XL

TO EVERY THING THERE IS A SEASON, AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNDER HEAVEN

ECCLESIASTES 3:1

SEVENIA SALLIE

“Are you okay with me meeting Salena today?” I asked my dad at the breakfast table.

He stopped a spoonful of Grape Nuts halfway to his mouth. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, you were sort of seeing her, but now she’s pregnant by your brother.”

“Salena and I are nothing more than friends. I told you that as soon as we were reunited a couple years ago.”

“I know,” I shrugged. “But you said that about Zella LaStella, and I saw you two on a walk holding hands. It was easy to tell because your interlaced fingers were, you know, ebony and ivory.”

My dad sighed and dropped his spoon into his bowl of cereal. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Sure,” I replied nonchalantly as I casually shrugged a shoulder. But my foot bobbed vigorously under the table with anticipation.

“She and I have gradually become more than just friends.”

“Daddy, that’s wonderful!”

“Slow down, Sweet Pea,” he chuckled. “I just don’t want you to be in the dark. Zella and I are taking things slow.”

“I understand,” I replied. “But doesn’t it bother you that Uncle Six has been seeing Salena all the while you were? I have to tell you, Daddy, I’m nervous about seeing Salena. And it’s mostly because I don’t know what is going on with you and her, Uncle Six and her, and this open marriage thing with Uncle Six and Aunt Charley. God rest her soul.”

“Relax, Sweet Pea,” my dad said as he held up a hand. “I understand you’re disappointed with Salena, my brother, and Aunt Charley. I don’t fully understand what’s going on myself. But Salena and I were never going to be a romantic item again. So, Six not only told me he was getting together with Salena, he asked my permission to seduce her. I told him to go for it, but I also told him he didn’t stand a chance. Seems I was wrong. Go figure.”

“I don’t get why Salena would be getting together with a married man,” I said. “She was like a second mother to me. She always seemed as pure as the wind driven snow.”

“They were getting together for Bible studies,” my dad replied.

“And she ended up pregnant! How?”

“You’re the one getting together with her, so you tell me.”

I felt butterflies in my stomach when Salena and I met at a Subway sandwich shop. As soon as I saw her warm brown loving eyes link with mine and her sweet smile, I relaxed. I grinned at her as we opened our arms for a hug. Then I stopped and frowned as I looked at a noticeable baby bump at her mid-section. She stopped too, and a hurt look transformed onto her countenance.

“Sorry,” I said, as I made myself laugh and look as cheerful as possible. Then we embraced for a tight hug. “I didn’t realize you were showing yet.”

“I’m actually due at the end of October,” she said.

“Wow,” I replied. “I didn’t realize you and my uncle had been seeing each other so long. I mean my aunt just died.”

“Sevenia,” Salena gasped. “I know you’re confused and disappointed. Please give me a chance to explain.”

“Okay,” I replied meekly, and smiled.

She smiled back and we hugged again. Then we bought some lunch to go and went to a park. We managed small talk for a while as we ate. Then we reminisced about Anna, and that put us in enough of a familiar comfort zone to talk about the elephant in the park. The recreational area was filled with big beautiful oak trees. It was also sunny with a high of 75. This picturesque setting helped with the ugly situation that was now broached.

“So,” Salena finally said after we had a long, awkward moment of silence. “I know you’re wondering how, I, a conservative Christian and an unmarried woman, became pregnant by a married man?”

“The thought crossed my mind,” I replied lightheartedly. Then we both fake giggled.

“You remember when your dad and I became reacquainted when your mother was in hospice?”

“I do.”

“Well, at the funeral for your mother, Six and I became reacquainted.”

“I see.”

“We had gotten to know each other when I was seeing your father.”

“I see.”

“They were so different for being twins,” she said. “Which made sense since they didn’t look alike. I was so blown away when I met Brock for the first time. I couldn’t believe Seven’s cousin looked more like him than his own twin brother.”

This peeked my interest. “You knew Uncle Brock way back?”

She frowned. “Uncle Brock? I always thought he and Seven were cousins.”

“They are,” I giggled. “But I’ve gotten to know Brock and his wife Destiny so well that they feel like my aunt and uncle.”

“So tell me about Brock,” we both said at the same time and then laughed.

It was almost like being with Anna. Her daughter was a mini me of herself. Soft, wavy, dark brown hair. Big, lovely, almond-shaped, brown eyes. Only I wasn’t used to seeing Salena so vulnerable. She was always so serious and stoic. Yet majestic and beautiful. Now, although still lovely, I detected scared and uncertainty in her demeanor. I felt horrible for being standoffish with her for several weeks. We had another awkward pause as we waited for the other to talk about Brock Storm, my father’s cousin.

“You go first, you knew him first,” I said with a sing song voice.

“I don’t have much to tell,” She replied. “I only met Brock once in person, but he was kind of a local legend.”

“I’ve heard that. So what’s your perspective on the legend of Brock?”

“He was just a bad man,” she drawled lightheartedly, and we laughed. “Seriously though. I’d heard about all these fights he had been in. Several of which were actually instigated by Seven, I mean your father. I understand that’s also why they ended up having a falling out. And I met your dad after the fall out.”

“So did you actually talk to Brock?”

“Briefly,” she replied with a little laugh. “He actually told me to beware of Seven. That I seemed like to good of a girl to get mixed up with him. He said he was a loudmouth and pretentious.”

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah. Then he said Seven was already self-righteous and now he’s religious on top of that. Then I lightheartedly said so you don’t believe in Jesus?”

Salena paused and giggled.

“What?”

“Oh,” she replied. “It’s just interesting that Brock’s a believer now. Because his reply was, I don’t need a crutch. I would so like to see him now. I would ask and remind him about that statement. Yet he didn’t say it in an arrogant manner. The thing that I found intriguing about Brock was he was so big and powerful, and he had this reputation as nobody to mess with. Yet the one time I talked with him, his eyes were so warm and gentle.”

“That’s the Brock I know and love,” I said. “A big muscular teddy bear.”

“I don’t know that I would have called him a teddy bear back then,” Salena laughed.

I told her about my first day as a freshman in high school. How Brock, wearing a form fitting t- shirt, drove me and purposely made us a couple of minutes late. I explained how he escorted me to my homeroom and politely, but loudly told the teacher he would be terribly upset if my first day went badly. Then how he quickly and menacingly eyed the classroom.

Salena laughed. “Six and Seven both have told me plenty of Brock stories, and how he toyed with bullies.”

At the mention of my Uncle Six, we both became silent. I forced a smile, but had too look away from her confused gaze. “Sevenia?”

“I’m sorry, Salena,” I blurted as a couple tears popped out of my eyes.

“For what?” She questioned breathlessly as she took hold of my hands. “I’m the one that let you down.”

“No, you didn’t let me down,” I choked. “I’m just confused.”

She nodded. “So how did the righteous seeming mother of Anna become pregnant by a married man?”

I shrugged and fake laughed. “Something like that.”

“I was so devastated when Anna died,” Salena squeaked as her tears began to flow. “I always thought I was so grounded in the Lord. I didn’t realize grief could make you physically ill, and linger and linger. And I had other children to care for.”

She bowed her head and sobbed.

“Salena,” I said. “I’m sorry, I…I…”

“No, it’s okay, Honey,” she relied, smiling through her tears.

“No it’s not, I’m selfish and sorry, I…I…”

“No,” she said and sighed as she put up a hand in a stop gesture. “So I became reacquainted with Six. He wanted Bible studies, and I agreed to get together with him every Wednesday.”

“Wow, you had Bible studies with Six?” I replied. “He’s the ultimate skeptic.”

“I know, and he wanted me to keep it a secret. So we studied, but we also talked and got to know each other. He told me about his marriage arrangement with his wife. But even though he flirted, I never responded, or at least never meant to.”

Salena sighed, clutched her head and sighed.

“It’s okay, I get it,” I said.

“No you don’t,” she replied with a pained expression. “Before Anna died, I never had an alcoholic drink in my life. But after she passed, and my grief ate at me and ate at me. I ended up trying  some wine and became hooked with the temporary relief I felt. Over time, one glass led to two, two led to three. Then one day, the boys were off camping. I had a full bottle and then some. Six showed up. One thing led to another, and now this.”

She waved a hand over her protruding belly and I fake laughed again.

“I see,” I replied. “So where do you go from here?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I told Six as soon as I found out, and he was excited.”

“But he’s married!” I blurted, and then instantly calmed. “I mean was.”

“I know,” she replied with a pained expression. “I also know you know about their open marriage arrangement. What you might not know is that Charley was never able to have kids.”

“This is so weird,” I said as mildly as I could.

“I know, Honey, I’m sorry,” she replied as her phone rang. “Hello? Oh hey. Six, that’s great! Okay, okay, I see. Wow, really? Okay, okay. I’m actually with your niece. Huh? Sevenia. He wants to talk to you.”

“Huh?” I asked dumbly.

“They discovered who killed your Aunt Charley,” Salena said as she handed me her phone. “Six is no longer a suspect.”

“Hi, Uncle Six,” I replied dumbly. “What’s new?”