Chapter 9
Nathan and Eliza go for a walk, leaving Peter and I alone. We stay in the love seat, chatting about absolutely nothing.
“Why did you and Lilly break up? She’s such a nice girl,” I randomly ask. Peter chuckles.
“Do you want the short or long version?” he asks.
“I want the long version.” He might as well. We have all day to hang out. Amy has told one of the drivers to take Peter back when he’s finished hanging out with me.
“Well, it all began on Halloween two years ago.”
“You broke up two years ago?” Peter gently taps my nose.
“Chelsea, if I’m telling you about my break up, I’m doing so in my own way. Okay?”
“Okay,” a chuckle escapes me.
“So it all begins on Halloween of my sophomore year. I had cancer,” he says and I gasp. “Lung cancer to be exact. I have one lung, but we will get to that later. Anyways, I was in the hospital, getting chemo treatments. It was awful. I could remember sitting on the floor, having those nasty chemicals poisoning my body. Every time I went, someone kept me company. This particular week, Nathan was with me. A beautiful girl walked over to me and handed me a goody bag. She was apparently passing out goodies to every luckless soul suffering through chemo. I converse with her and she says that her name is Lilly. We chat, exchange numbers, then, go on dates. When I’m in remission, she throws me a You Beat Cancer party! Over the span of two years, she’s there for me. We laugh, joke, and have fun. Then, Lilly meets my best friend Patrick. Unfortunately for me, they have more in common. But Lilly didn’t have the heart to break things off with me. Especially after her cousin Hope gets cancer. Let me tell you, she felt a ton of guilt for seeing Patrick. She actually thought that breaking things off with me would kill me.” Peter begins to laugh. His laugh is so infectious that I join in. We both laugh until we can’t laugh any more. “Anyways, I find out through Malcolm. He works at the movie theater and caught them kissing. When I see Patrick, I punch him in the face and it all goes to hell.” Peter stops recounting his story and gazes at me with wonder. “And then, a girl is attacked. I see it all happening from my window. Lilly gets to her first. But when I rescue her, she stares up at me with such beautiful hazel eyes and I’m lost.” His words are filled with fondness. No one has ever described my eyes as beautiful before. I don’t think twice. I kiss Peter. The kiss is nothing that I ever felt before. Something in me springs alive. I can feel his hands gently running through my hair. His mouth tastes of chocolate and mint. His kisses feel like they are trying to tell me something. When his tongue dances with mine, the rhythm is graceful. There is no aggression. Just sweetness. When we pull apart, Peter smirks.
“I didn’t expect that,” he admits.
“Well, things happen,” I tease as I brush a lock of his dark hair out of his face. Peter brushes his lips against my knuckles.
“I’m tired,” I yawn, as I sag against him. Peter chuckles.
“Did you have a late night?” he asks. I tell Peter about what happened at the pool. Suddenly, anxiety fills me. I sure hope that Tia’s baby is all right. The fall couldn’t have been good for her. Peter can see the anxiety in my face. He smiles at me before bowing his head and whispering a prayer. After opening his eyes, he looks sheepish.
“That always makes me feel better,” he admits. And that’s when I am amazed with Peter Jacobs. He is an incredible person. I marvel that after going through cancer, he didn’t stop believing in God. I on the other hand let my faith slip away. Church became unimportant with everything else going on. Peter makes me want to be a better person.
“So I take it that Danny isn’t your favorite person?” Peter asks as he wraps an arm around me.
“No. She shouldn’t have yelled at Eliza like that.” Peter nods.
“What’s done is done. There was no need for that lecture. Danny came by yesterday. She had lunch with us. Mom likes her,” Peter tells me. He seems very amazed by that.
“Do you think that she’s going to like me?” I ask.
“Yes. Mom will love you,” he assures me as he brushes his lips across my forehead. The thought of meeting his mother terrifies me. When I dated Adam, making a good impression on his father wasn’t much of a concern. Mr. Smith is a drunk. Who is he to judge?
“What if she doesn’t like me?” My question causes Peter to chuckle. I guess this is humorous to him.
“What if your mother doesn’t like me?” That’s unlikely. Mom would let me date a bum, as long as it isn’t Adam. Let’s just say that my ex-boyfriend won’t be missed by any of my family members. Grandmother and Mom rarely agree on anything. But they both told me that Adam was no good for me. I wonder if they are right.
“Mom will love you,” I assure him as the door flies open. Danny stands in the doorway, her judging eyes studying our closeness on the couch.
“What happened to Adam?” Danny asks. She knows that Adam is in the past. But it appears that Danny will drag him out anyways. She doesn’t like the fact that Peter and I are together. Maybe Malcolm has influenced her in some way.
“We broke up. You know that.” My words come out in a fiery rush. Danny sighs.
“Where’s Eliza?” she asks. I frown.
“I don’t know.” Saying I don’t know is better than telling Danny that Eliza went for a walk with Nathan. She would make the girl feel all kinds of bad if she finds out that Eliza is having a good time.
“Tia’s back from the hospital. All is well with the baby. She’s three months along,” Danny reports. She tells me the news as if I should feel guilty that while Tia was in the hospital, I was enjoying my time with Peter. But I don’t. I saved Tia’s life. Peter is my reward.
“Oh,” is all I can say.
“Where is she?” Peter asks, concern filling his face. Now that Tia and the child are all right, Danny has to leave. There is so much for me and Peter to talk about. We still need to get to know each other.
“She’s in her room. She’s up for visitors if you want to say hello,” She says shooting me a sly smile. Peter being the sweet guy he is insists on seeing Tia. We both follow Danny to the Elevator. Tia lives directly under me and the door is ajar, so Danny doesn’t bother knocking. She shoves it open as she announces, “Tia, you have a visitor.” When we walk into the Room, Tia is sitting up. She has a pink comforter covering her legs. Her black hair is up in a ponytail. The girl looks frightened. Peter and I sit in the love seat. Danny stands in the doorway, making the situation awkward.
“How are you feeling?” Peter asks as he places his arm around my shoulder. My cousin’s blue eyes fill with worry.
“Daddy isn’t happy with me. He wants me to get an abortion. When the doctor told him I was too far along, Dad punched a wall,” she tells us. Danny gasps. Apparently, she hasn’t heard this story yet. For a moment, I wonder if my cousin is just telling us an over dramatized version of what happened. After all, Tia has been known to let her imagination go wild.
“What do you want to do about the baby?” Danny asks. I could see the judgment in her eyes. Tia’s so stupid, why did she put herself in this situation. Danny loves to condemn people for their mistakes. I wonder how she’s going to act when she makes a mistake of her own.
“I want to keep her,” Tia whines, as she rubs her belly. Peter looks as if he’s about to say something but Danny beats him to it.
“What about school, college, and your career? You can’t go to school and take care of a baby. Especially if your father doesn’t want you keeping the baby,” she points out. Since Tia is hormonal, she begins to cry. Anger fills me. I glare at Danny.
“Would you please stop being so judgmental?” I hiss. Danny frowns at me and looks as if she wants to argue. But she doesn’t. She turns and leaves the room, slamming the door behind her. I walk over to Tia and sit beside her. I gently pat her back and tell her everything is alright. Thankfully, her tears don’t take overly long to subside.
“Chelsea, Danny’s right. Wh
at am I going to do?” Tia’s question is filled with panic. Peter responds.
“You should make a list of all of your options. There has got to be some resources out there for teenage mothers.” Tia stops and considers Peter’s suggestion for a minute.
Grandma told me that she would hire me a nanny if I needed it. At least she isn’t cutting me off,” Tia says. The feeling is irrational, but bitterness fills me. My parents were cut off after they married. Fine, they were step cousins. But they weren’t blood relatives. Grandma couldn’t stand my mother and felt like my father betrayed the family by marrying her. But this girl gets pregnant and nothing happens to her? Why? What makes Tia Philips so special?
“What about the baby’s father?” Peter asks. Tia sighs.
“Lenny wants nothing to do with the baby. He doesn’t want to lose his job,” Tia whines. Her words make me feel uneasy. What could Lenny do that would jeopardize his job. Unless he isn’t a teenager.
“What does Lenny do?” I softly ask Tia. I’m stroking her hair, trying to calm her down.
“He’s my gym teacher. We’re in love,” she tells us.
My cousin is stupid. She actually thinks her teacher loves her? I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
“Tia…”
“Oh. So I’m assuming you haven’t told your parents about your relationship yet?” Peter interrupts me before I can talk some sense into her.
“I told my dad about our relationship after he found out about the pregnancy. He wasn’t happy. But I think he’ll get over it,” Tia brightens. Grandmother Betty strolls in and smiles at Tia but scowls at me. Now that’s my cue. She probably wants to talk to my cousin alone.
“Adam called you today. Do you want to explain why?” Grandmother asks as she sits at the table. Her question throws me off guard. Her seventeen year old granddaughter is pregnant and she wants to ask about Adam?
“I don’t know. I hung up on him,” I respond. Peter frowns. He apparently doesn’t approve of me hanging up on Adam. One would think he would be glad that I’m not talking to Adam.
“You saw him at the charity event?” she inquires.
“For a brief moment. I broke it off with him,” I defend as my gut begins to turn. One of the four girls ratted me out. My money is on Danny. She probably thought that she was doing the right thing by telling the Grinch.
“Chelsea, I want you to stay away from that boy. Your parents and I are in agreement.” How dare she? She doesn’t even know the guy and she’s passed judgment upon him. Why? Adam isn’t perfect. But he has his nice moments. Okay, he cheated and even I am thinking that he’s a jerk. But I deserve to think that. Adam has hurt me time and time again. But Grandmother hasn’t had the chance to talk to him. In fact, she accused him of stealing from her.
“Yes Grandmother,” I say beginning the mantra again. I want to yell at her and tell her to get lost, but Peter’s here. He’s already seen me at my lowest.
“Don’t make me change your phone number,” she warns.
“Okay,” I say, hoping we can drop this.
“Tia, how are you feeling?” she asks my cousin. Her eyes are warm when they fall on Tia. That hurts.
“I’m fine. I was just telling Peter and Chelsea about the baby’s father,” Tia confesses. The Grinch looks interested. Suddenly, I want to leave. It doesn’t matter how much grandmother loves Tia, she will explode.
“Lenny,” my cousin answers excitedly.
“Lenny who?” Grandmother demands.
“Lenny King. He’s my gym teacher. He…” The Grinch begins shouting.
“What? You were with your teacher? Tia, how could you?” Peter and I stand and discretely slip from the room. Danny and Malcolm are in the elevator when we step on. It’s awkward and it’s clear that we had just interrupted a conversation.
“Hey Malcolm,” Peter greets. His brother ignores him. It’s obvious that Malcolm doesn’t like his brother’s choice in girl. Peter scowls. The door opens accompanied by a ding and all of us spill out. Danny pauses in front of me.
“How’s Tia?” she asks tentatively.
“Not good. Grandmother’s yelling at her.” I wince as I remember the sound.
“Why?” Danny asks. She looks genuinely concerned. It isn’t my place to tell Danny who the baby’s father is. But if I don’t tell her, someone else might. The truth might be twisted and melded into a different story.
“Tia told her who the baby’s father was,” I reluctantly say. Danny’s dark eyes widen. Apparently, this is a new development.
“Who is he?” Carmen asks as she appears around a corner. That girl is so sneaky.
“Her gym teacher. I forgot his name,” I say, pulling Peter down the hallway. I’ve had enough. Besides, Peter will be gone soon. No need wasting time with drama that could be best dealt with later.
“You don’t know your cousins well?” Peter asks as we settled back on the love seat.
“No. The only cousin that I’ve ever known is my cousin Rain. I haven’t known Carmen, Eliza, and Tia long.” Then, I proceed to tell Peter everything that happened.
“Have you ever had a real conversation with your grandmother?” Peter inquires.
“Not really. She is too judgmental to talk to.” Even as those words left my mouth, I regret them because grandmother and I have had at least one conversation. When the woman with far too many names introduced herself to me. It’s weird how eccentric my other grandmother is. Maybe, someday the opportunity will present itself and we can meet again. Is she as judgmental as Grandmother Betty? Was my Grandfather in love with her? Cheating is wrong no matter the reason. But I couldn’t help but wonder if Grandpa cheating had something to do with the Grinch’s cranky attitude.
“What are you thinking?” Peter asks.
“I’m thinking that I’m ready for this day to be over. It has been too exciting for my taste. I just want to wind down, take a nice nap and…” Amy waltzes in, making me pause. She isn’t alone, Uncle Eric trails in behind her. The maid is holding a tray with the cheeseburger that I wanted for dinner. Eric looks tired and drained. His blue eyes are filled with anxiety.
“Peter, Otis will take you and your brother home now,” Amy says. Peter stands, brushes a kiss on my cheek, and leaves the room.
“I wanted to talk to you alone,” Eric announces. Amy, getting the hint leaves the room. Uncle Eric sits at the table and I join him. Is it rude to eat when he has nothing in front of him? Probably. But I’m hungry so dig in anyways.
“Have you spoken to your dad?” Eric asks. He hasn’t once asked about my father. I’m not sure how to react.
“Yes,” I say. He looks impatient and edgy. That causes my gut to twist. Why does he care? Eric out of all people should have fought to stay in my father’s life. Eric is my father’s twin.
“How is the job search going for your parents?” Eric asks.
“I don’t know.” Okay, in fact, I do know how the job/ relocation search is going. Well. My parents are in Minneapolis. They are working and saving money. Anxiety fills Eric which makes me inwardly smile. He just wants a peace of mind. How cute? Although he has been nice to me, he isn’t going to get it. I continue eating, at that moment hating that things aren’t the same. Why couldn’t I be in my house eating dinner with mom? Why couldn’t I Skype Tiller and talk about my oh so interesting day? My brother has decided to spend the summer with his best friend Kelly. The two boys are working in Ocean city. Why couldn’t the anticipation for Adam to call me fill my belly? At that moment, I would give anything to be with Adam. And since I’m supposed to be thinking of Peter, this is a huge problem.
“I hope they find something. I know Ian, he’ll find something. Your grandmother was thinking of inviting them to live here.” He looks as though his twin living in this mansion would be the biggest blessing. I being so wrapped up in what I use to have don’t share that sentiment.
“Well, he won’t come back here,” I say in a hostile tone. Uncle Eric winces which makes me feel
bad. He is the nice uncle, the one that bought me a computer. Why is the impulse to be horrible to him so strong?
“I know. Ian is prideful. He wouldn’t dare come back here,” Eric somberly declares.
“He’ll be fine. He has a prospect in Minneapolis. But I’m not sure what it is,” I say quickly. Eric smiles.
“When we were boys, mom and dad use to take us to the Minneapolis state fair. Maybe we can all go,” he suggests. I have no interest in leaving the state. He has to understand that.
“Maybe.” My answer is noncommittal and Uncle Eric knows that. He abruptly stands, Kisses me on the cheek and walks away.
It has been too long of a day. I run a bath and soak. Afterword’s, I blow dry my hair and tuck myself into bed. The phone rings just as I’m about to fall asleep. I double tap on the screen without reading the display.
“Hi,” Adam greets. So he isn’t going away. In my heart of hearts, I don’t want him to.