Saturday we ran into each other again at the basketball court. Being a woman use to the bruised egos of males, I let him win that game. He must have known though because I missed some shots I know even Annie could have made and she's lousy at basketball.
Afterwards, we headed to my favorite pizza place and I soon found out that Nick could inhale pizza faster than a vacuum cleaner. It was actually kinda cute.
"What are you staring at?" he asked me half way through the meal.
"You," I admitted, smiling as I took another bite of my slice.
"Why?" he pushed.
"You're like a bottomless pit. Your stomach never ends, does it?" I asked, watching emotions play across his face then. I vaguely remembered things about his weight years ago in the press but he was all man now. All beautifully built man.
"Not really, never has. About eight years ago I used to get a lot of shit over it in the press. They said I was getting fat, chubby, however you want to put it," he explained. There was a trace of pain in his eyes. A boy carried into manhood the pain of harsh words. Something in me hurt for his pain.
"Most people call that growing up, the press calls it getting fat. Never understood that myself. Manny's the same way," I added, taking another bite. Truth was I had eaten just as much as Nick.
"Manny?"
"My brother. One of them actually. I have four. Manny, Jake, Eric, and Quin. Jake is thirty-nine, married with two gorgeous kids, Eric is thirty-seven, divorced with a troublemaker of a son, Quin is thirty-six and a newlywed, and Manny is thirty-four. I think I'm the closest with him because he's the youngest one," I confessed, smiling at the thought of the men in my life.
"Wow, I think I see how you ended up a Jack." He smiled and I nudged him with my elbow.
"Can't really see me as a Jackie can you? I was climbing trees, shooting hoops, and beating the crap out of my boys when the other girls were dressing up, playing tea, and combing their dolls' hair. That was just never my thing." I grinned at the sight of a little girl in ruffles and bows walking outside on the street. When she tugged at the collar of her dress I knew she would be a tomboy as she got older.
Life was a stereotype. Girls in pink ruffles and boys in blue jeans. You were never given a choice, just confined to someone else's ideas of who and what you should be. Maybe that's how I ended up a tomboy because without someone to stereotype into pink ruffles I had the influence of boys blue jeans.
"Manny still eats all the time. He was the size of a stick till he was about eighteen. Then suddenly he was a man. He filled out and ended up being bigger than my dad, but it's all muscle," I explained, wondering if my words would ease a boy's too long carried pain. "Kind of like you," I added. "He's six foot 2 and I tease him by calling him the Jolly Green Giant."
"Does your family live here?"
"Yeah, actually Manny has a place in the same apartment building as me. Jake, Eric, and Quin all live within ten minutes of me and my dad still lives in the house he and my mother built over forty years ago. Not having them near me would be like missing an arm."
"Don't you ever get tired of having them so close, always around?" he asked, his curiosity simple and true.
"I get tired of their meddling and their overprotectiveness. I get tired of their questions and their nosiness. I don't get tired of having someone to call in the middle of the night or someone to shoot hoops with. I don't get tired of having someone to talk to or someone to love me."
Then out of nowhere a thought hit me. "Oh no! Oh no! Oh tell me today isn't the day," I mumbled to myself, hitting a button on my watch to reveal the date. "Damn it! Carter, I gotta go. I was supposed to meet Manny to help him paint his apartment an hour ago. I'll catch you later. Thanks for lunch," I called out as a raced out of the restaurant.
Of all the men in my life, the one who knew me the best, the one who loved me the strongest was Manny. You know how you always go through life with everyone expecting things from you? Good grades, nice friends, a nice place to life, good spouse, great job, something. Manny never expected anything of me. He never asked anything of me. All Manny did was love me and for that all I did was love him He taught me how to play basketball and how to ride a bike. He set me up on my first date then sat up with me all night as I talked about it. He applauded me at my high school graduation and congratulated me when I got my job at the Fun Club. Through ever milestone and every day Manny was by my side. There was no life without him. I loved him that completely.
Don't get me wrong. I love all my brothers. Jake is your typical big brother, always watching out for everything I do. Eric is the irresponsible one, the one who thinks you'll forgive all his mistakes when he smiles. Problem is I usually do forgive him because he never does anything in maliciousness. He simply forgets. And Quin is the funny one, the one always with a smile or a laugh. Kind of like Brian, only blood related. They were my world. A day didn't go by that I didn't talk to them, didn't see their faces, hear their voices. They were my world outside of Backstreet and they were my heart in everything.
Those four men were the kind you know will never leave your side, they will support you and love you and be with you no matter how hard it gets. Everything about them says they will never leave you and I knew they never would. That's why I loved them so completely
Funny how quickly your ideas of forever and love can change.
Links to other sites on the Web
To Chapter 10
Back to CONTENTS
© 1997 crunkgrl62382@yahoo.com
Get your own Free Home Page