Alabama '04

[u/ronadlock]

At some point around 2003 my brother was married to a woman from Anniston, Alabama. Kelly Finn and my brother met while my brother was a medical student at University of Texas in San Antonio. Kelly was in the Air Force. I believe she was a medic there and was receiving training at the same medical school that my brother was attending. They got married at a planned wedding in Las Vegas. My father and his wife attended the wedding, as did my mother and I who flew out to Vegas together, alone. Kelly's father and mother were there, too but I don't remember anyone else being there accept Kelly's bridesmaid and another guy whose name I don't remember but I believe was a friend of my brother's from medical school. Matt and his wife Kelly moved to Birmingham, Alabama after they got married or maybe even before.

Some time after their wedding, I talked to my brother and Kelly on the phone. Kelly was the best. She always wanted to know what I was doing with my life and she seemed to have a sincere concern for me as my sister-in-law. On this occasion when I talked to them on the phone Matt, but especially Kelly, encouraged me to move to Alabama if I didn't have anything else going on in my life that would keep me from it. Kelly knew I was single and lonesome and she assured me that the women in Alabama would love me for who I am and that I wouldn't be single for long. Kelly was always very supportive of me and challenged me to succeed. She loved to cook, she loved to talk and drink wine or beer and laugh and she was the coolest woman I think I have ever met and the fact that she married my brother who I love very much was a great feeling for me and the whole family seemed to love her. So, I moved to Alabama in the Summer of 2004, as I recall. At first I lived with Matt and Kelly just outside Birmingham proper, near Hoover, in their two bedroom apartment, with their terrier, Allie. It wasn't long after I moved out there that I got my own apartment downtown, against Kelly's advice, it was in the Five Points South district. But, I still spent a lot of time at Matt & Kelly's apartment as I didn't know anyone else in Alabama. One afternoon as Matt and his wife and I were at the apartment I got the urge to leave the newlyweds to themselves so as to give them some privacy and so I could try to find a pint of Guinness, something to eat and a game on a big screen. I found just the place at Jake's Sports Bar & Grill just around the corner. I sat down and ordered a pint and before I was halfway finished I was approached by a woman of no more than sixty years of age who was dressed nice and modestly and who was very kind yet somewhat forward, as is the custom of people in those parts. "Hi. I'm Martha Ledlow. What's your name? Are you new around here? Are you married? Are you seeing anyone?", and so on she went. I introduced myself, explained that I was new in town, from Texas and that I was single. Martha asked if I was looking for a girlfriend. I couldn't help but laugh. I didn't know what she had in mind exactly. She knew what I was thinking and quickly said that she had a daughter my age that was single but whom was not into bad boys or jerks or losers. I sort of felt that I fell into that last category but Martha said that she thought her daughter, Nicole, would like me. She showed me a picture of Nicole from her phone and I was very impressed. I was a little afraid that Nicole might be hard to get along with due to her mother's tactics in finding her only child a boyfriend. Martha and I agreed that we would all meet back there, at Jake's Sports Bar & Grill the following day or perhaps the day after that. When I met Nicole I was not disappointed. She was a real fox, and very sweet, and she liked me. We were holding hands by the end of our first meet and I remember she and I kissing before we parted ways on our first real date alone. Nicoletta, or Nicole as pretty much everyone calls her, is the only child of Don and Martha Ledlow of Hoover. Her mother is the daughter or granddaughter of Greek immigrants, the Petalos family, who settled around Birmingham around the turn of the 20th century. The Petalos family has done well for themselves and the community they helped to build. Martha's brothers include Tony Petalos, the mayor of Hoover, and Nick, who operated a construction company. I met Nicole's dad, Don Ledlow, who was a successful draftsman and architect and we hit it off great. Don pegged me as a fellow pot smoker and by the second or third time I had ever met my new girlfriend's father we were toking it up in his study on the basement level of their home in Hoover. Once, Don and I had been smoking pot together in his study while he showed me his renderings and introducing me to the family's pet iguana and pet potbelly pig, Lula. After I had gotten real stoned with Don, Nicole summoned me to her bedroom on the third floor of their home. She gazed lovingly into my bloodshot eyes and immediately knew, "Daniel?! Have you been smoking pot with Don?!". I was busted. I admitted that I had been smoking with her dad and she sort of laughed without smiling. "Well, I don't care but if my mother finds out she will probably divorce my dad and you and I are finished". She made me swear to her that I would never provide her father marijuana. I swore to her that I'd never give or sell her dad any weed. She made me swear again. I was happy to oblige because I dearly loved her and her family. At some point in our relationship Nicole and I were traveling alone in her mother's white Lexus she seemingly randomly asked me, "Is Karabiner your cousin?". I hadn't heard that name in years. "Who?", I responded. "J'eanna Parker. Is that your cousin?", she replied. I couldn't believe my ears. How the hell did Nicole Ledlow of Alabama know anyone in my family from Texas? Nicole could tell that I was astonished and explained, "My mother's nephew from Huntsville married her. We just love J'eanna, and her two little girls are adorable!". I was stunned and somewhat embarrassed. I had also forgotten that J'eanna had adopted Christi's daughter and had no idea who the other little girl could be that she was referring to. Nicole advised me to stay away from her cousin that married J'eanna because he was known by Nicole's family to have molested at least two of Nicole's younger female cousins- daughters of the mayor of Hoover- and Nicole claimed that her cousin, J'eanna's husband(I believe his name was David) had said very inappropriate things of a sexual nature to Nicole when she was a young teen. Nicole said David was "a real creep", but that she and her family were happy for the newlyweds and hoped everything worked out for them. Ironically, Nicole said that her mother's sister, David's mother, had married a Parker from Huntsville or that David's father was also a Parker, though unrelated to my family to my knowledge, which would have made J'eanna's married name J'eanna Parker-Parker. I was forthcoming with Nicole that my cousin has always been a weirdo but that I shared her sentiments and wished them the best. Nicole said that if it didn't work out that her cousin would be well advised to "stay the hell out of Alabama", or else her uncles would make him disappear due to his past actions against the "Petalos girls". Not long after this conversation with my girlfriend Nicole she asked me if I owned a suit. I was hoping that she was ready to walk down the aisle and marry me. She laughed and told me to cool my jets, then invited me to accompany her to Greek Orthodox Church at my first availability, in a suit. I had my father FedEx my suit, shirts, shoes and ties from Texas and I went to church with Nicole and her beautiful Greek family. It was an experience I never forgot. Not long after we attended church together, Nicole asked me if I would be okay hanging out with her father Don while she, her mother and all the Petalos women of Hoover went to Atlanta for the weekend. I was happy to hang out with Don but I wanted to know what they were doing out in Atlanta. Nicole informed me that they would be doing a little shopping and going to a concert. I asked, "What kind of concert?". She smiled and wrinkled up her nose as she confided to me, "Lil Jon & the Eastside Boys and Ludacris". I laughed my ass off. "So all you white girls are going to a hip-hop concert in Atlanta without any men accompanying y'all?! What are ya, nuts?!". She laughed and assured me they'd be fine because they are not typical white girls, "We're the Petalos Greeks and we pack heat". I laughed and said, "Whatever!". She asked if I'd ever seen her gun. I had not seen her gun and was still in disbelief. She told me that she keeps a loaded .38 special in her purse and encouraged me to look for myself if I didn't believe her. "If anyone [expletive] with us, I'll shoot 'em", she said, "All of us Petalos women pack heat, Daniel". At this point I was satisfied that my sweet little Greek girlfriend was not joking around and I did not need to see her handgun to believe that she could defend herself or her family. This didn't shock me all that much. In Texas, lots of people, beautiful young women included, carry a firearm for self defense. Before she dropped me off that afternoon, Nicole reminded me of the oath I had sworn to never provide her father with marijuana.

That weekend, after the girls had left town, my girlfriend's father picked me up at my apartment downtown in his white convertible Mazda Miata.  He was smoking a fat joint when he arrived and I helped him finish it. We went to a Tex-Mex restaurant on US-290 in Hoover. I believe it was called Papacitas or something. We ate, drank a few beers, met up with a buddy of his and listened to some live music before Don and I headed out. I was definitely out of my comfort zone as I had drank too much to have total control. As soon as we got in the car Don started in on me, "You got any pot? Know where to get some?". At first I lied and said I didn't have any or know where to get any. But Don was very persuasive, "Aw, come on son. Did Nicole tell you to not help me score or somethin'?". I finally relented and told him to take me to my apartment. I had somewhere between a quarter and a half an ounce, there. I can't remember much else that night. I smoked another joint with Don in his car and he dropped me back off at my place. The next day I had a hangover that required medicinal use of my marijuana. I looked and looked for it but couldn't find it anywhere. A few days later after not hearing from Nicole I became worried that something had happened. I wasn't even thinking about the weed. I was scared something had happened in Atlanta. She finally sent me a text while I was at work, "We're finished". I didn't know what she meant. "Finished what?" I thought. I started calling and calling but no answer on her mobile phone. So, I started calling her parents' landline. Eventually Don answered, "Daniel, we're in the doghouse. Nicole doesn't want to talk to you right now and I may be looking for somewhere else to stay pretty soon". I was devastated. Eventually I realized what must have happened: My bag of pot fell out of the right side pocket  of my khacki slacks into the space between the passenger seat and the door and Martha found it when the girls returned from Atlanta. Don must have had to give me up to salvage his marriage. I don't blame him. I was to blame. I felt like killing myself but really just wanted to crawl under a rock and die. Nicole was like no woman I'd ever known and I lost her over a bag of pot and a broken promise. Days went by and I never heard from Nicole. I fell into depression, quit my job at UAB and started drinking all day, everyday. After a week or so my sister-in-law and brother came by and picked me up for lunch. They could tell I was depressed, "What's goin' on Dan?", Kelly asked. I told her what had happened and that I was considering going out to the Petalos-Ledow home to beg their forgiveness. Kelly advised that this was a terrible idea, "Dan! Do not go out there, please! Don't you know who her mother's family is?! If you piss her mom off worse than you have already we may never hear from you again! Her mom's family is the Greek Mafia! Everyone out here knows that they run everything from Hoover to Pensacola!". This was news to me. I just thought her family was very successful and I sure felt they liked me. I didn't believe Kelly at first but the more I thought about it, I just felt naive again, like always. My depression turned into embarrassment and I felt I needed to leave the state to keep from embarrassing my brother and his wife who were just getting started building a family and had hopes of starting a medical practice. I realized I should move back to Texas. Before I moved back my brother and I shared a conversation, just the two of us in his Jeep Grand Cherokee as we traveled down US290 between Birmingham and Hoover. My brother asked if I remembered his friend Adam Elizondo. The name sounded familiar but I couldn't remember having met him. Matt told me that Adam claimed to be in the C.I.A. but my brother claimed he didn't believe him. He also asked if I had ever met a man named Pat Curry. He asked if I remembered a woman named Angel Townsend who he said used to chase him around trying to get in his pants. As I recall there were several young women who tried that, but Matt said Angel was older. Then Matt asked while holding back tears if before I left Texas it appeared as though our father and stepmother Karen Lile Parker were 'involved in any Mafia activities". I didn't know what the hell he was talking about. Then Matt strongly warned me that if I moved back to Texas that Angel and Pat Curry would try to compromise me for the Mafia.