The Last Husband (12 page)

“Morning.”
I smiled at her lazily, taking in her disheveled appearance. She was wearing my
shirt and she looked sexy as hell with half the buttons open. I tried to be
casual and stared down her shirt, trying to catch a glimpse of her naked
breasts. Her hair hung across her shoulders in big curls, and the top of her
head was a frizzy mess. She looked at me with a huge smile and her makeup-free
face radiated pure love. This was a look I would never get tired of seeing. I
was so used to dating women
who had on a full
face of makeup when I woke up. There was something so unnatural in waking up to
a woman with perfect hair and makeup and minty fresh breath.

“Are
you hungry?” She nodded to the plate in her hands and I laughed.

I
was hungry all right, but I didn’t think she was talking about the same thing I
was. There was something to be said about dating a woman who was a bit
innocent, well innocent compared to the women I usually dated. Most of the time,
I woke up to a woman riding me or giving me a blow job, not serving me
breakfast in bed.

“Very,
thanks.” I took the plate from her and my stomach grumbled at the sight of
bacon, eggs, and toast. I guess I really was hungry. “Do you want some?” I
mumbled between mouthfuls.

She
laughed and sat next to me on the bed. “I had some cereal already.”

She
stared at me and I tried not to watch as my shirt rose up her legs. Was she
wearing panties under the shirt? My mind was once again off of the food in
front of me and on her. I shook my head mentally and smiled to myself. Lucky
would kill me if she knew I was thinking about the state of her underwear as
opposed to the food on the plate.

“This
is delicious.” I finished the last of the toast and licked my lips.

“I
don’t burn everything.” She smiled, looking at my empty plate in satisfaction.
“Did you sleep well?”

“Magnificently,”
I said truthfully. “Can you pass me my phone, please?”

“Sure.”
She grabbed my phone from the side table and passed it to me.

“I’m
going to call the doctor.”

“Oh?”

“To
see if we’re going to be parents.” My heart skipped a beat as I realized just
how real a possibility this was.

“We
can just take a test.”

“I
want us to be sure.” I dialed the numbers on the phone and waited for it to
ring. “Hi, can I make an appointment for my girlfriend? We want to do a
pregnancy test.” I spoke as soon as the receptionist answered.

“There
are no appointments available today, sir.”

“I
see,” I sighed. “When’s the next available? I’ll pay any price.”

“We
have one the day after tomorrow at 9 a.m.”

“We’ll
take it.”

“And
your name is?”

“It’s
for Zane and Lucky Beaumont.” I spoke without thinking and I looked up to see
Lucky staring at me in amusement. “We’ll see you in a few days.” I hung up and
pulled Lucky towards me. “We’ll know in a few days.”

“Yes,
Mr. Beaumont.” She winked at me and I realized what I had said. I had called
Lucky my wife—well, had given her my last name.

“Sorry
about that.”
Don’t get any ideas,
I
thought to myself hurriedly. I wasn’t sure how panicked I would feel if Lucky
started pushing for marriage.

“No
worries.” She smiled and gazed up at me. “Try not to look like you just struck
a deer though.” She laughed and I kissed her hard.

“All
I want to do is make love to you.” I reached into the shirt and started to undo
the buttons.

“Uh
uh.” She shook her head. “Let’s go and see the Johnsons today.”

“Can’t
we go after a quickie?” I winked at her.

“No.”
She laughed and jumped off of the bed.

“You’re
so mean to me.” I laughed and watched her walk towards the door. “I hate to see
you leave, but I love to watch you walk away, baby,” I called out in an Italian
accent.

“You’re
so cheesy, Zane.” She paused at the door and grinned at me. “Now hurry.”

***

I
looked at the text messages and missed calls on my phone and quickly put it in
my pocket before Lucky saw the screen. I thought back to our earlier
conversation and how Lucky wanted me to share everything with her, but I knew
that there were certain things I couldn’t share with her. Not if I wanted to
keep her in my life. I wasn’t sure she would understand just how complicated
everything was. How complicated I was. I knocked on the door and smiled when
Mr. Johnson opened the door.

“Good
to see you again, Mr. Johnson.” I shook Sidney Johnson’s hand and accepted his
wife’s hug gratefully. “Thanks for having us back so soon. Lucky just had some
questions for you before we shot the video.”

“I
hope you don’t mind,” Lucky interrupted me. “I had a new idea I wanted to
pursue
that I think will make the documentary
even better.”

“You
can come over anytime you like, my dear.” Sidney smiled. “Betty and I are happy
for the company. Our children are still in the Midwest, you see.”

“I’ve
never been to the Midwest, though I’d love to go one day.” Lucky smiled and we
followed the couple back to their living room.

“Maybe
your young man will take you.” Sidney smiled at me and we all took a seat while
Mrs. Johnson got the tea ready in the kitchen. “So what’s this new idea of
yours?”

“Well,
it’s mine and Zane’s.” She nodded at me and looked a bit guilty. “We both
decided.”

“My
dear, I’m sure Mr. Beaumont won’t mind you taking the credit for your own
idea.” Sidney laughed. “I mean, the first time he contacted me, he had no clue
what was going on.”

“Oh.”
Lucky looked at him in surprise and I stifled a groan.
Here we go again,
I thought. I debated speaking up now or waiting
to see exactly what Sidney was going to say.

“When
I asked Zane why he was interested in residential segregation, the phone went
silent.”

“I
think he took on the project because it was his brother’s.” Lucky’s voice was
soft and she smiled at me sweetly.

“I
see.” Sidney looked at me and I knew that he knew there was more to the story.
There was an awkward silence and I cleared my throat.

“So,
Lucky, I uh, I kind of heard you talking about history and
civil rights in the diner one day.” I smiled at her,
hoping she wasn’t going to freak out. “So I decided to create this project with
the hope that I could convince you to work on it.”

“What?”
Lucky’s eyes popped open and Sidney laughed.

“I
say that’s the sign that a man really wants you.” He grinned at me. “Good man,
Zane. I always knew you were a man who went for what you wanted.”

“Thanks.”
I smiled at him and looked at Lucky to make sure she wasn’t too overwhelmed.
Maybe I should have told her about the documentary when she found out about the
party. I just didn’t want her to think I was going to be a total creeper. Or
the lengths I had gone to get to know her better. Or—if I was honest with
myself—the lengths I had gone to get her into my bed. I’d never tell her
that part, though. Women didn’t understand that men thought with their small
head first.

“I
didn’t know how to tell you, Lucky.” I watched her face closely to try and
figure out how she was feeling.

“We
can talk about this later, Zane.” She frowned at me and turned back to Mr.
Johnson. “I’m sorry about this. I didn’t realize that …”

“Lucky,
I’ll let you know that I’m happy you came into Zane’s life. When Noah first
contacted us, well, we were overjoyed. Betty and I couldn’t believe that
someone wanted to tell our story. That people actually cared what happened to
the kids that grew up in the 50s and went through the transition. I knew right
away that there was a reason for Zane calling me.”

“I
didn’t realize.” Lucky’s voice expressed the same surprise I felt.

“Noah
used to talk about Zane all the time.” Sidney looked at me. “He was real proud
of you, son.”

“Thank
you.” I smiled as best as I could, even though I felt emotional. I wanted to
ask him what else he talked about with my brother.

“I
was happy when I got to meet you. Even if you were only picking up the
documentary because of a girl.”

“I,
uh …” I stammered, embarrassed at the situation.

“I
wish you would have told me, Zane.” Lucky shook her head at me. “It’s sweet
that you thought of me, but I just wish you would have told me that you lied.”

“Lucky,
I want to tell you a story,” Sidney Johnson cut her off.

“Sure.”
She turned to face him.

“It’s
about me and my wife.” He chuckled and winked at me. “It’s about what I did for
love.”

“Oh,
you don’t have to tell me.” Lucky looked embarrassed.

“I
want to tell you so you’re not too hard on your young man.”

“Oh.”
She looked down and I saw a small smile on her face.

“So,
when I first saw Betty walking them streets, I thought to myself, this is a
young lady that has a purpose and she don’t want no boy like me. She wants
herself a fine, respectable man.” He nodded to himself as he remembered the
past. “So the first time I got to talk to her, I told her that I was getting a
scholarship to study.”

“Wow,
that was great,” Lucky interrupted him
with a
huge grin. “What was the scholarship for?”

“There
was no scholarship and there was no school.” He laughed.

“What?”

“I
lied.” He smiled. “I knew she would never talk to me if she knew I was hanging
out with my friends on the streets.”

“And
she didn’t know?”

“Not
for many years.” He laughed. “By the time she finally gave me the time of day,
I was in school and, as they say, the rest is history.”

“So
you lied to her?”

“I
don’t know if you can quite say lie, I like to think that I weaved some words
together so that I could win her heart. Like a wordsmith.”

“I
suppose so.” Lucky smiled and looked at me with veiled eyes. My heart thumped
as she stared at me, and I wondered if this was going to be the hurdle that
destroyed our relationship. When she issued me a small smile, I felt the
tension lift from my shoulders. “Is there anything else I should know about,
Zane?”

“No.”
I shook my head and ignored the niggling feeling in me that told me I was
lying. I felt like my phone was a ticking time bomb in my pants, but I couldn’t
risk her finding out about that. “That’s all.” I could tell that Lucky wanted
to ask me more questions, but we were both cognizant of the fact that Sidney
was in the room with us.

“Who’s
ready for tea and cookies?” Mrs. Johnson bustled into the room with a large
tray and I jumped up to help her. I took the tray from her hands and placed it
on the table carefully. She looked at me with a smile and handed me a cup and
saucer. “Milk and sugar?”

“No
milk, one sugar. Thanks.”

“I’ll
have milk and three sugars, please.” Lucky laughed. “I have a sweet tooth.”

“I’ll
say.”

“Zane.”
She glared at me.

“What
can I say? You do.” I grinned at her and Mr. Johnson chuckled before speaking.
“Now, Lucky, tell me about your new idea.”

“When
we first talked about this documentary,” Lucky paused and looked at me, “Zane
and I were talking about filming several people, but I thought it would be more
powerful if we did a documentary that focused on you and your family.” She took
a breath and looked at Sidney again. “If that would be okay with you.”

“Of
course it would be okay, dear child,” Betty answered for Sidney and Sidney
laughed.

“She’s
the boss, so if she says yes.” Sidney shrugged and Betty gave him a kiss on the
forehead.

“I
ain’t never been your boss, Sidney Johnson.” She shook her head and laughed.
“Well, not that you’ve ever admitted it.”

“I
try not to tell a lie.” Sidney winked at me and stood up. “Let me go and get my
address book. I recently found one of my brothers. I think he can help. He has
a good memory.”

“Recently
found?” Lucky looked at him curiously.

“He
done been lost for about 40 years.” Sidney shook his head. “I thought he was
dead. But Betty here went inline and she found him.”

“Online,
Sidney,” Betty corrected him.

“What?”
He frowned at her.

“I
went online and found him.”

“Oh?”
Lucky took out her notepad.

“Yeah,
there’s a website that helps you find people,” Betty continued. “My son helped
me. We did it as a present for Sidney’s birthday.”

“He
works for the government.” Sidney smiled. “He done good for himself. Got a good
job. Had some kids. He even got married. He married himself a white lady.”

“Sidney!”
Betty admonished him and smiled at us shaking her head.