Love Is Overdue (27 page)

When we stopped in front of
an ice cream stand, Ben was still in mid-conversation with a couple
that had approached us, and Sophie started pulling on his leg,
trying to get his attention. I could tell the conversation wasn’t
winding down yet so I motioned with my eyes to him that I would
take Sophie over and buy her an ice cream cone.

As we waited in line and
Sophie was thinking out loud on what flavour she wanted, I spotted
Angela making her way through the crowds, looking as perfectly put
together as always, wearing a royal blue halter dress and some
pointy-toed flats, her gorgeous red hair glowing in the sunlight in
that messy side-braid she pulled off so casually.

I glanced back at Ben, who
was still standing not more than twenty feet away, still in
mid-sentence. I wondered to myself if he’d also noticed her coming.
But then I realized I should have been more concerned with Sophie
noticing her because all of a sudden I heard her calling out at the
top of her lungs.

“
Angie! Angie!
Over here!”

She looked back over at me
then. “That’s my aunty – in the blue dress!”

Step-mother turned aunty, I
thought to myself.

Angela saw her then and
smiled and waved. I could tell she was holding back, not sure
whether to approach once she saw me with Sophie.

“
Can I go say hi
to her?” Sophie asked me then.

“
Ah...” I didn’t
know what to say. “I think you should wait for your Daddy,
sweetie.”

“
Okay, I’ll go
ask him!”

And then, just like that,
she darted back over to where Ben was standing, and began pulling
on his leg again. This time she got his attention and I followed
his eyes then from her over to where Angela was standing with a few
girlfriends. He looked back at Sophie and seemed to give her a the
okay and I watched her bounce over to where she was standing and
watched the two of them embrace, and then just leap into some
heated conversation.

When I glanced back at Ben
again, I noticed his eyes on the two of them as well, but then just
as quickly watched as he excused himself from the couple he was
talking to and slowly make his way over to where I was standing,
keeping his one eye on Sophie and Angela the whole way.

“
You lost my
kid,” he teased me, as soon as he joined me in line.

I smiled, apologetically.
“Yeah, sorry about that. She bolted.” I nodded in the direction of
the two of them. “They still pretty tight, huh?”

Ben just shrugged, giving me
that cute raise of his eyebrows. “I guess so...My brother and my
father are business partners. Sophie spends a lot of time with her
grandparents so...”

“
I ran into your
brother and your baby-mama earlier too,” I admitted, both of us
still keeping our eyes out for Sophie. “This place is crawlin’ with
your peeps, Benjamin,” I teased, hoping to lighten the
mood.

He sucked his teeth at that.
“Fi real...like one big, bad, awkward family reunion...” His voice
trailed off as we both noticed Angela and Sophie making their way
back over to us.

“
Daddy! Angie
says Winston and Sam are playing over on the hill with Grandpa –
can we go? Can we?” Sophie was jumping up and down,
excitedly.

Angela’s eyes danced between
the two of us for a moment. “I can take her over for you if you
like,” she offered, addressing Ben directly. “I don’t
mind.”

Ben hesitated, but only
briefly. “What ‘bout your ice cream, Sophie?” he asked his daughter
instead.

“
Oh yeah!” Sophie
said then, as if she was just remembering.

We had reached the front of
the line so I quickly motioned Sophie over and told Ben quickly
that I would take care of it, so as Sophie and I turned to the
counter to place our order, the conversation from behind me still
rang out clear as day.

Angela was the first to
speak. “Sorry, it’s just...you know Sophie doesn’t get much time to
see her cousins, I wasn’t trying to interrupt anything.”

“
It’s all right,”
Ben answered unenthusiastically.

“
Yeah. All right.
Whatever, Ben...”

He sucked his teeth at that.
“What that mean, Angie?”

“
Nothing. I just
wish you would stop avoiding everyone because of me and Ivan.” I
could tell she was trying to lower her voice.

“
I’m a busy man,
you know that.”

“
Seriously. The
whole family is over there chilling, havin’ a nice
time...”

“
Whose family is
that?” I could tell Ben was now trying to lower his voice as
well.

“
Sophie’s.”

He didn’t say anything to
that right away. I paid and passed Sophie her ice cream cone.
Chocolate-vanilla swirl with sprinkles.

“
You
know...” I decided to stall, grabbing some napkins for Sophie as I
heard Ben’s voice again. “I had all but ten minutes with my
daughter now in over a week so...you know...as much as I appreciate
you offerin’ to take her off my hands to go off and play on da hill
with the
family
–” he stressed the word deliberately, “I
think I’m good. So. I’ll bring her over there on my own time.”
Slight pause. Sophie took a big lick off her giant cone. “We
good?”

“
No, not
really...” I heard Angela sigh. “Hey Sophie!” She called her over
then, and Sophie turned around, concentrating on her cone. “I’m a
see you later, okay?” She smiled that beautiful smile of hers.
“Have fun with your daddy, and...” She glanced over at me then but
I couldn’t quite read her expression. “Gabriela,” she
finished.

I turned to look at Ben as
Angela left and noticed him watching her walk away for a few
moments longer than seemed necessary.

Ω

We spent the
next hour or so cruising the festival grounds together. Just
watching Ben and his daughter together gave me a permanent flutter
in my tummy. I had never known my father, but I’d always imagined
what a father was – and seeing Ben with Sophie was like an act out
of every fantasy I’d ever had running through my head since
childhood. Caring and strong and protective – yet so playful and
funny. The two of them were constantly cracking each other up. And
Sophie talked a mile a minute, asking Ben question after question
on any random topic that popped into her head. He had so much
patience with her, but in a way that made it seem that it hadn’t
even occurred to him that he needed it.

Eventually we sat down on
the grass on the far side of the hill overlooking the main-stage.
Sophie was jumping and skipping and dancing to the music and every
now and then would come up behind Ben, wrap her arms around his
shoulders and ask him silly questions.

“
You’re really
good with her.” I made the observation while Sophie was a few feet
away again, in her own little world.

Ben glanced over at me.
“Yeah, well...she’s pretty easy, and...” His voice trailed
off.

“
What?” I was
curious.

“
I don’t get to
see her much, you know that.”

I realized then that the
topic hit a sore spot with Ben, in more ways than I previously
noticed. “Why is that?”

He sighed. “Because I work a
lot. Because Maria thinks I have no time for her.” He sucked his
teeth. “The list goes on and on, Gabriela.”

“
But...why?” I
was confused.

“
Why you think? I
don’t work a nine to five. I make a hell of a lot of money and I
pay for fucking everything, but...that’s the trade-off.” He glanced
over at me again. “I used to have her with me at the restaurant a
lot, when she was younger...seem to work out fine for us, y’know,
there always be someone or somethin’ to keep her busy – she used to
love it – but Maria put a stop to that too...she would say why
should Sophie be runnin’ around in a restaurant every night and
stayin’ up all hours and alla that when she could just be home with
her? So I hired a nanny. Had someone stay at the house with her
instead and feed her dinner and put her to bed when am not home and
everything, but that just set Maria off even more, sayin’ why is
some stranger raisin’ her daughter in a big empty house when she
could just be at home with her...” Ben sucked his teeth, pausing.
Thinking. “But in the end I just say to myself, fighting Maria
ain’t worth it. I don’t want Sophie growin’ up around all that
bullshit, y’know, two parents who can’t get along and everything
Only leverage I got left is money. So I use it.”

“
Money?” I was
confused again.

“
Yeah. Now when
she start gettin’ too unreasonable I just threaten to take this
shit to court and it shuts her right up,” he said simply. “‘Cause
Maria knows if I did that she’d lose a lot.”

“
Lose
what?”

“
Money,” Ben told
me. “I pay Maria a lot more than I would ever be legally obligated
to.”

I thought about that.
Considered it. “Why do you?”

Ben sighed. “Why wouldn’t I?
Sophie is my baby – she’s all I got. Who else am I runnin’ around
gettin’ rich for, besides her?”

I smiled at that. “I see
your point.”

“
And besides,
Maria and – that punk she shackin’ up with – they don’t have a lot
of money, but I do know she loves her daughter and they need it
so... in that case, I don’t mind.”

I was quiet for a moment,
his comments sinking in fully. “I don’t know if there are a lot of
men out there like you, Ben...”

“
Maybe...” Ben
kind of laughed. “But that’s just how I was raised. I mean, my
mother is an amazing woman, but she’s an artist – she spend her
days takin’ photographs and paintin’ and watchin’ the sun set and
shit...that never put clothes on our back or food on our plate and
everything else...my father always sustain alla us, y’know, even
from thousands of miles away, that’s just the kinda man he
is...”

The concept was so foreign
to me, it was hard to grasp.

I met his eyes then, smiling
back at him. “Sounds like he taught you well, Ben.”

He watched me for a moment,
then reached out and tugged on my sunglasses, so he could take a
peek at my eyes. “I just take care of what’s mine. Always have,
always will.”

My tummy flipped at the
thought.

Sophie came and wrapped her
arms around Ben’s neck again. “How many people fit in this park,
Daddy?”

I laughed at that but Ben
didn’t hesitate. “Fifty-thousand.”

“
What??” Her eyes
nearly popped out of their sockets.

“
You sure about
that?” I teased him.

Ben just gave me a sideways
glance. “Uncertainty only leads to more questions.”

I laughed. “Yeah...we all
know how much you hate answering questions.”

Ben chuckled at
that.

“
Benny!”

We turned and saw a woman
approaching us from the bottom of the hill. She was stunning – tall
and slim, aside from her wide hips and round bottom – dressed
simply in a yellow sleeveless sundress and matching head wrap – her
dark brown complexion set off beautifully by a brilliant, white
smile and deep black eyes. She looked like she’d just stepped out
of the pages of Ebony magazine.

“
Hey Shonny,
w’happen?” Ben called back casually, as she made her way over to
us.

“
Ya people dem
scouring di place for you...” Her accent was Caribbean but I
couldn’t place it. “Sophie, baby, what’s good?” She held her arms
wide as Sophie ran over to give her a hug.

Ben just sucked his teeth.
“My people dem...who you wah talk ‘bout, Shonny?”

She sucked her teeth back at
him. “Your mummy an’ daddy...and Neva and Rohan waitin’ on you fi
come check dem and ting too, Winston askin’ for
Sophie...”

Ben sighed, leaning back on
his elbows. “I know, I know...” He nodded at me. “Gabriela, this my
sister, Shonelle...well, my nephews’ mother.”

Shonelle waved it off.
“Yeah, we family just the same...nice to meet you, Gabriela.” She
extended her hand.

I smiled. “Same
here.”

So this was the mother of
Ivan’s sons, I realized then, as Shonelle settled down on the grass
with us, stroking Sophie’s hair back, making herself
comfortable.

“
How things
workin’ out with Levi at the restaurant?” Shonelle changed course,
asking about her son.

Ben sighed. “I don’t
know...it’s all right, I guess – but it don’t really help that he’s
family, y’know, he has a bit of an entitlement complex or
something...”

Shonelle shook her head.
“Him and Ivan have it out last week too.”

Ben hesitated.
“W’happen?”

Shonelle glanced back and
forth between the two of us and then over at Sophie, who was
dancing around to the music coming from the main-stage again, not
paying any attention to us.

She lowered her voice. “They
gettin’ married,” she admitted, reluctantly.

I watched as Ben’s eyes went
wide with shock. “What?”

“
Y’see?” Shonelle
went on. “This is why you need a stop stayin’ away from everyone
like you do...you didn’t know, did you?”