Great reviews! Great insights and questions. You guys are very sharp. I love the comments.
One reader said, two steps forward and one back at the end, this is true. Lots of raw feelings being revealed. A few of you didn't like the fact that Ranger wanted to go in with her to see the doctor. This chapter will explain his thinking. He's about to make a huge investment in her life, and Lula has proved herself to be mostly a pain-in-the-butt so far. His parting comment was therapy fodder, and totally up for argument. LOL
This chapter is a bit crude for our sensibilities at the end, but again, we're inside the male mind. These are two, hard, military men conversing. One reader gal, carrotmusic (love you girl), mentioned feeling like a fly on the wall, and I thought that was an excellent way to describe being present during this train wreck these characters are in at the moment.
Note - Glossary for the military jargon at the end of the chapter.
Alix33 has been coming up behind me and cleaning up my punctuation. Thanks girl!
Chapter 11
There was nothing more that I could say to Stephanie right now to convince her of my sincerity. I didn't trust Lula at the moment, so I moved to making the unemotional and methodical decisions that had not so far, failed me in the past.
Stephanie was not talking, nor making rational decisions. Even in the past, she had proven herself as the queen of denial. It was doubtful that she would be honest with the doctor about her recent lifestyle. I was about to make the biggest investment of my life, for that matter, her life. I wanted to know that she was disease free, and at least mentally sound enough to take on the responsibility of adopting a child with special needs.
Hell, I wondered if I could even be considered sane for taking this on?
On the way to the appointment, Lula spoke. "So, little white girl told me that you plannin' to go in that room with her. You gonna humiliate her in front of that doctor?"
I looked in the rearview mirror. "Not my intention. Let me make something clear to you, Lula. It's going to take a village and a shit-load of money to help this baby she illegally adopted. If you don't know the people in the village, and you don't have the shit-load of money, check your mouth, stay out of trouble, and try to be supportive. Please."
She had at first looked surprised, and then harrumphed, sitting back in the seat, and crossing her arms. Then she mumbled something about telling Tankie I was rude to her. Right now, I could give-a-shit less. I could probably better manage without her even being here.
Lula held the baby, and I did go in with Stephanie and introduced myself as her companion. Stephanie had done exactly as I'd expected, didn't acknowledge that I was there, and had not been honest in answering the doctor's questions about her sexual activity. I was forced to tell the doctor that she'd had unprotected sex and needed to be tested for all sexually transmitted diseases. She had of course shed tears.
The doctor had just nodded and commenced to do the testing and take the necessary samples before, and during her exam. A half an hour later the doctor came back in the room with the news that Stephanie had tested positive for chlamydia. She asked if we'd had unprotected sex and I told her no, but would like to be screened. Within in an hour we were leaving and Stephanie had the necessary antibiotics to clear up her problem. She was humiliated, but it hadn't been my doing. I rested my case. I'd done the right thing for both of us.
When I pulled into my drive, there was a Camaro convertible sitting in the circle near the front door. I pulled into the garage, and we entered through the pantry and kitchen. Sipping a cocktail in the living room was Lester. I hadn't seen my cousin in a long while. We talked, but it was mostly business, including the conference calls for our meetings. He was still tall, lanky, and muscular, but much thinner. He wasn't as tanned, like he didn't get outdoors much. The most drastic change in him was in his face. He had aged. Instead of the signature cocky grin, he wore a more mature smile, there were lines in the corners of his eyes now, and he wore a suit instead of his casual jeans and boots.
I walked over to him and hugged him. Tank and I both missed Lester. He was looking over my shoulder when I let him go, and I turned. Stephanie was standing there in the kitchen doorway like a deer in headlights. She had tears swimming in her eyes, and was shaking. Lester finally smiled at her, and held up one hand, as in a peaceful greeting.
She hurried up the stairs with Angel, and Lula came over to say hello to Lester. "Damn you sure do look different. You went and gone all 'GQ' on us. How you doin' Lester Santos?"
He smiled at her and gave her a hug. "I'm doing pretty good, Lula. You taking care of Tank?"
"Yeah, I just wish he didn't like pussy so much. He sends me out to get tortured once a week and I still feel like the last one in line to get me some Tankie lovin' sometimes. You know what I mean?"
Lester's eyebrows quirked up, and I could tell he was half confused, and half amused. I mouthed, the cats, to him when he looked over at me.
He burst out laughing. "Damn, Lula. I forgot about the cats and I didn't know what the hell you were talking about at first."
She smiled and said, "Oh hell no, I ain't talkin' about no other women. I have to get shots now every week so we can all live together. Ain't that a bitch?"
He said, "Well, you found a way to live together. Shouldn't be much of a sacrifice if you're all happy now."
"We're happy. We like our new house. You need to come stay with us a few days. We got two nice guest rooms, and he misses you."
Lester smiled. "Yeah, I miss all the Trenton guys. I'm about ready to make a move again."
My phone vibrated and I reached in my pocket and looked at the display. I whispered, "Fuck," then touched the button to answer.
"Baby, what is going on? Are those women still there? I've been patient, you owe me some kind of explanation. I miss you and want to see you."
I glanced over at Lester and gave him our old hand sign for, want to get laid? He just kind of shrugged and nodded. "Aleida, I have another guest right now, but I'll bring him, and we'll come over after we have dinner. Do you understand me?"
"What does he look like?"
Not surprised at her superficial question. "Like me."
"I'll be ready. Bye, lover."
I said to Lula, "Betina has already made your dinner. You and Stephanie can eat outside by the pool if you want. Watch a movie, and enjoy your night. I haven't seen Lester in a while, and we're going out."
She made a face. "Mmm, hmm. I heard, I know where you takin' him. You know what? I'm curious, did you keep one of them ho's back in Trenton? Cuz' if you did, you was a lot more discreet about it than you are now."
I said, "That would be my business, Lula. I never had any commitments in Trenton."
"I know you got with my girl, and you was pawin' her all the time. Me and Connie saw you."
Dammit, this woman. She's like this fucking little guilt character I've heard about in jest that sits on your shoulder putting doubts in your mind. "Stephanie, was in a relationship with Morelli, not me."
"Mmm,hmm. You keep tellin' yo'self that, don't you?"
I said to Lester, "Let's go, primo."
We hopped in my Porsche Carrera Convertible and took off. I looked at Les. "La Havana?"
"Yeah, man. That sounds really good."
We were finishing our meal with some of Alonso's flan and drinking coffee. Lester asked, "So what is going on with you and Lula?"
I snorted. "Lula is a pain in my ass. Just the same as she was off and on in Trenton. The woman hasn't changed much at all. I'm still surprised as hell that Tank took her back."
He shrugged. "I think it was the grief at first. He was alone, remember? If she gave him comfort, then I'm glad she was there."
I guess your right. "He tell you about her getting arrested down here?"
"Yeah. She pulled her gun in a baby store? That's pretty fucked up, and he's really upset about it. Says she's getting a couple strong ultimatums or the relationship is really over this time. If she knew that, she probably wouldn't want to go home."
"Good for him."
"So what's the deal? You keeping a woman down here?"
"Yeah. We have an understanding, my needs are met, it's convenient, guilt free, no strings. The way I like it."
"Believe me, I get that. I have a similar arrangement now. So tell me, what the hell you're doing with Stephanie here now, and with this baby she supposedly picked up off the street? That whole thing just sounds off to me."
"I messed up. Call it a temporary moment of insanity, PTSD, whatever you want. I was angry when I saw her hooking on that corner. I picked her ass up and fucked the anger out of my system. Two years worth of built up shit. The problem is, I did her damage. I didn't know she was already mentally unstable." I swiped my hand down my face. "Now I have to pay..."
He sighed. "You think you're responsible for her mental problems now? That's bullshit. I feel bad for her, I do. However, she was always '404' when it came to culpability. She stayed on that TARFU road, no matter how many times she got hurt or somebody else got hurt. I noticed when you decided you were the mop-up and it was time to pull out, and I'm not the only one. You figured out that the situation with her was always going to be jacked-up. It was unsat for you and always would be. It was no longer worth the wait. Bob and I saw the changes after Hawaii."
I looked at him and smiled. "And I always thought you were just an ass-clown."
He laughed. "I was Dilberted, man. Seriously, before we found out about Bobby, I wanted that Ranger grave to be hers, and her lying in that fucking gutter, tits-up, instead of my best friend and partner."
"I know how angry you were. I didn't realize how angry I was, not until I laid into her that day. You two nebbies were right. It was after Hawaii that I got the BFO."
He chuckled. "I miss Bob so much, man. He used to crack me up. He would say stuff like, Stephanie Plum, equals, more beans, bullets and band-aids. And he'd say, I'm having a deja moo, every time he heard her say the words, it wasn't my fault. I asked him what he was doing one time when he was reading, and he answered, studying for Ranger's rectal cranial inversion."
I burst out laughing. "Fucker… I miss the hell out of that guy too. What do you say we go pump and dump for old times sake."
"Oh hell yeah, I could definitely dump some shit."
An hour later, Lester grinned at me and asked, "Shall we go in balls to nutsack or nut to butt?"
I grinned back at him. "Don't matter to me. Ranger lead the way..."
TBC -
404 - Someone who is clueless. Like the web message "404 not found."
Ass Clown - A leader who demonstrates comedy to effectively wow the seniors to believe he actually has operational knowledge of the task at hand. In actuality, he has no clue and truly doesn't understand the training criteria.
Balls to Nutsack - Describes troops cramped together closely.
BFO - Blinding flash of the obvious.
Deja Moo - The feeling you've heard this bullshit before.
Dilberted - To be exploited and oppressed by your boss.
Jacked-Up - Screwed up, ruined, in trouble.
Mop Up - A term for the actions occurring just after you discover you are actually on the objective, in the enemy's fire sack, that implies a willingness to expose oneself to lethal fires.
More beans, bullets and band-aids - Meaning stocking up is going to be necessary.
Nut to Butt - A phrase to tell Soldiers or Sailors to tighten-up a single file line, generally used in Basic Training
Pop Smoke - Call for extraction. Alternately to leave work or complete an period of service.
Pump and Dump - Have sex.
Ranger Grave - Slang, slightly pejorative term for a hasty fighting position, so named because it is barely deep enough for an individual to lie prone in.
Rectal Cranial Inversion - To have one's head up one's ass. Also "Cranial Rectosis."
Tits-Up - To be dead, lying on your back with your chest facing skyward, hence Tits-Up.
Unsat Situation - Unsatisfactory.