Love Is Overdue (28 page)

Ben sucked his teeth but
didn’t speak.

“
Levi didn’t tell
you?” Shonelle continued then. “They flyin’ down to Jamaica in di
fall – Ivan want to bring the boys and Levi refuse to go and the
two of them get in dis huge fight...it was awful.” Shonelle shook
her head slowly. “I don’t really know everything that go down –
Levi won’t talk about it and Ivan won’t say much
either.”

Ben still didn’t speak. The
silence in the air between the three of us was suddenly incredibly
awkward. I had a sudden feeling come over me – like I shouldn’t be
hearing what I was hearing, that maybe Ben was holding his tongue
because of me. This was too much drama – my run-in with Ivan,
Maria, and Angela – and what was the real reason Ben wasn’t in any
hurry to head over to see his family? Was it me? I just didn’t know
anymore.

“
Hey...Ben...”
Shonelle reached over and tapped his leg. “Sorry fi bring dis up
right now...I wasn’t thinking.” I guess she sensed exactly what I
did.

“
Nah...it’s
cool.” Ben dismissed it.

I looked over at Ben, but I
was unable to read his expression. He was looking out down the
hill, watching Sophie.

“
Hey.” I found my
voice suddenly. I wondered if the two of them even knew I was still
there. “I’m gonna let you two talk...I’m gonna take a walk and look
for Tasha.” I moved to get up and saw Ben glance over.
Finally.

I didn’t wait for him to say
anything though. “It was nice to meet you, Shonelle.”

“
Yeah, same
here.” She smiled back at me.

And I took off down the
hill, trying to figure out what the fuck I was going to do. My head
was spinning. The crowd near the main-stage had filled up quite a
bit – a well-known local reggae act was playing a Beres Hammond
cover, the singer swaying across the stage and winding up the
crowds, getting everyone moving. I pulled my phone out to text
Tasha just as I felt someone brush up behind me, a hand on my
waist...

I spun around.

“
Hey.” It was
Ben.

“
Oh...hey.” I
caught my breath. “Where’s Sophie?”

“
Shonny watchin’
her for a minute,” he said simply. “I wasn’t runnin’ you off,
baby...why you leave?”

“
I don’t know,” I
said. “I just thought maybe you needed some privacy or something.
It’s a lot to take in.”

But Ben just sucked his
teeth. “Well...” He thought for a moment. “You know what they
say?”

I was confused. “No. What do
they say?”

“
Places like
this...these festivals and ting...for us Caribbean people, if you
bring a girl somewhere like this...it basically like takin’ her
home to meet your mother, so...I shoulda warn you there was some
drama that would go down.” He reached out and brushed a stray curl
from my forehead. “I just wasn’t sure how much you could take...so
I just tried to keep my distance from folks, but it ain’t really
work out too good...”

I couldn’t help a little
smile. “I see...”

His hand ran down my arm
then, locking his fingers with mine. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“
Where we going?”
I wanted to know, a little blown away by the silent message he was
sending out – holding my hand like that – as we started to make our
way through the crowds.

“
I need to go
check my father and mi step-mom before they send out another search
party.” He looked over at me. “Unless you still goin’ look for
Tasha. Up to you.”

I smiled, my decision
already made. “Nah...I’m good.” I glanced down at our hands and
squeezed lightly. “This is quite a bold statement you’re makin’
here, mister.”

He raised his eyebrows at me
then. “What?” He pulled my hand up gently and brought it to his
lips. “This?” He kissed my fingers softly.

“
Damn...” I let
my breath out, feeling my face go flush. “Now I’m getting
nervous.”

He let out a little laugh.
“Yeah, I know...am always makin’ you nervous.”

“
This is true,” I
admitted, trying to ignore the looks we were getting. The women in
this crowd were not shy and it was much more obvious now that I was
next to Ben. “How do you handle all this attention?”

He eyed me.
“Attention?”

I rolled my eyes.
“Okay...I’ll just try to ignore all the ladies undressing you with
their eyes as they walk by...and lookin’ at me like I’m some kind
of cock-block or something...”

Ben sucked his teeth,
laughing at me. “Nah...Caribbean girls just like that – all up in
your business all di time – especially when you with a white
girl...am used to it.” He gave me a little suspicious look. “Why
you act so shocked anyway? You been with black guys
before.”

“
Yeah,” I sighed.
“Thanks for reminding me.”

“
Ohh...” Ben
laughed again. “That hurts.”

I shrugged. “You’re hotter
than my ex-boyfriends, though.”

“
Good,” he said
simply, and I couldn’t help laughing. “Would hate to have one of
‘em come steal you away from me...don’t think my ego could handle
it.”

I rolled my eyes, his
sarcasm not lost on me for a minute. “You’re so fucking arrogant.”
I just had to say it.

He eyed me then, giving me
that irresistible lift of his eyebrows. “Turns you on, I
know.”

“
Yeah, kinda,” I
admitted. “So you’re gonna introduce me to your family, huh? Should
I be scared?”

“
Terrified.”

Chapter
Thirteen

And so I braced myself for the worst.
As we reached the top of the hill I noticed a large crowd of people
all gathered together casually, some sprawled out on the grass,
some children running around playing – Sophie among them – some
older folks resting under one large shady Oak tree on some lawn
chairs. This crowd was more than I thought I could handle, and Ben
was still casually holding my hand like it was nothing.

Angela was also among the group a
little farther off, talking to a couple women. Ivan was sitting on
the grass, his elbows resting on his raised knees, casually tossing
a ball with one of the younger kids. I saw him glance over as we
approached, as did most of the crowd.

“
You weren’t kidding…” I
let my breath out softly, retrieving my hand
self-consciously.

Ben nodded toward the Oak tree.
“That’s my pops over there.”

I noticed right away who he was
referring to – the tall, lean, handsome middle aged version of
himself seated in one of the lawn chairs next to a bleached-blonde,
slim, attractive older white woman wearing a pair of white capris
and a long sleeveless purple tunic, her hair piled up in a high
messy pony tail.

“
Benjamin…” His father
called his name out slowly as we approached, his accent strong and
deep.

“
Yow, pops, what’s
happening?” Ben said casually, then turned to the blond woman next
to him, and to my surprise, she stood up and gave him a quick
embrace. “Hi Sally…”

“
How you doing, Ben?” She
had such a warm, motherly, kind demeanor. And a lovely face. My
mind raced. Ben’s step-mother was a white woman??

“
Can’t complain.” Ben
turned to me then. “Pops, Sally, this is Gabriela,” he introduced
me. “Gabriela, this is Mister Ivan Martin, Sr. and the
missus…”

Sally rolled her eyes affectionately
and laughed, turning to me warmly. “Always the comedian…” She
extended her hand. “Nice to meet you, Gabriela.” There was
something about her…I liked her already…

Ben’s father smiled at me and nodded
politely, standing to shake my hand as well.

I took a breath. “Nice to meet you
both as well.” I needed to get a grip on my nerves.

Ben had already lowered himself down
onto the grass next to his father and was making conversation.
Sally tuned back to me. “You two having a good time? It’s nice to
see someone was able to pull Ben away from the food
truck.”

I laughed. “Yeah, it wasn’t easy,
though.”

“
I don’t doubt it.” She was
eyeing me up. “You known Ben long?”

I flushed. “Umm…a couple months.
Something like that.”

She smiled again. “You met the family
yet?” She nodded in the direction of the group.

I shook my head nervously. “No, not
really.” I took a breath. “Looks big though…”

“
Hmm…” She followed my
gaze. “Well, let’s see…so that over there is Ivan, Jr., Ben’s older
brother – but that’s a bit obvious…and way over next to that tree
over there is Geneva – the one in red – that’s Ben’s younger
sister. Next to her is her husband, Rohan…”

I followed her gaze and spotted a
tall, slim, breathtakingly beautiful girl in a bright red tube
dress with thick spiralled curls that hung to her shoulders,
framing her flawless features and deep bright eyes. What was it
with this family and their drop-dead immaculate beauty? Next to her
was her husband, a tall handsome light-skinned man with a low fade
and broad shoulders. A very suitable match.

Sally pulled my gaze back again. “And
those are my two girls over on the blanket – Kim is the oldest and
Aliyah is my baby…probably always will be…”

I stopped when I saw who she was
pointing to – the contrast making me take a moment to register it.
Both girls were mixed, the first looking to be about my age, but
dressed simply in an oversized t-shirt and a pair of knee-length
capris and black flip flops. She had a thick mop of brown curls all
tied back in a tight pony tail. And she was a heavy girl, much
larger than me by at least another hundred pounds. She looked bored
to death, slung back in an oversized lawn chair next to her sister
who was sitting cross-legged on the blanket next to her, pointing
and talking loudly, animated over something. I couldn’t tell the
younger one’s age with much accuracy. She had
down-syndrome.

“
We try to get the whole
family out together like this when the festival comes around,”
Sally was saying. “Aunts, uncles, cousins, the whole crew…but
that’s too much for you to take in all at once, I’m
sure.”

I smiled again. “Big
family…”

“
Hi Ben! Hi Ben!” I noticed
Aliyah then, waving, trying to get Ben’s attention. He was still
talking with his father, laughing about something, but he turned
around when he heard her and casually leaned over toward the
blanket where she was and held his hand out.

“
Whassup, Ali…” I heard him
call out and then watched as Aliyah smacked his hand – hard – in an
overexaggerated high-five, and then hesitate, waiting, as Ben gave
her another little hand signal with a lift of his eyebrows, teasing
her, until they completed an obvious secret handshake that was all
their own.

Aliyah laughed and I saw Kim just roll
her eyes. “That is the most annoying thing you’ve ever taught that
girl – for real,” she slurred at Ben.

But Ben just sucked his teeth. “What
are you talkin’ about Kimmie? I never taught her that, she taught
me – that’s why it so complicated, right Ali?”

Aliyah nodded, giving a dramatic flip
of her hair. “Jealous much?” she threw back at her
sister.

Ben laughed and Sally and I also
couldn’t contain our amusement, but Kim just shook her head, her
irritated expression only giving way to a hint of amusement. And
then Sophie and another little boy about her same age came running
over, plopping themselves onto the mat with Aliyah, diverting her
attention.

Ben eased himself up off the ground
and came back over to me. “Those are my two crazy step-sisters,” he
explained to me, nodding back over in their direction.

I smiled. “Yeah, I know, Sally gave me
the run-down…”

“
The condensed version,”
Sally added.

“
How come you never told me
you had step-sisters?” I frowned at him, knocking his arm
playfully.

“‘
Cause they crazy,” Ben
said, matter-of-factly.

My eyes widened in surprise, as Sally
was still standing there with us but Ben didn’t seem bothered.
“Sally knows, Gabby – she gave birth to them.”

My eyes went wide in horror again but
Sally was just shaking her head, amused along with him. “Don’t mind
this one, Gabriela. He’s just talk,” she teased.

Rohan came over and pulled Ben’s
attention away and Sally leaned in closer to me. “He can get away
with it because no one loves those girls like Ben does,” she
explained. “He was always there for them, and believe me, five kids
and two adults living in a three bedroom house – that’s not easy
for anyone. Ivan – Ben’s brother – he lasted about eight months,
but Ben, he stuck it out for about five years with these two –
didn’t leave home until he turned twenty so…he has a stronger bond
with my girls.”

I was fascinated. This inside
information on Ben and his family was priceless. I wanted to know
more.

“
How old were your
daughters when Ben came from Jamaica?” I asked.

Sally thought for a moment. “Well, Kim
would have been about seven and Aliyah was five, so – quite young
still. My first husband left after Ali was born and about a year or
so later I met Ben’s father on a trip with some friends in Jamaica.
We got married a few months later, he moved with me to Canada –
took in those girls and loved them and raised them as his own – all
the while working so he could have his own children back with him
again one day…” She paused, smiling a bit at the memory. “It was a
struggle but such a blessing just the same to have our family
complete…better late than never, as they say…”