CHAPTER 218: PUSSY-WHIPPED AND OTHER FOREIGN CONCEPTS

Chadwick put Antonio back on the floor and apologized. "I transitioned not long ago and I’m still getting used to my new strength." He gestured toward the interior of the house. "Come on in and meet everybody. Uncle Vincent’s in the kitchen along with my stepfather and uncle Willie. My dad’s here sitting on the sofa—his name is Edward but he goes by Eddie. And I’m Chadwick, glad to have you over tonight for supper."

Antonio was definitely feeling a little bit out of sorts and uncomfortable with these two very good-looking gentlemen in the living room as his brother was in the kitchen area helping set the table.

Vincent came out of the kitchen all smiles and walked up to his brother, hugging his neck and shaking his hand. "Well, it looks like you’ve met a couple of the members of the family," he said warmly. "Jeremiah will be out in a minute along with William."

Jeremiah came out and shook Antonio’s hand, then sat down beside Eddie and laid his arm around his shoulder. "Sorry I wasn’t able to come meet you earlier, but I had to make sure Eddie was off of his feet per doctor’s orders because of the twins."

Antonio’s mouth fell open. "Twins? You mean that he is carrying twins for you?"

"Well, it’s definitely not for the neighbors." Jeremiah chuckled. "I see that Mama has kept everything on the QT. I have a life here now, Antonio. I have a wonderful spouse, roof over our heads, fantastic stepson who I hope to formally adopt as soon as we make it legal, and a set of twin boys on the way. Who could ask for anything more in life?"

He continued, his voice filled with contentment. "This is where I’ve been longing to be all of my life—a part of a real family. After my mother died, your ma filled in, but it still wasn’t the same. I wanted a family of my own and now I’ve got one."

"I know it’s a little crowded here, but as soon as things slow down we’re going to have a few rooms added," Jeremiah explained. "The deal is we have to live as couples. So Vincent and William take one room, Edward and I share the other room, and young Chadwick here gets the sofa. It’s a lot less crowded than that two-bedroom tenement that all of y’all lived in."

Antonio had to admit growing up it was really crowded with 19 children in a house—every nine months another kid falling out and taking up space. "Where does mama stay at when she comes to visit?"

Vincent cleared his throat. "That’s simple—she has her own suite at the main house, and just as soon as we can nail everything down, she will have her own private quarters built here on the Z1 and they will belong to her for as long as she lives."

"She doesn’t have to go back to the crowded city, that dirty place that we were raised in," Vincent continued. "She will have a beautiful home here and yes, all the kids can come visit—maybe not at one time, but we’ll still have family get-togethers and everything. She does real good at the clinic; she’s helped deliver 3 or 4 kids now and she is well respected. Actually, she’s revered here by all of the genmen—they all call her Mama Celeste and the kids call her Grandma Celeste."

"This is a blessing for our family," Vincent added. "We all worried when I finally got married and decided to start a family of my own—what would happen, would she be accepted by the new daughter-in-law? We definitely know that that hasn’t worked well with the other ones. Too many strong-headed Sicilian women in a household trying to run it does not work."

Antonio laughed. "Yeah, Carlito’s wife doesn’t like anybody. I don’t think she likes herself, and the way she orders Carlito around—you want to talk about pussy whipped, he definitely is."

Jeremiah and Vincent both laughed, but Chadwick had a strange look on his face. "What does pussy whipped mean?" he asked innocently.

"It’s when the man of the household is ruled over so hard by his wife that he has to ask her for permission to do anything—to go anywhere, to talk to anyone or see anyone," Antonio explained with a smile. "In other words, it’s like an invisible leash she has around his neck. She tightens it every chance she gets, jerking him around where he’s no longer a man, no longer the leader of the household. He’s just a ’yes ma’am, anything ma’am, I’ll get right to it ma’am.’"

"I’m glad we don’t have those things here," Chadwick replied. "Talk about a bunch of single people—nobody would get paired up if you had to live like that."

Willie and Edward had to agree. They didn’t even know Carlito and they felt sorry for him.

"Here we talk about things, we discuss it," Edward spoke up. "And we try to live in harmony with everyone else. That’s just the way the genmen are—maybe it comes from the way that we were handled in a previous lifetime by the old slave masters that ruled over top of us."

Jeremiah hugged Edward and kissed his cheek. "That’s one thing you can guarantee—we discuss things and we’ll come to an agreement before anything is done. Now I’m not saying we can’t surprise each other with little things, but anything major we need to sit down and discuss it like two rational adults working for the best of the family."

"Wow, that’s one thing I didn’t see coming from Jeremiah," Antonio observed. "You really have changed since you’ve been here, and for the better. Mama did a good job by getting you two boys out of the jungle that we grew up in called a neighborhood. Now she’s got me here—maybe she thinks she can straighten my no-good ass up."

Chadwick didn’t mean anything by it, but he commented with his characteristic innocence, "I think you have a nice ass, and genmen here will appreciate it."

Everyone burst out laughing at Chadwick’s naivety, not knowing what was meant by the human terms.

"I’m going to like you, nephew," Antonio smiled. "I may need to teach you a few slang words that are approved and not nasty, that way when you deal with humans you can catch them on their level and put them in their place."

"It’ll be a little tight in the dining area, but we can make do," Vincent spoke up. "Supper’s ready. I hope that it’s satisfying to you, brother. It’s a delicacy here for the genmen—it’s called roast star bird, served with fresh vegetables, fresh bread and cool water to drink. So let’s go eat."

There was very little left after the meal was finished and all of them were very full. Antonio noticed it was getting late and he needed to get to the dorms. They drew him a basic map that he could follow so that he wouldn’t make a wrong turn and end up in the back 40 with the rackknars.

Carmen was waiting at the door when Antonio strolled right up. "I see that you survived your first genmen home-cooked meal, and from the smile on your face I think the visit went well."

"You wouldn’t believe how good it went," Antonio replied enthusiastically. "My baby brother and his best friend growing up have got the best situation I have ever seen. Two couples living together with babies on the way and the child from a previous relationship also there, and it is perfect. I found out how well my mom is thought of here and that she’s to get her own place built—that is hers for as long as she wants to live in it. She doesn’t ever have to go back to that nasty, dirty, grimy city again. Who knows, we all might get lucky and find someone to love?"

"Well Antonio, welcome to the first night of the rest of your life," Carmen smiled. "Now go in and get ready for bed—it will be lights out in 10 minutes."