Under the Cypress Moon (26 page)

"It's not really his fault, though, T.  The guy's been tellin' my dad for a long time to change the furnaces out."

"Ok.  Then, it's your dad's fault."

"That's true, T.  It is his fault.  He wanted to save money and wouldn't listen to Don.  The man's dyin', though.  Can you really be so mean to a dying man?  If there is anything to pay for, he'll pay when he stands before God, and that's gonna be soon.  I'm doin' all I can to fix his mistakes, and they will ALL be fixed!"

"What you got planned," Darius felt inclined to ask, his mind running amok.

"Well, actually, I got a proposal for you guys," Mark stated, though he was unsure that either Darius or T.L. would be interested.

"Whoo, Daddy.  Mark's proposin'!  I think you should save that for Shylah, Mark!"

"Haha, smartass!  No, I wanna make some big changes to the plant and do some expanding.  I'm gonna need fresh input from employees and gonna need some new supervisors.  Both of you have a lot of years put in, and I value anything you have to say on the matter. We never keep up with orders.  Expanding would not only help us meet our orders better but allow us to create a bunch more jobs.  The furnace thing is a must, a.s.a.p.  The other stuff, I don't know how long it'll all take, but I need ideas.  I figured you two could help me start up a kind of employee improvement committee or somethin' like that.  I want ideas on expansion, ideas on how to make relations with the employees better, anything you can think of.  You'll get paid extra just for bein' in on this, not to mention that if you guys wanna be supervisors, there's a huge bump up in pay for that, too."

"I'm in," T.L. adamantly sounded.  "I'm in on both fronts.  What about you, Daddy?"

"A big raise would be good, so I'm in, too."

"Good," Mark smilingly approved.  "We gotta get through the investigation that's surely gonna be goin' on, but after that, I wanna move as fast as possible to fix the damages and make the changes and expansions."

"You got money for all that, Mark," Darius inquisitively replied.

"Last I checked.  And if not, I can pretty much guarantee the banks would be on board.  I also have some other ideas, but those, I gotta wait on.  It's sad to say my dad is about to die, but when he does, everything is mine.  I wanna guarantee that the plant stays around for a very long time to come.  I need to make sure there is always money to keep it all going, and I was thinkin' that the cost of expansions and improvements could be spread out over a fairly long time.  I wanna maybe start up some other businesses, take the company beyond just steel production.  Ya know?  My dad never had an eye for anything more, but I've been thinkin' about this for a long time.  I can't do it right now, but one day, I want my hand in a lot of other ventures, real estate, maybe restaurants, maybe even trucking.  That's the big one.  I wanna take a page right out of the Rockefeller handbook.  You do your own trucking, and you save a fortune on shipping costs.  If our customers see how much cheaper the shipping is, they're likely to place even bigger orders, and it might bring in new customers.  You're talkin', all in all, even more jobs and more growth for the plant, maybe one day, even a second plant."

"Sounds good, Mark.  Just don't get in over your head.  Play it safe and slow, not too much too fast.  You got a smart head on those shoulders of yours.  You always were the smartest guy I knew, but even smart guys don't always make the best choices.  Let's see how the stuff with fixin' up the plant goes."  T.L. was dead set on this.  He feared that Mark's ideas might prove somewhat disastrous, and the last thing that he wanted was to have to look for another job, not to mention, for all of his co-workers to have to do the same.

"No worries, T.  I got it under control. Nothin' will be done until I've looked everything over and made some real plans.  The plant comes first, always has, always will.  I wanna get the planning stage of everything in high gear really soon, though.  I'm gonna need the both of you, so just be ready.  I think with the investigation, fixin' the damages, and switchin' out the furnaces, we're talkin' about a lot of time off from production.  It's gonna hurt
, but we'll get through it.  The plant is gonna bounce back stronger than it's ever been!"  Mark could not wait to implement these plans.  He hoped that he would have the support of every employee and especially, of all involved in planning, preparation, and carrying it all out, namely, T.L., Darius, and Don.

The time flew by so quickly that none of the men in the truck noticed until they were beginning to pull off of the road and onto the long drive leading up to the Crady house. 
Despite being lost in desperate and anxious thought, Shylah heard the roar of the engine as it neared.  She ran  out of the house just in time to see the truck come around the circle section of the driveway directly in front. 

Mark was happy to see Shylah's shining face as he opened the door to exit the truck.  Stepping around the truck to where Shylah was now engaged in speech with her brother, Mark waited for his chance to interrupt.  "T., if you or your dad hear anything from or about the Bedoes or the Donovans, please let me know right away!"

"No problem, my friend.  Will do."

"Oh, and T.?"

"Yeah, Buddy?  What?"

"If you don't get to the doctor immediately and get your eye taken care of better, I'm gonna personally come to your house and whoop your ass!"

"I ain't ever been afraid of you, Mark Crady," T.L. joked.

"You better be.  Plus, you got a bad eye.  It won't take much.  Please go to the doctor as soon as they can get you in, and I mean it.  Any bills you get that the insurance didn't cover, I'll take care of!  If I have to call the insurance and raise hell and end up payin' most of it, it's gettin' done!  You're not payin' one penny!"

"Got it, Boss Man," T.L. quipped, lifting his hat off of his head and waving it out the window of the truck.

"T.L," Shylah added to Mark's speech, "You better listen.  You're not gonna just have him to worry about.  You'll have your little sister on you, and you know how mean I can get!"

"Oh, don't I know it?!  We were just talkin' about how mean you can get.  Alright.  I'll go right away.  I'll let ya'all know.  You two take it easy, and don't do nothin' ol' T.L. wouldn't do."

As all three of them began to laugh, Darius pulled the truck away, having heard little of the conversation and caring even less.  "Bye, Babydoll," Darius shouted as he rounded the circular drive.  "Bye, Mark.  Love ya, little girl!"

"Bye, Daddy!  I love you, too!  I love both of you!"  Shylah's words carried softly on the wind, just enough for her male family members to almost make out what had been said.

"Dad's nurse still here, Babe," Mark asked, putting his arms around Shylah's back and giving her a kiss on her cheek.  "I missed you!"

"No.  She left a while ago.  Just been me and him here, pretty dang quiet.  He's still sleepin'.  And I missed you, too, Lover Boy!  So, how'd it all go?"

"Pretty good, surprisingly good.  Tanya Donovan was the easy one.  M.J. Bedoe, on the other hand, whoo!  That woman!  But I calmed her down.  I gave her all the money I had on me and promised her I'd take really good care of her family."

"You gave her all your money," Shylah screamed.

"Yeah.  What's wrong with that?  She needs it a lot more than I do."

"Yeah.  I get that, but how are we supposed to go get food now, Baby," Shylah asked with a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

"Babe, I got a bank card.  You think all I ever have is cash?  We're fine, Hon.  Trust me. 
It's all good.  You wanna stay here, and I go get food or what?  Somebody's gotta be here with my dad."

Sucking her lips out of consternation, Shylah agreed, though it was not at all what she wanted.  "How much did you give the Bedoes, by the way?"

"Five hundred and sixty-two dollars cash."

"Damn!  That's a lot!  I hope it helps 'em." 

"They're gonna need way more than that before everything is said and done.  That money was just to get things started," Mark explained.

"And it'll keep her from suing you," Shylah guessed, laughing a little as she said it.

"That, too.  But that's not even my big concern.  I wanna do right by everybody, her, the Donovans, your brother, and anybody else affected by this mess."

"Yeah.  Speakin' of my brother, why was Daddy drivin' T.L.'s truck?  T.L. was drivin' when ya'all left."

"He scared the hell out of me and your daddy.  He started swervin' and stuff.  We convinced him to pull over and switch sides."  Mark exhibited a look of pure terror as he recounted the situation, as if he were reliving every second of it.

"Good thing then.  Glad you two were with him.  Well, Babe, I guess you'd better get goin' to town if we're gonna have food around here.  Your dad might wake up and want somethin'.  Want me to make a list?"

"That'd be a big help.  You don't send a man to a grocery store without one.  Well, really, you don't send a man to a store with one if it's not spelled out clearly."  Mark smiled so deeply, knowing that he could hold his laughter back for only so long.  Upon seeing this, Shylah burst out laughing, laughing so hard that she slipped from Mark's arms and fell to the ground.

"You ok, Baby," Mark asked, as he tried to pull Shylah to her feet.

"I'm ok," Shylah assured Mark.  "That was just one of the funniest things ever.  It's funny cuz it's true!"

Mark followed Shylah into the house and took a seat on the couch in the parlor, immediately lighting up a cigarette.  He had not had one since before he left with Darius and T.L. and felt a tremendous and nagging need for one.  Hardly sooner than he extinguished it, Shylah came into the room, producing a list for Mark's perusal. 

"Pregnancy test?!  What?!"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Baby.  I'm not sayin' I am.  I just see some signs, and I wanna find out.  You should wanna know, too."  Shylah hung her head, thinking that Mark's reaction was much as had been feared.

"Wow, Baby.  This is big.  Holy... Well, ok, but you know... you shouldn't really send a man for that kinda thing.  Maybe I should stay here, and you go."

"Is that what you want?"

"I'd be more comfortable not havin' to buy that."

"Well, as long as we're together, you're likely to have to go buy some other stuff you don't wanna buy at times.  And don't think for a second that if I am, that  it's not yours!"

"I didn't say a word."  Mark had not even considered any possibility of not being the father of the unconfirmed child until Shylah said something about it.

"You're the only guy I've been with in a while, since a while before me and you even started dating, so if I am, it's yours and only yours!  There's nobody else, I swear!"

"I didn't say anything, Honey.  I never doubted it.  But if you are, wow.  We're gonna have a lot to deal with."

Shylah felt infuriated, believing that Mark would not welcome such a blessing or that he might be secretly questioning things.  "Yeah.  It' a lot to deal with, but if God wants it, it'll be!"

"I did not say anything to the contrary.  You're gettin' me all wrong, Shylah!  I never said it wouldn't be a good thing.  It's just it's gonna take some serious plannin' and preparin' is all.  If you are, you are, and who am I to question it or be upset about it?  There is nobody else I'd ever want to do this with."

"You better," Shylah began but could not finish without starting to laugh.  "You better say somethin' like that!  But you also better know that if I am, my mama and my daddy are gonna be expectin' a lot more out of you.  They're gonna expect you to be puttin' a ring on my finger."

"Alright, Babe," Mark laughed back.  "You better get goin' 'fore we starve to death.  Here's my bank card."  Mark quickly produced the card into Shylah's outstretched and eager hand.  "My pin is 1087.  It's got a five hundred dollar limit at the A.T.M., but there's no way you'll need even that much.  You can take out all five hundred, if you want to.  Get whatever you need."

"You know, you shouldn't make your pin your birthday, Baby," Shylah concernedly snapped.

"It's not  It's my birth month and year."

"Ok.  Yes.  Get technical on me.  Still, you should change it to somethin' better, just in case you ever lose your card."

"You goin' to a drive-through when you get done shopping, or are you just plannin' on fixin' somethin' after you get back?"

"I don't know yet.  I'll figure it out later.  If I do go get somethin', what do you want, Babe?"  Before completing the offer, Shylah leaned over the back of the couch, putting her arms around Mark's neck, running her hands down Mark's chest and to his stomach, placing several soft kisses on the man's neck.

"Mmmmm... That feels so good, Babe.  I don't know that I can let you leave!"

"Ok, Goofy, what do you want?  I gotta go," Shylah emphatically added, her silky fingers running the entirety of Mark's upper body.

"You're a tease," Mark screamed.  "You can get me pretty much anything.  Nothin' really comes to mind right now, but I like just about everything.  Whatever you get, get me the same thing, I guess."

"Ok.  Be back soon, I hope.  I just checked on your dad right before you got home.  He was sound asleep.  He's got I.V.s in him.  Just be careful around him.  It's set up like he's in the hospital.  I'll hurry the best I can.  You think I should pick him up somethin', too, or can he have that?"