Family of Lies (26 page)

K
ENNETH WAS IN A STRANGE MOOD WHEN HE GOT HOME FROM WORK
that evening around seven. He offered me a halfhearted greeting and told me he would not be having dinner. “Baby, is everything all right?” I asked, my arm on his shoulder.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?” he mumbled, removing my arm as if it had the cooties. He quickly turned his head when I attempted to kiss him on the cheek. Then he brushed past me like I was a bothersome salesclerk and went upstairs to our bedroom. The way he was dragging his feet, I was worried about him walking up two flights of steps to reach the third floor. No matter how much I fussed about him exerting himself, he didn’t want to relocate to one of the bedrooms on the second floor. One of his arguments was that other than sex, climbing two flights of steps each day was the only regular exercise he got these days. He used to be a lot more active. He had always enjoyed playing golf or racquetball with some of his friends and business associates, but he rarely did those things anymore. This was the first time he’d gone to bed without dinner in years.

Bo was still at the store, so it was just me, Cash, Sarah, and Collette at the dinner table.

“What’s up with Kenneth? He’s been acting strange most of the day. Even stranger than usual. He stayed in his office alone for hours after he came back from lunch and even missed that inventory meeting,” Collette said, spearing her prime rib with her fork. She was the only one enjoying the dinner that Delia had prepared.

“He’s got a mighty big plate and there’s a lot more on it these days,” I said. “A lot of his loyal customers have been going to Best Buy for their electronic needs.”

“So what? Our sales are still going strong. We don’t have to worry about Best Buy,” Cash said.

“I bet Circuit City said the same thing a few years ago. And then they shut down all of their stores,” Collette pointed out. “And don’t forget about how Blockbuster video came along and ran a lot of the little mom-and-pop video rental stores out of business. Now that Netflix and Redbox have come along and put such a dent in Blockbuster’s business, I’m surprised they’re still open.”

“Kenneth is not worried about being run out of business by the competition. But he has to really stay on top of things to make sure that doesn’t happen. And he’s got other issues to deal with. He’s concerned about the state of his health and I don’t blame him. Some nights he thrashes around in bed like a seal and moans and groans in his sleep for hours on end. And a few relatives back in Houston keep hounding him for more loans.” I paused and looked at Sarah. “That niece he hasn’t seen in years, the one who looks like you, she’s been calling him begging for money so she can buy a beach house in Cabo San Lucas. With everything that’s going on in his life right now, I’m not surprised Kenneth doesn’t act strange more often.”

“Kenneth is not the only one acting strange,” Collette commented, grabbing her third roll off the platter next to the prime rib. “Sarah, you’re acting mighty peculiar this evening too. You must be depressed about something. Did all the rib joints close down or what?” she snickered.

“I wouldn’t know,” Sarah hissed. “I haven’t been near the rib joints lately.”

We finished our meal in silence. Cash and Collette moved to the living room. Sarah went upstairs to her room, I assumed. I checked on Kenneth, glad to see that he was asleep. One thing I liked about him was that when he turned in for the night and went to sleep, he slept like a log and usually didn’t wake up until morning. He’d been feeling fairly well lately, but he had not attempted to make love to me in over a week. And that was fine with me.

I desperately wanted to visit Ricky, but a sharp pain in my lower abdomen had been bothering me all day. And even though I was as horny as a blue goose, I didn’t think that one of Ricky’s vigorous sex workouts was in my best interest. As a matter of fact, I was worried about the pain I was experiencing. It was something that I had never felt before. Last year during my routine visit to my gynecologist, he told me that I had a few medium-sized fibroid tumors, which were common among black women, especially in my age group. “These little boogers are nothing to be concerned about,” Dr. Lott had assured me. But I was mildly concerned anyway.

I swallowed a couple of Advil and the pain eased up considerably. Then I took a long hot bath and gave myself a douche. After I’d dried myself off and was about to put on a clean pair of panties, I noticed blood on my thighs. It wasn’t the first time and I wasn’t really that concerned about it. Dr. Lott had told me that it was because of the fibroids. He also advised me to refrain from sexual intercourse whenever I saw blood. That was the
only
reason I didn’t pay Ricky a visit that night.

Cash and Collette had gone to bed by the time Bo came home around 10:00 p.m. I had returned to the living room and curled up on the couch with a glass of wine.

“What’s up, cuz?” Bo asked, entering the living room with a bouquet of roses. He looked toward the stairs. “Is Sarah home?”

“Yes, she’s home. She’s been in her room since she ate dinner. What are the flowers for?”

“I feel bad about the way we all came down on her the other night about her relationship with that security guard.”

I stood up and slapped my hands onto my hips. “You feel bad? She’s the one that fucked up! She ought to be bringing
you
flowers!” I yelled, glancing at my watch. “And where have you been all this time? It’s ten o’clock.”

“What the hell is it to you, Vera? You’re not my wife,” Bo snapped.

“You’d better be glad I’m not your wife,” I shouted. “I asked you a simple question and the least you can do is give me a simple answer. People do worry about you and you could have called to let somebody in this house know where you were.”

Bo gave me a wide-eyed look. “You know damn well where I was! I was at work. What’s gotten into you?” He dropped the flowers onto the coffee table. I followed him as he made his way to the bar and poured himself a double shot of Jack Daniel’s. “Shit! I have enough problems as it is. I don’t need you riding my ass too.”

“I’m sorry. I was just worried about you.” I got another drink and then I returned to the couch and dropped back into the same spot I’d been occupying most of the evening.

“Well, you don’t need to worry about me.” Bo sipped his drink, loosened his tie, and flopped down on the couch. “Did Sarah leave the house today?” he asked, crossing his legs.

“I don’t keep tabs on your wife,” I replied. “If you care so much about her comings and goings, how come you don’t spend more time with her? Especially now that you know she might be getting too friendly with that security guard.”

“We’re going through inventory at the store all this week. You know that either Kenneth or I need to be present at all times during this procedure.”

I was surprised that Bo had ignored my last comment. “Well, I doubt if inventory is more important than your marriage. I’m telling you that if you want to keep your woman, you’d better find out what she’s up to or else.”

I didn’t like the way Bo was looking at me. His eyes had darkened. And the way he furrowed both his eyebrows, they looked like two sleeping caterpillars. I knew what was on his mind before he even said it. “Or else what? She’ll become like you?”

His comment compelled me to drink some more wine. “Become like me? What do you mean by that?” I asked, wiping wine off my lips with the back of my hand. “If you are insinuating that I’m fooling around with another man, you are wrong. I love my husband too much to cheat on him. And I don’t appreciate you saying some shit like that to my face. And to think that one time you even suggested I have an affair!”

Bo gulped down the rest of his drink and gave me a look that I would never forget. His face tightened and it looked like he was in pain. That was why I was surprised by what he said next. “Vera, what if Sarah is fucking another man?”

“If she is, you’d better do something about it—but quick. I would hate to see you melt down the way you did when you found out Gladys was playing you for a fool.” Bo’s eyes darkened even more and his jaw began to twitch. “I know it sounds like I’m getting all up in your business.”

“Sounds like?” He leaned his head back so far I was surprised it didn’t roll off his shoulders. Then he had the nerve to give me an amused look. “If you got up in my business any more, we’d be conjoined twins.” I had to laugh at that myself.

I cleared my throat and shook my head. “Let’s get serious. Come into the kitchen,” I suggested. “I don’t like to say too much in here. You never know when somebody’s going to sneak up on us.”

We set our glasses on the coffee table and Bo followed me to the kitchen. As soon as we got there, I whirled around and said to him, “By the way, since we’re on the subject of Gladys
again
, she called. . . .”

We stood by the back door with our eyes on the entrance. If somebody came toward the kitchen from another part of the house, we’d hear their footsteps approaching on the hardwood floor in the hallway. I liked having my most sensitive conversations in this location because it was the most private room on the first floor.

“Gladys called? When? How did she get this number?” Bo asked anxiously.

“She called Cash’s number at the store.”

“When?”

“Today. He was out of the office when she called, so your nitwit secretary called here looking for him.”

“Madeline didn’t give Gladys the number here?”

“Madeline is a dingbat sure enough, but she knows better.”

“Did Gladys leave a phone number for Cash to call her back?”

“Yeah, she left a phone number. Madeline told me she’d give it to Cash when he returned to the office. And that’s not all.”

“What else?”

“A little while ago when I told Cash she called, he came clean.”

“Came clean how?”

“He told me he had called her back before he left work. Then he told me that he had received a letter from her, also today, and in it she begged him to tell you to call her up. She included a note in the envelope for him to give to you.”

“She’s sending mail out here?”

“Don’t worry. She didn’t send it here. She doesn’t have our address. She sent it to the post office box Cash rents.”

I didn’t know how to interpret the look on Bo’s face. His eyes were glassy and his nostrils were twitching. “Let me go talk to Cash.” I noticed his hands were shaking. “Excuse me,” he said in a scratchy tone of voice. He wobbled across the floor toward the door like a man who had had a few drinks too many. Then he stopped and turned back around and looked at me. He looked so helpless and confused, I felt sorry for him. He kept glancing toward the door and shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I need to know what’s going on. I guess I won’t find out unless I talk to her. I’m going to go upstairs and talk to Cash. I want to see that letter.”

“Bo, you know as well as I do why Gladys is trying to get in touch with you. I’m sure she knows you’ve remarried, but she doesn’t give a damn about that. She still wants you back. You’d better watch your step now. You’ve got a good thing going with Sarah. Don’t mess it up. You forget about Gladys and I’m sure Sarah has already forgotten about that security guard. She looked like a scared rat that day in the kitchen. If she was considering doing something inappropriate with him, she won’t now. Not now that she knows all eyes are on her.”

We left the kitchen and returned to the living room. I sat down on the couch while Bo paced back and forth in front of me a few times. “I love Sarah. If she ever leaves me, I’m going to kill her.”

“Don’t talk like that! Take it back! Take it back right now, Bo. You’re scaring me.”

“All right, I take it back,” he muttered. Then he laughed. I laughed along with him. When he left the room to go upstairs, I put what he’d just said about killing Sarah out of mind and fixed myself another drink.

I remained in the living room for another hour wondering exactly what Cash and Bo were talking about upstairs. When I finally went to my room, Kenneth was snoring like a moose with asthma.

The next morning when he nudged my rump with his knee, I ignored him. “Baby, you still asleep?” he whispered, coughing to clear the phlegm out of his throat. “How about a little squeeze? It’s been a while and I know you need some good loving as much as I do.” His foul morning breath on the back of my neck made me cringe. I held my breath and continued to play possum until he got up and went into the bathroom to take his shower.

I wasn’t going to go downstairs until I was sure Kenneth had left the house. I needed more time to think and organize my thoughts.

There were a lot of things rolling around in my head that morning, especially what Kenneth had said before he left the room. He was right; it had been a while and I did need some good loving.

And I was going to do something about it
real soon.

I
HAD STARTED ON MY WAY BACK DOWNSTAIRS TO SEE IF ANY OF THAT
prime rib we’d had for dinner was left when I heard Bo’s voice. He and Vera were in the living room. I had no idea what they had been discussing before I got to the stairs, but when I heard her tell him to go into the kitchen with her, I whirled around and made a beeline to my old bedroom. All of the nursery items I had put in there were still intact, awaiting the baby I still hoped to have someday.

As soon as I shut and locked the door, I ran to the air duct and opened the vent. I was horrified by what I heard this time!

I was not surprised that Bo’s ex wanted to get in touch with him. She had probably finally realized what a good man she had lost. But I was surprised that he seemed so interested in what she had said in the letter to him that she’d sent to Cash. And whatever it was, I needed to know. For one thing, if Bo was not going to let another man cause problems in our marriage, I was certainly not going to let another woman—especially Gladys—do it. Every doggone thing I’d heard about the woman was nasty. She had treated Bo like a dog! Why would he even want to
talk
to her again?

I had not seen Curtis since the day Daddy busted me in the kitchen in front of everybody. I had called him up the next day, though. “I’m really sorry, but I don’t think I can see you again,” I had told him. “Somebody saw me coming out of your apartment building.”

“Do they know anything?”

“No. All they know is that I was there. I told them I’d been over there dropping off a friend. But they are not stupid. I have a feeling they
know
we’re sleeping together.”

“I see. Well, the last thing I want is for you to get in trouble, Sarah. I care too much about you to let that happen. It’s not worth it. And anyway, it really bothers me having to sneak around to be with you.”

“I know. I don’t like sneaking around either. And I know you need your job. I just wish . . . I just wish things were different.”

“Different how?”

“Like if Bo gave me a real good reason to see you, I mean.”

“You’re married to the man. If you don’t love him, you need to leave him. If he’s good to you, well, good men are hard to find. You women have been saying that loud and clear for as long as I can remember. Don’t throw all that away for me.”

“But I care about you, Curtis. When I’m with you, I feel like a different woman. A woman who is appreciated. I don’t feel that way with Bo anymore.”

A long, uncomfortable silence passed before either of us spoke again.

“I only want the best for you,” he told me.

“Do you want to see me again?”

“Sarah, be serious. You know how I feel about you. If it was up to me, I’d move you in with me today.”

“I’m happy to hear you say that. We can still see one another and just be more careful.”

“We were being careful and some busybody still saw us. What do you think would happen if your old man found out for sure that we’ve slept together?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, I don’t want to know. Now, if things change, maybe we can see each other again someday.”

Curtis’s last statement brought tears to my eyes. I knew I had to hang up before I broke down and cried. “I guess there’s nothing else to say, so I’ll let you go. Good night, Curtis,” I said quickly.

“Good night, Sarah. If things change, let me know.”

“I will,” I managed.

When Bo and Vera left the kitchen, I closed the vent and ran back to my bedroom, praying I wouldn’t bump into Bo on his way to Cash’s bedroom at the end of the hall.

I was in bed when Bo came into our bedroom about fifteen minutes later. My last conversation with Curtis was still on my mind as well as the conversation I’d just heard between Bo and Vera in the kitchen, so I felt like shit. I would have pretended to be asleep if Bo had not leaned over and tickled my neck.

“Hi, baby,” I said with a fake yawn. “I heard your car pull up a while ago. What took you so long to get up here?”

“Huh? Oh! Um, as soon as I got in the house, Vera hung me up for a few minutes and then I had to discuss some business with Cash.”

“What kind of business did you have to discuss with Cash that couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”

Bo removed his jacket and placed it at the foot of the bed. He took his time answering my question. “Uh, some inventory issues, that’s all. Kenneth and I will be visiting the other four stores tomorrow and after that, we’ll be in meetings the rest of the day. I needed some information from Cash beforehand.” I could see that he was nervous. He kept scratching his neck and clearing his throat. “I’m going to take a quick shower and get some of this funk off me,” he said, smelling under his arms.

I waited until I heard him turn on the shower. Like a jackrabbit, I hopped off the bed and ran to his jacket. I found the letter from Gladys in the first pocket I checked and read it in record time. I couldn’t believe how corny her words were!

What the fuck? Who signs a letter “your Gladys”?

It was obvious that Cash had been telling this witch all kinds of shit about me. How else would she know enough about me to call me a cow? And Cash—with his two-faced, backstabbing self—had bashed
her
in my presence as much as Bo and Vera had!

I was tempted to rip the letter to shreds, but I didn’t. I folded it up, tucked it back into Bo’s pocket, and climbed into bed. He came out of the bathroom a few minutes later with a towel wrapped around his naked body.

“Vera decided she is not going to L.A. with Daddy for that software conference next week,” I said, waiting with bated breath to hear his response.

“She told me.” He sniffed and then started drying his wet hair with the towel. Seeing his naked body didn’t excite me the way it used to. It only made me cringe.

“I’m worried about Daddy going off for almost a whole week by himself, so maybe I’ll go with him.”

“Oh no. You don’t have to do that. I know how much you hate things like those damn conferences,” Bo protested. He sat down hard on the bed, pulling me into his arms. “Uh, well, I’ve decided to go after all.” The way his voice cracked and the way he was sweating—after just coming out of the shower—was enough to convince me that he was up to no good! For one thing, he had already told me that the last thing he wanted to do was attend another conference so soon. He and Daddy had spent four days in Vegas at another one two months ago. Now here he was telling me he was going to another anyway. “If it’s all right with you,” he added.

“Uh-huh. Well, you go on to L.A., then,” I said stiffly. Our marriage was already in the toilet bowl. I just didn’t know which one of us was going to flush it down. “I hope you have a lot of fun.”

Bo made love to me that night. His body was so stiff and tense it felt like I was fucking a tree. He didn’t even kiss me like he usually did when we made love. When I looked into his eyes, he didn’t even acknowledge me. It was like he couldn’t even see me. That made me think that Gladys was the woman on his mind when he rammed into me so hard my head hit the headboard. If so, that made us even because when I came, Curtis was the one on my mind.

Bo and Daddy left for L.A. the following Monday morning. They were supposed to be gone for five days. That Monday evening I called up Curtis again. I almost hung up the phone when a woman with a husky voice answered.

“Hello, is Curtis available?”

“Speak up! I can’t hardly hear you! And hurry up! I got things to do!”

I thought I’d dialed the wrong number. “What number did I reach?” I asked.

“Pffft! What’s wrong with you, girl?! You reached the number you just dialed!”

“Is Curtis available?” I asked again, and much louder.

“Naw! He ain’t here!” I had encountered a lot of angry black women in my life, but this one sounded like she was on fire.

“Do you think he’ll be home soon?”

“He might be, and he might not! You have to call back if you really want to know! Shoot!” She hung up before I could tell her who I was. I called four more times that day until Curtis answered.

“Hello, Sarah. Mama told me you called.”

“I didn’t even leave my name!” I gasped. “How did she know it was me?”

“She didn’t. You’re the only woman who calls me here these days.” He laughed. “When Mama said some ‘proper-sounding gal’ called, I knew it had to be you.”

“Can I come see you?”

“Sarah, we’ve talked about this. Have you already forgotten our last conversation? You said that you didn’t want to see me again because of your husband.”

“I might not be with Bo too much longer.”

“You what?”

“He’s probably going back to Houston to get back with his ex.”

“Probably? So you don’t know for sure if he is or not?”

“No, I don’t know for sure. But there is a chance that he will.”

“So it’s just a chance that he might be moving back to Houston?”

“A chance is better than nothing!”

“Look, Sarah. I don’t know what’s going on between you and your husband, but I don’t want to get caught in the middle. He’s been giving me some mysterious looks lately, so I need to watch my step.”

“Well, I don’t know why he’s been giving you mysterious looks.”

“I don’t want to find out. The thing is, I don’t think we should see each other again. Especially now that you think Bo suspects we’re involved.”

“All right,” I replied slowly. As much as I knew I needed to end this call, I still wanted to prolong it as long as possible. “If that’s the way you want it, I won’t call you again.”

“Wait! Don’t hang up yet. I just thought about what you said about Bo possibly going back to his ex-wife. What makes you think that? He loves his job, so why would he want to give it up to move back to Houston and start over again?”

“I don’t know.”

“Has he been talking to his ex?”

“She sent him a letter through Cash.”

“Oh. Did you see the letter?”

“Yes, I did. I think Bo changed his mind about going to L.A. so he could meet up with her there.”

“I’m surprised to hear that. You told me she had been the wife from hell to him. Going back to a woman like that is not something a smart man like Bo would do.”

“Maybe Bo’s not as smart as you think he is.” I sighed. “Well, I’ll let you go now. And you don’t have to worry, I won’t bother you anymore.”

“Sarah, wait! Don’t hang up yet. Um . . . you know I want to continue seeing you, but things are kind of hot right now. It wouldn’t be too cool for you to come over here. I have some nosy-ass neighbors, and the less they see you over here, the better.”

“So you do still want to be with me?”

“I do,” he muttered, releasing a long, drawn-out sigh.

“Do you want to meet me someplace else other than your apartment?” I didn’t give Curtis a chance to answer my question. “We can get a room across the Bay.”

He took his time responding. That made me even more anxious to see him. If he still wanted to see me . . . “Uh, let me think about it.”

“Don’t make me wait too long, Curtis. I’ve waited long enough.”

“I won’t,” he assured me. “I’ve waited long enough too.”