Chapter 2
Avery Dawson switched on the porch light and peered out into the night. He turned his head to the side so that his eyes could catch a glimpse of the street, all the way to the corner. But there was nothing but darkness.
Mosquitoes and gnats were swirling around the porch light. He made a mental note to buy one of those bug zappers the next time he went to the hardware store.
The August night was quiet, thick with the Alabama humidity. The window air conditioner hummed noisily inside the living room, working hard to cool off the downstairs of their small Cape Cod. There was another window unit upstairs in their bedroom. Sunny had one in her bedroom that was just across the hall from their room. She wasn’t allowed to turn her A/C unit on until she was in the room for the night though and tonight she was late.
Again.
“Your sixteen-year-old has missed her curfew again, Donna. The girl has no respect for rules or boundaries it seems.”
“Oh Avery,” Donna replied, uncurling her tanned legs from beneath her as she sat upright on the sofa where she’d been glued to the television. “It’s only eleven thirty-five. What’s five or ten minutes?”
Avery turned to face her, his face a mask of solemnity. He was a man of God; he took rules and regulations seriously. He had done that all of his life. Having grown up in Tupelo, Mississippi, under the strict tutelage of his father, also a minister in the Southern Baptist faith, he had learned those lessons. He had been taught the importance of adhering to the rules, and conversely the consequences of defiance.
Sometimes those consequences culminated in having a razor strap flayed against his bare back. But at the end, he had learned the lessons he was supposed to learn; and he was raised with discipline. As a result, he respected the authority of those in power; God, of course, being the highest one. It was because of this he’d made a vow to serve God and see to it that others learned to follow the straight and narrow path that would ultimately lead them to their own personal salvation.
“The point, Donna, is that the girl needs to learn to follow the rules she’s been given. Not to bend them at her whim. Five or ten minutes now, fifteen or twenty minutes next time. She has to learn self-discipline. You aren’t consistent with discipline. She knows what she can get away with when it comes to you.” His voice carried disapproval.
“But it’s summer time. It’s when she’s supposed to cut loose a little bit, honey. Wouldn’t hurt if we extended her curfew to midnight. My boy was allowed to stay out later on the weekends than she is at the same age, darlin’.”
Avery had now tensed up. Donna was too soft where her offspring were concerned. That had been evident from their first date two years ago. The boy was obviously out of control. It had been a blessing when he finally enlisted in the military a year after graduating high school. Perhaps the Navy would find a way to repair the damage done as a result of his undisciplined upbringing.
But it wasn’t too late for Sunny. Avery needed to press that upon Donna; he wanted to be a part of that process. He felt responsible now that he was part of this family to ensure that the girl reached her full spiritual potential. It was too easy these days to fall in with the wrong crowd and she had. They were wild party girls. In particular, Gina Margolis. He knew plenty about that one.
“Do you trust me?” he asked, as his grey eyes searched hers. “Because this is serious and I won’t have you making light of it.”
“Well, of course I do, Avery. I mean, I know that I haven’t been a perfect parent with my kids, but gosh almighty, I mostly had to do it on my own.”
“I understand that, sugar. But I’m here now and I’d like to think that I represent a good male influence in Sunny’s life. One that she’s been missing all of these years. It’s not too late to instill some values in her and discipline will enforce that. She needs to learn by accepting the consequences of poor choices and bad decisions.”
“Discipline?” Donna’s forehead wrinkled with confusion. “Well it isn’t as if I don’t punish her for breaking the rules, Avery. I try to pick my battles, you know? I don’t want to go to war with my only daughter. I remember how that had been with my own mama.” She shuddered at the memories that surfaced. Her mother had never approved of one damn thing she had done her entire life. She hadn’t wanted that to be the way it was between her and her own daughter.
Avery pulled Donna up from the sofa to stand before him. He framed her face with his large hands. “Listen, Donna. This is important now. You and me? Well, we need to do this together. We’re a family or at least that’s what I thought you wanted us to be.”
“Oh, I do Avery! You know that I do.”
“Okay then, you will need to trust my judgment on this. With the crowd of trash she’s running with, well, we have no idea what she’s been doing. Drinking? Smoking dope? Let’s start with curfew, okay? She has to learn there are disciplinary consequences when she breaks the rules. Do you understand?”
Donna nodded. “Yes, Avery. I understand. You do what you think is best. I trust your judgment on this. I don’t want to fail my children. I meant to be a good mother, I truly did.”
“I know, sugar. And believe me, I’m not sitting in judgment of you, not for a second. But you didn’t have a man around most of the time, and that’s where it was difficult for you to be both mother and father to your children. Just remember that discipline is a form of love. And it is for her own good, Donna. You need to remember that.”
She nodded. She knew that Avery was a good man with high moral standards. She was lucky to have him in her life; to ground her and influence her own behavior. Her past was one she wasn’t proud of but Avery hadn’t judged her at all. He had taken to her despite the sullied reputation she had earned along the way.
Her past wasn’t pretty, there was no denying that. The men that had come and gone; the failed marriages that had led to her raising her children alone. She never wanted Avery to leave her. He was the best thing that could possibly have happened to her. She even wanted to give him a child of his own. They hadn’t discussed it, but she wasn’t too old to fill that dream for him if he wanted. And if he did, well she was determined she would. Right now Avery was focused on getting his congregation established, but Donna knew that a child on the way would be a welcome distraction for both of them. She was sure of it.
Avery walked over to the front window and peered out again. She could tell there was still no sign of Sunny. “I think grounding her is in order when she decides to grace us with her presence tonight. You go on to bed now. I’ll wait up for her.”
“Are you sure?” Donna asked tentatively, chewing on her bottom lip in apprehension.
“I am. Go on up to bed. I’ll wake you once she’s home.” She turned and started up the staircase, turning back to face him once more. “Goodnight then, Avery.”