Time and Unforeseen Occurrences Chapter Six

I'm still trying to figure out who that I was just talking to on the phone, it sounded like sounded like my Uncle Jacob's wife Zabeta Iman Wilson Jones, but I have never seen this side of her, I can't wait to tell Monique if this true. She might have been playing a prank but just in case it isn't, I better go and get the twins dressed. I run down the hallway to my bedroom, Jeff is still in bed.

"Jeffrey, Jeff wake up, I need for you to clean my van. Guess whose going to keep the twins tonight?"

"Quincy what's wrong, what are you talking about girl?" He asks as he sits up in bed and wipes his eyes.

"Jeff you work third shift last night which means you worked from10:00 pm till 4 am, so why is it that you didn't get home until 7:30 this morning?"

"I went over to the waffle house with a couple of the guys after work and chilled."

He always got an answer I thought, "Oh well, anyways Auntee Zee and Jacob are taking the kids to Celebration Station in Greensboro and they want to keep our van to take them there, so I need you to get up and wash the van."

"Why would they want to take our kids to Celebration Station?"

"Jacob is my uncle, besides they're taking Monique's boys wanted to know if it was all right to take the girls too! That's not the best part, I am going to keep the Benz while she holds the van!"

Jeffrey jumps out of the bed, "Word!"

"Yes word! So while I dress the kids will you please wash the van?"

He begins to yawn and says, "Okay."

"Do you want to do something later on tonight after I get off from work, I'll find a baby-sitter for the baby."

"No I have made plans with the guys." Jeffrey answered.

I figured as much, I thought to myself. I get the girls from their room where they are watching Barney on video. They love that big purple dinosaur, and I do too, because all I have to do is pop him in the VCR and they are satisfied. Tiffany Marie and Tammy Michelle are identical twins but I treat them like individuals. I don't dress them alike all the time, and I try to let them identify their likes and dislikes separately, but today I think I will dress them identical. I put them on their red and white shorts sets, with white socks and red and white Ked sneakers. The tops they have on has their names on the back, so I hope Auntee Zee don't stay too confused with them. I would be worried about how the twins are going to act around them, but they know Uncle Jacob somewhat, but they are crazy about Monique's boys and they will follow them two anywhere. The girls are potty trained and they both have a large vocabulary, because I try to read to them at least four days a week, but it's hard being consistent with the crazy hours I I work. Tiffany Marie is the oldest by three minutes and she is definitely the boss of the two. I know Tammy Michelle resents being bossed around and if she doesn't get a backbone and stand up to her sister, she is going to end up in therapy when she's an adult. Something I know that I need, but don't have the time or money to deal with it.

I then go and inspect my house to make sure the house looks good. Auntee Zee has never been here and I want her to see that I might not have the money that she has but I am still living well. I get little Jeffrey dress and then I take my own shower and get dressed. I put on my uniform because after they leave I am going to see Monique and then head off to work and sit with Mr. Law.

Just as the time is quickly ticking away, Jeffrey comes in sweating and announces the van is clean. I look down at my purple shirt and white pants with my white Nike tennis shoes and I think I really need to lose some weight, but I know I am not bad looking woman by a long shot. I walk to the mirror and inspect my hair, the thick black curls are long and loose flowing coming down my back. I keep my eyebrows tweezed and I wear my makeup moderate, and you are never going to catch me without my lipstick, because I hate my dark brown lips I have from the years of smoking. Jeffrey looks me up and down and I know what he's thinking but I ignore it because I am already dressed and not in the mood.

Just as I am finishing my thought a car pulls up in the driveway. I look out and there it is, Auntee Zee 1996 Mercedes Benz S420, she brought it brand new off the show room floor and she hasn't had it six months yet and she is trusting it with me! It's beautiful, four door silver with gray interior sunroof, tinted glass with a AM/FM Cassette and CD player.

All four doors open at the same time. Jacob comes out of the drivers side, and Auntee Zee on the passenger. They look so good together, like two puzzle pieces that finally got put together. the looks on their face remind me of their wedding day, they were so radiant. Too bad Monique wasn't there. Out of the back doors popped Jonathan and Marcus. They are so handsome and I know what they have on was bought by Auntee Zee because it fits them perfectly with room to spare. They both had on Nike short suits, one blue the other one black. Monique took care of her boys the best she could, but seeing them now I sort of knew what she was talking about. They looked so different with Auntee Zee and Uncle Jacob, especially Jonathan he didn't have that stressed worried look he usually have. He kept too much on his mind for a child of ten years of age.

Auntee Zee looks different too, I like the softness the boys bring out of her. Seeing her this way helps me to see what Uncle Jacob saw in her when he married and chased after her for all those years. For the longest time people were always speculating about what kind of friendship those two had, even Monique and I weren't sure. They wold always turn up at each other's family functions, together with a date.

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I remember the first I met Auntee Zee, Uncle Jacob had brought her to one of our family reunions. I was nine years old and my Uncle Jacob's favorite niece. Maybe it was because my mother, his baby sister died while giving birth to me, and my father couldn't handle being a single dad so he walked away. I was given to Uncle Jacob's oldest sister Aunt Sarah who already had four girls and two sons. She fed me though and kept me in clean clothes, (hand me downs from her daughters) but I am not complaining because they were better than nothing. She didn't have much love to spare, hardly had it for her own children. Too bad I couldn't say the same for my Uncle Jimmy, her husband, because he loved me real good, so good that he couldn't keep his hands off of me. The things he did to me made me feel so ugly and so ashamed, he told me if I wanted to continue staying there I was to tell nobody especially not my Uncle Jacob because according to him he would not have believed me anyway, so I did just what I was told to do, I kept quiet.

Auntee Zee was so pretty and thin and long brown hair and hazel brown eyes, and she was very light skinned. She had on designer clothes from head to toe. She had pretty long red fingernails and her toes were pretty too, they matched her fingernails. Uncle Jacob turned to her and said, "Zee this is my favorite niece Victoria Quessential Jackson, but we call her Quincy," and he hugged.

She bent down to my eye level and asked me how was I doing, she asked me my age and when I told her I was nine, she said she had a daughter my age name Monique, and asked if I would sometime like to meet her. I shook my head yes. She then looked me up and down and said I was a big girl for my age. That was she she had to say to me for the rest of the day. Uncle Jacob stayed beside her during the whole family reunion and he didn't spend anymore time with me that day, to make up for his absence, I replaced him with food, fried chicken, ham, macaroni and cheese, hamburgers, potato salad, potato chips, cake, slices of pie and ice cream. That was my first encounter with Auntee Zee.

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Today Auntee Zee looked fabulous with her designer clothes from head to toe, Etienne Aigner shoe and matching purse. She had on a summer wine colored pantsuit and a beautiful wine colored pair of sandals. Her manicured nails and toes completed the ensemble. Uncle Jacob looked cool in his tan shorts with tan and blue cotton shirt, a pair of tan sandals and a tan straw hat.

I stood at the front with the door wide open waiting for them all to come in the house. As the boys walk by I pat them both on the heads and say hi to them, they go in looking for the twins. Since Auntee Zee had never been in my house, she comes in and looks around the living room and said that Jacob had told her how nice my house was. I ask her if she would like to take a tour, she shakes her head and says, "sure." We leave Uncle Jacob and Jeffrey in the living room talking and the boys and the twins have gone outside.

We start down the hallway and I stop at my son Jeffrey's room, since he's only nine months old, he has a typical baby boy blue room with teddy bears everywhere, we go through a door that connects to the bathroom which is also attached to the twins room. The bathroom is decorated with blue and yellow with my little pony decoration. We step into the twins' room which is in pink and white roses and baby dolls everywhere. I told Auntee Zee that I was going to let Monique redecorate the whole house when I got the money together. She shook her head and agreed that Monique was good at being creative. I thought "something else good is coming of Auntee Zee's mouth, I have got to be dreaming." We head toward my bedroom, my favorite place in the whole house. I have a king size four poster bed that's pure cherry. Two night stands, a huge dresser and mirror, and a chest drawer set. There's a 36 inch television on top of the chest, and a recliner at the foot of the bed facing the television.

"This is a beautiful bedroom set Quincy," Auntee Zee says looking around. "It sure looks sturdy, but then it would have to be wouldn't it?" she said looking at me.

"Now that's the Auntee Zee I know and love." I said to myself and smiled.

"Where did you get this?" Auntee Zee asked still admiring the furniture.

"At Pulaski, furniture company, a friend of mine who works there got it for me, one piece at a time." I replied back.

"It's beautiful, I love it." Auntee Zee replies.

"Thank you, I'm proud of it." I replied back and even now more prouder since Auntee Zee has something nice to say about it.

Auntee Zee sticks her head in the master bath nd then we leave my room. She also sticks her head in the bathroom down the hallway. The door to the basement is locked because of the twins, something she already understood. I explain to her that the washer and dryer is downstairs and one day I plan to fix the basement up and add other rooms. We end up in the kitchen where Jeffrey and Jacob are sitting on the deck that is connected to the dinning area.

"So when are you going to visit Monique?" Auntee Zee asks me.

"As soon as you guys leave, I'm going to getup out here too." I reply back.

"Well call me later on and let me know how she's doing, if we're not home yet, leave a message, though we should be back around 7:30 tonight."

I hand her the kids bag and explain there's some things for overnight if she's decides to keep the girls.

Auntee Zee looks at Uncle Jacob apprehensively and says, "Your Uncle Zee says that we can manage and I trust him, so just be by in the morning to pick them up and drop something off and Quincy you take care of my baby, and we will most definitely take care of yours."

I think to myself, "I know she is not comparing my baby girls with a hunk of metal but I smile and say, "All right Auntee Zee." I bend down and kiss my girls, and tell them I love them and to be good. I kiss Uncle Jacob on the cheek and he gives me the keys to the Mercedes, and and I give him the keys to the mini van. I kiss the boys and tell it's from Monique. Jonathan asks me when will I see his mother, I told him that I would see her later on today. He pulls me down to his level and kisses me and tells me to give that to his mother. He is so sweet and thoughtful. That pulls at heart strings, and when I look at Auntee Zee, I see that her heart strings were pulled too.

Once the van disappears down the road, I go back into the house, "Are you sure you don't want to spend time with your wife tonight?"

"I'm sure" he replies, "I've already made plans, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know, maybe some reading, maybe go to the mall."

"Who will you go to the mall with, Monique is in the hospital?" he asks.

"What's with all the questions, you don't want to be with me, so why you worried?" I have other friends." I replied.

The funny thing is he did look worried. What difference does it make who I hang out with? We looked at each other in silence. I couldn't believe that our marriage has gotten to this, or maybe it always had been like this, I just pretended not to notice. Seems like I am good at pretending. Pretending my husband didn't like to be with other women, pretending that my uncle really did love me and wasn't feeling me up, pretending that I eat only because I like food and not because there is really something else going on. Just as I was picking up little Jeffrey to take him our next door neighbor our babysitter the phone rung.

"Hi Quincy," Monique said.

"Hey girl, how you doing?"

"Fine, how is everybody there?" Monique asked.

"Everybody is doing OK," and in all my excitement I just blurted out, "You will never guess what who just left here with my twins in tow! I swear Monique you will never guess!"

"Well then tell me who?" she asked.

"Monique it was your mother, she called a couple of hours ago and asked if I was doing anything today, I told her no, she then asked if it would be all right if she took the girls to the Celebration Station with your boys and get this Monique, she wanted to use my van and in return I keep the Benz!"

The phone went quiet for a minute, "You're lying Quincy, you lying!"

"No I'm not lying Monique, I couldn't even joke about this, who would believe it, I'm just as shocked as you are, and your boys Monique, they are doing fine, and they looked so cute in their short sets today. Of course Jonathan asked about you and wanted me to give you a kiss which I will do if you let me hang up the phone so I can come over. Then we can have a real conversation, and then I can put my foot up your behind."

"Well all that will have to wait until I'm out of the hospital because I don't want you to come and see me while I'm here. Thanks for sending Miles over, surprisingly whatever you said to him got him here early this morning. He brought me some clothes and we were able to talk, first time in a real time.

"Well I am glad to hear that but why can't I come and see you Mo? Are you okay, how are they treating you in there?"

"It's okay, I hope I will have a better outlook when I come home, I am sorry that you found me like that, but I am also glad you found me in time, thanks."

"How long will you be there? Do you need me to bring you anything?"

"Like I said before I don't want you here, I need this time to myself. I told mother this morning and now I am telling you Miles provided me with everything that I need to make my stay in here comfortable. But do you think you come and pick me up in a couple of weeks when I will be discharged? By the way, you do have the keys to my car don't you, Miles was throwing hints about walking and not being able to find the keys to the car. I pretended that I didn't hear him. Thanks for once again having my back, and if it's not too much trouble check my apartment to make sure everything is okay. Miles hasn't gotten itchy when it came to taking our stuff yet, but with me not being there its no telling what he might do. So now that you got the Benz what are your plans? Mother never gave me the keys to any of her cars, I think I might be a little jealous."

"I wanted to do something with Jeffrey but he says he has made plans already. I'm really surprised to say it but I wanted to be with Jeffrey tonight, but instead I'll probably go to the mall. "

"You know in a weird way you being in the hospital helped me to see a different side of Auntee Zee, she was actually sort of nice to me." The phone goes silent.

"Well I have to see that to believe it, I know she can be nice but only if you fit in her circle, and my kids are included in that circle, not me. I'm just a mistake that she regrets having."

"Monique don't say that, your mother loves you, I really believe that, especially now. I saw it today, she loves you."

"Yeah well I got to go now, I'll call later on in the week, thanks again for everything Quincy, I love you."

"I love you too, Monique and please take care of yourself and hold your head up, bye." I hung the phone.

I really love Monique we couldn't be no closer than if we were sister. Well since I've already told Monique on the phone, I got time to kill so now I'm wondering what I should get into. I go to the door and look at the car, it's beautiful. I look at the keys in my hands, well I am going somewhere. I know, I'll go to Walmart, the kids need some underwear.

I check my appearance in the mirror, I look for my lipstick and reapply my Currant Groselle Lipstick from May Kay Cosmetics. I had tried to sell that stuff a couple of years ago but I realized I was better at buying it than selling it. Well I am outta here.

I walk through the kitchen and take the door that leads to the carport. There it is Auntee Zee's car, my hand is shaking. I press the button to unlock the door. I didn't have much adjusting of the seats because Uncle Jacob being a tall man was the last one in the drivers side. Thank God for that or I would be sitting here dying, trying to adjust the seat because Auntee Zee isn't big as a twig.

I turn the key into the ignition and the CD player comes on and it's the best of Barry White, this cannot listen to, that's more of what Monique likes to listen to. I play with the radio until I find FM 102 and Mary J. Blige is singing now this I can relate to. The motor is so quiet, I am not sure if it's on, so I turn the key again, it made a funny sound to let me know that it definitely on. I look over my head and I open the sun roof, I put the car in reverse. I put my feet on the gas ever so gently like I am scared it's going to get away from me, and I slowly back into the extra parking space in my yard, I then put the car in drive and again slowly ease down on the gas, finally I am at the end of the driveway! I look left, and then right, and then left, right, left the road is clear and I ease her out into the road. It rides so nice and smooth, it is so nice but the more I drive it, the more I realize I MISS MY MINI VAN! I'm too nervous in this car, and besides I cannot smoke, this is Auntee Zee's car! I cross the street to the Corner Market to get some cigarettes, but before I go in I make sure once again if they smoke in the car, they don't. I know I am right because Uncle Jacob smokes and there are no ashes in the ash tray. This is going to be one long day without my ride and smokes.

I decide to make the best of an awkward situation. I reason to myself that I want to stop smoking and with me not being able to smoke in Auntee Zee's car, this is the best time to go on a smoke free day, something positive may come out of this after all. Riding in this Benz is so cool but yet so uncomfortable, I guess I am just used to riding my own vehicle. As usual I am starting to feel that empty feeling so before I go to Walmart, I think I am going to stop at that Italian Restaurant on Riverside and get me a steak and cheese hoagie, and maybe after wards a cigarette, who knows.