Let's Stay Together (34 page)

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Authors: J.J. Murray

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“And that’s the problem,” Trula said. “These boys won’t leave them alone.”

Wanda faced Patrick as she evened up his sideburns. “You think the reporters will ever leave you two alone, Patrick?”

“I don’t know,” Patrick said. “I hope so.”

Wanda turned Patrick around. “I decided not to cut much of your hair for Lauren’s sake since you’re her blanket and all.”

“It’s so
cold
in Brooklyn,” Trula said. “I need my man blanket.”

“Well, I do,” Lauren said.

“How’s it look?” Wanda asked.

“It looks good,” Patrick said.

“It
is
cold in Brooklyn, Trula,” Lauren said. “And windy, too.”

“So you won’t want your neck exposed, huh?” Trula asked.

“No,” Lauren said.

“Then why do you put your hair up under your hat?” Trula asked.

“To keep things like cell phones with long-ass antennas from falling into it,” Lauren said.

“Uh-huh,” Trula said. She pulled up a clump of Lauren’s hair. “I could do a nice sloppy updo.”

“Sloppy?” Lauren said.

“It will still look a little wild,” Trula said, “but you won’t have any hair around your neck, though. Or I could do a Grecian updo with some braids in front. I could even let the braids fly free.”

“I’d look like Medusa,” Lauren said.

“Yeah,” Trula said. “You’d look scarier than your mama does.”

“My mama isn’t that scary looking,” Lauren said.

“Yeah, she is,” Trula said. “But if I give you a Grecian, you’d have no hair around your neck. I
could
give you a frohawk. Tight on the sides, piled up in the middle and down the back of your head. The back of your neck will be warm at least.”

“Do I have enough hair for that?” Lauren asked.

“Once I detangle it in about three days, yeah,” Trula said.

Two hours later Lauren smiled at her reflection.
This will give Patrick more of my neck to kiss. Hmm. I need some long, dangling earrings now to make my neck look shorter
.

She left the chair and posed in front of Patrick, who had read nearly every issue of
Hype Hair
and
Jet
in the shop while he waited. “How do I look?”

“Great,” Patrick said.

“She looks better than great, Patrick,” Trula said.

“I’d rather not say exactly how she looks,” Patrick said.

Lauren moved closer, rubbing her knees on his. “Tell me.”

“Can I whisper it?” Patrick asked.

Lauren shook her head. “They’re practically family. Go ahead.”

“You look very sexy,” Patrick said. He reached out and stroked the side of her head. “But . . .”

“But what?” Lauren asked.

“I don’t see that lasting for very long,” Patrick said. Lauren smiled. “Why?”

Patrick sighed. “Because . . .” He sighed again. “Because I will probably ruin it when I pull on it.”

“I knew he was a hair puller the second I saw his hands,” Trula said. “Damn. I need me another man quick.”

“You got to get you some longer hair first,” Wanda said.

“That’s what extensions are for, girl,” Trula said.

After posing for a new picture for their wall, Lauren attempted to pay.

“No,” Trula said. “It’s on the house.”

“At least let me tip you two,” Lauren said.

“Let her tip us, Trula,” Wanda said. “I’ve only made a whole dollar from a five-year-old today.”

“Oh, all right,” Trula said.

Lauren used her debit card to “tip” Trula and Wanda two hundred dollars.

“Can you afford this?” Trula whispered.

“Yes,” Lauren said. “We just won’t have any toilet paper for a few weeks.”

Trula’s eyes popped. “Really?”

“No,” Lauren said. “We’re fine no matter what the media says. Thank you both for the conversation.”

“You’re welcome,” Wanda said. “Don’t be a stranger, now.”

“I was until I got here.”
I may even come back tomorrow before we leave for some “maintenance,” and it should only cost me a dollar.

Lauren and Patrick drifted up the street to Malcolm X Avenue and Popeyes, where they found an empty booth near an entrance. Lauren checked the time on her phone.

“Mama should already be here. Are you nervous?”

“No,” Patrick said. “Just hungry.”

“Do you really like my hair this way?” Lauren asked.

He took her hands and squeezed them. “You could be bald and you’d still be the sexiest woman on earth.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Lauren said.

“I thought I did,” Patrick said.

“Well, you did,” Lauren said. “But . . .”

“I like it,” Patrick said.

“Only like?” Lauren asked.

“Lauren, as long as the rest of you is attached to your hair,” Patrick said, “I will
love
whatever you do with your hair as long as I can play with it.”

“That’s better,” Lauren said. “Oh, there’s Mama.” She waved to Pamela.

Pamela shrugged and went directly to the counter.

“Mama must be hungry,” Lauren said. “Come on.”

As they stood in line behind Pamela, Pamela turned and stared at Lauren’s hair. “Oh,
now
you get your hair done.”

“You like it?” Lauren asked.

“It looks better than it did,” Pamela said. “Is that all you did all day?”

“No,” Lauren said. “We went to the MLK Deli and walked around, too.”

“Ooh, you gave Patrick the grand tour, huh?” Pamela asked.

“I wanted to go to the Pizza Place,” Lauren said.

“I miss that place, too.” Pamela sighed. “It’s so hard to keep a business running with all the robberies on that street. City Beats gets it the worst.”

After they ordered spicy Bonafide Chicken combos with red beans and rice, they moved to a booth and sat.

“You two and that wedding of yours are all over the news,” Pamela said. “People told me there’s something on every channel, even BET.”

“All that will die down,” Lauren said. “You’ll see.”

“I hope it doesn’t,” Pamela said. “This is the first good news people have had to watch on TV in a long time. Your wedding is a story people can smile about.”

“It’s good to be good news, isn’t it, Patrick?” Lauren asked.

Patrick nodded, chowing down on a drumstick.

“Slow down now,” Pamela said. “Popeyes is good, but it ain’t that good.”

Patrick chewed more slowly.

“You two obviously married for love and for love alone,” Pamela said. “That’s rare. You’re giving people hope that maybe they can find true love, too. That’s good news.”

“Well, Mama,” Lauren said, “there’s an attraction, too.”

“You fell in love
before
you saw each other, right?” Pamela asked.

“Well, I saw him before I met him, because he sent me a picture,” Lauren said. “He was wearing coveralls. And then we used Skype, and—”

“Spare me the details,” Pamela interrupted. “I’m just saying that you fell in love with him before you
really
met him, and I’m saying that’s a good thing.”

“And I’m saying that there’s an attraction, too,” Lauren said.

Pamela stared at Lauren. “Why can’t you just agree with me? We’re saying the same thing.”

“It’s more fun to disagree,” Lauren said.

Pamela nodded at Patrick. “Is he always this quiet?” “No,” Lauren said. “He’s just hungry.”

“Is Congress Heights any different than Brooklyn?” Pamela asked.

“Not really,” Patrick said, wiping his lips with a napkin.

“It’s a little less crowded, I guess.”

Pamela looked around the dining room. “You don’t look uncomfortable, you being the only white man in here.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” Patrick said.

“Either you’re a liar or you’re too busy getting your grub on,” Pamela said.

“He doesn’t lie, Mama,” Lauren said.

“Or you’re unaware of your surroundings,” Pamela said.

“Or his surroundings don’t matter to him,” Lauren said.

“Let him answer, girl,” Pamela said. “Does being the only white man in here matter to you, Patrick?”

“No,” Patrick said.

Pamela smiled. “I like how you try to set those reporters straight.”

“It doesn’t do much good,” Patrick said.

“Well, keep it up,” Pamela said. “One day they might actually listen to you. When do you two have to be back?”

“Tomorrow,” Patrick said.

“Some honeymoon.” Pamela said. “But it’s about the length of mine. Lauren’s father was a hardworking man.” She reached out and grabbed Lauren’s wrist, turning her hand over. “They’re getting rougher.”

“I use lotion,” Lauren said.

“It means you’re working hard,” Pamela said. “It does the soul good to work hard. That other ‘job’ of hers wasn’t work, Patrick.”

“It most certainly was,” Lauren said.

“Looking pretty and speaking lines someone else wrote, not thinking for yourself—that’s not work,” Pamela said. “Solving problems, getting dirty, going home with a backache that requires a massage—
that’s
work. I’m so glad you’re making my daughter respectable for a change, Patrick. I’m proud of her. I can talk to folks about her job now.”

“You weren’t proud of me before?” Lauren asked.

“Your first movie, yes,” Pamela said. “Your character had morals. I had no trouble facing folks. That next one, though . . . That girl was a mess. She was a hoochie.”

“She was not!” Lauren shouted.

“Hoochie, through and through,” Pamela said. “And don’t you be showing your tail in here.”

“Well, don’t be calling me a hoochie then,” Lauren said.

Pamela rolled her eyes. “I gotta go. I need my rest.” She collected her plate and stood.

“Wait a minute, Mama,” Lauren said. “You can’t start an argument and leave.”

“Sure I can,” Pamela said. “I’m done eating. I have to work in the morning, and you have to catch the train, so let’s go.”

“But I’m not through arguing with you,” Lauren said.

“We can continue this on the way home,” Pamela said.

The second the Popeyes door closed behind them, Lauren asked, “So after
Feel the Love,
you weren’t proud of me at all?”

“No,” Pamela said.

“But it was what I was paid to do,” Lauren said.

“You could have turned it down,” Pamela said.

“I needed to get paid, Mama,” Lauren said. “I had bills.”

“I’m sure something else would have opened up, something wholesome,” Pamela said. “You had talent.”

“I
have
talent,” Lauren said.

“My point is this,” Pamela said. “Once you did that movie, the rest of your roles were all hoochies, too.”

“They weren’t all hoochies,” Lauren said. “Not all the time.”

“Yeah, they were,” Pamela said. “You were snapping your fingers, throwing out your hips, whining, sucking your teeth, showing your cleavage, and using improper English all the time. You were a straight hoochie.”

“That didn’t make
me
a hoochie,” Lauren said.

“You could have fooled me,” Pamela said. “But think about it. Those hoochie roles helped you hook up with Chazz. He wasn’t interested in you right after
Feel the Love,
was he? No. He only wanted you after you played all those hoochies. That one movie ruined your life, and you didn’t even know it.”

They had reached the house. Pamela opened the gate, walked up the walkway and the stairs, and unlocked the front door.

“Mama,” Lauren said, following Pamela inside, “how would you know? You told me you didn’t watch any of my movies after
I Got This
came out
.
”

Pamela shut the door and pointed to the sofa in front of the TV. “Take a load off, Patrick,” she said. “This might take a minute.”

Patrick sat on the sofa, and Pamela slid in beside him.

“I watched every last one of your movies, Lauren,” Pamela said.

Lauren paced behind the sofa. “You did? I didn’t think . . .”
She cared.

“What? That I wouldn’t watch your movies? It was the only time I got to see you, Lauren.” She nudged Patrick’s leg with hers. “She hardly ever called me, Patrick. Can you believe that? Her own mama. She went Hollywood on me, and she couldn’t even lift a phone.”

“I
did
call you,” Lauren said. “
All
the time. But you wouldn’t speak to me.”

Pamela sighed. “What have I always told you?”

“You’ve
always
told me a
lot
of things,” Lauren said.

“Hear that attitude, Patrick?” Pamela asked. “Get used to it. It’s in her DNA. From her daddy’s side, not mine.”

“I’m not getting an attitude,” Lauren said, “and when I do, it’s all because of you, not Daddy.”

“What I told you was if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all,” Pamela said. “You called, I had nothing nice to say, so I stayed silent.”

“So . . . you’ve started talking to me because . . .”
She has something nice to say!
“You have something nice to say.”

“Right,” Pamela said. “You’re finally settling down and being the daughter your daddy and I raised. You found a real man, and you now have a real job.” She turned to Patrick. “Did y’all have sex on your first date in St. Louis?”

“Mama!” Lauren shouted.

“I’m not asking you,” Pamela said. “I’m asking Patrick. Well, did you?”

Patrick looked at the floor. “Yes, ma’am, we did.”

Pamela laughed. “He
is
honest. Too honest. Patrick, you’re supposed to lie when someone’s mama asks you that question.”

“You already knew we did,” Patrick said.

“I figured you did,” Pamela said. “When are you having babies?”

“Soon,” Lauren said.