Mending Broken Flowers

"Why you not going home, huh?" she yelled at him, fists balled up.

"Told you, there's nothing to go home to," he said flatly.

"Damn it, please?" she begged and started to cry.

"Fine, fine, when you need to go?" he sighed.

"My last final's this Thursday and I got to be out of the dorm by Saturday," Lily sniffled.

"So, you'll be ready to go on Friday?" he asked.

"Yeah but...:" she sniffled.

"I like to leave no later than nine; see, there's this place in Alex? Leah's, best ham and cheese sandwich you ever stuffed your face with, then it's just a straight shot to home," Gabriel smiled tightly.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

"You're welcome," he sighed and picked up her plate.

"I can use your bathroom?" she asked, getting to her feet.

"No, last time you were here, you left it a mess," he said wiping down the counter. "Poop all over the place, took me a week just to get the smell out of here."

"What?" she screeched.

"Lily, you know where it is," he said, pointing toward the bathroom.

"Um, how much, um, what you going to charge me for a ride home?" she asked as she zipped up her coat.

"You got to be nice to me; I'm sick and tired of you always being so God damned ugly to me. I don't know what the fuck I ever did to you to get you hating me so fucking much, but I'm sick and tired of it," he said and opened the door for her.

"I don't hate you," she mumbled to herself as he opened the van door for her.

"Funny, sure seems that way," he said as he started the van.

----

"Boyfriend's here," Tracy said, looking out the window of the dormitory.

"He's not my...whatever," Lily said and zipped up her coat.

"Damn, it is COLD out here," Tracy shrilled as she helped Lily lug her few possessions toward Gabriel's van.

"I could have gotten all of that; here, get in the van," Gabriel said, grabbing a few of the suitcases.

"Merry Christmas," Lily told her friend, hugged her, then dashed for the van.

"She got any more stuff?" Gabriel asked Tracy.

"Nope; that's it," The tall girl smiled and waved good bye to Lily.

"Merry Christmas, see you next year," Gabriel called out as he lugged the cargo to his van.

"You um, you went Christmas shopping?" Lily asked, indicating the stack of Christmas present s in the rear of the van.

"Yeah, got some stuff for my mom, couple of things for you know, like Peggy and a few other people," Gabriel shrugged and put the van in gear.

"Thank you; I really appreciate this," Lily quietly said.

"Hope so; last fucking thing I wanted to do is go to Bender," Gabriel admitted as he drove south.

Chapter 7

It was a beautiful spring day, except for the relentless pollen. Just walking down a sidewalk, a person couldn't help but brush up against something, and then be covered in yellow pollen.

But Gabriel wasn't thinking of any of that as he sat on the bench. He was thinking about his future; he was graduating in three weeks, then going home.

During Christmas, he and his mother had buried the hatchet, as best as they could.

Now, she was expecting him to come back, and to work in the flower shop again, but full time instead of just part time.

He was happy that he and his mother had made up, and happy that she seemed to want a relationship, but was very apprehensive about going back home to work shoulder to shoulder with her.

"Oh well, a little late now to e changing my mind, huh?" he asked himself.

Carmen Florez had already moved in to the house on Texas; she was renting it from him. His house on Myrtle was also rented; it had been rented when he bought it from the previous owner and the tenant just stayed on. His house on Bonner was also rented out and the house on Kentucky had a tenant that would be moving in just after graduation.

"Hey," a soft voice broke into his reverie.

"Hey," he said and Lily sat down on the bench next to him.

"Listen, I um, I went by your house on Texas, some bitch said you weren't there, even though your van was right there," Lily screwed up her face in distaste.

"Yeah, that was Carmen but she was right; I wasn't there," Gabriel said. "She told me when I got back."

"I um, listen, you um, that night, remember, we had that green soup?" Lily said, picking at a flake of paint off of the bench.

"Um, oh, oh yeah, you said 'Ew, I'm not eating THAT!' then ate like ten bowls of it?" Gabriel asked.

"Yeah, that night," Lily giggled.

"Yeah, I remember," Gabriel said.

"You said you was sick of me hating you?" Lily said.

"Yeah, well I am; God damn no matter what I do, there you are, right up my ass, yelling at me, telling me I'm a big ass loser and shit," Gabriel said, getting agitated.

"I never hated you," Lily said, unable to look at him

"Could have fooled me," Gabriel spat.

"Um, that was kind of the whole idea," Lily mumbled.

"What?" Gabriel asked, looking at her.

"I still remember kindergarten," Lily said, still unable to look at him. "I'm just sitting there, then all of a sudden, the cutest boy in the whole wide world comes in and I just knew you'd never like me; Iris was always so pretty and then there was Daisy and oh, she was so precious and nobody ever told me I was pretty and so, if you wasn't going to like me then I was just going to hate you and if I hated you then it wouldn't hurt if you didn't want to be my friend."

"Lily, what the fuck?" Gabriel yelled. "We were five years old! Five fucking years old! You've been making my life a fucking nightmare because of some stupid shit you dreamed up when you was five?"

"Well it didn't work!" she screamed back at him. "The more I tried to fucking hate you, the more I fell in love with you!"

"I'm going, God damn, you are fucking nuts, you hear? You are a fucking certifiable fucking lunatic!" Gabriel stood up.

She stood up on the bench and grabbed him around his neck.

"Get off me, crazy ass bitch!" he yelled, trying to disenable himself from her.

She pressed her lips to his.

"I love you, oh God, I've dreamed of this forever," she sighed and kissed him again.

"Get the fuck off of me, God damned bitch!" Gabriel screamed and shoved Lily hard.

She fell onto her rear and looked up at him, dazed.

He fought the immediate urge to check to see if she was okay, turned on his heel and walked off.

"Gabriel, I love you," she called out.

Over his shoulder, Gabriel gave her the finger.

----

Gabriel entered his house. Carmen looked up from the couch where she had all of her papers spread out.

"You will not, I mean, you will not believe what the fuck just happened," Gabriel spat, face still red with anger.

"Space aliens came and got you, brainwashed you, and now you're here to take over the world," she answered, not looking up from her papers.

"No, almost as weird, though," Gabriel said sitting down at the very end of the couch, out of the paper piles.

He relayed what had happened on the campus bench. Carmen looked at him, face a blank mask.

"And?" she finally asked. "When do we get to the weird part?"

"I mean, God damn!" Gabriel yelled. "Bitch has been up my ass, making my life a living hell and then just all of a sudden comes out with this shit?"

"That's that little blonde?" Carmen asked.

"Yeah," Gabriel agreed.

"Hangs out with Brooke and Tracy?" Carmen asked, still organizing her papers.

"Uh huh," Gabriel agreed.

"And? So when do we get to the weird part?" Carmen asked. "Remember? We saw them at the Sundowner's? I could have told you then that girl was in love with you."

A light knocking was heard.

Gabriel and Carmen stared at each other for a moment.

"Oh, no, don't bother, even though you're closer, oh, don't trouble yourself, I'll get it," Carmen finally said and a second knock could be heard.

"Hi, um, Gabriel here?" Lily mumbled.

"No!" Gabriel yelled loudly.

"Um, he says he's not," Carmen smiled sympathetically.

"Please?" Lily begged the other girl, tears streaming down her face.

"Tell that fucking psychotic bitch I am not here and will never be here," Gabriel yelled.

"Well, he says he's not here, but you're welcome to come in and look around," Carmen said as Lily's small body racked with sobs.

"I fucking hate you," Gabriel hissed at Carmen.

"Uh huh," Carmen smirked and left the living room.

Gabriel glared at Lily.

"What?" he hissed at her.

She got down on her knees and hugged his legs to her small chest.

"Gabriel, really, I am so, so sorry for all that shit I did to you," she sobbed out.

He tried to be angry, tried not to respond to her sobs but years and years of his mother's anger and manipulations won out and he gently pulled her into his lap.

"Oh, God, I love you," Lily sobbed, leaning into his shoulder.

"If I don't throw you out of here, you quit crying?" he quietly asked.

She giggled happily as he cradled her to him.

"Mmm, you got nice arms," she sighed, happy and content in his arms.

"Uh huh," he sighed, still not sure about this turn of events.

"It's too quiet in there," Carmen called out from her bedroom.

"Fuck you, Carmen," Gabriel responded.

"Aw, hey, y'all are doing that, let me get my thesis out of the way, huh?" Carmen complained.

"Kiss me?" Lily quietly begged, looking up into Gabriel's face.

He bent and pressed his lips to hers. She put her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with vigor.

"God damn, who taught you how to kiss, your dog?" he spat at her when she finally released his mouth.

"What?" she screeched.

"You don't know how to kiss worth a shit," he told her.

She got into a kneeling position, straddling his lap. This maneuver put her at a slight height advantage and she peered deeply into his laughing eyes, then bent and pressed her lips to his.

"How about now?" she whispered and pressed her lips to his again.

"Ever hear of chap-stick?" he asked, hugging her tightly.

"Ew, yeah, my lips are kind of dry," she admitted. "I think that laser treatment kind of made it worse."

"Laser treatment?" he asked.

"Yeah, you haven't noticed?" she asked, rubbing her upper lip. "No mustache?"

"Oh, yeah, I kind of did notice that; I thought maybe you just waxed it or something," Gabriel said.

"Nope, laser. Did my eyebrows too," Lily smiled happily, rubbing her eyebrows.

Yeah, I kind of noticed that too; figured you were tweezing them," Gabriel said.

"Really? You did notice?" Lily asked, elated.

"Yeah, you are a pretty girl. Can't help but notice when you get a little prettier," Gabriel shrugged.

"Shut up I'm not pretty I love you," Lily said, kissing him again.

"Yes, you are pretty," he said and held her tight.

----

He heard three women shrill out when his name was called and he approached the Diaz to get his diploma.

"Good luck, son, the Dean told him, shaking his hand.

"Thank you, sir," Gabriel smiled then continued across the Diaz.

After the ceremonies were completed, there was a small get-together for students and their families and the faculty.

"And you're coming back for my graduation?" Lily begged.

"Of course," Gabriel promised.

"How about for mine?" Carmen asked, enjoying the glares she was getting from Lily.

"Carmen be nice," Gabriel warned.

"I'm getting my Master's next semester; we'll be graduating same time," she laughed at Lily.

"Uh huh," Lily said, not consoled.

Carmen wanted to tell Lily, "Hey, he may be fucking me, but it's your name he calls out," but knew Lily wouldn't think it was much of a joke.

"And you'll be backing home...?" Annie asked.

"Probably next week," Gabriel said. "Ford's trial starts Monday. His attorney subpoenaed me to testify."

"EW, why you testifying for the defense?" Lily screwed up her face.

"Beats the hell out of me; I told his attorney, anything I say is just going to put his client deeper in jail," Gabriel said.

----

Ford did not believe it when his attorney told him what Gabriel had said. He honestly believed that Gabriel would commit perjury for him.

"Fuck man, I'm telling you, me and Gabriel? We was together that night, at the movies all the way in Monroe; we wasn't nowhere near that ass whole's party," Ford lied to his attorney.

"Sir, I'm telling you, you put me on that stand and I will tell the truth," Gabriel warned the attorney. "And the truth is, I did not see Ford on the night in question and we were not at the movies; I was at home. In fact I remember that night because I'd bought a brand new pizza stone; I saw it on the Food Network. Made the best stone baked bread in the world."

"Son, if you're lying, your buddy could be looking at some very serious time," the attorney pleaded.

"That's what I'm telling you," Gabriel said. "You do not want me on that stand because I will not lie, not for you, not for Ford, not for anybody."

Ford was outraged when his attorney related Gabriel's statement and turned and glared at his former friend.

"You fucking ass hole," he mouthed to Gabriel.

Gabriel just shrugged and continued to watch the very slow wheels of Justice Turn.

After the third day of the prosecution's presentation, Ford's attorney approached the prosecution about a plea bargain.

"Negligent homicide?" he offered.

"And first degree rape," the Assistant District Attorney offered.

"Second degree, served concurrently," the defense countered.

"I'll get back to you," the prosecuting attorney shrugged.

"Look, ten to fifteen's a hell of a lot better than the twenty to life you're looking at," his attorney hissed to Ford. "Mr. Bowden pled down to twenty five to life; he was looking at life without the possibility of parole."

"But I didn't fucking do nothing!" Ford yelled.

"Son, you knew those girls were being given drugs, you knew they were not willingly participating in sex, you still stuck your dick in them, you stuck your dick into a dead girl; when do you finally accept some responsibility for your actions?" the attorney sighed.

Mark Sanchez smiled tightly as he watched Ford Dufour's eyes lose all life.

William Bowden had worn a similar look; first very haughty, arrogant, than very angry, and finally, that look of realization, then defeat.

Mark Sanchez had already told the grapevine inside of Angola that William 'Spiff' Bowden was sweeter than a Hershey bar and loved black cock. Ford would be receiving an equally warm welcome as well.

----

Gabriel very quickly learned not to mention ANY woman's name during the nightly calls he made to Lily; her jealousy had no boundaries. Nor did she have any limit to her anger.

If he ran into Peggy Campion, now Peggy Dupre, he did not tell Lily about it. Peggy was a married woman, and was very pregnant, but Lily never forgot that Peggy and Gabriel had dated for a brief time, and that they had been intimate during that brief time.

If he ran into Jeanette, Lily's best friend while they were in Elementary and High School, he did not mention it. Lily may have been friends with Jeanette, but Lily never forgot that Jeanette and Gabriel had been intimate.

If he made a delivery and the client flirted with him, he did not mention it. What Gabriel found amusing in situations like that, Lily found angering.

It did amuse Gabriel; some man would buy his wife, or girlfriend or hoped-for girlfriend flowers, but instead of reading the card, some women would get excited and offer the reward to the delivery boy.

"Yeah, I'd buy you flowers, but I'd make damned sure to deliver them myself," Gabriel thought as he left a client's doorstep.

Annie was resistant to any suggestions that Gabriel made in regards to the business. Often, she would even belittle him, mock his college diploma.

"Well, I didn't even finish High School, but I seem to have done all right," she'd sniff in disdain whenever he mentioned an idea he'd picked up in a college class.

"Well, that's fine for THEM, but this is how WE do business here," she'd sneer when he'd try to show her another company's idea.

Arguments at home weren't much better.

"This is my house, and as long as you're under my roof..." was one that got trotted out every now and then.

"You are just like your father," was still an old favorite of hers, one that got used quite often.

Iris, who was still working there part-time would just shrug sympathetically.

That was something else Gabriel couldn't talk to Lily about; her older sister, or her younger sister. Whenever their paths would cross, Daisy would still flirt outrageously and would make sure to touch Gabriel, rub against Gabriel, anything she could to entice Gabriel.

"I won't tell my stupid sister, I swear," she whispered in Gabriel's ear.

"No, but I would," Gabriel smiled tightly.

Lily found that having a boyfriend and being in the last semester of college were not impossible, but quite difficult, so kept her visits home to no more than once a month.

When they were together, sparks would fly as clothing would fly off of each other.

Lily had been a virgin the first time they made love, but she caught on very quickly and was quite enthusiastic and quite vocal. Gabriel had been inwardly cringing the first time he had undressed a very nervous Lily, but was very pleased that her laser treatment had not been limited to her face. The jungle that had spread from her upper thighs to between her breasts was now a thick light brown veer that covered her slit.

"Yeah, they even did my legs and underarms; I don't ever have to shave them, ever!" Lily had crowed with Gabriel commented on the changes.

But they had to content themselves with the sporadic union.

"Just two more months; then I'll be home forever," Lily promised, looking up into his blue eyes.

"I'll come get you for Thanksgiving," Gabriel promised as he pulled up in front of her dorm.

"Thanks, Baby, I love you," Lily said as he got her suitcase and back pack out of the trunk of his new Volkswagen Beetle.

(Annie had thrown a major fit when he bought the car; she had assumed he would just buy a van when his old one finally died after twelve years and four hundred and two thousand miles.)

"Oohh!" Brooke called out, teasing, as Lily and Gabriel shared a final kiss good-bye.

Gabriel drove around to the four houses that he owned and nodded in satisfaction; all appeared to be maintained well, there were no outward appearances of neglect or abuse.

The management company, he thought, was charging him too much, but as he gave quick visual inspections, especially the house on Myrtle, he had to admit, they were keeping their end of the agreement. The houses on the right and across the street both looked decrepit, neglected.

But his house looked clean, neat, and orderly.

----

"You know, you could just leave this with me," Lily coyly suggested as Gabriel drove south on Highway 167.

"Hey, that's right, I could, huh?" Gabriel said.

"That way, you wouldn't have to drive forever, come get me, then turn around and drive all the way back," Lily continued.

"Hey, I got an even better idea," Gabriel said.

"What?" Lily asked.

"You um, you could buy your own flipping car," Gabriel smiled and then laughed as Lily scowled at him.

"You are not funny," she said then changed his radio station.

"I was listening to that," Gabriel said.

She ignored him until she found a song she liked.

They stopped at Leah's and had ham and cheese sandwiches; Lily picked the tomato and pickle off of her sandwich, Gabriel ate them for her. After another hour, Gabriel pulled up in front of the Meynard home.

"Hi Gabriel," Daisy said, arching her back so that her impressive chest stood out, proud.

"Hi Daisy," Gabriel said, fighting hard not to smile as Lily glared white-hot daggers at her sister.

"Stop that," Cheryl said, slapping her younger daughter in the back of her head.

"Ow!" Daisy giggled but relaxed her stance.

"Thanks a million, Gabriel," Travis said, coming into the living room.