Across The Tracks (12 page)

Rich stared at her as she finished her food while he sat there in utter disbelief. His appetite was gone and he didn’t really know whether to be mad at her passiveness or glad that she was thinking about the future of them being together. He felt stuck in the middle. She didn’t say anymore and neither did he. When she finished, he asked for the check and they rode to her apartment in silence. He could not tell if she was mad at him or not, but he was still trying to determine whether he was mad at her. In any event, he’d walk her to the door and take his cue from here.

As she unlocked the door, he turned when he heard footsteps coming from above. Her brother was descending down the stairs and looked more than shocked to see him standing there. His brother put a scowl on his face and said, “You never answered my questions about your intentions.”

Rich could not believe his luck today. Two run-ins in a row and he didn’t even know if he was awaiting a third one from Lisa. He sighed and said, “I have honorable intentions towards your sister.”

Lisa snapped, “Josh, what are you doing?”

Josh ignored her and said, “What does honor mean in your culture.”

“Rich, you don’t have to answer that, come on.” She motioned for him to come in.

He ignored her and said, “Honor means the same thing in both our cultures.”

Lisa sighed, walked through the door and closed it behind her. Rich internally groaned. There was his answer, run-in number three.

“I doubt that.”

“Fine, if you think I’m here to cause Lisa any harm, you are wrong.” Rich turned to fully face Josh. They were about the same height and had the same athletic build. If it came to a fight, he was not sure who would win, but he would get some licks in.

“I’m still trying to figure out what your intentions are for my sister.” He frowned.

Rich sighed, “Listen, man, I’d marry that woman,” he pointed towards Lisa’s door. “Today if I thought she’d accept. I want her and everything that comes with her. I want us to build a life together. I’m in fucking love and she’s about to chew me out. You signing up to do the same?”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, I came looking for her. She ran from me.”

Josh pondered on this and said, “Her move was kind of out of the blue.”

“I know. She completely cut me off because she didn’t know how to feel about me then, but I’ve lost her before and I’m not letting go. So – ”

“So… what?”

“So, if you are going to give me a hard time, then let’s hash it out now.”

Josh laughed, “My dude, listen. If I’d want to give you a hard time, you wouldn’t be here. You make her happy, I’m happy. But if you think others, primarily my dad, will take kindly to some white boy coming and stringing Lisa along for kicks or his black doll fantasy. You’d better get gone and stay gone or that could be the end of you. For real.”

Rich took a step towards Josh and got in his face. “There is nothing you could do to me to keep me from seeing Lisa.”

“Seriously, you think so,” Josh smirked with one eyebrow up.

“I’d take you on, every time.” Rich looked him straight in the eyes.

“We’ll see,” Josh bumped him as he walked past, “Can’t say I didn’t warn you, white boy.”

LISA:

Lisa did not know if Rich was going to leave or stay, but at this point she was okay with either. He actually was showing his ass today and she didn’t much appreciate that. He had changed in some ways, but he was still an asshole. She thought maybe this was a bit too soon for them to try and start a relationship. She wanted to talk about it with him, but if he turned those ‘
assholish
’ ways on her, they would have a problem. Ten minutes later, she heard the door shut. She assumed it was her brother, but then Rich called out her name. She emerged from her office to see him going into the kitchen to put his untouched food from the restaurant in the refrigerator. She secretly smiled to herself that he was making himself at home. He stood in the doorway of the kitchen, hands up at the door post, looking quizzically at her.

“So, are you mad at me or am I mad at you?” he asked.

She busted out laughing, then folded her arms, and leaned on the wall in the hallway. “I don’t even know.” She looked up at the ceiling.

He stayed where he was and said, “Get over here.”

Lisa turned her head to look at him and raised an eyebrow. He raised one back at her and said, “I’m not above spanking that ass, darling.”

Lisa thought, well shit, she was not above being spanked. He started to unbuckle his belt when Lisa started to move towards him, “Only if you promise,” she purred.

“Don’t try to turn me on when I’m mad at you.”

Lisa slowed her pace, made a pivot turn and bent over the couch slowly to grab a tissue and wiped the side of her mouth. Heat was in his eyes when she turned back around to sashay towards him. She stopped about one foot away from him and said, “You’re mad at me.”

“Yeah, I think.” He looked at her lips.

“Well, I’m mad at you. You were an asshole today. That hasn’t changed about you.”

“That won’t change about me.”

“Is that so?”

“What is with you and your brother with the, ‘is that so’ question?”

“I don’t like you being an asshole.”

“Yes, you do.” He smirked. “You may not want to like it, but you do.”

“Rich, I’m serious. What you said to that woman was not cool.”

“Babe, she fucking insulted you.” He banged on the post with both hands and snapped, “I will not stand for that shit. Not in front of my face and damn sure not in front of yours.”

“Then maybe we aren’t ready for this then.” She looked away. “If we can’t handle that and I don’t even know how you managed my brother. Maybe this is too soon. Maybe we should – ”

Before she could finish her last thought, Rich dropped his hands from the wall and started walking towards her with a weird look on his face, “Maybe we should what? Lisa.”

She started to back up but hit the back of the couch. He was in her face. She was not scared, but she could tell he was angry. “Maybe we should what, Lisa?” he repeated.

“Just get to know each other for a little while. That’s all I was going to say, instead of jumping into a big ole’ humongous commitment. Let’s be friends first.”

Rich was one inch from her face. He looked at her with extreme intensity and grounded out, “I will not lose you again. I will not go away. I will not hide you. I will not allow anything that doesn’t involve you and me going forward. I have waited three years and I will not wait even another month. I will fight for you, I will call old bitch’s prunes and cunts if they disrespect you, I will ruin careers and upset lives if someone comes against you. I will not be remorseful, I will not stand idly by as the love of my life has finally come back to me and allow anyone to threaten us, me, her or our happiness. I’ve waited too damn long. I will not just be your friend!”

Lisa looked into his eyes and saw that he meant every damn word and he would not even take it back for her. She reached up her hand to caress his face and said, “Okay, honey, then make sure you keep your boxing gloves on at all times.”

The side of his mouth turned up slightly. She had almost made him smile. “I’ll try.”

She brought her other hand up to the back of his neck and said, “Well, at least keep them in your car.”

“But you are not okay with this?” he asked.

“No, Rich, I’m not.” She kissed him on the lips. “With great power, comes great responsibility.” She kissed him again.

“You should know,” she kissed him on the side of the mouth, “that I can fight my own battles.”

“But what you have to realize,” she continued and kissed him on the other side of his mouth, “is that every battle doesn’t need to be fought.”

“You are a State Senator,” she kissed his chin, “you can’t go around beating up bullies like we are out on the playground.”

“You, my dear,” she kissed his neck, “need to fight fire, with fire.”

Lisa could feel the tension leave his body and his muscles start to relax. “I love how you have my back,” she kissed his collar bone, “but the best way to have my back is by not jeopardizing your livelihood trying to avenge my honor.”

“I don’t care what those people say about me,” she kissed his shoulder, “I care about you.”

“But I care!” He held her still. “I care. I don’t want you to ever have a doubt that I would sit back and idly allow anyone to make you feel uncomfortable. Not when it’s within my power to do and say something about it.”

“I see. I’ve created a monster.” Lisa smiled.

“Only for you.” He kissed her lips, “Just you.”

******

The next week went by in a blur. Rich had her going to his job so he could show her around and meet his Philly staff, then he took her to Harrisburg so she could see the capital and meet his staff there as well. He was so proud and was literally walking with some sort of strut. Lisa would not tease him about it because she was proud that he was proud. Her fear of him hiding her was a complete fabrication in her mind. Her own insecurity. Lisa told him that she could not hang out with him all the time because she had to go job searching. He was under the impression that she would take the promotion at her old job since the Principal had offered. She told him the more she thought about how they ousted her out, the more she realized she didn’t want to work for an entity like that, even if it was not her Principal directly. She wanted full autonomy. Rich told her he could understand that and suggested that she should work at No Fear. She refused that because she didn’t want a handout. He didn’t appreciate that and even said he would interview her. She declined and of course, he was upset.

Her interview on Friday was at Temple University in the Department of Community Development. After she had heard what the job entailed and what was expected of the person in this role, she decided not to pursue it. Lisa was not sure what she wanted to do, but she kept looking. She even started to look at some charter schools. She could become a teacher again, but she didn’t want to deal with the bureaucracy of administration either, but if push came to shove, she would teach again. Rich called her around 3 PM to see how the interview went. She told him and he offered to have her work at No Fear again, which she declined again. Then he said that he would not be coming over tonight because he finally got accepted into a poker game. She assumed he was upset with her again, but let it go. He’d need to get over it because she was not going to bend on this issue.

The next week, Rich wanted to take Lisa to the annual State dinner in Harrisburg. This was a formal event and even though she was nervous, she was looking forward to going. Possibly to meet other contacts and network. The day of the event, Rich picked up Lisa at her apartment. She left his apartment the night before because she wanted to get her beauty rest, but really she didn’t want to ruin her welcome. They had been under each other since they got together, minus Friday evenings because he was now in the Poker Game. He reluctantly let her go, but she promised to make it up to him in a ‘new’ way. His eyes heated at that open wide window thinking of all the possibilities.

The dinner was going great. Rich introduced her to everyone he knew and even those he did not know. He was telling them about how she just graduated and was in the process of selecting a job in Philadelphia. He kept emphasizing the city and not Harrisburg. Rich was damn-near doing her networking for her. She was flattered, but she was also feeling awkward. She should be helping him. The next time he introduced her to someone, she took over the conversation and talked him up and what he’s done in the city and his projections for the next few years. Rich squeezed her hand, but she kept talking him up. Afterward, he pulled her to the side and asked, “What was all that about?”

“I could say the same thing, Rich.”

“What? Me trying to help you network?”

“Yeah and get me a job.”

“Well, you won’t take the one I’m offering you.”

“Because I do not want your handouts.”

“Fuck, we are not going to argue about this anymore.”

“Fine, then I’m just returning the favor and helping you network as well,” Lisa finished and headed towards the ladies room.

RICH
:

Rich’s internal thought manifested itself audibly, “That woman!”

A young lady with a long blue skin-tight dress stood next to him and started to chuckle, “Your girlfriend?”

“Yes,” he smiled back.

“She seems like a piece of work.”

“You have no idea.”

“Well, at least she’s a beautiful piece of work.”

Rich turned towards her and said, “Yes! That she is.”

“If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t let her out of my sight, with these vultures in here.” She smiled and left.

Rich grabbed a water bottle off the table and turned around to find her. The woman was weird, but she had a point. There were nothing but vultures in here and dammit, but Lisa was talking to the main one.

His father.

“Oh, shit.” He muttered to himself.

As he marched over towards her, he saw that Lisa went from politely smiling to drawing in her eyebrows at something he said. Then her face transfixed to outright disgust. Rich damn near ran towards them.

“Ah, here comes Rich now.” His father smiled, but looking very obsequious.

“Lisa, what’s wrong?” Rich tried to read her, “What did he say to you?”

“Nothing I want to discuss here, he was just an asshole.” Lisa smiled and looked at the older man. “Nice to meet you, sir.”

“What the fuck are you even doing here?” Rich asked him, as he put Lisa behind him.

“Well, you don’t talk to me anymore and I heard you got a little chocolate under you nowadays, so I figured this would be the only time I could see my only son.”

“You didn’t see me for eight months while I was recovering from my broken leg, what the fuck do you have to say to me?”

“I paid the goddamn bills,” Mr. Wells raised his voice and then looked around, seemingly remembering he was in public.

“You truly are sad. I would pity you dad, but you are actually too old to be acting like some sullen teen.” Rich inhaled, “And if you have anything to say to me, you better make damn sure you say it to me. You don’t corner my woman with your fucking venom.”

Lisa grabbed his arm and whispered, “Rich, come on.”

“Listen to you,” his father mocked, “your woman.”

“Yeah, dad and if she’ll have me, my wife,” Rich said with sincerity and looked into his father almost identical eyes and saw fear. 

He had taken that as an opportunity to exit before their conversation was publicized. He walked away with Lisa in tow until they were far away from him. Turning her around, he asked, “What did he say to you?”

“Rich, I really don’t want to discuss it here, okay?” she looked at him. “I’m okay, see.”

“Fine Lisa,” he exhaled. “Okay.”

They continued to mingle and Lisa seemed to be okay, but he knew that man said something to rattle her. The rest of the evening was incident free and Lisa had at least seven offers from people looking to meet with her in the next week about a job or project. Rich also had a couple of meetings that could help him get some quality legislation passed if all things fared well. He was hopeful but more grateful to have Lisa by his side. She had been a great asset and quite a good spokeswoman. He never thought about her and him as politicians, but he could see her. If not doing it at a state level, definitely the county or city. He would have to talk to her about that.

They didn’t get back to Philadelphia until around 2 AM in the morning. Lisa had been wiped out even in the car, so he carried her to bed but stayed up to send some emails to the people he met that night. The next morning Lisa was distant. He did not want to fight, but he did want to know what was going on in her head.

“You want to tell me what you are thinking about?”

She smiled at him and said, “Not right now. I’m just trying to wrap my mind around some stuff. Do you mind if we spend the day apart and get together tonight? I’ll be ready to talk then.”

This piqued his anger.

“Yes, I fucking mind!” Rich sat up in the bed. She was sitting down on the edge of the bed with her back facing him.