Sisters and Husbands (15 page)

Evelyn shook her head. “Bev’s right. I have to give him the space he needs and hope for the best.”

“You two will work things out,” Beverly said firmly. “As long as you’ve been married, I have no doubts of that. Is there anything
we can do in the meantime?”

Evelyn shook her head. “Not really.”

“How are the kids handling it?” Charmaine asked.

“Andre seems fine, but Rebecca is having a lot of trouble with it. Now that I think about it, there is one thing you can do
for me. Please don’t say anything to Mama. Let me tell her later.”

“Fine,” Charmaine said, nodding. “I understand.”

“No problem,” Beverly added.

Evelyn let out a deep sigh. “I’m so glad I finally told you all the truth. It’s a load off my mind.” She smiled.

“That’s what we’re here for,” Charmaine said.

“You bet,” Beverly added.

Evelyn touched Beverly’s arm. “I’m really sorry this came out now. This was supposed to be a day for you to celebrate getting
married, and here I am going through this stuff.”

Beverly waved her hand. “Don’t be silly. It’s hardly your fault.”

Charmaine shrugged. “This is life, you know? We sure as hell can’t control when these things happen. Men are so unpredictable
and sometimes they can be such…”

They heard laughter coming from the kitchen, and Charmaine paused midsentence. Beverly listened and then smiled. She would
know her best friend’s loud cackle from a mile away.

They all walked up to the newly updated kitchen to see Kevin and Valerie standing around the table. Kevin must have just said
something hilarious, because Valerie was having a hard time shaking the giggles. The smile faded from Beverly’s face when
she noticed a black leather duffel bag on the floor next to Kevin and was reminded that he had his own place.

“Hello, ladies,” Kevin said. He nodded at Beverly and Charmaine.

“Hello, Kevin,” Beverly and Charmaine said in unison.

“Kevin was telling me about some customers that came into Blockbuster last week,” Valerie said. “What was it, Kevin? Some
teenage guy whose mother caught him watching an R-rated video with his girlfriend and brought him into the store and made
him return it. It was so funny.”

The three sisters stared at Valerie blankly, obviously not getting the joke.

Valerie waved an arm. “You had to be here to hear him telling it.”

“Uh-huh,” Beverly said, folding her arms across her chest. Sometimes her girlfriend could be so frivolous, especially after
a couple of glasses of wine. Still, Valerie understandably had no clue that Kevin and Evelyn had separated, and it was making
for an awkward moment.

“Oh, good luck to you on your upcoming nups, Bev,” Kevin said as he bent down and reached for his bag.

“Thanks.” Normally, Beverly would have been eager to catch Kevin up on the plans for the wedding. She had come to think of
him as a brother, someone who would always be in the family. She couldn’t be sure of that any longer and as a result wasn’t
so sure how to act around him.

“I only met Julian a few times,” Kevin said. “But he seems like good people.”

“He’s very nice,” Evelyn added. “Bev’s lucky to have him.”

Beverly smiled. “I hope you see him again some time soon, Kevin, so you have a chance to get to know him.”

Charmaine listened in silence to the small talk but kept her eyes glued on Valerie, who in turn couldn’t seem to take her
eyes off Kevin. Charmaine knew flirting when she saw it, even subtle flirting, and it looked like Valerie was being a bit
coquettish with Kevin, batting her eyelashes and smiling at him like a fool. Charmaine didn’t trust any woman besides her
sisters around an attractive man.

She glanced at Beverly and Evelyn to see if they were picking up on the signals, but they didn’t seem to have noticed anything
unusual. Maybe she was imagining things, Charmaine thought, because of what Evelyn had just told them. And even if Valerie
was flirting with Kevin, it was probably no big deal. It made Charmaine a little uncomfortable to think that Valerie would
flirt with her best friend’s brother-in-law, but it wasn’t exactly going to start World War III. Valerie and Beverly had been
friends for years, and Valerie should know better than to step over the line.

“Well, I’m out of here,” Kevin said. He kissed Beverly, Charmaine, and Valerie on the cheeks and split, and the four of them
went back to the party. As Evelyn and Charmaine moved off, Beverly thought now was the time to get her friend caught up.

“Kevin and Evelyn are separated. I just found out.”

Valerie’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding!”

“I wish. Unfortunately, it’s true.”

“I wondered why he had the overnight bag. I thought maybe he was going on a business trip or something, until he told me he
worked at Blockbuster, and then I didn’t know what to think. When did this happen?”

“A couple of weeks ago,” Beverly said.

“That’s a shame. Whose idea was it for them to split up?”

“His. And no, Evelyn is not sure what’s going on with him. Midlife crisis or something maybe.”

Valerie nodded. “That probably explains the shaved head. And why he left his law firm to work at Blockbuster, of all places.”

“I know. Crazy, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but it happens,” Valerie said. “He’s probably searching for the meaning of life. Why he’s here on earth. That kind
of thing.”

“He can do that shit with his wife.”

Valerie chuckled. “True. How is Evelyn handling it?”

“She’s okay. Not great, but okay.”

“I hope she bounces back quickly. She’s been married so long that being single will probably be a big adjustment for her.”

“Slow down, girlfriend,” Beverly said. “They haven’t signed any papers, so I wouldn’t give up on them just yet. They had a
good marriage for a long time. I happen to think they’ll work things out.”

“You’re right. I’m sure they will.”

Charmaine walked up and tapped Beverly’s elbow. “C’mon, kiddo. Time to open your presents and see how many thongs you got.”

Beverly laughed. “You so crazy.”

“I can tell you right now that the little number I got you is going to heat your sex life up to the boiling point.” Charmaine
looked at Valerie. “Can you get us a couple of trash bags out of the kitchen pantry, honey? We need them for the gift wrapping.
Then join us.”

“No problem,” Valerie said. She walked off to the kitchen as Charmaine guided Beverly to the armchair in the living room where
she and Evelyn had piled up all the gifts and the guests were gathering around.

Beverly put her hands on her hips just before sitting down. “What makes you think my sex life isn’t already at the boiling
point, Charm?”

“Well, excuse me if it is,” Charmaine said with mock indignation. “You can use what I got you to keep it that way.”

“All right, girls,” Mama said. “That’s a bit too much information. We don’t need to hear all that.”

“I have to agree,” Evelyn said, laughing.

Charmaine gently pushed Beverly down into the chair as Valerie entered the room and Evelyn tied the corny little hat she had
made from paper plates and balloons onto Beverly’s head.

“The things a girl will do for love,” Beverly said as she smiled broadly for the cameras.

J
ulian was acting especially amorous that evening when he arrived to pick up Beverly after the bridal shower. As he helped
Beverly load up the trunk of his black SUV with her gifts, he kept touching her whenever Evelyn and Charmaine looked the other
way or went into another room. Once he got Beverly alone in the kitchen he backed her against a wall and playfully licked
her behind the ear. She laughed and shoved him away.

“What the hell is going on with you?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Just wanting my woman, that’s all. Can’t I want my woman?”

“Of course, just not now.” Normally, touching her and eyeing her lustfully was all it took for him to send her into a frenzy.
It wouldn’t have been all that unusual for them to pull into an almost empty parking lot behind a strip mall on their way
to her town house, let down the backseat of the SUV, and get it on with feverish abandon.

But Beverly had her sister Evelyn on her mind that evening. She lingered a little longer than usual at the front door to say
good-bye and comfort Evelyn, willing her eldest sister to hang in there.

“You sure you don’t want me to stay and keep you company? We can sit up and talk all night if you want.”

Evelyn smiled weakly. “Thanks, Bev, but I’m fine, honestly.”

“I’m going to hang around a while longer and help her straighten up,” Charmaine said. “You go on and be with that man you
got waiting for you, girl. Nothing better than new love.”

“Charm is right,” Evelyn added. “Please don’t worry about me.”

Beverly hugged Evelyn as Julian slammed the rear door of the SUV shut. “Call me if you need anything, day or night,” Beverly
said. “I mean that.” She blew a kiss to both of her sisters.

Once in the car with Julian, Beverly couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that her brother-in-law had left her sister. She
hadn’t let on just how much the whole thing bothered her at the bridal shower because she could see that Evelyn was having
a difficult time with it. But now she found herself trembling uncontrollably.

Julian frowned with concern, reached across the seat, and squeezed her leg just below the hemline of her denim skirt.

“Talk to me, baby,” he said. “Something’s obviously bothering you.”

The warmth of his hand on her leg helped her begin to relax. She let out a deep breath and filled him in on what was happening
with Evelyn and Kevin. Julian listened silently and attentively while she poured out her feelings for ten minutes straight,
relieved to get it all off her mind.

“Other couples do this kind of thing, not Evelyn and Kevin,” she continued. “They were supposed to be different. They were
the ones who got it right. At least I thought they were different. I thought they were doing everything right. I…”

Beverly stopped talking abruptly when she realized she was just repeating herself. There was nothing more to say.

“They’re human and flawed just like the rest of us,” Julian said soothingly.

“No, uh-uh. Don’t you see? They were supposed to be
better
than everybody else. They were the ones who proved that marriage could work. Even though it might be hard, you could still
make it work. Now I don’t know what to think.”

“I can understand why you’re worried about them. I just hope this doesn’t mean that you’re getting second thoughts about us.”

She shook her head no. “I
am
thinking that we need to talk more. We both have to be real clear about what we want out of marriage. And what we don’t want.”

“We talk about that stuff all the time. We want two kids and we know that we need to get started sooner rather than later,
given our ages. We want to live here in Columbia, Maryland, in your town house and later get a bigger place. We’re equal partners,
et cetera, et cetera.”

Beverly sighed impatiently. Did he really understand the gravity, the urgency of her feelings? This was important to her and
she had to make sure he got it. “I know we talked some, but it can’t hurt to talk more. We don’t want to jump into marriage
without covering all the bases. It’s too important. That’s exactly what I told Valerie about Otis.”

“Whoa, wait a sec. You aren’t comparing us with Valerie and Otis, are you? Gimme a break. He smacks her around. He’s a damn
thug.”

“I don’t mean it like that, Julian. I know you’d never hit me or get violent in any way. But we still need to discuss things
more. I mean, what is your stance on how kids should be raised?”

Julian hit his forehead. “My stance? My
stance?
Jeez, Bev. You make it sound like we’re having a damn political discussion or something. We’re engaged to be married! The
wedding is in two weeks. Lighten up.”

“I wish you wouldn’t be so flippant. Charmaine and Tyrone are going through some stuff too, something about their kids. And
like you just said, we only have two weeks to talk.”

He shook his head adamantly. “Actually, we have the rest of our lives to talk, you know?”

She sighed with exasperation.

“What? I see the way your folks raised you. That’s all I need to know. I assumed that we were on the same wavelength about
that.”

“Well, we shouldn’t assume,” she said. “That’s the problem. We need to put it all out there on the table. What about religion?”

“What about religion? We’re both Christians.”

“But you’re Baptist. I was raised as a Catholic.”

He knitted his eyebrows. “And?”

“Which church will we take our children to?”

“Bev, we did talk about this. That much I know. We decided that we didn’t care which denomination we practiced as long as
it’s Christian. Remember?”

“That’s fine for us, but what about our kids? Which church are we going to raise them under?”

Julian sighed with resignation.

“Don’t get mad at me,” she protested. “All I’m saying is that marriage is a big step.”

“I hear you.”

“We need to talk about these things.”

“Baby, we can talk all you want,” he said. “I have no problems with that. Talk is good.”

“Thank you. We can have a question-and-answer session when we get back to the house.”

“No problem. But can it wait until after I ravish you? I’ve been waiting to get you naked all evening.” His lingering hand
roamed a bit higher under her skirt.

She smiled. “So I gathered.”

By the time they walked in the front door of her town house, Julian’s burning passion had ignited her. Before they even got
all the packages out of the back of the SUV, she had slipped out of her thong and he had removed his glasses and dropped his
black jeans. She fell back on the living room couch and eagerly lifted her skirt above her thighs.

He penetrated her instantly, and they both released deep guttural moans. They needed no foreplay—no kissing, hugging, or fondling—only
the memories of all the previous rapturous encounters to send each other to the heights of sexual delight.