Tabitha Ch. 07

"Auntie, why are you walking funny?" Rose asked tilting her head and frowning.

Tabitha gasped. Dion and Rick laughed which made Lily laugh. Patrick, thankfully, didn't notice because his ear buds were in. The family was in the media room. It wasn't exactly a theatre. The room was in the basement, with no windows and three black walls, the fourth wall had a large white projection screen. There were leather couches and recliners for sitting. Rick had just put in a movie and Tabitha was walking in from the kitchen with two large bowls of popcorn.

"My Pilates class was strenuous this morning."

Dion clamped a hand over her mouth to smother her giggles.

Rick accepted one of the bowls from Tabitha. "Maybe you should yoga instead," he offered. "Get a bit of a stretch."

She gave the other bowl to the Patrick and Rose before glaring at their father. "Maybe I will."

She tugged the ear buds out of Patrick's ears and tousled his hair. "Movie's starting," she explained.

Lily slid out of Rick's lap and toddled over to her brother. He lifted her onto his lap and they cuddled together as the movie started.

Tabitha couldn't concentrate on the family movie taking up almost an entire wall of the room. In fact, it seemed than the only ones that could were the kids. Rick and Dion were snuggled together stealing kisses. Tabitha noticed the way Rick splayed his hand over Dion's slightly rounded stomach...he was always thrilled when they had a new baby on the way.

Tabitha lounged on the loveseat and pulled a throw over herself. She stared at the screen, but her mind was full of images of Wes. The way he'd looked the night before, so naked and...blessed. She could still feel his strong arms around her as she slept. She could still smell his distinctive male scent. She'd had a time of it leaving this morning...especially after he'd served her a Western omelet in bed. They'd made love on more time before he'd taken her home.

Now, even after a long soak before she left for her sister's house, she was impossibly sore. Her thighs screamed every time she went from sitting to standing and vice versa.

Rick shook her awake later. The lights were on and the room was empty except for them.

"Wake up, Tabitha. It's dinnertime!"

She frowned at him. Usually his British accent was adorable, but at present, in her drowsy state it was grating on her last nerve. "How long have I been asleep?"

"I don't know exactly when you nodded off but the movie was finished two hours ago."

"Crap," she groaned sitting up, "Why did you let me sleep so long?"

Rick snorted. "I've tried waking you before, you're grumpy and violent."

"No, I'm not!" she snapped.

"Of course you're not, my dear. Will you need any help to make it up the stairs?"

Tabitha shook her head. "I'll be fine."

"Maybe you should call that guy Wes."

"Why do you say that?" Tabitha asked rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Rick smiled. "You were saying his name in your sleep."

Tabitha blushed red. "Mind your own business," she grumbled. "I just need to freshen up; I'll be up in a minute."

***

Wes felt like he was driving aimlessly. He was, in fact, on his way somewhere specific, but he didn't feel like grocery shopping. He considered taking a detour to visit his sister's house. Playing with his nephew, Blake, was usually a great distraction, but Jazzy would be all over him for details about him and Tabitha. He wasn't ready to share that just yet.

Once parked, he pulled his cell from his pocket. He'd gotten two texts on the drive over. The first was from Tabitha, asking if he wanted to come over and hang out. Wes let out a long slow sigh. There was nothing he wanted more.

The next was from Becca. The message said to call her as soon as possible.

"Wes," Becca sighed when she answered. "I didn't think you'd call. I thought you'd be too busy for me."

Wes rolled his eyes. If Becca hadn't been one of the first people he'd befriended when he'd moved to Hillsdale, he would have stopped associating with her long ago. Becca could be manipulative and immature sometimes, but he still considered her a friend.

"I'm not busy, what's up?"

"Don't you want to tell me something?" she sing-songed.

Wes swallowed a sigh. "I don't know."

"Oh my gosh, Wesley! It's my birthday!"

"Happy birthday, Becca."

There was a short pause.

"Aren't you going to take me out to celebrate?" Becca chirped.

Wes frowned. "What about that dude you're seeing? Should he be taking you out?"

Becca didn't miss a beat before she said, "He's out of town, besides, he's too cheap. He won't take me anywhere good. Why don't you come pick me up and we can go to La Bella Noche?"

"I ate there recently," said Wes, "I'm not really in the mood."

"Oh, did you take that girl there?"

"Her name is Tabitha and I was with her when I ate there, yes."

"I don't get what you see in her, Wesley. I mean, you spent all that time single and end up with this girl. She's nobody and she's got a fat ass."

Wes felt his shoulders tense. "I like her ass, Becca. I've got to go. Have a great birthday."

Wes was half-way across the parking lot when he hung up on Becca. He turned around and jogged back to his car. Before he started it, he texted Tabitha.

On my way.

***

"What's up?" Wes said when Tabitha opened the front door to let him in.

He walked into her apartment and shrugged out of his black hoodie.

"Nothing, I was just hanging out."

Wes chuckled. "What are you wearing?"

Tabitha looked down at herself. She had on an ankle-length, white cotton halter dress and flip-flops. "A house dress," she explained.

"That doesn't look like any housedress I've ever seen. My grandma's house dresses were flower-print tents with arm holes."

Tabitha giggled. "It's comfortable. That's the whole point."

Wes shook his head. "What about sweatpants?"

"I don't own any."

"Figures," said Wes.

"I didn't mean for you to just come over, when I sent you a message. I was just trying to find out if you were busy."

"I was on my way to the grocery store when I got your text," said Wes taking a seat on the couch.

Tabitha frowned. "You should have gone shopping first."

He shrugged. "I don't need to eat. I'd rather see you."

Tabitha rolled her eyes. "Corny."

"So what's going on over here?"

"I was just playing video games and I thought maybe you'd like to join me," she said falling onto the couch beside him.

"You play video games?"

Tabitha sighed. "Yes, I'm a girl that knows how to work a controller. Do you want to play or do you want to go pick up milk and eggs?"

"I'm up for a game," Wes said as he accepted the Wii controller she held out, "if you're up to getting your ass kicked."

***

"I can't believe you beat me," Wes said putting down the controller an hour later.

Tabitha shrugged. "I can't believe you didn't take me seriously when I told you I'm the master of Super Mario Brothers 3. I'm classically trained okay...Nintendo, the original, made in the eighties, just like me!"

"From the way you just kicked my ass, I don't think you did anything other than play Nintendo growing up."

Tabitha smiled. "I think I went to school a few times, and had some meals here-and-there Do you want to play Mortal Combat?" She got off the couch to search the media stand for her favorite one-on-one combat game.

"Don't tell me you had a Sega too."

"Yup," said Tabitha, "my sister bought it for me for my eleventh birthday. I only had two games, Sonic the Hedgehog and Mortal Combat. I can teach you some finishing moves!"

Wes shook his head. "I don't know if my fragile male ego can take any more loss today."

"Don't be scared," Tabitha said turning away from her search to face him. "I'll be gentle...at first."

Wes was about to say something completely unrelated to video games when her cell phone rang on the coffee table between them. Tabitha winked and picked it up before it vibrated off the table. Wes watched the smile slip off her face when she saw the caller ID. Whoever it was on the other end of that call had brought their perfect afternoon to a screeching halt.

***

Tabitha frowned when she heard her mother's voice...scratchy from years of smoking and slurred from as many years of drinking.

"Baby girl!" Mary Riley exclaimed with a bark of a laugh. "It's been a month since I've heard your voice."

"It's been six months," Tabitha corrected.

"Oh, no...that can't be right. I called you for your birthday."

"Yeah, six months ago...my birthday is November fourth. Dion's birthday is in April. Derrick's birthday is in August."

"Uh-huh, that's nice. Listen Baby Girl, I really need you to help me out with some money. Pete's got himself in a mess and his bail is more than I can afford."

Tabitha set her eyes to the ceiling and chewed her bottom lip. She went to the State Department of Corrections public website once a week to check for her mother's name. She knew for a fact that "the mess" her mom's boyfriend was in stemmed from the domestic assault charge that he'd been booked on the week before. He'd been arrested for beating her ass and now he was leaning on her to get him out of jail.

"Mom, I don't have any money right now."

Tabitha glanced at Wes who was looking around the room. No doubt he was taking in the sixty inch LCD, the blue-ray disc player, and surround sound set up. Not to mention the teak furniture and Oriental rugs. Yes, she was lying to her mother, but both she and her siblings knew that lying was the only way to keep her away from them. If Mary Stone caught a hint of a dollar that she could get her hands on, she'd be on the doorstep every day, with a new problem, or a new excuse, and with her hand open.

Once, while they were growing up, she'd told her daughters that they would owe her for the rest of their lives. They were to be forever grateful that she'd decided not to abort them. Tabitha had seen the anger coming off Dion in waves after their mother said that and continued to eat her chicken...that Dion had made for dinner...as if she'd made a comment about the weather. Neither Tabitha nor Dion could finish their own meals that night.

Tabitha shrugged when Wesley's gaze met hers again.

"Okay then, what about your sister? She's got a husband with a job."

Tabitha hated the way her mother said "husband" like it was the stupidest word in the English language...or like it tasted sour on her tongue. She knew it was just because her mother was jealous that she'd never gotten any of her male "friends" to marry her. If she gave them sex, they stayed around until she started nagging for a more serious commitment. If she got pregnant they hauled ass. Only one ever came back...Derrick's dad...Dion was two and Tabitha wasn't even born, but he only returned for his son.

Tabitha sighed. "Dion is pregnant with her fourth kid. You know money gets tight when a baby comes in the picture...hospital bills and stuff." Mary didn't know that Rick Solomon was a patron of the hospital in Birmingham where all their children would be delivered. Those kids might as well be born with solid gold pacifiers. Their medical care was top notch...and most likely always would be.

"Damn, she's pregnant again? That girl needs to close her legs. Kids don't do anything but..."

"Ruin your life, I know." Tabitha rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw. There's nothing like the constant reminder of being an unwanted pregnancy to foster feelings of love and devotion between mother and daughter.

"Exactly, what's she going to do when that man leaves her? I'm not helping her raise those damn kids. I did my time."

Mary's sudden coughing fit gave Tabitha enough time to swallow the hateful comment that was sitting on the edge of her tongue. "Dion can take care of her children just fine, mom...with or without a husband."

"Have you talked to your brother?" Mary asked, completely ignoring Tabitha's confidence in her sister.

"Yes, he doesn't have any money either. His wife moved in with some guy in Hartford and left him with both kids. He's got a good job, but now he has to pay for daycare." Tabitha felt guilty putting Derrick's business out there like that, but it was for his own good.

"Damn," Mary swore.

"You know what, mom, if you need money that bad, I can call Derrick and tell him that you'll babysit and he can pay you instead of the daycare." Tabitha almost couldn't hold back her laughter.

"Oh, hell no...didn't I say I did my time?" Mary retorted.

"Sorry, then, I don't know what to tell you."

"Talk to you later," her mother sighed and clicked off the line.

Wes was staring at her when she hung up. "How many times in that conversation did you lie to your mom?"

"One."

He smirked.

"Well, one complete lie. I do have money. One half lie. Babies are financially overwhelming, unless their parents are fiscally secure like my sister and her husband. One truth because my brother's wife did leave him a few months ago and he's pretty taxed right now with work and being a single dad."

"Wow."

Tabitha shrugged. "Don't think I'm some sort of pathological liar. I really hate doing it, but with her you have to put up walls. The only way to keep that specific kind of crazy out of your life is to make her think that you've got nothing she can use. All she wants from us is money."

"So you guys never give her money?"

"Don't get it twisted, we send her thousands of dollars a year between Mother's Day, her birthday, and Christmas. In fact, Dion used to send her money every week when we first moved out. I think she was afraid that mom would call Child Services and have me taken back home to her, so Dion was kind of paying for the privilege of raising me. It's just that all three of us have wised up to her game and we know that the money is going to be used for liquor, cigarettes, or given over to whatever guy she's living with at the time. Personally, I can't go to work every day and then throw the money I worked for away.

"So together we decided that we'd stop giving her money whenever she asks for it. She thinks that I'm working some shitty admin job and she's never been to my apartment. She thinks that Dion is married to a British car salesman who has to continually return to England because he doesn't have a U.S. citizenship. Needless to say, she's never been to any of their houses. As far as Derrick, she knows where he lives because when we can get her to go to Thanksgiving, we have it there. He's firmly middle class with a decent job, and a house in the suburbs, but she won't ask him for money often because she didn't raise him. He never taken on all the guilt trips Dion and I did."

"Wow," said Wes getting off the couch and slipping an arm around her shoulder.

"I know. We're a special brand of dysfunctional." She leaned against him and inhaled deeply.

Wes tipped her chin up and dropped a kiss on her lips.

"What's this?" Tabitha muttered, "I haven't scared you off?"

"Not yet," he whispered against her cheek.

"My, but you're brave," she said slipping her arms around his neck.

"I've been known to slay a dragon here and there," he said.

"Nice," Tabitha cooed. "I think Excalibur is poking me."

Wes chuckled. "Once freed from the stone, it's pretty much impossible to control."

Tabitha slid her hands down his front and cupped his erection. "Let's put it to work then."

Wes groaned. "There's nothing I'd rather do, Tabby, but I don't have any condoms on me."

"Oh," she said letting him go. "I don't have any either."

"We can go to the store."

She glanced at her watch. "Damn, I can't. I'm due at my sister's for dinner in an hour."

Wes frowned. "This really makes the case for getting tested together."

Tabitha stepped away from him. "That's a big step," she said. "That's usually reserved for long-term, serious relationships."

Wes nodded. "There's that and then there's the spontaneity aspect. Any time, any place, we'll both know we're safe...as long as you're on birth control."

Tabitha worried her bottom lip with her top teeth. "I've been on the pill since I was in high school. Did I mention my sister is a baby factory? I know all about those pregnancy preventative measures."

Wes laughed. "Okay, so lets get tested and by this time next week, we'll know for sure that we can make love whenever we want."

Tabitha knew he was making perfect sense, but a condom was one of the best barriers between a purely physical relationship and a real relationship. Then again, he had put it on her like no other and having the option to get some of that any time she wanted was too tempting to pass up.

"Okay," she said with a shrug. "Let's do it."