Finishing up my Masters the Department of Defense came calling. When I tested for them, I figured they’d say, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”.
I was wrong.
But, I’m low man on the totem pole. You know the deal, I do the heavy lifting while someone else gets the credit, but with a salary plus incentives that will be more than my dad ever made as a self-employed plumber by far. Not to mention the signing bonus that has already taken some of the heat off my parents’ situation. We were middle class cozy growing up. But, mom’s health took its toll on her and their finances.
In five years, the D.O.D. will have paid off my student loans as well. That’s it, I’ll be debt free. Derrick’s right, I signed the contract that day. The thought of being able to take care of my parents and rid us all of the burden of student loans was more than worth a few years in a job I was born to do. If I hate it, I don’t have to stay after the five years, but I don’t have anything really tying me here other than mom and dad, and this is for them as much as for me.
There’s a satellite D.O.D. office here in the Detroit area, but when I asked, I was told that was for high level projects only. They made it sound like that’s where the brain trust resides, so, who knows, maybe someday I’ll be back here, but for now, moving around sounded just fine to me.
The room is like a sauna with so many people in this space, the tips of my ears are hot and I’m not sure it’s from the room or something else. Derrick shouts above the crowd at people and I want to strip off my jacket, but I’m too unsettled. He waves over a couple girls we knew in high school. Jacqui and Lisa have us quickly cornered, giggling and asking a thousand questions. For the next fifteen minutes I nod and grunt and politely ignore their flirting, when all I want is to get away.
A couple of the younger girls from earlier skip back into the room, tucking in and around the older crowd while giggling and grabbing beers then running back out.
My urge to go find my haloed angel and make sure she’s okay tugs at me.
My other urge is to push her against the nearest wall and thrust into her body, but I’ll take just making sure she’s okay for now. I’m aching, and I can’t fight the draw any longer.
“Hold on. I’ll be right back.” I wave a hand behind me toward Derrick and the girls as I’m already moving away.
“Where are you going? We only have one night until you disappear across the ocean!” His raised voice falls on deaf ears. He’s my friend, but this is more important. I don’t know why, but it is.
She is.
I leave Derrick open mouthed as I push through a group of girls, grunting ‘excuse me’ a few times along the way.
I know this monster of a house pretty well. Derrick and I met when we were both in fourth grade. We went to different elementary schools then, but my mom brought me here to the estate when she worked for the Warners as a housekeeper back before her MS got so bad.
For a rich kid, Derrick treated me like there was no difference between us. From the first day he came bounding into the kitchen offering me a full size Snickers bar as my mom scrubbed the floor, I thought his life was magical. Through the years, I’ve learned otherwise.
Down the hallway into the foyer, I pause and listen. The massive walnut and stone staircase is to my left. The front door to my right. Other rooms annex off the hallway in both directions.
This place is full of echoes, the stone walls giving off clues to movements. I know, from years of hide and seek with Derrick, the way sounds bounce around. But today when I strain to hear something, all that hits my ears is the thumping bass of the dance music shaking the very foundations of the house.
I tighten my lips against my teeth and decide I’ll start up the stairs. Something is pulling me to search for the flash of dark hair and plump pink lips. My instincts tell me the girls are up in Amanda’s bedroom. I know this place is eleven thousand square feet, but how hard can it be to find her? I turn to the stairway, then something gnaws at me; I turn in the other direction slowing and moving forward, listening for clues.
And that’s what I have to do. Find her. Because I’m leaving tomorrow, and I may not have another chance.
Something inside springs to life inside me and I decide not to fight it. For the first time, I understand what my father told me all those years. When you find your one, you just know. It’s the way he said he felt the first time he saw my mom.
Now I need to find her and tell her she’s mine.