Sisters and Husbands (19 page)

She wove in and out of traffic, trying not to drive too fast, until she pulled up to the house. The first thing she saw was
Tyrone’s SUV parked in the driveway. She entered the garage, quickly jumped out of the car, ran up to the door, and shoved
her key into the lock. The door swung open, and Kenny sat at the kitchen table holding his cell phone to his ear. He covered
the mouthpiece. “Where you been, Ma?”

“I couldn’t get off work. I tried to call you on your cell phone just before I left the office, but if you’re on the phone,
how do you expect me to reach you?”

Kenny said good-bye to the person on the other end of the line and hung up. “I thought you would call the house if you couldn’t
get through on my cell.”

“That phone line has been busy all morning too.”

“Oh, crap. That bitch probably been on the line running her fat mouth.”

Charmaine reached out with an open hand and popped her son upside the back of his head. Kenny yelped. “Ouch!” he said, jumping
up and rubbing his head. “What you do that for?”

“Don’t you cuss like that around me, and don’t you ever let me hear you calling her names again. You know I don’t like that.”
She grabbed Kenny’s shoulder and steered him into the living room. The room was rarely used, so it was the best place to talk
in private. She directed Kenny to the couch and sat next to him. “Where’s Tyrone?”

“Downstairs in his office.”

“And Tiffany?”

“Up in her room.”

Charmaine nodded. “Now tell me what happened between you and her this morning.”

“Like I said, we were playing tennis on the Wii and I reached back like this”—he swung one arm back to demonstrate—“and hit
her in the mouth. It was an accident.”

“Didn’t I tell you to be careful on that thing?” she asked.

“I know. I forgot.”

“Uh-huh,” Charmaine murmured. Kids! It was always something. “Why do you think she’s saying you did it on purpose?”

Kenny shrugged. “She’s lying. I know that much. Tyrone believes her, of course.”

“What did he say to you when he came in?”

“He asked me why I hit her. Said I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Really? Did he say anything to her?”

Kenny shook his head. “He thinks it’s all my fault. Why doesn’t he believe me?”

Charmaine folded her arms across her chest. This was starting to look ugly, and she dreaded having to confront Tyrone about
it. But she had no choice. She couldn’t let him and his daughter walk all over Kenny. “I’ll go talk to him. You go on up to
your room and watch television or something.”

“You believe me, don’t you, Ma?”

She touched his cheek. Although his voice sounded defiant, his expression was crestfallen. She knew his feelings had been
hurt deeply. “Of course I believe you, Kenny. I know you’d never harm her or anyone else on purpose. Tyrone doesn’t know you
as well as I do. That’s why I need to talk to him.”

He smiled slightly. “Thanks, Ma.”

Kenny stood and walked off, and Charmaine went to find Tyrone, willing herself to be levelheaded about this. It would do no
good to start ranting and raving, no matter how much she was tempted to do so. “You attract more flies with honey than with
vinegar,” she muttered under her breath, repeating the old line over and over to herself.

She walked down the stairs and entered Tyrone’s office without knocking. At the sound of his door opening, he wheeled around
in his swivel chair to face her. She stood several feet away, her arms folded tightly across her waist, and spoke with studied
calmness. “Kenny tells me that you think he hit Tiffany on purpose. That true?”

“That’s what Tiffany said. I believe her.”

“That’s ridiculous, Tyrone. Kenny wouldn’t harm a fly deliberately. You should know that.”

“Tiffany wouldn’t lie,” he said firmly.

“Neither would Kenny when he has no reason to.”

“He might if he’s done something he knows was wrong.”

“He didn’t do anything wrong,” she countered. “It was an accident.”

“If you really believe that, then you must think that Tiffany made up a lie about him.”

“I don’t know what she’s doing,” Charmaine said. “But they have a huge rivalry going on.”

“Yeah, which explains why Kenny hit her in the first place.”

Charmaine scoffed. “You’ve known Kenny for a year now, Tyrone. Do you honestly think that he would hurt her on purpose?”

“I know my daughter doesn’t make up stuff like that.”

Charmaine bit her bottom lip. This wasn’t going well at all. She was going to have to be blunt to get through to this man.
“She’s a teenager, Tyrone. All teenagers lie.”

He shook his head. “What you’re accusing her of is more than just a fib. You’re accusing her of lying to get someone else
in trouble. My daughter would never do that.”

“Well, I know Kenny would never hit her on purpose. And the Wii is famous for accidents just like this, with people standing
close and swinging their arms all around.” Charmaine waved her own arms to demonstrate. “Why is that so hard for you to see?”

He frowned deeply. “You’re asking me to believe that my daughter would make up a vicious lie about Kenny. I can’t accept that.”

“She’s a damn teenager and they lie!” Charmaine was losing her cool and she knew it. But she couldn’t stand the way Tyrone
was so blind when it came to his daughter.

He jumped up out of his seat, eyes flashing. “Fuck this. If you can’t discuss this without losing your goddamn temper and
calling my daughter a liar, there’s no point talking.”

“Hell yeah, I’m losing my temper. You’re accusing my son of hitting a girl, his stepsister. He would never do that in a million
years!”

Tyrone huffed and puffed as he brushed past her and headed toward the doorway.

“Fine,” Charmaine yelled after him. “Run off if you want. That’s not solving a damn thing.”

He turned back to face her, his face flush with fury. “As far as I’m concerned, it
is
solved. You think my daughter is a vicious liar. I don’t want her in this kind of environment, and I won’t have it.”

Charmaine blinked. Her voice dropped a level. “What does that mean?”

“What do you think it means? I’m packing our bags, damn it.”

Charmaine’s eyes grew wide. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“But… where are you going?”

“To my mother’s house until you come to your goddamn senses. I don’t think Kenny is a bad kid by any means, but what he did
was wrong.” Tyrone walked up to Charmaine and pointed his finger in her face. “And you need to admit it and straighten him
out instead of babying him and trying to blame it all on Tiffany.”

Charmaine squared her shoulders and glared at him. “No,
you
need to stop babying Tiffany. And who the hell do you think you are sticking your fucking finger in my face?”

Tyrone threw his hands in the air and stormed off.

“Go ahead, run away. Just like you always do when someone challenges you,” she yelled as she chased him. “You know what? I’m
glad you’re leaving. And you can just stay gone, for all I care. You can…” Charmaine paused when she realized that she was
yelling at thin air, since Tyrone had disappeared up the stairs. So much for staying composed, she thought, but the man had
insulted her son and she wasn’t having that, not from Tyrone or anyone else.

She walked back into his office and sank down into the swivel chair. Dear God, what had just happened? Was Tyrone really packing
his bags and going home to his mama, all over a squabble between their kids? Charmaine thought about going up to talk to him
again, to try and reason with him once more. But they had just had their biggest argument ever. A dogfight if ever there was
one. She suspected he needed some time and space to cool off. She knew she did.

T
he telephone rang, and Beverly placed her bowl of cereal on the kitchen table and muted the volume on the small TV with the
remote control. She put the receiver to her ear, then quickly yanked it about six inches away. The way Charmaine was yelling
on the other end, Beverly thought she would go stone deaf.

To make matters worse, she could barely understand anything Charmaine was saying—something about an argument between her and
Tyrone, and Tyrone’s going off somewhere with Tiffany. Given how upset Charmaine sounded, Beverly worried that Tyrone had
split—as in separation, as in divorce—and had taken Tiffany with him. Beverly prayed that she had misunderstood as she waited
for Charmaine to simmer down.

As soon as the screaming on the other end of the line stopped, Beverly put the receiver back to her ear. “Okay now, Charm,
I could hardly understand a word you just said. Did you… ?”

And then Charmaine was off again, screeching and cussing up a storm.

“Hush!” Beverly yelled into the mouthpiece. “Will you please shut up so I can figure out what the hell is going on with you?”

That did the trick. Charmaine gasped loudly at Beverly’s outburst and finally zipped her trap long enough for Beverly to get
a word in. “Now tell me exactly what happened. Softly, please. I can’t understand a damn thing with you shrieking in my ear.
Did you say Tyrone left you?”

“Sorry,” Charmaine said more softly. “That’s exactly what I said. He left and took Tiffany with him.”

“You mean as in, you know, separation? Y’all had a fight or something?”

“Yeah. A really bad one.”

Beverly whistled. Whoa, this was big and ugly. Now she understood why Charmaine was so distressed. “When did he leave?”

“On Wednesday.”

“That was three days ago. Why are you just telling me now?”

“I was so damn mad at first, I could hardly talk. I can still hardly talk about it without getting pissed. Bastard!”

“Okay, settle down.”

“I was starting to calm down and then he just called and got me upset all over again,” Charmaine said with irritation. “Said
he was coming to get more of his things this afternoon.”

“Where is he staying?” Beverly asked.

“At his mother’s.”

“Where does she live again? P.G., right?”

“Right.”

“Well, what did you do this time, Charm?”

“Excuse me?” Charmaine said. “Why does it have to be something
I
did?”

“I’m just kidding, girl. Relax.”

“Don’t mess with me, Bev. Not now. People always assume it’s my fault when something goes wrong in my relationships.”

“Well, you have had a lot of them, you know.”

“So? I don’t take a lot of crap. Doesn’t mean it’s my damn fault.”

“You’re absolutely right, Charm,” Beverly said. “I was just trying to lighten things up. My mistake. Tell me what happened.”

“It’s a long story. Actually it’s not a long story, it’s just fucking incredible. I still can’t believe we’re arguing over
something so silly.” Charmaine paused and took a deep breath. “Kenny and Tiffany were playing games on the Wii after we went
to work, and he hit her accidentally. He busted her lip pretty bad, but it’s probably already healed. He apologized, but she
went and told her daddy that Kenny punched her on purpose and he believes her.”

“Really?”

“Of course. He believes everything she tells him.”

“But Kenny would never do that,” Beverly said.

“
I
know that and
you
know that,” Charmaine said. “I tried to tell him that. But if Tiffany says he did it deliberately, he’s going to believe
her. And why is Tiffany lying like this? I don’t understand that.”

“She probably doesn’t like the fact that Kenny gets to spend more time with her dad than she does. That’s normal.”

“Yeah, but that’s no reason to go telling lies on Kenny. He’s never done a thing to hurt her.”

“She likely believes what she’s saying. She doesn’t see Kenny in the best light to begin with, so it’s not a huge leap for
her to think he’d try to hurt her.”

Charmaine’s voice lightened. “Maybe you’re right. I hadn’t thought about it like that. When did you get so damn smart about
kids? You don’t even have any.”

Beverly chuckled. “Oprah, Dr. Phil, magazines. When you don’t have your own, you have a lot of time to read and learn about
them. Anyway, I’m surprised that Tyrone is acting so emotional and one-sided about it.”

“He loses his sanity when it comes to her. Why, I couldn’t tell you. He just does. I shouldn’t be all that surprised. The
signs were there when she visited last summer and over the Christmas holidays. I should have paid more attention then, but
by the time I met Tiffany, we were already married.”

“Are you saying you wouldn’t have married him if you knew what you know now?”

“I don’t know,” Charmaine said. “Maybe, maybe not. I tell you, he’s crazy when it comes to that girl.”

“I think you’re blowing this out of proportion, Charmaine. I really do.”

“He’s accusing my son of doing terrible things and he won’t listen to reason. When he called just now, he had the nerve to
ask if I had come to my senses. Puh-leeze! He’s the one who needs some damn sense knocked into him. I’m thinking of calling
my divorce lawyer Monday morning.”

“What?” Beverly asked incredulously.

“You heard me.”

“Why don’t you wait a few days and try talking to him again once both of you have had more time to cool down?”

“I don’t need to cool down,” Charmaine insisted. “I don’t like anybody accusing my son of being violent, especially with a
girl. I put a lot of time and work into raising a decent, loving young man and I think I did a pretty good job.”

“You did a great job,” Beverly said.

“Thank you. I don’t want it ruined by someone falsely accusing him of doing bad things, especially someone I hoped would be
a father figure to him. Who knows what this could do to Kenny’s psyche? As much as I care about Tyrone, Kenny is just a child.
I have to put him first no matter what.”

“I agree with everything you just said, Charm. No one is going to argue with you on that. I still think you should wait a
bit before you do something drastic that you could regret later. It’s hard blending two families. Try to be patient.”

“I will keep all of that in mind as I noodle on this over the weekend, but I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to come to an agreement.
Who knows, he might decide to call it quits himself. But thanks for listening. I actually feel a little better after getting
some of this off my chest.”