A Good Man (21 page)

“Don’t we all,” John said.

“Yep.” How long have we been out here? An hour? Not even. I don’t want this date, I mean, this lesson to end. “What can we do tomorrow morning?”

John peeked over the lip. “Tomorrow? Why not today? We can go jogging as the sun rises all the way down to the beach. It’s about two miles. The view down there is amazing.”

And now he’s using that word.

“Unless you’re too tired,” John said.

I’m too alive to be tired. “I’m okay. Um, thanks for the lesson.”

“Thanks for …” John shook his head. “Just … thanks.”

“For what?”

“For giving me a chance … to get to know you better. I doubt I’ll win any of the challenges.”

“Oh, I have a feeling you will.” And it’s a good feeling because I am inches from a good man in a warm swimming pool at five in the morning, and I feel … peace. My heart is floating in my chest. “I’ll just throw on some sweats and meet you …”

“At the end of the driveway.”

Where all this madness began. “See you in a few.” She climbed out of the pool.

“Good morning, Sonya.”

She looked at John, who was backstroking away from her. “Good morning, John.” Sonya removed her bathing cap and dried out her ears. He’s watching my every move when he thinks I don’t notice him watching. He’s watching me. He’s sponging me up. He sees me. He sees beauty in me.

I like to be watched.

“That was sweet.”

“Is this man romantically retarded, or what?”

“Bob, you have to know his history. He’s been through so much tragedy that—”

“She was ripe for the taking!” Bob interrupted. “They were inches apart! She was standing on his feet! Her breasts were rubbing on his chest! And when he went under the water to hold her, he barely kept his eyes open! What good are underwater cameras if they don’t capture a man staring at a woman’s naughty bits?”

“Naughty bits?”

“So I’m a fan of Monty Python.”

“The chlorine in that pool is very strong, Bob.”

“Not that strong. What kind of man nearly closes his eyes when he can get up close and personal with a woman’s—”

“C’mon, Bob,” Larry interrupted. “He’s being careful, and so is she. This is how relationships begin in the real world. One step at a time. Or in this case, one lesson at a time.”

“You saw how she was looking at him, Larry. She wanted more, much more.”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“If they had kissed or even hugged we’d have more fireworks to shoot off at brunch. A swimming lesson just won’t do it. Unless …”

“Unless what?”

“Unless we manipulate what they said to our advantage.”

“You mean, take what they said to each other out of context.”

“Precisely. Have the writers and editors have at it.”

“I don’t like this, Bob.”

“I don’t care if you like it, Larry. It’ll be great for ratings. Yes, we’re going to turn the swimming lesson into something much more interesting.”

I’m jogging with a premier athlete goddess while the sun rises behind us, and she’s hardly breaking a sweat, John thought. While I am having cramps in my calves, she is still smiling. Her ponytail swishing through the air has more energy than I have. I am so out of shape in so many ways.

“How you doin’, John?” she asked.

“Sweatin’, Sonya.”

She laughed. “And this is only the downhill part.”

“I know.”

When they reached the beach, they slowed to a leisurely stroll, neither one speaking.

I’ve forgotten how to talk to a woman, John thought. What do I say? What did I say to Sheila when she was quiet? It’s been so long. Maybe this: “You seem lost in thought.”

Sonya pointed down the beach. “Just missing my sister. She’s down that way at a hotel. She’s supposed to help me weed y’all out in a few weeks.”

“I shouldn’t ask, but … she isn’t your opposite, is she?”

Sonya laughed. “Just about. She’s … she’s something.”

“Oh.” That doesn’t sound good. “Um, how something is she?”

“About as something as anyone I’ve ever known.” She stopped walking and looked out over the ocean. “She’s quite the little heathen.”

“I’ll be praying for her,” John said. And I’ll be praying for me when she does arrive.

“Thank you.” She turned and smiled. “I’ve been praying for her for twenty-six years. Fervently.”

“It will one day avail much, Sister Sonya.”

“Ooh, listen to the preacher man talk.” She sighed. “We should probably be getting back to the castle, old man. That hill isn’t getting any lower.”

John rubbed his knee. Maybe if she sees me rubbing my knee …

“I see what you’re trying to do,” Sonya said.

What am I trying to do? Oh, yeah. I’m catching what little breath I have left in my body. “You’ve figured me out.”

“To the castle,” she said.

“Yeah. To the castle.”

As John struggled to keep up, he tried not to stare at Sonya’s … Butt, man. You can think it. It’s an excellent piece of God’s craftsmanship. She has honed and toned and chiseled that part of her anatomy for most of her life, and she deserves to have it looked at. You are a man. You are allowed to take in the beauty of God’s handiwork. You are allowed to stare hard at a woman who is not looking back—

“You okay back there?” Sonya asked.

John smiled. “Yes.”

“Why are you running so far behind me?”

“I like the chase.” Don’t say it, don’t say it … “And the view.” You said it! And now you’re blushing.

Sonya slowed until she was beside him. “You staring at my booty?”

“Yes. I know it’s not very godly, Sonya, but God made it, and I’m just praising it.”

Sonya’s mouth dropped open. “How … You just turned … Ooh, you are a preacher man. But I didn’t hear a hallelujah.”

John dropped back. “Hallelujah!”

“Stop!”

“Lord God in heaven, You are so good!” John shouted.

Sonya slowed until he caught up. “Please stop.”

“Forgive me, Sonya. I’ve been alone a long time. You are much more than a pair of legs and a tempting, uh, butt running up a hill. You’re a smile brighter than the sunrise. I hope to chase after you some more.”

Sonya looked up at the sky. “The things you say.”

“I mean every word.”

“I know you do, but tomorrow I’m letting you go ahead of me.”

“Why?”

“I want to say hallelujah, too.”

Despite the aches and the pains in his legs, John sprinted ahead.

“Amen!” Sonya yelled.

John looked back. “No hallelujah?”

Sonya caught up to and passed John with ease. “I’m playing hard to get, John.”

After showering and changing into a clean pair of sweats, John walked into yet another meeting of the Crew in the great room.

“What’s up?” John asked Justin.

“Who knows, man,” Justin said.

“How’s your stomach?” John asked.

“Empty,” Justin said. “They’re not feeding us until after this is over. Probably another video.”

Of a swimming lesson, no doubt, John thought. Hmm. This could get dicey.

Graham swept in from the foyer and stood in front of the TV. “Crew, there were more clandestine activities last night involving Jazz … and Arthur.” Graham clicked the remote. “Just wait until you see this.”

The video was grainier than the previous one, and the fisheye lens skewed and rounded the rectangular pool, but there was no doubt who was in the video.

I was that close to her? I guess I was. Oh, yeah. She stood on my feet. That was a nice sensation. But why are they filming us from behind? And where’s the sound? We were talking the entire time.

And then John heard:

“It is warm. I’m ready.”

“Um, take a deep breath. You may need to wave your hands, um, lower. Yeah. Keep that up as best you can.”

“Like this?”

“Yes.”

“Eight strokes. Stroke, stroke, blow, stroke, stroke, breathe. Let’s practice that. If you get tired or scared …”

“I’m not tired. You’re a good teacher.”

“I’m good.”

“Yes.”

“On a scale of one to ten, I was about a two.”

“Yeah. Um, thanks for the lesson.”

John took a deep breath and exhaled. Oh, Lord, mind my tongue. He stood and went to the center of the room, looking up at a ceiling fan. I hope there’s a camera in there. “I want to see one or both of the producers right now.”

The rest of the room was speechless.

“None of that happened like that,” John told the Crew. “They cut and spliced the entire thing to make it look like something it wasn’t. I simply taught Jazz how to swim and that’s all.”

Aaron pounded a pillow with his fist. “You and Jazz got busy in the pool?”

“That’s what the producers want you to think,” John said, his voice steady but his anger rising. “I gave Jazz a swimming lesson, only they”—he pointed at the ceiling—“didn’t include the lesson. The producers edited all that out and only used parts of our conversation to make y’all angry. Didn’t you see the tape loop? We weren’t standing next to each other for more than ten seconds the entire time. That tape loops at least two times.”

“I saw it,” Tony said.

“So did I,” Gary said.

“Oh, man, that’s shameful,” Justin said. “Oh, not giving Jazz a swim lesson. That wasn’t shameful, Artie. That mess they made on the screen was shameful.”

John continued to look at the ceiling. “I said I wanted to see a producer. Larry? You better get down here.” He scanned the room. “If they could do it to me, if they could manipulate what I did and said in a perfectly harmless activity, they could do it to you, too. That isn’t what happened. That would never happen.”

“Don’t sweat it, Arthur,” Tony said.

“Yeah, man,” Gary said. “That’s some trifling mess.”

“Ain’t it,” Justin said.

Aaron jumped up and stood beside Graham. “How can we be sure that what we just saw didn’t happen?”

“The video repeated itself, man,” Gary said. “Only the dialogue changed, and it was so fuzzy we couldn’t even see their mouths moving.”

“I didn’t see that,” Aaron said. “Did the rest of you see that?”

“Well, then, we’ll show it again,” Gary said, “and we’ll show you where the tape repeats.”

John shook his head. “Gary, I’d rather you didn’t. That was an abomination.”

Aaron snatched the remote from Graham. “I want to see.”

While the video ran again, Gary stood at the TV. “There, you see that? The entire scene repeats after this. You see that now, don’t you, Aaron?”

Aaron clicked off the video and the TV. “All right, all right.” He squared his shoulders. “But you all are missing the point. Artie here got with our princess again. In the pool late at night. He seems to like to sneak around and stab us all in the back like that. And what if it doesn’t repeat or loop as you say? Artie was out there trying to ruin Jazz.”

“Oh, man, like hell he was, Aaron,” Gary said. “Show it again in slow motion this time.”

“Don’t worry about it, Gary,” Tony said. “Aaron only sees what he wants to see. We could show it to him a hundred times and he still won’t see it.”

“Because it’s not there,” Aaron said, slapping the back of his hand into his other palm. “Artie was getting busy with Jazz.”

John sighed. “Larry, you’re about to have a mutiny here.” Lord, what do I do? Jazz would be devastated to see this. Hmm. He went to the DVD player and hit the eject button. “I’m sure Jazz has a DVD player in her room.” He took out the DVD and held it up. “I’m sure she’ll just love seeing how you twisted our words and made her look like a harlot.”

“A what?” Aaron asked.

“A ho, Aaron,” Justin said. “Dang. Ain’t you never been to church?”

“Jazz isn’t a ho!” Aaron shouted.

“I know that, man,” Justin said. “But the producers are tryin’ to make her look like one. For ratings. Understand?”

Larry appeared, his hands behind him, and he walked slowly toward John. “What seems to be the trouble?”

John showed him the DVD. “This is a complete lie.”

Larry nodded. “Yes, yes, it is a lie. And this wasn’t my idea at all, though I must confess that I had our editors rig it up.” He turned to the Crew. “Arthur gave Jazz a swim lesson this morning. That’s all that happened. We altered the truth to get a reaction out of you.” He looked up at the ceiling.

“Why?” Aaron asked.

“To piss us off,” Gary said. “And especially to piss you off, Aaron. Don’t you see that you’re getting played?” Gary stood. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m about to walk. This is one shaky, shady show, and I can make just as much working back in Memphis.”

Justin stood. “This is some serious BS, Larry. But I ain’t pissed off. I ain’t mad at Arthur. The man got game. I should be taking some lessons from him. Two nights in a row. I even tried to stay up. Arthur, don’t you ever sleep?”

“I’m still on Alabama time, I guess,” John said. He looked around the room. “Look, fellas, I noticed yesterday that Jazz was the only one not swimming. I’ve seen that look before. It was as if she were afraid of the water. You saw her sitting at the shallow end, right?”

“Yeah, I saw her, and I sat with her,” Aaron said. “So what?”

“So I asked Jazz to meet me at the pool, and she agreed. I didn’t think she’d want a lot of people watching, and four AM seems to be the only time it’s finally quiet around here. I mean, it’s kind of embarrassing for an adult not to know how to swim, and you don’t want an audience for your first swim lesson.” Whoa. And her bio says she’s a surfer. I hope no one in here remembers that!

“Where were you two later in the morning?” Aaron asked.

“We went for a jog down to the beach and back,” John said. “We were just swimming and jogging today, nothing more.” Okay, I felt her one-pack and stared at her butt and nice, muscular legs. I even said hallelujah a couple times.

Aaron nodded to himself so much John thought his head would fall off. “You see? You see? He’s getting dates with her before he earns the right to get a date, and that ain’t right.”

“Those weren’t dates,” Justin said. “That was only a foot rub, a swimming lesson, and some jogging.”

“And there’s no rule against it,” Tony said. “It’s supposed to be every man for himself, right, Mr. Prince?”

“You are correct, Tony,” Larry said. “And the challenges begin today, gentlemen. We’ll be taking you out to the obstacle course right after lunch.”