“We’re almost ready,” his mother
said in a singsong voice. “Everybody’s here who is supposed to be, and we’re
right on time. Kyle, can you seat Mother at the dining room table please?” She
called as she passed by after taking the tray out of the huge stainless steel
refrigerator.
Propped in the pantry doorway, Kyle
didn’t immediately respond, even after his mom paused and looked at him with
narrowed eyes.
“I know you heard me, now I need
you to put the words into action,” she said.
“Yes ma’am,” Kyle muttered but he still didn’t move. He was hung over and
still in a state of shock about Rye and Lacey, which made it unsettling to
move. He’d had the whole night and a tortuous two hours during
church service to consider the concept, he was still mad as hell. Rye was his
best friend, but he was also the same man who’d had so much pussy his dick
should have its own area code.
He questioned how Lacey could look past Rye’s
history with so many women. Hell, he’d seen Rye in action too many times to
count and she had too. In fact he and Rye often went out together and did what
they needed to do with plenty of willing females. It was amazing to watch
unfold. An attractive woman would catch Rye’s eye, he’d flash that lopsided
smile and bam, the lady opened her legs, mouth or any damn other orifice that
Rye wanted for as long as he wanted. Then he walked away before doing it all
over again with someone else. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. Now Lacey, his sister, the
last person he expected to fall under Rye’s spell had been added to the long
list of conquered women. The mothafucker.
“Kyle Bishop. What is wrong
with you? Move it!” His mother shrilled. Kyle,
ignoring her rave, decided to enlist the troops for the cause. There was no way
he was going to let his sister be used. They were the only ones in the spacious
kitchen, but he pulled his mother into the pantry, pan of bruschetta and all,
and closed the door.
****
“Son, have you lost your mind?” Lena stared at her oldest child like he had grown three
heads. Didn’t he know they were only ten
minutes from show time? Her Sunday brunches were famous for being beautiful and
filling while harmonious. Not once had they started behind schedule. People
were waiting and she was not going to break her streak. If her child had
flipped, she’d have to get him some
psychiatric help, but much later, after lunch.
“Whatever is going on in your
head had better be explained quickly.”
“Did you know about Lacey and
Rye?”
Lena paused, but kept her expression neutral. Yes she knew, and was
livid about it, but she couldn’t deal with that little
issue right now. Once again her middle child had thrown her for a loop with her
latest act of defiance. Of course it hurt that Lacey hadn’t shared the news with her own mother first hand, but that was to
be expected. That child knew how to keep he mouth closed until the last
possible moment about news that could shake someone to the core. ‘I'm not going to Spelman. I'm not getting married. I'm not going
into real estate. I'm going to be a cook, chef,’ whatever, Lena was always the last to know. When was Lacey going to learn that different wasn’t always better?
And her dear husband had been just as devious in the way he’d made the announcement. Just as dawn was breaking, he’d made fierce love to her, had really given it to her good and
just as her trembling subsided he broke the news about Lacey and Rye. Of course
she’d hit the ceiling—in fact had lost her
religion for a few minutes as she ranted and raved about her child carrying on
with a white boy. Never mind that Rye was loved by them all and practically a
member of the family. Because she wasn’t given the chance to intervene, her baby was going to be
subjected to a life of ridicule and misery, and she simply would not stand for
it.
She immediately reached for her cell phone where Lacey’s number was programmed. When she realized the phone was nowhere
to be found, she marched stark naked to her home office, pulled out her
old-fashioned rolodex and reached for the house phone to call Lacey and to give
her a piece of her mind. Then she realized the handset was gone. She raced to
every room in the house where an outlet extension was supposed to be to find not
a single one. That rotten snake of a husband, knowing her so well, had removed
all of the phones from the house. Not to
be outdone, she took a quick shower and dressed with the intent of driving to
Lacey’s house. When she went to
grab her keys from the crystal bowl in the hallway, they were gone. As were all
the keys to every vehicle that she and her husband owned. Even the spare sets
in the safe had been confiscated.
All the while her husband sat at the breakfast table
reading the paper without saying a word as she ran around the house like a
crazy person. When she realized she couldn’t call anybody, couldn’t go anywhere, she got ready for church and sat on the
living room sofa. There she waited for John to take her to the early service
they always attended on second Sundays so that she could come back and prepare dinner.
Not a word was spoken until she reached her regular pew with a pasted on a
smile for the other parishioners. For John she had a snarl. On the way back
home, the only words spoken came from him when he said “leave it alone, Lena.”
After church, she’d donned an apron and
started laying out her feast, forced to put her child’s betrayal on the backburner while she entertained a more than a
dozen people. She could do no less, because it was expected of her, and she
would deliver. Even if at this moment Kyle had her trapped in the pantry.
“I heard about the happy couple this morning,” Lena confirmed. “How long have you known
about it?”
“Just found out last night. Even when he told me I didn’t believe that bastard until I saw it with my own eyes. I wanted
to tear his arm out of the socket for touching her. Do you know how many women
his hands have been on?”
Remembering John’s warning, Lena decided
to play it safe for the time being. She had people to feed. “Actually I don’t want to know, and I don’t have time for this right now. Open the door.”
Kyle frowned at her calm words. “You’re okay with them being
together?”
Lena pursed her lips in frustration at her otherwise smart
child. “Kyle Bishop, I do not have
time for this. Now kindly open the door, see to your grandmother like I told
you. Keep it together until all of our guests have left. Do you understand me?”
Instead of answering, Kyle scowled and pulled open the door. Lena
closed her eyes and said the prayer she’d been too angry to voice
during service this morning and made her way to the dining room with a dazzling
smile.
She’d already decided she
would punish her husband and well for keeping her in the dark about Lacey and
Rye. It would be at least a month until John even got a peak at her woman bits.
If she could hold out until then.
