A Summer Place
Chapter 2
Lonnie and Monica were having a great time in New Orleans. They went to dinner as soon as they arrived and Monica talked the entire time. She explained to Lonnie how at the end of this semester, she would be a sophomore. She planned on attending at least one summer session so that by this time next year, she would be a junior and eligible to apply for internships. Her major was Interior Design and since Salem College was so close to the High Point, NC furniture market, she couldn't wait to start using everything she had learned in school.
Although she hadn't changed too much, Lonnie did notice one change. She was more talkative than she used to be and not quite as catty. She was still as sarcastic as ever, but her comments were humorous and weren't laced with the hatefulness that she was famous for in Sparta. In short, Monica had matured while she was away. She was absolutely charming, and Lonnie loved it.
Lonnie rented a suite for the two of them, complete with a bedroom fireplace and a balcony that overlooked the river. They made love by the fireplace and laughed at themselves the next morning for not even making it to the king sized bed. While Lonnie took his turn in the shower, Monica went out to the balcony and sipped on the Mimosa she had ordered.
When he finished in the bathroom, Lonnie joined Monica on the balcony and spotted her drink. He didn't say anything, but Monica could tell it bothered him. She knew it wasn't her age; he had to know that she knew how to handle herself. And since he occasionally had a beer or two himself, she was a little confused by his reaction. But then she remembered his alcoholic mother, and thought that the sight of her drinking might have reminded him of his childhood. She poured the drink out over the balcony, and held him close to her as a silent apology.
As usual, no words were needed between them. Lonnie kissed her and then smiled his 'thank you' at her, elated to find that the separation had not stopped their ability to read each other to perfection. He sat down on one of the lounge chairs, and pulled her onto his lap.
"So, what does Miss Monica want to do today?"
"Anything as long as it's with you."
Lonnie laughed. "So I see you passed your Public Relations class!"
"Okay, okay. You caught me. But if I tell you, you'll think it's silly."
"Try me."
Monica looked at Lonnie for a moment before she spoke again. "Do you know what I did for the first time when I got to North Carolina?"
Lonnie shook his head, letting her know that he had no idea.
"I went to the park and went swinging. Can you believe that? In my whole life, I had never been on a swing. So now, I finally know what I want to be when I grow up."
Lonnie ran his fingers lovingly down the side of her face. "What's that?"
A small tear rolled down Monica's face as she responded. "A child. I'd like to have a chance to be a child for a while."
Lonnie kissed the eye that had shed the tear. He pulled her farther onto his lap and Monica rested her head on his shoulder.
"Okay, honey. Then that's what we'll do. We'll spend the rest our time here doing exactly what you want no matter how silly it sounds. We'll play until your heart's content."
"Can we go down to the playground?"
Lonnie smiled; then suddenly he pushed her off of his lap and ran back inside. "Last one down's a rotten egg!" he called as she saw him run through the living room, grab the keys and his wallet, and then open the door to the suite.
Monica screamed when she realized what he was doing. She ran after him, giggling all the way. Their laughter filled the hallway and caused a few people to open their doors, as they pushed, shoved, and even tried to trip each other to be the first one to the elevator.
XXX
It was Thursday morning, and Virgil and Althea were having breakfast. Althea had expected Virgil to have figured out that Lonnie and Monica were together, but so far he had said nothing. Althea figured that he had finally decided to leave it alone, so she didn't bring it up. But she was wrong.
Virgil had indeed figured it out, with a little help from an unsuspecting Darnelle. The situation had bothered him so much that when the Chief asked Bubba to drive to Jackson to try and rush a lab report, Virgil offered to do it instead. He said it would give him a chance to check his mailbox at school, but Virgil had really driven to the airport to do some digging. He was puzzled by what he found; or rather, what he didn't find. He didn't see Jamison's car. And that's why he hadn't said anything to Althea yet. Something was definitely up; he just hadn't figured it out yet. On top of that, Lonnie had arrived back in Sparta late yesterday evening. He had dropped by the station, indicating that he felt bad for taking so much time off and that he wanted to know if Virgil needed him to come back in early.
"Honey?" Althea said and waited for a response. "Virgil!"
Virgil suddenly snapped back into focus. "I'm sorry, babe. What were you saying?"
"I was asking if you'd be around for lunch today. Etta's taking the twins with her to a church meeting and I thought we could grab some one on one time."
"I'm not sure. But if you're in town, stop by the station. If I'm there and can sneak out, maybe you and I can sneak back here!"
At that moment, one of the twins started screaming for her. Althea looked at Virgil and said, "I think we'd better stick to lunch."
Virgil laughed as Althea went to get the baby.
XXX
Lonnie had indeed arrived back in Sparta yesterday evening at around 5pm. That was part two of Monica's plan. She figured that if she and Lonnie arrived in town at the same time, then Virgil's suspicions would be confirmed.
Virgil had suspected their relationship and questioned Lonnie about it last year. Lonnie didn't tell Monica at the time, but he let her know a few months back in one of his letters since it appeared that the Tibbs' were becoming her part-time family.
They had driven back into Jackson early yesterday and checked Monica into her hotel. Lonnie didn't like leaving her there by herself, but he knew it had to be done. They spent all day together Wednesday, and then Lonnie hit the road back to Sparta. Monica would show up at the airport, with luggage in hand, to meet Althea on Friday.
Lonnie decided he would spend the day getting his car checked. He had put a lot of miles on it in the past few days and it could probably stand an oil change. He handed his keys to the attendant and went to the waiting room.
"Well, hello stranger!" Lonnie looked up and saw Althea Tibbs.
"Hey there, Mrs. Tibbs. How are you?"
"I'm fine, thank you. So…how was your vacation?"
Lonnie smiled slightly. Monica told him that Althea had questioned her last year as well, but according to Monica, Althea seemed to silently approve. But still, he decided to be careful with his answer.
"Just fine, ma'am."
Althea waited for Lonnie to say more, although she knew that he wouldn't, and decided to sit down. Lonnie waited for her to seat herself first, and then he took a seat beside her.
"You know, Lonnie. I'm glad I ran into you. I have something to talk to you about, but I wanted to do it privately."
Lonnie felt his insides crawl. 'Not here!' He thought.
"Virgil's Aunt Etta has an empty trailer at Brewer's Pond she wants to rent out. It's no great shakes. But it's clean, it's efficient, and…it's very private. So when she asked me to find someone to rent it, I thought of you."
Lonnie still didn't speak. He was a little confused, but didn't want to show it. He simply nodded his head and waited for Althea to finish.
"I know you don't go on vacation that much, but I think her place would be perfect for short, local get-a-ways..every once in a while."
Althea looked away from Lonnie and started sipping on her coffee. She wanted to give Lonnie time to see where she was headed. Finally Lonnie spoke.
"So…how much is Mrs. Kibbey looking to for?"
XXX
Monica jumped out of the cab with her bags, and stood outside of the entrance to Jackson City Airport. A couple of valets stared at her, because she didn't go in. But Monica just ignored them. Finally, she saw Mrs. Tibbs' car pull up.
"Oh my gosh! You look great!" Mrs. Tibbs cried from the window. She got out and helped Monica load her luggage into the trunk.
"So do you. Wow! Look at the twins! They're huge now!" Monica spent a few minutes playing with the toddlers and finally got into the car.
On the drive back to Sparta, Monica filled Althea in on everything with school, including her plan to be a junior within the next year and a half.
"You and your plans." Althea laughed. "Do you have any other plans, like after graduation?"
"No, I don't." Monica responded sarcastically, yet with a smile in her voice. She knew what Althea was asking, and Althea knew that she knew. The two of them had developed a way of discussing Lonnie without actually mentioning the relationship.
"I'm taking things slowly and enjoying what's here now. What's around at graduation, well, I'm leaving that up to Fate."
Althea smiled, satisfied with the answer. She was happy that Lonnie and Monica were involved, but since Lonnie was almost 31, she was concerned that he may be pushing her to commit to marriage. She was glad to hear that he was giving Monica room and time to find herself.
They finally arrived at the house. Virgil was home and came to the car to greet them.
"Hello, Ms. Styles!" he exclaimed and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "How was your flight?"
"Fine, Mr. Tibbs. Thank you for asking."
They got Monica's things into the house and Althea offered to fix everyone some coffee. Of course, Aunt Etta insisted that she help. When the two ladies got into the kitchen, Althea handed Etta an envelope.
"What's this here?" Etta asked.
"It's $75. I rented your trailer for the entire week starting on Monday."
"Lord, Thea. How'd you do it so quick?"
Althea smiled. "It appears that Virgil isn't the only Tibbs with connections. Now put that in your pocket before he sees it."
When they returned to the living room, it appeared that Monica and Virgil had reached some sort of agreement.
"Okay, you two. What's going on?" Althea asked.
"Good news, honey." Virgil said. "Monica's willing to keep the twins tomorrow night so we can attend Gerards' dinner."
"Oh Monica, thank you so much. With Etta committed to her church function, we were stuck."
"No problem. I love kids. And I can't wait to get to know Billy and Sarah again."
XXX
Monday turned out to be one of those days that Lonnie couldn't wait to leave the station. Sweet was in a pissy mood over the bust the two of them had made two days ago, on Saturday night. Two drunken fools had disrupted Gerard's dinner, and the Chief called in and told the boys to pick them up. One thing led to another, and now Sweet was being investigated for soliciting a bribe. Lonnie felt bad, but the investigation had to be done. Sweet's biggest gripe was that he was asked to take a lie detector test. Now, he was snapping at everybody. Lonnie couldn't wait to meet Monica at the trailer.
When he arrived, he noticed Mrs. Tibbs car in the driveway. He went into the trailer, and found Monica cooking in the kitchen.
"Hi, babe." She greeted. "Ooh. What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Lonnie said as he sat down on the old couch.
Normally, Monica would tease him about lying to her, but he looked really torn up about something. Instead, she reached into the refrigerator and took out a beer. Monica smiled to herself as she thought of Lonnie's reaction to her drinking, yet he didn't seem to have a problem with doing it himself. She chalked it up to his mother being a woman and good old southern chauvinism. They would definitely have to discuss this, but not now. She opened the beer and brought it to him. After mussing his hair lightly and kissing his cheek, she went back into the kitchen to finish their mid-afternoon supper.
After about 30 minutes, Lonnie came into kitchen. "Smells good."
"Thanks. You ready to eat or do you need a few more minutes?"
"Actually, I'm starving."
The two sat down at the cheap table to eat. After a few bites, Lonnie filled Monica in on the situation with Sweet.
"The worst part is that this Pinkney guy is saying the only reason we picked him up is because the Chief called. AND that the only reason the Chief called is because the guy said something hateful about Harriet."
"And I suppose the 'something hateful' had to do with Ms. Delong being black and dating Chief Gillespie."
Lonnie lowered his eyes as he answered the question. "Yes."
Monica reached across the table for Lonnie's hand. "LJ. Don't. If we're going to be together we're not only going to have learn to deal with it, but we have to be able to discuss it, too. Besides, I've been black my whole life. There's nothing you can say that I haven't heard before."
Lonnie nodded his head in understanding and continued. "Pinkney is willing to drop his solicitation claim if Sweet drops his charges against him. Otherwise the Chief and Harriet are in for a long ride."
"Wow." Monica now saw that Lonnie was once again at a crossroads with his black and white view of the world. The guy was guilty, so in Lonnie's world, that was that. This situation had a lot of gray areas, and that was not Lonnie's favorite place to be. And of course, he hated seeing Sweet upset.
Finally Monica spoke up. "Why don't we have Sweet over here on Wednesday? I'll cook my famous baked spaghetti and he can unload while you guys figure this thing out."
Lonnie looked up in shock. "Have Sweet here, with us?"
"Sure. He already knows anyway. Right?"
Lonnie was dumbfounded, but he knew better than to try to hide the fact that Sweet knew about the two of them. He had not told Monica about Sweet's confronting him last year, so he was really confused. "How did you know?"
Monica just shook her head and smiled. "Sweet is just as intuitive as you are. And since the two of you are friends, I knew it would only be a matter of time before he figured it out. Besides, I would've told my closest friend…if I had one besides you."
They cleared the table together and Lonnie washed the dishes since Monica had prepared the meal. She was waiting for him outside on the porch. He sat down beside of her and held her hand, like he used to do at her house in the Bottoms.
"This thing with Sweet, Chief Gillespie, and Ms. Delong…what do you think about it, LJ?"
"It's bad for everybody involved."
"No, I mean the part about the Chief and Harriet. Have you thought about….I mean, what if that were us? Would you have called the guys on Pinkney if he had disrespected me? Would you want Sweet to drop the charges? And as his friend, would you feel badly for inadvertently putting him in the situation to begin with? What you would do if you were in the Chief's shoes?"
Lonnie squeezed her hand, looked down at his feet, then back up at her. "I've thought about all of that, Monica."
"And?"
"I don't know the answer to any of those questions. And that bothers the hell out of me. I know I should know, but I don't."
He let go of her hand, stood up, and looked up at the sky. "I honestly don't know."