Episode #14:

Every once in while, the Taylor girls tried to get up early enough to have breakfast together. Cassie and the girls’ relationship was a rare one. In essence, they were each other’s best friend, sharing their innermost feelings and knowing that the others would give true, hurt feelings be damned, advice. Their breakfast time helped to cleanse out bad feelings and to start the day anew.

This was one of those days. Cassie was in the kitchen, hair still wrapped in a scarf, making her famous strawberry pancakes with sausages. She loved these times that she could share with Clemson and Caduceus. Ever since Caduceus came back last week, they hadn’t had time to get together. Cassie didn’t even know what was going through her girls’ heads.

She knew that Clemson was still talking to this Tre guy, she at least knew that, but as for Clemson’s mind set after the 4th, Cassie really didn’t know. Clemson didn’t stay home a lot these days, only to sleep, and she was pretty quiet about whatever was going on in her mind and her life.

Cassie knew even less about Caduceus. The girl came home and not once had she mentioned school, her roommate, or Miami in general. She was hoping to find out what exactly was going on in her daughter’s head. And this breakfast was going to be her way to catch up on her daughters.

“You go, Mom.” 

Cassie turned around, finding Caduceus and Clemson standing in the doorway. Cassie shook her head, smiling at the matching pajamas the girls had on.

“And where am I going?” Cassie asked. Clemson walked up behind Cassie and hugged her around her neck.

“You are going with these slamming ‘cakes,” Caduceus said, opening up the cabinet to get some plates and glasses. “This must be our bonding moment.”

“For real, because you know Mom don’t cook breakfast any other time,” Clemson said, laughing and moving to avoid Cassie’s hand.

“Now, you know that’s a lie,” Cassie said. “If you girls were around more often, you would know I fix breakfast.”

“Mmm hmm,” Clemson said, nodding. “We believe you, Mom.”

“Of course we do,” Caduceus said.

“Oh shut up,” Cassie said, “and help me set the table.” The girls walked into the dining room, setting the table and bringing the pancakes, sausages, and juice out to the table. Cassie and Caduceus sat as Clemson poured them all orange juice before she sat.

“Let’s say grace,” Cassie said, reaching for Clemson and Caduceus’ hands.

“Oh man,” Caduceus said, rolling her eyes. “It’s going to be one of those sermon mornings.”

“Sermon mornings?” Cassie asked.

“You know. When you ask us what’s going on and then you start preaching your advice to us, like we supposed to go around with offering plates afterwards.”

Clemson threw back her head and laughed, with Cassie joining in.

“You know you make no sense,” Clemson said. “Shut up and let Mom do the graces.” Cassie took her daughters’ hands as she closed her eyes and bowed her head.

“Dear Lord,” she began, “thank you for another morning to wake up and live our lives through Your love. Thank you for my two baby girls and let them, and me, have a very blessed day. Amen.”

“Amen,” the girls said in unison, as they all began forking pancakes onto their plates. Clemson cut into her pancake, tasting it.

“Dag, Mom,” she said. “You never cease to amaze me. These are better than I remember.”

“Thank you, baby,” Cassie said. “I know how you and Cadu love them, and I wanted you to have something good before you start your day.  So what are you two doing to start your day?”

“Well,” Caduceus said, “I’m going off to the mall, do some shopping and then to the bookstore. Need me a good juicy book to read.”

“Aren’t you just so lucky?” Clemson asked. “I have to get to work today.”

“Anything important going on there, Clem?” Cassie asked.

“You mean besides her daily battles with Kat?” Caduceus asked, looking across the table at Clemson.

“And who is this Kat person?” 

Clemson drank some juice, taking a couple of seconds before she spoke. “Mom,” she said, “Kat is no one important, just a friend of Tre’s.”

“A very anxious friend,” Caduceus said, as she took a bite of her pancake. 

“Before you even ask, Mom, Kat likes Tre. I think she’s trying to take him away from me.” Clemson bit into a sausage. “Not like he’s mine anyway.”

“What gibberish are you talking now, girl?” Caduceus asked. “The man done told you he loves you. What else do you want? A ring?”

Cassie’s head resembled a tennis match spectator as it moved side to side, from Clemson to Caduceus and back again. “Love?” Cassie asked. “A ring? It seems I’m missing a whole lot here.”

“You’re not missing anything, Mom,” Clemson said. “Cadu just likes to be melodramatic. You know that."

“Once, and only once, Tre said he loved me, but I don’t put much stock in it.”

“And why not?”

“I don’t want to get into that long conversation, Mom. I just know that Kat is a woman who will do whatever it takes to get Tre. I don’t know if I can compete.”

“What you need to do is learn how to compete,” Caduceus said. “You’ll never get what you want if you don’t fight for it.”

“Cadu, you know I’ve never been about fighting for anything. I’m not going to throw myself at any man.”

“Like you did Brady?” Caduceus asked. Clemson looked across the table at Caduceus, her mouth wide open, staring in disbelief. Now why she gonna bring up Brady, Clemson thought. Did she throw herself at Brady? Clemson didn’t think so. She simply sent him dozens of cards, letters, gifts, roses, and anything else, to show to Brady how much she loved him. Even when he never returned a letter or bothered to tell Clemson how he truly felt, Clemson continued to do all these things for him. 

“Okay,” Clemson whispered, “maybe I did throw myself at Brady, but I have learned from that experience. I’m not repeating it again.”

“But it’s totally different now, Clemson.”

“How so?”

“Well for one thing,” Caduceus said, “Tre has shown SOME kind of affection towards you; whereas, Brady, not to hurt your feelings, never showed you the time of day.” 

Clemson flinched, realizing again how stupid she was for wasting two years of her life trying to get something she couldn’t have.  She looked at her mother, wanting to get Caduceus and her words out of her head. “So Mom,” she said, “that’s my life in a nutshell. At the moment I’m without a man or a school to call my own.”

“When do you expect to hear from the schools?” Cassie asked.

“Probably within the week, hopefully. All the schools I applied to start in the beginning of September, so I have to know soon.”

“Well at least you have your new job with Tre,” Cassie said.

“We’ll see how long this job last as long as Miss Kat is still there,” Caduceus said, wiping her mouth with her napkin.

Clemson shook her head, trying to think of a new topic to switch to. “Okay, enough about me. My life is non-existent. How about we talk about you, Caduceus?”

Caduceus shot her head up, looking from Clemson to her mother.

“What about me?” she asked.

“I want to know about you, too,” Cassie said, pushing her plate forward. “Ever since you came home, I have heard nothing about school, men, or Miami. What gives?” 

Caduceus leaned back in her chair, rubbing her stomach slowly, feeling nervous energy begin to bundle there. “Nothing gives, Mom. It’s just that nothing really is going on. School is fine. I got four As and a B this semester as you know.  Miami is always hot and sunny, and well, I don’t deal with the men down there.”

“What about Jay?” Clemson asked, smiling. “Or was his name Jarrod?”

Caduceus shot Clemson a wait til later look as she felt her mom staring at her.

“Are you going to tell me about Jay, or do I have to ask Clem?” Cassie asked.

Caduceus rolled her eyes, wishing this inquisition was over. “Jay goes to school with me. He’s a senior majoring in pre-med.”

“So he’s an aspiring doctor eh?” Cassie asked, beaming. “That sounds nice.”

Clemson couldn’t keep her eyes off Caduceus. She wanted to burst out laughing as Caduceus squirmed in her chair, her cheeks getting flushed. 

It’s what her ass gets, Clemson thought. She always wants to throw me up in the forefront of everything. Let her ass get some of it.

“It’s not really serious between us Mom, so don’t go thinking about a doctor for a son-in-law.  He’s someone I’ve been out with a few times, someone I can talk to, hang out with, chill with. Nothing more, nothing less.” 

Clemson and Cassie locked eyes, as if they knew something different. 

“Stop that,” Caduceus said.

“Stop what?” Clemson asked, giving Caduceus one of her good girl smiles.

“Acting like you two have this secret about me or something. I have told you guys everything. Is my interrogation over?”

Cassie and the girls were jolted from their conversation when they heard someone knocking at the door. 

“I’ll get it,” Caduceus said. “It’ll gimme a reason to leave the table.” Caduceus jumped up and went to the door. When she opened it, she froze. “Oh my God.”

“Well hello to you, too, Boo,” Jay said, smiling at Caduceus. Noticing how shocked Caduceus was, Jay opened the screen door himself and took Caduceus in his arms, holding her tightly against him.

“What are you doing here?” Caduceus asked, almost in a whisper.

“I couldn’t wait another week to see you, so I flew up, got me a hotel room, and now I’m standing in front of my boo.” 

Caduceus was completely dumb struck. How was she going to explain this amorous guy named Jay after she had already told Clemson and Cassie that they were merely friends?

“Who’s this?” Clemson asked, sneaking up behind Caduceus, her smile so big all her teeth were showing.

“You have got to be Clemson,” Jay said, maneuvering himself around Caduceus to raise his hand to Clemson.

“Yes, I’m Clemson, and you are?”

“Jarrod Jones, but you can call me Jay.” 

Clemson shook Jay’s hand.  “We were just talking about you, Jay.  Your ears must be burning.”

“They are a little warm,” he responded, laughing. Clemson took Jay by the hand and walked him into the dining room.

“You have to meet Mom, Jay,” she said. Caduceus slowly closed the door, but her feet refused to move. She simply turned toward the walkway, watching as Clemson and Jay walked into the dining room.

Cassie was getting up from the table when she noticed Clemson and some very nice looking man coming into the dining room. She knew it wasn’t Tre. This guy was much darker, almost chocolate, but his skin looked satin smooth and his smile was at least a couple hundred watts.

“Mom,” Clemson said. “This is Jay. Caduceus’ friend.” Cassie perked up instantly, smiling at Jay.

“Hello, Mrs. Taylor,” Jay said, shaking her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” she responded. Cassie quickly got into her mother mode. “Sit down, Jay. Have you had breakfast?”

Jay sat down and smiled. “Um, no Mrs. Taylor, but please don’t go to any trouble for me.”

“Honey, now don’t talk nonsense,” Cassie said, laughing. “I have some of my homemade strawberry pancakes out here. I’ll just pop them in the microwave to warm up a bit.”

Clemson sat down at the table beside Jay as Caduceus finally managed to make it in the room. 

“So what brings you to Baltimore, Jay?” Cassie asked from the kitchen.

“Well, of course your daughter, Mrs. Taylor,” Jay said, matter of factly. “I missed her and wanted to finally meet the sister and mother she’s always talking about.” 

Caduceus walked up behind Jay, placing her hands on his shoulders. As happy as she was to see Jay’s face and have him hold her, she was just as upset about having her family meet him.

She was hoping to make a clean break and just have Jay be a wonderful memory in her mind that had to end. But now she had some explaining to do. Her brain worked in overdrive, trying to figure out what she could possibly say to make up for the “just friends” lie she told.

Cassie walked in carrying a plate of strawberry pancakes and a glass. Placing them in front of Jay, she poured him some orange juice. They all sat around quiet as Jay took his first bite of the pancake and sighed. 

“These are delicious, Mrs. Taylor,” Jay said. “No wonder your girls keep coming back.”

Cassie laughed. “Thank you, Honey, but I was hoping they also came back because they liked their old mother.”

“Oh, you know we like you, Mom,” Caduceus said, moving around the table to sit across from Jay. “If only a little.” They laughed.

Clemson couldn’t stop smiling. Her face was beginning to hurt she was smiling so hard. It was rare that Caduceus lost her cool, but here she was, looking like she was about to faint, and Clemson was here to witness it. “So how long you plan on staying, Jay?” Clemson asked.

“I know that Cadu talked about leaving next week, so I was hoping to go back with her,” Jay answered. “Gives me time to see you all and meet this Randi.”

“And where are you staying?” Cassie asked.

“At a hotel about fifteen minutes away from here. Actually,” he said, eyeing his watch, “I told them I was checking in at 10 a.m., so I have to make it up there soon.”

“Well Hon,” Cassie said, “just call them up and let them know you gonna be late. They should understand.” Cassie rose from her chair and began to clear her and the girls’ dishes. 

“So how long have you known our Miss Cadu?” Clemson asked, still enjoying her sister’s uneasiness.

“Why don’t you go and make your call to the hotel, Jay?” Caduceus asked.  “Let them know you will be late.” Jay got up from the chair and walked over to Caduceus.

“Where’s the phone at, Boo?” 

“In the room you first came in, on the television.” Jay bent down and placed a kiss on Caduceus’ forehead.

When he left the room, Clemson laughed. “So he’s just your friend, huh, Boo?” Clemson said.

“Don’t start with me, Clem. This is not the time.”

“Oh, well, I think you better make it the time,” Clemson said. “Your boy gonna be here for about a week, so the time is now.”

Clemson got up from the table and left the room, leaving Caduceus to think about how she was going to cope with having Jay in Baltimore for a week.