James-Chapter 3 part two

Jamie ran in the house and into the living room. Spotting James, she smiled widely and ran between his legs as he sat and threw her arms around his waist. James laughed and put his arms around her. “Tired, little one?” Chuckling, she nodded and rested her head against her father’s firm chest. James smiled and kissed the top of her head. “Come here.” He said pulling her up on his leg. She spread her legs out across his lap and James kept his arms around her waist. “Did you have fun?” He whispered as he stared into her beautiful, young face. “Yes sir.”
“What’d you and ZJ do?”
“I beat him in basketball twice.”
“You two played basketball?”
“Yes sir.”
“You won?” Jamie nodded then yawned. “Congratulations.” James said rubbing her back. Jamie shifted so she was closer to him. She played with his chain. “Papa?” Jamie whispered. “Hmm?”
“Is Ms. Hannah comin’ back with us tomorrow?”
“I don’t know, dear.” Jamie sighed. “ZJ has a mommy and a daddy and Ms. Hannah is his auntie.”
“I know, dear.”
“What’s an ‘auntie’, papa?”
“It’s what you would call ‘tia’.”
“Everyone talks different from me, papa.”
“It’s because you speak a different language sometimes.”
“Do you think she’ll be my auntie?” James chuckled. “I don’t know. I’m sure Ms. Naomi wouldn’t mind being your auntie.”
“Can I ask her?”
“Sure. Go right ahead.” Jamie hopped off his lap and ran into the kitchen. James chuckled to himself.
         The women stood shocked at Jamie’s question. “What’d you say?” Naomi asked and Jamie sighed. “I said will you be my auntie like Ms. Hannah is ZJ’s auntie?” Naomi looked at Hannah with a raised eyebrow then knelt in front of Jamie. “Now listen. If I’m going to be your aunt, your daddy would have to be my brother.”
“He wouldn’t mind.”
“I’m sure he wouldn’t, Jamie and yes, I’ll be your auntie. Would you like to call me tia?”
“No,” Jamie said quickly. “Auntie is fine.” Jamie ran off and Naomi looked towards where she’d left. James had been watching from the doorway. Naomi smiled lightly at him. He returned the smile before he walked off. Naomi stood and looked at Hannah. “Well, either you or Mary’s gotta marry him because his daughter’s already claiming me.” Gloria laughed. “Well, what a lovely family this is turning into.” Hannah bit her lip then stood up from leaning against the counter. “Dinner’s pretty much ready, let’s just eat.” She said then began taking down plates.
         James sat next to Jamie. The prayer had just been said and everyone was now laughing and eating merrily. James couldn’t help glancing at Hannah. She looked upset about something but he couldn’t figure out what. “So James, tell us more about your company.” Gloria said. James smiled at her and sat down his fork. “Oh, OK. What would you like to know?”
“What exactly does Hannah do for you?” Kent asked and Martha stared at him as if he’d asked something crazy. “She’s his secretary! Everyone in the family knows that but, oh yeah, you don’t count because you’re tryin’ to get out of the family.” Kent banged his hand down on the table. “You know what! I ain’t out of it yet! And while you tryin’ to point fingers at me, you’re the one that’s been sneakin’ around on the phone at night!”
“Yeah, talkin’ to lawyers tryin’ to handle your business because you ain’t no kind of man at all!”
“Of course not! You’re man enough for both of us!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you don’t give me a chance to be a man because every time I try to handle business, you come along tryin’ to take over everything!”
“You know what Kent, one of us has to handle the bills, and it obviously ain’t you!”
“I bring home a check and ask you to pay the bills with the money that I make! What else do you want?”
“I want you to be a man!”
“You don’t give me a chance to! You wanna wear the pants in the relationship but you don’t wanna put them on! You wanna bring home the bacon but you don’t wanna carry it! I can’t satisfy you and it’s driving me insane! When we first got married, every little thing I did made you smile. Now, every big thing I do is not enough and I’m sick of it! That’s why I want a divorce! It’s not that I like Irene; I don’t care a thing about that chick! I just can’t stand you!” He yelled then stood up and stormed off. With tears in her eyes, Martha sniffed then placed her napkin on the table. “Excuse me.” She said, her lip quivering. She stood and walked out of the kitchen quickly. James sipped his drink. He knew just by listening to their comments what they needed to do to fix their marriage but that was the business owner in him. He heard a problem and instantly formulated a solution. He wanted desperately to go after them and help but he knew it wasn’t his place. Instead, he glanced at Jamie. She was staring at the empty seats with wide eyes. She looked at James and he knew she didn’t understand what had just happened. She was looking to him for an answer. James winked at her then offered an encouraging smile and turned back to his food. “Um, so James, you were saying about Hannah working for you?”
“Oh yes, she’s my secretary.”
“What all does that entail?” Mr. Jordan asked. James looked at Hannah. “You wanna tell ‘em?”
“No, you seem to have it under control.” She said and it caught James a little off guard. “Oh. OK. Well, basically, she just does anything that’s gonna take some of the load off my shoulders. She’s just a help meet, basically.”
“Like a workplace wife, pretty much?” Mary said smiling and James blushed as Hannah rolled her eyes. “So, what type of things does she do?”
“Filing, scheduling, um, ah man, what doesn’t she do? She does everything except work with the reps for me.”
“Wow, how have you managed without her?” James laughed. “It’s funny you should ask that because it’s been pretty tough. She has an intern there, Courtney. She’s been doin’ Hannah’s job and she tries hard. She does well but of course, she’s no Hannah.” Everyone laughed. “Well, you seem to think a lot of my sister, James.” Naomi said with a smile and wink. James chuckled. “You kiddin’, I love that woman.” Everyone laughed again and James stole a glance at Hannah. She was the only one not smiling.

“Papa?” Jamie asked as she pulled back the sheets on her bed. James held his finger on the spot in his bible where he was reading then looked at her. “Yes?”
“Is Ms. Hannah OK?”
“Why do you ask?”
“She seemed sad tonight.”
“Yeah, she did seem a little down. I think you should pray for her, Jamie.”
“Oh I did! She was the first name I said after yours when I said my prayers.” James smiled. “Good. I’m sure that’ll help a lot.” Jamie went and sat down on James’ bed. “Papa?”
“Yes?”
“None of my friends say ‘papa’.”
“What do they say?”
“Daddy.”
“How do you feel about that?”
“Why do they say that?”
“I guess it’s the same thing as ‘papa’, just a different language.”
“Do you like to be called ‘papa’?”
“Baby, I like to be called whatever you call me, darling.” She smiled. “I’m gonna start calling you daddy, like my friends do.” James closed his bible and sat it aside. “Come here, baby.” Jamie crawled into James’ arms then relaxed. “You don’t have to fit in all the time, Jamie. It’s OK to be different.”
“I know. I just don’t like being so different.”
“Do you feel that you are?” She nodded. James tilted his head to look at her. “Tell me about it.”
“All my friends at least have a mama. Even if they don’t have a mama and a papa, they at least have a mama. I don’t, I just have you.” James nodded. He knew it wasn’t exactly normal for a little girl to live with just her father. “How do you feel about that?”
“I don’t care but sometimes people don’t understand; like they don’t understand the way I talk. Like why I say papa instead of daddy and tia instead of aunt.”
“It’s because you speak a different language, I told you.”
“I know but I don’t wanna know Spanish!”
“Don’t get upset. Why not?”
“Because it’ll make me different.”
“It’s OK to be different.”
“No it’s not.” Jamie said sitting up. James shifted so he was sitting up straighter as well. “Why would you say that?”
“Because people laugh at you when you’re different.” James bit his lip gently. “Do they laugh at you?” Jamie held her head down. “Sometimes.”
“What do they say?”
“Ah-ha! Look at you! You don’t know what a mother is. You’re a retard.”
“What do you say?” Jamie shrugged, tears on her beautiful little face. “I don’t know what ‘retard’ means but I can tell by the way they say it it’s not good.” James roughened the grip he had on his lip. He hated that his daughter knew so little about the English language but worse, that she was being teased about it. “A mother is your mama, Jamie.”
“I know now.”
“Jamie, listen to me carefully, OK? I don’t want you to think that you have to change for people because you don’t. I always want you to feel free to be you because you’re a beautiful person. However, it’s important that you always know information about the culture that you dwell with, do you understand?” She nodded. “Good. Now, you know how I feel about you learning Spanish, I think that’s wonderful. But you’re not gonna know more Spanish than you do English, OK?” Jamie nodded. “Do you feel like you need some extra help to catch up?”
“No papa! The kids would laugh at me!”
“I can get you help outside of school, so no one would know. It’s OK to need help, baby. The problem only comes when you don’t say that you do.” Jamie nodded and James knew she understood. “OK daddy.” James smiled then leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Papa loves you, baby.”
“Like you love Ms. Hannah?” James wrapped his arms around her. “Oh baby, more. So much more.” Jamie smiled widely. “I love you too, papa… I mean daddy.” James chuckled then squeezed her gently. “I’m glad to hear that.”
         The phone rang as James was pulling their bags to the door. He heard Jamie picking it up. “Hold on, please. Papa!” James went to the phone, running a hand over his hair. “Thank you.” He said to Jamie then sat down as he put the phone to his ear. “James Murdock speaking.”
“James? It’s Gloria. Would you and Jamie like to come by for breakfast? I’m making pancakes.”
“Thank you but we’ve got a plane to catch.”
“Can you just stay for a few minutes? I’d love to see you before you leave, baby.” James looked at his watch. It was almost eight in the morning and they had to be on the plane at twelve. He sighed lightly. “I guess that’ll be all right. We’ll be over when we finish packing.”
“You need Abe to pick you up?”
“No ma’am. Is it alright that my driver comes?”
“Of course baby! Of course.”
“Cool. We’ll be there soon.”
“Good. Bye, now.” James hung up the phone then looked at Jamie. “Wanna go back to Ms. Hannah’s for breakfast?”
“Will ZJ and Auntie Naomi be there?” James nodded and Jamie smiled widely. James took that to mean yes.
         Hannah looked surprised to see James and Jamie when she opened the front door. “What are you doin’ here?” James chuckled as he hugged her. She barely hugged him back. “Hi Ms. Hannah!” Jamie said and Hannah bent down to hug her then closed the door. “James?” He turned to her. “I thought y’all were leavin’ today.”
“We are. Your mom wanted us to come over for breakfast before we left.” Hannah crossed her arms. “Oh.” James tilted his head and smiled at her. “Is that OK with you?”
“It’s fine.” He took a step closer to her and placed his hands on her arms. “You know, you seemed a little upset last night and still this morning. You alright, baby?” She met his eyes. “I wish you wouldn’t call me baby.” She whispered and James looked a little taken aback. “Oh,” He said then smiled as he dropped his hands from her arms. “I’m sorry.” He turned and walked into the kitchen. “Man Ms. Jordan, somethin’ sure smells good!” Hannah sighed heavily and ran her fingers through her hair then looked at Jamie. She’d been watching the whole scene. Before Hannah could smile at her, Jamie was running off towards the kitchen. Hannah ran her hands over her face then walked into the kitchen slowly. Jamie was holding tightly to James’ waist as he rubbed her back and talked to Gloria. “What are y’all chattin’ about?” Hannah asked with a smile and Gloria chuckled. “You.” She said with no hesitation. Hannah’s smile faded as she looked at James. He shrugged. “I didn’t bring it up.”
“What’s goin’ on with you two, huh?” James looked at Hannah but she refused to meet his eyes. “Nothin’ mama, don’t start, please.”
“Start what? I asked a simple question.” James ran his fingers through Jamie’s hair. “Go find ZJ, OK?” Jamie walked out of the kitchen and James watched her go. “Is someone gonna tell me what’s goin’ on?”
“Nothin’ that I know of.” James said and Gloria looked at him. “I realize that baby. That was actually aimed towards my daughter. Will you see if Kie and Abe are up?”
“Yes ma’am.” James left the kitchen quickly knowing that Gloria wanted to be alone with Hannah. Gloria turned down the stove then turned towards her daughter. “What’s goin’ on wit’ you, girl?”
“Nothin’ mama. Stop it—”
“—Nothin’ my tail! Why you treatin’ that boy like that?”
“I’m not treatin’ him like nothin’, mama—”
“—Exactly! He flew down here, not for your father, and not for me, but for you. Why you actin’ like you don’t wanna see him?”
“I’m not actin’ like I don’t wanna see him mama, I just don’t have anything to say—”
“—Hannah don’t get smart wit’ me. I know you girl and I know that somethin’s wrong when you start actin’ like this. Now I’m askin’ you what’s wrong and I expect an answer—”
“—My God, mama, I am not a little girl anymore! I can handle things on my own now; I’m a grown woman! I don’t need you tryin’ to solve all my problems for me! If somethin’ is goin’ on with James and me then we’ll figure it out. I don’t need you to be the mediator anymore, ma.” Gloria turned back to the stove slowly and continued her cooking in silence. Hannah sighed heavily and uncrossed her arms. She took a step towards her mother and wrapped her arms around her. “I’m sorry mommy.”
“No, it’s fine. Y-You’re right. I shouldn’t interfere.”
“No mom, I overreacted. I’m sorry.”
“N, no. You were right. I should mind my own business.” Gloria sniffed. “You mind finishin’ these eggs for me?” Gloria asked then turned and walked out of the kitchen quickly. Hannah ran her hands over her face and took a deep breath. She’d hurt her mother’s feelings and that hadn’t been her intention. She felt bad but she wasn’t sure how she could make it up to her.
         Hannah ate in silence as everyone else chatted merrily with each other. Every time James looked at her, she got stiff. She knew he was formulating a way to approach the subject of what was going on between them. Hannah made up in her mind that when he brought it up, she would tell him. She’d tell him exactly how she felt and that would be the end of it. If he said anything out of the way or if they argued, she would quit her job and move back to North Carolina. It seemed drastic but she didn’t want to work for someone she couldn’t get along with. A light smile touched her face. She knew exactly what she would say and she could hardly wait for the conversation to begin. “… and you have your own limo?” Naomi was asking. James nodded and Jamie leaned on his arm tapping him. “Daddy!” She whispered roughly. “Can I tell them how you sometimes let it take me to school?” James chuckled, full aware that he wasn’t the only one that heard this question but he nodded anyways. “Go ahead baby.”
“And sometimes, if we’re runnin’ late, Papa drives the Hummer and let’s the limo take me to school! All of the kids say I must be famous ‘cause I come to school in a limo sometimes.” James chuckled and sipped his drink. “You have a Hummer too?” James nodded. “That is one huge truck.”
“How much is it to fill up the tank.”
“Um, since its Premium, it’s roughly about…” He thought and bit his lip. “About 80 or so.”
“Eighty dollars to fill up the tank!” James laughed and nodded. “Yes sir.” He answered Mr. Jordan. “Man-o-man. Is that the only car you have, your Hummer?”
“Well, I have a Land Rover, too—”
“—But he won’t drive it ‘cause he says he’s savin’ it for his wife or when I turn 16, whichever comes first.” Jamie said kicking her legs. Hannah looked around and, just as she suspected, everyone was looking at her. She looked at her plate and started eating again. James chuckled nervously. “Jay, drink your milk.” He said and everyone laughed. Jamie did as she was asked. She sat the glass down then her eyes showed that she had more to say. “He—”
“—He?” James said looking at her and Jamie chuckled lightly. “Papa-I mean, Daddy said that he would buy me a Mustang to learn how to drive in when I turn 16 and if I still wanted a Land Rover, he’d just buy me one. Papa said I’m probably gonna be tall so it’s OK that I get a big car. I have to learn how to drive the Mustang first.”
“Well it sounds like your father has you all taken care of.” Naomi said with a smile. James chuckled but Jamie continued. “Yes ma’am! I have a investment account that grows 2.3% every month so by the time I get ready to go to college, I won’t need a scholarship but Papa says I’m gonna get one anyway because I’m the smartest kid in my class. That’s by faith though. Papa always makes me do confessions by faith, and then we pray it through and find the scriptures to support it. Papa says that can be my tester when I get older. He says if I ever want something and when I look in the bible, I can’t find a scripture that says it’s OK, I should pray and ask God to change my desires.” James smiled proudly. So, she had been listening after all. “You’ve got a very good father, Jamie.” Jamie nodded. “Yes ma’am, I know because most of my friends at school say their daddy doesn’t even live with them and my daddy takes full-time care of me. That’s what daddy says if you ask him. He says he’s a full time bus- how do you say it papa?”
“Full time father, part time business owner?”
“That’s right! Then I always correct him and say, ‘you mean full time papa!’” Jamie laughed joyously. “He always tickles me then but he won’t right now because we’re in front of lots of people. Papa won’t tickle me in front of a lot of people. He’s so funny.” Jamie said then laughed again. Everyone laughed with her. James enjoyed watching her. She looked so at ease talking to a group of people. “Jamie, take a breath. Finish eating.”
“I’m finished.” She said scooting her plate back. She drank some more milk then sat her glass down. James knew she had more to say and he decided to go ahead and stop her. “Make sure you have all your stuff together, Jay.”
“Yes sir.” She looked around then at James. “May I be excused?” She whispered loudly and James chuckled. “Yes you may.”
“Excuse me.” She said then stood up and went to get her coloring book and crayons. “James, you’re doing an awesome job with her.”
“It’s all God.”
“She’s such a young lady!”
“Now that’s Hannah’s influence, not mine.” They all chuckled and Hannah looked at him quickly. “No it’s not.”
“Oh yes it is, you just don’t know it. You should hear how she talks about you.”
“Aww.” Naomi said as Jamie came back to the table. She sat down and sat up straight. “Jay,” James said. “Why are you sittin’ like that, baby?”
“Ms. Hannah sits up straight when she eats.” Jamie said looking at Hannah quickly and observing her posture. James sat back with a look on his face that said, ‘I told you so’. Hannah sat in shock. Jamie looked at James and smiled. “Papa, are you being silly?”
“Yeah baby, I’m just bein’ silly.” Jamie laughed heartily then looked at Hannah again just to be sure. “Do you do a lot of stuff that Ms. Hannah does?” Naomi asked her and Jamie shrugged. “I guess so. Sometimes I can’t though, cause I’m not big enough. Ms. Hannah knows how to drive with just one hand.” James looked at Jamie quickly. “When’d you see her drive?” Jamie looked at Hannah quickly; her eyes wide and Hannah couldn’t help but smile. “We went to O’Charley’s during lunch one day.” James shook his head smiling gently. “Imagine that.” Hannah bit her lip and pushed her food around on her plate. “I bet you didn’t know you were watched so closely, did you, Ayah?” Hannah chuckled lightly. “I guess not.” She said then glanced at James. He was smiling at her.
         Hannah watched from the porch as her family bed James and Jamie good-bye. James hadn’t approached her about the subject and she felt slightly disappointed. She sighed heavily and looked down at her shoes. When she looked up, she saw James running up to her. He stopped just in front of her. “Hey.” He said smiling. “Hi.” She answered back. James stuck his hands in his pockets then bit his lip as he stared into her eyes. “Uh, we’re about to leave.” She nodded. “I see.” James turned and looked at the limo then turned back to Hannah and met her eyes again. “Is there somewhere we can talk, in private, before I go?” Hannah stood up straight, her arms still crossed. “Sure, come on.” She turned and began to walk off. James turned to make sure Jamie was OK being alone with Hannah’s family, and then followed Hannah into the house. She led him to the sunroom and when he walked in, she closed the door behind him. “What’s up?” She asked as she sat down on the swing chair. James sighed lightly. “What’s wrong, Han? You’re upset wit’ me and I can’t stand it. Tell me what’s goin’ on with you.” She stared at him. “You wanna know honestly James?”
“Yes. I do.”
“I hate that you’re makin’ everyone think we’re a couple. I know you like me, I’m not stupid, and I’ve figured that out! However, you need to come to grips with the fact that I just don’t feel the same way about you! You need to be OK with that because neither my feelings nor my mind are going to change.” He stared at her and for a brief second, she thought she saw hurt in his eyes. I dare you to debate me on this. Her eyes challenged and for a moment, Hannah thought he would. But then he smiled lightly and nodded. “That’s really how you feel?” He asked and Hannah nodded. “Of course.” James gave a gentle chuckle. “I hope that doesn’t mean you’re through with Jamie, too.”
“No, I love Jamie, James.”
“Good, because she adores you.” James placed a hand on her elbow and kissed her forehead then gave her elbow a firm squeeze. “I’ll see you later, alright? Call me when you’re ready to come back.”
“I will.”
“See ya, Hannah.” James turned the knob and opened the door. He began to walk out but Hannah stopped him. He leaned back and looked at her. “Yes?”
“You’re not upset?” He thought about it then met her eyes. “Should I be?”
“No. I just expected- I thought you’d have more of a reaction.” James smiled and walked back in the room. He leaned against the wall facing her and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I’m not thrilled that the feelings aren’t mutual but I respect your honesty and the fact that you didn’t lead me on.”
“So you’re OK with it?”
“Well, I told you I’m not thrilled but like you said, I need to be OK with it ‘cause you’re minds made up.” Hannah crossed her arms. “You’re very calm about this.”
“Would you like me to start arguing with you Hannah? That’s not my style.” She bit her lip. He was very attractive and she couldn’t help noticing it. She had a strong desire to run her hands over his hair but she held back. “I know that’s not your style and I respect that about you.” He smiled at her. “I’m glad we had this talk, Hannah.”
“Yeah, me too.” James bit his lip gently as he stared into her eyes. He chuckled then stood up straight and scratched his head. “I’ll see you Monday, right?”
“Yes.”
“Later.” He walked out and Hannah stood shocked. James Murdock was a very handsome man. From the way he stood to the way he walked, he managed to shake up Hannah’s world. She ran her fingers through her hair and gave it a slight tug. She was a little frustrated but she didn’t know why.