GARDEN OF EDEN - Part 5

[lady lynxx]

I've been awol for a long time, but I'm back with part 5 today - not finished yet, but I thought I'd post what I've done so far. - Lady Lynxx

“So you’re sure that she said that?” Darryl asked.

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“Yes Mr Darryl. I’m sure.” said Rosa, nodding her head vigorously. “Mrs Lee, she say to the man and woman that came here yesterday that she want give their daughter scholarship. She say she want pay for her school…the girl Dorothy.” She added in her Mexican accented broken English. Rosa bit her lip a little at that moment, as she felt a little guilty for being Darryl’s little informant, but the thought of the fifty bucks he was going to line her palm with for the information eased her discomfort.

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That was the thing about rich people that made Rosa laugh at them sometimes; their pompous inability to realise that the hired help could often be an Achilles heel. Ever since Darryl was wise enough to know the advantage of it, he struck a deal with her to report to him with details of any unusual visits to their home in his absence and even listen in on phone calls. He paid her generously for it and she gladly accepted. It was a welcome addition to the pittance that Lucinda Lee paid her as a salary. Rosa knew that as far as Lucinda was concerned, Rosa, as an illegal alien, should be grateful for a regularly paying job. In her mean old mind, even a Christmas bonus for her household staff was completely unnecessary – if any of them dared complain, they would simply be replaced with someone else. In many cases, as Rosa had witnessed, a hungry new worker would be at the Lee residence the very next day.

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“Thanks Rosa…I knew that I could count on you.” Darryl replied. He pressed two twenty dollar bills and a ten into her hand and then almost immediately squeezed her ample butt with his hand. It was another perk that Rosa allowed because of the money.

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“No problema, Mr Darryl.” She said and then turned quickly to make her way back to the kitchen. Lucinda was hosting a showy dinner for the other well-to-do ladies in town that night and that meant a lot of work for Rosa as head housekeeper as well as the rest of the maids.

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Darryl decided to go for a short drive to think; so his mother was trying to take Dorothy way from him. What on earth was he going to do? As he started the ignition and pulled the truck out of the drive, he kept asking himself unanswerable questions. It hurt that Dorothy was also a part of the plot from what Rosa had told him about her visit to the house. He couldn’t believe that the mother of his child was actually a willing participant in such a complicit act. He had a good mind to tell his mother that she could forget about her little plan, but thought better of it since that would compromise his informant. What the hell am I going to do? he thought frantically. She can’t send Dorothy away – I won’t let her! Darryl vowed to himself. As he drove down the long road that led away from the Lee residence grounds, he made his decision. Darryl justified his intentions by tell himself that Lucinda had left him no other choice. “So that’s it then,” he thought out loud. “I’m going to have to kill my own mother.” Problem solved.

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***

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“I’ve thought about it.” Marlon said that night at the dinner table. “and I think maybe I was a little too hasty. Maybe we should go for it. I think, if and only if Lucinda Lee is really serious about this, it would be a wonderful thing for Dorothy.”

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“Honey you mean it!?” Evette exclaimed excitedly.

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“Yeah suga. I think it’d be great. I’m not sure what Joe will think of it, but she can leave him behind if his country ass don’t wanna better himself. Not like they married yet anyways. We can always keep Eden her too and raise her; Dorothy can come and see her on the holidays.”

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“Of course Joe would wanna go with her; he loves her, and come on, why wouldn’t he want to leave Louisiana and see more of the world?”

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“I don’t know why Evette, I’m just saying. I thought about it overnight and it didn’t seem like such a bad idea after all if you forget about our family history.”

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“So let me call Dorothy and give her the good news; I’m sure that she’ll be so happy….”

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“Let me finish this steak first woman, then you can call her….”

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***

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Dorothy and Joe sat in the living room with Eden waiting for the big announcement. Though he didn’t know what was coming, Joe was a little nervous about why they had been called over and so late. What couldn’t wait until tomorrow? He asked himself. Dorothy was only a little calmer because she at least had the advantage of knowing what was coming. It had taken them a day, but at last, her parents were going to tell her that they wanted her to take up Lucinda Lee’s offer. Or at least she hoped.

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“Come on into the living room Marlon, the kids are here.” Evette said.

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As she walked into the room, she beamed at the three that were waiting and kissed them each on the forehead – lingering a little on her grandbaby – before taking a seat in on of the armchairs opposite the three-seater.

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“Well I guess y’all are wondering what this is all about.” Marlon began. “So I’ll just go ahead and spill it. We’ve had an unexpected offer from a would-be benefactor to sponsor Dorothy’s university fees. It’s a complete scholarship to Yale or Harvard or Princeton or – you get the drift – from the Lee foundation. Apparently, you’re the town’s most brilliant student honey and they want to invest in your future.”

He beamed with pride at his last sentence; Marlon regularly revelled in the fact that his youngest was a borderline genius when it came to the world of academia. He only wished that she’d had more sense when it came to unprotected sex.

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“You mean the same one run by Mrs Lee sir?” Joe asked wide-eyed.

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“You bet’cha.” Marlon replied.

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Joe had a sinking feeling growing inside him as he turned to Dorothy. She had an enormous smile on her face and he could tell that it was probably the best news she’d heard in her entire life.

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“Oh wow daddy! That is such a shock!” Dorothy pretended. “I didn’t know they’d notice lil’ folks like me. A scholarship? Why that would mean…that would mean a lot of things! I’m speechless!”

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“Don’t be speechless honey, all you have to do is accept!” Evette replied.

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“Buy what about me?” Joe blurted out. “an’ our marriage. We planned to get married soon y’all know that. How can we be a married couple with Dorothy over there and me down here?”

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“Don’t worry son, they thought about you too. They got a job lined up for you if Dorothy accepts so they don’t need to break up a family.” Marlon assured.

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“What about Eden?” Joe countered. He had so many questions and had been knocked for six at the realisation that the life he knew so well was about to be uprooted. It wasn’t that he didn’t want his beloved to go to university, it was just that he liked the way things were.

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“We can take care of her.” Evette offered. “and y’all can come and see her in the holidays….”

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“I ain’t leaving my baby!” Joe exclaimed. “We ain’t leavin’ Eden are we Dorothy?!”

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Dorothy didn’t know how to reply to him and was thankful that her father quickly answered for her.

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“I’m sure the foundation will pay for child care if we need it. It’ll work itself out son, don’t worry. Don’t be so against it all…ain’t you happy?”

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“I ain’t against it sir, I just…I….” Joe stammered.

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Upon seeing the panic on Joe’s face, Evette got up and went over to hold her prospective son-in-law’s hand in an attempt to comfort him.

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“Honey it’s gonna be okay.” she soothed. “From the way Mrs Lee spoke to us, I could tell that she would make sure your little family isn’t broken up alright? It will be good for you Joe, to see other parts of the country. See other things….”

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“Well I guess so.” Joe relented. “As long a Dorothy’s happy and we can be together, I guess it’s fine.”

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“Right then!” Evette beamed. “That’s settled. I’m going to call Mrs Lee tomorrow to give her the good news.”

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Lucinda had expected the call, albeit not so late in the day. She couldn’t believe that county hicks like Evette and Marlon had taken over 24 hours to give her an answer; as if their fast little slut of a daughter has a better offer, she thought as she began to speak.

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“Evette!” Lucinda replied brightly as Rosa passed her the handset. “How lovely to hear from you; and your husband? How is he today…oh and the lovely Dorothy of course. I mean she is the reason for all this isn’t she?”

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“Thank you Lucinda, they’re all fine.” Beamed Evette equally, as she was proud to be able to address the great Lucinda Lee on first name terms. “Yes, Dorothy is the reason I’m calling. My husband and I have spoken to her and explained your generous offer and we are happy to report to you that she has accepted it! Dorothy is so excited and so grateful Lucinda!”

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“Oh that’s wonderful – I’m extremely happy that she has.”

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“Well she’s here, Lucinda; would you like to speak to her?”

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“Why yes of course….”

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Evette gestured for Dorothy to come over and take the phone from her; Dorothy did so gingerly and quickly reminded herself to speak as if she had never spoken to Lucinda before in her life.

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“Umm…good evening Mrs Lee.” She began.

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“Good evening dear!” Lucinda replied; she imagined that the entire family was huddled around the telephone listening in to what she had to say so she refrained from mentioning anything about their initial meeting. “I’m so happy to hear that you want to go ahead with the scholarship – I trust that your parents have explained everything to you?”

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“Yes ma’am…well most of it ma’am. I just wanna say thank you for giving me this opportunity and I’m very grateful to you for choosing me for the scholarship. I really appreciate….”

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“No, no need for all that Dorothy dear. I’m only doing what my late husband would have expected me to do for the local community. I mean, if we better off folks can’t help those in our own backyard then whom can we help?”

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“Yes ma’am…thank you ma’am.”

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“Like I said dear, don’t you worry about it! You just concentrate on keeping those amazing grades up!” Lucinda concluded. “Now would you put your mother back on the line dear?”

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“Yes ma’am.” Dorothy replied obediently and passed the phone to Evette.

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“Okay, Evette…now we have a lot to do in preparation, but first things first, we need to arrange for the University applications to be sent. My assistant will be in touch with….”

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****

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Once the call was over, Darryl put the phone down as soon as Lucinda had rang off. He then crept down the stairs to find her alone in the living room sitting in the large couch that faced the conservatory outside. He wanted to take his leather belt off and strangle her there and then…but knew that he couldn’t. The guests for the dinner party would arrive soon and if he did kill her, he would be the only suspect.

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“What have I told you about creeping up on people Darryl?” Lucinda chided. “I heard you come in, but you could have announced that you were in here.”

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“Sorry mom.” Darryl replied. “So who was that on the phone?”

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“Oh just some locals asking for help. You know how it is.”

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“Oh…right then.” He said and then paused a little before probing further. “Anybody I know?”

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“What do you care son, you’ve never usually interested in these things.”

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“Uhh…I just…it’s just a question mom.”

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“Unusual questions get unusual answers Darryl. Anyway I heard the click on the phone so I know that you were listening in. If you must really know I’ve offered Dorothy Farmer a scholarship through the foundation…the clever girl accepted.”

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“You did what!? Why would you do that? How dare you!”

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“How dare I what?!” Lucinda barked. “How dare you fuck that girl, impregnate her and leave me with an illegitimate heir! Why can’t you be like normal men huh Darryl? Of all the beautiful women I’ve introduced you too…you couldn’t marry one of them and have kids with them?”

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“But they’re not like her.” He protested feebly.

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“But they’re not like her,” Dorothy mocked. “Who cares you perverted idiot! You could have still married a decent woman, produce some offspring and have as many women as you wanted to on the side. Even your father did it; I was just wise enough to turn a blind eye like I was raised to do. That’s your problem Darryl, you don’t listen and you don’t know what’s best for you. Sending that girl away will help you get your life back on track and hopefully you’ll consider what I’ve said to you.”

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“I’ve told you time and time again mama, I’m will not marry some gold-digging socialite that I don’t even love. This isn’t the dark ages – this is the 1990s! Why should I have to?!”

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“You’re old enough to know that marriage isn’t about love – not in your social class anyway. Love is something that they sell to you in the movies and in books. Honestly, sometimes you talk as if you’re still 17 and not in your thirties. Darryl please get real already….”

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“Honestly ma, I could kill you sometimes.” He said under his breath.

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“Well don’t even think about it – if I die in unusual circumstances, you don’t get a dime of this money. Even worse for you and your bastard child, my will only allows this estate to be inherited by offspring produced in wedlock…so it’s worth your while to consider what I’ve said carefully, forget about Dorothy Farmer and marry someone suitable. I’ve said what I have to say now son, so if you’ll excuse me I have to go upstairs and get ready for my dinner party.”

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Darryl simply stared into space as his formidable mother left the room.

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More to come....thoughts?