Our House Our Home

Marquis was a double letter man in high school. He played basketball and ran track. His god-like physique had not stood the test of time. Not blubbery. Just pudgy. 32 loomed in the air, just two months away.

Marquis worked third shift at Wally World. Finally!! He had made management! Today was Marquis' forth month as manager and his second year on the "C-Team". He had long since gotten used to the shift and needing to wake up at 5:00 pm. Not a problem. He lived about 45 minutes from work (maybe less -- depending on how fast he drove). That meant he had about two hours to eat, get dressed, and spend time with his fiancée. Wanda, aged 30, usually got home around six. Since his promotion, they had recently had a house built not far from the complex where they had been living for the last seven years.

Five o'clock rolled around again, today. Marquis had a plate of lasagna left over from last night and put his plate in the dishwasher. He began pealing away his pj's while brushing his teeth. Fresh breath and naked; Marquis set his water and realized there were no wash clothes in the bathroom. Off went the shower. He headed to the linen closet, but was brusquely reminded that yesterday was laundry day. He was supposed to fold cloths -- the disadvantage of procrastination. Off to the dryer, he got mad at himself for eating into his at-home time. The return trip from the dryer to the shower is when Wanda walked in the door. Furious, she asked, "Why the HELL are you walking around our house naked?"

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Wanda wasn't the model student Marquis was. Her father wanted to be in her life. He had this little problem. He didn't see anything wrong with smacking her mother around when her mother "stepped out of line." Wanda's hid this from her children (or thought she did) as much as possible.

She bounced around foster homes and juvenile centers from age nine to sixteen. Therefore, the concept of "home" didn't mean as much as it should have meant for a child. She was really a smart kid. She, probably, would have been in advanced classes and on the fast track to a successful college career. The "what-if's" in life can be funny like that.

Thanks to counseling and an OTJ training program, she started making moves to straighten her life out. She had gotten her GED. Wanda worked at Carl's Jr. for a little over a year before "moving up" to a job at a buffet. Just like anyone, old habits don't just disappear forever. Mike met Wanda when she worked at Carl's Jr. Mike never hit Wanda with his hands. He did his abusing emotionally. That's how she wound up pregnant in a relationship that -- if she had thought about it -- would have ended as soon as it started. She found out she was pregnant about a month and a half into working at the buffet. At her second trimester, she had a miscarriage and discovered how fortunate she was. Wanda wasn't the woman of Mike's dreams. He had always wanted to become a parent. Wanda just needed to be a woman. When she was no longer with child; she was no longer with Mike.

It's said, "The best revenge is a life well lived." Wanda was not in that "well lived" category; she had, pretty much written-off the American dream they tell you about. But she was in a place of contentment. Seven years in her own apartment, she had grown strong in her belief that the picket fence wouldn't be hers AND that she would be OK without it.

Wanda met a guy named Marquis at the gas station where he worked, at the time. He fell in love at first site. She told him that she had problems with men in the past, but that didn't stop Marquis from pursuing her. Maybe there's something to persistence. He was able to convince Wanda that he was different from the men in her past. He made her laugh, but he had the maturity to know -- to let her know he was a grown man. He learned that from his family. They were tightly knit. It was Marquis' family that continually nagged him about moving in Wanda while they were just dating. He decided they were right and proposed.

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That was about a week before you came in. Newly engaged, a big party would add to her joy. Smith, Goldman, and Trotter won a particularly important case, and went to her restaurant to celebrate. That night, the wait staff got tips as big as the rest of the week. Wanda invited a couple of her girlfriends from work to a party at her place. Cindy and Diane agreed and followed Wanda. On the way, Diane started coming down with a head-ache. Diane being Cindy's ride the celebration was going to be just Wanda and her man. Yes, she probably should have called to let Marquis know she was bringing home company. As she turned the key to see her groom-to-be nude, that thought was not at the forefront. Her only thought was the fact that her co-workers may have walked in on him had Diane not been worn out from her double shift.

"Why the HELL are you walking around our house naked? ...Because my friends don't need to see you naked." "...Because we have neighbors." "...Because you are grown enough to know better."

Anger, worry and relief turned to confusion. As though joining in on the argument, he shouted his response, "Where?"

"OUR H--." She got it. He had turned the confrontation into some other animal. It started a mucky pig. Now it had become the ever allusive unicorn. Wanda was living the life she was never supposed to have. She didn't owe her success to Marquis. He helped them get there **together**. He smiled a grinchy smile when he saw he had gotten what he had wanted. Her eyes started to water tears of joy. That didn't happen too often; her being so hardened. He got the emotions from her he had been feeling since they signed their paper work. He said nothing because she said nothing.

Marquis' past wasn't as rough as Wanda's, but who doesn't like moving up in life? "That's right! Say it with me... ...'our house.'"

"Our House. Our House. Our House." They said in unison. He took his lady in his arms and told her he was DEFINITELY going to have to call-in. They spent the evening warming as much of their home as possible.