Lost Daughters (6 page)

M
AUREEN CAME UP WITH A LOT OF EXCUSES NOT TO GO OUT WITH
Mel when he asked, which he did almost every time she saw him. A few examples of her excuses were she had a date with somebody else, she didn't feel well, or she had company coming over. Even when she used the same excuses more than one time, he kept asking.

“You work with beautiful models, and I know a man like you must mingle with all kinds of other women along the way,” Maureen pointed out. “Don't you already have a girlfriend or somethin'?” she finally asked.

“Not at the moment,” Mel told her, which was the truth. He had recently broken up with the woman he had been seeing for over a year when she told him she wanted to have his baby and was not going to take no for an answer. Well, he was not about to be bouncing a wailing baby on his knee and making child-support payments, so that was the end of that relationship.

“I'm glad I have thick skin,” Mel joked when Maureen told him that she had to stay home every night that week to shampoo her carpets. He added with an exaggerated whine, “Otherwise, I'm liable to think that you really don't like me.”

Maureen laughed. “I do like you, Mel.” She didn't have the nerve to tell him that she didn't like him enough to start a relationship. She told him the next best thing. “But since you work with my daughter, maybe we should just keep things on a business level.”

“Do I stink? Is my breath bad? Do I look funny?” Mel wanted to know, actually looking hurt.

Maureen laughed again. “The answer to all of your questions is no.”

“Well, if the only reason you don't want to socialize with me is because I work with your daughter, that's not much of a reason. I have dated other women associated with my work. What if you go out with me for a business reason?”

“What business reason would that be? I don't want to be a supermodel.”

“But your daughter does. Since she's still a minor, there will be things coming up in the future that you will have to approve for her. We could discuss things like that over a few drinks. Your daughter tells me you love to eat out. What's wrong with two business associates having dinner together?”

“Nothin' is . . . is wrong with . . . with that,” Maureen stuttered.

“For your information, I have several female friends that I take out from time to time. Some are even married. Maybe in the near future, when you don't have to wash your hair or shampoo your carpet, you can join me for dinner or a drink. We can talk more about your daughter's future.”

Maureen knew when she was trapped. She had a feeling that Mel was probably not going to stop badgering her for a “date” unless she did something drastic. Getting ghetto and cussing a pest out usually got that pest off your back. If she borrowed a huge sum of money from him and took her time paying him back (or not at all), that would probably do the trick too. Things like that were not Maureen's style, though. Maybe if Mel saw how much she ate and drank in expensive restaurants, that would scare him off. Or maybe if she did something to embarrass him in public, he'd lose interest in her. It didn't take Maureen long to decide that she couldn't do any of that. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin Loretta's chance for success before she even got her feet wet.

Another thought, this one quite frightening, suddenly popped into Maureen's mind: If she didn't keep Mel happy, he just might retaliate by severing his relationship with Loretta! If that happened, living with Loretta would be like living with a human pit bull with a thorn stuck in its paw. Maureen decided that the most reasonable thing for her to do was go out with Mel. Besides, he was handsome and he had a lot going for him. . . .

“Discuss my daughter's future? Uh-huh, we can at least do that over dinner and drinks,” she told Mel.

Had he known that all it would take for Maureen to fall into his plan to have more access to Loretta was for him to mention Loretta's future, he would have brought that up long before now.

 

It started with just dinner and drinks, and they always “discussed Loretta's future.” By the sixth date, though, their agenda included a two-hour romp in a motel near Miami Beach. To Maureen's surprise, Mel had made it worth her while. He was one of the best lovers she had ever had.

When Mel reared back in his seat and told Maureen that he was in love with her over dinner at Beanie's, the popular soul-food restaurant where they'd had their first date, she looked at him like he was crazy. A few seconds later when he sucked in his breath and asked her to marry him, she choked on her wine.

“We don't even know one another that well!” she told him, blinking so hard an eyelash fell into her eye. “We just met a few months ago.”

“It doesn't matter. I've known you long enough to know that I like everything about you, Maureen.” Mel poured more wine into her glass.

“Get married? I don't remember the last time I was even in a serious relationship. It's been
years
,” she confessed, dabbing at her eye with a damp napkin.

“I find that hard to believe. What's wrong with these men around here?” Mel said as he passed Maureen some more pinto beans.

Maureen shrugged. “Nothin' is wrong with the men around here.”

“You just haven't met the right one,” Mel said with a level of smugness on his face that Maureen had only seen displayed by Mama Ruby.

“I've met the right ones, but they all had the wrong ideas.” Maureen laughed as Mel stared at her. Then she gave him a wounded look. “It's my fault, I guess. People say I'm too picky, and that's kind of true. I don't want just any man for a husband. He has to be special. But the real reason is that I've devoted my life to my daughter, so I haven't really had the time to find a man who wanted to marry me.”

“Well, you have now. We found each other.” Mel reached under the table and squeezed Maureen's knee. “Will you stay with me tonight?”

Maureen gasped and gave Mel an incredulous look. “Oh goodness gracious no! I can't stay out all night and leave my daughter at home by herself. She has school tomorrow, so I have to go home to make sure she gets to bed on time. I can't let you spend the night at my place this soon. I don't want to set a bad example for her. See, she's a good girl. She's so innocent and unworldly. I know how hard it must be for her to stay that way with all these loose-bootied young girls runnin' around here bein' such a bad influence on girls like Lo'retta. I want her to stay the way she is for as long as she can,” Maureen insisted. “A virtuous woman is a godly woman. The man that gets Lo'retta will be gettin' a grand prize.”

That's for sure
, Mel said to himself.
One of the best pieces of ass I ever had.

 

Loretta didn't have a lot of girlfriends because she didn't trust too many females. She considered them to be too treacherous. The fact that she was ready, willing, and able to betray her own mother was proof of that. But Mona Flack was still the best flunky in the world for a girl like Loretta to be best friends with. Mona was happy to lie to Maureen and say that Loretta was with her when she wasn't.

Mona was two years older than Loretta, but they were in the same grade. Mona was somewhat slow, so she had flunked the third and the fifth grades. She already had her driver's license and had access to her daddy's station wagon. Loretta had called her up a couple of hours ago and told her that she needed a ride over to Mel's place.

“I know there is a shortage of men, but of all the men in this world, why do you want the same one that your mama is involved with?” Mona asked Loretta as soon as she picked her up. “What if you get caught? Your mama would have a fit and you'd get a whuppin'.”

“My mama is a Kentucky-fried country bumpkin! She's so clueless!” Loretta snapped. “She wouldn't know what to do with a luscious, sophisticated man like Mel. Besides, they are
just
friends anyway.”

“Just friends, my foot! I've seen Mel's SUV parked in front of your buildin' late at night and early in the mornin' plenty of times. Is he sleepin' with your mama or what?”

“Well, yeah, but only to keep her from gettin' suspicious about him and me.” Loretta got quiet and screwed up her face like she had just sucked on a lemon. “My mama thinks I'm stupid. She gets busy with Mel when she thinks I'm asleep, but him sockin' it to her don't mean nothin'. He's only doin' her to keep her in the dark and under control. I hate to admit it, but my mama is still kinda pretty, so it's more fun for him to do her than to masturbate or go after some skank if he gets horny and can't get to me in time,” Loretta said, patting the side of her hair as she glanced in the rearview mirror. “But Mel is
my
lover. He's kinda old, but he's got a young man's body. I'm goin' to get a lot of mileage out of him.”

“Well, since he's your photographer
and
manager, you better get as much mileage as you can out of that too,” Mona advised. “I hope he don't cheat you out none of the money you make modelin'. Or do somethin' else crooked like some managers do . . .”

“Mel only takes ten percent of what I make. A lot of managers take fifteen percent from their models. One of the girls he used to work with, she was just on the cover of
a trendy local
magazine. He got her the job, and he did all the pictures for that shoot. He will be hookin' me up like that too.”

Mona was thoroughly impressed. “Dang! Did that girl have to fuck him to get that job?”

Loretta gasped and gave Mona a disgusted look. “What's wrong with you, girl? Who said anything about a model havin' to fuck to get work—especially one like me? I'm sleepin' with Mel because I want to!” Loretta was talking so fast she choked on some air. As soon as she cleared her throat, she added, “I don't have to sleep my way to the top.”

“I'm sorry. You mad at me?” Mona bleated, bowing her head submissively. If she had a tail, she would have tucked it between her legs.

“No, I'm not mad at you. I just wish your questions made more sense to me.” Loretta clucked, not even trying to hide her impatience. “What's your point anyway?” she added, snapping her fingers.

“What I mean is, ain't you worried that you fuckin' Mel might mess up things? What if he gets tired of you? Do you think he'll still want to work with you then? If you and him so in love, how can y'all work together and keep your hands off one another?”

“We know how to keep things under control. There are always other people around when we go out on shoots. We get it on in hotels every now and then, but we
never
show our true feelin's to one another when we are out in public workin',” Loretta said. “Right now the best way he can be alone with me is in my mama's house or at his place.”

“Hmmm. You're the only one of my friends that's foolin' around with a man Mel's age.” Mona gave Loretta a concerned look.

Loretta looked at Mona like she was speaking in tongues. “You make him sound like some kind of geezer from
Jurassic Park
! He's not old. He's just mature!” Loretta insisted. “Keep your eyes on the road. There's joggers comin' out of nowhere.”

“Does that grown man know what a huge crush you got on him?” Mona asked, her eyes directly on the road.

“
Crush
?” Loretta erupted, almost choking on the word. “Have you not heard anything I just said? I don't have no crush on Mel! I don't go around screwin' people I have crushes on! How many times do I have to tell you that I'm in love with him, and he's in love with me? We're goin' to get married as soon as I'm old enough.”

“G
IRL, YOU MET MEL A YEAR AGO AND YOU'RE ALREADY TALKING
about marrying him? For reals?” Mona yelled. Her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

“Yes, for reals!” Loretta yelled back.

“Nuh-uh! You just turned fifteen back in March.” There was a touch of envy in Mona's voice.

“Mona, don't be so ignorant! We will wait until I turn eighteen and graduate. In the meantime, Mel and I will really get to know one another.”

For Mona to be so slow, she often made some smart remarks. “Humph! If you ask me, I say you and Mel need to get to know one another real good before you even think about gettin' married. You are goin' to meet a lot of hot men workin' as a model. What if you meet one you like more than you like Mel?”

“I won't. He won't meet a girl he likes better than me, neither. I know it,” Loretta insisted.

“I don't know, girl. I have a hard time believin' that your mama's man is goin' to marry
you
.”

“Yes! He said so himself. Why are you actin' like that's such a big deal? Men marry the women they love all the time.”

“Well, for one thing, you and Mel gettin' married is goin' to surprise the hell out of everybody. Especially when they find out y'all been together all this time—wooo!” Mona slapped the side of the steering wheel, and even though she had her eyes on the road, she almost hit a jogger anyway.

“Watch it!” Loretta hollered, grabbing the steering wheel. “I knew I should have taken the bus or a cab to Mel's place!”

“You know I don't mind drivin' you over there. I just wish you would let me drive you all the way instead of you gettin' out at the corner and makin' me wait for you in some spooky parkin' lot, or the movies, or the mall.”

“I don't want Mel to see you. He's already worried about somebody seein' me over there when I'm supposed to be somewhere else with you.” Loretta softened her voice. “Uh, I hope you don't mess things up for me.”

“You know I would never blab on you. I mean, I don't mind coverin' for you and Mel . . . as long as there's somethin' in it for me.” Mona sniffed and began to tap the steering wheel with her finger, anxious for Loretta to respond to the last part of her sentence.

“Oh yeah! You can pick up those black pumps you wanted to borrow when I get home this evenin',” Loretta said.

“One more thing. I need to borrow your brand-new Gucci purse too,” Mona added.

“My Gucci purse?” Loretta hollered.

“Yes, your Gucci purse. When you sent me into that adult store behind that strip club to get that slimy lubricant for you and Mel—and that humongous, disgustin' dildo—because you were too embarrassed to go in and buy that shit yourself, you promised me that I could borrow your Gucci purse. Don't you remember?”

Loretta scratched her head and gave Mona a thoughtful look. “I remember sendin' you into that adult store, but I don't remember tellin' you that you could use my only Gucci purse.”

“Well, you did and I want to use it!” Mona snapped. “And another thing, don't forget to bring me some gas money. I don't want my daddy askin' me how come I used up so much gas when I'm only supposed to be goin' to your house.”

“Oh! The things that I have to go through just to be with my man!” Loretta lamented. Then she giggled. “I'm almost sorry that I found out sex was so damn good. Girl, if you could just see Mel naked! And the way he kisses! Ooh wee! I can't get enough.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Mona sucked on her teeth so loudly it made Loretta flinch. “Lo'retta, I hope your mama never hears you sayin' crazy shit like that. She would whup your ass if she thought you were screwin' already.”

“Don't you worry about my mama. I got her in the palm of my hand. She thinks I'm into Jesus as much as she is. She would never think that I was screwin' already.” Loretta lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper and leaned her head closer to Mona's. “Let me borrow a few condoms in case Mel runs out again.”

 

Maureen found out that Loretta was “screwing already” in the worst way possible. One Friday night while Loretta was “at the movies” with Mona, Maureen went into her room to put away her laundry. Just as she was about to leave the room, she looked down and saw a condom wrapper on the floor by the side of Loretta's bed.

Maureen was so crushed she wanted to cry. She couldn't believe that her baby had crossed such a serious line so soon. When she called up Virgil a few minutes later and told him, he only made her feel worse.

“Well, the girl is fifteen goin' on twenty-five and almost looks it. These boys around here ain't goin' to ignore a cupcake like Lo'retta. She's been up for grabs for a while now, so this was bound to happen sooner or later,” Virgil told Maureen with a snicker. “If I was you, I'd keep a real close eye on her, though. It ain't like it was when me and you was her age. Gettin' pregnant used to be the worst mess that a young girl could get herself into. Them days is over, though. It's a whole new ballgame now. Nowadays, they got diseases goin' around that a witch doctor can't cure.” Virgil let out a loud, deep breath. “One of the guys I used to play cards with just found out he got AIDS. . . .”

“Now why did you have to go
there.
I feel bad enough. You don't have to make me feel no worse by talkin' about AIDS and all the other mess goin' around!” Maureen blasted.

“Look on the bright side. At least Lo'retta's got
some
common sense. Enough to make sure she protects herself. Don't let no condom wrapper upset you too much. Be glad you found a condom wrapper and not one of them pregnancy testin' doodads.”

“I'm not glad I found a condom wrapper in her room. I'm not glad to know that my child is havin' sex already! Loretta is my baby.”

“Your
baby
? Honey, I got news for you. You ain't got no baby no more,” Virgil said, putting a lot of emphasis on his words.

“She's still a baby to me! She's still—”

“A baby that's trapped in a woman's body,” Virgil broke in.

“I know that already. I just wish she could have waited a couple more years,” Maureen wailed. “All this time, I thought I was raisin' Lo'retta up right.”

“You can raise a child up ‘right' and they'll still turn out to be a fool! I know raisin' one by yourself is hard,” Virgil declared. “All you can do is the best you can and pray that you don't end up with a Charles Manson on your hands. Shit. I hear all kinds of complaints from my ex all the time about my son actin' up, but she chose to run off and be on her own—and I know she's a good mama. If you ask me, kids need two parents to turn out like they got some sense. Me and Corrine have been tryin' to make a baby for years now. When and if we ever do, I guarantee you that I'm goin' to be in that child's life no matter what. If Corrine was to take that child and up and move to another state the way my ex done, I'm goin' to follow behind her like a bloodhound. I don't care if I have to haul garbage or rob banks—I am goin' to be around my child. I didn't have no daddy when I was growin' up. You didn't have no daddy, neither. I think that's why me and you had so much unhappiness in our lives. Loretta needs a daddy and you need a husband.”

“I would love to be married, Virgil. I would have been married a long time ago if I could have found a decent man who wanted to marry me.”

“Maybe you shouldn't be so picky.”

“Picky? Virgil, I ain't a spring chicken no more. Men my age want young girls, and I don't want no old man that I'll wind up bathin' and spoon-feedin' when he can no longer do it for himself.”

“What about that photographer Loretta's been posin' for? Mel. You oughta know him real good by now. And you must like him a whole lot to be goin' out with him so much.”

“Mel is a nice guy and Loretta loves him to death. He even quit workin' with all of the other models he used to work just with so he could devote more time to Lo'retta. He just hooked her up with some more ads for some of the top department stores in Miami. Some that almost never use black girls!”

“Hmmm. That's good to hear. I'm real impressed with the dude. He must really know his business, then.”

“Virgil, Mel is a real good photographer, and he's so thoughtful and generous. Every time he comes over to my place, he brings us something—wine, a bucket of chicken, flowers. That's the kind of man he is.”

“You must be impressed with the dude, too, huh?” Virgil asked.

Maureen laughed. “I do like him, I guess. I even let him make a dark room out of my pantry. That way he can develop prints at my place. I gave him a key to my apartment in case he needs to get into his dark room when me and Lo'retta go out shoppin' or someplace else. He even offered to pay me to use the room, but I told him that wasn't necessary. You know, I never knew takin' pictures and developin' them was so interestin'. Poor Mel. He has so much patience with me and Lo'retta askin' him questions about this and that.”

“Maybe you can get him to snap some pictures of me and Corrine so we can frame 'em and put 'em on the wall. I keep tryin' to get over to your place so I can meet him, but it seems like every time I got time, he ain't got time.”

“I'm goin' to make sure you get to meet him soon.” Maureen took a deep breath. “Mel is the first man I've dated that Lo'retta took a shine to so fast. He's become real important to her.”

Virgil gave Maureen's words some thought. “Important how?” he asked.

“You ought to see how her face lights up when I tell her he's comin' over. She loves Mel to death. Poor Lo'retta. If I had known how bad she wanted a daddy, I would have spent more time with some of my use-to-be boyfriends.”

“Uh-huh. All I got to say is, I hope Lo'retta don't get too attached to that man if you ain't goin' to let him stay around too long.”

“I don't know what I'm goin' to do about Mel. I . . . I just don't love him,” Maureen reluctantly admitted.

“What's wrong with him?”

“Nothin' is wrong with him. I just don't love him enough to want to marry him and spend the rest of my life with him. This is one thing I really have to think hard about.”

“Well, sometimes you can't get everything you want. I know quite a few couples that didn't love one another, but they got married anyway and they seem real happy together. Now that you know Loretta done . . . uh . . . got her feet wet in the sex pool, she'll need supervision now more than ever.”

“Tell me about it,” Maureen quipped. “But I don't know if I want to burden Mel with another man's child—even though I know he's just as crazy about Lo'retta as she is about him.”

“Baby sister, give the man a chance. I don't want you to grow old alone,” Virgil said gently. “Think about it.”

“I will think about it,” Maureen muttered.