A Tale of Timothy Ch. 02

Jennifer and I finished up our evening watching TV, snuggling on our sofa, and just enjoying each other's company. I love everything little thing about my wife, from the way she talks to the way she walks, her mannerisms, and her sense of humor. She is perfect, and I would let her know it every chance I got.

We would have to travel 50 miles back to Hillsberg, the town we lived in previously, to attend early morning Mass at 9 am the following day, which was a Sunday. We would be attending the Mass with Jennifer's parents, as we did every Sunday, our move 50 miles across the state wasn't going to change that, though I was dreading the idea of having to drive the distance there and back every week. I was also raised as a Christian, but it was very casual, we didn't regularly attend Mass or anything. Jennifer's parents, however, were very religious. Mass was an important thing for them, and so it was an important thing for Jennifer too. Sunday was Mass Day; we hadn't missed a Sunday Mass in years.

Jennifer had a good balance between religion and life in general. While she practically knew every verse of the bible, due to her upbringing in a religious family, she was never overbearing with it, and it definitely didn't make her dull. She knew how to have fun, while at the same time remaining respectful of the values Christianity embedded in her. I felt it gave her a good moral guideline to go through life with, the same such morals that I carried myself.

We woke up that following morning to my alarm clock, it was 6:30 am. Waking up earlier than necessary would give us enough time to have a nice breakfast, get dressed, prepare ourselves for the day ahead, and not be in too much of a rush. I slept like a baby again last night.

Shutting off the alarm clock, I rolled over on the bed and grabbed Jennifer, squeezing her.

"Good morning, beautiful," I smiled.

"Arrrhnnn", she let out a deep yawn, and had a big stretch, before smiling back, "good morning, hon."

I sat up on the side of the bed and slipped my feet into a pair of slippers that I wore around the house, turning my neck to look at Jennifer, "pancakes?"

She was already scrolling through her phone by the time I looked back at her, sitting upright against the headboard of our bed, "Mhmm, with honey, bananas, and strawberries pleaseee," she chirped back in response.

I headed downstairs and into the kitchen, still waking up as I got to work making our breakfast.

Around 15 minutes later, Jennifer joined me in the kitchen. Just as I was dishing out our breakfast and setting it on the table, she took a seat, as did I, and I poured each of us a cup of coffee.

"Looks great, thank you, hon," she said.

"You're welcome, babe." I sighed and continued, "Not looking forward to this two-way 50-mile trip."

"I know, but it's got to be done, it is Sunday tradition after all," she said, tucking into her pancakes with a knife and fork.

"I suppose", I agreed, it was Sunday tradition after all.

We both sat at the kitchen table eating our breakfasts, Jennifer was scrolling through her phone, and I was reading the local newspaper, getting some more insight into the area of Kingstown, the town we had moved to. On the front page, there was a story about a cat that got stuck up a tree, with a picture of three firemen standing around, one of them holding the cat that got rescued. When a story like that makes the front page of the newspaper, it's a safe bet to say it's a peaceful area.

I was finishing up my breakfast when I remembered that I forgot to mention to Jennifer about that man Harold that approached me yesterday. "Oh, Babe, I forgot to mention it, did you meet a neighbor of ours named Harold from across the way yet?"

She looked from her phone screen to me, "Harold? No, doesn't ring a bell, how come?"

I continued, "He approached me yesterday when I was in our driveway, he was really on edge, he was saying to me about how he used to be married to..."

***Baby, baby, baby, ohh, like baby, baby, baby***

That was the ringtone to Jennifer's phone, it always made me laugh, "When are you going to change that?" I chuckled. It was the lyrics of a famous song by a pop star a few years back.

She laughed too, jesting, "Oh, whatever! You looove it." as she looked back down at her phone, "It's mom." she said, and answered her phone.

"Hey, mom. Yeah, we just got breakfast, just about to get dressed then we'll be on our way. We won't be late, we'll be there on time." she looked at me, shaking her head and playfully rolling her eyes, as her mom seemed to be lecturing her about Mass punctuality. "There is no traffic on a Sunday. Ok, mom, I love you too, see you at Mass. I will."

She hung up and looked at me, "Mom says you have to be careful driving us to Mass, mister."

I laughed, "Sounds like Claudia!"

Jennifer's mother, Claudia, is a very religious woman, I don't think I've even once heard her say a cuss word. She dresses very elegantly, and always looks her best. Although in her fifties now, she could easily pass for a woman in her early forties. She has auburn hair too, like Jennifer, and although she never shows it off, it's evident she keeps her body in shape. Jennifer definitely got her good looks from Claudia, because her father isn't the most handsome man in the world, to put it politely.

George Stevens, Jennifer's father, is short in stature and has a bit of a belly on him. While not physically gifted, nor very handsome, he is very book smart, and he's a good honest man. Every time we go over to their house, he's in their basement engaging in his hobby of 'Model Building', Model Building is an activity that involves making scaled-down model versions of aircraft, ships, or anything really. He's fascinated with World War II, so most of the stuff he creates are models from that era. He's a patriot, and he loves his country, you only needed to see the flagpole with an American flag on their lawn to know that.

Getting dressed, I wore some nice tan checked trousers, with a belt, a beige shirt, and a brown leather pair of shoes. "Think I'll need a sweater too?"

Jennifer shook her head, looking at me in the mirror of her vanity, as she sat there doing her makeup. "I don't think so, it's going to be really hot again today."

Jennifer always looked beautiful for Church, she had her hair up in a French Twist and was wearing an elegant blue and white, flower-patterned frill dress, that came down to about knee length, complimented with a shallow pair of white heels.

"You ready, babe? We should probably get going, if we're late your mother will disown us." I joked.

"Uhuh, let's get going." Jennifer said, grabbing her purse, and we headed out the door.

Pulling out of the driveway in the car, we saw Cherry standing on the porch of her house. She was wearing a silk nightgown, with her left arm cupped under her cleavage and supporting her right elbow as she stood there smoking a cigarette. Her hair was a mess, which got me thinking about what she might have been getting up to before stepping outside for a smoke. Jennifer and I waved at her, and she waved back.

"We've got lunch with them later, she said yesterday to stop by around 2 pm," Jennifer said.

"Think we'll be back in time?" I asked.

"Yeah, Mass only lasts an hour, we'll easily be back in time," she said, reaching for a nob on the radio and putting some music on.

---

An hour or so later, we pulled up in the parking lot outside the church. There was a decent crowd of people, so we couldn't see where her parents were. Jennifer called her mom on her cellphone, "Whereabouts are you both? Outside the entrance? Ok, we're just parking, we'll be right over. See you in a sec."

Walking over to the entrance we spotted them and began to greet them. Jennifer gave her dad a big hug, before going over to her mom and doing the same, she got talking with her mom about something, as her dad, George held out his hand to me for a handshake. He was old-fashioned like that.

I shook his hand as he spoke, "How's the new location treating you, Tim, you and Jen settling in well?"

I nodded with a smile, "It's great, George. Couldn't ask for a better place. I'm loving that it's closer to my work office too, less time commuting gives me more time to catch up on my beauty sleep!" I joked.

He laughed, "I could do with a little more of that myself."

I then felt Claudia's gaze on me, and it was, I smiled and greeted her, "Hey, Claudia, you look very stunning."

She smiled, "Hello, Tim, thank you. You didn't have to speed to get here on time, did you?"

"Oh, not at all. You know me, Claudia, Law-abiding citizen here."

"That's what I like to hear," she said, looking over her shoulder. "Looks like Mass is about to get started, let's get seated."

Jennifer's parents walked in front of us, and we followed them inside, scooting into the row of seats beside them and getting seated as Pastor Rogers began to speak. Everyone bowed their heads as the Mass opened with prayer. Claudia was holding her rosary beads in her hands and was chiming along with every word of the prayer. I respected her faith, and I respected her as a person. Although I wasn't as devoted of a Christian myself, I still believed in the values and the way of life. Claudia was honestly a perfect example of how a Christian woman should be, and probably a perfect example of how a woman should be in general. She is who I have to thank for Jennifer being the wonderful woman she turned out to be.

After the mass, Jennifer and I, with her mother's insistence, decided to go back to her parent's house, which was a few minutes' drive away from the church, for a coffee and some scones her mother had baked.

We sat around the coffee table in their living room, chatting about anything and everything. I took a bite from a scone that had jam and clotted cream on it. Almost using the Lord's name in vain, I remembered whose company I was in, and opted for another word.

"Gosh, Claudia, these scones are amazing."

Claudia was sat upright, with good posture, on the sofa across from Jennifer and me. She had her legs crossed and was wearing a long, but very stylish dress. She smiled at me as she responded to my compliment, "Do you like them, Tim? I'm glad. You know I taught Jennifer the recipe for those scones when she was younger."

I looked at Jennifer as I replied, "Oh, did you? Jen, I'm going to have to get you to bake me some of these in the future!"

Jennifer looked at her mother, "Mom, he's already spoiled with my baking as it is, I baked him an apple pie yesterday."

Claudia spoke to Jennifer, "Did you use Granny Smith apples?"

Jennifer laughed, "Of course, mom, it would be a crime to bake an apple pie with any other brand of apple."

George re-joined us in the living room and sat down on the sofa beside Claudia. "Dad, you've got jam on your shirt," Jennifer said, chuckling. He had a big dollop of jam running down the middle of his white shirt.

"Oh, George," Claudia groaned. Looking at the mess on his shirt, she reached for a handkerchief and started dabbling at the mess.

After a second or two of Claudia fussing with George's shirt, George looked at Jennifer and me, and began to speak, "So, you two made any friends in your new neighborhood yet?"

I shook my head, "Can't say I have, George, but you know Jen, she's already made a bestie..."

Jennifer nudged my shoulder as she looked at her dad, "I got chatting with a nice couple that lives beside us, they're nice. They actually invited us to lunch today, so it will give us a chance to get to know them more."

George continued to ask questions, "And what do they do for work?"

Jennifer replied to her dad, "Well, Antwan owns a club as far as I know. As for Cherry, I think Cherry's just a housewife, well, not a housewife since they're not married, but I don't think she works."

George seemed eager to know more, glancing at me, then at his wife, before looking back to Jennifer. "Antwan, isn't that a black name? Are they a black couple?"

Jennifer looked as though she wished the conversation never arose. "Not exactly," she explained, "Antwan is a black man, and Cherry is a white woman. They're an interracial couple."

George appeared a little taken aback by that. He looked at Claudia, "We never saw that kind of thing when we were growing up, did we?"

Claudia shook her head, "No, it wasn't something you would ever see, and you still don't see that kinda thing around here in Hillsberg. As we all know, Pastor Rogers has spoken about it before in church, he said no good ever comes from the mixing of the races, and he has preached about how unnatural it is."

George agreed with the sentiment that Pastor Rogers held, "I don't have a racist bone in my body, those blacks even fought on our side in World War II, and still fight in our armed forces to do to this day," and then came the inevitable 'but', "but they just don't mix right with us in society, we've all seen how that goes, and how they treat their women. Heck, what's the percentage of young black men that grow up without a father? All I'm saying is, they're not like us, they don't have our values."

The air of the room felt a little tense, I was keeping out of the conversation, and didn't want to get involved in it at all, and then of course... George turned to look at me.

"What do you think about all this interracial stuff, Tim?" he asked.

I was taking a sip of my coffee, swallowed, and rested the coffee mug on my lap. I didn't know how to respond, so I just went with a neutral response. "Each to their own, I guess. As long as it doesn't impede on my quality of life."

George quickly rebutted, "Can't have that passive sort of stance on things when it comes to an opinion about society, Tim. The thing is it will impede on your quality of life, perhaps not in a direct way, but what's not good for society can't be good for a man or woman living in the society."

I hadn't seen George so engaged in a conversation in, well, ever. This topic really seemed to hit a nerve with him. I would have to admit, it was the first time I've seen a man ranting about societal values with a jam stain all over his shirt. I noticed Claudia reaching over and putting her hand on his lap as if to inform him to take it down a notch. He seemed to take her hint.

I nodded as George ranted as if I understood what he just said, "I guess you've got a point, George. It's definitely something I will have to think about more and form a better opinion on."

Jennifer stood up and straightened out her dress, "I think we better get back on the road," she walked over to her mom and gave her a big hug, "Love you, mom." Her mom hugged her back, "I love you too, sweetie. We'll take a drive up to Kingstown next Saturday once you've both got settled in up there." Jennifer nodded, "Mhm, we'll make a day of it, and get a barbecue going." She then went over to her dad and gave him a big hug too, while I stood up and hugged Claudia.

Claudia spoke into my ear, "You take care of her up there in Kingstown, Tim."

I nodded and offered her a reassuring smile, "I will, Claudia, you know I will."

Jennifer broke her hug with her dad, and he held out his hand to me for a goodbye handshake. Shaking his hand, he informed me he had something for me. He went off to another room in the house for a few moments, before returning. In his hand was a vintage wristwatch. "What do ya think?" I wasn't really into watches, but he had a beam about his face as he was giving it to me, so I acted as though I thought it was really cool. What I did find really warming though, was what he said next, "My father gave it to me when I was about your age, Tim, and I never had a son to pass it down to, and well, you're the closest thing I've got to a son." That started the beginning of the end of our handshaking days, we were now in hug territory. I embraced him in a hug and thanked him for saying that, and that it meant a lot to me to hear him say that. He patted me on the back, "Put it away somewhere safe when you're not wearing it."

After saying our goodbyes, Jennifer and I were back on the road, it was a little past 1 pm, but it felt like it should have been later than that. Maybe it was all the driving that made the day feel long.

Jennifer looked at the watch on my wrist as my hand rested on the steering wheel. "He's sentimental like that, you know."

I nodded, looking out at the open road ahead, "He is, he's a good man, your dad."

Jennifer smiled, "I love him to pieces. Though, I now know not to mention anything about black folk around him again," she chuckled.

I laughed, "I know, I hadn't seen him so animated in years."

---

Jennifer and I arrived home a little before 2 pm, we went into our house and freshened up before heading over to our new neighbor's house for lunch.

"Any idea what Cherry's whipping us up for lunch?" I said to Jennifer, opening a button on my shirt to let a little cool air onto my chest.

"She said she's going to surprise us," Jennifer stated, looking into the mirror in our hallway and touching up her makeup.

"Well, I hope the portions she's making are big, I'm starving," I said as my tummy let out an audible grumble.

Jennifer looked at me and laughed, "I can hear your tummy." She finished off touching up her makeup and spoke again, "Ok, let's get going. Actually, Wait... I nearly forgot", she went over to a cabinet in our kitchen and pulled out an unopened bottle of red wine. "A little gift for our neighbors," she smiled. We began to walk out of our front door and over to Cherry and Antwan's place.

***Knock Knock***

I tapped on the glass part of their wooden door. Through the glass, we could see all the way down their hallway, and partially into their kitchen area. A few moments passed, and there didn't seem to be any movement from inside the house, but their car was in the driveway, so surely they had to be home. I looked at Jennifer and she shrugged, with a confused look on her face. "They should be home, knock again," she urged.

***Knock Knock***

I tapped on the door again, a little harder this time, and then we saw Cherry poke her head around a wall that led into their kitchen. She was smiling and quickly came walking down her hallway towards the front door. She was wearing a really tight, just above the knee-length red skirt that seemed to restrict her movement partially. Above the waist, she was wearing a white blouse that showed off a lot of cleavage. Dangling from her ears were a pair of gold hooped earrings, she looked hot. We could hear her heels clacking on the marble floor of her hallway as she approached the door.

Opening the door, she beamed with a big smile that spread her red-lipsticked coated plump lips around her pearly white teeth. There was no doubt that she had work done there too, her smile was immaculate. Squealing with excitement she hugged Jennifer and gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek, and spoke, "Come on inside, babe!"

Jennifer was smiling too and was trying to match Cherry's energy, hugging her back and returning the friendly kiss on the cheek. "Heya, Cherry, I love your blouse. We got you a bottle of red wine," Jennifer smiled, holding it up, and passing it to Cherry. "Thanks, babe, we'll have it finished off by the time lunch is over," Cherry giggled, before turning to look at me.

"Hello, Timothy," she said with a pause in her current excitement.

"Hey, Cherry. Do-" she cut me off mid-sentence as I was trying to make small talk, and talked over me.

"Timothy, you're a computer guy, right? Would you mind looking at our TV, there's something wrong with it, the screen goes fuzzy sometimes." She looked at me expectantly.

"Oh, sure thing, Cherry. I'm pretty good with that stuff, I can take a look at it," I said with a friendly smile.