When Souls Fly Free chpt 4
NOTE TO READERS In this chapter..some racial remarks
have been made by some of the characters, again..if this
offends you..you shouldn't be reading this :)...Sorry this
chapter is so long...I PROMISE it's worth reading :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=signifies a change in place or time in
the story
The smell of bacon frying permeated the Grenier
household as Mr. Grenier stood in front of a frying pan preparing
breakfast.
"Marcus!, breakfast is ready! you bettah get on down heah" he bellowed.
Marcus groggily trotted down the stairs in his white boxers and sat at the
table. His father placed a plate of fresh scrambled eggs and bacon on front
of him. Then, Mrs. Grenier came through the kitchen door from her rose garden
a bit tattered with leaves and a jar in her hand. Marcus lifted up his head.
"Whatcha got there mama?" he asked peering at the jar.
"Well, I was outside trimmin and I couldn't help but take notice of
this poor butterfly, got a weak wing and was having trouble tryin to
fly, so I figured I might put it in this jar with some leaves and maybe
nurse it back to health I hope" Mrs. Grenier said concerned. Her love of
nature often lead to rescue any organism she felt was in need of care.
Marcus often remembered her trying to nurse baby birds back to health
as a child and thought maybe they'd be better off turning the house
into an animal sanctuary sometimes.
"Well it might not take too well being in that jar dear" Mr. Grenier said
"Don't hurt to help" she retorted quickly.
Marcus quickly finished his plate and took it to the sink.
"Well...gotta go..I'll see you all later" he stated as he kissed his
mother on the cheek and went out the front door towards the Terrell's house.
Another boring summer day was not about to ruin Marcus's vacation. He
knocked on the front door and waited patiently. He was disappointed to
see Mrs. Jackson answer the door.
"Yes, ..can I help you..." she muttered.
"Is Terell home by any chance?" Marcus asked.
"No, he isn't and I don't know when he'll be back, now If you don't
mind I'm a a bit busy" Mrs. Jackson snapped as she began to shut the
door on Marcus.
"Oh but I just wanted to give him this" Marcus interrupted as he pulled
out a photo of his that he took while in Europe.
"Well, I'm sure he'll be home sometime later this afternoon, now
go home and be with YOUR kind..good day" Mrs. Jackson rudely said as she
shut the door quickly. Marcus could not believe the obviously racist
comment towards him he just heard. His upbringing taught he shouldn't
have to put up with it. In shock, he headed back towards his house
his father noticed the look of concern on Marcus's face as he stepped in.
"What's wrong son?"
"Lets just say Mrs. Jackson isn't the most pleasant person on this earth.."
Marcus exclaimed sighing.
Terrel knocked on the door of the Johnson residence. He replied to Debbie's call since she responded faster than anyone else. He would get to meet the family was nervous hoping they'd be comfortable with him. Mr. Johnson opened the door. "Hello, you must be Terell". He said smiling and shaking his hand "Wont you come in". He lead Terell to their living room where Debbie and Michelle were waiting on their sofa eagerly. They all greeted eachother. Terell was taken aback at the sight of an interracial family that seemed to be well adjusted. "This could be a good thing" he thought to himself. "Ill say it once, I'll say it twice, having you here is very nice!" Michelle chimed in with a big grin. "In other words....hello" Mrs. Johnson said laughingly. "Have a seat and I guess we'll begin". Terell sat down politely and tried to give off his best impression for everyone..he wanted to make a good start... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "What happened?" Mr. Grenier asked. "Well...all I did was go over to see if Terell was home and she was very rude to me...to make a long story short..she told me to go back home to my own kind..and shut the door on me" Marcus said angrily. "Excuse me?" Mrs. Grenier asked from the kitchen. "Did I hear correctly?...tell me what she said again....." she felt the blood boil in her veins. "She said ... Well I'm sure he'll be home sometime later this afternoon, now go home and be with YOUR kind..good day". Marcus repeated. "Well, she cant talk to you like that" Mr. Grenier exclaimed. "Damn right!" Mrs. Grenier said grabbing her shoes "I'll have to have a little talk with her.." "Mom..please...don't..they just moved in..we don't need trouble" Marcus said worryingly. "She's already started trouble" Mrs. Grenier said storming over to the Jackson residence, knocking on the door. Again Mrs. Jackson answered. "Yes?" Mrs. Jackson asked...partly knowing why Mrs. Grenier had come. "Hello I'm Mrs Grenier , Marcus's mother from next door.." she was interrupted... "I know who you are and I don't want your son over here anymore". Mrs. Jackson exclaimed. "Yes but excuse me...has my son done anything wrong?, I understand my son and yours have become friends but I don't appreciate you shutting the door on my son like that" Mrs. Grenier assertively stated. "I'm sorry you feel that way but you see, I'm a lil stressed I've got a million things to do and I simply told him to go home to his own kind that's all" Mrs. Jackson said ignorantly blind to the racist comment she had made...only being second nature to her. "His own kind?"...."what did you mean by that?" Mrs. Grenier inquired. "If you don't mind I don't have time to argue Mrs. Grenier. It was nice meeting you" Mrs. Jackson said avoiding the issue and beginning to shut the door. Mrs. Grenier put her hand on the door blocking it. "You didn't answer my question..now what did you mean by what you said?" " I simply meant for him to go home that's all..if your implying I'm racist you're sadly mistaken! now please let go of my door..good day" Mrs. Grenier let go in frustration and the door shut in her face. Mrs. Grenier,with a red face underneath her dirty blonde hair she stormed back into the house, and opened the door and paused for a few..collecting herself before the urge to throw something got the best of her. Marcus looked on in hesitation. "THAT WOMAN IS INCORRIGIBLE!" she shouted."Well, my wife and I have a suggestion to offer you," Mr. Johnson stated as
his wife Debbie stood by his side.
"If you're willing, we'd like to have a trial run 1st before
we make any definite decisions" Debbie said.
"That sounds like a great idea, that way Michelle can have a chance
to get comfortable with me and see how she likes the arrangement". Terell
said thoughtfully.
"We need a baby sitter every Thursday and Saturday nights for sure,
do you think you can make that?" Mr. Johnson asked.
"Absolutely" Terell said..without even realizing he had no
transportation except a bike that needed fixing and MAYBE Marcus.
"Wonderful...we'll see you next Thrusday?" Debbie asked
"You bet!" Terell said with a smile.
They all said good-bye as Terell began to walk down the street..
he had just enough money for bus fare so he was ok. On the bus
he thought about all the new things that had come to him that
week...a new home...a possible job and....Marcus....he thought
about him ...struggling weather or not he was too good to be
true...he had barely known him. His thoughts came to a stop
as the sound of the bus's air brakes screeched him back into
reality.
He hopped off the bus and rounded the corner and came upon the
driveway to his house..he noticed his mothers car parked there.
He stepped into the kitchen to see the sullen look on his mothers
face.
"What's wrong mama?..." Terell asked
"Your friend came by today, I don't want you hangin out with that boy next door no more.." Mrs. Jackson uttered grimly.
"Did he do something? wait a minute....I know what this is about
and I don't have to take this...I'm not a little boy anymore.."
Terell asserted.
"Listen here young man, I pay the bills around here and as
long as you live under MY roof you obey MY rules is that understood?!"
Mrs. Jackson angrily stated. Terell stifled a tear as he knew the
underlying reasons behind his mothers reaction, she didn't even
have to say it...he'd dealt with this from her all his life.
"By the way I might have a job this weekend...baby-sitting
real nice family...I'll be having money coming in" Terell said
Mrs. Jackson paused..feeling a bit guilty for what she just said..
yet her pride still prevailed.
"Well that's great Terell but my decision is final.."
Terell couldn't take any more of this.
"Why are you always trying to tell me what to do?!, look
mama I know you've always been protective of me since dad left.."
Terell said but was interrupted by his mothers tone.
"DON'T you bring your father into this!, we've been screwed over
by too many people...we can't trust just anybody...I don't want
you around him PERIOD" Mrs. Jackson exclaimed. She had experienced
alot of racism growing up and grew untrusting of "white people"
"Why don't you just say it mama...you don't like Marcus
cause he's white!...what wrong has he done?.." Terell shouted.
Mrs. Jackson had never outwardly admitted her racism ..this was
a shock to her...she was speechless..
A long pause stood between them....
"Just as I thought" Terell said
"Go up to your room..we'll talk later" His mother said
putting her head in one hand.
"Fine..." Terell sighed as he marched up to his room.
It was 7:30 at night and the sun had already set. He took off his
shoes and sat on his bed. He was proud of himself for standing
up to his mother but he felt terrible at the same time. He felt
trapped enough having to hide his sexuality from her let alone
not being able to choose his own friends because his mother
doesn't like their race. He closed his eyes for a moment and
just wished for a tiny miracle to take away the loneliness..
Then he heard a light tap hit his window. Started, he opened
his curtains and turned on his lamp only to see nothing for
a few seconds, then seeing a tiny rock thrown up and hitting his
window... he opened it and looked down to see Marcus smiling and
waving"
"Sorry...did I scare you?" Marcus asked.
"A little....what are you doing here?!" Terell asked in
disbelief.
"I wanna show you something...wanna come with me?" Marcus
inquired with a devilish grin. Terell had thrown out any memory
of his argument with his mother upon Marcus's request.
"Yeah! hold on ok?" Terell excitedly rushed to put his
shoes on. The last thing he needed was to stay stuck in his
room sulking, he was about to go out and have fun...more fun
than he thought....
** OK i know this was long ...and I appreciate your patience
but just a lil hint..I PROMISE there will be more romance
in the next chapter ok?..you know what to do :D ..hit me up at
DefJamMariah85@aol.com!"