“I think we need to talk about this some more when we get home. We’ll pray for guidance all night if we have to,” Daddy decided. He looked from me to Odell, and then he added with a smirk, “Just the family.”
“I’m having Odell’s baby, so he’s family now. And if we need to talk about this some more at home, he needs to be there,” I insisted.
“That’s all right, baby,” Odell said, holding up his hand. “I’m real sorry this had to happen before I got a chance to properly court Joyce and ask her to marry me.”
Mama opened her eyes so wide, she reminded me of an owl. “You mean you was going to ask her to marry you anyhow?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am. I made up my mind right after I met Joyce that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.” Odell stopped talking and looked at me and smiled before he continued. “Matter of fact, I had planned to ask her to marry me anyway this coming weekend.”
“Huh?” I mouthed. His last statement surprised me as much as it did my parents. “You mean you don’t want to marry me just because I’m pregnant?”
Odell squeezed my shoulder and started talking in a slow, gentle tone. “I had a itching to propose a couple of weeks ago, but I didn’t think it’d be a good idea if I rushed things. I needed to be sure you loved me.”
“You know I do,” I squealed.
“Humph!” Daddy shrugged and looked from Mama to me. “It sounds like y’all done already made up your minds, so it don’t matter what me and Mother say, huh?” He suddenly stopped talking and started coughing so hard, he choked on some air and Mama had to slap him on his back.
“Daddy, I can see how hard this is on you and I’m sorry. That’s why I wanted to wait until we got home to finish this discussion,” I told him, trying to sound as apologetic as I could.
“Don’t worry about me getting upset. You the one with a baby in your belly, so you need to be worrying about yourself. I just hope y’all making the right decision.” Daddy’s voice was getting weaker by the second. “A baby is supposed to be a blessing. . . .”
“Sure enough,” Mama agreed with her voice cracking. “Oh well. What’s done is done. Now we just need to move on.” All of a sudden, her mood changed. Her eyes softened, and there was a hint of a smile on her face. “I . . . I never thought me and Mac would live long enough to enjoy a grandchild. It’s been a dream for a long time, and it’s finally going to happen.”
Odell looked straight into Daddy’s eyes first, then Mama’s. “Y’all will live long enough to enjoy this baby and several more.”
This was the moment when I knew for sure that Odell Watson was the man God had been saving for me.
Chapter 12
Odell
FROM ALL THE STUFF I’D HEARD FROM BUDDY AND SADIE, AND THE things Joyce had told me out of her own mouth, I had been under the impression that her mama and daddy couldn’t wait for her to get married. Now I wasn’t so sure. They had not reacted the way I had expected. Instead of hugs and kisses, and congratulating me, they’d just stood there looking at me like I was crazy and talking all kinds of bullshit. What was the matter with these people? I didn’t even want to think that they thought I wasn’t good enough for their daughter. So what if I didn’t have much education and nothing other than myself to offer? As long as they’d been waiting to see her get married, they couldn’t be crazy enough to think that a better man would come along some day.
Even though Millie had eased up a little and started gushing about being a grandmother, I was still apprehensive. I decided not to go home with Joyce and her parents to continue the discussion. I knew she wanted to marry me, but I didn’t know if she’d still want to by the time they got through with her. Right after I’d confessed that I’d been planning to propose to her anyway, the three of them left abruptly. The fact that they’d left in such a hurry was something else for me to worry about. It seemed like they couldn’t get away from me fast enough. They didn’t even say good-bye. If Joyce stood up to her folks and decided to marry me anyway, I wasn’t so sure it was the right thing for us to do now. I kept thinking about all I had to gain if I went through with it. If I had not been in such a rush to make love to her, things might have turned out much better. Even though she’d been ready, willing, and able to hop into bed with me, I still should have held out.
Had I screwed myself out of a job by sleeping with the boss’s daughter? If that happened, I had nowhere to go and only enough money to pay this month’s rent. And I had too much pride but not enough nerve to go back to the same “friends” who had let me sleep on their couches during my downtime. I couldn’t stoop low enough to beg Daddy and Ellamae to let me stay with them until I got back up on my feet. I’d rather live in a hole than live with them again.
The more
