A Rose Witnesses a Thorn

Young Andrew

The thought that one day, women would be attractive, was not computing well with Andrew. Women were just a different specie. They had to be handled with care, as they were often prone to complaining loudly and in a high pitched voice.

Thankfully, not all girls were crazy. Some were smart. Some were funny. Others were just girls. The kind that did silly things to pass off as grown women.

Best Andrew could figure, if he could just learn the art his dad seemed to have, he would be able to avoid a lot of conflict with the part of the specie that baffled him. They were cool. Just different. It was those moments of different that baffled him.

Fortunately for him, he had a lady friend he could ask all kinds of questions to. She was older. Mature. Smart. And handled men with skill. She never let herself fall for those silly lines that made other women blush.

She carried herself well and was a forced to be respected. That force Ms Rose carried about herself is probably why she was allowed to be so close to the family.

Andrew had known Ms Rose all his life. His father had insisted he called her Ms Rose instead of Auntie Rose. Now it was starting to make sense. She was not blood related. She was not related at all. Just the best friend of his mother.

There was one little thing Andrew tried to keep a secret though. He knew his mother would not approve. Andrew knew that his mother had a very strict policy regarding all women outside the family. Stay clear and avoid any appearance of sin.

All questions regarding women had to be vetted through Mrs Edward. She made a point of ensuring that her children were all very academically focused. None of them were allowed to entertain what could be construed as dating. Granted, they were all too young to have any relationships, but Mrs Edward made sure that no one joked about hooking up with her children.

That’s why Andrew kept very quiet about his friendship with Ms Rose and the questions she answered for him.

Yvette had picked up on that trend as well. No one could jokingly suggest that their child was to be special friends with any of Mrs Edward children. It was customary for mothers who like certain traits in another family to start the banter and jokes with the hopes that when their children were of dating age, nature would favor a favorable union.

It had happened plenty of times in the past. Two sets of children steered to be good friends. Over the course of their life, they got to know each other very well. Once all their dating follies past, they ended up marrying each other.

In fact, that is how Mr and Mrs Edward came to be a couple. However, very few people knew that. Yvette kept that close to her heart. She knew that would come in handy soon enough.

Yvette watched with glee as Andrew started asking Ms Rose all kinds of curious questions about what women were all about. Those two started to spend a lot of time without supervision of Mrs Edward.

One particular day, the janitor had been a bit too careless in mopping the hallway. The rainstorms had been heavy. Many had tracked rain into the building of the church. Sadly, the mopping efforts were sloppy.

Yvette rubbed her hands with joy as she watched Andrew mimic the gallantry and chivalry of his father in escorting Ms Rose across the slippery surface. He was very keen to keep a very polite placement of his hand around her waist while using the other hand to support her hand. Total trooper. Total gentleman.

Yvette also noted, with greater interest, how Andrew avoided supporting the most flirtatious of girls his age who had batted their eyes in vain to get his attention and support across the hallway. Sure, he had assisted other women and older ladies across.

But the icing on the cake was how quickly Andrew had snapped to stoic military like posture and walked away from the scene very quickly when his mother’s voice had filled the space.

There was the trouble in paradise. The unspoken riff that existed in this seemingly perfect flawless household. Yvette didn’t care that Andrew’s brothers and sisters had supported one another across the slippery surface. Her eyes locked in on Andrew’s reaction to hearing his mother’s voice.

Now, all Yvette had to do was find out how Andrew reacted the next time he was caught being chivalrous by his father.

That didn’t take much time either. That evening, on the way out the church, Mr Andrew was seen gathering his children to leave. Mrs Edward had playfully rebuffed his efforts to assist her out the door to the parking lot.

Yvette watched from a distance with a sparkle in her eyes. Their perfect union was not perfect at all. Mrs Edward was really trying to appear as if she was not a sexual being. The way she pushed her husband’s hand away was not of one who had marital problems yet, but one who was not aware their antics was going to create marital problems soon.

A man needed to know he could show his lady affection anywhere at any time. A good lady always graciously accepted the well timed and well placed affections of her man. Mrs Edward had stopped being affectionate at all times ever since she had Andrew. Now, it was getting more pronounced.

The other younger boys had tried to help their mother, but she had redirected their efforts towards their sisters. They all paired up quickly. Save Andrew. He hung back. He watched his parents closely.

Someone called out for Mr Edward. The voice was that of one of the leaders of the church. As he moved to go respond, the look of anger that leaked out of Mrs Edward’s posture was clear to Yvette.

Mrs Edward was not happy with the fame and importance Mr Edward had gained over the years. Some had whispered that the power struggle with the two had grown intense even at home. Their careers were clashing with each other and some speculated that Mrs Edward silently resented being stuck with that many children as her career stalled and Mr Edward’s soared.

Andrew tried to step in and offer his mother assistance as they walked out into the parking lot. Yvette scrambled to get a view out of a nearby window. She got there in time to see a very stern rebuff from Mrs Edward. The wagging of a finger in his face and his neutral but worried look made it clear the boy was confused as to what had happened.