KENNY
            Chapter 11

“Oh, hi mom.”

“Don’t you ‘hi mom’ me young man. When were you going to tell me
about this? You called me last week and didn’t say a goddamn
thing about any of this.”

“I was going to have to tell you before the TV interview I guess.
I didn’t want to worry you mom. I was in no danger and I didn’t
do anything special.”

“What the fuck do you mean you were in no danger? They had guns
Kenny, and the story said that you had a girlfriend. What about
that?”

“Oh mom, one of the guns was loaded with blanks, and the reporter
was exaggerating about the girlfriend. Connie works at the lodge
here with me, she is a friend, but not a girlfriend mom.”

Just then Mallory made her presence known by crying out for more
food. When she was being fed you delayed in the feeding at the
peril of your hearing. She required your total attention until
she was full, not a little bit here and there, your total
attention and nothing less.

“Ken, what was that, do you have a damn child there?”

“Yes mom, I went to Boise and…” Suddenly Ken realized that he had
never told his mother about Mallory. He had meant to when she was
born, but he was so uncertain about Belinda that the time had
never seemed right. She didn’t even know about the divorce or
exactly why he had gotten married.

“Uhh mom, it’s kind of a long story, but Marta and I went to
Boise last week after all of the hassle and picked up my daughter
from Belinda.”

“Your daughter? I’m a fuckin’ grandmother? And why was Belinda in
Boise? What happened to her? What in hell else haven’t you been
telling me Ken?”

“Well…”

“Wait damn a minute; the paper said that you were injured. How
the shit are you taking care of a baby when you are injured?”

“It’s just my left arm mom; and everyone here at the lodge helps
out.”

“Never effin’ mind; you make plans to pick me up. I’m coming out
there and see my granddaughter. I should have come out long ago
and met Belinda. I’m not waiting for you to visit any longer. I’m
coming out on the first goddamn plane I can get on.”

“Yes mom. Let me know the flight when you can. I’ll be there.”

“And you bring my granddaughter with you. You hear me young man,
I don’t want to wait one pus bedamned minute longer than I have
to to see her.”

“Yes mom, she’ll be with me.”

“Why in hell is she yelling?”

This whole last part of the conversation was done over the
protestations of Mallory who didn’t think that Ken was feeding
her fast enough. He was trying to feed her with his damaged left
arm while holding the phone with his right. He had some movement
of his arm by now, but he couldn’t get it up to his ear yet.

“Your phone call interrupted me feeding her mom.”

“Well fuckin’ a get back to it!”

“Yes mom.”

Ken quickly finished feeding the boisterous child and hurried
over to the main house to get his own breakfast and to tell
everyone the news.

“Your mother? Your mother is coming here?” Connie asked. “How
much does she know about your life here?”

“Uhm, I kind of glossed over some things a bit.”

“How much does she know about you and Belinda then?” Marta
questioned.

“Uhm, I told her that we got married, but not until the marriage
was almost over. She didn’t know that Belinda was pregnant or
about Mallory or anything like that. She knows that I got a
better job than the mall guard, and that Marcia was my old
teacher, but not too much about the other parts of my life.”

“Ken, why have you hidden so much from your mother; don’t you
think that she has a right to know what is going on in your
life?” Marcia expressed her opinion.

“I didn’t want to worry her and maybe make her come out here or
try to get me to move there. She and dad don’t need that kind of
trouble; they are trying to retire and take it easy. I probably
wouldn’t have told her about Belinda at all if the insurance
company hadn’t sent something to our old address and it got
forwarded to mom. I told her that it was a marriage of
convenience and would probably be over soon. I think I already
saw the writing on the wall by then.”

Ken was being whipsawed by all three women. They had surrounded
him and were asking questions in order around the circle. The
only saving grace was that Selena was busy in the kitchen. Now it
was Connie’s turn again.

“So when is she going to be here?”

Ken’s phone rang and he looked at the caller ID, “Rosemary
Jacobs”. “I guess that I am about to find out Connie. Hi mom,
what do you have for me?”

“Kenneth Jacobs, you cut the bullshit young man. I will be at San
Francisco at 11:30 PM tonight on Southwestern flight 870. You be
damn sure to be there with my granddaughter, and anyone else you
think maybe I should meet. Your father has some meetings he has
to attend so I will be alone, but if you think that you are going
to hide your daughter from him for long, you had better think
again. When I told him what you had done he switched between
being proud of you for protecting people, and pissed that he has
missed so much of being a grampa.”

“I’m sorry mom. I’ll be there, with whoever wants to go. You’ll
understand when you hear the whole story, so please calm down
till then. Okay?”

“We’ll see Ken, we’ll fuckin’ well see.”

Cell phones don’t give you that satisfying ‘click’ when you hang
up that the old dial sets did. They just become silent and
display ‘call ended’.

“Anyone want to meet my mom at the airport with me tonight? She
insists that I bring Mallory, any takers?”

“I was going to suggest that you take Barb out tonight Ken. She
would like some alone time with you.” Connie said, “I guess that
is out of the question, so I’ll go with you if you’d like me to.”

“What do you mean, some alone time?”

“Don’t worry about it; we’ll talk on the way to the airport. Now
tell us about your mother and what kind of trouble we can
expect.”

“What makes you think that you can expect trouble?”

“Think about it Ken. You have been hiding your life from your
mother; of course there will be trouble. Our concern is whether
or not she is likely to extend the blame to us.” Marta explained.

So Ken described his mother Rose. She is 5’2” and about 200 lbs.
Rolly-polly would be a good description, with short brown hair
tending to grey. Rose was intelligent and not willing to suffer
fools lightly. Her temper was legend and Ken had felt it often as
a teenager. He did not doubt that she loved him, but he hesitated
to tempt her anger. He knew that he would get a piece if her
mind, but he also knew that he deserved it. She would not be
cruel, but he would know what she meant.

Mallory fell asleep almost as soon as they left the lodge on the
way to Frisco. “Do you want to tell me what you meant now Connie?
Why do you think that I should go out with Barb? I thought that
you wanted to date me?”

“I do want to Ken. What I don’t want is for you to be pushed into
anything. You need to date Barb and a few other women before you
settle on one. I would hope that I could be that one, but you
need to know it with all your heart. Not just pick me because I
am there. You are not the boy from school who couldn’t get a date
any more Ken.”

“I wouldn’t call it settling Connie. I like you a lot and I would
be honored if you would be willing to date me. I don’t expect any
more than that. And you are wrong about me; I’m still the same
guy I was, I just don’t weigh as much.”

“No Ken, there is a lot more to you than when you first started
at the lodge. You have more self confidence in your appearance
and bearing. If you show up at one of the clubs by yourself, you
would be able to dance with any single woman and maybe take one
home with you.”

“Do you really think so Connie? I don’t feel any different.
Besides, I’m not sure that I would want to have a woman who would
go home with me.”

“Hahaha. Don’t be so sure Ken, Barb would have been willing to go
with you the same night she met you. Now she is even more
willing; I told her about the lessons the sisters gave you.”

“Connie! You shouldn’t have said anything about that. Marta and
Marcia don’t deserve to be treated that way.”

“How sweet Ken; but they are the ones who told me to tell Barb.
She is anxious to see how well you learned your lessons, as am
I.”

“What!?”

“SHSHS, you’ll wake up the baby. It has been a long time since I
have had a man treat me like a woman Ken, and I hope that you
will want to sometime soon.”

“Well, it probably won’t be while mom is here. I’m going to have
enough to live down as it is. You’ll probably change your mind by
then anyway. I really don’t deserve anyone as lovely as you.”

“Wake up Ken, a man deserves whatever a woman wants to give him,
and Barb and I want to give you everything.”

Ken didn’t have any answer to that statement, and they were at
the airport anyway.

Mallory didn’t even wake up when she was moved from the car seat
to the stroller. Ken and Connie didn’t speak while they stood
waiting at the greeting area. Ken didn’t know what to say and
Connie was a little embarrassed by her last statement. She was
afraid that she may have scared Ken off.

When Rose finally walked down the ramp they were both relieved,
until she strolled up and slapped Ken.

“That is from your father Ken. I’ll reserve my greetings until we
are alone asshole.” Rose looked him up and down, “What the fuck
have you been doing boy? You look better than your dad at his
best.” Then she looked down and her face broke out in a glorious
smile, “Is this her, is this little darling my granddaughter?
What is her name?”

“Mallory Evelyn Jacobs mom. She is 26 months old and perfect.”

Rose looked up at Connie and inquired, “And who is this lovely
bit of fluff? Is she the one described as your girlfriend?”

“This is Consuela Gomez mom, Connie works at the lodge with me.
The paper got it a little wrong mom, we aren’t together.” The
women exchanged a very meaningful look. Connie was a bit taken
aback by Rose and wasn’t sure what to say.

“Why not boy, did the ‘roids take away your balls? This little
dolly would brighten any man’s lap. Grab your dad’s duffle over
there son and let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Rose took over control of the stroller and when Ken told her
where he was parked she headed off with the confidence of a
seasoned traveler. Connie held back and bit and spoke to Ken.

“Uhh Ken, your mother is a bit…”

“Coarse? Crude? Yes she is. Dad spent 25 years in the Army and
mom is the one who swears like a trooper. I spent my childhood
attempting to disappear into the background. I understand that
grampa was a stevedore and simply could not talk without cursing.
Mom idolized him. She was driving a taxi around Ft. Knox when dad
met her and thought that she was cute. I love her dearly, but
every time there was a school function I spent two weeks
apologizing for her. The base commander at Ft. Leonard Wood was a
stuck up Mormon and ordered her to stay away from the school and
even made the MP’s accompany her when she shopped at the BX or
commissary. She is actually holding it down right now; when mom
gets going she can peel paint from a bulkhead and make a Drill
Instructor blush. I would have warned you, but there is just no
adequate way to do it; you wouldn’t have believed me.”

“HELP! HELP! THIEF! STOP HIM, HE TOOK MY PURSE!	“

Ken and Connie looked up at the commotion to see a slender black
boy running toward them with a white purse in his hand. Rose
kicked a trash can at him, making him dodge it and run closer to
Ken and Connie. Ken dropped the duffle and using his whole right
arm swung at the thief, hitting him like a clothesline across the
upper chest. The kid’s legs went out from under him and he
slammed onto the concrete flat on his back, knocking the wind out
of him.

“Here, get mom and Mallory to the car and hurry.” Ken reached
into his pocket and threw the car keys at Connie. He then picked
up the purse and shoved it into his sling and grabbed the duffle
again. He ran to the woman who had been yelling and gave her the
purse. He then ran to the Bravada where Connie was stuffing the
walker into the back of the SUV and Rose was trying to belt
Mallory into her car seat.

Ken took the keys from Connie and quickly opened the driver’s
door and got in. “Hurry up folks; I have no intention of spending
the next few hours answering questions. Good move mom, you made
him get close enough for me to take him out. I can’t believe that
these idiots won’t even let me pick up my mother at the airport
without causing trouble.” He gunned the vehicle and drove right
past the purse snatcher, who was still attempting to get his
breath.