“I didn’t know how to tell you, Lucky.” I watched her face closely to try and figure out how she was feeling.
“We can talk about this later, Zane.” She frowned at me and turned back to Mr. Johnson. “I’m sorry about this. I didn’t realize that …”
“Lucky, I’ll let you know that I’m happy you came into Zane’s life. When Noah first contacted us, well, we were overjoyed. Betty and I couldn’t believe that someone wanted to tell our story. That people actually cared what happened to the kids that grew up in the 50s and went through the transition. I knew right away that there was a reason for Zane calling me.”
“I didn’t realize.” Lucky’s voice expressed the same surprise I felt.
“Noah used to talk about Zane all the time.” Sidney looked at me. “He was real proud of you, son.”
“Thank you.” I smiled as best as I could, even though I felt emotional. I wanted to ask him what else he talked about with my brother.
“I was happy when I got to meet you. Even if you were only picking up the documentary because of a girl.”
“I, uh …” I stammered, embarrassed at the situation.
“I wish you would have told me, Zane.” Lucky shook her head at me. “It’s sweet that you thought of me, but I just wish you would have told me that you lied.”
“Lucky, I want to tell you a story,” Sidney Johnson cut her off.
“Sure.” She turned to face him.
“It’s about me and my wife.” He chuckled and winked at me. “It’s about what I did for love.”
“Oh, you don’t have to tell me.” Lucky looked embarrassed.
“I want to tell you so you’re not too hard on your young man.”
“Oh.” She looked down and I saw a small smile on her face.
“So, when I first saw Betty walking them streets, I thought to myself, this is a young lady that has a purpose and she don’t want no boy like me. She wants herself a fine, respectable man.” He nodded to himself as he remembered the past. “So the first time I got to talk to her, I told her that I was getting a scholarship to study.”
“Wow, that was great,” Lucky interrupted him with a huge grin. “What was the scholarship for?”
“There was no scholarship and there was no school.” He laughed.
“What?”
“I lied.” He smiled. “I knew she would never talk to me if she knew I was hanging out with my friends on the streets.”
“And she didn’t know?”
“Not for many years.” He laughed. “By the time she finally gave me the time of day, I was in school and, as they say, the rest is history.”
“So you lied to her?”
“I don’t know if you can quite say lie, I like to think that I weaved some words together so that I could win her heart. Like a wordsmith.”
“I suppose so.” Lucky smiled and looked at me with veiled eyes. My heart thumped as she stared at me, and I wondered if this was going to be the hurdle that destroyed our relationship. When she issued me a small smile, I felt the tension lift from my shoulders. “Is there anything else I should know about, Zane?”
“No.” I shook my head and ignored the niggling feeling in me that told me I was lying. I felt like my phone was a ticking time bomb in my pants, but I couldn’t risk her finding out about that. “That’s all.” I could tell that Lucky wanted to ask me more questions, but we were both cognizant of the fact that Sidney was in the room with us.
“Who’s ready for tea and cookies?” Mrs. Johnson bustled into the room with a large tray and I jumped up to help her. I took the tray from her hands and placed it on the table carefully. She looked at me with a smile and handed me a cup and saucer. “Milk and sugar?”
“No milk, one sugar. Thanks.”
“I’ll have milk and three sugars, please.” Lucky laughed. “I have a sweet tooth.”
“I’ll say.”
“Zane.” She glared at me.
“What can I say? You do.” I grinned at her and Mr. Johnson chuckled before speaking. “Now, Lucky, tell me about your new idea.”
“When we first talked about this documentary,” Lucky paused and looked at me, “Zane and I were talking about filming several people, but I thought it would be more powerful if we did a documentary that focused on you and your family.” She took a breath and looked at Sidney again. “If that would be okay with you.”
“Of course it would be okay, dear child,” Betty answered for Sidney and Sidney laughed.
“She’s the boss, so if she says yes.” Sidney shrugged and Betty gave him a kiss on the forehead.
“I ain’t never been your boss, Sidney Johnson.” She shook her head and laughed. “Well, not that you’ve ever admitted it.”
“I try not to tell a lie.” Sidney winked at me and stood up. “Let me go and get my address book. I recently found one of my brothers. I think he can help. He has a good memory.”
“Recently found?” Lucky looked at him curiously.
“He done been lost for about 40 years.” Sidney shook his head. “I thought he was dead. But Betty here went inline and she found him.”
“Online, Sidney,” Betty corrected him.
“What?” He frowned at her.
“I went online and found him.”
“Oh?” Lucky took out her notepad.
“Yeah, there’s a website that helps you find people,” Betty continued. “My son helped me. We did it as a present for Sidney’s birthday.”
“He works for the government.” Sidney smiled. “He done good for himself. Got a good job. Had some kids. He even got married. He married himself a white lady.”
“Sidney!” Betty admonished him and smiled at us shaking her head.
“What, Betty?” He looked at her with a frown and she nodded at Lucky and me. “They don’t care if he married a white lady.” He laughed and Lucky and I joined him.
Watching Sidney and his wife, teasing each other and helping each other gave me hope for my future with Lucky, and gave me a glimpse into what aging love looked like. I’d be over the moon to be so happy with Lucky when we were senior citizens. To have kids and grandkids and a home full of love. I could rewrite my history. I could be the man that went from no love to an abundance of love. Sidney and Betty gave me hope for the future.