So... I have two chapters tonight, but it might be a week or so before I post anymore, so hope that they are enjoyable. :)
3. The Spa Day Cover
As much as Sammie hated lying, she was relieved when Kelsey told Sam that she was taking Mercedes to a day spa for the entire day. It made things easier for her to manage with him, if he thought that Mercedes was elsewhere. Fortunately, Mercedes was still a diva, even in ghost form? Imaginary friend form? Sammie shook her head and shrugged, whatever she was to him… memory form. There were so many things that people wanted her grandfather to be a part of, but she didn't think that he was up to any of it.
One of the networks was going to be airing the life story of The Diva and The Dork later on this week and she would have to be sure to be present so that he would not see any of it, with people's commentaries of who Mercedes was and how her death affected the world. He seemed to sleepwalk through the entire funeral process and spent several months not eating properly or even caring about himself, until it happened.
Sam had been laying in the tub, sick, dying of starvation, dehydrated. He had made all of the children leave, but his granddaughter Sammie refused to go and even when he shoved her out of the front door and locked it, she remained standing outside, making calls. She called everyone from both of her grandparents' staff to see who else had a key to the house. Her grandfather had been neglecting medication and nourishment, and she was convinced that the man was trying to kill himself.
None of them witnessed what happened in that bathroom. As Sam laid in the tub, crying for a countless time over his wife's departure, he could not motivate himself to leave the water. He was supposed to go first. He was the sick one, always battling this or that. He was the one in and out of the hospital, the one that had to take medicines and all other such trouble that she helped him to organize and remember. "It should have been me, Mercy! But, I won't tarry too long. You'll see me soon enough," he promised, through sobs.
"Sam Evans, you stop that, right now," he heard her say. He looked up to see his diva, his princess, his angel – dressed in a white robe, extending her hands to him. "Let me help you," she said, sweetly. Sam was so excited to see her that he moved too quickly trying to get out of the tub and when he reached for her hands, his fingers slipped from hers and he fell out of the bathtub and hit his head.
Sammie immediately panicked. She'd heard something thud and maybe even a yelp. She broke open one of the windows and rushed throughout the vast place, calling out to her grandfather, and calling 911, explaining that she had broken in because she heard a thud, but she was unable to locate the man inside. When she found him, her heart sank. She reported to the operator, "Oh my God. He's laying on his face and his head is bleeding. Oh my God, Grandpa!" She began crying profusely.
Since then, when Sam spoke of Mercedes, they presumed that the bump he took to the head combined with his stress present manifested his imaginary Mercedes. Though they appreciated the fact that he really survived miraculously that fall, they felt that this was a way of letting him live again. He told Sammie that Mercedes was dressed in white, trying to help him out of the tub, but he slipped from her grasp. At first, she thought that maybe he was trying to tell her that his wife had come to usher him into Heaven, but when he continued to talk to Mercedes, after the fact – she gradually began to realize that he had repressed her death and everything else up until his fall.
Their pretenses seemed to hurt everyone but him, so that was what was important. Sammie, being the only granddaughter in the family that actually lived in Tennessee and didn't just come to visit, came to the house on a regular basis. She was the one Sam called when he couldn't get Mercedes to respond the morning that she died and she was the one who also found him, thinking that he too was dead. The stress of it all bothered her more than anyone else in the family and sometimes, she thought that they purposefully did not want to know everything that was happening. She understood that to a certain extent.
Sam and Mercedes were wonderful people who had loved each other and taught their children, grandchildren and a few great grandchildren what true love really looks like and encouraged them to accept nothing less. They impacted entertainment and impacted society. They were a unit, as powerful as any force of nature… and now they were apart. That reality was harsh and painful… but how did they think it felt to see him revert to a place that no longer existed and to try not to agitate him with her inability to do so with a genuine smile?
Sam's entire face beamed when Kelsey returned and he staggered over, with his crooked back and reached out for his prize. "Oh, Mercy – you look beautiful!" Kelsey smiled and nodded her head, enthusiastically. Sammie just began to gather up her things to leave. Sam admired Mercedes with a nice curly do that she hadn't sported in decades, which made him think of the first Troubletones performance he had ever seen, despite the fact that all of her hair was now brilliant silver. She had on a yellow dress and her skin was radiant and so soft and clear. "You ladies should go to the spa more often," Sam suggested.
"Funny you should mention that, Uncle Sam. Auntie Cedes and I are going to make a regular habit of this thing. I'm thinking once a week. Is every Friday good for you, Auntie?" She asked. Sammie huffed, inaudibly as Sam and Mercedes began to fuss. He didn't want her to spend every Friday away from him! Sam watched as Kelsey put her hand up over her mouth, as though to shield it from her great uncle as she said, "Auntie Cedes, I'll be here to pick you up next Friday morning." Her blue eyes fell upon Sammie, who passed by her nose nuzzling grandparents, wishing them a good night as she moved towards the door.
"Sammie, wait up!" Kelsey called and followed her cousin out of the house. "What's wrong?"
Tears instantly fell from her eyes and she asked, "Do you even take what's going on to him seriously? How can you so happily deceive him like that?"
Kelsey swallowed hard and tilted her head slightly as she said, "Because I know it's what he needs. You're actually leaving him for the night?"
"He had a long talk with me about my attitude towards Meemaw, told me that if I couldn't start being nicer to her, then I would have to stop coming over and that when she got back from the "beautifier" that he would want to spend some alone time with her tonight and would appreciate it if I just left when she got in." She wiped her face and said, "Dad wants me to start interviewing home health workers. They just don't understand this feeling of responsibility that I have for him. I watched him say his goodbyes to her once I confirmed that she was dead. I… I have been here for him the entire process."
"You did everything that you could and you've done well. Seriously, my siblings, my aunts and uncles never go see Nana Stacey in that home. I go to see her, and when I do, she's the happiest thing alive for the first few moments and a depressed wreck for the next two hours, wondering why nobody else comes to see her. It hurts me. That's why I try to make sure I bring Uncle Sam at least once a month. I see Nana once and week, bring Uncle Sam once a month and until now, see Uncle Sam bi-weekly, and thatexhausts me. You are with Uncle Sam everyday for at least eight hours. You need a break and right now, he's fine enough for you to take one."
Sammie was about to debate, but Kelsey pointed out, "Uncle Sam was grieving when he fell."
"And hallucinating – which he is still doing, and even more now. He's going to have imaginary old people sex with his late wife tonight."
"I doubt it. They'll probably kiss, cuddle and fall to sleep before second base," Kelsey said.
"Kelsey!" Sammie said.
"Sounded sarcastic and facetious, but I swear I was being serious," Kelsey replied. She waved her hand before getting distracted again, "He's totally happy with his life and will most likely not have another event like that. He has guard rails in the tub and he can hear just fine. You can call him to remind him about any medicine he needs to take and still stop by for daily visit, just… not watching him like an overprotective hawk all day long and into the night." Kelsey shrugged her shoulders and said, "And while you're trying it that way, also look into getting a home health worker."
"You coming over for dinner?" Sammie asked. Kelsey knew that to mean that she still needed her cousin around and locked her arm into the woman's. "Can we take your car? I'll leave mine here since I'll be back in the morning, anyway." Her husband could drop her off.
"It's Zaydyn's 60th birthday soon… well – 60 years since his release to the world, anyway," Sam said as he and Mercedes both finished preparing for bed. "Hard to believe that it's been that long. We've had him longer than the kids…"
Mercedes hated not being able to see her family for Thanksgiving, but if she went to Lima, she would miss the independent film festival that was going to release Sam's movie, Zaydyn is My Name. Her man had worked hard for the past couple of years on this movie. He did the bulk of the work and enlisted friends for much of the remainder of it. Sam had been paid very well with his music and offered various other jobs, though in his spare time, he was consumed with the development of his fictional character, the alternate Earth and the war with the Xetygeron race. His online cartoon shorts had gone viral and he was offered contracts for making a motion cartoon, which he was able to talk up to a contract of the release of the graphic novel, first – then a cartoon. He always put most of it into Mercedes' album savings and worked with as little as possible for the rest of his stuff.
Sam excelled with the graphic novel and the cartoon so well that by the time his fan base heard that he had been making a movie, they had already dedicated blogs and websites to the Zaydyn Project. Mercedes convinced him to have an official website made, just so the proper facts could be released, officially. After a while, he became quite popular and soon famous. By the time he was twenty and unleashing the work that was his independent film, he took a good long look at his woman and felt a little guilty that they were here for her to shine, but she somehow ended up on that comfortable but forgettable backburner.
Yes, she was still making her CDs and Sam was promoting them left and right. She had enough in her savings to come out with a proper album, but she wanted to make sure she remained supportive of Sam and the things that he was doing, simultaneously. A kid named Wade, that idolized her back in Ohio had come into town to become famous as well and served as the president of her fan club, her personal assistant, her photographer, her choreographer, her publicist… he really did everything that Sam tried to do, but kept running out of time. However, when Sam made the theme song, Mercedes and Wade sang it together and she was featured on several of the score's tracks.
And even though the main female lead's character was created in her image, she appeared in a scene in the movie where the two have a long talk about Zaydyn's secret, as the sultry singer on the stage at the bar that they're gathered at. After he proves his alien identity, his friend/love interest grows silent and they stare at each other for a time, during which Mercedes rips a song to shreds while her character silently cries before getting up and leaving, not knowing what else to do.
The song MADE that scene and everyone was a buzz with trying to figure out who in the world this singer was and why had they not heard her before? Within weeks, Mercedes was being signed to a major record label. "All thanks to you," she told Sam as they set her framed copy of her contract next to his on their mantle.
"You kidding? I never would've even gotten my work off of the ground if it wasn't for your encouragement. So, really this is thanks to you, Baby." He pulled her in with one arm and hugged her to his side as they looked at their accomplishments that they both only felt confident would grow.
"This is what happens when people love each other, believe in each other and help each other," she said and wrapped an arm around him as well. Sam looked over and kissed the top of her head. She looked up into his eyes and they stared at each other for a moment.
"You're amazing," Sam told her. She couldn't help but to smile brightly at that declaration, but before she could reply, his lips tackled hers and he began to urge her towards the bedroom. She laughed into his mouth and let him move her exactly where he wanted her.
"We need to celebrate it. I know that they'll probably have all these dedication magazines and stuff, but I'm thinking like as a family," Mercedes suggested. "I mean, if it wasn't for your comics, people might not have picked up on the movie (because it was rather low budget, after all), and if they hadn't picked up on the movie, I never would've gotten noticed."
"Yes, you would've. You even had enough money for enough studio time to make your album. You were gonna succeed, no matter what. God just knew how much I wanted to support and impress you, so He let your talent be introduced through my work (so it could look like I was somehow responsible)." He clipped her nose with his middle and index finger and she laughed and scrunched her face up.
"Sam!" She said and playfully slapped at his arm. Then, she suddenly became serious and she said, "Really, we should have a celebration for Zaydyn's 60th birthday. I love him like my own child." She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her close.
"It's next up on our list of events."
"Our list of things to do together," she corrected him.
He scoffed, laughed and muttered, "Know it all." Then, he poked her nose with his index finger and said, "Boop." She scrunched her face up with a laugh.
"Sam Evans, you are so silly," she said and pulled him closer to hold him.