Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux (34 page)

Brooks sat opposite of her, holding on to the remote and flipping violently through the channels. “There is nothing on any of these worthless ass channels. We should rent a movie.”

“Whatever you want, baby. You want some cookies?” Trina asked her deep southern drawl.

“Homemade?” Brooks asked. Her country slang made him smile. She was such a down-home sister who knew all the ways to make him content.

She was oblivious to his observations and wrapped up in her own thoughts. “No,” she said touching her face. “There’s some Pillsbury cookie dough in the freezer, though.”

“Chocolate chip?” Brooks took his eyes off the television for a brief moment.

“Yep,” Trina smiled. “Is your mask ready yet?”

“Feels like it.” Brooks touched his face. “I don’t know how you got me to put a damned facial mask on in the first place?”

“Baby, you need to exfoliate your skin more.” Trina crawled over to Brooks and laid on his chest. She searched his face. “Do you love me?” Her eyes were bright with anticipation.

“Yes,” he said staring her in eyes. “If I didn’t love you, do you think I’d let you put mud on my face?”

Trina smiled. “No,” she rubbed through his hair. “Brooks, I love you so much.” She hoped that he believed her.

And he did. Brooks rubbed her face and kissed her forehead. She was really a wonderful and patient woman. He appreciated those qualities in her and felt extremely guilty for his many indiscretions.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Trina asked curiously.

“Looking at you like what?”

“Like you’re just now noticing that I’m here.” Trina shrugged her shoulders. “Like I haven’t always been here.”

Brooks stammered. “I don’t think I have noticed you for a long time.”

This was news to Trina who always thought that she was the apple of his eye, unmistakable in his view. She grabbed the remote and turned off the television, getting rid of any distraction. “Go on,” she said seeing he needed to get something off of his chest.

“Watching Nicola deal with the possibility of having twins with Ivy has really made me look at our little situation. He tries to front like he doesn’t love her, but I see the change in him.” Brooks rubbed through Trina’s hair.

“Really?” The mention of Nicola’s name made Trina extremely nervous.

“Yeah. I think having children does that for a people who really need to fill a void in their lives. I mean, you get up and do this job day in and day out for other people. But sometimes, you want to believe that you’re it doing for yourself. Having a child to live for…well.” Brooks sighed. “That changes things for a man.”

“But I thought that you said Nicola didn’t think the twins were his?”

“Oh, he wants them to be. Why else would he have sworn off sex?” Brooks chuckled.

“Nicola swore off what?” Trina was baffled by the thought.

“This is the longest I’ve ever seen him go without it in my entire life. He says that he needs clarity.”

“What do you think?”

“I think that he needs Ivy,” Brooks said simply. “But this conversation doesn’t go any further than these four walls. If he wants her to know how he feels, he’ll tell her. That is once he figures it out for himself.”

“What does all of this have to do with us?” Trina rubbed his chest.

“You’re going to think I’m crazy.” Brooks hesitated.

“No, I won’t. Tell me.” She held her breath.

“Okay. I…I want to start a family.”

“Don’t play with me,” Trina said pushing his hand away. She dismissed his request as an ill-formed joke.

“I’m not playing,” Brooks said finally at peace with his decision. “I want to start a family with you. I want to marry you.” After many months of haggling with Nicola, Brooks realized that he had simply been fighting with his own desires. And here he was in his prime giving in after all these years to KaTrina Leona Cooper.

“Brooks, you shouldn’t be asking me this if you haven’t thought it through. It’s not fair. You know how you get. One minute you want to be in a serious relationship and the next thing you know, I’m hearing about you and some girl at the Black Tie.” She smacked her lips and rolled her eyes. “I mean, is this really what you want?” She had to make a full-circle back to the question. After all, it was what she really wanted.

“You know me. Serious relationship…yes. But me bringing up wanting to marrying you…no. I’ve never, ever…ever done that? Have I?” He touched her masked face. “It’s what I want.” Brooks shrugged his shoulders. “The question is, is this what you want?”

“Yes,” she said quickly. Trina couldn’t believe her ears, but she welcomed the invitation openly. “You know I want to marry you!” She smiled excessively. “I’ve wanted it for so long.”

“Okay. Great. That’s great news, baby.” Brooks hugged her tightly.
“I can’t believe that this is happening.” Trina felt sheer happiness and utter nervousness in the same skipped breath.

“Well, it is.” Brooks smiled. “We can go and pick you out a ring tomorrow. So you can play the ‘
ohh, girl game
’ with your friends.”

“The what?” Trina asked dying laughing at Brooks.

“
Ohh, girl. It’s so pretty. How much did it cost? How did he propose?
” Brooks mocked Trina’ friends in a girly, high soprano voice. “You know what I mean. You know what ya’ll do.”

Trina laughed but still had tears of joy in her eyes. “You’ve made me so happy today, baby.” She kissed his lips tenderly.

“I know,” Brooks said equally as pleased. “You know I got you, boo.”

**

Nicola wanted a drink bad. He had been fighting his urge since the early hours of the morning and as the day progressed so did his thirst. To counter what was turning into a dreadful day, he decided to head to the track field to get some fresh air and do some much needed training.

As he arrived at the East High School track field, he parked his truck on the school parking lot and grabbed his MP3 player and shades. If he couldn’t fight the thirst, he would run from it.

At the starting line, Nicola half-stretched and proceeded with his signature long-stride mile run. As he took in the fresh air, he began feeling at peace. Somehow, the clear blue skies, fresh cut grass and empty track gave him the strength to push past his demons.

To busy running to see that he was not alone, Nicola overlooked the little woman sitting quietly under a tree by the playground just a few yards from the track. Eating a finger sandwich and reading her book club book of the month, Sadie watched Nicola in curiosity.

In all the years that Sadie had watched her only daughter follow Grey aimlessly, she never imagined her straying. Ivy was a faithful girl totally clueless to infidelity. In fact, when she was little, Madison would occasionally call Ivy
Little Semper Fi
, because once she attached herself to any project or friend, she was hopelessly faithful. And so considering that Sadie knew her daughter better than any of the headstrong men that surrounded her, she had decided that Ivy’s choice was due to some misuse of her trust by Grey.

However, the selection itself amused Sadie. Why Nicola? She had to admit when she first met him, she thought that he was exceptionally charming and attractive, but Ivy had never been a superficial woman, so there had to be more. Now an opportunity presented itself where Sadie could probe into the situation further by way of an unplanned conversation. She watched Nicola run vigorously, tiring out his young body with every stride, and when he was finished, she stood up and approached him as he grabbed his keys off the tarp.

“Excuse me, young man,” Sadie said approaching him.

Bending down on the ground to catch his breath, Nicola looked up shocked to see Ivy’s mother walking towards him. He stood up and wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Mrs. Winters,” Nicola said extending his hand to shake hers. “How is Ivy?”

“She’s recovering well, thanks to you.”

“Well, I’ve been staying away to try to keep the confusion down, if you know what I mean.” Nicola sighed. “Who would have thought that you’d be here today? Memphis is such a small place.”

“Isn’t it? Actually, I had a meeting earlier today over at the Library with my women’s group. Afterwards, I figured that I’d take a break out here at the park.” Sadie looked at Nicola panting and tired, but there was something that only a mother would sense running a muck in his normally pleasant demeanor. “So, how is your day coming along?” she asked offering him a finger sandwich.

“Shitty.” No sooner than Nicola had said his curse word did her realize whom he had said it to. “I’m sorry.” He was embarrassed by his slip.

“That’s alright.” Sadie smiled. “Why is your day…
shitty
?”

Nicola thought about his response this time, gauging the possible outcomes of being honest at this particular juncture in his day. Finally, he decided to answer. “I want a drink, but I’m trying to fight it.”

“Is this an often urge?” Sadie asked concern.

“Did I just reveal my Achilles heel?” Nicola wiped his face. Did he really care what these people thought of him anyway? They were in love with Grey.

“No.” Sadie walked with him. “When I was much younger and Ivy’s father and I were still together, I use to find myself attached to the bottle as a way to deal with my husband never being home.” She stopped and looked at him. “Thankfully, I caught it before the kids were born.”

“How did you quit?” Nicola was intrigued by her candor.

“Madison saw me through it, but it was my conscious decision to stop. To this day the kids don’t’ know. It was one of our many secrets.” Sadie thought back to her husband at one of the most difficult times in her life.

“Sounds like a good man.” Nicola took the finger sandwich from Sadie.

“Well, the Winters’ family has a way of growing you.” She nibbled on her sandwich.

“Thanks,” Nicola said softly. “I’ll be okay. I’m sure of it.”

“Well, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I’m here,” Sadie said sincerely. “I was a psychiatrist for over twenty years. I retired only last year, and to tell you the truth I really miss it.”

“Don’t be surprised if I take you up on it.” Nicola stopped and smiled gently at the older image of Ivy.

“I look forward to it,” Sadie said bidding him farewell to allow him to go on with his day.

Nicola watched Sadie for a moment, glad that she had come over to talk with him. Who would have ever thought that Ivy’s mother had an addiction? Who would have ever thought that he would know something about Ivy’s mother that Ivy didn’t know. He smiled for a moment. Grey didn’t know either. He liked that. It soothed his mind to know that everyone wasn’t against him. Walking to his truck, he took in the fresh air and decided against having a drink that afternoon.

As Sadie grabbed her things off the ground and headed to her car, she thought again about Nicola. He had shown his Achilles heel, but she tried to present a more positive spin on his situation. He could come through it if he wanted to come through it. Evidently, he was consciously fighting; otherwise he wouldn’t have been out there running. He would have been a bar getting loaded. Still, Ivy had chosen to put herself into an awkward situation if he was unsuccessful in his fight and the kids were his. However, there was something about Nicola that gave her confidence in him. She only hoped that her instincts about his character were right.

**

It was nearly midnight when Brooks finally awoke from a much-needed rest after making love to Trina for many hours. Looking at her sleep peacefully beside him, he rolled over and checked his alarm clock. She would never know if he snuck out for a few hours, and even if she did wake up, she would be so satisfied with his earlier performance until she wouldn’t make a fuss about him being gone.

Slipping out of bed, Brooks pushed passed his boxer, Rico, who laid on the floor guarding him loyally. After taking a quick shower, Brooks slipped on a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans and headed anxiously downstairs with his phone already on speed dial to Nicola.

“Yeah,” Nicola said answering finally after a few rings.

“Hey, man. Where are you?”

“Ordering something to eat at the East Way Grill,” Nicola said sitting at the bar watching a few women across the room shoot pool.

“How long are you going to be there?”

“Uhh,” Nicola groaned and looked at his watch. “At least another hour. I’ve been here with Gremier and Big Baby for going on two. Hold on I’ll let you talk to him.” Nicola passed Gremier the phone.

Taurus Gremier was an ex-cop, turned professor of African-American studies at a small Mid-Western college. Thought to be a militant brother because of his long dreads and abundant knowledge of all things African, Gremier was a character well-missed on the Memphis SWAT team. Home to see family for the weekend, Gremier hooked up with Nicola accidentally when they both ended up at the Black Tie.

Big Baby Mike was a local lieutenant that had seen more than a few days on the streets of South Memphis and was now a mouthpiece for officers that used a less attractive but more useful approach to apprehend suspects often referred to as “excessive force.” He too had met his old collogues accidentally in the well-known club.

“Brooks, get your punk ass down here,” Gremier said pulling back his locks.

“I’m on my way. Hell, ya’ll could have called a brother and let him know that you were in town.” Brooks jumped in his truck and pulled eagerly out his garage.

“Well, Nicola said that you were
spending time
tonight. So, we didn’t want to interrupt you and the Nubian Queen.” Gremier laughed. “You’re still kicking it with Trina, huh? She’s still taking your shit.”

“Yeah, man. But she finally got me. I proposed tonight. No ring. No speech. I just came out with the shit.” Brooks couldn’t help but be proud of his news.

“What?” Gremier was impressed. “Looks like it’s all coming together for you. Well look, bring your ass, and we’ll see you when you get here. Alright.” Hanging up Nicola’s cell phone, Gremier chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” Nicola asked hands clasped as he leaned back in the booth.