The Shocking Truth About Ramsey (8 page)

"Ma'am, please understand.  I have neglected my s…sister really badly.  I haven't been here in years.  For this visit, I…I just want to look at her.  Please don't tell her that I'm here.  I…I will come back in a week or two.  But I have to take things slowly for now," she begged.  

Pam hoped the woman understood her desperation and went along with her wishes without too much of a fuss.   Thankfully the woman was an understanding nonjudgmental person, unlike the stick, because she smiled kindly at Pam and patted her on the shoulders. 

"Relax, honey.  It’s gone be fine.  She's in the dining room.  We'll look through the glass and I'll point her out to you. How's that?" she said sweetly. 

Pam nodded and grabbed her hand and held it for a minute.  She followed her like a lamb being led to slaughter.  She had lived so far above these type situations for years that now she felt like the hunchback from Notre Dame as she stumbled behind the kind receptionist, shoulders sagging further down with every step she took.   The nightmare had done nothing to calm her fears and she felt her heart pounding as they reached the glass doors to the dining room. 

She was not prepared for the sight that met her eyes.  Cassandra was beautiful.  She sat at a table for four with one other woman and two men.  She smiled at something the woman said and her face was transformed into even more beauty.  She looked like Ramsey.  One hand rested in her lap as she used her eating utensils with more poise than Talmus and Ramsey ever had.  

Pam's breath hitched and she slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sob that rose within her throat.  Relief so huge enveloped her that her knees buckled.  Had she turned her back on this beautiful person?  She had left her exposed to all sorts of dangers.  Now she was more determined than ever to find out who the male visitor was.  It didn't matter that Cassandra was grown and it no longer mattered if she was the child her own father had incestuously impregnated her with.  All that mattered was her safety.  

Jackson wanted to see Ramsey's father for two reasons.  He wanted to make sure he was okay and he wanted to see if Jackson was anything like Ramsey.  He didn't need to know why he wasn't with Pam.  No man could stay with that woman.  He had time to pass until his grandfather was ready to go, since his father wasn't speaking to him and had basically told him to go away.  So, until his father called and said they were ready, Jackson decided to visit Herby Laughterdale.  

He found him sitting up in bed with a National Geographic magazine up to his face.  He was obviously comfortable and not anywhere near dead.  Jackson was relieved for Ramsey's sake. 

"Hello, Mr. Laughterdale," he said.

Herby lowered the paper and stared at him.  "You must be Jackson."

"Yep.  That's exactly who I am," Jackson said reaching out to shake the older man's hand.  

They did a quick measurement of each other and Herby soon nodded and asked Jackson to take a seat. 

"Well, I've recently learned more about you than is probably decent, especially considering the fact that this is our first time meeting." 

The ease Jackson had felt a second earlier was taken completely away by this remark.  Surely Ramsey had not told her father everything. Jackson smiled mildly and cleared his throat.

"I wanted to meet you.  Ramsey seems to care a lot about you.  I didn't know she even knew who her father was," he said.  He hoped his remark would throw Herby off guard and change the subject for the time being.  

Herby laughed and said, "Well, from what I've been hearing, there is a lot about Ramsey you didn't know until recently."

The mark hit home and Jackson sat back in his chair from its impact.  He was embarrassed and really unwilling to try to lead the conversation anywhere at this point.  The ball was in Herby's corner.  He seemed to have more control anyway.  

"She was in here this morning talking about her future plans," Herby said with his eyes glued to Jackson's face.  He wanted to see every expression across that face.  Herby was good at reading people and he needed to know what this young man's intentions were and if he had no intentions, Herby at least wanted to know what he was thinking. 

Jackson smiled his first smile of confidence.  So, Ramsey was making plans.  They really had been good together.  She would be the perfect woman for him and he would be the perfect man for her.  They had grown up together and shared their first everything together.  He had never stopped knowing and loving her in that way.  Last night had changed some things and made his feelings more complex and in need of some further exploration.  He knew for sure he wanted her back in his life and definitely back in his bed.   The rest would have to be worked out between the two of them. 

"Yes, she's making plans and she was very clear that you are not in those plans," Herby continued.  He watched in pure fascination as the smug smile left Jackson's face.  He shifted to the edge of his chair.  His fist balled and came together in front of him as he leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees.  

"What did you say," he asked. 

"I said her future plans don't include you.  She seems to think that whatever happened between you and her last night can happen between her and any other man.  She said you are too controlling."

Panic.  Panic like a fiery electrical shock streaked through Jackson's veins.  He sat back again and was totally mute.  He couldn't think of a thing to say to Ramsey's father that wouldn't sound disrespectful or either pathetic.  He refused to ask any questions or make any comment at all.  His anger was like an inner monster.  He sat there calmly and wrestled with it as Herby watched. 

"Settle down.  I know what women do to men.  They make us crazy.  You just have to use your mind and refuse to give her what she wants.  She'll come around.  Pam did a number on that girl of mine, but I blame myself.  I was a weak man in the beginning.  I'm turning it all around now though.  I didn't survive a bullet to the chest just to go back into my little hiding place."

"Ramsey is nothing like Pam," Jackson said angrily. 

Herby stopped talking and stared at Jackson.  His eyes turned glacial and hard.  

"You don't know anything about Pam.  So, be careful.  That woman's life began before she married me or had Talmus and Ramsey.  You don't know anything about her," Herby said through gritted teeth.

"I know she lied and said I raped Ramsey and that she harassed my parents until they had to send me away and eventually move away themselves to get away from her," Jackson fired back. 

"If your parents sent you away, it was their decision.  Don't put that at Pam's feet.  If Pam said you raped Ramsey then she had good reason to believe it and from what I know about Pam, you came off easy, boy, if she thought you actually did it.  So, like I said, be careful.  Better let the past stay in the past.  That's my advice."

Jackson let it go.  He took deep breaths and calmed himself.  He had to figure out what the Devil was going on with Ramsey and what she meant by telling her father that he was not in her future plans.  She had just agreed earlier to get with him this very night.  Jackson was confused and he didn't like it. 

"Look, I need to go check on my grandfather.  I just came to meet you and to make sure you were alright.  I have to go now."  Jackson couldn't wait to get out of Herby's room.  

"What are you going to do about Ramsey?" 

"Nothing.  It’s her choice," he said and left the room. 

Herby looked at the empty doorway and shook his head.  He remembered being that young and that dumb. 

#

Talmus was dressed to go out.  It was nine o'clock, a little too early to hit the club, but he was going.  He had not rested well, but he couldn't spend another minute in the house by himself.  He needed to be around people.....laughing, loud, and boisterous people.  He was just going through the door when his cell rang.  He answered it to hear his mother's voice on the line.  

"Talmus, I need you to get your father and keep him at your house until he heals up," she said. 

Talmus froze.  She had to be kidding.  The man had abandoned them.  Left him to be raised by a woman who sometimes smothered him with love and other times couldn't bear to look at his face.  He was his own man and would never be a man's man because his father had left leaving him to form his own kind of manliness.  He was unguided, unsure, and half of everything he should be because Herby Laughterdale had left and never bothered to call, come get him for the weekend or anything.  Oh, heck no, he was not going to get him.  He could care less whether he healed up or not. 

"No.  That's not going to happen, Mother," he said stiffly into the phone.  She was quiet on the other end and then she began to speak. 

"I made him leave, Talmus.  I accused him of doing bad things to you and Ramsey.  He is a good man and could have been a good father.  I ran him away.  He was innocent and younger and couldn't handle my demons.  Go get him and give him a chance.  I owe him so much.  I can't make anything up to him without you and Ramsey helping.  So, please son.  He owns my house.  He paid for it so that you and your sister would have somewhere to live.  I never had to work because he paid the bills.  All he cared about was taking care of you and your sister.  He is the real thing.  I'm not.  I'm as fake as plastic.  Please go get him," she sobbed into his phone.   

Talmus was shaking.  He had never heard his mother cry real tears of pain. He had never heard her speak badly about herself.  She was in so much pain he could feel it.  He was sensitive like that.  He had no idea what was going on and why she had made this sudden change, but it scared him. 

"Momma, you aren't about to do anything to hurt yourself are you," he whispered into the phone. 

"No, baby.  I'm about to start healing.  I have a lot of making up to do.  Don't tell your father about our conversation.  Just go get him and be kind to him.  He deserves nothing but respect and kindness from you.  Do you hear me, Talmus?"

"I do," he said.  She hung up, leaving Talmus alone in his emotional upheaval.  He shut and locked the door to his beautiful home and climbed into his luxury car to go meet the father he had never known and had always hated.  He was torn between real anger and desperate confusion.  People were always asking too much from him.  He was only a man.   He kept driving though.  Every man needed to know his father.   Here was his chance.   He just didn't understand why his life was always either heaven or mostly hell and nothing in between.  He wanted and needed the in between.  

Ramsey stood in the lobby at ten o'clock sharp waiting on Jackson.  After five minutes, she called him.  Maybe he had gone to sleep or something, because she knew he had not forgotten or she hoped he hadn't forgotten.  His voice was clear and he didn't sound sleepy at all when he answered the phone, which made her mad. 

"Where are you?  I'm in the lobby waiting on you," she said. 

Jackson frowned into the phone.  Herby must not have told her that he knew about her "future plans."  Well, he wasn't going to be the one to inform her that her father was a busybody.  Plus the man had done him a favor.  He hated being in the dark about anything and he would have been making a fool out of himself right now, if it had not been for Herby Laughterdale.  So, Jackson decided not to make trouble for the man. 

"Look.  I think what happened last night was nice, but I don't want things to get too complicated.  We might need to back up and take things a little slower."

"So, you're not coming," she said flatly. 

She was angry.  Jackson could hear it in her voice.  He hesitated before finally saying, "No." 

"Fine, Jackson.  I won't bother you ever again.  I'm glad you at least gave me the chance to give you what you deserved after all the trouble you went through all those many years ago. It was certainly my pleasure."  She pressed the red button and dropped her phone into her purse. 

She was angrier than she had ever been in her life.  Her heart was beating fast and her face and chest burned with righteous indignation. Who did he think he was?  Just last night she had given her virginity to him, technically, for the second time and just like the first time he had turned his back on her.  She was not sixteen and stupid.  She was a grown woman, a doctor, educated and beautiful.  No man could look at her the way Jackson had, if she was not truly beautiful.  Sex with him had been more than pleasure.  It had been like looking into the mirror for the first time.  He had shown her himself, but she had finally gotten a chance to see herself clearly too.  She was beautiful. Her body was made for a man's body.  She had loved the way she fit against him.  The differences in the curve of her hands, stomach, thighs, and butt from his had made her aware of how sensual she was and just where a woman's power lay in the game of sex.  If he thought for one minute that she was going to chase after him, then he was sadly mistaken.  

Ramsey pressed her lips together and held her head high.  She was not going to cry over that jerk.  She had a life to live and she had already told Herby that morning that Jackson was not in her plans.  She had told him that she didn't want Jackson because he was too controlling and that if she experienced passion and pleasure with one man, she could have it with any other man.  She had really believed all that, before she had seen Jackson again that morning and he had pressed her up against the wall and looked at her like she was chocolate pudding in a spoon.  He had been just as eager as she to repeat the experience, but something had changed his mind.  

Ramsey stopped walking as an incredible thought crossed her mind.  No, surely not.  Then, yes, it was possible.  She turned around and went back into the hospital.  She immediately saw Talmus wheeling Herby through the lobby doors.  All thoughts of Jackson flew out of her head. 

"What's going on," she asked in disbelief.  She knew how much Talmus hated Herby.  Either he was taking him somewhere to finish him off or she was hallucinating.

Talmus looked embarrassed.  Herby, however, looked radiant.  He was smiling from ear to ear.