Chapter 2 (unedited)
St. Louis, Missouri
Barely a month later, already there was trouble in Kidd’s promised paradise. He shifted on the sofa of Parke’s magnanimous turn-of-the-century home in an historic neighborhood of Ferguson.
At the moment, he was being chewed out royally by Parke’s wife, Cheney; Malcolm’s wife, Hallison; and another woman whose identity escaped his memory. They were livid because he refused to accept or retain any of the jobs they labeled as great opportunities.
Other than having the fear of God somewhere deep deep down inside of him, he wasn’t afraid of man or beast. But a double dose of beautiful tongue-lashing; long-legged females—with their hands hoisted on their hips, shooting darts his way—somehow made Kidd rethink his fearlessness. Their mug shots resembled his mother when she was about to take him and Ace down, once they began to tower over her as teenagers.
Even a pint-sized, adorable little girl named Kami stood staring at him with her arms folded. With two thick braids and wearing a karate outfit, she was the spitting image of her father. Without saying a word, the group’s expression conveyed, Looks are deceiving. We’ve got just enough ’tude to back up our demands.
“My father-in-law was cordial when he learned you walked away from the factory position. He had been tirelessly pursuing it for you since the day you got off the plane. Although Papa P. held his tongue,” Cheney smarted off. “Parke will be steaming that you did it again—turn down a job that hundreds of people want.”
“Same here,” Hallison added. “Malcolm even tried to set up an office position for you, and you declined it.”
“I don’t have a hubby yet, but if I did, he would have their back,” the third woman chimed in. “I see a beat down coming your way.”
Kidd grunted. “If you’re a fortune teller, then I’m sure you’ll see I’m not the man down,” he said smugly. It irritated him that he couldn’t recall her name. “And you are again?”
“Part of this family.” The woman was a looker: cute, shapely…and white—there no way she could be a blood relative, could she? She triple-popped a wad of bubblegum to indicate the question-and-answer period had just ended.
Really?” Kidd baited her.
“Never mind that, Imani,” Cheney said. “Our husbands are a piece of cake compared to a woman’s wrath.” She snickered. “Put it this way, you might want to start shaking in your boots right about now because we happen to love our men. And we’re not going to let anybody take advantage of them, including another Jamieson.”
“Just in case you don’t want to listen to them, I’ve got my rig outside and I’d be happy to repossess that nice ride of yours. Give me any reason. As a matter of fact, I don’t need one.” Then Imani added proudly, “I haven’t earned the company title of repo woman of the month for nothing.”
He contained a smirk at their bogus terrorization. And they professed to be peaceful, loving Christians. Kidd sneered. He didn’t doubt many people tangled with these Jamiesons, and he was just as much a reckoning force single-handedly.
Acknowledging his month of their hospitality was about to expire, Kidd decided to speak his mind. “Your family sought me out—not the other way around. I was happy in my Hyde Park neighborhood in Boston.”
“Mommy’s talking. Don’t interrupt,” Parke and Cheney’s daughter, Kami, warned Kidd. “Please.” Then she shifted into a martial arts stance then looked for confirmation. “Right, Mommy?”
“Thanks, sweetie.”
Kami beamed when Cheney nodded and gave her a heartwarming smile.
Is there a law against spanking someone else’s child? He wondered. In fact, he was about ready to strangle everybody in the room. If they had owned a bird and dog, Kidd wouldn’t spare them either.
“You ladies must think I’m a kid—”
“That’s what your name implies. What kind of nickname is that anyway?” Imani tempted for a response.
“Don’t let the nickname fool you. Last time I checked, I’m old enough to drink and drive.”
Kidd flexed his muscles. His father —whenever he made an appearance—addressed Kevin as “kid” as if he couldn’t remember his name. When his younger brother came along five years later, Samuel tagged Aaron as “Ace.” That nicknamed claimed the younger Jamieson to be his father’s “Ace in the hole” when he gambled. What Kidd couldn’t understand was why his deadbeat dad was adamant about them having the Jamieson last name. What a joke.
