Sam & Mercy
23rd December
The walk to checkout, seemed a lot shorter than she remembered it being the last time she'd visited, there'd been definite improvements. She walked at the back of the crowd taking everything in, wondering what the hell had ever been so damn scary about this place, she went through checkout, customs and suddenly he was stood there looking at her
"Mercy" he waved, his smile brighter than she'd remembered it, it had been nearly 16 years since she'd seen this boy, sorry man, in the flesh, everything just came flooding back as if it were yesterday
"Sam" she dropped her bag and ran towards him, flinging herself in his arms "I missed you"
"I missed you too" he hugged her tight "You're still the most beautiful woman in the world"
"And you, kind Sir, are still the most handsome as hell boy I've ever known" she laughed looking up at him, smiling at seeing his familiar eyes, still looking at her the way she liked "Sorry" she pulled away from him, still smiling "I just needed to do that"
"It's fine, I think anything else would have been awkward or false maybe" he smiled "I best grab that bag before they blow it up" he laughed, she stood watching him grab her bag, thinking yep it was all still very much there "So" he walked back towards her grabbing her hand with his spare hand "When was the last time you were home?" making their way to his hire car
"Would you believe 5 years ago, and if it wasn't for my Grandma.."
"I still feel that way too, do you want to go see your Grandma first and meet up early tomorrow?"
"What's early?"
"Maybe 7am"
"No" she laughed "I want to know what made you call me at that god-awful time in the morning" she looked at him
"Get in" he opened the car door
"Sam" she hated the suspense, and he knew it
"I'm going to tell you, but we just need to get out of this pick-up spot" he pointed at the sign, they drove for ten minutes down the highway, making small talk until the car stopped at an empty café
"Really?" she asked him, looking at the mugger's paradise he wanted her to walk into
"You're safe with me" he laughed
"Somehow I still know that" she smiled
Once inside she was surprised to be greeted by friendly staff, and the coffee was good for Lima
"So" Sam sat forward in his chair, hugging his cup "I got a call last night" he told her, searching her face for a lightbulb moment, Mercy sat looking blank
"And then I got one this morning" she told him slowing her words down "Wait, did I call you when I was out last night, is that it?" she held her face embarrassed
"No" he laughed, eventually looking into her eyes again "It was that Alicia"
"Fatal attraction Alicia?" she gasped "Are you sure?"
"I think she goes by Asia now but…" he looked at her "She made contact and she wants to meet, I had visions of her sitting at the dinner table at my parents house, holding them hostage, but she hasn't showed yet"
"What are you going to do?"
"Tap out a beat" he laughed "I knew this was going to happen one day, she was too much"
"I was worried at the matching pants and skirt sets, she had you two trying to wear" Mercy laughed "I still have the pictures"
"That might have been cool, but tartan" he laughed "It got worse"
"I guess" she sat remembering, Sam was so worried, not just for himself, the woman knew his family
"I'll take you home, so you can deal with your parents, and we'll catch up tomorrow" he looked at her knowing what she was thinking about "Do you remember what day it is tomorrow?" he smiled at her
"I do actually, you didn't mention it so I…" she laughed "It's kind of cute that we meet up again almost to the day we actually plucked the courage up to speak to each other 16 years ago"
"I think I was doing all the plucking you were cool as a cucumber"
"You know what I mean" she giggled "We were young"
"Yeah" he looked into her eyes, there was pain there
"Can we grab a drink or something later, have a proper catch up?" she touched his hand
"I thought" he stopped himself, if there was someone in her life, she wouldn't have suggested it
"Stop thinking Evans" she laughed
"Thinking stopped, sure, I'll pick you up about 11pm, we can go to Paddy's"
"Yeah, they have music"
"Talking about music, now we can see each other's faces, are you really happy?"
"No" she looked at her cup and hugged it before looking back at him "Are you?"
"I feel too guilty to be happy sometimes, it gets in the way, you know?" he looked at his cup
"I do actually, I feel the exact same way"
"Okay" the conversation was threatening to get heavy, he drained the last of his drink and jumped up, "Time to go" he watched her get up before making their way to the door, opening it for her to get out, she stopped to look up at him, his lips were memorably irresistible and she was a grown, single woman, she pecked them, giggled, and walked off towards the car, leaving him stood wondering what the hell that was about "It feels good to be home with you here" she looked at him as they set off on their journey home
"What's the song you think I need to hear right now?" he turned the radio off while she studied the sound of the night, smiling as he watched her quickly catch her beat and started humming
"Maybe a little something like this" she started singing, smiling at him laughing
Left hand up, right hand on the bible, you walked in I was dead on arrival
My heart and head playing tricks, being rivals, hey, trying to move on but I'm stuck in a cycle, hey, hey, hey
Cause I don't want nobody unless that somebody is you, if I had anybody I would want somebody like you...
'Dance Alone' by Tayla Parx
"You know me well, I love that one" he smiled rocking his head to the beat "Are you telling me I'm still it for you?"
"Always" she giggled "What are you hearing for me?"
"Oh, I'm in the middle of finding our new song" he smiled "I've been working on it for nearly 10 years"
"So, what do you think I want to hear?"
"Too easy" he sat back listening, watching the road humming, and then singing 'I Don't Want To Know' by James Smith
Feels like we drove for a thousand miles, I would play you the songs that I wrote about you
I would sing you words that I would never say, wish you'd never heard, if I'd known you wouldn't stay
I don't wanna know if you fall in love with someone new, if someone makes you happier than I could ever do, I don't wanna know...
"Sorry" he looked at her crying "That was supposed to be a good memory"
"It was" she wiped her eyes "A really good one, we did a lot of firsts to our random beats" she frowned "We made beats and songs together, and they were supposed to be happy moments" she wiped another straying tear "But it all ended up being so sad"
"I hate what happened" he tapped the wheel hard
"Sam" she frowned at them wallowing in the past
"I know" he looked at the road "No regrets?"
"Absolutely none" she wiped her face again, and turned the radio on, both happy the mood had changed.
"We're here" he pulled up opposite her house, at their bus stop, nearly two hours later, conversation making the journey faster, he crossed her over to her house and stood smiling
"Wish me luck" she took her case off him
"Good luck" he smiled looking up at the familiar tree
"Someone's planning on going back in time" she leaned in and kissed him "Back at you" she tapped his chest laughing and walked off
"See you in just over an hour" he watched her walk through her gate going back to his car smiling, thinking back on days gone by, their parting had never been about the lack of love, hell their friendship today was as a consequence of their never dying love
Up in your room once again, tempted, bad for me, it's the truth, but I can't miss this
Don't tell my friends that I'm here to visit, don't tell my friends that I'm here (Mm-mm-mm, yeah)
The song came to his head reminding him of the fresh hurt of them being apart, but back then the fight was futile, both their parents were strict and proud, the fact that their family name was about to become the neighbourhood scandal, near enough gave his Mom a breakdown. He'd charged in all he-man after the letter and demanded her parents tell him where she was, swearing at them and everything, it was like world war 3, just because two people had dared to fall in love.
Waiting for you, even how you treat me, you're my baby even when you leave me
Maybe I'm the one to blame, maybe I'm the cause of the pain
Waiting for you, even how you treat me, you're my baby even when you leave me
Maybe I'm the problem and the one that's causing all of this
Of course the parents won, that's why they hadn't physically clapped eyes on each other for nearly 16 years, he'd learned to damn his parents, damn that bus, damn that tree, and that back alley behind his house, but somehow, he'd never damned her or their love. He smiled at the realisation that the reason why he never had, was because he'd never stopped loving her, he'd put her on the back shelf with the rest of the impossibilities in his life, like being a rock star, but it was never lost.
I can't say "I love you" no more, cause my friends gon' judge me for sure, it took some time but I realized, you do me wrong, but it feels right
I can't say "I love you" no more, cause my friends gon' judge me for sure, it took some time but I realized, you do me wrong, but it feels right
"Feels like I'm still stuck on you Ms Jones" he smiled parking up, he needed to get changed 'Stuck On You' by Giveon
Mercy
"Mom, Dad" she called banging the door, wondering where everyone was, looking back to see Sam's car moving off
"Hold on" she heard her Dad's voice coming towards the door "Mercedes is that you?" he asked before unbolting the door
"Daddy" she called "It's me" happy they had extra security
"Sweetheart" the door swung open "We thought you were getting here this morning" he smiled taking her hug "You're Mother's been so upset, all day, you could have called about the delay"
"I wasn't delayed I was always coming at this time"
"Someone got it wrong and I don't think, it was your Mom" he shook his head "Everyone's in bed it's nearly 10 o'clock"
"I was going to catch up with a friend at 11o'clock, could I get a key to get back in?"
"What time?"
"I don't know, when we've finished catching up" she looked at the man wondering if he wasn't seeing a grown woman standing in front of him
"Take the one in the door, but don't lose it" he looked at it "And you better be up first thing to meet your Grandma"
"I will" she smiled walking towards the kitchen
"Sweetheart" he grabbed her attention "It's good to finally have you home"
"It's good to be home" she replied, watching him mount the stairs, age was telling on him, his frame was much smaller, she couldn't see a drop of herself in him anymore, except maybe her complexion. She grabbed a drink, a shower, quickly changed her clothes and redone her hair, running outside a few minutes before time, to stop Sam blowing his horn to get her attention
Sam & Mercy
"Are we on the town tonight" she asked looking at him sat with his hair neat, T-shirt and joggers replaced by a shirt and expensive denims
"No" he laughed "You can talk" he looked at her "I just haven't made the effort for a while, I thought I should" he watched her jump in "Plus I thought I might show you some of my dance moves" he raised an eyebrow
"You learned to dance" she laughed "I got to see this" she teased
"Don't be so surprised, you taught me how to find the beat"
"I did, didn't I" she smiled "Could we grab something to eat, I'm starved"
"Sure" he smiled speeding off "So what are we getting up to tonight?" he asked sheepishly
"I guess we're starting with one of Paddy's famous greasy burgers, and some fries"
"Has nothing about you changed?" he laughed
"Would you want it to?"
"Not really" he tapped he steering wheel excitedly
The 10 minute journey, was taken up with Mercy's feelings about her family, while Sam filled the gaps with stories of his Mom being fake "I think it's fair to say we're still very bitter" she laughed
"Very, we missed so much" he smiled at the sight of Paddy's "Still looks the same"
"Let's forget it all"
"Come on" the car came to a standstill "I need to forget tomorrow too" he jumped out the car to go let her out, she grabbed his hand and let him pull her along with him
It was a Thursday night, but the place still had a reputable buzz "Is that Sam Evans?" a voice called from across the bar, attracting both their attention
"Oh" Mercy looked over at him, remembering his face "Joseph in the nativity, what was his name again?" she looked up at Sam asking
"Rory?" Sam asked looking at the guy "Rory Flanagan" he smiled, walking over to him with Mercy's hand still firmly in his "I thought everyone had left town" he grabbed his waiting hand "How are you?"
"Back for the holidays for a change, only there's no holiday" he held the pint in his hand up "My Uncle's not well, I stepped in" he smiled at Mercy "Mercedes?" he pointed at her
"Yep" she smiled shaking his hand
"Miss big time music woman, when I tell my friend back home I know you, they never believe me" he laughed "Can I get a pic before you leave?" Rory asked her
"Sure" she smiled
"What do you want to drink?" Sam asked, stopping himself staring at the man
"Champagne" she smiled "You can watch"
"A bottle of your best" Sam told Rory "Could someone bring it over?" he pointed to an empty table "And a menu"
"Someone's not impressed with the fans" Mercy looked at him when they sat down
"I'm fine with the fans" he smiled "I'm just not fine with people who would never give you the time of day before, asking for favours, that's all"
"I'll roll my eyes or something when I do it, feel better?"
"Yeah" he rubbed his hands together, grabbing the menu off the waitress when she approached "Thanks"
They sat eating, while Sam filled her in on the dutiful wife sinario they were playing out when they met up with Alicia in the morning.
"So wait" she held her hand up "How do I actually address you?"
"Sam" he looked at her "Why?"
"Surely it should be Darling, Dearest or something like Precious" she laughed
"Stop messing" he laughed "If she sees through this, you're going to have to have sex with me, right there, don't mess up"
They'd eaten, danced, talked and laughed themselves through a whole bottle of bubbly, and she was still standing, he was impressed. The night came to an end too quick, within what seemed like seconds they were sat outside Mercy's house again, saying their final goodnight for the day
"You don't know how much I just want to take you to a hotel right now" she looked at him, sex on her mind
"Actually, I do" he laughed "Go on, get in before I act on it" he leaned across the seat and kissed her
"I really don't want to admit this, but you're right"
"Be ready 9am, sharp"
"I think we need that new song, hear one for us" she smiled
"I will" he kissed her again
"I've got to go before I seduce you" she laughed "I've got your back" she smiled grabbing the handle to open the door
"I've got yours too" he called after her, watching her walk through her gate, he could never see that picture enough "Shopping after" he called
It was going to be a testing day tomorrow, but he didn't feel at all nervous, he'd been more nervous of seeing her again, and that had gone more than well. He felt awkwardly relaxed, there was a lot to be said, a lot of feelings not being talked about, but at the same time their body language had a whole new language for itself, there had never really been the need for a lot of words between them, and it seemed that hadn't changed.
Christmas Eve
Sam was up at six in the morning, he hadn't mentioned anything to his parents about the appointment he had. Apart from the fact that he didn't think they'd approve of what he was about to do, he didn't want to have to think about their drama while he was dealing with his business. Lucky for him he was much too old for them to ask what he was up to, and they were just pleased to see him after nearly two years
"Morning, happy birthday Mom" he sat at the table watching his Mom bring coffee over, and kissing her cheek
"Full breakfast?"
"No, I've got some business to deal with"
"Today?" she turned quickly asking him "Sweetheart the rest of the world's on holiday"
"So, someone has to keep it ticking" he smiled at her, taking a sip of his coffee
"Does it have to be you?" she moaned
"I'll see you guys later" he picked up a slice of toast and left the kitchen
His mind already on the task ahead, Alicia had shown signs of trouble from the start of the short relationship, within a week she was asking about parents, buying presents for the pending official meeting he hadn't even set up. Alarm bells came loudly when she started calling his parents by their first names, talking about Ryder being a fantastic Uncle to their children, and wanting a large family. In a relationship of around five years that might of been almost possible, as part of a further five year plan, but they'd been seeing each other for just over 9 days, and it took him another four months for her to get the hint and leave him alone.
Now she was back, he wasn't sure why, but he wasn't leaving anything to chance, as soon as she started making advances, he was ready to almost have sex with Mercy in public, for this woman to get the hint. He jumped in his car and made the noticeably short journey to Mercy's house
Mercy had taken in less than two hours of breakfast conversation to realise her Mother had come to America to escape Ghana as a young bride to get away from all the tradition she was trying to impose on her own daughter back then "So, you sing?" her Grandma asked, shocking Mercy, she thought the woman was asleep
"I try" Mercy smiled, watching her Mom bring dishes of things to the table, she was being so proper "I do more R&B than anything else"
"I just love music" her Grandma laughed
"I actually don't recognise anything on this table" Mercy looked at the prepared food laughing
"It's traditional" her Mom smiled
"Well, I'm not eating it, I've got some errands to run, so I'll get something on the way" she got up and grabbed her bag, kissed her family and left the house
"Hi" Sam smiled already sitting waiting as she got to the gate, he reached across and opened the door for her
"Hi" she sat in the car "Ready?" less than 5 minutes later they were sat outside The Grange
"Remember" he looked at her "We're acting, so don't get jumping at her, that will just make things worse" he laughed
"Why are you thinking I'm going to jump on her?" she laughed
"Because I remember Becky" he laughed
"That girl had been snapping at me for over a year, she deserved everything she got"
"The slap maybe, at a push maybe the kick to the ground was merited" he laughed "But when you wrapped your hand around her pony and started swinging her like a freaking hula hoop" he shook his head "Too far Mercy"
"You didn't stop me" their eyes holding each other
"I was scared you'd turn on me for defending her" he laughed
"I wonder what happened to her?"
"Probably still standing at bus stops shouting people down to make herself feel better"
"Now who sounds like they want to jump at her?" she laughed
"I could do with jumping at you, we could just get a room" he looked at the hotel
"And miss Ms Alicia, no way, maybe after shopping"
"You still get a buzz out of making me wait?"
"It's called foreplay" she grinned
"I could make that real for us" he squeezed her thigh
"Should we just go in, get an expresso or something?" she asked "Got to get my act together"
"Come on" he rubbed her thigh and got out the car, they looked at each other, took a deep breath, he grabbed her hand, and they went in
The glass fronted hotel was serving breakfast in the conservatory, they could see that from the car, they reached the steps and looked at each other again "Ready?" she asked
"Ready" he squeezed her hand, climbed the stairs and walked straight in, when the doormen opened the door, they found themselves some seats and sat waiting
"I've got it" she assured him "I'm not about to show myself up in here"
"But are you going to show me up?" he laughed
"Is that my…" Mercy stopped talking, her breath heavy as she watched the door open "Sam" she gasped standing up
"That's her" Mercy looked at the face of Sam walking towards them "That's…"
"Who?" Sam asked looking at the young girl walking towards them
"Sam" Mercy looked at him "She has your face" her legs wobbled as the girl got close
"And your booty" he sat wide eyed looking at this young girl coming towards them, walking like Mercy, and looking like him
"Sam Evans?" the girl enquired
Mercy looked at Sam numb, watching the blood drain from his face, she nudged him "Yes" Sam shook himself and finally got up "That's me"
"Sorry I couldn't give more detail over the phone" she told him "And you are?" she looked at Mercy
"Mercedes, Mercy Jones" she stood up looking at the girl, her heart beating so fast it ached
"So, why are you here?"
"Sam called and asked me to be here" she sat down and grabbed Sam's hand, his legs gave way and he flopped back onto the chair
"Please sit down" he finally spoke again "Do you want something to eat, drink?" he looked at the waiter, still trying to get his brain to engage with what was happening right now, this wasn't what either of them expected
"No thank you, I'm assuming you know who I am, seeing as you got here without question"
"I thought you were…"
"We know who you are now" Mercy cut through Sam's conversation "Sorry I think we got off on the wrong foot, we weren't expecting…" Mercy looked at Sam, she gripped his hand and looked at the girl "You"
"Why are you expecting anything?" Alicia looked at Mercy strangely, she was imposing on her meeting
"I.." Mercy looked at her and looked back at Sam
"If you're here to tell me I'm your birth Father" Sam looked into the girl's eyes, seeing himself "Then that would make Mercy your birth Mother" still marvelled at the resemblance
"What?" Alicia gasped, bursting into tears, before they could work out what was really happening
Alicia's story
Until the age of 13 Alicia had nothing bad to say about her life, things were going well, her parents loved her and gave her everything. Just days before her 13th birthday her Dad came storming into the house, shouting about work, and grabbing a bottle of whiskey off the cabinet shelf. That stuff had been there for years, her Mom was shouting at him, and later into the night there was arguing, banging and the next day the house was a different place. Her Dad hardly spoke anymore, that playful soul had gone, her Mom sat quietly watching his every move, something had gone down, she just didn't know what at the time. Weeks later she walked in to see her Dad pinning her Mom to the kitchen sink, she was mortified, she ran towards them shouting hitting out at her Dad trying to rescue her Mom, he flung her across the kitchen and they hadn't spoken civil to each other since.
For her 14th birthday Alicia's parents had given her a life book, revealing to her that she had been adopted from birth, as much as she'd asked the question, none of them could, or maybe wouldn't, tell her who her biological parents were, resulting in her going in search of her birth parents alone. She spent most of that year distancing herself from her dis-functional parents, and looking for her Mother, but she'd been chasing a false name for nearly a year and nothing had come back, she was ready to give up. She turned to her parents for support and was shocked that they were totally against her trying to find them and refused to help, she vowed to do it alone and warned them that when she was 16 she was going to find them anyway.
That summer she met up with a girl called Amy, they were buying bracelets in a jewellery shop and both grabbed for the same one, a green onyx with brown lines running through it
"Sorry" they both said, looking into each other's faces seeing some similarities except Asia had some colour in her skin
"Are we related?" the girl asked
"No" Alicia moved back, wondering why the girl would say such a thing, hoping there was something in it
"Only we have the same eyes, I think"
"Mine are green, yours are" she looked into Amy's face "Blue"
"We have the same something" Amy looked at her still inspecting her face "I'm Amy"
"I'm Alicia" she lied
"You can have the bracelet, if you really want it" Amy told her
"No, it's fine you can have it" Alicia smiled
"You can both have one nearly the same" the shopkeeper took a tray full of green onyx bracelets out to show them.
The girls brought the bracelets and clicked over a drink in the local coffee shop, Amy was in Lima on holiday visiting family while Alicia lived less than three miles away from the town, and wanted to get out of the house, they made arrangements to meet up the following day.
After spending a few weeks together Amy invited Alicia to a family wedding, her Aunt was getting married, she accepted the invite and arrangements were made for Amy's Dad to pick Alicia up. The wedding day came, Ryder and Amy went to pick her up, they went straight to Amy's Grandparents home, Alicia sat in the back of the car impressed as they drove up to the gate decorated with red roses and bows, they drove onto the small drive and went up the few steps into the house
"Come on" Amy smiled running into the living room shouting her Mom as she went, stopping when she finally saw her "This is Alicia"
"Nice to meet you, I'm Marley" she smiled "Would you like a cold drink?"
"Yes please" Alicia smiled, there were pictures everywhere, her eyes zoned in on a picture of a man wearing an older version of her face on the mantlepiece "Who's this?" she walked over to the picture asking Amy
"Oh, that's my Uncle Sam, I haven't seen him since… in a while anyway, he's a teacher" she stood by her friend looking at the picture.
That evening she went back home to tell her parents about the find, excited that she had found at least a candidate, once again disappointed at her parent's negative response. Feeling like she had no one to turn to, she finally came clean to Amy "That's so absurd" Amy told her
"But Amy, I can feel it, I know he's my Dad" she hissed at Amy putting the phone down on her
"I believe you" Amy finally told her, two days later "I'll see what I can find out from my Dad"
She was at breaking point when Amy eventually called her excitedly announcing "I've got a contact number" she whispered down the phone "Dad called Uncle Sam the other Day, apparently it's Grandma's 60th birthday in a month and he's coming" she giggled "Do you want the number?"
"Course" Alicia told her, she toyed with the idea of contact for a while, until days before the party, when she nervously made the call
End of Asia's Story