The Ex's and the Next's

By Frank A Throneberry

Well, all righty then, this book basically starts out about one young teenager named Joel. Joel takes care of his younger siblings for his mother, Joyce. Joel’s only fifteen years old, and he cares for his siblings, while his mother works tirelessly as a CNA at the nearby hospital, taking care of patients.

Joyce is a widow who is forced into working long hours to provide for her family. Joyce’s eldest son, Joel, helps out quite a bit around the house. His best friend, Ralphy, knows that Joel wants his mother to get out and start dating again. So as a surprise for Joel, Ralphy asks his uncle Torri, who is a retired New York Giants player, to take Joel’s mother out on a date, and he agrees as a favor for his nephew. Regardless of all of life’s ups, downs, and uncertainties that decision would end up being the begging of a wonderful life together.

This book is full of excitement, adventure, things that surprisingly are not expected, and things that are but unfortunately never happen. The author would say more, but he does not want to give it all away. However, this is the first of a trilogy, which means there’s more to come!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781662460173

Book preview

Chapter 1

Ma’s New Boyfriend

Boy, I’ll tell you what, it had been five years since the death of my father, and my poor widowed mother had not even tried to date, not even a single soul yet. I had even tried to set her up a couple of times with some friends of mine and their divorced mothers who were going out for a drink, but my ma would not have any of that. She was a widow and would probably die that way since she went nowhere but the hospital for work and the grocery store to feed us kids and herself, and that was it. No guy was just going to walk in here and sweep her off her feet, especially since she did not wear any makeup or dress nice either.

Well, I’d be damned if I wasn’t wrong, but I was. Therefore, I was safe about not being damned. However, I had a friend named Ralphy. Ralphy had an uncle named Torri, who used to play professional football for the New York Giants football team. At any rate, he was down from Upstate New York and came down to the city to visit family. Torri was also single. Therefore, Ralphy thought he would do me, his uncle Torri, and my mother a favor and bring Torri over to meet Ma, whom he called by her first name, Joyce.

Now, my friend Ralphy was aware of how beautiful my ma could be if she cleaned up and took care of herself. Ralphy thought his uncle Torri would be a good enough reason for my mom to do that. So when he took Torri over to meet my ma, he told him just that, and as a favor to Ralphy, Torri asked my ma out for a date later that night.

After all, Torri lost his wife as well to breast cancer four years ago and hasn’t dated anyone since, but he was a retired football player. He was at the age of forty-five with no children of his own but loved kids. However, he and his wife thought they would wait until their careers expired before they had children. Unfortunately, his wife’s life had expired before she had a child for him to remember her by, and that’s all I’ve got to say about that.

So how it went down was like this. Ralphy told me, right there in his presence.

Torri said to my ma, Well, Joyce, it’s 4:30 p.m. now, and I’d like to take you out on a date if you’re interested. So I figure I could be back here to pick you up by 7:00 to 7:30 p.m., whatever works best for you, which depends on the fact you’re interested in such a thing as that.

My ma said, Well, I still have to feed the kids and see if my eldest son Joel, could watch his brother and sister for me. And I did, and for the first time in five years, my ma went out on a date. Well, she got all dolled up and wore a dress that she hadn’t worn in like forever, but it still looked good on her.

Then when Torri came to the door at 7:29 p.m. on the dot. I answered the door, acting like the man of the house, which I was at the time, full of questions, and I asked, Where are you taking her?

Torri said, Oh, I thought we’d go out for a bite to eat, maybe catch a movie or go to a party some of my friends are having.

Then I asked, Is there going to be drinking at this party?

Torri said, I don’t know, isn’t there drinking at every party? But that doesn’t mean we have to partake.

Then my ma came walking out from behind me and said, What do you think you are, my father now or something?

I said, Well, this is the first date you have been on in five years, Ma. You do not know what it’s like out there these days, do you?

Then Torri spoke up in her defense and said, Well, this is the first and probably going to be the last date I’ve been on in four years, little man. Look at her, man. She’s beautiful. I don’t know about her, but for me, this is love at first sight. Torri’s quite confident about himself as well!

Anyway, I’d tell you what I knew about Torri. I knew these things because Ralphy and I had been friends for many years. In that amount of time, all Ralphy did was brag about Torri, how he played for the New York Giants, how he owned his own jet helicopter, how he owned his own jet airplane, how he lived on forty-five acres in Upstate New York, how he had a really big house, and how he had maids, chefs, and nice things too. Then I had to hear how he had a full-size gym attached to his house with a personal trainer employed by him to go with it.

I just could not stand listening to Ralphy bragging about Torri at one time, but now he’s dating my ma. That alone made me inquisitive, which meant I had to swallow my pride. I called Ralphy and asked. So I did. I picked up the phone, dialed the number, let it ring a couple of times, and was about to hang the phone up when Ralphy answered, Bet you wanna know now, don’t yah! Dude, I think I just made a love connection tonight, bro! If so, all those things I used to brag about my uncle having, those things could be part of yours too. Just imagine that!

I said, Come on, Ralphy, this is just their first date. Of course, you didn’t see how good-looking my mother was, plus your uncle said, ‘Wow, so, this is love at first sight, huh!’

Ralphy said, Uncle Torri said when he and your mother embraced for the first time, there was a moment, a stillness, a split second of passion, which is why he has his way with women. I’ve seen it before, but it has been years. However, I think your mom, dressed up and looking as good as she was, brought the man in my uncle alive again.

I told Ralphy, You act like my ma has a magic potion or something, or maybe your uncle does, Ralphy.

The Day before My Life Got Better

So anyway, that was on a Friday night, and the next morning, my ma was usually working. Therefore, because I’m fifteen, I was old enough to watch my two younger siblings, which was my weekend job. Like it or not, I didn’t have a life. However, today was a little bit different and quite a bit out of the norm, as well. I woke up at eight, just as I usually do, and walked into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, which my ma leaves on for me. However, my ma and Torri were sitting at the table and said at the same time, Good morning, sleepyhead, which startled me a little bit!

I was thinking to myself, Well, I guess this means Torri stayed the night, without asking me, the man of the house, for permission. That thought of me being the man of the house didn’t last long at all. Torri and my ma just told me they made some awesome plans for my siblings and me and probably for the rest of our lives too. I didn’t know what my ma did, but she sure did it to the right person this time. So I guess the plan for my ma and her children’s weekend was to fly to Upstate New York in Torri’s jet copter and spend the rest of the weekend at his place.

We were all going up to spend the rest of the weekend at Torri’s place in Upstate New York, which would be a major change of pace for me. As a matter of fact, this is something Ralphy has never bragged about to me since he’s never has had the opportunity before, which I’m going to ride him about for sure. So at 9:30 a.m., Torri and my family all loaded up in his new Jeep Wagoneer. That alone was a big deal, and we went to the airport, where he flew his jet copter into town.

Just as we pulled into his personally reserved spot where Torri parks his Jeep, my cell phone rang, which is Ralphy, of course. So I said, Hey, Torri, it’s Ralphy!

Torri said, Well, just don’t answer it, please? If he knows where you are going, he is going to want to come too. I have always tried to keep myself secluded from my family, especially because they think I owe them something. None of them helped me get to where I’m at, Joel! I am this successful because I am a survivor and a fighter too. It definitely was not because of anything they ever did for me!

I said, Okay, then, bud. I totally understand where you are coming from, Torri.

Torri said, This doesn’t mean I would not help you out a little, Joel. You got dealt a bad hand. When your father died when you were just ten years old, that was not your fault at all. You helped your ma out a great deal with a five-year-old brother, Riley, and a six-year-old sister, Wanda, which will come back to you, buddy. I guarantee it and will personally make sure of it myself, whether your mother and I stay together or not. I’m a giver, not a taker, and as God as my witness, I’m going to give you the opportunity to excel.

So Torri and I were caught up in a conversation for the entire trip to his place up north, which my ma insisted on sitting upfront. My younger brother and sister were just strapped into their seats. Therefore, it wasn’t really that big of a deal to them. I guess you have to be older and tall enough to look out the windows to appreciate the higher things in life. LOL. I thought I would be nervous flying in a copter, especially a jet copter, but Torri kept my mind wrapped up in conversation the entire time. However, the entire trip seemed like twenty minutes in a jet copter, which would have taken six hours in a motor vehicle. I definitely could tell right away that Mr. Torri preferred Jeep Cherokees and Waggoneers. He has one or the other at every airport we land at.

So Torri also had a Jeep Cherokee waiting at his landing pad at his place, which was a couple of years old, to take us to his massive mansion. When we got to the house, Torri introduced us to a lot of his employees as if they were family. I don’t judge males, that’s just not my thing, but some of the females were just flat-out gorgeous.

My New Girlfriend

There was this one tiny young lady named Sue. Sue stood out in my mind most of all because she looked pretty close to my age, maybe a few years older.

However, I’ll tell you what, man, Sue was super beautiful and had a voluptuous body type at the same time, plus she had beautiful blue eyes, which magnetized me right in her direction. Once we were introduced, I could tell right away it was going to be a challenge of resisting her too. I was interested in getting to know her. I wanted to let her know about my attraction toward her without showing it to everyone else.

However, when our blue eyes met, if mine lit up as bright as hers did, it would have been a dead giveaway! Wow, I had a birthday coming up in late November. I would turn sixteen on the seventeenth. I wondered if maybe I’d ask and see. I was going to ask Torri if I could turn sixteen with her this year. She couldn’t be but about twenty-four if she worked for him.

So we were all shown our sleeping quarters in the house. Some of the employees lived there too, but most of them lived on the property but elsewhere. Torri said to me, Joel, I usually get up at 5:30 a.m., grab a small bite to eat, drink a couple of cups of coffee, but by 6:00 a.m., I take a run around the property until seven o’clock. At seven o’clock, I enter the gym and start working out with my trainer. What do you think? Are you up for that kind of thing? Your ma tells me you’re very smart and have excellent marks in school!

I responded, Well, I don’t know. I’ve never had time for track or any extracurricular activity. Ma’s always needed me after school to watch my younger siblings and stuff like that, which was fine by me. At that time, I was thinking I’m just a bag of bones with no shape or definition at all, compared to you. I definitely could use some help. There’s no way I could keep up with you who is totally defined, and muscles have been worked out in every way.

That is when Torri said, "There’s no better time to start than right now when you’re about to turn sixteen, Joel. Right now is the time that if you were to start working out tomorrow morning with me. You will quadruple your size by the time of graduation, which I guarantee! I’ll even take it easy on you for the first couple of days, but after that, you’ll see. Your brain will start to release this chemical called endorphin. It will make you feel this insurmountable amount of positive energy, which leads to you wanting to do more and more. However, any more than an hour of working out will lead to your muscles feeding off of themselves rather than the food you ingested to feed them.

"When I’m done working out, I usually have a protein bar or blend up a smoothie. The gym is equipped with the supplies for that sort of thing. I also have a shower, stretching chart, Jacuzzi, and vertical tanning area if you’re interested in any of that. I usually do the upper body every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and the lower body every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Sunday is the day I give the entire body a day of rest.

I’m done with working out and have gotten cleaned up, dressed, and everything completed by 8:00 to 8:30 a.m. and have nothing else to do. I need a project, which is where you come into play, Joel, that is, if you like football, little man.

I said, What do you mean, Torri?

Torri said, Well, I could make a football star out of you if that’s something you’re interested in, Joel. Look at me and everything I have accumulated over the years by playing the game. When I get done with you, along with as good as you are at your schooling, you might get a scholarship. If not, I’ll pay your tuition for college myself if I have to.

I said, Well, Torri, I never had much of a chance to get into sports, much like I never had a chance to get into girls either. I’m not gay or anything. It’s just what was I supposed to do, invite a girl home to watch cartoons while I watch my brother Riley and my little sister Wanda.

Torri said, I saw your eyes light up when you fixed them on my maid Sue, just as I have seen her do the same to you as well.

I said, Well, I was hoping it wasn’t that noticeable on my part, but I guess it was if you saw it. So about how old is she anyway?

Torri said, Oh, I think Sue is about twenty-four, but I could be wrong. At any rate, I’ll see what I could do about hooking you two up, okay?

Torri said, For now, let’s go cruise around the property on the four-wheelers I have for that purpose.

And they did. Of course, while Torri was keeping busy and having fun with me, my ma and the other two children were having equally as good of a time touring around in the house. She saw that the house was huge. It had eight bedrooms in all, which included master baths, and two of them had a Jacuzzi too. It had two kitchens; one was for the master of the house and one for the servants.

So it was getting late, close to dinnertime, when Torri and I were at the back of his property. Where there was a small creek, which we could have fished out of if we had fishing poles. Anyway, he decided to put a call into the house and ask to speak with my mother.

When he did, he said, How about you and the maid Joel cares for the most cook us up something to eat. She knew the maid he spoke of. Then when he got off the phone with my ma, we took the four-wheelers back to the barn where his Jeep was waiting.

By the time we got back to the house, my mother and Sue were just finishing up making a big pot of spaghetti. It was enough for all the servants, Torri, my ma, and us kids too. It kind of broke my heart when Sue started to walk into the other room where the servants eat, but Torri said, Wait a minute, Sue, you’re sitting next to Joel tonight, honey. It cheered me right up. Then I stood up and pulled Sue a seat out right next to mine and acted like a gentleman too.

Everybody Else Had Dessert Brought Out to Them. Mine Walked Outside with Me!

After dinner, Sue and I stood out back visiting for a while on the back porch. It was amazing how much we had in common. However, the word age never came up, thank God, because that would have been the end of a beautiful thing, right there. At any rate, my mother came out and broke us apart by saying, Honey, you better come in now, get cleaned up, and ready for bed. We’re probably going home tomorrow. You’ve got to get ready for school Monday, and I’ve got to get ready for work too.

After my mom shut the door and went back inside, Sue said, Well, I’ll probably see you later. I live on the premises, and I know where your room is at, babe! I said,

Well, do I get a kiss good night for now, baby? Sue said.

Oh, without a doubt, babe!

Come here, you handsome young thing. She laid one on me! Ooh-la-la.

So when I walked into the house, I could not help it,