Manny's Cousin Harold
Manny was slightly irritated. His mother had told him at the dinner that Harold had said that he had transportation to her house. Now she had called him when he was about to walk out the door to work and informed him that Harold would need to be picked up at the bus station.
He pulled up to the bus station and immediately saw his cousin. He waved and ran to the car.
Manny opened the trunk and put his suitcases in and slammed it shut.
"Hey Manny. I appreciate you picking me up" Harold said grinning.
Harold was a stocky man who was several inches taller than Manny. He climbed in the car beside him.
"No problem, Harold" he said. "I just wish I'd known sooner. I was on my way to work!"
He pulled out in traffic and Harold pulled out a cigarette and offered Manny one.
"Sorry about that. I had car trouble and had to take the bus at the last minute. I called Aunt Eva and told her last night.'
"She didn't call me until this morning" Manny replied.
"So I hear congratulations are in order" Harold said.
"That's right" Manny replied.
"When do I get to meet the lucky girl?" Harold asked grinning.
"Oh you'll meet her soon enough!" Manny replied.
He pulled up in front of his mother's house. "I don't have time to come in, Harold"
"No problem." Harold said getting out. "I'll see you later."
He went to the back of the car and Manny got out and opened the trunk and helped him with his bags. He then got back in the car.
He waved as Manny quickly drove off.
Manny made it to the office and Sid was waiting for him.
"Look Manny" he said following him in and then he sat directly in front of him.
"This weekend Cheryl wants you and Corrina to come over. She's hosting a dinner in your honor."
Manny looked surprised. "Really? Cheryl is accepting of my marriage?"
"Of course...I mean after all she's Molly's Godmother and she still wants to be a part of your life.
Manny looked skeptical. "What about Jenny? Those two are friends you know."
"Just because Jenny is her friend doesn't mean that she can't be friends with Corrina too. They just can't be friends together." Sid reasoned.
"I don't know..." Manny replied unconvinced.
"There's no backing out now." Sid replied. "She's already called your mother and she wants Corrina's family to come too."
"I'll have to talk to Corrina about this" Manny replied.
"Yeah, I know" Sid said laughing. He got up and walked to the door and then looked back.
"It'll work out." he said walking out and shutting the door to Manny's office.
Manny wasn't so sure what Corrina would say about a dinner at Sid's. She had only seen him a couple of times and she didn't know Cheryl at all.
He came home that evening still trying to figure out what he would tell her. Al was there with Molly and had started a spaghetti dinner. He told him that Corrina was on her way to the house. In just a little over a week they would be husband and wife.
Molly was out back playing with Lois as usual and he stood in the doorway watching her as he smoked a cigarette.
Corrina came in the house and walked up behind him and put her arms around him.
"Hi" he said as she laid her head against his back.
"Hey, handsome" she said smiling.
He turned and kissed her.
"Al fixed spaghetti" he said kissing her again.
"I know" she responded. She pressed her body against his and kissed him deeply, her tongue seeking his. She felt his immediate response when she did this and it thrilled her.
"I can feel how much you missed me today" she taunted playfully.
"You want me to show you too?" he asked raising his eyebrow.
"Molly will be in here any minute" she replied. "So we'd better behave."
He laughed and Corrina opened the screen door and summoned Molly into the house.
She instructed Molly to wash her hands and she quickly set the table and the three of them sat down to their dinner.
"Sid and Cheryl are planning a party Saturday in our honor." Manny said when they had just about finished eating. "I told him that I'd tell you."
Corrina looked apprehensive. "I don't know Manny..."
"Well we have to face the world sometime" he replied.
"I guess you're right" she said slowly.
Just then the phone rang and Manny walked over and answered it.
"Manny, this is your mother" Eva said on the other end of the line.
"Hi, Ma." he said looking at Corrina
"Manny, I want you and Molly and Corrina to come over for dinner tomorrow. Harold hasn't seen Molly since she was a baby."
"I know Ma" Manny said. "We'll see."
"You might as well get it over with Manny." Eva whispered in the phone.
"Do you want me to tell him or do you want to just shock him when you come in the door?"
Manny laughed. "You can tell him if you want to"
Manny hung up the phone and sat back down.
"Well?" Corrina said looking at him.
"We've been invited to dinner. Ma wants us to come over. My cousin Harold is visiting."
"Is he my cousin too?" Molly asked interested.
"Yes, Molly. He's your cousin too." Manny replied.
He helped Corrina clean up the kitchen and put the food away and he took Molly and helped her change into her pajamas and read her a bedtime story. He tucked her in still thinking about Harold.
He didn't know what Harold would say, but he was sure that the news would travel though his family like a wildfire once he found out. Harold and his Uncle Harold, his father's brother grew up in South Carolina. That was a totally different world from Los Angeles. He sighed and sat down at the piano and tinkered with the keys.
He began to play George Gershwin's "Someone to Watch Over Me" glancing towards the doorway that Corrina was standing in watching him. He began to hum the melody still watching her. He then started singing to her as he played the song.
"There's a somebody I'm longing to see...
I hoping that she...
Turns out to be...
Someone who'll watch over me...
"I'm a little lamb who's lost in the wood...
I know I could...always be good...
To one who'll watch over me...
Although I may not be the man some girls think of as handsome...
But to her heart I'll carry the key...
He paused and smiled at Corrina. She came over and gave him a kiss. He continued playing and singing, his eyes locked with hers.
Won't you tell her please...
To put on some speed...
Follow my lead...
Oh, how I need...
Someone to watch...over...me..."
The next day Manny prepared himself for the dinner with his mother and his cousin Harold. Corrina still had not given him an answer on the dinner party that Sid and Cheryl wanted to have for them.
The wedding was a little over a week away and he thought about the final meeting with Reverend Davis they had just completed. He still wasn't totally convinced he was going to heaven, but he had gone through the motions of confessing Christ and he had to admit that he didn't feel any different than he did before he did it. His mother told him that he was still Jewish regardless, so he accompanied her to temple also.
Everything was set and he had taken the time to look at a few houses. He knew that they would eventually have to move. Molly would still be able to attend the same school if he wanted her to since it was a private school. He felt that he could get a good price for his home. He had been there ten years and the value had gone up.
Corrina insisted on paying for the wedding and reception herself. He was responsible for the honeymoon and they had agreed on going to Hawaii. He had already paid the down payment to the travel agency and he had to stop by and pay the balance in a couple of days. Everything was in place, but he felt a little uneasy about this dinner.
He drove over to his mothers with Corrina and Molly. He was a little nervous and he berated himself silently for it. He took a deep breath as he parked the car. Well he might as well get this over with.
Molly skipped up the walkway and he put his arm around Corrina and led her to the door.
He watched as the door opened and Molly ran into the house.
"Hey Ma" he said walking in.
"Manfred" she said. "Come in!" She looked at Corrina. "Good to see you again Corrina"
"Good to see you again too, Mrs. Singer" Corrina replied.
Manny walked into the living room and his cousin Harold jumped up. "Manny!" he said extending his hand. As he was shaking it he glanced up and saw Corrina walk in the room.
"Who's this?"
"This is my fiancée, Corrina" Manny replied.
"You're kidding?" Harold replied shocked.
"Hello to you too" Corrina replied.
"Hi Cousin Harold" Molly said walking over to him with her hand extended.
He looked at Molly and then back to Corrina and Manny. He looked at Molly's extended hand and took it in his. "Hello, Molly"
He looked back at Corrina.
"This is a surprise" he said giving her the once over.
"Let's sit down to dinner" Eva replied.
Manny watched as Harold leered at Corrina when she wasn't looking. He wanted to punch him in the face, but he couldn't do it in his mother's house. So this is what it was going to be like.
They went outside after dinner to smoke and his mother and Corrina stayed inside to clean up the kitchen. Molly was with them.
"So what's it like?" Harold asked.
It was dark out and Manny watched the end of Harold's cigarette as he inhaled.
"What do you mean?" he asked even though he had an idea of what Harold was talking about and it disgusted him.
"I mean, is she good? You're marrying her...she's not a beauty so she must be a tornado in bed" He chuckled to himself.
Manny grabbed him by the collar. "Shut your stinking mouth! It's not like that!"
"Hey! I was only asking!" Harold said throwing up his hands. "I'm just trying to figure you out."
Manny let him go and shoved him back.
"There's nothing to figure out! I'm in love with her."
Harold looked at him and took another drag off of his cigarette.
"Do you know what you're doing? You're killing your mother and your daughter...well she'll be teased and no decent white boy will want her."
"God Harold, she's seven years old!" Manny snapped. "I'm not worried about her finding a man just yet. Besides, this is California and not South Carolina. I'm marrying Corrina!"
"Suit yourself" Harold replied. "Even if it is California, I think you're going to find out that a lot of people don't agree with this race mixing. You're not a bad looking guy...why in the world would you even consider HER?"
Manny looked at him. "I don't have to explain my choices to you or anyone else! We're getting married next weekend, OK?"
"Fine." Harold said dropping the butt on the ground and smashing it with his foot. "It's your funeral."
"What about you, Harold" Manny said "I understand you're going through a divorce. Is that why you're out here visiting Ma?"
Harold grunted. "I needed a little away time, that's all."
Manny looked at him. "Yeah right. She's white and Jewish right? She's the right color and all, why didn't it work out?" He was being sarcastic and he knew it, but Harold's comments about Corrina irritated him.
"Just goes to show you that even when it should work, it always doesn't." Harold remarked looking at him. "So your relationship with that black woman doesn't have a chance in hell."
"I disagree" Manny replied finishing off his cigarette.
He walked back into the house and found Corrina and Eva sitting on the sofa. Molly was stretched out on the floor in front of the television. He'd had enough of his cousin for one day. He looked at Corrina who met his gaze.
"Let's go" he said.