Part 10 (1/2)
”Not for many years.” He laughed. ”By the time she finally gave me the time of day, I was in school and, as they say, the rest is history.”
”So you lied to her?”
”I don't know if you can quite say lie, I like to think that I weaved some words together so that I could win her heart. Like a wordsmith.”
”I suppose so.” Lucky smiled and looked at me with veiled eyes. My heart thumped as she stared at me, and I wondered if this was going to be the hurdle that destroyed our relations.h.i.+p. When she issued me a small smile, I felt the tension lift from my shoulders. ”Is there anything else I should know about, Zane?”
”No.” I shook my head and ignored the niggling feeling in me that told me I was lying. I felt like my phone was a ticking time bomb in my pants, but I couldn't risk her finding out about that. ”That's all.” I could tell that Lucky wanted to ask me more questions, but we were both cognizant of the fact that Sidney was in the room with us.
”Who's ready for tea and cookies?” Mrs. Johnson bustled into the room with a large tray and I jumped up to help her. I took the tray from her hands and placed it on the table carefully. She looked at me with a smile and handed me a cup and saucer. ”Milk and sugar?”
”No milk, one sugar. Thanks.”
”I'll have milk and three sugars, please.” Lucky laughed. ”I have a sweet tooth.”
”I'll say.”
”Zane.” She glared at me.
”What can I say? You do.” I grinned at her and Mr. Johnson chuckled before speaking. ”Now, Lucky, tell me about your new idea.”
”When we first talked about this doc.u.mentary,” Lucky paused and looked at me, ”Zane and I were talking about filming several people, but I thought it would be more powerful if we did a doc.u.mentary that focused on you and your family.” She took a breath and looked at Sidney again. ”If that would be okay with you.”
”Of course it would be okay, dear child,” Betty answered for Sidney and Sidney laughed.
”She's the boss, so if she says yes.” Sidney shrugged and Betty gave him a kiss on the forehead.
”I ain't never been your boss, Sidney Johnson.” She shook her head and laughed. ”Well, not that you've ever admitted it.”
”I try not to tell a lie.” Sidney winked at me and stood up. ”Let me go and get my address book. I recently found one of my brothers. I think he can help. He has a good memory.”
”Recently found?” Lucky looked at him curiously.
”He done been lost for about 40 years.” Sidney shook his head. ”I thought he was dead. But Betty here went inline and she found him.”
”Online, Sidney,” Betty corrected him.
”What?” He frowned at her.
”I went online and found him.”
”Oh?” Lucky took out her notepad.
”Yeah, there's a website that helps you find people,” Betty continued. ”My son helped me. We did it as a present for Sidney's birthday.”
”He works for the government.” Sidney smiled. ”He done good for himself. Got a good job. Had some kids. He even got married. He married himself a white lady.”
”Sidney!” Betty admonished him and smiled at us shaking her head.
”What, Betty?” He looked at her with a frown and she nodded at Lucky and me. ”They don't care if he married a white lady.” He laughed and Lucky and I joined him.
Watching Sidney and his wife, teasing each other and helping each other gave me hope for my future with Lucky, and gave me a glimpse into what aging love looked like. I'd be over the moon to be so happy with Lucky when we were senior citizens. To have kids and grandkids and a home full of love. I could rewrite my history. I could be the man that went from no love to an abundance of love. Sidney and Betty gave me hope for the future.
”Zane, are you okay?” Lucky walked over to me and touched my shoulder lightly. I looked up at the concern in her eyes and nodded.
”Sorry, I must have s.p.a.ced out.”
”It's okay.” She took hold of my hand. ”I'm not mad about what you did. It's even kind of romantic and sweet in a way.” She smiled. ”Don't worry.”
”Thanks,” I beamed at her, letting her think that that was the reason I had s.p.a.ced out. ”You're the best.”
”As long as you tell her that every day, you'll be okay,” Sidney shouted from the corner. ”Now, let's go and look at those papers.”
”Yes, sir.” I jumped up, and Lucky and I followed him out of the room.
”Just don't keep anything else from me, okay?” she whispered and I squeezed her hand.
”Of course I won't.” I waited outside the room for a moment and took my phone out of my pocket. I looked up to make sure Lucky wasn't looking and replied to the text I had gotten on the drive over to the Johnsons'.
Hey Angelique, I can't call you back right now but I've been missing you as well. I'd love to go to dinner. Are you free tomorrow night? xoxo.
I pressed 'send' and walked into the room quickly. I loved Lucky, but I couldn't let Angelique go, especially not at this moment.
Chapter 6.
Lucky There was a warmth in my heart that I couldn't shake. I couldn't quite believe that Zane had decided to take up this project because of me. I felt my mouth aching to grin like an idiot, but I kept the huge smile off of my face because I didn't want Sidney and Betty to think I was some sort of weirdo. He really did like me. All thoughts that this was just about s.e.x left my mind. He had done everything he could to get me to a party, and then when that didn't work, he had gone forward with a doc.u.mentary that he had no real interest in, just because of me. All because he had wanted to be with me and get to know me. He had been as attracted to me as I was to him. I felt giddy inside and I looked up to see Mr. Johnson staring at me with a knowing look. I looked down, slightly embarra.s.sed, but I just couldn't wipe the wide smile off of my face.
As Zane walked into the room, I stared at him with a new perspective. All those months, I had just thought he was a handsome, c.o.c.ky, and sometimes nice and interesting guy who came into the diner. I had grown to like him, but had always berated myself for falling for a guy I just knew had to be a player or wouldn't be interested in me. And while I had reasons for those concerns, the truth of the matter was that Zane, like most of us, was just a really complicated human being. And he had been through a lot of s.h.i.+t. A lot of s.h.i.+t that had made him the man he was today: loving, shy, uneasy, jealous, untrusting. Sometimes I wondered if I had done the right thing coming here. Sometimes I felt like love was the daydream that you wanted to exist but never really lived up to the glory. But I realized that once you get a taste, a good sample of the real deal, you can't let it go. The biggest issue I'd been worrying about was that Zane liked me, but had acted on it spur-of-the-moment. Knowing that he had been plotting and planning for ways to get me into his life cemented for me that this was real for Zane as well. This wasn't about a possible baby, or some s.e.x for him. This was about real feelings. This was about a mutual attraction we had built up for three months and finally acted upon. This was about us finding our happily ever after.
”Do you want to tell him, Lucky, or should I?” Zane's voice cut into my thoughts, and as my eyes focused, I could see a concerned expression on his face.
”Sorry, what?” I blushed, embarra.s.sed that I had zoned out and completely missed the conversation.
”Sidney was just asking if we knew what we wanted to focus on for the doc.u.mentary. Any particular part of his life?”
”Oh, sorry.” I turned to Sidney and smiled. ”Well, I think the central theme will be you, but we will use your family members' stories and relate them back to you. If that's okay.”
”It sounds good to me.” Sidney grinned. ”To think, someone's making a movie about my life.”
”I still want to focus it on what your early life was like,” I continued. ”I think it's important for people to know exactly what happened when African Americans moved to the North from the South. You know there is this general sentiment and belief that the North was more welcoming to blacks than the South, but that isn't really true.”
”The North had its own problems.” Sidney nodded. ”It wasn't just us blacks, though; the Irish had it bad, the Italians, the Jews. None of us really fit in.”
”But they were able to a.s.similate a little bit better.” I paused. ”Actually, maybe a.s.similate isn't the right word, but they were able to fit into the norm a bit easier.”
”Well you know that song about when you're black?” Sidney laughed.