Chapter Six: Knowledge

Ben

*

“Tell me more about yourself.”  I took a sip of beer and met her eye across the table.   We were sitting in my sports bar after a Red Sox game and tour of my complex, finishing up a late dinner.  She only held my gaze for a few seconds before picking up her own glass, laughing, and looking down at her empty plate.

*

“What do you want to know?”

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Everything. I literally wanted to learn everything there was to know about her.  It amazed me how much I’d learned and yet how little I knew.  I’d learned her favorite color was blue and she met her siblings once a week for dinner.  But I didn’t know her parents’ names or how she took her coffee.

*

I settled on a question quickly, though.  “Why do you like to read so much?”

*

“I don’t know how to answer that.”  She frowned and set her glass down.  Her eyebrows scrunched up and I loved that I recognized her thinking face.  I waited while she gathered her thoughts.

*

“Okay, well, I guess I like it because it gives me the opportunity to experience different things, see different people and places.  Books help me understand the world.  You can learn about the best and worst of human nature from a good piece of literature.”

*

“Is that why you became a journalist?  To learn about human nature?”

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“Well, I’m not exactly a journalist.  I don’t get to write anything yet.  But, yes, I think that’s what made me want to be a writer.  What made you want to own your own business?”

*

“I didn’t like working for other people, I guess.”

*

She laughed and her eyes twinkled in the soft lights around us as she lifted her face and smiled at me.

*

“Okay, well, Inner City Sports,” I waved my hand around, indicating the painting of the complex hanging on the wall beside the bar, “was the product of trying to make my parents happy with my life choices.”  Abigail’s smile faded slightly and she reached for my hand.

*

“When I was in college, I had a tough time picking a major.  I guess you could say I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up.  I was young, younger than all my friends because I finished high school a year early, and I just wanted to have fun.  My parents, well, they didn’t really understand because they’re both such driven people.  My dad’s a judge and he was a prosecutor for twenty years at the beginning of his career and my mom is a doctor, a pediatrician.”

*

She nodded and waited for me to continue.

*

“More?” I asked.

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“More.”

*

“Well, they harassed me to follow in their footsteps for a while until they realized I had no interest in law or medicine.  Then they said they didn’t care what I did as long as I got an advanced degree in something.  So I chose business.  It was the most generic thing I could do and it got them off my back.  They thought an MBA would lead to great opportunities.”  I rolled my eyes and the right corner of her mouth twitched up for a second.

*

“So anyways, that’s why I own my own business.  I had a business degree, I had to do something with it.”

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“I don’t think that’s the whole story.”

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“Oh, you don’t?”

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“You obviously love this place.  Your face lights up when you talk about it.”

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“I guess you’re right.  I do love this place and a lot went into building it.”

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“I’d like to hear more about it.”

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“Really?  Okay.  Well, again, back in college, I used to volunteer for the Big Brother program at the local YMCA, as part of the philanthropy hours my fraternity had to put in.  There was one particular kid I worked with.  Dejuane.  He loved basketball more than anything else in the world, but his mother wouldn’t let him play on the courts in his neighborhood because of the gang and drug activity surrounding them.  The Y was too far for him to go alone, so he only got to play when I could pick him up.”  I paused to take another sip of my beer and make sure she was still paying attention.

*

“Anyways, so I built this place.  I wanted there to be a safe place for kids like Dejuane to go to play and have fun being kids.  Initially, I only planned the courts and fields, but realized pretty early on I couldn’t make a living, or keep it open, if I didn’t find some way of making money, so a couple of friends suggested adding the bar and gym and my brother-in-law suggested the memorabilia store to bring in revenue.”  I took another breath and grinned.

*

“Dejuane is sixteen now and works part-time in the store.  He’s doing great in school and plays for the varsity basketball team.”

*

Abigail put both elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands, glowing at me.  “Ben, that’s amazing.”

*

Not as amazing as your smile. “I see what you’re doing.  You don’t want to talk about yourself so you’ve got me talking about the complex.”

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“It’s not that I don’t want to talk about myself, but I don’t have anything interesting to tell you.”

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How can she think that? “I don’t believe that.”

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“Honestly, I think you know everything about me there is to know.”

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“I know that’s not true.  There’s still so much I don’t know about you.”  Moving to the chair beside her, I took both of her hands in mine and looked into her eyes.

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“Like what?” she asked.

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“Like why you don’t want to talk about yourself.”

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She pulled her hands away and looked at the tablecloth.  She started tracing the circular pattern with her fingertips.

*

“Abigail?”

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“Ben, really, I just can’t.  I’m sorry.”

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“You can’t what?”

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“Tell you about myself.”

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“Why not?”

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“Because I don’t want you to disappear,” she spoke so quietly I almost missed it.  It took me off guard.  I had no clue where she got the idea I was going to disappear, but it gave me hope that she must like me a lot, otherwise she wouldn’t be worried, right?

*

“I’m not going to disappear.” I leaned forward, reaching to her face and tilting her chin back towards me.  Her bottom lip quivered as I gently kissed her.

*

“You can trust me,” I whispered against her mouth.

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“I want to,” she whispered back.

*

*

<– Chapter Five: Insecurities********************Chapter Seven: Number 24 –>