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ChapterSeven
Peter
I sit here enjoying my new favorite pastime, missing the hell out of Lennox, after she dropped the bomb of her husband passing away it was time for her to get downstairs. The front desk already had her luggage down there so she could grab it and go straight to the airport. When she walked out of the ballroom I was there, waiting on her.
“Lenny,” I start
“Not here, Peter, not now. I’ll be back,” she says as she passes me her business card with her personal cell on it. “Call me Peter and I will be back.”
By this time the town car is here to pick her up and the valet is putting her luggage in the trunk. She tips him and turns to me; I grab her face and kiss her gently on the lips. I hold her for a few seconds before opening the door and helping her inside.
I lean in and kiss her one more time before I close the door and watch her drive away from me. I have to take Josh to lunch; I have teased him so much about how bad he had it for Savvy not understanding what he was going through. But as I watch Lennox leave me, I understand.
I called her, and we talked about everything but her late husband and how he died. She was surprised to hear that I was never married, and even though we both had questions we agreed to wait to talk about serious stuff until we are face to face again. Every time I would ask her when she was coming back, she could not give me a straight answer. Inviting her to the graduation this past weekend was wishful thinking on my part. I’ve been enjoying getting to know her again, and all the little things that make Lennox tick. I’ve been enjoying getting to know her again, and all the little things that make Lennox tick. She is an amazing woman, if she is not at the hospital, she is at the clinic working with the amazing women who need her care. She is in the midst of updating the clinic, she and her staff have been fundraising and asking for donations and applying for grants. She is truly passionate about giving these women the best care possible. They did not meet their goal but of course that is not going to stop Lenny from doing what she can with what she has. I just finish with a call with the foreman on the new project when my phone alerts me to an incoming call. It’s Lennox, I have been waiting for this call all day.
“Hey Lenn…,” I attempt to say.
“Peter! What did you do?” she screeches.
“Well, hello to you to Lenny. Why are you screaming at me?” I calmly ask.
“Peter do not play with me right now. I know this was you! I didn’t tell you about the clinic for you to do this! We were just talking. Benny…” she finally concludes.
“If I needed help with something and you could help, would I have to ask for that help?”
“No, of course not,” she replies exasperated.
“Then why do you think I would wait for you to ask me for help? I asked in my circle if anyone could help out and they did,” I respond.
“Peter, there is a construction company here. They have shown me the plans of the additions they are going to make, the repairs, and upgrades. There are also moving trucks here full of medical equipment for us to use now and promises on the medical equipment they plan to provide once the building is complete. Peter this is too much.”
“It’s not enough Lenny. I was happy to help out but truly the companies that offered help, will get to write all this off on their taxes. It’s a win win for everyone,” I tell her “When are the women set to come to the office?”
“Well, I try to get here every Tuesday and Thursday but this Saturday we are giving them a pre-Mother’s Day luncheon. So, I’ll be able to see them all at the same time. We hold these events a few times a year. This is the first one this year and I am looking forward to seeing all the women.” She rambles clearly excited about seeing the women and temporarily forgetting she was yelling at me.
“That sounds like a wonderful time,” I remark.
“It will be,” she gushes and for the remaining time on the phone I listen to Lennox tell me about the event, alternating between yelling at me for the donations I procured on her and her clinics behalf, and missing each other. I’m wondering when and if Lennox will ever come back to Mississippi, or if I am going to have to move to Alabama. I don’t have any hotels there, maybe I should buy one or build one, I think. We talk until we fall asleep on the phone; I feel like we are still in school back when we used to do homework together and talk until her mom or dad told me I had to go home.
I find the rental car I reserved and type the address I want in the GPS. Once situated, I begin the almost hour drive to my destination. I reach it at precisely the time I needed to be there. It was hard keeping this surprise from Lenny, but I enlisted her assistant Brooklyn for help. Brooklyn is a pre-med student who also used the clinic and decided to go into medicine so she could also help women like her get medical care. Once I get to the clinic, she is there to greet me.
“Mr. Bennett?” she asks.
“Call me Peter,” I advise her.
“How about Mr. Peter?” she says laughingly. And I have to remember I am talking to a young southern black woman. She is a beautiful young woman, a red bone as Shepp and Saint would say. Her hair is cut in a brush cut and dyed peach, tattoos on both hands, forearms, and neck. She also has a penchant for piercings, she has two nose rings, her septum is pierced, and she also has a surface tragus, a smiley, and her daith pierced along with her earlobes. All I can think is the face of doctors is definitely changing.
“Mr. Peter is fine; the trolley should be here any moment.” And as if my words conjured it, it pulls into the parking lot, behind it is the delivery truck, and behind that is another vehicle. Once everyone is parked, we go to work. The Trolley is going to take the women for a tour around Mobile Bay and bring them back to the clinic. It is fully catered, hence the other vehicle carrying the decorators and chef. The Trolley has been converted to wheels instead of having to ride on tracks but can still have more than one car connected.
“Mr. Peter, we have less than thirty minutes to get this set up. Dr. Anderson always comes early,” she warns me.
“Well let's get a move on,” I tell her.A little while later we hear a car pulling up and sure enough it’s Lenny.
“Peter! What are you doing here? What is all this?” she asks so fast I don’t have to answer. She is looking around at the trolley’s and all the activity going on around us.
“I wanted to surprise you and the women you service with something for mother’s day. The trolleybuses are going to take you, your staff and the women down to Mobile Bay and bring you guys back, and it is fully catered with a photographer to capture all the memorable moments from today.”
“Peter this is too much! I…I... this is beautiful. The women are going to love this, Benny. What can I do to help?”
