The book of matthew, p.15
The Book of Matthew, page 15
The words touched Matt. As he looked at the excited faces listening to J.D. speak, he could feel Leah’s eyes on him. He met her gaze, then read her lips. You did this, she mouthed as she pointed to him. You.
His attention went back to J.D., when he heard his name called. It was then that he realized the audience was chanting his name.
“Coach , Coach, Coach, Coach.”
His heart was overflowing with pride as he waved to the crowd.
“There is another young man I have to recognize. While the project he is a part of is confidential, I can say he had a significant role in its completion. So much so we decided to name the program after him. If you never hear this name again, and you will not, know that the program LINC is in honor of Lincoln MacKenzie. Mac, join me on stage.”
“Man, he called you by your street name,” one boy yelled. “That is dope.”
The kids laughed as Mac walked up on stage and shook J.D.’s hand.
“Mac, on behalf of the United States government and on the recommendation of Coach Lassiter and the faculty here at Marshall, you are hereby awarded a full ride scholarship to any school of your choosing.”
“Oh my god! Thank you,” Mac’s mom cried out.
“Is that your mother?” J.D. asked.
“Yes, sir, it is.”
“Ms. MacKenzie, please join us,” J.D. called out.
Joyce MacKenzie was so overwhelmed it took her three tries to make it on the stage.
“Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you so much.” She hugged J.D. then kissed her son.
Mac whispered something to the President. J.D. nodded then gave the microphone to him.
“Thank you, Mr. President, for recognizing my efforts. But I did not do it alone. It was a community of people who helped me along the way. Coach Lassiter taught us to uplift each other whenever the opportunity arises. With that said I want you to know that Coco Brown and Blayne Woodson worked on this project with me. They should be recognized too.”
He gave the microphone back to the President. “Very well Coco Brown,” J.D. looked to Matt. Matt nodded assuming he wanted to know if he got the name right. “And Blayne Woodson. Will you join us on stage?”
Coco and Blayne ran up the steps and shook the President’s hand. They all took pictures then stood behind Matt.
“This is the best day of my life, Coach.” Coco beamed.
“We have one more small presentation for you all,” J.D. announced. “Mayor Palmer is the designer of a game you all may know. I brought some people along he thought you may get a kick out of meeting. Have any of you played this game Avenger II?”
The auditorium broke out in an uproar cheering about the game.
“Okay, okay,” J.D. laughed. “Mayor Palmer, if you would make the introductions.”
L.T. walked up on the stage, as Phire and Nell, her camera man jumped into action.
“Hello, hello, hello.” L.T. waved to the crowd. “As some of you may know Mac will be working with my company as an intern. For compensation he has asked that his school, Marshall High be the testers for the new Avengers III game. Are you up for that?”
“Hell yeah,” some of the students responded as they cheered.
“That is good to hear, because under each of your seats is the new Avengers III game.” The kids all reached under their chairs and pulled the game out. “There is one more surprise courtesy of President Harrison. I invited a special team of people to close out the program today. We want you to know, real heroes do exist in this world, and with all they do to protect our country their names go unmentioned. But I need you to know you have heroes like Coach Lassiter in your life every day. Let’s show them some appreciation too.”
The kids began chanting, “Coach, Coach, Coach, Coach.”
“Now, ladies and gentlemen, I present the inspiration behind the Avengers games. Ushers, please.”
The ushers standing in the back opened the doors to reveal four people standing in the doorway with the sun beaming on them. The three men were dressed in long black trench coats, black shirts, black pants, with fedoras on their heads. The lone female wore a black tee and leather pants, with black knee length four-inch boots, topping it off with a black fedora.
The kids in the auditorium went off as the foursome marched down the center aisle towards the stage.
“Damn if they are not impressive,” J.D. whispered to Matt.
“Yes, they are.” Matt nodded.
“I don’t know who I’m more proud of, them or you, Matt.”
Matt swallowed and said, “I’m just a simple Joe.”
“Look at how a simple Joe can inspire kids.” J.D. smiled at him
Sly, Joshua, Monique and Adam, took center stage. They each stood with their legs braced apart, arms behind their back and heads bent down.
Terry took the microphone. “Are they impressive or what?” she yelled as the crowd cheered on. “Mr. President, I want to thank you, Mayor Palmer and Coach Matt Lassiter for making this an unforgettable day for the students at Marshall High. With that said, school is dismissed for the summer.”
The students cheered and began filing out of the auditorium. All the faculty and staff had a chance to take pictures and shake hands with the President.
Adam, Joshua, Sly and Monique surrounded the President for an extra layer of security. Matt stood in the corner watching.
“Coach Lassiter.” Ms. MacKenzie walked over to speak to him.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I want to thank you for all you have done for Mac. Since you came into his life, his entire outlook on his future shifted. You made a difference with him and I will never be able to thank you enough for touching his life the way you did. I know as teachers, you all are not appreciated as you should be. But know this is one parent who is forever grateful to you.”
She kissed him on his cheek, then walked away.
“Do I have to walk around with a baseball bat to keep this woman away?”
Matt turned to see Leah standing behind him. He reached back to take her hand. “No. I think you are stuck with me for a while.” He kissed the back of her hand.
“The President is about to leave, Matt,” Adam said. “He would like a picture with you and Leah.”
“What?” Leah’s eyebrows rose.
“You do not refuse the President or keep him waiting,” Adam advised.
Matt and Leah stood next to the President as pictures were snapped. J.D. shook their hands, then left the building.
“Coach, tell Mac those are the real Avengers.”
“You can’t ever see the faces of the real Avengers,” Mac said to Coco. “They work for the government in specialized fields. Tell him, Coach.”
The double doors of the auditorium opened. The sun was shining through as four figures walked next to each other with their trench coats flying outward as if a strong wind was blowing. The doors closed behind them.
“I don’t know, Mac.” Matt shook his head. “They look like the real thing to me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Matt’s backyard was packed with Lassiters. The entire family was in town for the Memorial Day weekend. All of them decided it was the best time to celebrate Matt’s housewarming. And a chance for them all to meet Leah.
Leah’s family gatherings consisted of five people and not so much laughter. The multitude of adults and offspring in attendance could constitute a small country. Even with that, as the hostess, Leah looked around the tables that lined the yard on all three sides with still too much food. When Matt told her the number of people who would be attending the cookout, she started cooking three days earlier to ensure there was plenty of food. But now she really thought she may have overdone it.
“I think I cooked too much,” she said to Sally.
“Do you see all those containers over there?”
Leah looked at the long table near the patio door covered with containers of all colors. “Yes.”
“Do any of them look familiar to you?”
“No, they don’t,” Leah realized.
“That’s because everyone brought containers to take food back with them,” Sally laughed. “Believe me everything you see here now will be no more.”
“She’s right,” Cynthia said as she put a fork of potato salad in her mouth, “relax. Matt has declared you are here to stay. Samantha, stop spraying Franklin with that thing.”
“Who gave that girl a water gun?” Diamond asked.
“I did,” Joshua said. “I gave all of the kids one.”
“Of course you did,” Ruby chastised him. “You don’t have to clean up the mess.”
“What mess? It’s water,” her husband Devin said just as King Arthur pointed his gun at the grill, knocking over the barbecue sauce that was now in the fire. “That mess,” Jade laughed as she ran to catch the bottle before it exploded.
“Joshua,” Diamond cried out, “why do you always have to bring disruptive toys?”
“Hey, at least he did not bring fireworks,” Denise laughed. “Timothy said he almost burned down the President’s pool house once.”
Roc reached behind Joshua to slide the container of fireworks away before anyone could see them.
“Matt is going to be sorry he decided to do this cookout here,” Grant laughed as he chased Amethyst and Aaron with the toy dog.
“Next year we’re at your house,” Pearl declared.
Grant stopped running. “Opal,” he yelled out.
The ladies laughed at the expression on his face. Sally could not help but notice Theo was not laughing.
“Theo, is everything okay?” Sally asked.
“Your daughter is being stubborn,” he replied.
“Don’t try to bring my mother into this argument,” Pearl laughed as she continued to eat. “This is good, Leah. I need the recipe to this.”
“What is she being stubborn about?”
“He wants me to quit my job, because I’m pregnant.”
“You worked when you carried Gabe.”
“Exactly,” Pearl replied.
Not wanting to get caught in the middle of what seemed to be a family disagreement, Leah decided to go to safer grounds. “I’m going to check in on Matt.”
“He’s with the numbers geeks in the corner,” Samantha said as she turned to her mother. “Mommy tell King to stop spraying that water gun. He’s messing up my hair.”
“He is just playing with you, Samantha,” Zoey said. “You really need to learn how to play well with others.”
“I wasn’t talking to you!” Samantha shouted.
“Don’t yell at my sister.” King held the gun over his shoulder.
“I think Joshua has turned our son into a defender of the universe,” Zack said.
“Mom.” Zoey turned to Diamond. “You see what I mean, Samantha isn’t being a good cousin.”
“Don’t worry,” Samuel said as he stood. “I can handle her for you.” He took the water gun from King, pumped it up, then began to spray Samantha. The water reached Cynthia, knocking her plate of potato salad out of her hand.
“Ooooh, you’re in trouble now, Daddy,” Samantha cried out.
Leah was laughing at the antics of the family. Never in a million years would her brother’s children be that carefree. She loved the atmosphere and the man who exposed her to it.
The thought smacked her dead in the face as she stopped to gaze at Matt. She was in love with the man. Taking a deep breath as she watched him in those shorts that really showed the muscles in his thighs, she realized this was the life she wanted. Matt Lassiter, with his quiet ways had changed her outlook on men. They were certainly not all created equal, that’s for damn sure.
Leah smiled as she walked up, gently running her hands across Matt’s shoulders. Matt smiled up at her as he wrapped his arm around her.
Damn, he had strong arms, she thought as he held her safe and secure next to him.
“So when is Leah moving in?” Amber asked smiling at the couple.
“I’m going to be around for a long time.” Leah smiled and kissed Matt. “I don’t have to move in,” she said hoping the question did not put Matt in a bad spot. What if he wasn’t ready for her to be a permanent fixture in his life? It’d only been a month since they met. It really was not that long of a…the thought ended when Matt spoke.
“I think that’s a fair question.” Matt pulled her into his arms. “When are you moving in?”
Now, she wanted to scream out loud, but she tried to remain unaffected by the fact that he asked in front of his family.
“Well, you know I like to calculate this in my mind so, I ran the numbers on this relationship.”
“The probability of short-term vs long-term relationship?” Adam questioned. “What equation did you use?”
Phire glared at Matt in exasperation. “Really? You had to bring another computer brain who runs numbers into this family?”
“Hey, numbers rule the world,” L.T. said as he bit into a burger.
“True,” Timothy added. “Everything we do, somewhere in the process you need a numbers man.”
“Or woman,” Opal added.
“I use numbers all the time,” Matt laughed as he pulled Leah close. “You can’t control who you fall in love with.”
Leah’s head jerked to look up at him.
“First time he’s said he love you, hmm?” Amber inhaled deeply as she smiled at Adam. “Lassiter men find the strangest ways and times to express themselves.”
“It’s not just Lassiter men,” Phire laughed. “I think it’s men in general.”
L.T. took her hand and began pulling her away from the group. “Yes, we men are so unschooled in the ways of love. Come on militant woman of mine. I think these two could use a minute of privacy.”
Adam kissed Amber’s hand as they stood. “Yes, I think he rendered her speechless with that one.”
Once they were in a semi-private space, Leah gazed into Matt’s eyes. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
“I knew it the day I walked into Terry’s conference room. You did too. Neither of us are going anywhere, so what is there to wait for. You’ve been here every night since the first time we made love. Here,” he looked around the yard, “with me and my family is where you belong.”
“I love you, Matthew.” Leah smiled.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He kissed her gently.
“What about my father?”
“He can’t live with us.” Matt shook his head.
Leah laughed as Joshua’s voice boomed across the yard.
“May I have everyone’s attention?”
Matt noticed that Joshua was standing next to Joe as he spoke. He took Leah by the hand then stood next to Adam and Amber.
He tapped Adam with his elbow. “What’s happening?”
Adam sighed. “I’ll let Joshua tell you.”
Matt glanced at him. “Everything all right?”
“We are about to find out,” Adam replied.
“Shhh,” Pearl ordered. “Everyone quiet down.”
Joshua reached out for Roc’s hand.
“Is it something about Teddi?” Sally asked.
“No, Teddi is fine and yes she will still be visiting us every year. I-”
“We,” Roc corrected him.
“We have an announcement to make.” Joshua smiled.
“You’re pregnant,” Phire shouted out.
All eyes turned to Phire, then back to Joshua, anticipating his next words.
“L.T., will you control your woman,” Joshua laughed.
“I’m trying.” L.T. shook his head. “But it’s hard. I’m just saying, it’s hard.”
“Oh lord, she has rubbed off on him,” Ruby chuckled.
“That’s what love will do to a brother,” Devin laughed.
“Back over here,” Joshua ordered. “Announcement.” He exhaled. “Yes, we are pregnant, again. Teddi and Lil Joe will have a little brother….”
“Or sister.” Roc frowned at him.
“Or sister.” Joshua smirked. “Thank you for allowing us to make the announcement, Phire.”
Everyone laughed and shouted congratulations.
Sally ran over and hugged Roc, as did Diamond, Jade and Opal.
Denise stomped her foot. “I want one.”
Timothy kissed her. “It’s coming, baby. It’s coming.”
Samuel laughed. “Be careful what you ask for. Once they start dropping there is no stopping them.”
“You make us sound like rabbits.” Adam smirked.
Samuel pointed around at all the children in the yard. “My point exactly.”
“Joshua has more to say,” Joe’s steady voice boomed over the crowd.
Everyone stopped talking then turned to Joshua. There was something in Joe’s tone that caused them all to pay attention.
Joshua hesitated as he looked around. “I know you all have been dealing with my career with uncertainty. Well…” He looked at Roc, who stepped closer as if to give him her strength as he continued. “The President has signed off on my retirement effective next month.”
Other than the children playing in the background, not a word was spoken for a long moment.
Sally walked over to her son. “Is this what you want to do?”
Joshua pulled Roc into his arms and smiled. “It’s what is best for our growing family.”
Sally could see the tears forming in Roc’s eyes. “Then I am happy for both of you.”
“Well, what are you going to do?” Opal asked.
“What are you going to blow up?” Jade questioned
“Who are you going to kill?” Phire added.
The men in the crowd laughed.
“He has quite a few options right here in this yard,” Samuel said. He walked over and shook Joshua’s hand. “Congratulations on making it through. We have some turbulent times before us. Brian and I could use your skills at the agency. Take some time, get used to being home and think about it.”
Joshua nodded. “I appreciate that, Samuel.”
Adam stood. “Everyone pick up a glass. Hold it high as we salute a man who protected this country in ways that some will never understand. To the man who groomed me, taught me and inspired me to be the man I am today. This may be your retirement from government life, but the book of Joshua will never end. To my big brother. Live long and prosperous.”
