Authors: Mercedes Keyes
"It's an investment, sweetheart…if we're going to make a success of it, we need to do it right the first time."
"Yes! Ooh, baby…" she whimpered saucily, "Yeah…you know you gone get'cha some, now, don'tcha? Em hm, you got me in a serious mood, now!"
Shawn threw his head back and barked out laughing as Sylvia crawled over to him, laying him down as she laid on top of him, looking down into his eyes. "So…papa done good?" He was grinning, already knowing the answer. Sylvia indulged him. "Oh, yeah, papa done real good." And proceeded to work him for the next hour, expressing how good. She was pumped with energy, and once again, that much deeper in love with the man.
*
{{ Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam
…}}
Sylvia bolted up, crying out. Shawn sprang up from the bed, naked, with his heart racing, going to the door. "What the fuck! Who the…" Then he heard the laughter. He turned to Sylvia. "You better head for the bathroom, this could get ugly," he stated with grinding teeth, putting his briefs on. Sylvia stood, taking the sheet with her to wrap around herself, shaking her head. She grabbed her bag on the way to the bathroom to get dressed.
Back at the door, he snatched it open, looking at his youngest brother, Jake, who was still laughing and holding his stomach. Doris was sitting in the pick-up truck shaking her head at him. Shawn waved at her, then turned to his brother. "You would have looked mighty stupid if it hadn't been us in this room!" he reprimanded. He then heard Sylvia throwing up in the bathroom. "Stupid ass, you startled Sylvia, now she's in the bathroom throwing up,
asshole!
It's six in the goddamn morning!"
"Aaah, I'm sorry…I couldn't help it, man. You should have had your ass up! We up! Been up half the night tapping the trees!"
"Aaah shit! The sap rush! Is a lot coming up?" Shawn asked, standing in the open door with only his briefs on, not a care in the world.
"Brother…two days straight—mom and dad got us working our asses off! Dad said to come by here and wake you up. There's work to be done; I'm on my way to the IGA to pick up some stuff! You best get moving."
"Okay…soon as Sylvia's ready, we'll be at the house."
"Sorry, Sylvia!" Jake called passed his brother, "I'm Shawn's brother—the asshole who scared the hell out of you—I'll see you at the house!"
"Are you crazy, Jake, yelling like that this early in the morning?" Shawn asked, the expression on his face reflecting that maybe he was.
"Yeah, he crazy, Shawn, you know he ain't got no sense!" Doris called from the truck, leaning out of the window.
"Nobody's around here! Hell, y'all the only ones in the whole goddamn motel! Why didn't you just come out to the house? Sleep over like the rest of us?"
"Umm, do you mind? I just as soon not stand here in the door talking to you with my briefs on. We'll be at the house, like I said…now go to the store!" Shawn ordered, no improvement to the expression on his face. Jake was unfazed and still grinning. "Bye, Sylvia! Meet you at the house!"
Frowning at his brother, who was trotting back to the truck grinning, Shawn closed the door.
The two brothers, oldest and youngest, had very similar features, while their coloring was different. Jake, like his other brother and sisters, all had their father's coloring, blondes to brunettes. He and Shawn were the only two of the boys with their mother's features, and of the girls, Shanna. Many swore Jake was the better looking of the two, standing their father's height of 6'3, Shawn being the shortest of the brothers and the stockiest. While Shawn loved his brothers and sisters with a passion, this one got on his nerves. Growing up, they'd had a many fights with Shawn always the victor, as the oldest and most aggressive. Shawn had always been a fighter in school and at home, quick to hit. Jake always tried to be as tough, but usually ended up needing his brothers to get him out of scrapes. If Shawn and Jake weren't into it, then Shawn and Kathy Ann, his younger sister, were. They loved each other, but they just didn't like each other, never had. The ones he got along with—with minimal arguments—were Derrick, and the baby girl of the family, Shanna.
Shawn knocked softly at the door. "Sylvie? You okay, babe?"
She was clearing her throat, splashing her face over the sink after puking her guts up.
"Can I come in, sweetie?" he asked.
"Yeah," she gasped, rinsing her mouth out. Shawn opened the door. "Aaah, babe…I'm sorry. Jake 'the jerk' has struck again," he kidded. Sylvia chuckled despite her nausea. "All I can say, honey, is get ready to meet the family. Remember, you can choose your friends, but not your family. They are quite the mix, believe me, they are."
"I'll be okay. I think it was the sudden rush of getting up and it just came up."
She stood from the sink with the sheet still wrapped around herself, Shawn pulled her into his arms for a hug. "I'll be glad when this morning sickness passes for you. I really do hate to see you so ill like this." He kissed her forehead, then her nose. "We better get in the shower and get dressed. The saps running," he informed her.
"What is that all about?" she asked, still in his arms, looking up at him.
"My parents have a really nice stock of maple trees, black and sugar maples—the best kind. This time of the year, with a temperature flip from freezing to warmth, causes the sap to rise really fast. We tap the trees, hang buckets to catch the sap and start a major boil up, making the best pure maple syrup you'll ever have. I do mean, delicious. Mom always does a huge breakfast, making pancakes and waffles, so we can sit up in the field and eat while we work at boiling and straining it. You're gonna love it."
"Wow…real maple syrup?"
"The real thing! No artificial crap, aaah, man…wait until you have mom's breakfast: Hot cakes, sausage, bacon—she usually throws in a bunch of other stuff as well—with juice and coffee! My mouth's watering, baby…we gotta get going."
It was 7:45 when Shawn's motorcycle crested the top road above the valley of his family's home. Leaving the motel in town, viewing the area had Sylvia in love with almost everything she saw. For the summer, his hometown would be a wonderful place to live, however, winters were another story entirely. Hillsboro was aptly named. Not one street was flat. All of them were undulating, with sharp sudden curves. Shawn made her squeal twice when they went up a hill where she couldn't see which way the road was going until they were on top of it heading down, then it made an immediate left curve. She squeezed him tightly, thankful her stomach was empty, because she would have messed his back and good. With all the hills and valleys, farmland, plowed fields, farms, barns and grain silos dotting the landscape near and far, the roads peaking and dipping made it easy for the eye to survey far in the distance, she could only view it in wonder.
"How you doing, sweetie?" Shawn asked as he slowed a bit to not make her sick with so many elevation changes.
"I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster ride, the worse kind."
He chuckled, understanding. "But it's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is…there's no denying that."
When they reached the road of his parent's home and farmland, they came to rest on the top edge of the valley bowl, a spot in the road that gave a perfect vantage point. Shawn paused so Sylvia could look down and into the distance. "That's home, baby," he announced with pride. Sylvia gasped. "Oh, my goodness! Oh, Shawn…look at it! You grew up living there? Oh, my god…living here!" Trying to take in the wonder of it, she admitted, "I'm so envious of you. You don't know how fortunate you were." The sight took her breath away.
"You know, I stop here every time I come home. I've always paused just to take it all in. Even when I was really young and walking home from school, I'd stop as my brothers and sister played around and charged ahead. Shanna was the one who always stopped and stood here with me, holding my hand. She'd never say a thing, but would look as I did, patiently waiting for me to get over my awe of it."
"I can definitely see why."
On the edge of saying that, there was a flash from the house that sat in the valley floor in the distance. Shawn grinned. "We've been spotted." He chuckled. "We better get down there; if my eyes don't deceive, that would be Shanna, Sasha, and Angela." He laughed, Sylvia smiled and hung on as they finished the journey to his home. The road curved to the right and went on for a quarter of a mile, leading them down and then dipped steeply, sucking the breath from Sylvia as she clung tightly once again. Pulling into the yard, Sylvia's heart was pounding. The house was a massive wood and brick colonial mish-mash-style farmhouse, with two levels connecting to a low long building that connected to another wing that rose up two levels, as if it had been added on. Partially surrounding it was a huge porch sweeping around the front and disappearing around the side. Sylvia kept swallowing over and over, fighting back emotions. Her entire young life, she'd dreamed of living this way. Out in the country. A huge farmhouse, a massive front porch. Barns and outbuildings, the smell of animals, and the sounds of chickens. Making it worse was the sound of a cockerel crowing. It gripped her from within, and she was embarrassed because she was becoming overwhelmed by it all. She could do nothing to prevent the tears from rushing to her eyes. The motorcycle came to a stop in front of the house, she immediately smiled seeing an excited Angela jumping up and down, happy to see them, and then Shawn's youngest sister Shanna. She was Sylvia's height and build. Long, full, sensational strawberry blonde hair blowing in the wind. There was a young Ann Margaret look about her. She was stunning, with a huge smile; wearing shades, shielding her eyes.
"Shawn, Shawn! Oh, Shawn!" At her excited greeting, Shawn kicked down the stand and cut the engine, grinning broadly as he took his helmet off. He stood, bringing his long leg from the bike and turned to help Sylvia off. She stood, removing her helmet, fluffing her hair as his sister leaped into his arms. Angela was grinning from ear to ear as she ran to Sylvia. "I'm so glad you and my dad came, Sylvia! I've been having so much fun!"
"Oh, my goodness! I don't blame you! Isn't this exciting, what have you been doing?" Sylvia asked, happy that her moment had passed and her eyes dried as she laughed at Angela's excited chatter, looking from Angela to Sasha, catching bits of Shawn's and Shanna's happy reunion.
"Oh, Shawn! I'm so glad you've moved back home! So glad." Shanna was almost on the verge of tears as she hugged her oldest brother. Shawn was hugging her, feeling exactly the same. He finally lowered her to the ground, smiling down at her as she was up at him. "Look at you! Still looking good, lil' girl!" Shawn complimented, reaching out to remove her shades. "No, Shawn!" But it was too late; he had them away from her face. Embarrassed, she grabbed them from him and turned away to put them back on, but not before he and Sylvia caught sight of her healing black eyes. One of which, the white of it was blood-filled.
Shawn was frozen in shock, suspended in disbelief at what he'd seen. The other kids of the house were stirring, getting dressed and coming out on the porch. Shawn couldn't move. Shanna turned back to him. "Shawn…" She swallowed.
"How did that happen? Someone do that to you?" he asked firmly.
"It's okay, Shawn. It's over; it happened for the last time. I'm back home now, we're getting a divorce."
"You mean to tell me, that bastard's been beating on you?"
"I left him, Shawn. I left him for good this time."
"I'm telling you, now—I see'im, I'm drilling my foot up his ass clean to my thigh." he warned.
"Shawn, please…it's over now. I'm home—he can't hurt me anymore. I finally had enough and came to my senses." She smiled and stroked her brother's arm, then turned to Sylvia with a huge smile. "Hi! I'm Shanna, Shawn's baby sister, I'm so happy to finally meet you!"
Sylvia forced a smile, she was also stunned. Completely empathetic, without having his sister say a word, she knew what she was going through. She hugged her back, the greeting was warm, the start of a bond that would lock them tight as friends.
"Where's everyone at?" Shawn asked as two of Derrick's boys came out of the house; his look-a-like Shawn2 and Joseph, their five year old, calling out to him, "Hi, Tio Shawn!"
He grinned, winking at them, they did the same, greeting Sylvia with her smiling and waving. Angela was standing before her father now, hugging his waist as he bent and kissed her head.
"They all up at the maple pit. I came down to bring the kids and get some stuff what we need," she informed them; just then, they heard the gator arrive. It was Shawn's mom and dad in the
John Deere
utility vehicle, a small work wagon-like golf cart they used to ride all over their land. Shawn turned, smiling big; Sylvia's stomach leapt into her throat to finally see the two people responsible for her man's existence. Immediately …she knew the woman was Shawn's mother. The most mischievous grin she had ever seen flashed at her, loaded with excitement and a big warm welcome.
"Oh, my goodness! Bart, would you just look at her!" she cheered excitedly, sitting beside her husband as he pulled up next to them. She only had eyes for Sylvia. "Look at you! I'mo get me my lil' brown grandbaby for sure now! Just look at her! Lord'a'mercy Jesus…come here, chile, and give me a hug! Don't be shy! Hell—I been waiting on you a long time, now!"