The Challenge Part 8

Birthday Date cont. The Gauntlet

Let's Take a Moment

Two houses away Fitz stops again. Apprehension strikes without warning. His sudden hesitance makes no sense, her family loves him, why would the three most important people in her life be any different? Olivia's words replay in his head like a funhouse montage, with Olivia cackling and her head zooming in out of focus.

"If they mention anything along the lines of no one ever finding your body, they like you or at least think you have potential".

And if they don't?"

"Pass on any food or drink they offer and always check under the hood before you start your car".

"What!"

"They're going to love you like the rest of the Popes, don't worry".

"What is it now Grant? I told you I'll explain who Madea is later."

Fitz doesn't say a word he looks at Olivia with eyes filled with trepidation and something she can't quite discern. His smooth arrogance air is gone, replaced by a look of deep concern.

"Fitz, it's going to be okay. You're right, my parents are going to love you, no worries." Her failure to include Minnie in her assurance doesn't go unnoticed and does little to allay his anxiety.

Dang it, I've spooked him. On the inside Olivia wants to smile, she finally knocked Fitz off his game but this is not the time nor place to revel in her accomplishment. Without thinking, acting purely on instinct, she reaches up, pulls Fitz down by the neck and kisses him with more passion than she intends, sparking a rush of mutual desire.

His response to her attempt at distraction is immediate, intense, fully attendant. His arms surround her small frame drawing her close, pinning her to his body. Her fingers intertwine with his soft curls locking her hands in place. Their lips part inviting tongues to delve deeper into desire's sensations. All tension fades, the reason for the kiss is forgotten, displaced by amorous hunger. Their hearts pound faster and faster, they can feel the other's lusty percussion thumping against their own chest. They cling together with no degree of space between them. They're adrift, that's the only way to describe what they're feeling. They both feel adrift, immersed in a place unknown to them. Unknown yet very pleasurable and highly desired. A place where their stabled attraction gives way to full-blown passion.

"Damn Olivia it's one o'clock in the afternoon and here you two are making out like you're waiting for your room keys at motel get it on! Please, you two need to dial it way back a few notches or go satisfy your urges in the car, away from impressionable minors, repressed adults and nookie starved couples," Karina quips snarkily.

"Yeah, some of us are not interested in seeing how far your tongues can go down each other's throat or your prelude to the horizontal boogie. If Grandma Minnie or Aunt Virginia caught you out here, Fitz would get clipped and you'd be wearing a leather thong with a lock until you're forty; and that's if you're lucky, Aunt Virginia will probably forget where she put the key and your cookies will forever be locked in your jar." Onika adds with Patrice and Grace giving the "sho-nuff girl" eye roll and nod.

Fitz and Olivia break apart, chests heaving from lack of air. Olivia pats Fitz on the pecs partly to calm down and partly to maintain physical contact. And physical contact is what she wants at the moment. His cotton shirt is doing little to distort the firm definition of his chiseled chest and abs. God, all I want to do is lay on Fitz's chest, rub my hands up and down his chest, his stomach, all the way down to his…stop it Olivia get a hold of yourself, Olivia scolds in her mind.

"Girl, if your parents saw your carrying on like this in broad daylight out on the street." Uncle Bernie snaps walking by in a rush laden with bags of food.

"Um hmm," the cousins sigh shaking their heads, holding back their laughter.

Karina turns, "Oh and Olivia you might want to wipe the lipstick off Fitz, unless you intend to let the entire family know what you two have been doing out here or worse yet make them think Fitz is a little different, she sings."

Olivia takes a wipe from her purse and cleans Fitz's face. She takes his hand leading toward the house. "Time to run the gauntlet." Fitz takes her hand shaking his head.

Dozens of children in every shape and size dart across the pristine green lawn surrounding Olivia's Uncle Herbert's home. Some frolic, others engage in an intense game of tag. Men and women bearing gifts and aluminum trays filled with food climb the porch steps shouting their arrival, greeting friends and relatives alike warmly. As family get togethers go, a Pope gathering is in category all its' own. Not for the roster of attendees, which is large, or the massive amounts of food, which is a given. No, a Pope family gathering stands alone because it is a familial social event where unsolicited frankness is a regular part of every conversation. Where big wiz, dominoes, darts and political discussion are treated like Olympic sports and every participant goes for the gold. Outsiders rarely are invited and those who make the cut agree to hold harmless the family member who invited them. The Popes are not for the faint-hearted or easily offended. However, today's family event kicks the frankness quotient intensity up a few points. Today the Popes gather to celebrate Grandma Minnie's 80th birthday.

Minnie considers herself the Pope family dowager, sans the title and the wealth. Although a Pope by marriage, Grandma Minnie considers herself just as much a Pope by blood as Virginia, Herbert or Artemis, the remaining Pope siblings. Once she married Eli senior she disavowed her prior life completely. Being an only child of only child parents there really wasn't anything to hang unto once she joined the Pope clan. Her parents died in a tornado and her grandparents died before she was born. In reality, the Popes are her only family and for all their idiosyncrasies, her's included, she wouldn't have it any other way.

Minerva Edith Pope, will be the first to tell you, like fine wine she gets better with age. Life hasn't always been kind to Minnie, tragedy in her early years could have scared her, made her cynical, but she chose to rise above the hand she was dealt and make a better life for herself and in the process was able to marry the love of her life Eli Lawrence Pope and be part of a big family. A close-knit group who would do anything for each other; well for everyone except Artemis, everyone thinks twice before lending him a helping hand. Over the years Minnie has been there for her family celebrating the good times and being supportive during the rough times. She's made herself indispensable, not out of ego or ulterior motives but gratitude. Every day she counts her blessings and is thankful to be in family willing to embrace her no nonsense brashness and appreciate her style of tough love.

When Candace first announced her wedding date Minnie was a little miffed. After all she was turning 80 around the same time and Candace knew it. She couldn't understand why Candace chose a date so close to her birthday, effectively stealing her well-deserved attention. She also couldn't understand why the family thought combining the rehearsal dinner and her birthday was a good idea. Artemis later explained Candace did not want to miss Minnie's big eight-zero and suggested combining the two parties. Combining the events had the added bonus of saving everyone the expense of a second trip. Artemis is the family cheapskate, Minnie is sure the last bit about the second trip was all him. No one in the family ever complained about cost or inconvenience except for Artemis. Rather than postpone her celebration, she agreed to the joint event but Hershel's accident meant a change in plans. It was a blessing in disguise. Minnie understood but never really wanted to share her birthday with Candace's rehearsal dinner. Who does that? Minnie is one of a kind, unique, she does not like to share the limelight with anyone. Today's celebration is as it should be with Minnie the sole center of attention.

"Come again! In a freak avalanche you say. Um hm... I see."

"Gaylord is there some reason you doubt the veracity of our harrowing experience?" Eli challenges standing next to his wife Maya.

"Now I'm certain you're lying. I'm 53 years old and I've never heard a black person use the words veracity and harrowing, let alone in the same sentence. That's some alcoholic country club pearl-clutching locution. Negro we all know your occupation. Just say you were off doing some classified shit in the name of the republic and call it a day."

Overhearing her eldest son, Minnie stops on her way to her favorite recliner to add her two cents, "they were probably off fornicating and Eli threw out his back again and couldn't move."

"Mama! Why do you always have to go there?"

Maya is used to Minnie's off the cuff volleys and fires back, "Minnie you are aware it's not fornicating if you're married. But I guess it's been so long for you your special lady's place is hermetically sealed so kissing probably qualifies as fornication in your case."

Minnie casts a beady glare. She knows not to get into a battle of words with Maya, she and Olivia are the only family members willing to go toe to toe with her. She knows how far she can push Maya and always scales back when the conversation moves from lighthearted sarcasm to brutal honesty.

Minnie adjusts her glasses. Eyeing her son and daughter-in-law closer she adds to her speculations. "Gaylord are you blind. That shiny spot that used to be on top of Eli's head is gone. Boy went and got himself some European follicles."

"Well if I don't be got damned, you're right."

"Yeah, and Maya's skin looks softer than a baby's bottom."

"You mean you two missed Candace's wedding to have work done? You two are something else!"

Maya has had enough. She pulls out her phone and pulls up an article about the avalanche. "Before you both go off half-cocked babbling about your super sleuth skills read this."

Gaylord reads the article aloud because Minnie can't read the small phone print even though she has three pairs of trifocals hanging around her neck.

"Okay, so you really were trapped by a huge pile of snow. But the snow didn't reverse Eli's baldness or add glow to your skin." Now both Gaylord and Minnie stand akimbo facing Eli and Maya determined to be the victors in this exchange.

Just as determined Maya explains, "The resort's spa offered therapeutic treatments as compensation for the time and inconvenience of us having wait to be dug out."

"Are you seriously going to fault us for getting some free cosmetic work", Maya asks staring directly at Minnie who prides herself on being the freebie queen.

"Well at least they did decent work. I was tired of having to wear sunglasses every time Eli was outside on a sunny day or in a well-lit room." And with her final parting jab Minnie retires to the living ready to dispense love to her family in the form of wisecracks and honest observations.

Meet the Folks

Enthroned on a gray cloth recliner, Grandma Minnie holds court laughing and joking with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. For being 80 years old, Minnie Pope is still as sharp as a tack. Time may have dimmed her eyesight but her hearing, quick wit and lack of a discretion filter remain intact.

Minnie hears the family greet Olivia, she can barely make out Olivia's figure. Vanity and pride keep Minnie from wearing her coke bottle trifocals in public or in front of family for the most part.

"Chip, is that you baby?"

"Yes grandma, it's me." Minnie sends the younger children outside to play.

"Come over here and give your grandma some sugar. Lord knows I can't come to you. I'm liable to break a hip or something."

"Now Miss Minnie spare me your oh poor me talk. You're healthier than most of us here."

"Chip you're the only one who refuses to cut me some slack, seems I raised you right."

"I think my mom and dad had a hand in my upbringing too."

"Pish posh girl, I spent half my adult life knocking sense into your father's head. Lord knows something had to stick. Your father is stubborn and his head is hard as a rock."

"Hey", Eli objects walking in from the other room.

"Eli mind your own business, I already talked to you today, you've used up your conversation credits."

"Mama!"

"What? Twenty minutes of you is about all I can take before my blood pressure rises and I start to see black and white floaters. Damn, see it's starting, stop talking to me before you cause a stroke. Go talk to your wife, she's the one person here who wants to talk to you. Remember the lord said leave and cleave. Go cleave on Maya and let me talk to my granddaughter in peace."

Eli turns away shaking his head.

Minnie shouts, "you know I love you son. Can't stand you most of the time but I love like no one else ever will."

Everyone laughs and Eli smiles without responding.

"Grandma why are so rough on daddy?"

"Gotta keep him humble baby. Eli is prouder than a peacock and stubborn as a mule. I have to remind him every now and then his title and accomplishments don't give him the right to think he can control everyone and everything. Just like I have to keep you in check Chip. You're just like your father in many ways."

Fitz stands beside Olivia with a nervous grin. Grandma Minnie inspects him from head to toe then pretends to mistake him for Edison.

"What's wrong with you Ed? Cat got your tongue? How long you gonna stand there mute? How difficult is it to say hi, hello, how are you?"

"I'm sorry Ms. Minnie, I was waiting for you to finish your conversation with Olivia before I intro..."

"What did you call me," Minnie snarls.

Fitz gulps, I messed up already. "Ms. Minnie."

"Boy didn't I tell you only my family and friends call me Minnie. I distinctly recall telling you since you fit in neither category, the only form of address you may use with me is Mrs. Pope."

"I'm…I'm not…" Fitz stutters trying to explain.

"Grandma this is…" Olivia jumps in to correct.

"Hush, stop sticking up for this boy. He's been rude from day one."

"But grandma…," Olivia tries again.

"Ed you look different. Lawd, did you catch the vitiligo like poor Michael Jackson or are you confused as hell like Lil Kim?"

"Eli, Maya get in here, Edison done turned himself into some damn Abercrombie & Fitch model. He even pressed and dyed his hair." Eli and Maya have been listening, along several other relatives, enjoying Grandma Minnie's farce.

"Contacts, are you wearing contacts? Have mercy, when you go off the deep end you commit son, don't you? What happened to Mr. Fight the Power? What happened to all your radical militant shit? What'd you do, whimp out at your first confrontation with the m-a-a-n?" Minnie side-eyes Fitz.

"Olivia you ok with all this? I told you the boy didn't have his head screwed on right but you wouldn't listen. Girl, the boy is one step away from changing his name to Todd and taking up golf."

Minnie shakes her head, then starts laughing. Eli, Maya and everyone who has been listening joins Minnie in laughing at a confused Fitz and a ticked Olivia.

"Very funny grandma, if you kept going I was going to have you checked for an arterial flow problem."

"Oh, come here baby girl and give me a hug. You too Fitzgerald."

"You know who I am?"

"Yes, young man I do. Everyone has told me how you helped out Candace and Sterling and how you defended Chip to that low life prick Edison. I'd call the fool a son-of-bitch but I know his parents, who are actually lovely people by the way, who unfortunately after having Edison found out there's a recessive asshole gene running in their family. You've proven your salt with me." Minnie scoots forward to rise from her recliner throne. Fitz moves quickly to help her stand.

"See this. This boy's mama raised him right. My own sons didn't move a muscle. It's crying shame." Minnie shakes her head feigning disappointment.

"Here it comes," Eli whispers under his breath to Gaylord.

"Your daddy must be turning over in his grave."

Mom, dad this is Fitzgerald Grant my…," Fitz cuts in.

"The latest suitor vying for your daughter's attention. Pleasure to meet you both. You've raised an exceptional daughter and have a wonderful family."

"Yes, Bobby tells us you've been keeping company with our daughter and how you saved Candace from a nuclear meltdown by filling in for Hershel. Strange, she's never mentioned you."

"How fortunate you fit the tux. So, tell us how did...?"

Olivia's turn to cut in, "Mom how was your trip?"

"Aside from the avalanche preventing our departure and being stranded in Graubünden for a few extra days, the trip was lovely. The alps are beautiful this time of year."

"Avalanche! You never said anything about an avalanche. You said there was mix-up with the final leg of your swiss alps trip."

"We didn't to worry you or take the focus off Candace's wedding."

Fitz asks, "Graubünden, isn't that the same avalanche where a couple of high ranking Russian officials died? It was all over the news. Apparently, they were meeting secretly with North Korean military leaders and didn't want word of the meeting to get out, so they ignored the warnings about unstable snowpack sheets at the higher elevations above the roads leading out of the resort area and were caught in the full brunt of the avalanche."

"Um yeah, we heard the news after the roads were cleared," Eli says. Gaylord and Minnie send each other a nod.

Eli doesn't skip a beat. "Fitzgerald Grant, any relation to Big Gerry Grant the politician?"

"Yes sir, he's my father."

"I see. Your father has quite the reputation around DC."

"Daaad," Olivia pleads.

"Yes, he does. Please don't hold that against me. He's an adept statesman but I know he is also known for..."

Maya dives in for the save. "So, Fitzgerald, or do you prefer Fitz?"

"Fitz ma'am."

"How did you meet our daughter?"

Olivia doesn't know whether to be thankful her mom torpedoed her dad's line of questioning or be concerned about hers. Fitz gives her a "I got this smile" and turns on his innate charm.

"Well Ms. Pope, early in the semester I noticed a seriously opinionated student in several of my classes. I'd like to say it was love at first sight but wasn't even like at first sight. She was always prepared, could counter any argument and raised the curve on exams. She was the standard we other students were measured by. She was never arrogant about her smarts, Olivia was just being Olivia. She was intriguing, I had to get to know her. So, one day I approached her while she and Abby were outside one of the campus cafes and the rest is history."

Olivia smiles rubbing Fitz's arm for an explanation job well done. Eli and Maya take note, they don't recall Olivia displaying such natural affection with Edison.

"Fitzgerald what are your intentions toward our daughter?" Eli is still in interrogation mode, he's determined to run Fitz off if he's even 1/100th the philanderer his father is.

"Really daddy." Olivia cocks her head to the side and places both her hands on one hip.

"Olivia how long have you been a member of this family? You knew this line of questioning was inevitable, what's with the defensive attitude? You're my daughter, my only child, I don't know this guy from Adam. If he can't answer a few simple questions, maybe he's not worthy to be your suitor."

"Are you saying I'm a poor judge of character dad?"

"One word, Edison." Eli retorts.

"Daddy you and I both know Edison was more about me flexing my independence than a real relationship. Are you going hold one mistake over my head forever?" Olivia moves closer to her father.

"No Olivia I'm not but I want whoever you bring home to meet the family to be clear we don't suffer fools."

"Da…".

Fitz turns Olivia to face him. Eli furls his brow, what the hell is he doing?

"Olivia it's okay. I would expect these types of questions from a father who loves his daughter. I have nothing to hide and I'm not toying with your affections. You're not some fling or time-filler while I wait for Miss Right. You are my Miss Right as far as I'm concerned but the ball will always be in your court. I'm with you for as long as you'll have me, my hope is that will be forever." Fitz kisses Olivia's hand, then Olivia, seeing the sincerity in his eyes pulls him down for a more than affectionate kiss on the lips.

Maybe she has found her one and only, Maya quietly utters to herself.

"A-w-w-w how sweet." Eli, Maya, Olivia and Fitz turn around to see Karina and the other cousins standing in the doorway oohing and aahing with googly eyes.

"Uncle Eli leave Fitz alone, he's a keeper and sweet as can be." Grace defends.

"Yeah, leave him alone, Olivia needs to introduce him to the rest of the family before we eat," Onika adds.

Eli waves Fitz and Olivia on their way without another word. Maya wraps her arms around her husband smiling lovely into his eyes. "You like him, don't you?"

"He seems legit but only time will tell. If he hurts her, I'll have him fixed."

"Eli you really have to learn to control you temper when it comes to Olivia."

"What do you mean My", he grins?

"Don't play innocent with me Eli, Edison had diarrhea and an unexplained rash for six weeks after he and Olivia broke up and Abbra's hair completely fell out."

"Why do you assume I had anything to do with their unfortunate health issues? Edison probably had some kind of bug infestation in his pig sty apartment. Didn't Olivia mention he was a slob? He probably had chiggers or some other blood-sucking creepy crawly sharing his living space. Bug bites can be dangerous business wreaking havoc on the body; you know that Maya. Maybe those two were simply victims of squalor."

"Really, squalor?"

"Okay, how about this? Maybe the house salad they ate at the restaurant where they decided to flaunt their relationship in front of Olivia and her friends was contaminated with a particularly nasty strain of e-coli. Who knows?" Eli shrugs his shoulders.

"Um hmm, I guess karma is a bitch with a petri dish."

Eli smiles and kisses his wife.

"Pope who's the woman in the corner. I think she's been scowling at me ever since I got here."

"Don't mind her. That's Aunt Virginia, she's mean and disgruntled. Uncle Artemis says Virginia came into world pissed off and never got over it. She's the youngest of the three remaining Pope siblings. She always sits in the corner observing the family sipping her special tonic from a sixty-year-old silver flask she won shooting craps in an old speakeasy down on the bayou when she lived in Louisiana. She says it helps her rheumatism, which we all know is nonexistent. She's a character. We call her the Divine Miss Vi because she acts like a diva. She only interacts with people on her own terms. No one is allowed to speak to her between 8:00 a.m. and noon. Between noon and 2:00 p.m. nonrelatives can talk to her. And …

"It's 1:45 p.m., should I go introduce myself."

"Shit that's probably why she's leering at you. Come on, after 2:00 p.m. it's family only and we're only good until six."

After Olivia introduces Fitz family friends and the rest of the Popes, Eli steals him away to hang out with the menfolk. Olivia tries to act nonchalant but every now and then she glances over to make sure Fitz isn't being grilled or psychologically tortured.

"He's doing fine baby, don't worry. Your man can hold his own against your dad. Look he's laughing, your dad's patting him on the back, their getting along fine."

"Mom you and I both know a laugh and a pat on the back can mean the exact opposite when it comes to dad."

"Olivia you worry too much. Go grab your cousins and round up the kids outside, it's time for everyone to sit down to eat."

Eli hands Fitz a prepared plate and directs him to sit at the table with Virginia, Olivia, Maya and Gaylord. Fitz swallows hard and takes the plate.

If they mention anything along the lines of no one ever finding your body, they like you or at least think you have potential."

"And if they don't?"

"Pass on any food or drink they offer and always check under the hood before you start your car".

He sits down next to Olivia looking a little washed out.

"Fitz are you okay, Olivia leans in."

"Your father handed me this prepared plate."

"Oh," Olivia says drawing back.

Fitz looks at the plate. "One minute we were talking about football, the next minute he telling me he's not sure he believes my intentions are honorable toward you, then he shoves the plate in my hand. The plate appeared out of nowhere Olivia. We weren't anywhere near the food."

Seconds later Eli takes the seat next to Fitz. "Fitzgerald is there something wrong with the food?"

"I'm not very hungry."

Aunt Virginia decides to speak. "Boy don't worry it's not poisoned. If Eli wants you dead he'll beat you senseless, then have that one," she points to Maya, "perform an autopsy while you still have a pulse." Everyone nods their head in agreement.

"Gaylord adds, "Poison is too cowardly. Eli likes to get his hands dirty."

"Yeah, he'd ask you to help him get something out the trunk of his car, throw the car in reverse and run you over a couple of times, then come back in here asking for peach cobbler," Minnie clarifies.

"Wrong, wrong. Those methods will either land me jail or require a great deal of coverup. No taking him out needs to look like an accident. I'd invite him out back by the gully stairs after I had loosened a few planks and make it look like he took a header after losing his balance. I'd even throw a hot wheel next to his mangled body to provide a plausible explanation for his accidental demise."

Olivia squeezes Fitz hand. They share a warm smile in relief. Eli pats Fitz on the back, "you can breathe now son."

"Yes sir."

"Fitz I trust my family's opinion, Olivia's and my gut. You're a good man in my estimation."

"Thank you sir."

A little later Eli whispers in Fitz's ear, "don't prove me wrong son. I do make people disappear for a living." Fitz swallows hard again, not certain whether Eli is joking or not.

"Who's ready for birthday cake?" Eli pops up rubbing his hands together.

AN- Do you think Olivia considers Fitz her beau now? Isn't it good to know Edison and Abbra didn't sail off into the sunset without a care in the world after betraying Olivia. Clearly, Eli isn't going to let anyone hurt his daughter and get away with it.

After attending a Pope family gathering, you think Fitz may be having second thoughts about being with Olivia. LOL

Minnie and Gaylord are a pair and Aunt Vi is something else.

Any guesses why Minnie calls Olivia Chip?

Next up wood versus steel date.

Have a great week and let me know you're still out there with a review, fav or follow.