Read Online Mark of the Beast by Adolphus A. Anekwe - Free Book Online Page B

thwarted, Joanne was engulfed with rage. She cursed at everything and anything in her path.
    Alexis and Isipe were busy in their rooms getting dressed for school. It was look-your-best day for the seventh and eighth graders at Wicker Park Middle School. Joanne had promised the kids that this year they would be the best-dressed kids in the entire school.
    â€œHey, Mom, you like?” Alexis asked, feeling rather good in her new clothes.
    â€œYou look … okay,” Joanne responded, somewhat absent-minded.
    â€œI don’t look bad either,” Isipe said, wanting his own accolade.
    â€œYou look like a gentleman.”
    Joanne was trying to put on the best face possible, all the while lost in reverie.
    â€œYou know what, kids, let’s not go to school or work today,” Joanne suggested out of nowhere.
    â€œWhat?” Isipe said with a puzzled look on his face.
    â€œLet’s all go for a ride in the boat on the lake.”
    â€œAre you serious?” Alexis asked.
    â€œYes. It’s a beautiful day for a boat ride. Come on, pack a few things and drinks. Let’s go have fun on our boat.”
    Doug and Joanne Stead were members of the Navy Pier Yacht Club, and they owned a medium-sized boat, which they had used on a few occasions to sail around Lake Michigan.
    It had been during one of the boat rides almost eight years ago that the first Stella arguments between Doug and Joanne occurred.
    While enjoying the scenic skyscrapers, Doug had quipped, “This is like the good old days.”
    â€œWhat good old days?” Joanne had asked.
    â€œOh, never mind.”
    â€œPlease, tell me.”
    â€œOkay, I want you to promise me you won’t take this wrong.”
    â€œI won’t.”
    â€œWell,” Doug had begun, “about eight or nine years ago, Stella’s parents took us on a boat ride along the lakeshore. It was a wonderful experience. There was champagne, hamburgers, and beer. It was on a hot summer day just like today.”
    â€œYou miss that, don’t you?” Joanne had suggested, a curious expression crossing her face.
    â€œYeah,” Doug had replied, nodding his head nonchalantly.
    â€œWas it better than now?”
    â€œWhat do you mean, better than now?” Doug had asked, suddenly realizing the course of the conversation.
    â€œI mean, would you rather be there than here?” Joanne had wanted to know.
    â€œBe where?”
    â€œBe in the boat with Stella.”
    â€œThat’s ridiculous. I’m here with you, am I not?” Doug had replied.
    â€œYeah, but your heart was there; otherwise, you wouldn’t have brought it up,” Joanne had argued.
    â€œYou promised you wouldn’t be upset.”
    â€œI’m not upset. I just wanna know.”
    â€œCan we drop this?” Doug had gotten up immediately and walked toward the deck.
    That was the beginning of several serious arguments about Doug’s previous relationship with Stella. Even Joanne agreed that most of their arguments were about how Doug’s parents fell in love with Stella’s parents, how the marriage did not happen because Doug loathed Stella’s abrasive behavior and her standing up for herself.
    â€œOkay, Mom, we’re ready to go sailing.” Alexis interrupted Joanne’s thoughts.
    â€œPack your school bags with your shoes and clothes in case we dock at Navy Pier to go shopping,” instructed Joanne.
    â€œWe did already,” Alexis yelled with a surprised look on her face.
    â€œOh, yes!” Joanne answered.
    In less than forty-five minutes, they arrived at the yacht club members-only parking lot. Safely parked, they headed to the boat with backpacks, one suitcase, and a cooler filled with cans of Diet 7Up and Sierra Mist.
    Joanne’s plan was to dock at Navy Pier for lunch, then shop for new clothes for Alexis, sneakers for Isipe, and jewelry for herself. These were the rare occasions when Joanne could