Bad Blood (6 page)

Chapter 10

Seth

“M
ENTAL ILLNESS RUNS IN
R
ACHEL'S FAMILY?
A
IYEEE
!” I couldn't remember the last time I had heard my mother scream. “Son, please tell us you're joking! She didn't even tell you before you asked her to marry you? How could Rachel be so deceitful? That girl ought to be ashamed of herself! I knew she was too good to be true!” Mother hollered.

It was a hell of a subject for me to bring up in the middle of our dinner table conversation that evening during the first week of August. But I had to do it. The sooner my folks found out about Rachel, the easier it would be for me to get them to see everything from my perspective and dismiss Rachel for the fraud she was. I was glad that I was alone with Mother and Father.

“Do you mean to tell us that she didn't even bother to tell you about these nutcases until you met them last year?” Father boomed. The look of horror on his face was even more profound than the look on Mother's. “Mercy me! I've always thought in the back of my mind that that girl had something to hide.”

“What made you think that?” I asked him.

“Uh, I can't really put my finger on anything specific, other than her shifty eyes. . . .”

“I never noticed her shifty eyes, but I saw only what I wanted to see, I guess,” I said.

“How come you're just now telling us about Rachel's family?” Mother asked.

“I wanted to tell you sooner, but I honestly thought that I'd be okay with it over time. But I'm not.” I sniffed. “On top of the mental illness issue, her folks are about as countrified and ignorant as can be! I was terrified the whole time I was in Alabama. You would think that those people just arrived in this country on a boat! They even eat possums.”

“They sound like a bunch of savages, and Rachel was the ringleader,” Father snarled. “Our family has worked too long and hard to get where we are to end up letting Rachel bring us down. I'm glad you're going to get rid of her.”

“Seth, you poor thing you. You've been carrying this heavy load all by yourself!” Mother began to shake so hard, I ran to her and put my arms around her shoulders.

“Mother, calm down. We don't want you to have another heart attack!” I yelled.

Father was about to rise and come to Mother's aid, too, but she waved him back to his seat and me back to mine. “I'm all right,” she assured us, fanning her face with her napkin. She grabbed the wineglass next to her plate and put it up to her lips. She drank until she had drained every drop. As soon as I returned to my seat, she asked, “Is that the real reason you moved back home, baby?”

“Yes. But I'm going to ease out of the relationship slowly and gently. She's about to go back to Alabama to check on her sick mother. When she returns . . . well, I'll decide how to break it off with her completely.”

“Son, don't you worry. We know how anxious you are to get married and to start your family. With all you've got going for you, you'll meet someone else soon,” Father assured me.

“Uh . . . that's the other thing I wanted to share.” I cleared my throat and glanced from my mother to my father. “I have met someone else. I'm going to marry her next month.”

“
What?
” my parents yelled at the same time.

“You've met another woman, and you've already decided you want to marry her?” Mother hollered. “You can't be serious, son!”

“Seth, do you think it's wise for you to even be thinking about marrying another woman while you're still with Rachel? Isn't this kind of sudden?” Father boomed.

“And we haven't even met her yet!” Mother shouted. Words could not describe the look on her face. “What's wrong with you, boy? Are you sure some of Rachel's family's mental condition didn't rub off on you when you went to Alabama?”

“It's not as bad as it sounds,” I protested. “This is not that sudden. Actually, I met Darla last year, in April, and we've been seeing one another on the sly since then. We, uh, thought it best if we kept our relationship a secret until I got out of this mess with Rachel. I couldn't risk having Rachel find out and do something real crazy to me or my new girl. And, believe you me, this one has no skeletons in her closet,” I said, holding my hands up in the air for emphasis. “I did a full background check on her myself. I checked all the way back to her great-grandparents on both sides. She's from a fine family, and not a single one has ever had any mental issues. As a matter of fact, I've invited her to have dinner with us next Sunday.”

“Does Rachel know about this girl? And what's her name again?” Mother asked.

“No, Rachel does not know about her, and her name is Darla Woodson. I know Rachel does not call or come over here much anymore, but if and when she does contact you again, don't tell her about Darla until I say it's okay.” I sniffed and gave Mother a pleading look.

“Ha! After the charlatan Rachel turned out to be, I don't even want to see that hussy's face anytime soon—let alone talk to her! I'm not going to tell her about you and this new girl,” Mother wailed.

“I know you won't, Mother. But please promise me you won't tell anybody at church or any of your friends. Uh, this could turn into a very embarrassing situation for me and the whole family.” I turned to my father. “Right, Father?” I said with a wink. I had never confronted my father about his mistress, but he was no fool. I had a feeling he knew that I knew. Had he asked me, I would have told him so. Out of respect for him, and to save my mother the heartache, I had no intention of snitching on him.

“That's right,” Father agreed, giving me a sheepish look. As soon as Mother left the table to go check on dessert, he continued. “You don't have to worry about me. I've done a few things I don't want anybody to know about—things that could hurt a lot of people. If you know what I mean . . .”

“I do know what you mean,” I said with a conspiratorial nod and a thumbs-up.

I felt so relieved. But I rushed to finish my dinner, anyway. I was aware of the way my parents kept staring at me when they didn't think I was looking. I was also glad that I couldn't read minds, because I didn't want to know everything they were thinking. I was also glad that my brothers and their families were not present. I would tell them all as soon as I could, which had to be within the next couple of weeks. I was running out of time. Rachel had begun to look at wedding dresses again.

Chapter 11

Rachel

I
JOINED A
24 H
OUR
F
ITNESS GYM THE FOLLOWING
M
ONDAY
,
A
couple of weeks after I'd told Seth I would. I was so determined to get in shape that after working out on the treadmill for an hour each day and riding the stationary bike for another eight miles, I lost four pounds the first week.

I had resisted joining a gym for years. I hated exercising with a bunch of other folks, especially if the females had firm, well-tended bodies. However, that was not the case. Most of the women who came to the gym when I was present were in horrible shape. One attractive but slightly flabby woman around my age, whom I'd seen several times already, started up a conversation with me one Friday evening, after I had just stumbled off the treadmill.

“I don't know how you manage to spend an hour on the treadmill. I'm lucky if I can do twenty minutes,” she said, sitting down next to me on one of the leather couches in the waiting area.

“I don't know how I do it, either. But I am determined to stick it out at least until I lose enough weight before my wedding,” I told her. “I'm Rachel McNeal,” I said.

“It's nice to meet you, Rachel. I'm Darla Woodson. When is your wedding?”

“We haven't set the date yet.” I paused. “We have, but then we've changed it a few times. My fiancé wants to wait until he feels more secure with the business he started.”

“What a coincidence! I'm engaged, too. And my fiancé has his own business, too.”

“That's interesting. I guess you and I have something in common.” Darla seemed so warm and friendly. I was glad she'd finally initiated a conversation with me. “When is your big day?”

A look of ecstasy appeared on Darla's face. “A lot sooner than I'd expected. I just met his family last Sunday. They are a wonderful group of people. They made me feel so welcome. Anyway, he wants to get married next month. We've been very discreet since we met last year because of his ex, a nutcase to the bone. He had to cut her loose because she was so weird and she kept badgering him to marry her. That cow tried to lure him back with money.” Darla leaned closer to me and, lowering her voice, added with a grimace on her face, “She even tried to hold on to him with sex—which he said was lousy to begin with. She's about as vile as they come, a real enema bag. She's gruesome! He told me she's the worst girlfriend he's ever had.”

I had to let Darla's words sink in. “She sounds beastly. Why did your fiancé get involved with a woman like that in the first place? There had to be something he liked about her.”

“He said she was okay when he first met her. All nice and sweet. You know the type. My honey was at a low point in his life. His mother was having some health issues, so he was vulnerable at the time. Anyway, his ex took advantage of that. She played a role and hounded the hell out of him until she got him interested in her enough to propose. She spent money on him and was at his beck and call. Most men can't resist all that. But he finally came to his senses and realized he deserved something better.”

“That's a damn shame. Some women don't know when to quit,” I said, shaking my head.

“It gets worse. She's threatened suicide several times. Being the man he is, my man remained friends with her, which she misinterpreted, of course. He does not have sex with her anymore. At least that's what he keeps telling me.”

“Do you believe him?”

“To be honest with you, I don't know. I mean, I wasn't born yesterday. I have four brothers, and . . . they've all done some shitty stuff to their women. If, and I do mean
if,
my man is still screwing that woman, it doesn't mean a thing to him. I hate women like her! They are the reason our men are so spoiled and expect too much in a relationship!”

“I hear you, girl. They make it hard for the rest of us.”

“Tell me about it. Well, good luck.” Darla rose from her seat. “I'll see you around, Rachel. I'm going to be in the Bahamas with my fiancé next week, but I'm sure I'll see you here again when I get back.”

“You're going to the Bahamas
before
you get married?”

Darla rolled her eyes. “He'd already made the arrangements before he decided he wanted to get married next month. I guess you could say we're going on the honeymoon before the wedding. He's so thoughtful, and not just with me. Since he'd already made the travel arrangements, he didn't want to disappointment his travel agent by changing our itinerary.”

“I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time. Have fun! And don't let that dude get away!” I yelled.

“Oh, he won't. I've got him right where I want him.”

 

“Are your blind? That's a size six dress you're holding,” Paulette snickered. She had invited herself to join me at Marie's Bridal Shoppe in downtown Berkeley, a couple of blocks from Dino's, where we had just had dinner Saturday evening. “I think we need to be checking out dresses in the plus-size section.”

“Speak for yourself. This is the one I'm going to purchase. I'll be a size six by the time I get married.” Paulette followed as I wandered over to another rack and glanced at a few more dresses.

“By the way, I hardly see Seth anymore these days. I haven't seen him in church in months.”

“I haven't seen that much of him myself. He left for Sacramento this morning.”

“Oh? What for? His brother Damon lives up there, but they don't get along.”

“I don't think he's going to visit Damon. He said something about attending some kind of retreat he found out about from one of his colleagues.”

“What do you mean by ‘some kind of retreat'? Is that all he told you?”

“Yeah. Why? I don't ask for details for something like that. But he did say that he and several other businessmen would be attending workshops that will help them hone their management skills, which sounds pretty boring to me. Poor Seth. He's still getting used to being in business, so I'm sure this retreat will help him relax more in his new role. Being your own boss is not as easy as we think it is, I guess. Poor Seth. He's been working so hard, but it's really paying off. And I'm glad. Me paying most of our living expenses is really shrinking my funds.”

“I hope it pays off.”

“Meaning what?”

“You should watch
Judge Judy
more. She's always handling cases with women who foot most of the bills in their relationships and end up regretting it. Men love to take advantage of women when it comes to finances. I thought you were smarter than that. . . .”

“Come on, Paulette. Get off my case. Patrice rides my back enough. I don't need you doing it, too. I am not going to regret anything. Seth is not taking advantage of me.”

“For his sake, I hope not. You're kind of scary when you get mad.”

I didn't purchase a dress, after all. Since I still didn't know the date of my wedding, I decided it would make more sense to wait a few more weeks.