I do apologize for how long it has taken to get this part finished. There will be one final part before this story is ended and I hope it turns out as well as the others have. So for now, I give you:

The Greener Mile - Part 6

Chapter 31

“Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out,” was the repetitive mantra I kept hearing from the masculine voice next to my right ear. Frank was doing his part to be an active partner in the birth of my children. JaNeece was on my other side, holding my hand. She wasn’t saying a word, just holding my hand.

I wanted to scream out with the pain I was feeling, but I couldn’t. I could only give out a ‘whooshing’ of air from my lungs. My contractions were coming fast and furious. I felt as if my crotch had grown wide enough to allow a 747 to land and at times I was afraid one was going to come out instead. I felt as if I had a bowling ball trying to make its way out from inside of me.

“OK, Sharry, you need to push. Hold it! Frank, count to ten.”

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5… 10.”

“Let it out, Sharry. Breathe.”

“Push again Sharry. Good Girl.”

After what seemed like an eternity, the bowling ball turned into a screaming, wailing baby. The other side of the room converged on the bed and vanished back to the other side and became a flurry of activity.

“Congratulations, Sharry, your daughter has been delivered. Now let’s see if we can get your reluctant son to make his appearance.”

Another eternity that seemed to run nearly a million years, my son finally entered the world. I flopped back in the bed, exhausted from the work I had done. I tried to see across the room where there were two screaming babies voicing their mistreatment at the hands of the world.

I squeezed Frank’s hand to get his attention. As he looked at me, I pulled on his arm to bring him closer to me. Once he was close enough, I gave him a kiss on the lips and mouthed, ‘Thank you for being here’. He just smiled.

I turned my attention to JaNeece.

I had freedom of my hands again and I signed to her, ‘Thank you for being here. I couldn’t have done it without you.’

She got a sheepish look on her face and signed back, ‘Want to bet? You’re a woman, you would have done it regardless.’

I then signed, ‘Tell the Dr. I want to see my babies.’

She forwarded the message to the doctor. He got an ugly look on his face as he listened to her.

His words chilled me to the bone, “No one gets those bastards! They are mine! Their father is mine, his father is mine, his father is mine and his father is mine. They are all mine! That Bitch is mine. You are not mine but I will make you mine!”

All the nurses and attendees in the room suddenly grew silent. It was as if they had never heard such words before and were shocked.

JaNeece stood there with a puzzled look on her face. Then she started to realize that something was different about the gentle, caring doctor that had shortly before delivered two healthy babies. She took a step backwards, hesitantly.

The doctor continued to rave for several minutes before winding down. He made no move towards the babies but by then, there were some big, burly men with their arms crossed over their chests between the babies and the doctor. I was trying hard not to scream out in panic let alone pain. My insides were still aching from giving birth two times. I still had to pass the placentas, I knew.

As I was watching the facedown between the doctor and the seeming 10 year-old, I noticed a change come over JaNeece’s pretty face. She took on a glow that seemed to over-power the seemingly dark room. She smiled a beatific smile.

Out of her mouth came a beautiful voice, “Luke, you know that our differences shouldn’t be taken out on innocents. There are two small ones in this room who I am bestowing my protection over. You cannot touch them, ever.”

“Then I’ll make sure that they don’t grow up regardless, just by making sure that their surroundings cause them the harm and not by me. You can deny me one way but not all ways. Just give me time and I’ll see to it that they are part of my realm. Do you hear me, Joe?” Was the deep, forbidding reply.

“Luke, you were always so predictable. You can’t touch them in any way. They are needed on this world in the future. They will be the last hope humanity has to survive long enough to fulfill my hopes for them. Why can’t you leave well enough alone?”

“Because with you it has always been your hopes and your dreams for these worthless beings. You may have created them in your own image but they have always had a mind of their own. Their minds bring them to me. You barely get enough of the good ones to maintain your superiority over me but I am getting the upper hand finally.”

“Don’t you realize that by getting the upper hand, you are destroying the lives that will be needed in the future? You can’t keep going on like this or you will lose it all in the end. The good must survive as well as the bad must survive. By taking these babies as you have their good father, you will solidify your own loss. By leaving them as they are and leaving those around them alone, you will ensure a stalemate for quite some time to come. Which will it be?” JaNeece cocked an eyebrow at him.

“Bah, you argue as if times haven’t changed. The world is a loss to you and you just don’t see it. The evil in the world festers with a repugnant odor. To show you just how bad it is, I can take what I want and no one can stop me.” With that, he reached out a hand and lightly touched JaNeece on the forehead with a single finger.

JaNeece’s body collapsed like a marionette who had just had its strings cut.

“Do you all see what I can do? Can you?? The person inhabiting that body was an anathema to the living. She has lived for longer than a human being is supposed to. Now she’s gone and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. I’ll be back again for what is mine.”

With that, the overlaying presence in the doctor was gone and the doctor sagged to the ground, unconscious.

No one in the room moved, they were too stunned about what had transpired before them. Finally, one of the nurses close to JaNeece quickly moved to where she lay on the floor. A light touch to the neck and she stood up again.

“She’s dead. I don’t know how but she is dead.” She said, quietly.

Chapter 32

“Noooooooo!” I tried to scream out. “Someone help her. She can’t be dead. You’re the medical professionals. Treat her!!”

The nurse who had bent over JaNeece to check her, suddenly took on a different aspect, much like JaNeece had moments before.

“The one known as JaNeece has departed this life. She cannot be restored since her life force has been removed from her body forcibly. Her body can be restored to life but her mind and experiences are gone. Luke has seen to it that she will never be able to come back as he has stolen her soul as punishment to me. I can restore her body to life but the only way that I can make it live is to place a soul that is ready for a new life, in the body. The only way that I can do that is if you, La Shara, accept the onus of her new life. She won’t remember who she was prior and you will have to raise her as your own child. Do you accept this onus?” She looked deeply into my eyes as she asked this of me.

What else could I do? I had accepted the responsibility of JaNeece back in Louisiana when she had become the little girl, now I would have the responsibility of raising her as my own daughter all the way. My mind was made up. “Yes, I accept the onus of raising her as my own. Regardless of who she was in a past life and future lives, I accept her as my own blood. To this I promise my life over.”

Without realizing that I had spoke aloud until I uttered the last word, I clapped a hand to my throat in surprise. I had actually spoken again!

A delighted laugh issued forth from the nurse’s lips. “Yes, I know about the horrible move made on you by Luke. Your voice has been restored to you. Your children will need to be able to hear you speak as they grow up. You have much to teach them. You are an intelligent woman and they need for you to be whole. This is my gift to you. Raise them well and teach them all you know and above all else, love them as best as you can. They will need it later in life. JaNeece is now your older daughter and she will help you in the care of the little ones. Live in peace. Oh, before I go, you will need to know that your body will not grow old nor will it be able to die for a long time. Methuselah will have nothing on you by the time you are ready to leave this life. Your first husband really didn’t know what he was doing but like his great grandfather before him did with Paul Edgecomb, he either cursed you to life or he gifted you with life. How you decide how it is will be up to you. Make the most of it.”

As the last words were spoken, the presence was gone and the nurse blinked in surprise. Everyone was looking at her funny and she was reddening in embarrassment.

A movement on the floor drew everyone’s attention. Where JaNeece had been lying dead, there was a child of about three years old. She seemed to be just waking up as if from a nap as she was stretching her arms and yawning.

Her big brown eyes looked up at me and a smile broke out on her face. “Hi momma, is the babies here? I’s wants ta see them now. Can I?” She spoke with the sweetness of a child just learning to talk better.

I was startled about the abrupt change that happened to JaNeece. One moment she was a near woman-child and now she was a very young child. I guess that if she had to have a new soul or whatever, the age was the best to be so that she could grow into her own self and experiences. My God, the whole implications were incredible.

Then it dawned on me. I had been watching a confrontation between God and Satan. God came out on top this time but there was a casualty in the battle. JaNeece was lost but restored. I felt tears running down my cheeks for the loss of Paul Edgecomb. I wouldn’t be able to have the wonderful conversations I had had with that wonderfully sharp mind in that young body.

“Yes, honey, the babies are here. Your little brother and sister are being taken care of right now but they will be ready for a visit in a little while. Would you like to come up and sit next to momma?” I asked her.

“Uh huh. Where’s daddy, momma?” She asked.

“Daddy’s with us honey. He’s just wearing a mask to keep from getting the babies sick.” I told her.

With that, Frank removed the surgical mask and smiled at her.

Her eyes sparkled with glee. “Hi Daddy! Momma had the babies. Want ta see them wif me?”

“Sure, sweetie. But we have to let the doctors and nurses take care of them first. Can you wait a while?”

“Sure. But not too long. I’s really wants ta see them.” She said with that innocent little voice.

In the meantime, the placentas were delivered from me and the babies were finished being attended to. I was taken from the delivery room and into a room that was to be mine until I left the hospital. The three of us, Frank, JaNeece and I waited for the twins to be brought in to us so that we could start getting to know each other.

Probably about an hour after being taken into the room, the babies were brought in. Frank took our daughter and I took our son. I exposed a swollen breast and brought him up for his first feeding. A pain shot through my breast as the milk was forced to come out by the voracious vacuum given off by the baby suckling at it. As quickly as it came, the pain went away. He sucked until he had his fill and released the nipple with a *pop* sound.

I brought my son to my shoulder and lightly patted him on the back until he gave a small burp. He put his little hand to his mouth and sucked on it in contentment.

Frank and I swapped babies and I put my daughter to the other breast and nursed her until she was content. The whole time, JaNeece stared at the entire process with wide eyed wonder.

“Momma, did you do the boobie thing wit’ me when I’s was a baby?” she asked me with innocence.

I shot Frank a startled look. He got a sly kind of grin on his face and gave a slight nod. I looked back at her. “Yes, honey, I did. You liked it just as much as these two do.”

“Oh, otay. Can I’s holds the baby now? Can I, pwease?” she asked prettily.

“Oh, yes honey. Climb up on momma’s lap and she will help you with the baby.” I waited until her little body was situated on my lap and I eased my newest daughter into her arms. I watched as she tried mightily to hold the baby, who was now her little sister, in her small arms. I could tell that it was a struggle to do so since neither one of the twins were small babies.

When they were brought into the room, the nursery nurses told us that both babies had checked out healthy and had each weighed in at nearly nine pounds apiece. It was no wonder that I had felt like a beached whale the last couple of months. I had known that the chances of them being big were good because of the size of their father, but I hadn’t expected them to be that big!

Because of the excitement of the delivery room, we had not had the official naming of the babies yet. Frank and I had decided that we would call them similar names to their father. The boy was going to be called John Frances Coffee-Tarkington and the girl was going to be called JoAnne Sharee Coffee-Tarkington.

The hospital staff were appraised of the names and they were registered as such.

Finally, JaNeece tired of holding her little sister and started to fuss a little bit. I took the baby back from her and she climbed down off the bed and went to sit in the chair next to the bed. Her eyes were drooping heavily and she finally curled into a little ball and went to sleep.

The twins were both asleep in their separate cribs and Frank and I were alone. He sat down next to me and put his arms around me. I was exhausted from the busy day but I snuggled into his arms and leaned my head on to his chest. As I was leaning there, I closed my eyes in contentment. I was asleep before I knew it.

Chapter 33

Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought I would be the mother of three young children. After I was released from the hospital, my real work began. JaNeece was trying hard to be a big girl and help her mommy with the new babies but her attention span was that of a young child: not very long. She would always hang around during bath time and kept the second baby occupied while I bathed the first one. It was very precious to see her ‘helping’ mommy with the bath by playing with the second one.

Most of the time, my hands were full with all three. JaNeece one day seemed perturbed by something I had said but I couldn’t get her to tell me what was wrong. One time, I needed her to get me a fresh diaper for little John and I called out, “JaNeece, could you bring mommy a new diaper. Johnnie has messed his up again.”

To my surprise, she answered me back, “My name’s not JaNeece, it’s Neecie. JaNeece is gone and now there’s only me, Neecie.” Then she said, “Otay mommy. I’s gets ya a didie.” She proceeded to do exactly that and brought me one of the diapers from John’s kit.

I tried to puzzle out what it was that she had said to me about her name. The way she said it had seemed to be an older tone than what she was mentally at the moment. I took it upon myself to start calling her Neecie instead of JaNeece.

It had been a complete shock to me to find that I had records all over the house that showed that the new JaNeece had been born to me three years prior. I had birth certificates, baby items that were bronzed, the sort of things that a proud parent would have from their baby’s first years. The birth certificate had listed me as the mother but the father’s name was listed as unknown.

I had an episode of brief mental dizziness as I read the entry on the father’s side of the birth certificate. Once my mind cleared, I had a mental image of being raped underneath the bleachers of the high school football field nearly four years ago. Back when I had been a sophomore in high school.

I didn’t know where the memory came from but it had been the first of many that started to grow in my mind. JaNeece had been an unwelcome addition to my life at the time but John had accepted her as his child when he had married me. She had loved him as her father until the day he died in jail.

I shook my head to try to clear it. I was trying to deal with doubled memories of my life. I didn’t know why I was seeing the images of JaNeece being born to me three years ago when I knew that I hadn’t had the ability to give birth at that point in my life.

I started having flashes of a life that I had never known before. The birth of JaNeece, my parents (not my original ones) being the doting grandparents to a child who hadn’t had the choice of being born of such a violent occurrence such as rape. The death of my parents in a car crash with a drunk driver a year after she was born. My meeting up with John when she was two. Our marriage with her as my maid of honor. Her beaming up at her step-father. Her crying her eyes out when her Big Daddy went away and never came back.

Then there came the memories of meeting up with Frank after his wife and son were killed in a car crash shortly after John died. Me finding out I was pregnant with John’s babies. Frank and I getting together. Getting married. JaNeece calling Frank her little daddy. And now the birth of the new babies.

My memories shifted and sorted themselves into a new appearance of order. The memories of my old life sort of drifted into the sort of hazy recollection of that life having been in a book I read a long time ago and had happened to someone else.

I was still a multi-millionaire and I still day-traded, when I had a chance to do so while trying to deal with three small children and babies. I felt that I wasn’t getting enough time to do my stock trading and I needed to clear out my portfolio and liquidate what I had. It had been becoming boring anyway. My mind was focused mainly on my children and I needed to focus on them completely.

By the time I had divested my stocks, I had made an additional $25,000,000.00. I thought about all the things I could buy to help make my children’s lives better and happier but only when they were older and could appreciate it more. Money doesn’t buy happiness but it doesn’t hurt to have it. I remembered a time in my life when I didn’t have any money and it was a struggle to just survive. My parents had had a hard time during the great recession of 2009-2010 and I vowed to myself that I would never be that desperate again, now that I had money to spare.

Once I was able to focus my attention exclusively on the children, I became a better parent to them. Neecie was always helping her mommy with the babies. Her favorite was her little sister JoAnne. Johnnie was her second favorite because he was a boy, she said.

I started going for long walks with the children in strollers. We went to the park where Neecie would go play on the playground equipment, swing on the swings, swirl on the merry-go-round, all the while squealing with delight at the fun.

I met other young mothers with their children and we would have long talks about our babies and our lives. None of them could believe that I had three children at the young age of nineteen. They were even more startled to find out that I was married to a white man when I was a black woman. Especially when they found out that none of the children were his. They just couldn’t fathom the whole thing.

I just told them that race didn’t matter, age didn’t matter and parental blood didn’t matter to him. He loved the children as if they were his own. Enough so that he adopted them all after the birth of the twins. I told them it was his respect for their father after his death that he felt honored enough to marry me and support them as his own.

By this time, it had been nine months since the babies had been born and they were both getting so big. Both of them had been teething for three months and they were miserable from the growing pains in their mouths. They delighted causing their mommy pain by nipping her boobies while she nursed them. I didn’t care that they tried to cut new teeth on my nipples, since I loved them both so much.

I had grown to love my children so much that they were my life 24 hours a day. Frank was a secondary item in the picture but he understood completely that the babies took first priority in my life at the moment. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I loved Frank with all my heart and I showed it to him every night, at least when I wasn’t on my period. Ever since the birth of the babies, I was horny as all get out. Frank certainly wasn’t one to complain, since he was the one getting the benefit of me being so horny.

Frank was still working as a police detective but he had put in a transfer to a position that wasn’t as stressful to our home life. He had started training to become a crime scene investigator/evidence collector. Since that was out of his normal training range, he was having to go to school to study it full time. CSI wasn’t as glamorous as it had been depicted on TV years ago. It was long tedious work but he loved learning about it. In mid-training, he decided to switch from the field work to go into the lab to do the testing of evidence. That wound up being the best move he ever made. Although he would have to continue the courses in the best possible time frame he could, he was able to get on the job training from the lab techs he worked with.

He was able to work part days and go to class the rest of the time. We had the evenings to ourselves and the children. Once the kids were put to bed for the night, it then became our time together. We would make love for a long time each night. The passion between us was incredible and I always seemed to be a wanton wench in bed. I didn’t care about anything else during that time except sharing myself and my love with my husband.

Then came the day that I hadn’t expected and didn’t really care that it had happened. I was pregnant again.

Chapter 34

I have always hated it when writers would gloss over inconsequential events and I’m afraid that I have to do that.

A significant amount of time has passed for me now. I have given birth to ten children since I had the twins. It has been fifteen years since that fateful day that Paul/JaNeece left my life. I could only hope that his/her soul has found peace but I’m afraid that it has met with Hell. I miss her conversations but I have had little time to dwell on her loss since her body still lives with someone else at the control.

JaNeece has since outgrown the nickname she called herself so many years ago. She has preferred to be called JaNeece or even Janice since she turned fifteen three years ago. She has grown into a very beautiful young woman and has grown independent in her own right.

The twins took after both of their parents. John has started growing exponentially and has been getting into sports. He has earned a starting position on the high school football team as an offensive lineman as well as a defensive tackle. He excelled at the sport as well as loving it. At the age of 15, he was 6’8” tall and still growing. He weighed in at 260 pounds. He was growing into his father’s size and I expected him to top 7’ by the time he reached 17 years old.

JoAnne has also grown into a very attractive young lady. She had a grace about her that was eerie. A serene aura surrounded her as if she were at peace with the world. She was popular at school and had the attention of the boys even though she thought all of them were rather immature in their actions. She didn’t want to date anyone at the moment because of her school studies. Since elementary school, she had been a hard worker and had been achieving grades that were the highest in her class. Ever since she entered high school, she has carried a 4.0 GPA. I expected her to graduate as class valedictorian, even though it was too early to tell. She was the most intelligent teenager I have ever met. An IQ test was run on her in junior high and at that point she had an IQ of 180. I expected it to be much higher by the time she got out of high school.

John was also very intelligent but he was too active to put it to use in the school system. I practically have to ride him constantly to put forth the effort with his school work. He only maintained a 3.5 GPA but he did it without effort, it seemed like. I practically pulled my hair out at his nonchalant efforts. He had this sly little smile that reminded me so much of his father. If I ever missed John, all I had to do was look at his son and I saw him in his glory.

The one thing that I hadn’t noticed yet was the ability that John had said both would inherit from him. I had never asked John when his ability had shown up but I never got the chance to do so before he died. I felt it was only a matter of time before they developed it. I was worried about that day.

My other children ranged from the ages of 13 to 2. I was a very busy mom. My youngest was the one that kept me busy. Frank had seemed to be slowing down on me. He was now 44 years old and I still looked like I was 19. I was always asked by my friends how I kept myself so young looking. All I could do was tell them I had really good genetics. They had to believe me since they could see something different about me.

#*#*#*#*#*#*#

It was a beautiful early fall day in late September that changed the sedate pace of life for me. I had been playing with my two year old daughter out on the back patio of the house when my phone rang. I was one of the biggest supporters of the sub-dermal phone headsets. The mouth piece was implanted along my jaw bone to the interior front of my mouth with the connection to the ear piece located just behind the ear but with an internal channel into the ear canal.

The audible signal to me was a beep in the ear and a ringing throughout the house. I answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Hi. Mrs. Tarkington?” A male voice on the other end asked.

“Yes, who may I ask is calling please?”

“This is Doug Englewright, John’s football coach.” Was the reply.

“Oh, yes, Coach Englewright. What can I do for you?” Was my reply.

“Well, I’m not sure how to put it but John was involved in an incident at practice today and he has sort of retreated into a shell and is refusing all attempts to get him out of it.”

“Oh my God!” I exclaimed. “What happened?”

“We were doing off-tackle scrimmages and he was given the assignment on the defensive line to lead the charge through the offensive line and take out the ball carrier. As big as he is, he is harder to stop than most people would think. The offensive line’s job is to stop John from getting to the ball carrier. John bulled his way through the line and managed to grab the full back that had the ball. But when he made the tackle, the runner fell onto one of his linemen and John went with him. The impact on the runner on the man on the ground and John above him broke his back. We are uncertain if he will be paralyzed or not right now.” I was told.

“Oh, God! John is such a harmless young man even though he gets a bit overzealous at times. He has times where he can be a bit clumsy for his size but to hurt someone like that? Where is John now? I need to get to him.” I cried.

“He is here at the high school in medical clinic. We had to take him there since no one knew what else to do with him. The school physician’s assistant is working on trying to get him out of his funk. You can see him there.”

“Coach, I have ask this: will there be any charges against him for this? I need to know this since there are things in my past as well as his family history that he is terrified of.” I asked.

“At this time, there are no charges against him. As far as anyone is concerned, football is a rough spot and people have been hurt playing the game since it was invented. As for the future, I seriously doubt that there will be any charges filed, unless it was found that he deliberately hurt the kid, which I doubt, knowing what I do about him.” He said.

“Thank you, Coach. That helps out a lot. I’ll let you go so that I can get to him. Good bye for now.” I hung up immediately then.

I was frantic. Frank was home from his golf outing and he must have realized that something was wrong by the way I was fluttering about the house. He finally cornered me and asked what was wrong.

I explained to him about the call from the coach and I saw his face pale in shock. His face grew ashen as he sat down on a chair. As he sat there, he started acting really as if he were going to faint. His breath started coming is short gasps and he let out a moan as if he were in pain. Before I could react to anything, Frank collapsed onto the floor with a resounding thud.

Knowing JaNeece was gone for the day, I screamed out for JoAnne to help me. She came running to where I was kneeling on the floor next to Frank. She knelt next to him opposite me.

By this time, Frank was completely unconscious and was unresponsive. I couldn’t get him to react to any sort of stimulus. I was verging on hysteria and panic seemed to rule my mind.

My daughter was more level headed than I was during this. She said, “Mom, it looks like Daddy is having a heart attack. Could you go call for an ambulance, please?” She was so calm and collected as she said it that I didn’t question her words and did exactly that.

I made the call and went back to join JoAnne next to Frank. I could see her face deeply etched in concentration. She looked like she was fighting a mental battle about what to do to her adoptive father.

A serene calmness spread across her face and I watched as she placed her hands over Frank’s heart and spread her fingers to cover more area. As I observed this action, a blinding light shown out from under her hands and stayed in place for several moments before fading.

The serenity on her face remained for some time before fading into nothingness. A smile crept over her lips before she spoke again. “It’s ok, Mom. Daddy will be fine. He’s been fixed now.”

I looked at her and then looked again at Frank. Color was returning to his face and he looked like he was sleeping. When I looked at JoAnne again, she looked slightly wobbly on her feet. Exhaustion had crossed her pretty features and was causing her eyes to droop slightly.

As she stood there weaving on her feet, she tipped her head back and a loud belch came out of her mouth. I watched as little black sparkly things came out of her mouth for a moment before trailing of into nothingness. My jaw dropped.

JoAnne had finally come into her gift from her father.

Chapter 35

As much as I really wanted to talk to JoAnne about what she had done, I couldn’t. I had a son to go take care of. I left Frank in JoAnne’s more than capable hands.

I warned her about the ambulance that was on its way to the house. I advised her to let them go ahead and take him in for a check-up regardless of what he said to refuse any treatment. I gave a glare to Frank that shut the protest he was about to exhale, down. I grabbed my purse and ran out the door as if the Devil were on my tail.

I could almost feel him there, too. I had this eerily creepy feeling down my back that I couldn’t shake. I tried to ignore it while I drove to the high school where John was.

As I approached the school, I could see that there were police vehicles parked in the back where the athletics facilities were located. I made my way to that location.

As I hurried to the gym door, I was stopped by two police officers who had been placed to keep out uninvited people. After I told them it had been my son who was involved with the incident and was nearly catatonic, I was let through.

After I was through the door, I heard one officer tell the other, “Man, I never knew that they had such good stuff to make women look so young these days. I’m going to have to find out what she uses or takes to look so young. I mean, if her son is in high school, that would make her in her early to mid thirties but she looks like she’s still a teenager herself…”

I heard no more after I went to another door and went through it. I didn’t really care what they said about me.

I went towards the boy’s locker room, where I could hear voices talking rather loudly from within. As I entered the room, it grew tomb quiet. Everyone saw that a woman had walked into the room and didn’t know what to do.

I called out, “Where’s John Coffey?”

Several of the boys pointed towards an area but gave no detail as to where it was exactly. I went in that direction.

I soon was able to hear the coach’s voice talking to John. It wasn’t loud by any means but I could hear it regardless. I guess the clicking of my heels on the hard tile floor alerted the coach to my approach. He looked my way, went silent then stood up and backed away.

I went up to John and knelt beside him. “John, honey, talk to me. No matter how badly you feel about this matter, things can be worked out. Talk to me, please?” I cajoled him.

My son was a very large young man and could easily hurt someone without even really trying but I knew better than that. He had always been a gentle giant no matter what his outside showed, just like his blood father. I stroked his head in a loving, motherly fashion. I could feel his body trembling hard through that touch.

“John, honey, Mom’s here. Everything will be fine now. Let’s get you cleaned up so that we can get out of here and go home so that we can talk, OK?” I told him.

He let out a wail that was filled with pain and agony from the depth of his soul. “But MOM, I hurt him! I wasn’t supposed to hurt anyone. Coach even said I wouldn’t, couldn’t hurt anyone playing football. Now I have and I can’t live with myself because of it.”

I felt a strong concern for my son. I looked over and the coach with a slender, questioning eyebrow. He gave a shrug of a broad shoulder.

“John, one thing you have to be aware of in this world, there is no such thing as a promise of no one being hurt in anything. I’ve been hurt, a lot, your father has been hurt, your older sister has been hurt, the coach has been hurt. Everyone gets hurt one way or another. But there are things that can be done to help the one you’ve hurt. We just need to talk about it at home. Can you trust me on this? Please?”

He looked up at me with pleading, tear blurry eyes, hope filled them as he looked at me. “OK, Mom, if you say so. I’ll trust you, for now.” With that, he collected himself together and stood up to his full height.

I still couldn’t get over how much like his real father he looked. Although John IV had a coarseness showing, John V had a calmer demeanor. But below the surface of that calmness, I could see a torrent of emotions that threatened to overwhelm him again.

“Take a quick shower, John, and then get dressed. I’ll wait in the Coach’s office for you. Come and get me when you’re ready.” I told him before turning, reluctantly, and leaving.

#*#*#*#*#*#*#

The coach and I chatted about things that had to do with the incident that caused the boy to be hurt. He hadn’t heard back from the parents of the other boy as yet to know what the actual damages were. He wasn’t certain how long it would take to hear anything back, either.

Finally, after what seemed like it had taken forever, John came sulkily into the office. He had the look of a little boy who had been told that his favorite pet puppy had been run over in the street after being chased out there by the neighborhood bully. I could see the mental war raging inside his mind over the incident. It was going to take a long time to get him over it.

We went home in dead silence. John wasn’t in any mood to talk to me and I respected it by not asking any questions of him. That would wait until we got home. I also had another concern there with Frank.

Chapter 36

Upon our arrival back to the house, JoAnne came flying out the door to assist her twin brother. She pulled/cajoled him out of the car. As I entered the house, she had him reluctantly moving towards the door. I turned my attention to where Frank sat.

I went over to him and knelt beside the chair where he sat. I gently put my hand on his and looked up to his face with concern written over my features. His other hand came up to stroke my cheek lovingly.

“I’m fine, love. Jo-Jo did a fantastic job in healing me. In fact, I haven’t felt so good in years. I think she needs to take up being a doctor so that she can help others who need it that don’t get it.” He told me.

I was relieved to hear that he was alright. I picked myself up off the floor and gingerly sat down on his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Words wouldn’t suffice to cover my feelings at that moment. Before I knew it, I was bodily picked up and carried into our bedroom where we spent the next several hours making love.

#*#*#*#*#*

By the time we emerged from our cave of love, All the children were home from school and yet been fed, cleaned up and put to bed. It was nearly 9:30 at night, a school night to boot. I was starved from the hours of exercise Frank and I had engaged in. I went to see what JaNeece had fixed for dinner.

Much to my surprise, I didn’t find JaNeece anywhere in the house. JoAnne had made dinner that night and she was still in the kitchen. She had seen to it that there was plenty of food left over for Frank and I. She was just finishing up cleaning the kitchen from the mess that all the other children had left when they were finished.

I gave JoAnne a hug and thanked her for taking care of everything, with a promise of a reward come the weekend.

I went to say good night to all the rest of the kids. The youngest, Jamie, was the first one I visited. She was the apple of my eye. I felt guilty about not being there for her all evening long but it didn’t matter to her. She was asleep like an angel in her crib. Of course, being two, she really didn’t have much for wants in the world, as yet. She hasn’t started the really horrible stage called the ‘terrible twos’ yet, but I figured that it would start soon enough. She was starting to become a little bit more independent of me and didn’t need me as much as she had before. I gave her a little kiss on the cheek, covered her up a bit more and then left her to her sleep.

James was three and was a little fireball. His personality was one that I had dreaded from all of my babies. He was the one that got into the most trouble and everything he did was one more gray hair in my head. I didn’t have any, really, but the figurative ones were enough for me to have been caused by him. He was waiting for me to tuck him in for the night. I tried to give him a kiss good night but he obstinately turned his head away from my lips.

He told me, “No kiss, mommy, I’s a big boy now.”

I wondered where he had gotten that from but I didn’t push him with it. He demanded his bedtime story, even though I cut it as short as I could without him catching on. I feared that one day when he learned to read that he would be the one getting the most attention just so that he could read along with me. Once he was satisfied that he got his story, he scootched lower into his bed and closed his eyes.

Each in their turns, my older kids were all visited. Jason, Jennifer, Jacqueline or Jackie for short, Jasmine, Jamal, Jeanine, Joseph and Julie. The oldest ones just rolled their eyes at me when I went in to tell them good night. They were feeling like I should just leave them alone so they could do their own thing. Julie especially since she was the fourth baby in the household and her being thirteen. All ten of the later kids had the same lighter toned skin they got from their father. The three older ones had my dark skin. Regardless who their father was, they were all borne in my body and I loved them with all my heart. After visiting Julie, I went to see John.

When I went into his room, I could see that he had been crying, although he tried hard to cover it up when I entered.

“John, honey, you needn’t feel bad about the accident. There are things that can be done to help him. The Coach even said you weren’t to blame. I’ll tell you what, I would like you to talk with your sister. Ask her about your father and what happened with him today. I’m sure she could help you out with this situation.” I told him.

He looked at me quizzically. “What do you mean by that, Mom? Can’t you tell me?”

“No, honey. I think it needs to come directly from JoAnne. You know she doesn’t lie about things and I’m your mother. I have the desire to protect my children and you are just one of them. I’m sure she can help you better than I could in this matter.” I told him evasively. “Just talk with her, you’ll understand her better than I could ever explain.”

With that, I got up and left his room. I then went and talked to JoAnne. I explained to her what was needed to be done. I felt that John needed to make amends to the poor boy that was injured and to do so, he needed to have his healing powers engaged. JoAnne could tell him what had happened with their father earlier in the day. I left her alone to deal with her brother. I knew she was do well.

I went back down to the kitchen and sat with Frank while our dinner warmed up. We just sat and cuddled the whole time. We ate in silence, then went to bed where we just held each other until we fell asleep.