The Cowboy Who Strolled Into Town (12 page)

Chapter 2

It was a beautiful morning and spirits were high at the youth center. The trees made a pleasant rustling sound as the wind played among the leaves.  The day seemed promising, and Mary was determined to make the most of it. It was her first day on the job and she felt a little apprehensive. She loved children, loved being with them, hoped to have hers someday with the right person but the center dealt mainly with delinquents and she was not so sure how things were going to pan out.

She went into the superintendent’s office when she was signaled to enter. The superintendent, a large, African-American woman with an even larger heart was seated behind a simple table stacked with files of different colors. She had wide-rimmed glasses that dangled on her nose, giving her a rather comical look. Mary Joanna thought that she resembled those wise, friendly owls you usually see in Saturday morning cartoons dishing out wisdom. She took the seat she was offered-a folding chair with a cushion attached at the back and the seat.

“Good morning Miss Landry” Mary uttered nervously

“Oh come now let’s have none of that around here. You can call me Marjorie.” The superintendent said. Her calm demeanor belied her energy, and she jumped out of her chair to get to Mary on the other side, “Honey you are gonna need more humph than that if you want to live among these kids”

Mary warmed up to her immediately.

“I want to let you know that I am so thrilled to have to have you here among us Mary, your mum and I used to kick it all over town back in the day.” Marjorie continued as she sat on the other folding chair opposite Mary’s. “When I saw you was in trouble, and needed a job I couldn’t leave you out hanging. I must confess though, there ain’t much to gain here by way of finance. This work is its own reward.”

Both women chuckled at this.

“But seriously though, the work we do here is a Godsend for many of these kids who don’t have a home of their own, who need that structure which is sorely lacking.”

Mary was nodding her head: She totally agreed, “Yeah I read of that heavyweight boxer who got beat so bad, but ended up winning the belt; he was asked how he could keep on despite the punishment he had been taking and he said he could hear your voice in his head saying ‘you can do it!’…did you hear about that?”

“I sure did!” Marjorie replied grinning, “Proudest moment of my life bar when my son became an Engineer. I remember him too; John Claymore used to be a real hard case here back in the day. Nobody wanted to have him around even though he needed help more than most, and for sure he kept my hands full. Would you believe he started out with soccer?”

“How did you manage?” Mary asked, fascinated.

“I never lost faith him in him. That is the most important thing” Marjorie said, clearly enjoying the walk down memory lane, “I also used to smack him on the upside of the head when he got out of hand. Don’t try that though, these days you’ll get in trouble”

Mary chuckled again, deciding that she liked Marjorie Landry, “Mama always said you were the strong one in the group. I hope I can be of proper service.” She said, appraising this old woman who was, literally, a museum of memories, but evidently quite young in spirit.

“We were all strong Mary-your mum more than most; it was a pity she left so soon.” She reached out to Mary’s shoulders “And if you are anything like her then, dem hard headed kids better watch out now. Come along with me, so I can introduce you to the group and get you started”

****

The city, which was a rather large one, was divided into three major parts: the south, which covered the slums of the city, merited its own police precinct, and was not too far from the boardwalk which ran along the beach. There was the central part of the city which was mainly the business center, in the west, and its concomitant subsidiaries; the school district in the East, where was located the local hospitals and the youth center among other social endeavors. And lastly, at the far end of the city there was the East side which housed the more affluent citizenry. Walking along this section of the city, whether because of the royal balconies which led out to the rolling gardens, and lush green lawns or the smart uniforms of the helping hands that ran the houses, one would always the impression of being in another reality all together.

It was into such a pampered reality that Leander awoke to that morning, and every other morning for that matter. The crumpled silk sheets which covered the soft, king-sized bed, were the color of Lavender, and gave a soft, lazy rustle as he rolled over in bed. Leander was less interested in the treasures of the god life than he was in what he could get with them. He was not alone on the bed that morning, and he stretched his hand lazily to stroke the neck of the latest super model to snuggle up in his bed.

The model, Alecsa  Nikolaev, which was the trendy short for Alexandra Nikolaev, smiled and snuggled deeper into the warm blanket she was under. The previous night had been wonderful, and she felt the morning had come too fast. Even though she was hot property at the moment, she was relatively new to the pop scene and was about as conservative as you would expect to find among such a crowd. She was a beautiful brunette, with an oval shaped chin and red, luscious lips that bounded a close cropped mouth which could nonetheless spread out to the most breath-taking smile. However, it was the “new girl on the scene” aura that she had or perhaps the “good girl” airs which she carried which had every wolf in town whistling-including the baddest of the bunch, Leander Kolarov, the handsome billionaire playboy whom ladies never seemed to tire of, nor stories about whom the gossip columns never seemed to be satiated.

He had been after this particular girl for weeks and presently he crossed the miles of bed space to get to cover her ash-colored morning face in self-satisfied kisses. He was Russian and she was Russian, he was devastatingly handsome and she was likewise-it seemed like a match made in heaven.

He knew it would not last though. He was too restless. He suspected that she suspected the same thing and he wondered about this as he covered her neck with soft kisses. It must be the eyes he joked to himself conceitedly. She smiled at the sweet distraction from her sleep.

“You know a girl needs her beauty sleep, Leander” she joked, turning to face him.

He gave a low growl as he felt himself arouse, still kissing her, “If your secret’s sleep, then I think you have had enough already”

She giggled at this, excited at the prospect of him all over her again as he snuggled into the blanket to join her.

*****

Mary barely made it home that night. She was bushed and had been ready to sleep on her feet if anything had delayed her on her way home. She stumbled through the door of the apartment, and found everything tidy, the table laid out and dinner in its final stages on the cooker.

“Andre?” She called out warily before she started on her way towards her bedroom.

He did not answer, but she could hear him whistling on in the kitchen. She pushed any worry out her mind as she went in to freshen up. She knew Andre well and when he cooked he was up to something.

Andre was an able hand in the kitchen and the meal was good as usual. They were seated at the round mini table that served as a dinner table on the rare occasions when they could eat together. Mary had to remark inwardly that the table looked quite nice, decked with her favorite green table cloth and all but outwardly she stared at Andre with wary eyes, intent like a hawk. This amused Andre in no small measure and Mary could see by his smile that he was enjoying every moment.

“So you gon’ tell me how things going down at the youth center?” he asked as he chewed on a Brussels sprout.

“Boy would cut the nonsense and tell me what’s going on?” Mary burst out laughing, “You got the kitchen cleaned and soup tasting all nice. Mom’s favorite spread on the table-I know something’s up and you better start talking”

“Oh come on be nice” Andre said laughing “I hear old Miss Landry still down there and she still got the place all nice and tidy as she always has since she took over twenty years ago”

“I tell you Andre you gotta see it to believe it. That woman still firm as a rock and the kids respect her too. She’s an icon now; a part of the fabric of our fair city” Mary replied, as she picked through the food which was plenty she realized.

“Yeah, that woman deserves the keys to the city. The upside of my head still hurts.” Andre said, “The kids treat you okay?” he continued as he started clearing the table.

“Nothing I could not handle. I mean there ain’t nobody worse than you when you was their age, and mama used to punish you by sending you over there after school, so nothing I can’t handle. Just tired ‘cus it’s the first day and all”

Andre, who was at the sink now doing the dishes, laughed at the memories the remark evoked. He clad in a white singlet and grey boxers, Mary could see he had been in the house for a while-a few hours at least. She envied his muscular look and wondered how they could come from the same womb and yet contrast on so many points. She was fairer in complexion while he was dark chocolate all over. She was a bit taller than their mom, but still average for a woman as far as height went. He was a few inches over six. He was all muscle now, but when they were younger it was she who had had all the attention, boys queuing up behind her prominent cleavage, and perfectly rounded behind. Now, she practically had to beat away with a broom the number of women who were queuing up behind her brother!

Andre noticed her observing him from the table as he crossed over to dry his hands, “Well sis you remember that UNICEF application I told you about?” he asked, “The one about the training program that’ll start in Africa?”

Mary sat straighter all of a sudden, “Yes, you mean the one I told you to stop dreaming about? Boy you telling me you got taken?!”

“Yep I sure did! We start next week. Angola first, then who knows where else?”

“Well ain’t that something?” Mary asked as she quickly went over to give him a hug “Soon as I saw those table cloths I knew you was up to something!”

She stood back, hands on his shoulders to size him up, just like a mother would, and in many ways she was his mother. In the seven years since their mother died, she had been that anchor for him and he knew it, appreciated it and hoped he would one day look back and say he deserved it.  She hugged him again.

“Oooh look at you! And here I was thinking you had knocked some girl up and was trying to bring the news up nicely”

****

Leander started his work week on Tuesdays. He was not lazy; he just did not like the feeling of compulsion that came with working right after the weekend. He stretched over his soft, rotating leather chair and pushed a button for his secretary, Layla; a Lebanese bombshell he had working for him-what was the use of being filthy rich if you could not have all your wants met?

She had been waiting for the signal for a few minutes already. The antics her boss employed to show he was in control seemed utterly childish to her. She suspected it was all part of his seductive appeal which from her relatively close vantage point, she could see was pretty meticulously calculated and built. She had been attracted to him instantly when she had started working for him, and she was grateful that he respected the fact that she was married enough to reign in his humongous libido. She could be professional, but she was not sure how long she would hold out against the full glare of his pale azure eyes.

Leander lay back in his chair to enjoy one of his favorite moments of the day. Characteristically, Layla came in dressed in a dark formal suit over a matching skirt that just stopped at appropriate. Business as usual, she came in with the day’s messages and schedule. He did not know why but there was something about an efficient beautiful woman at work that fascinated him.

“You have a request for a meet here in the office by one of your card buddies-Alexander Yashin. I already asked the cooks to get the refreshments ready for his arrival. His secretary was very particular about his likes”

Leander grunted but said nothing. Layla continued sounding off item after item.

“Your brother Vasiliy sent a message to say that his son will be coming over to spend some time. He promised the details later.”

At this Leander froze, but just for a second before spinning his chair around to face the room length window that offered an expansive view of the Business district. Layla’s voice quickly faded into the background for a while as he took everything before him.

He had not heard from is older brother Vasiliy for a long time, and had not seen him for much longer.

“Prioritize the messages from Vitaliy will you? The others I leave to you to handle as best as you can” he said to Layla.

“I did not know you had a brother Leander, in fact I never even knew you had a family” Layla wondered as she rose form her seat. “The way you walk around, one would think you swam out of the primordial soup”

“Ha ha laugh all you can, but if you must know, we Russians are big on family and I do have a darling brother who means the world to me. I probably have not brought him up, because you haven’t asked”

“Whatever you say boss; I will keep you posted just like you asked but I would also remind you that the phone goes long distance, and you may like to reach out to your “darling brother” yourself for those details he talked about earlier”