Night of Seduction (33 page)

“Where are you
manners Siri? It
’
s customary to say
good morning. But you never understood simple
courtesy.
”

“Courtesy
begets courtesy,
”
she replied but continued to stand
near the door.

“Close the
door!
”
Mable demanded with a slam of her fist on the
desk.

“It
’
s customary to say
please when you make a request of another
person,
”
Siri replied and made no move to comply with her
request.

Never turning
her eyes from Siri, Mabel spoke to Roscoe.
“
Leave us Roscoe
and close the door behind you.
”
Roscoe jumped up and
did her bidding, leaving the two women in the room alone.
“
You continue to try my patience with your insolence, Siri.
It
’
s amazing the audacity you display time and time
again.
”

“I realize you
love to hear the sound of your own voice, but is this going to take
very long. I have a class coming in soon.
”

It was beyond
her as to what her son saw in this woman, Mabel thought. There was
no denying she was a beautiful woman, standing there dressed in a
red pants suit, with a white blouse and the right accessories, but
her lack of respect for authority annoyed her to no end.
“
It
’
s going to take as
long as I want, that
’
s how long
it
’
s going to be, if you value your
job.
”
When Siri did not reply,
“
Do I have your
attention now? I thought that would work. You need to explain to me
why you were seen walking hand in hand with my son
yesterday?
”

“I
don
’
t need to explain anything. If you want to know
something about your son, I suggest you ask him.
”
The
pained look on her face took Siri a little off guard.
“
You did ask him.
”
she almost
smiled.
“
Didn
’
t you? And he
didn
’
t tell you what you wanted to hear. Good for Carl.
Could it be your baby boy is cutting the apron strings and becoming
his own man?
”

“You have
always poisoned his mind against me. There were no problems between
my son and I before he took up with you. Then everything I said was
responded to with Siri said this, or Siri thinks that. You turned
his head with that little body of yours and those dirty sex games
you played.
”
She stomped from behind the
desk.
“
But I proved who had the power and I took him
back from you. Don
’
t you think for one
moment I will allow you back into our lives?
”

“You are
talking like a jealous other woman rather than
Carl
’
s mother. There was only competition between you and I
in your mind. I didn
’
t take your son, he
grew up like all children do, Maybelline. They grow up, leave home,
start to lead their own lives, but they never, never leave their
mother. I didn
’
t poison
Carl
’
s mind. We fell in love, or at least we thought we
did. It
’
s a natural thing that happens between a man and
a woman.
”
She took a step towards the woman and put her
hands on her hips to keep from smacking the stupid little woman
that was once her mother-in-law.
“
Let me make this
clear
—
you are no prize. I feel for the next woman Carl has
feelings for, not because of him, but because she will have to deal
with you. I never thought I would see the day that a mother did not
want to see her child happy. It
’
s all about you. What
is it, exactly? Are you afraid your son will leave you alone with
no one but yourself as company? That would scare me
too.
”

Mabel reached
out and smacked Siri across the face.
“
How dare you
speak to me in that manner? You think because your sister is
whoring herself to that record producer you no longer have to be
concerned about your job.
”

After the
initial sting of the contact wore off, Siri turned to walk away,
but stopped and turned back to the woman.
“
I
don
’
t
’
want to be a part of your life.
I
’
m a good educator, not even your slurs have convinced
the school board otherwise. I
’
m tired of the
threats. If you feel you can take this job away from me, give it
your best shot.
”
Standing there, with her hands on her
hips, she exhaled, attempting to calm her nerves.
“
If you ever say anything in private or public regarding my
sister again, I will forget that my mother raised me to respect my
elders and give you the butt whipping you
deserve.
”
She turned and walked out of the door.

Outside the
office door, several teachers had gathered, including Cashmere, who
immediately went to her.
“
Siri,
”
she took her arm,
“
come with
me.
”
She ushered her into the teacher
’
s lounge
ladies
’
room. Turning on the water, she wet a paper towel
as Siri angrily paced the small area like a caged lion, needing to
break free. Taking Siri
’
s arm, Cashmere led
her to a chair in the corner and placed the cool towel on her
forehead. She witnessed the tears flowing from
Siri
’
s eyes, but never said a word. She retrieved another
towel, wet it, and wiped the tears away. She then sat on the arm of
the chair and held her friend
’
s hand.

A few minutes
later, the secretary came in, sat on the other arm, and took the
other hand.
“
Don
’
t you worry about
that old bat. I have enough on her and Roscoe to cause them trouble
for years to come. She
’
ll be so busy trying
to clean up the mess, she won
’
t have time to get
you fired.
”

Siri and
Cashmere, with surprised expressions, looked at the woman, who
never said much to any of them. Cashmere spoke first.
“
Roscoe and Maybelline?
”

The woman
nodded her head,
“
Mmm
hmm
—
for years.
”

Cashmere and
Siri looked at each other and burst out laughing.
“
Well, doesn
’
t that beat
all,
”
Siri said as she sat up and took the cool towel off
her face.
“
She condemns me for
marrying her son, and the whole time she
’
s sleeping
around with a married man.
”

“Roscoe,
”
Cashmere questioned, still not able
to believe what she had heard.

“That
’
s right. I have hotel
rooms, dates, receipts, you name it. I
’
ve got
it.
”
the woman acknowledged.
“
If she tries anything
with you, don
’
t you worry I have
your back.
”
The woman stood,
“
Now both
of you need to get to class.
”
With that, the woman
walked out of the door.

Siri took
Cashmere
’
s hand.
“
Don
’
t allow Maybelline to
keep you and Carl apart.
”

Looking at her
friend Cashmere asked,
“
Are you sure
you
’
ll be okay with me seeing him?
”

Siri reached
out and hugged her.
“
I want him to be
happy and yes, I
’
m very sure
it
’
s okay.
”
The two smiled.
“
Let
’
s go tackle those
lovable rug rats we call children.
”

♫

If the morning
started bad, the evening was a paradox. Maxine Long was efficient,
energetic, pleasant and to Siri
’
s surprise, a
Caucasian woman. Speaking to her and the fact that she was married
to Kiki
’
s father, led Siri to think she was a sister, but
she was wrong. The great thing about it was, it
didn
’
t matter. The three women sat at the plush
TJ
’
s restaurant at the Jefferson Hotel and discussed what
some would consider a very lucrative deal for a first timer.
Apparently Kiki and Maxine had discussed everything from the
book
’
s release date, the distribution, book signings and
the media blast that would
“
put the book on the
map
”
in Kiki
’
s words.
That
’
s where Siri had to speak out.
“
Ladies,
I
’
m not sure I can do that.
”

“She
’
s concerned about the
bad press from her divorce,
”
Kiki explained to
Max while still reading the papers on the table.
“
After talking with her for hours, I believe she could
handle the press, if questions were asked.
”

Max waived the
statement off.
“
I
’
m not
worried about that. It
’
s public
knowledge
—
history. We are dealing with the future. As long
as there are no surprises lurking in the wood works,
we
’
re going to be fine.
”

“Well,
”
Siri nervously spoke.
“
There is a situation that developed over the
weekend.
”

“Oh, the thing
with your sister and Jason Davies?
”
Maxine
asked.

Siri nodded,
surprise just how far the news traveled
—
Maxine was from
New York.

“Wow, she
knocked the hell out of the girl. Did you see the
pictures?
”
Kiki asked Max.

Max nodded
while pulling the fork from her mouth.
“
Girl, did I.
Brought back memories.
”

Kiki
laughed.
“
Yeah, I remember Mother smacking the crap out of
you when she found out about you and Daddy. That was
funny.
”

Siri tensed for
a moment, until Max looked up with amusement in her eyes. The past
was just that between these two, and the family seemed to have come
to terms with whatever went down. She relaxed again.
“
So you two don
’
t think it will be an
issue?
”

“No,
”
Kiki replied.
“
Hell it
might help to have Jason Davies and that fine brother of his, Silk,
oh my God, Davies come by a book signing or two.
”

“Can we do that
without your father knowing? He
’
s kind of jealous of
Silk Davies. He say
’
s I spend too much
time listening to his music.
”

“You
’
re
kidding?
”
Kiki laughed.

Siri sat and
listened to the women talk about Eric. That was the reason why they
could not be together. There were women all over the world having
conversations about Silk Davies and how he made them feel. The
problem was, they really had no idea what that man was capable of
doing with his hands, his tongue, his lips
…
Shaking the
thoughts from her mind, she sat forward.
“
I
don
’
t think that
’
s going to happen
ladies. I
’
d like to do this on my own. I
don
’
t want my success to be based on my
sister
’
s new family.
”