God Don't Play (29 page)

CHAPTER 64

T
he next plane out of Miami that would help us get back to Ohio was scheduled to leave in six hours. I wanted to be on it. I didn’t make it, though. Lillimae had insisted that Charlotte and I eat something, and get some rest. Since there was another plane leaving three hours later, I agreed.

And I changed my mind about calling my mother’s house trying to locate Pee Wee. I desperately needed to talk to him now. But as soon as Daddy answered, fussing and cussing, I handed the phone to Lillimae.

For five minutes all she said was, “Yes, Daddy” and “I know, Daddy” before she said, “Please put Pee Wee on the telephone.” I could tell from the sudden change on Lillimae’s face that Pee Wee had come to the telephone.

She told my husband that Charlotte and I were all right. Without any prompting from me, she lied and told him that Charlotte and I had already left to return to Ohio. I was glad that she also told Pee Wee that she didn’t know what time our plane was due to arrive.

Pee Wee was doing most of the talking, because suddenly all Lillimae started to say was “Yes, Pee Wee” and “I know, Pee Wee.” I motioned for her to conclude the call and she seemed relieved again. Then she hung up and gave me a weary look.

“Girl, your husband thinks you have had, or are havin’, a nervous breakdown.”

“Maybe I did,” I said stiffly. “I don’t feel like myself. I feel so strange and light-headed.”

“I guess you do, and you should. You must be pissed off as hell with that Jade.” Lillimae clucked and shook her head, clearly disgusted. “And as good as you were to that child.”

“Lillimae, why didn’t I see this coming? The signs were all there. I could have nipped this in the bud a long time ago. It didn’t have to come to this,” I said.

“You didn’t see it comin’ because you didn’t want to see it comin’, girl. You are a good person and somethin’ in you wouldn’t let you think anything bad about somebody you loved.”

“So it wasn’t my fault?”

“This was Jade’s fault. She’s a child, but she’s still old enough to know what she was doin’. Don’t you dare blame yourself for this.” Lillimae gave me a brief hug.

“I don’t know how I’m going to deal with Pee Wee now,” I mumbled.

“Pee Wee wasn’t too happy to hear that I’d let you leave here without…a…an escort. Somebody to supervise you…” Lillimae screwed up her face and let out a short chuckle. “He’s concerned that in your state of mind, you might wind up in Arizona or some other place, naked and babbling.”

“Believe it or not, I am not crazy. At least I don’t think I am. But I’ve changed my mind about flying back home. I really need some time to think, so I’m taking the train or the bus.”

“Now I can’t let you do that. You really need to get back home as fast as you can so you can face your husband…and Rhoda. You need to get this over with as soon as possible. What if Jade does or says somethin’ against you before you can get home to defend yourself? I am sure that that girl is cookin’ up more mess that’ll make her come out smellin’ like a rose.”

I gave Lillimae a thoughtful look. “Speaking of roses, she used rose-scented paper when she sent me those notes,” I said, blinking to hold back my tears. “Lillimae, how can I ever forgive Jade for doing this to me? I would have laid down my life for that girl.”

“I can’t answer that one. Like I said, she is still a child, so she can always fall back on that. Kids can’t be held too accountable. I bet a dollar and a donut she is sorry as hell about all this now. I would even be willing to bet that this was all a game to her. She might have had a crush on your husband, but I don’t think she really meant none of that mean stuff she said in them notes.”

“But what about all that other stuff? It took a lot for her to go out to a pasture and gather up some horse shit, then box it up to send to me. That girl is so squeamish and prissy. For her to stoop that low, she had to mean business.”

Lillimae nodded. “It don’t matter. Don’t deal with Jade like you would a grown woman, because it wouldn’t be fair to her. Treat her like the child she really is.”

“I hope you’re right, Lillimae. I hope you’re right.” It didn’t take much for Lillimae to get me to agree to fly back home. She was right. I needed to deal with Rhoda and Jade as soon as possible.

But first, I had to talk to Pee Wee about Jade. I needed to know if he had been with her. It would make all the difference in the world.

CHAPTER 65

I
thought that Rhoda was the last person I wanted to face. But I realized I was wrong when the cab that Charlotte and I had taken from the airport to get home stopped in front of my house. Muh’Dear was peeping out of one of my front windows, Daddy was peeping out the other.

Before I could even get out of the cab, both my parents had stumbled out to my front porch. Daddy was in a housecoat and his feet were bare. Muh’Dear had on a green, shapeless dress with an apron wrapped around her waist.

“Girl, have you lost my mind?” Daddy hollered.

I could tell that he was still weak from his heart attack. He had to rub his chest and cough right after he closed his mouth. Muh’Dear slapped him on his back a few times, not taking her eyes off me.

“I don’t have anything to say until I talk to my husband,” I declared, leading Charlotte into the house. My mind was more off than I thought. It was only then that I realized I had left my luggage at the airport.

“What? What do you mean, you ain’t got nothin’ to say?” Muh’Dear screamed, following me into my living room with Daddy close behind her. “You better have somethin’ to say after puttin’ us through this mess.”

“We didn’t know what had happened to you,” Daddy wheezed, falling onto the sofa next to Pee Wee.

Pee Wee looked ten years older than he’d looked the last time I saw him. Which was the day I pummeled him with my fists at his cousin’s house.

“You all right?” Pee Wee asked, rising.

Charlotte wasted no time leaping into his arms. “Daddy, we rode on some airplanes!” she yelled, like we had just returned from the adventure of a lifetime.

“Charlotte, go to your room,” I said gently, easing down on the other end of the sofa.

Pee Wee seemed so submissive it scared me. All I could think about was him and Jade being together. The thought was so painful, I almost passed out just looking at him and picturing him on top of her, making passionate love to her perfect little body.

“Again? How come I all the time have to go to my room when I didn’t do nothing bad?” Charlotte complained, stomping across the floor.

“You need to get some rest,” I said, even more gently. “You’ve had a very long day.”

“Nuh-uh! I don’t need no rest!”

“Girl, get up them steps to your room before I get a switch,” Daddy said, sounding so weak and hoarse he could barely be heard.

Charlotte shot up the stairs, stomping all the way to her room. Daddy didn’t need to take a switch to her, but the way she was howling you would have thought that he had. As soon as I heard her slam the door to her room, I looked from Pee Wee to Muh’Dear to Daddy. All eyes were on me.

“Muh’Dear, Daddy, if you two don’t mind, I need to talk to my husband.”

Muh’Dear and Daddy frowned and looked at each other and then back to me.

“We ain’t gwine no place until you tell us what’s wrong with you. I don’t care how grown you get, you still a child to me,” Daddy said gruffly, sounding much stronger now.

“And another thing, Pee Wee is your husband true enough, but we done had you a lot longer than he has.” Muh’Dear paused and gave Pee Wee a smug look.

He didn’t even react. All he did was stare along the side of the wall. As a matter of fact, he didn’t seem to be reacting much at all since I’d walked in the door.

Before anybody could say another word, somebody started pounding on my front door like they were trying to break the door down. Muh’Dear went to answer it. My first thought was that it was Rhoda. The knocking was so hard and insistent, my mind told me that if it was Rhoda, she was knocking that way because she was just that mad. But I didn’t even want to think about what it was that had made her so mad: me running away or something Jade had told her.

For the first time in years, I was glad to see Scary Mary at my door. She was trying to get in the house so fast that she almost knocked Muh’Dear down.

“Annette, girl, folks runnin’ around here sayin’ you done left Pee Wee for another man,” Scary Mary said, almost choking. I didn’t know if she was choking on her own breath or if her false teeth had slipped loose like they often did when she got excited.

“I declare!” Muh’Dear exclaimed with a stunned look on her face.

“What happened? That man didn’t want you after all?” Scary Mary scoffed, placing her hands on her lumpy hips. “You ought to know by now that Pee Wee is the best you’ll ever do.”

“I did not run off with another man,” I said. “Now can I be alone with my husband?” I asked calmly, looking at nobody in particular. I didn’t have to look around to see what I already knew. I could feel all the anger around me.

“We ain’t gwine no place!” Muh’Dear roared. Daddy and Scary Mary nodded.

“Not until we find out what’s done got into you,” Scary Mary added.

She was just as annoying as my parents were. However, her intrusion gave me the courage I needed to stand my ground. “Fine. Stay here,” I said, turning to Pee Wee. “Can I see you in the kitchen for a few minutes?”

He let out a deep sigh and nodded.

I shot a warning glance at everybody else. “Y’all can stay here as long as you want to. But I am not saying anything until I talk to my husband
alone
,” I said, firmly. “Then I’ll tell y’all everything you want to know.”

“Is you fin to divorce Pee Wee?” Scary Mary yelled, taking a few steps in my direction. She seemed to be enjoying this drama. Her lips were trembling, her eyes were wide, and a smile was threatening to take over her face.

Pee Wee struggled up off the sofa and followed me into the kitchen with his head bowed.

“Should I have a drink first?” he asked, a stony look on his face. “I know before all this is over with, I am goin’ to need a few.”

“I am sure you do need a few drinks. I know I do. But I want us both to be sober until after we talk.”

“So. You want to start from the beginning and tell me everything that’s been goin’ on? What made you run off, Annette? Is there another man?”

I gave Pee Wee a guarded look and shook my head. The truth was, I didn’t know where to start. For one thing, I was glad to find out the identity of my tormentor. But knowing
who
it was was one thing, knowing it was someone so close to me was almost as unbearable as the abusive telephone calls and nasty notes. I was really beginning to wonder if I was crazy.

One minute I was glad that I had found out what I now knew. The next minute, I wished that she had remained anonymous. I couldn’t decide if I was better off knowing, or not knowing.

CHAPTER 66

“I
just want to know one thing. Did you fuck Jade?” I blurted out, watching Pee Wee’s eyes. He was not a good liar. His eyes usually gave him away. His eyes blinked a lot and shifted from side to side when he was lying. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d caught him in a lie. “And don’t bother lying to me. She told me everything…”

Pee Wee’s face froze. His skin was as dark as mine. I don’t know if I imagined it or not, but for about five seconds, he was as white as a sheet. When he regained his normal color, he scratched the side of his head and looked at me through narrowed eyes. I was confused because he didn’t blink but his eyes did dart from side to side. “Woman, are you standin’ here askin’ me if I touched my best friend’s teenage daughter?”

“That’s right. Did you?”

“If I didn’t know no better, I would swear that
I
was losin’ my mind. I can’t believe my ears!” Pee Wee moved toward me, I moved back until I bumped into the refrigerator. “First you accused me of Betty Jean and that was bad enough. But Jade? What in the hell makes you think I touched that
child
?”

“She was the one who was sending me those notes and all the rest of that shit. She was the one who was calling me up. She was…she was the woman who wanted to take you away from me.”

Pee Wee’s mouth dropped open and he stumbled a few more steps forward in my direction. For a moment I thought he was going to fall flat on his face.

“Jade?” He said her name, frowning like it was an obscenity. “Jade was the one stirrin’ up all that shit with them notes and packages and phone calls?” Pee Wee paused and gave me the most incredulous look he’d ever given to me. “When—how could Jade do somethin’ like that to you—and to me?” He stopped and rubbed his head, then his stomach. “This is enough to make me sick!” he yelled, stumbling backward this time. “What in the world was she thinkin’?”

“That’s what I’d like to know. I treated her like my own child,” I sniffed. I didn’t even know what I was saying anymore. “I guess her relationship with you meant more to her than her relationship with me.”

“What? Well, I didn’t put her up to it!”

“Maybe you didn’t, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t fuck her.”

“Woman, if you don’t get some professional help, I am goin’ to have you committed! This done gone on long enough, and I ain’t havin’ no more of this crazy-ass shit!” Pee Wee was waving his arms like a windmill.

“What’s goin’ on in that kitchen?” Daddy yelled from the living room. “What’s all that racket in there?”

“It’s all right, Daddy,” I yelled back. I continued speaking in a much lower voice. Even though it was Pee Wee who was the one talking loud enough to be heard outside of the kitchen. “She sent me a pair of your shorts,” I said to Pee Wee, almost in a whisper. “Your funky, raggedy-ass drawers!”

“Well, the girl did always make herself at home here—and you encouraged her to do it! She slept and ate here two, three times a week. And I know you think I don’t know about it, but I seen more than one piece of shit mailed to this address with her name on it. Just last week that nosy-ass mailman, Moshay, had me sign for a package from that porno shop on Sawburg that was addressed to Jade. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I opened that package! Shit, this is my address and she had no right to be havin’ her shit sent here. You know what it was? Some fruit-flavored condoms! I threw that shit in the trash where it belonged!” Pee Wee stopped long enough to catch his breath. It was cool in our kitchen, but beads of sweat had formed all over his face. “She could have walked up in here any time she wanted to and took whatever she wanted—and that’s just what she did. If I was stupid enough to be fuckin’ around, do you think I’d be stupid enough to leave a pair of my funky drawers lyin’ around so somebody could get a hold of ’em? Don’t you know me well enough by now to know I ain’t that stupid?”

“I figured she was lying,” I said in a weak voice with my head bowed. “I just had to hear it from you.”

“If you figured she was lyin’, why did you come at me the way you did? Let’s get one thing straight right now. I love you and I love my daughter. I done lost my mama and my daddy, so you and Charlotte the most important people in my life. I work my fingers to the bone tryin’ to take care of you and her. Do you think I would risk losin’ all that for Jade, or any other woman, for that matter?”

“What about Rhoda?” I barely managed. I couldn’t imagine how Rhoda was going to react when she heard what Jade had done.

“What about Rhoda?”

“I will have to tell her something. She and Otis will need to know all of this.”

“Jade is their problem. Let them deal with her the best way they can. I am through with this mess.” Pee Wee snapped his fingers, like he was dismissing the whole ugly conversation. He was, because he started walking toward the door.

“Wait!” I yelled. He stopped and glared at me. “Did you bring your things home?”

“I did. But I can pack ’em up and get up out of here again. And let me tell you right here and now, if I do leave again I ain’t comin’ back. I can take only so much of this foolishness.”

“I want you to stay home because that’s where you belong.”

Pee Wee started walking toward the door again but he stopped to answer the telephone. A deep frown appeared on his face right away. He handed me the telephone and left.

It was Rhoda.