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“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.
