put this on!"

"Yeah! That makes perfect sense!" he grumbled and pointed at her. "You look here, right now, woman! I'm a man with needs! And you…you turn me on! Look at that…" He pointed down at himself. "How am I suppose to sleep with that?"

Sylvia looked from his eyes down to his bulging briefs, the sight made her laugh.

"Oh, you think it's funny."

"I'm sorry, Shawn, but…it looks so…so funny—stickin' out like that. Put it away!"

"I want to—but you're not cooperating—now are you? And I'm telling you right now, I'm not going to be rationed! Holding out on the chocolates—"

Sylvia lost it, cracking up at the look on his face. "Chocolates?" She was shaking her head.

"Laugh all you want to! I need my chocolates! I will not be deprived! This is your fault! Putting that thing on!" he accused.

"Shawn…as if it would have mattered! Don't matter what I have on—you get—a hard on."

"Oh, so it's my fault you turn me on? My fault because I keep imagining you in all these…positions that we haven't tried yet."

"See! See—that's what I mean! You too old to still be after some nookie like that!"

"It's only your nookie that has me this way! Too old hell! A man is only as old as he feels; I'm good for at least fifteen more years. Now…come on, now…let me touch you up a little bit, I promise I'll be quick."

"You ain't touchin' nothin' tonight! We're talking!"

"That's not right! You suppose to take care of this!"

Sylvia couldn't help herself, she started laughing at him again because he was serious, begging for a piece. "Well let's finish our talk first, and maybe afterwards I'll feel like it."

Shawn whimpered, tromped to the bed, and threw himself back against the headboard. "Okay, come on, hurry up—let's talk about it!"

"Don't rush me!"

"Well, come on," he pleaded.

She was climbing onto the bed, and stopped to put her hand on her hip. "Do you want some or not?"

"That mean you gonna give up the chocolates if I do?"

"It depends! If you talking and rushing through our discussion just to get some—you ain't gettin' none! But if you take your time, show that you're really interested, and participate in the discussion as vigorously as you show such vigor and vim—for other things—then, I may give you some. A quickie."

"If I have to talk, I don't want no quickie!" He crossed his arms over his chest and sat back, sulking.

"Shawn! It's just a piece of nookie! Same thing gonna happen with it this time, as what happened the last time you had it. Think about that."

"I do…that's why I'm sitting here like this now!"

"Shawn, don't you ever get tired of it?"

"Not when it comes to you. With you…hell, I'm thinking about the next time the minute we're done with the present time!"

Sylvia sat in the middle of the bed and sighed, shaking her head at him, thinking, Big-ass, grown-ass man sitting here sulking and begging for some tail!

"Well?" he asked.

"My goodness, Shawn, okay—but not until after we've talked!"

His bright white grin was back in place.

"So tell me, first…what about this new house?"

"I'll build you one. Simple as that. You get to design it—of course, I get some say in it, too—but, ummm, it's your home, you'll be running it. All I ask for, is three rooms that are mine out of it. My room for working out. My studio for work—I'd like a dark room for developing my own photos, and of course, where I paint. And then a man's room! I want my games—"

"What games?" she asked, curious; she didn't remember him playing any games.

"I got games. I have a PlayStation with loads of games. I haven't had time to unpack it, yet, but I have it."

"Where? I unpacked all of your stuff."

"It's in the basement. So…I want a man's playroom—pool table, bar, huge-ass TV for sports when I have my friends and brothers up. That's what I want."

"Baby, I have most of that now in the other house," she pointed out.

"I want it in our home—not that home! We should keep everything that's there for our guests. We'll modernize your three bathrooms up to four-star-hotel standard. We'll modernize the kitchen and close it up a bit, so you have it to prepare, at the very least, breakfast for your guests. You have the master bedroom on the main floor, with the two other smaller ones. Then the one in the basement. That's a good deal to work with. Your big living room and dining room is perfect, but you're going to want to decorate it more impressively."

He went on, and Sylvia was in imagination heaven. She was in complete agreement with everything he'd said so far. She loved nothing more than decorating and renovating, her mind was ticking over like crazy with all that she could do to really lay that house out to make it so there was a waiting list to stay there.

"You with me so far?" he asked.

"Definitely! I have to give it to you, babe…I love the idea!"

"Good…because you know all the wasted space behind the garage off your kitchen?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…I'm gonna build all of that in; that will be your office. And that's a really big garage! Right above that, we'll add another living area for a single couple. Make it really nice, so then you can book a family and a half, and a single couple. They'll have the living room and the dining room, because I'm going to shift that kitchen just enough for you to cook and set up a breakfast bar. Then we'll set up four nice-size tables for them to sit and have their breakfast. In the basement, they'll have the big screen TV. I'll run the bar down there for them; it already has a pool table, and we'll put in a card table, and a PlayStation set-up for the kids. This way, they can bring their favorite game and play."

Sylvia was so excited, she stood from the bed, pacing with the racing images of how nice she could make it. "Shawn! This is such an incredible idea! Do you know we'll be booked all the time! We're a forty-five minute drive from Wisconsin Dells! Every summer season, they are overbooked and people can't find a place to stay!"

"Thank you! That's what I'm talking about, sweetheart! We'll take that land around your house, and put a little tennis court in one area, a sandbox play area in the back with a jungle gym, swings—the whole nine yards…clear some of the trees away and put a pool in there!"

"Oh, my God, Shawn! Yes! That is going to be awesome! Oh, my goodness! I am going to lay that place out! In the winter, we got skiing!"

Shawn was smiling to see her so excited, as he nodded in agreement. "However, I'm telling you now, we're only going to book for so many weeks each season. For instance, summer: June, July and August only! We're closed September, October, November, December. We open January, February for skiing, and close back up to do whatever needs done for the summer again. And we need time for ourselves, and whatever trips to L.A. or elsewhere I may need to travel. When I go, you and the kids come as well…so let's get that clear right now, fair?"

Smiling, Sylvia sat back on the bed nodding. "Fair enough. I think that's a good idea. I'm so excited, I wanna start planning it right now! You think I should do a midday spread as well?"

"You can make out brochures and request tickets for guests who wish to have breakfast and lunch—even dinner, if you think you want to. Some will be happy with just breakfast, because they'll be away from the place most of the day and will probably have dinner out, but you never know."

"Oh, Shawn! It's gotta be the bomb, baby! I mean—perfection! Coordinated decor and flow, tranquil relaxing colors. Oh, and my fireplace! Can we make it a bit bigger?"

"It's an investment, sweetheart…if we're going to make a success of it, we need to do it right the first time."

"Yes! Ooh, baby…" she whimpered saucily, "Yeah…you know you gone get'cha some, now, don'tcha? Em hm, you got me in a serious mood, now!"

Shawn threw his head back and barked out laughing as Sylvia crawled over to him, laying him down as she laid on top of him, looking down into his eyes. "So…papa done good?" He was grinning, already knowing the answer. Sylvia indulged him. "Oh, yeah, papa done real good." And proceeded to work him for the next hour, expressing how good. She was pumped with energy, and once again, that much deeper in love with the man.

*   *   *

 

{{ Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam…}}

 

Sylvia bolted up, crying out. Shawn sprang up from the bed, naked, with his heart racing, going to the door. "What the fuck! Who the…" Then he heard the laughter. He turned to Sylvia. "You better head for the bathroom, this could get ugly," he stated with grinding teeth, putting his briefs on. Sylvia stood, taking the sheet with her to wrap around herself, shaking her head. She grabbed her bag on the way to the bathroom to get dressed.

Back at the door, he snatched it open, looking at his youngest brother, Jake, who was still laughing and holding his stomach. Doris was sitting in the pick-up truck shaking her head at him. Shawn waved at her, then turned to his brother. "You would have looked mighty stupid if it hadn't been us in this room!" he reprimanded. He then heard Sylvia throwing up in the bathroom. "Stupid ass, you startled Sylvia, now she's in the bathroom throwing up, asshole! It's six in the goddamn morning!"

"Aaah, I'm sorry…I couldn't help it, man. You should have had your ass up! We up! Been up half the night tapping the trees!"

"Aaah shit! The sap rush! Is a lot coming up?" Shawn asked, standing in the open door with only his briefs on, not a care in the world.

"Brother…two days straight—mom and dad got us working our asses off! Dad said to come by here and wake you up. There's work to be done; I'm on my way to the IGA to pick up some stuff! You best get moving."

"Okay…soon as Sylvia's ready, we'll be at the house."

"Sorry, Sylvia!" Jake called passed his brother, "I'm Shawn's brother—the asshole who scared the hell out of you—I'll see you at the house!"

"Are you crazy, Jake, yelling like that this early in the morning?" Shawn asked, the expression on his face reflecting that maybe he was.

"Yeah, he crazy, Shawn, you know he ain't got no sense!" Doris called from the truck, leaning out of the window.

"Nobody's around here! Hell, y'all the only ones in the whole goddamn motel! Why didn't you just come out to the house? Sleep over like the rest of us?"

"Umm, do you mind? I just as soon not stand here in the door talking to you with my briefs on. We'll be at the house, like I said…now go to the store!" Shawn ordered, no improvement to the expression on his face. Jake was unfazed and still grinning. "Bye, Sylvia! Meet you at the house!"

Frowning at his brother, who was trotting back to the truck grinning, Shawn closed the door.

The two brothers, oldest and youngest, had very similar features, while their coloring was different. Jake, like his other brother and sisters, all had their father's coloring, blondes to brunettes. He and Shawn were the only two of the boys  with their mother's features, and of the girls, Shanna. Many swore Jake was the better looking of the two, standing their father's height of 6'3, Shawn being the shortest of the brothers and the stockiest. While Shawn loved his brothers and sisters with a passion, this one got on his nerves. Growing up, they'd had a many fights with Shawn always the victor, as the oldest and most aggressive. Shawn had always been a fighter in school and at home, quick to hit. Jake always tried to be as tough, but usually ended up needing his brothers to get him out of scrapes. If Shawn and Jake weren't into it, then Shawn and Kathy Ann, his younger sister, were. They loved each other, but they just didn't like each other, never had. The ones he got along with—with minimal arguments—were Derrick, and the baby girl of the family, Shanna.

Shawn knocked softly at the door. "Sylvie? You okay, babe?"

She was clearing her throat, splashing her face over the sink after puking her guts up.

"Can I come in, sweetie?" he asked.

"Yeah," she gasped, rinsing her mouth out. Shawn opened the door. "Aaah, babe…I'm sorry. Jake 'the jerk' has struck again," he kidded. Sylvia chuckled despite her nausea. "All I can say, honey, is get ready to meet the family. Remember, you can choose your friends, but not your family. They are quite the mix, believe me, they are."

"I'll be okay. I think it was the sudden rush of getting up and it just came up."

She stood from the sink with the sheet still wrapped around herself, Shawn pulled her into his arms for a hug. "I'll be glad when this morning sickness passes for you. I really do hate to see you so ill like this." He kissed her forehead, then her nose. "We better get in the shower and get dressed. The saps running," he informed her.

"What is that all about?" she asked, still in his arms, looking up at him.

"My parents have a really nice stock of maple trees, black and sugar maples—the best kind. This time of the year, with a temperature flip from freezing to warmth, causes the sap to rise really fast. We tap the trees, hang buckets to catch the sap and start a major boil up, making  the best pure maple syrup you'll ever have. I do mean, delicious. Mom always does a huge breakfast, making pancakes and waffles, so we can sit up in the field and eat while we work at boiling and straining it. You're gonna love it."

"Wow…real maple syrup?"

"The real thing! No artificial crap, aaah, man…wait until you have mom's breakfast: Hot cakes, sausage, bacon—she usually throws in a bunch of other stuff as well—with juice and coffee! My mouth's watering, baby…we gotta get going."

 

It was 7:45 when Shawn's motorcycle crested the top road above the valley of his family's home. Leaving the motel in town, viewing the area had Sylvia in love with almost everything she saw. For the summer, his hometown would be a wonderful place to live, however, winters were another story entirely. Hillsboro was aptly named. Not one street was flat. All of them were undulating, with sharp sudden curves. Shawn made her squeal twice when they went up a hill where she couldn't see which way the road was going until they were on top of it heading down, then it made an immediate left curve. She squeezed him tightly, thankful her stomach was empty, because she would have messed his back and good. With all the hills and valleys, farmland, plowed fields, farms, barns and grain silos dotting the landscape near and far, the roads peaking and dipping made it easy for the eye to survey far in the distance, she could only view it in wonder.

"How you doing, sweetie?" Shawn asked as he slowed a bit to not make her sick with so many elevation changes.

"I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster ride, the worse kind."

He chuckled, understanding. "But it's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is…there's no denying that."

When they reached the road of his parent's home and farmland, they came to rest on the top edge of the valley bowl, a spot in the road that gave a perfect vantage point. Shawn paused so Sylvia could look down and into the distance. "That's home, baby," he announced with pride. Sylvia gasped. "Oh, my goodness! Oh, Shawn…look at it! You grew up living there? Oh, my god…living here!" Trying to take in the wonder of it, she admitted, "I'm so envious of you. You don't know how fortunate you were." The sight took her breath away.

"You know, I stop here every time I come home. I've always paused just to take it all in. Even when I was really young and walking home from school, I'd stop as my brothers and sister played around and charged ahead. Shanna was the one who always stopped and stood here with me, holding my hand. She'd never say a thing, but would look as I did, patiently waiting for me to get over my awe of it."

"I can definitely see why."

On the edge of saying that, there was a flash from the house that sat in the valley floor in the distance. Shawn grinned. "We've been spotted." He chuckled. "We better get down there; if my eyes don't deceive, that would be Shanna, Sasha, and Angela." He laughed, Sylvia smiled and hung on as they finished the journey to his home. The road curved to the right and went on for a quarter of a mile, leading them down and then dipped steeply, sucking the breath from Sylvia as she clung tightly once again. Pulling into the yard, Sylvia's heart was pounding. The house was a massive wood and brick colonial mish-mash-style farmhouse, with two levels connecting to a low long building that connected to another wing that rose up two levels, as if it had been added on. Partially surrounding it was a huge porch sweeping around the front and disappearing around the side. Sylvia kept swallowing over and over, fighting back emotions. Her entire young life, she'd dreamed of living this way. Out in the country. A huge farmhouse, a massive front porch. Barns and outbuildings, the smell of animals, and the sounds of chickens. Making it worse was the sound of a cockerel crowing. It gripped her from within, and she was embarrassed because she was becoming overwhelmed by it all. She could do nothing to prevent the tears from rushing to her eyes. The motorcycle came to a stop in front of the house, she immediately smiled seeing an excited Angela jumping up and down, happy to see them, and then Shawn's youngest sister Shanna. She was Sylvia's height and build. Long, full, sensational strawberry blonde hair blowing in the wind. There was a young Ann Margaret look about her. She was stunning, with a huge smile; wearing shades, shielding her eyes.

"Shawn, Shawn! Oh, Shawn!" At her excited greeting, Shawn kicked down the stand and cut the engine, grinning broadly as he took his helmet off. He stood, bringing his long leg from the bike and turned to help Sylvia off. She stood, removing her helmet, fluffing her hair as his sister leaped into his arms. Angela was grinning from ear to ear as she ran to Sylvia. "I'm so glad you and my dad came, Sylvia! I've been having so much fun!"

"Oh, my goodness! I don't blame you! Isn't this exciting, what have you been doing?" Sylvia asked, happy that her moment had passed and her eyes dried as she laughed at Angela's excited chatter, looking from Angela to Sasha, catching bits of Shawn's and Shanna's happy reunion.

"Oh, Shawn! I'm so glad you've moved back home! So glad." Shanna was almost on the verge of tears as she hugged her oldest brother. Shawn was hugging her, feeling exactly the same. He finally lowered her to the ground, smiling down at her as she was up at him. "Look at you! Still looking good, lil' girl!" Shawn complimented, reaching out to remove her shades. "No, Shawn!" But it was too late; he had them away from her face. Embarrassed, she grabbed them from him and turned away to put them back on, but not before he and Sylvia caught sight of her healing black eyes. One of which, the white of it was blood-filled.

Shawn was frozen in shock, suspended in disbelief at what he'd seen. The other kids of the house were stirring, getting dressed and coming out on the porch. Shawn couldn't move. Shanna turned back to him. "Shawn…" She swallowed.

"How did that happen? Someone do that to you?" he asked firmly.

"It's okay, Shawn. It's over; it happened for the last time. I'm back home now, we're getting a divorce."

"You mean to tell me, that bastard's been beating on you?"

"I left him, Shawn. I left him for good this time."

"I'm telling you, now—I see'im, I'm drilling my foot up his ass clean to my thigh." he warned.

"Shawn, please…it's over now. I'm home—he can't hurt me anymore. I finally had enough and came to my senses." She smiled and stroked her brother's arm, then turned to Sylvia with a huge smile. "Hi! I'm Shanna, Shawn's baby sister, I'm so happy to finally meet you!"

Sylvia forced a smile, she was also stunned. Completely empathetic, without having his sister say a word, she knew what she was going through. She hugged her back, the greeting was warm, the start of a bond that would lock them tight as friends.

"Where's everyone at?" Shawn asked as two of Derrick's boys came out of the house; his look-a-like Shawn2 and Joseph, their five year old, calling out to him, "Hi, Tio Shawn!"

He grinned, winking at them, they did the same, greeting Sylvia with her smiling and waving. Angela was standing before her father now, hugging his waist as he bent and kissed her head.

"They all up at the maple pit. I came down to bring the kids and get some stuff what we need," she informed them; just then, they heard the gator arrive. It was Shawn's mom and dad in the John Deere utility vehicle, a small work wagon-like golf cart they used to ride all over their land. Shawn turned, smiling big; Sylvia's stomach leapt into her throat to finally see the two people responsible for her man's existence. Immediately …she knew the woman was Shawn's mother. The most mischievous grin she had ever seen flashed at her, loaded with excitement and a big warm welcome.

"Oh, my goodness! Bart, would you just look at her!" she cheered excitedly, sitting beside her husband as he pulled up next to them. She only had eyes for Sylvia. "Look at you! I'mo get me my lil' brown grandbaby for sure now! Just look at her! Lord'a'mercy Jesus…come here, chile, and give me a hug! Don't be shy! Hell—I been waiting on you a long time, now!"

Shawn was laughing at his mother, Shanna was grinning. "Mama, isn't she just as pretty as she can be!"

Only the brown of Sylvia's skin saved her from the others seeing how heavily she was blushing, her face was on fire. But there wasn't an ounce of hesitation on Gert's part to hop to the ground and pull Sylvia into her arms for a tight, strong hug."Has my Shawn been treatin' you right? 'Cause if he not, you just call me or Bart! We'll be on his ass like flies on a skunk turd!" she announced. Shawn threw his head back, laughing deep and loud.

"Now, mama, don't start!"

She was overwhelming to say the least. Sylvia had to snap to; she'd been alone for so long, and having to deal with only her mother from time to time, it was startling to be in the midst of such strong personalities. "Thank you for letting me know that. I'm certain that now…I won't be having any problems," Sylvia assured her, smiling and hugging her again in return, next turning her eyes to the famous, Bartholomew Jacob McPherson. Immediately, Sam Elliot rushed to Sylvia's mind. This was a big man, rather tall, with a full head of grey hair. Tall, solid, very masculine—very rugged— a slight barrel chest, and direct eyes. Sylvia gulped as he walked over to her, no smile on his face, just an intense study of her. He stopped right before her, put his big fists to his hips; he was wearing overalls and shirt, then reached up scratching his head, pushing back his duck bill cap.

"Well, now, young lady…what you got to say for yourself? You look to be pretty smart; what you doing with that one of m'boys?"

He asked it so seriously, that Sylvia gulped, not sure how to take him.

"Dad! It's 'cause just as you said, she's a smart woman." Shawn informed him, walking up to her to put his arms around her, squeezing her to him.

"Emmm, and when you two gone say your vows? Shawn tells us you've gone and let him knock you up."

Sylvia gasped and Shawn, used to his family, only stood taller.

"Yes! That's my boy! Yes indeed!" his mother cheered, her husband looked over at her.

"Gert…" he called to her. Her glance to him was filled with cheesing with excitement.

"It's mighty early in the morning."

"The earlier the better, dry bone! Come on, Sylvia! You gonna have to change, sweetheart; you can't be wearing them nice things for what we gone be doing, come on in the house." Gert took her by the wrist and pulled her away from Bart, who was still standing there looking Sylvia over. Sylvia was burning up inside, stunned, and wrestling with the thought of whether he liked her or not.

Shanna followed them while Angela and Sasha ran after the boys on the way to the maple pit. In the house, Sylvia let his mother lead her upstairs to her room. "Sylvia McPherson! I'm calling you that, 'cause it's just a minor formality soon on the horizon…talk to me, girl! How you feeling? Shawn says you got morning sickness."

"Ma'am, with all Shawn's been telling you, I figure there's not much for me to say," she admitted, stepping into Gert's bedroom,with Shanna heading straight for the bed to sit down. Gert went into her long wall closet and opened the last panelled double doors, reached at the end of the clothes hanging there, and pulled out a plaid shirt. "Here, take that nice top off and put this on. What you mean, nothing left to say? We been hearing from my Shawn how he feels about you, I wanna hear how you feel about him, from you!"

Sylvia stood gaping a moment, taken off guard. Shanna leaned back on the bed, laughing. "Mama, anybody tell you, you're 'bout as subtle as an avalanche?"

"She get use t'me! She got use to Shawn, didn't she? So, come on, fill me in! My boy sweep you off your feet? 'Cause ain't a girl nor woman anywhere my Shawn go after, he don't get…but he admit, you put him through it—good for you!" she went on, leaving little room for Sylvia to get in a comment as she went to her bed chest and pulled out a pair of jeans. Sylvia glanced at Shanna, who shrugged in sympathy. "Here…put these on! Them white pants you got on be ruined by the end of the day," she instructed. Sylvia was taking off her top and putting on the plaid shirt when she took a deep breath and decided to be just as up front.

"To be honest with you, ma'am—"

"Young lady, call me Gert or mama. Make me sound like an ole lady in a rocker…I ain't rockin' yet!" she corrected Sylvia.

"Oookay, how about Gert for now?" Sylvia asked, buttoning up the shirt.

"That's my name…suits me just fine. As you were saying?" Gert asked, holding the post of her four-post bed, taking a brief rest before they went down to the kitchen.

"Well, I wasn't looking for anyone, I'd planned on being alone—"

"And my Shawn wasn't havin' it!" Gert butted in proudly.

"No, Gert, he wasn't…sooo…what can I say, here I am."

"Here because you madly in love with him, or here because you ain't figured out how to get rid'uv'im yet?"

"Here 'cause I ain't figured out how to get rid'uv'im yet!"

Gert and Shanna hooted in laughter, Gert slapped her thigh and Shanna laid back, rolling hilariously.

"That's it! You're in! Good answer! Keep his cute ass guessing!"

Sylvia laughed along with them, then smiling said, "I love him. He's a handful—"

"Got that from his daddy!" Gert put in, laughing again, stunning Sylvia once more. "Every one of my boys was born, hung like a stallion!" she bragged.

"Mama, please!" Shanna laughed.

"Just tellin' the truth! Ain't no sense in lyin'!"

Sylvia was done changing and trying to get used to Gert's quick earthy wit.

"Anyway, we got a big breakfast to cook up, but I need to warn you, 'cause I don't want my rebels scaring you off! There's a lot of men around here, young and old. So the testosterone's flowing…prepare yourself for it."

"Then there's Kathy Ann," Shanna added.

"Yep, there's her. My other daughter…she's up at the maple pit with the others, she'll be strolling in soon. She been stewing most the night, 'cause she know Shawn coming. Don't you take nothin' she say personally, because it ain't gonna be about you. She on the verge of gettin' sent home. I'm trying to be patient, but after a while, they all start to get on my nerves with they nonsense. I'm just warning you."

Sylvia sighed, wondering once again with Shawn, exactly what had she gotten herself into. Shanna stood from the bed. "You'll be alright, Kathy Ann is really harmless. Tough as hell, but for the most part, nobody would jump to defend you quicker."

"That's true…come on, I got to get the batter made, everything else will be done soon, the men already grumbling 'bout how hungry they are."

---

Chapter 47

The Maple pit…

 

Sylvia was feeling overwhelmed. They'd come down to the kitchen with Gert making the pancake batter. There were bags on the kitchen counter filled with various fruits that Jake had brought from the store, he must have come in, left them on the counter, and joined the men outside. Sylvia pitched in and cut up the fruit in a big bowl while Shanna packed a box with napkins, plates, knives, forks, spoons, and a couple of garbage bags. There was also a bag filled with trays of eggs, that would be cooked at the maple pit. Shawn had come into the kitchen to grab the box Shanna had packed. Stopping, he checked on Sylvia, looked into her eyes as was his developing habit with her, then kissed her forehead and lips, letting her know that he was heading up to the pit with the men. That was fine, she had been okay at that point. He grabbed the box and headed out. Then Jake had appeared. She'd heard his voice that morning at the motel, but she hadn't really seen him yet…not until he came into the kitchen to grab some fruit from the bowl she was cutting it up in.

Her unease began there.

Jake…was splendid perfection wrapped up in the body of a god, certainly an Adonis. He, as in the case of Shawn, looked like his mother, with his father's coloring and little accents of difference. His hair was wavy and long, hanging to his shoulders, a honey blond that fit just right with his vivid blue-gray eyes. His skin was tanned darker than everyone else in the family, and while he was not as muscular as Shawn, he was built with long lean muscles. He had an engaging smile, the infamous grin, and eyes that kept going to Sylvia. His first assault had been to stand and stare at her when he came into the kitchen to get some fruit, and said right off, "Whooooeeee! Look at this one, here!"

"Don't start, Jake! Get what you came for and then get going!" his mother warned, knowing her son better than anyone.

"I know, mama, I just came to grab some fruit! I'm hungry! This breakfast is gettin' later and later every year you do it!" he was saying, never taking his eyes off of Sylvia, who was feeling discomfort at his staring.

"Jake! Mind your manners! Grab a apple and get going! This girl here is forbidden fruit to you."

Jake just laughed, went into the bag next to where Sylvia was standing cutting up the fruit, grabbed an apple and leaned down to grin up into her face. "Well, can't I get a smile, a hello, a how you doin' or something?" he asked, standing too close for her comfort. Sylvia lifted a dangerous brow and cut him a look with clear warning, then flashed her sarcastic smile and  said, "Hello, Jake. How you doing? Hungry? Want an apple? There it is. Good day!" She turned back to preparing the fruit. Jake stood laughing. "Whooeee! She's a feisty bite! I think she gone be too much for Shawn!" he joked, blatant in his flirting with her.

"I'm gonna tell you something right now! I'm not gonna have no trouble out of you today! You understand me, Jake? Mind your manners, be respectful to your brother's future wife!"

"What did I say, mama? What I do wrong? I'm being as nice as I can be!" he defended himself.

"That's alright, you got what you come for…now goodbye!" She stood facing him.

"What's all the fuss about, I just wanna meet her! She gone be in the family! Might as well get to know her future brother-in-law."

"Jake, please don't start," Shanna asked, backing her mother.

"Fine! Fine…I'm going." But first, he leaned towards Sylvia, too close, and whispered softly in her ear, "Nice to meet you." Because his mother was baring down on him, he laughed and made a quick escape. She shook her head, turning back to mixing the pancake batter. "Now I guess you can see what I mean about too much testosterone around here. He didn't upset you, did he?" Gert asked sincerely.

"No, not at all. No offence to you, but with him, I'm not impressed."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. I swear, between the two of them, they like to have driven me to a nervous breakdown. Jake has always, always tried to outdo Shawn, and for the life of me, I don't know why. Whatever Shawn did…he had to do, too. You think by now he'd have grown out of all that nonsense, but he just as young as ever. Teenager in a thirty-nine year old body."

"I think he brought back beer, too, mama. Kathy Ann been sipping on one most of the morning, started first thing."

"Well, I'm gonna have a word with your daddy. And Sylvia, I don't know you all that well yet, but I pray these fools don't go to scaring you off."

"Don't worry about me, Gert, I'm a big girl. I feel sorry for Doris…I was married to someone like him, I can just imagine what she goes through."

"They ain't married. Jake too selfish to marry anybody. And anybody that would marry him, don't have the sense of a maggot," Shanna commented.

That was the first stress layer for Sylvia, but that she could have dealt with if it were not compounded by other things. They gathered all that was prepared and headed up to the maple pit in Gert's own John Deere golf cart. When they arrived, the area was a hive of activity. Sylvia spotted Shawn straight away, he had his shirt off, splitting wood, he looked up at her and winked, she grinned and winked back. Climbing from the golf cart, walking to the pavilion shelter that was just a bit smaller than the ones she remembered at the Chicago forest preserves. This one was on a smaller scale, but big enough to shelter the whole family, while they boiled down the sap into maple syrup in a large eighty-gallon galvanized oval washtub that was stationed above a welded iron grate rack. Underneath it was a cast iron tray to fill with firewood to bring the washtub filled with the gathered sap to a high boil. Growing up in the city, living in Chicago, this was a new world  to her. This world where everything was made by hand, pickling, preserving and boiling down sap for maple syrup, farmland and farm living, was a completely new experience that she was enjoying every step of the way.

"Sylvia! Hey, girl! Finally meeting the family!" Meribel greeted her. She was standing at one of the three grill pits, cooking up sausage links, patties, and bacon. The kids were hauling in buckets of sap sitting in the back of a trailer that Derrick was pulling behind a four-wheeler with a hitch on it. They'd climb out, passed their filled buckets to Marcus, who emptied them into a huge plastic fill tank that had a drain hose connected to it. As soon as the sap in the tub was boiled down to a certain point, Kathy Ann would add more to it from the tank; the process would go on through the day. She'd already extracted enough from the batch to set aside for them to eat that morning.

Standing, chit-chatting with Meribel and Shanna, Sylvia noticed that Kathy Ann didn't make a move to come over and meet her. She wasn't sure what to think about that as she observed her through her peripheral while listening to Meribel. Gert was setting up the griddle on one of the other grill pits to start frying up flapjacks and Shanna was laughing at something Meribel said, heading over to get the tables set up. Sylvia glanced back at Kathy Ann and caught her looking at her as well. Kathy Ann nodded to her and then lifted her Budweiser to her lips and kept on skimming off the surface foam and whatever else came to the top.

Kathy Ann was a big girl. Not a fat girl…but an Amazon. Sylvia figured if she wasn't six foot, she was close. Thick boned, solid body and tough looking as any motorcycle gang member's bar-brawling girlfriend. Her arms had tattoos, and she wore silver rings on every finger, silver on her wrist, around her neck and several ear piercings. She wasn't unattractive, just rough-looking; she could believe she was a wrestler if someone said it was so. One of those white girls who could pick someone up and toss them like they were a rag doll. She wore blue jeans and a black t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her underarms and shoulders. The girl had biceps to boot. Sylvia figured, rather than fight someone like her, it was best to either shoot her, or run like hell. Like Derrick, they were duplications of their father. She had a broad mandible jaw, very similar to the actress, Geena Davis, with large eyes that she deliberately narrowed to look more menacing, and it worked. A wide nose that really didn't hurt her features, not that she would care if it did, and incredible strawberry blonde hair like her baby sister Shanna. Both of them kept it long, past their shoulder blades, somewhat wavy and wildly blowing in the wind. That one feature made Kathy Ann more feminine. She also smoked; she and Jake were the only two of them all who did. If she cared to be, in truth, she could be very attractive, but she didn't seem to care one way or the other.

Shawn walked up to the wood pile, his arms loaded with split logs, bending, he added to the stack. Taking a deep breath, he was going to speak to Kathy Ann. They'd been edging around each other for the last hour or more.

He stood and smiled at her, about to say something to her, but before he could, she lifted her beer as a toast to him. "Mother's favorite has struck again," she commented, successful in removing the smile from his face, then she gestured toward Sylvia with the tilt of her head. "Nice…the perfect way to ease on back in, now that you've finally returned home."

"Well, obviously not everyone is happy about that, hm? Guess you're going to have to just get used to the idea, lil sister. Because I'm home to stay."

"Good for you…but you'll have to excuse me if I don't build a three storey apartment up your ass like the rest, and welcome you back with sweet kisses."

Shawn stood a moment, using his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. "Why…why does it have to be this way between us? What in the hell have I done to you, to have you resent me so much?"

She looked away from him, feeling awkward, and grabbed her pack of cigarettes from her top pocket, tapping it on her fingers before she opened it to remove a cigarette, which she lit. Inhaling deep, she turned and blew the smoke above her brother's head. "You know what, Shawn…let's not do this today…okay?" She laid down her strainer and walked away from him towards the tables, grabbed a fork, and then went to the grill where Meribel stood and stabbed a sausage. She blew it, took a bite, chewed it and looked up at Sylvia.

"Welcome to the family. I'm Kathy Ann, nice to meet you," she offered Sylvia, and held her hand out to shake Sylvia's. Sylvia nervously held hers out to her. "Kathy Ann." She nodded and greeted in return as they shook hands. Kathy Ann nodded to her and smiled, saying to her mother while looking straight into Sylvia's eyes, "Well, mama, you finally got your lil black Barbie doll! Shawn's done you proud again."

That made Sylvia draw back, stunned. "Excuse me?"

Gert slammed down her spatula and turned to Kathy Ann, pointing at her. "I've already told your brother…and now I'm telling you, you watch your mouth or you go home!"

By then, Shawn was red in the face and by Sylvia's side. "What's your fuckin' problem, Kathy Ann?" he shouted, angry, glaring at his smirking sister.

"I got no problems! Hey…Sylvia! Got nothing against you. Don't take it personal…it's him I don't like."

"Go home, Kathy…go home," Gert demanded. "You've been drinking, and been talking trash all last night! Now you're starting first thing…Sylvia's first time here, and this is what she has to be subjected to…go home and sleep it off," Gert ordered her daughter.

"I don't wanna go home! Why me? I tried to avoid him, he came up to me! I've been here all along! Jake's been here, Derricks been here! An' I had to go get Shanna! But the favorite comes home after leaving, visiting only when he wants to show off! Decides he wants to all o'sudden come back, and I can't go nowhere without hearing about Shawn's moving back! Shawn coming home! We bought the house for Shawn! We have to get furniture for Shawn!"

Derrick stepped up to be the peacekeeper.

"Kathy Ann, drop it, okay?" Derrick tried to calm her down, but she was deep into a 12-pack.

"No! Why does the friggin' world…have to revolve around Shawn? Hm, mama?"

"Kathy Ann, you're talking nonsense out of a beer can! We've done no more for Shawn than we have for the rest of you!"

"Yeah, but we deserved it, mama! We earned it! We stayed here and listened and did as you and dad wanted us to do—"

"Excuse me? I don't remember you bringing home a degree in anything, Kathy Ann! You stayed here and did what you did because you wanted to! You didn't have to!" Gert interrupted.

"Oh, that's easy to say now, mama! But every time I turned around, you was asking me, Kathy Ann come do this for us, come do that for us! Come help your daddy with the field or the barn! I was always here helping you and dad all the time with the farm! Me and Jake! Derrick went off to school and didn't look back. Shanna took off with some loser, ended up gettin' her ass kicked around for years before I had to go and get her! But where was your favorite when you needed him? Hm, mama? Fair enough, okay…okay, yeah, fine…but why should he get anything? He so high and mighty, he should have bought his own ga'damn house! His own ga'damn furniture! All I ask you for was twelve hundred dollars, mama, I told you what I need it for, was gone pay it back! Noooo, but when Shawn needs—"

"Is that what you're having a fit over? Twelve hundred dollars? I'll give you twelve hundred, you don't have to pay shit back!" Shawn shouted angrily. By then, the family was crowding around, Angela had run to Sylvia's side, looking afraid to see her father and aunt arguing.

"I don't want your goddamn money! See, I know where it comes from!" she blasted back at him with accusing eyes. Shawn's eyes got wide, then narrowed at her. Derrick grabbed her arm and started hustling her out of the pavilion, growling at her, "You take your ass home and sleep it off! Don't say another word, or I'll be getting in on this one," he threatened, pulling her clear of the pavilion and to the golf cart. "Get in," he ordered. She sat down, and he climbed in next to her, started it and pulled off toward the house so he could take her home.

Shawn turned to Sylvia. "Get your stuff, let's go."

"Oh, daddy…please…nooo!"

"Shawn, don't go!" Shanna pleaded. "Kathy Ann is drunk! Once she sleeps it off, she'll be okay." She turned to Sylvia. "We're sorry; it's not always like this…really it isn't."

"No…just when I show up," Shawn entered.

"Shawn…nobody's going nowhere. You've been gone long enough! This is your family, this is where you belong! Don't you get tired of taking off? One would think you'd be man enough to deal with someone like Kathy Ann without taking off!"

"I don't need the stress, mama, and neither does Sylvia."

Gert turned from her son to Sylvia. "Darlin', let me tell you something. This is one helluva family. We all have strong passions, pains, and problems. Regardless of that, you're a welcome and necessary member. I'm telling you now, we are all in this together! When you say them vows to him, you're marrying into the whole lot! And in this lot, only the strong can survive…so if you doubt you have the backbone to stand toe to toe, make up your mind now. That last one, lord bless her, got nothing against her, she your mama…" Gert said down to Angela, then back to Sylvia, "…didn't have what it takes. I sure hope you do." She turned to Shawn. "Go stir that maple. I ain't ruined my syrup batch in all these years, don't intend to today. Go on."

Shawn turned and looked down at Sylvia. "I'm sorry about all this."

Sylvia smiled, glancing out the side of her eye to his mother; she used psychology on her. She so much as dared her that she could take it. Sighing, Sylvia looked up at Shawn. "Go stir the maple…and try to stay out of trouble, okay?"

He grinned and leaned down and kissed her.

Peace was found for a period while the women took  deep breaths, shook off the event, and got breakfast out onto the four picnic tables. As the kids started gathering around, Sylvia noticed more of them. Kathy Ann had two that were there, who returned to the area with their grandfather, a sixteen year old daughter, Jenny Lee Dearborn—looked just like her mother, but she was on the hefty side and her fourteen year old brother, Jason Brian Dearborn. Their father, Kathy Ann's husband, was at work, a habitual overtime worker. They had bills galore, and it seemed all he was was a mention when they gathered.

Shanna was the only one that didn't have children.

Jake had three kids as well, two of them by a woman named Christine; there was Benjamin, twenty-two and Kevin, twenty. And Paul by a woman named Sherry, he was seventeen, skinny as can be, battling a serious case of acne—he seldom looked anyone in the eye, his acne an issue for his self-esteem. Sylvia could just imagine what the boy must endure, surrounded for the most part, by males who were all attractive in their own way. They'd all been out with their grandfather, and then the last one came into the group driving up in another four wheeler that had more stumps stacked on it. Meribel's Derrick Jr.—DJ for short.

Sylvia felt kicked by a mule when he stood from the vehicle and looked their way.

"DJ, leave that stuff until after you eat!" Gert ordered him, he stood smiling at her, turning the key off and stepping away from the four wheeler.

"I'm starving, too, grandma! I like to fainted out there!" he kidded.

"Aaah, mijo…come on, you can eat now," Meribel invited him.

Sylvia couldn't take her eyes off of him. He was his father's son all the way, just much better looking than Armundo had been. Just as Crystal did, he had a honey-brown complexion, smooth and clear. Light brown eyes, and the most perfect afro, cut and lined. He was taller than Armundo as well, standing a bit over 5'10. He smiled, and perfect gleaming-white teeth flashed a light on his face. He was the pride of Derrick, his one son who played football. He ran track and field as well, and was up for a pro ball contract with one of the NFL teams. He stood with wide shoulders, like his father, narrowing down to a trim waist, abs galore, a tight hard butt that his jeans rode low on just right, and bow-legged like his father.

"Mijo, grab a piece of sausage right quick, Shanna's doing the eggs now…go over and meet Sylvia."

He looked up at her then and smiled, knowing already who she was. Walking towards her, Sylvia felt lightheaded, her heart hammered and her eyes filled with tears. He was Armundo alright, and it was unsettling to her. While things between her and Armundo hadn't been ideal, he had turned around before his death…she'd actually felt a rekindling in her heart for him, no, not as strong in love as she had been in the beginning, there would have never been that, but she did mourn his death. And now this son of his, so much like him, it made her short of breath, she had to sit down.

"You okay?" he asked, noticing the look on her face.

She nodded; he was the final assault, the other layer to her stress. She was afraid she would start crying. She was tired, hungry and edgy, and trying to get a grasp of everything that was suddenly happening in her life since Shawn Everett McPherson.

"You look just like your father," she said to him as he sat across from her. Shawn walked up then, looking down at her. "Hey…what's up?" She couldn't look at him right then, and wiped her eyes. "I'm fine, Shawn, just needing something to eat, I think." She felt shaky, and her nausea was forever hovering, usually not willing to subside until early afternoon.

"Hey, Tio, how you doing?" DJ lifted his hand and did a black hand shake, a double shift of the hands, gripping twice which Shawn was comfortable with.

"I'm still kicking, and you about to go pro ball!"

"Yep…I just have to make up my mind which team I'm heading for."

"You can name your ticket with three offers up before you."

"Naaaw, I'm not gonna play games. I'm signing up with the Philadelphia Eagles."

"Well, good for you! We're all proud of you. I'm gonna go over and get you two a plate, bring Angela in to eat," he said, squeezing Sylvia's shoulder. She smiled up at him, glad for the moment to collect herself. She turned back to DJ and spent a few moments getting to know him. She learned right then, while he certainly looked his father's son, he was made up of better stuff. Very eloquent and a gentlemen when speaking. Full of ideas, goals, and accomplishments. So he wasn't just a talker, hopping from one idea or thought to another, like her own son by Armundo. He'd yet to manifest anything he said he was going after. Not so with the handsome young man before her; he was making strides and reaching his goals and dreams. Shawn sat before her a platter heaped with four pancakes, two eggs, sausage and bacon, a bowl of fruit and a tall glass of milk.

"Shawn! Oh, my goodness! There's no way I'm going to be able to eat all of this!" She laughed as DJ thanked his uncle for a similar plate, but it had more on it. He wasn't complaining, he dug right in. Sasha sat next to her brother, Angela next to her dad, who sat down next to Sylvia, all had their plates. The pavilion was filled with humming voices as everyone stood to get their plate filled. She looked over at Shawn, who had six cakes stacked up, four eggs, three sausage links, a stack of bacon, a bowl of fruit, juice and coffee.

"Ach, you're gonna eat all of that?"

"Ooooh, yeah…been waitin' on this. Hey, you get started!"

"Sylvia…I don't see you digging into my pancakes!" Gert shouted from her griddle, watching for her to take the first bite.

"This is sooo much!"

"You're eating for two now," Shawn stated, shoving in a heaping fork of the pancakes and sausage. He closed his eyes and shook his head as if he were in heavenly bliss.

"Eating for two…it's only that big now, Shawn, it don't need that much—"

"Don't call my baby an it!" he corrected her mildly, but she could tell from his tone, he meant it.

"Excu-u-use me. The baby is only this big!" She held up her fingers to indicate the size. "The baby, nor I, need all of this."

"I'm waiting, Sylvia!" his mother called, still waiting.

"Okay, okay, okay…" Sylvia picked up her fork, cut into the steaming stack with butter and pure just-made, warm maple syrup running down the sides, and put three small cut squares stacked into her mouth. Then she knew why… "Oh, my god!" She chewed with the flavors blended on her tongue, explaining to her as no one could, why all the kids loved this family tradition. Shawn was watching the look on her face, Sylvia opened her eyes and looked at him. "Yeah…exactly. It's that good," he bragged. Sylvia looked back at his mother, who was grinning, she could tell she'd won over another one with the look on her face. Gert then called out to everyone there, "Mama done good?"

"Mama done real good!" She heard them all return loud and clear, many with a mouth full of food. Shawn reached over and pulled her over to him by the neck, and kissed her full on the lips, syrup, pancakes and all in his mouth. Sylvia was laughing. "Yuck, Shawn…I don't need you to feed me, Shawn!"

Gert turned back with a smile of satisfaction, flipping more cakes.

Jake, holding a beer, not yet eating, stared at them from the other side of the pavilion, while Doris sat talking with Shanna, pretending not to notice where he stared.

 

---

Chapter 48

Gert's Theory…

 

Breakfast had turned out a success, everyone pitched in and helped to clean up the pavilion while the sap was still boiling away, each of the kids taking turns for a while to skim it, stir it and add more if, on their turn, it was needed. Plenty enough sap had been gathered, and the men were all out corking the trees now, pulling in all the buckets and replenishing the wood stack.

Gert, Shanna, Meribel and Sylvia were riding one of the golf carts with Meribel and Shanna in the back, and Sylvia sitting beside Gert as she took her around their land, showing her various areas and their woods. Comfortable with the women present, and feeling that she could ask it, Sylvia did.

"Okay…you have to explain something to me; what is the big deal with me being black all about?"

Shanna and Meribel both laughed, with Shanna saying, "Oh, you've gone and done it now! We'll be hearing this for the rest of the night!"

"Oh, Shanna, you just hush! You'll be free soon, then you get to do it right this time like Shawn," Gert started.

"You mean marry someone black?" Sylvia asked.

"Noooo, don't have to be black…just anything else other than white," Gert clarified.

"And why is that?" Sylvia asked.

"Because white folks is too white! Some black folks is too black! Some Chinese too much of that!"

"Huh?" Sylvia blurted, then laughed.

"Now, hear me out! Don't jump the gun on me before you know what I mean. You see, I got this theory. Reason why no one is really, really happy with the way they are, is because they're too extreme!"

"What do you mean, 'too extreme'?" Sylvia asked.

"Okay, I'm gonna start with white folks…let's begin with the women. Many may start off as lookers, but what happens when they get past their thirties? Some it happens to in the twenties. Wrinkles! You know why? They too white! Skin's too dry, too thin, not enough elasticity to keep it supple. They need to bring in a new blood source, one with thick skin and melanin, pigmentation. The strongest source of that…is in the black race. Ain't no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Too many white women's figures are made up of fat instead of muscle, that's why so many get saggy asses—"

Sylvia burst out laughing. "Oh, my goodness! I can't believe you said that!"

"Why not? It's the truth! How many black women you see with their asses running down the back of their legs? Many as I've seen, I could count on one hand with fingers missing. But how many white women like that? Too many to even bother counting."

"Oh, my lord," Sylvia gasped, shaking her head.

"Hang on, girlfriend, she just gettin' warmed up!" Meribel inserted, laughing.

"Well, look, if you think about it, it make perfect sense! It wasn't the Lord's idea that we be idiots and ruin what started off as perfectly built bodies in every variation! Had we stuck with him and did it his way, we'd all have a chance at rhythm, a chance at beautiful toned skin, and turning forty with no wrinkles!"

"But then we'd all look the same, mama Gert."

"I don't believe it! I don't believe for one second we'd all look the same! What I believe is that we'd always be surprised by what our next child would look like! If we had all continued to mix, each of our children would be unique! There would be no common traits. We've gone and done to the humane race what people have done to dogs and cats—generated breeds! And you all know what comes with pedigreed breeds…genetic weaknesses! They become known for a certain trait or fault. Same thing happening to us humans; we've created faults in our health and looks. I give you another example. Extreme black races…there ain't no one that can convince me, that it was intended for some to have such extreme tight, dry and beaded-up, segregated hair!"

Sylvia gasped, "Ach! I can't believe you said that!"

"You better believe she did! Derrick had to keep this black woman from beatin' mama Gert up! We was on the bus because…" Meribel kept stopping for laughing. "…because our car broke down, and we decided to ride the bus back to the house to get my car. Well, it was just me, Derrick, mama Gert and Joseph. We go and sit on the bus, girl, and there was this big black woman sitting in front of us with two of her kids. Well, they had really dry beaded-up hair, and mama Gert is staring and staring, and then she leans forward and whispered in this woman's ear, 'Ma'am, you need to bring in new blood! Next chile' you have, make it by somebody other than black…and get them kids to marry out, too. That'll fix that hair'."

"Oh, my goodness! You didn't!"

"Oh, yes, she did! Derrick was so embarrassed, and he had to stand…" She was laughing with tears in her eyes. "…between mama Gert and that woman on the bus, she was slamming him upside the head with her purse and cussing mama Gert out!"

"Oh, my goodness!" Sylvia exclaimed.

"I didn't mean no harm. I felt sorry for them babies. You know doggone well, little black girls want their hair to grow normal, too, without breaking off. They want shine, they want bounce and manageable hair, too! Or else all these companies with they chemical strengtheners wouldn't be making a mint selling products for just that."

"So, you don't like afros?" Sylvia asked, a bit offended and it showed.

"I love 'em! I had one myself, years back. You talking about curly hair. There's a difference in black curly hair, and black dry, kinky hair. The dry-kinky is very hard to keep from breaking off, because it's too flat-celled. I know; I went to beauty school for a short period of time, and learned all about it. You, Sylvia, have black curly hair. Hair that can be worn in an afro or be straightened with a relaxer, and it will grow and do what you need it to. But there is a type of black hair that is in the extreme…that's the problem. Extreme is not good. Extreme white is not good. Extreme Chinese…another example. They look too much alike! Half of them can barely see out of their eyes! But look at their cartoon drawings: every one of them have huge eyes! Why do you suppose that is? They don't like their small eyes. But out of all, the white race is the one with the most faults. Easy to burn white skin, wrinkles, Osteoporosis, muscle deterioration, crippling arthritis. Nooo, I know I'm right. What have I told all of you, Shanna?"

"Try not to marry white."

"Why?"

"Because if we are going to strengthen our children, our bloodline, and keep our family smart, healthy, and strong, we need to bring in new blood," she repeated, all of them knew it by heart, their mother had preached it since they were little.

"That's right! Marrying white over and over, you washing out all the good stuff! Stuff we all need. Now, look at me, Sylvia…I'm fifty-nine years old, will be sixty in a few months. Look at my skin, have you noticed I'm not that wrinkled?"

Sylvia searched her face and did notice it. She had a smooth-like texture that was not bothered by too much wrinkling. There was a bit, but not as much as she was used to seeing on white women her age.

"As a matter of fact, you're not."

"You know why?"

"No, ma'am."

"Because there's African and Indian way back a few generations. I had a great-great-great-grandfather who was African—pure—on my father's side. On my mother's side, there was Crow Indian. And look at my beautiful children, my sons and daughters. But…now it's time to dip back some…we gettin' too white. Enough is enough, I didn't care what they married, mind you, just as long as it wasn't white. Derrick was the only one who listened. He married my sweet Meribel," Gert reached back and pinched her cheek. They were stopped by a stream, just talking. Meribel blushed. "Now, look at that skin! Her hair, eyes, and features! That's how you keep it right."

"Angela's beautiful!" Sylvia defended.

"'Cause she looks like me!" Gert blurted, and all three burst out laughing.

"You something else, Gert! I swear you are!" Sylvia shook her head laughing.

"Now, the second time around…Shawn has done it right. 'Cause you two…gone give me my sweet, little brown grandbabies with fat black curls! Oh, I can just see'em now! Dana Mocker think her lil grandson is the cutest. His daddy black, you see, by her daughter. And she's always bragging and bringing him around to show him off!"

"But, mama, he is cute; as cute as he can be!"

"Well, my Shawn and Sylvie gonna give me one even cuter."

"Oh, my goodness! You trippin'! What if he or she is born and not brown, but light-skinned with your husband's hair color and eyes?"

"Hush your mouth, now! Think brown! Think smooth brown skin, thick fat black curls, and dreamy dark eyes! Oh, Sylvia! I got to show you my picture when we get home!"

"Mama's got this huge picture of a little black baby with a tear rolling down his cheek. She goes on and on about one of us bringing her one."

"Lord…I cannot believe this!" Sylvia confessed.

"Look, I already know what he's gonna look like," Gert demanded. "You, Sylvia, are gonna connect waaaay back in our African gene pool! This baby is gonna be brown. That's that, I don't wanna hear no more about it. And, Shanna, just in case, your next gonna have to be a black man…shiny, super black! Because, maybe…just maybe…this one might not be brown. Oh, I just gotta get me a lil brown one. If Dorothy Mocker can get one as cute as hers is, when they're all as ugly as sin—"

"Mama! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"

Sylvia and Meribel had tears flowing, they laughed so hard.

"You know me…I tell it how I see it! And I see ugly when I see them!"

Gert restarted the golf cart as they all talked, heading back towards the house. Sylvia sighed, smiling, thinking about her future husband. So…generations and generations ago, somewhere way back when, there was African, there was Indian that helped him come to be. Granted, one couldn't see it now, for all intents and purposes, he was white. Or as he stated, aligning with his father, Irish. But how did anyone really identify what made a race or nation look the way it did? Certainly, if all traits and features were traced back, they would no doubt all be amazed at what each version of man was made up of.

Back at the house, Derrick, Meribel, Bart and Gert, Shanna, Sylvia and Shawn talked in the kitchen about their plans for marrying.

"So, when's the date?" Bart asked, looking from his son to Sylvia and then back at his son again.

"Well, dad…we really haven't discussed it much."

"Don't see why not? You've had time for everything else, or are you not pregnant?" he directed that question to Sylvia.

"Ummm, yeah…I am."

"Well, then, what's the hold up?" he went on further to enquire.

Shawn looked at Sylvia.

"Well, you all wantin' a big wedding or a little one?" Gert asked.

"I think something simple. This is, after all, our second marriage," Sylvia spoke up.

"Well, kind of simple, not too simple; my first was as simple as it could get. Las Vegas…this one, I want it in a church," Shawn decided.

"You do?" Sylvia asked, smiling.

"Yep…and I want you in a really nice wedding dress. White…walking down the aisle to meet me."

"Well, no better place than the church we attend each Sunday. Gert, get Pastor Hamilton on the phone, tell him Shawn's gettin' married in two weeks!"

"Two weeks!" everyone in the room shouted at once.

"Yep…that's long enough. You all best get to inviting who you're gonna invite now, that way they got two weeks to get ready."

"Two weeks?" Sylvia's mind was rolling at that prospect. "But we have to be in court one day in the next two weeks, the case against Ray Olivetti."

"That's one day," his father pointed out.

"And we have Angela; we have to get a lawyer about her, because we're going for full custody of her."

"Hmmm, that may take a couple of hours on another day," his father added.

"And-and…we have plans…to turn my house into a bed and breakfast, and building our home across from it."

"Sounds like mighty good plans as well, that's another day," again from his father.

"Annnnnd, I have my doctor's appointment, right Shawn?"

Shawn was busy grinning, sympathizing with her, but his father had made himself the dictator of this event, and he rather liked the way it was going.

"That's another day there, little girl. So, let me see now, five days out of fourteen. That gives you nine days to get ready for your wedding. You women best get crackin'!"

Bart had spoken.

Sylvia looked up at Shawn, he winked at her. "Father has spoken, you best get crackin'!"

Just then, Jake strolled into the kitchen when everyone was excited and chattering, heading for the refrigerator to grab a beer. "What's all the excitement about?" he asked, leaning back against the counter, cracking open his can of Old Style. Putting the can to his mouth and taking a long drag, his eyes going to Sylvia. She looked away, playing it off as if she hadn't noticed. Shawn was knelt before her, one hand in her lap, grinning up into her face as he stroked her hair from her eyes. Sylvia smiled down at him, refusing to look up, she could feel Jake's eyes on her.

Derrick wasn't missing it. Neither was Shanna or Meribel.

"We were all planning Shawn's and Sylvia's wedding. Your father says it's in two weeks," Gert stated, looking her son in the face. He lifted the beer to his mouth, took a few gulps and said, "So, all I got is two weeks, hmm?" He then grinned. His mother didn't, nor did Derrick, Meribel or Shanna. "I mean, to get ready…for the wedding."

Shawn shifted around, still on the floor and looked up at him, his eyes narrowed. He hadn't missed the sly comment either. Playing it off, Jake lifted his beer to Shawn.

"Congratulations, brother! Hell, with a woman like that…even I would consider marriage…well, almost." He grinned some more, winked at Sylvia, and strolled from the room. Shawn stood with his mind working. He looked back at Sylvia. "We should get back to the motel, you look tired, darlin'." Sylvia was only too ready to accommodate him. They would be back the next day to help with the bottling of the syrup, but for now, the day was long enough. Saying their goodbyes, they headed back to their room, promising to return in the morning again.

 

Back at the motel, Sylvia changed out of her clothes, donned her comfortable nightie and laid down while Shawn ran to the IGA to get them something to eat. She was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. Dozing off, a knock at their door brought her back alert. She sat up, looked at the clock, Shawn had been gone for a little over ten minutes. She couldn't imagine who it could be. "Who is it?" she called from the bed. At first there was silence, and then, "Jake!"

She got up from the bed and put her robe on, walking to the door and standing beside it said, "Shawn's not here, he's gone to the store."

"I know," was his answer. "I saw him."

"What do you want?"

"Do we have to stand and talk through a door?" he asked, grinning, she could tell.

"Yes, we do. I'm tired, Jake. I was lying down to get some sleep."

"Wow…I would love to see you like that. What are you wearing?"

"Are you crazy? Get the hell way from my door, Jake!"

He was laughing on the other side. "Calm down, just kidding. Can't take a joke?"

"Conversation is over, Jake, goodbye!"

"You know…had I seen you first…you might have been mine."

"Jake, I haven't known you for long, but from what I know already…I can easily say—no way—not my type! Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going to lay back down. If you say anything more, you'll be talking to the door."

She went back to bed with her heart pounding. She suddenly had visions of Ray Olivetti attacking her. For a moment, she imagined Jake breaking through the door, doing the same. It didn't happen. He only laughed, and got into his pickup truck, blasting a song for anyone to hear, Brother Louie by Stories…

 

She was black as the night;
Louie was whiter than white,
Danger, danger when you taste brown sugar,
Louie fell in love overnight.

Louie, Louie, Louie, Louieee…

 

Sylvia lay unable to get back to sleep, she was wide awake but she didn't move. Twenty minutes later, Shawn used his key and came into their room carrying bags, closing and locking the door behind him, he sang, "I got salad, I got potato salad, I got chicken, I got some pudding cups…" He was happy and grinning, setting the bag on the table, he climbed onto the bed and gathered her in his strong arms, "And I got you babe… I got you babe…" He hugged her tightly, Sylvia held him just as tight. "I love you, Shawn."

"I love you, too, baby. You hungry?" he asked gently, quietly.

"Not really; can we just lay here, like this, holding each other. Please?"

"Ooooh, yeah we can… em hm, here let me take my jacket off." He sat up and pulled his arms free throwing it to the chair. Then undid the laces on his boots and kicked them off. Then pulled Sylvia back into his arms, laying on his back he rubbed her back, kissed her forehead.

"You okay? What's wrong?" he asked.

Sylvia couldn't speak, she only shook her head.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked more urgently, lifting her face to look into her eyes; they were moist.

"What's wrong, sweetheart."

"I just…I just love you so much, that's all!"

"Oooh, sweetie, I love you, too. You sure that's all it is?"

She nodded her head against his chest.

"Sylvia…" he called her name.

"Yeah?"

"Has Jake said anything to you?"

She gulped, wondering what would he do if she told him that he had? "Why would you ask me that?" she asked instead, for the life of her, she was not about to cause trouble between them. Shawn had a bad temper and she didn't know anything about Jake, other than the fact that he was an obvious selfish asshole, with no respect for his brother. They were rivals, so it seemed; she remembered what their mother had said. Jake had always needed to best Shawn, match Shawn, do what Shawn did, have what Shawn had.

"Just checking…he can be a trip sometimes. I still have on my mind what he said in the kitchen. He thinks he's slick. If he ever says anything out of the way to you, you tell me! I'm not gonna be putting up with his shit! I know he's my brother, but I will knock the hell out of him about you."

Sylvia clamped her mouth shut…they were getting married in two weeks, she would focus on that and the other things they had to take care of. She would just ignore Jake; he'd get tired of looking stupid and leave her alone. It was obviously a game he was playing. Little boy playing games. Shawn leaned down and kissed her nose, then planted a stirring lingering kiss on her lips. Sylvia pulled him down on her, kissing him back. With her heart pounding…she prayed that she was right.