On the Road to Perdition...Part One

Myranda Clayton Rice felt and looked the worse for wear. She had been out fall night partying with some people she was friendly with because she certainly could not call them friends. The word 'friend' in its definitive term did not factor into her vocabulary because truthfully she did not know of one single solitary soul she could pin the word to. At the ripe old age of thirty-eight, she had very little to show for her life on this earth. So very different from her la-DE-da younger sister Regina, or her bourgeois older brother Stanford Jr.

Her life had been on a steady downward spiral for the past two years. And typical of people with her particular brand of personality and who possessed the long list of disorders that she did always put the blame on others. They did not take responsibility for their own actions and out of an exaggerated sense of entitlement never failed to see their wrongs as a conspiracy against them. The world was to blame and all of the more fortunate folks in it had conspired to hold her and those like her who were down on their luck back from achieving any kind of a better life.


Why should she have it so hard? Ever since that bastard Palmer got into trouble and went to prison she had not been the same. Sure, she realized that she had some problems...who wouldn't have after going through what she went through? Losing her financial freedom, losing her husband (who she discovered was a liar, a cheat and on the down-low as well to add insult to injury) and most of all having to leave her own children. While she was in rehab the first time right after all this happened, her parents took the kids to care for. They didn't exactly turn them against her, but when she got out and tried to put her life back together, they acted like she was a stranger. That hurt like hell.

The men and women with whom she caroused the night away with were a rag tag collection of losers made up of druggies, prostitutes and some cons on the run from the law. She didn't care anything about their backgrounds. All she cared about was where and how she'd get her next fix or drink. Long as they kept coming, her companions mattered little to her. They were just disembodied faces with no names.

Thankfully, her sister Regina sent her money once a month that was supposed to be going toward her education expenses for the courses she had enrolled for at the local community college. Her classy, upstanding parents would not hand over a dime in cash to her, but agreed to pay for books and class essentials, but Regina's money was meant for her personal use. She had started classes and was aspiring to be a gourmet chef, but after only one semester she had dropped out. Naturally, Helena and Stanford soon found that out, but it was a miracle that Regina didn't know.

It wasn't a loss of interest that caused her to do so, it was because she had met up with this guy (lets' call him Dwayne) who convinced her that she'd be better off working as an apprentice of sorts and getting her training on the job. So, he introduced her to another guy (lets' call him JT) who worked as a chef in a mid-town restaurant and he agreed to speak to the manager on her behalf. It was all on the up and up with the chef guy. He was really intending to help Myranda get a job in his restaurant, but Dwayne was planning on running a con game.

Well, Dwayne told her that his chef friend JT was looking to strike out on his own and if he did, she could probably be co-owner with him. Trouble was, he needed some investors to help him get his business off the ground and if she could manage to raise five thousand dollars she could get in on the ground floor.

Long story short, Myranda managed to raise the five grand by selling an heirloom piece of jewelry she lifted from her mother's house on a rare occasion she went to visit. The diamond studded brooch sold for seven thousand five hundred dollars and she promptly handed over the five to Dwyane and tried to save the rest. That did not last long. As soon as she found out that she had been scammed, she sank into a depression so deep she wanted to die. In fact, she had been placed on suicide watch for the first month of her committ,ment. Once again, Helena and Stanford took Julia and Kirk home with them.

Palmer's parents; Walker and Ruby Hendricks and Steve and Linda Rice (his father's second wife is Linda) tried to get involved. Of course Myranda's parents were more than agreeable to visitation and keeping the kids familiar with both sets of their fathers parents. Only the second time around, Palmer's mother Ruby thought that she and her husband should share equal custody with the Claytons. It got to be one big royal pain to deal with, but they were no match for Stanford and his legal eagles, so Julia and Kirk remained with Helena and Stanford.

Two years went by, and Myranda was released into the care of her parents. For a while all was fine, and she seemed to be making remarkable progress. The setback came when Regina admitted to her that she had had an affair with Palmer before he met her and that she was the one to break it off. This breakup had sent him running into the arms of her sister, and that every time they were thrown together Palmer missed no opportunity to tell her that Myranda had been second choice....


Stay tuned for Part Two!!

It's a Family Affair

Meantime, while Alexis Martin was experiencing one; no...the scariest and tense moments she had ever been through, on the other side of town her best friend Bonnie Powell was having a Kodak moment. Bonnie's daughter Kaycee had just given birth to her second child. It was a beautiful, and memorable event. Kaycee had a normal  delivery and she gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Bonnie was present at the birth along with her granddaughter Jillian (who has just become the "big" sister), her daughter's husband Devan and his parents.

At first, Bonnie had been slightly turned off at the idea of being in the room with her daughter when she gave birth, not to mention watching the whole thing with her son-in-law and his parents! It had seemed like so much like a spectator sport thing or something. Women from her generation did not invite others to witness such a private moment.

But, actually it had all occurred in good taste and it was not nearly as graphic as she had expected it to be. Kaycee and Devan were actually behind a privacy screen for the delivery, so she was able to maintain her modesty while sharing this important event with her family. Surprisingly, Kaycee's labor had not been overly long or unbearably painful. She had a natural birth, and Devan had been a loving, patient and encouraging coach. The Lamaze classes they had attended as a couple had proven to be well worth the money and the time they had invested. Proper breathing techniques, ice chips, soothing music, and having her wonderful and handsome husband right beside her had done absolute wonders for Kaycee. She  was all aglow with the whole experience, and when the baby was born, Bonnie looked at her daughter and thought that she had never looked more beautiful!

Of course, Jillian was not present during the labor and delivery. Her father's sister had taken her for the day, and when the call came that Jillian was officially a big sister, Auntie Nickie had brought Jillian to the hospital. By the time they got there, Kaycee and the newborn who was immediately given the name Sterling had been cleaned up and were sitting up in bed looking fabulous and ready to receive visitors.  And after making Jillian comfortable in a big chair near her mother's bed, the new Dad carefully laid baby Sterling in her big sister's arms. The look on Jillian's face as she held her new baby sister was one of pure joy. Bonnie and Bernadette (Devan's Mom) had both cried at this beautiful moment.

So, naturally while Bonnie was happy and joyous over the new birth, and so very grateful that God had brought her daughter safely through her labor and delivery, and given them this precious bundle...Alexis and Claudette had no intention of intruding on a family moment. No, it could and it would wait until later. By then, they would have the whole story...hopefully and maybe the shock would have worn off.

Or even better...Alexis would open her eyes and wake up from this terrible, terrible nightmare. One could always hope.

The Best Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a childhood favorite of most adults and is a basic sack lunch staple. I actually did research and discovered that there was an authentic recipe created for making the delicious sandwich. Read this excerpt from the article I found.

"The first known recipe for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was published in 1901 in The Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science and Domestic Economics. The author suggested pairing peanut butter with crab apple or currant jelly, which was unusual for the time. Peanut butter, which was considered a delicacy, was usually served as a savory food. New York’s Vanity Fair Tea-Room served its peanut butter with watercress while Ye Olde English Coffee House had a peanut butter and pimento sandwich on the menu."   Follow this link to read more of this interesting article("http://www.gilttaste.com/stories") .

I have always been a fan of the PB&J sandwich, but recently I have developed a real devotion to it. You see, at the school where I work they are on the cafeteria menu everyday and I have sampled them on more than one occasion and hence the fond attachment that has grown for a thrice weekly fix. If I don't choose one for my lunch, I will get one to take home with me for a mid-afternoon snack on the drive home. The attendant that makes these must have a magic touch because everyone who treats themselves to one of these creations sighs in closed-eye contentment at the memory of eating it.

Now, there are open discussions on several ways to decide what makes a PB&J sandwich truly a masterpiece. Things like which bread to use (whole wheat or white) , which type of jelly to use (strawberry or grape), the ratio of peanut butter to jelly, remove the crust or leave it, spread the peanut butter and jelly on separate slices of bread and then bring them together...or to spread the peanut butter first and then spread the jelly (which is how I have always made mine). Who would have seriously considered that there was a real art to making these sandwiches?

That art can extend to using cookie cutters to make cute shapes out of a finished sandwich and toasting the bread first and spreading the peanut butter on warm which will allow it to ooze nicely out of the sides of the sandwich once its been built.

Last but not least is a second part of the discussion is the debate over the best beverage to enjoy with the sandwich. A cold glass of milk will more than likely win this debate hands down, but actually some people prefer a cold drink and some will even opt for a hot cup of coffee. To each his own! You might find the article mentioned above quite interesting; especially if you already are a PB&J fan. And probably by the time you finish reading this blog...you'll be hungry for one and on your way to the kitchen cupboard to check for ingredients.

Enjoy!

Cheating in the Next Room

It's an unfortunate woe that has been around since time began and it has been a dreaded and feared situation for every couple that has fallen in love. It can creep into a seemingly happy and committed relationship, and it can blindside one or the other of the couple who have pledged their troth to each other, and maybe have settled into a bit too much complacency. It has happened to my best friends, and for those of you who follow this blog, you probably have read about Helena's brush with the dark side of infidelity and about Claudette and her discovery of another woman in her intended's life. Yes, I am talking about cheating, and this time I want to tell you about one of the times it happened to me.

I have to admit albeit grudgingly that men can be quite innovative when it comes to two timing in a relationship. I still don't know if they have to plan and scheme for it to happen, or if they are just some Svengali with a penchant for being on the wrong side of right and they can just fall into it without thinking. Judging from the excuses I have heard from my real life experiences, I'd have to say "no" because the most popular excuse seemed to be " I don't know, I didn't plan for this! It just happened!". These guys do their dirt without fear of being outed and caught in the act. Have you ladies heard that sorry line before from a pathetic creature? Who hasn't?

Here's what happened to me a while back, but I still think about it from time to time. My steady beau and I had to cancel our plans for a Saturday night date because he had something wrong with his car, and needed to work on it right away, at his friends house because he had all the necessary tools and know-how to get the job done. So, without any suspicions I said fine, I'd talk to him later, and he said sure he'd call later. I made myself content to spend the evening watching television and just chilling out because I had no reason to doubt his word. About an hour later, my friend Raquel called and when I told her I was on my own, she suggested we go hang out at Abe's Place and have a few drinks and play some spades.

Abe's was located in a building on the property of a guy whose name was Abraham Flower and he had it all decked out to resemble a club. You could listen to some low-down blues music, buy alcoholic beverages and what not ( no defining the "what not"), play cards and order chicken wings and fish sandwiches. It was commonly known as a juke joint and they were quite popular back in the day. Okay, I agreed to let her pick me up and we'd go hang out at Abe's for a while, and I liked the idea of getting in a good card game. Within an hour I was ready and she was blowing her car horn for me to come out.

The joint was rocking and popping and I felt in a party mood as we took our seats at the bar and ordered our drinks. It was scotch rocks for both of us. Raquel asked Abe ( who happened to be tending bar at the time) if there was a card game open, and he said that both of his "card rooms" were occupied at the moment. A serious high stakes poker game was already in progress in one of them and the other was rented out to a female friend of his who wanted to make a few extra bucks with some "friends" of hers. Raquel and I exchanged a look that said "Yeah, right! We know what the deal is"And really; it didn't take a stretch of the imagination to understand what that meant!

So, we nursed our drinks, and just sat around enjoying the music and the upbeat rhythm of the night for awhile. Some people that Raquel knew stopped by and we shot the breeze together until Abe came over and told us a room was opening up and a new card game was ready to start. We told him we were in and got down from our bar seats and picked up our fresh drinks. As I turned to follow the group to the card room I glanced across the room and gasped. At the same moment I dropped my drink and this action caught the attention of everyone near me. Oh no; I can't believe what I'm seeing!
Rooted to the spot, all I could do was cry.

Stay tuned to find out what Alexis saw...