the newest? Or go by date of sale, from his most recent purchase to the earliest, for example. That made sense at the time, but then I realized that part of the concept of Japanese aesthetics is simplicity. Not overcomplicating things.”
“Wouldn’t going by a certain order uncomplicate things?”
She shrugged.
“Not necessarily. Establishing order for some cultures is freedom. In Japanese culture, it obviously exists, but the relinquishment of order is also considered applicable to certain concepts, this being one of them. In other words, you can find order in disorder if it’s pleasing to the eye. So, we will just go as you see fit.”
“As I see fit? How the hell should I know where to start or move on from?”
“It’s by your own instinct. You’re his son and honestly, there’s no right or wrong way to do this. Whatever you wish.”
“If I could be in your brain for just ten minutes, I bet I’d feel like I’d taken something wrong and strong!” he teased as he reached for her curls to play with her hair.
This was met by her shooing his hand away and cutting her eyes at him. I can’t get over how damn pretty she is… and she’s mine. All mine. She looked out the window for a spell, then turned back in his direction.
“Well, think of it like this, Aries. Why did you decide to come to this farm first?” He shrugged, took a drag of his cigarette, then smashed it into the ashtray, ending its fiery life in an instant.
“I told you this already. It sold. The new owners will be movin’ their stuff up here first, so I figure we better get it off the list before we’re charged with trespassing.”
“Right, but remember a while back when we discussed everything happening for a reason? You still thought of this place first and it sold quicker than you thought it would. So, there you have it. Just go with the flow. Don’t tie yourself down to any one way to look at this. Your thoughts and decisions are not prisoners unless you want them to be.”
“Yeah? You talk like that little Asian guy in the Karate Kid sometimes, Mr. Miyagi, you know that?”
“You just don’t know when to quit.”
“Speaking of jail, you know what else? I got arrested a couple times back in my twenties.” He kept his eye on the road, but could feel the woman’s glare.
“Arrested? For what?”
He could hear that ‘thing’ in her voice. This special pitch he often heard from annoyed Black women, be it in person, out and about, or even on television. It didn’t matter their appearance, education, upbringing or vocation. They all seemed to possess that vibe, as if it were part of their very DNA. That extraordinary tone danced between humor and anger, and sounded way different from White women on the verge of causing a scene. No, this was heavier, thicker – not yelling, but would surface just before an explosion of sorts. Kind of like a warning to tread lightly.
“Arrested for what?” she repeated, this time a bit louder.
He tossed her a glance and from the way her brows bunched, the wrinkled forehead and gaping mouth, he realized the can of worms was certainly open and there was no going back.
“For fighting. I fought a lot. Someone said something slick, I made sure they didn’t say shit else. Served some time, nothin’ too hard.” He looked at her once more. Her expression hadn’t changed. “I got into it with some guys is all, Lauren. In one of the incidents, the guy stole from me. A so-called friend. He went into my wallet and took out some money he knew I needed. When I realized what he’d done, I beat the shit out of him. I don’t regret it, either.”
“And the second incident?”
“This fucker was hittin’ on my ex-wife, girlfriend at the time, right in front of me. Very disrespectful. And he knew she was with me.” He pointed at himself. Her expression dripped with disapproval. For the first time in a long time, he gave a damn what someone thought of him. And he didn’t like it. “I had a hot temper. I’m just bringing up the arrest record because, well, I thought you should know.”
“So, you have assault charges against these two guys? Nothing else, right?”
“Yeah, well, I got in trouble for similar offenses, but those two incidents caused me the most trouble. No burglary, sexual assault, or crazy shit like that.” She slowly turned