Who's That Lady? (20 page)

“I do.”

“Then I’ll tell you. It’s her!” She jabbed a finger at Crystal. “Ever since she came around this family, it’s been ‘Crystal is so smart,’ ‘Crystal is so sweet,’ ‘Crystal is my special helper.’ Don’t you think I know you wish Crystal was your daughter instead of me?”

“You’re wrong, baby—” Vonetta began in a shocked voice.

“Am I?” Shonté cut in, her own voice choked with anguish. “You don’t even know half of what I’ve done. I’ll never measure up to Crystal. I don’t care anymore. But I just wish you’d all stop pretending!”

“Pretending? What are you saying? That your father and I were lying all these years?”

“Never mind,” Shonté said. “I don’t expect you to admit it anyway.”

“You’re damn right I’m not going to admit it when it’s not true. But I want you to tell me where you got such an idea?”

“Never mind, Mother. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” said Joe coming into the room and staring at the three women in accusation.

Crystal felt alternate waves of hot and cold washing through her body. This was awful. Why had she come anyway? She was only making everybody miserable.

“It’s my fault,” she said. “I shouldn’t have come.”

“What are you talking about?” Joe demanded.

“Stop being so noble, Crystal. It’s my fault, my fault!” Shonté clasped her breast in high drama. “I don’t care. I’ll just go to my room.”

They heard her running footsteps and muffled sobs. With a short bark, Masai galloped after her.

Vonetta and Crystal stared at one another.

“What
is
it?” Vonetta asked in a pained whisper.

Crystal felt tears brimming in her eyes. “There was a man…But I don’t think that’s all. She just
resents
me so much lately. I don’t know what to do!”

The older woman crossed the room to put her arms around Crystal. Crystal gave one convulsive sob, leaning her head on Vonetta’s shoulder.

Vonetta patted her back. “Go talk to Shonté,” she murmured over her shoulder. Joe hesitated, then turned to leave the kitchen.

“Shush, sweetheart,” Vonetta comforted. “I know you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Crystal flung her head up. “I’ve been hiding things! From all of you.”

“Do you want to tell me about it now?”

“I can’t,” she said pulling away reluctantly. “Soon, I promise. Why don’t you go see about Shonté?”

Just then Key came charging into the room. “What the hell is going on?” His face glowed with indignation and he looked huge and menacing.

“Key,” she breathed softly.

“Did she hurt you?” he roared.

“No. She’s just angry.”

“Wait till I talk to her!” He stormed from the room. Vonetta hustled after him and in minutes they were all upstairs. The sounds of yelling, stomping and door slamming reverberated through the house. Crystal reeled into the family room and collapsed on the couch.

What a mess!

CHAPTER 19

Crystal had witnessed a few of these family blow-ups over the years. All four Emersons could be passionate and vocal. Eventually the storm blew over without any lasting damage. Everyone had a chance to vent and release simmering resentments. Crystal always stayed out of the way until the storm passed. But this time she was aware of being the catalyst for the blowup.

Alex and Tracey crept into the room, looking anxious.

“What’s going on?” Tracey whispered, glancing at the ceiling.

Crystal shrugged, unable to speak.

Alex and Tracey exchanged a look. “This looks like a family crisis. We’re going out to dinner,” Alex said, his voice determined. He glanced at Crystal. “Want to come with us?”

She hesitated, wincing at the sound of Key bellowing Trevor’s name. She longed to get away, but felt compelled to stay.

“No, I’ll stay.”

Tracy and Alex hurried from the house, animated gossip bursting from their lips before they were out of earshot.

Crystal sighed. She imagined this was one Thanksgiving they wouldn’t forget soon.

She listened to the shouting, accented with an occasional plaintive bark. Key and Crystal yelled at each other about Trevor and Graham, while Joe bellowed at both of them in outrage for the way Shonté had been treated.

Crystal wondered if Key was going to reveal their affair in his excitement. She’d heard her name several times and wondered if her physical altercation with Shonté had been revealed. She dreaded having to explain that to Joe and Vonetta.

She stiffened when she heard footsteps running down the stairs. Several pairs of footsteps.

Shont
é pelted into the room first, her hair flying and her eyes red-rimmed.

“Crystal! Tell them I never tried to keep you from coming.”

“No, she didn’t—”

Joe was right on her heels. “She didn’t have to! I know my daughter’s mouth.”

“Daddy, how can you say that?”

Joe was proceding to spout examples of her reckless mouth when Vonetta came in talking right over him.

“Don’t you walk away from me when I’m talking to you, little girl. We’re going to get to the bottom of this if we have to stay here all night! I never heard such garbage! Telling me I don’t love you, when I have spent the last 27
years
making sacrifices for you, treating you when you were sick, watching you perform from the time you were little, chauffeuring you to one activity or another, fighting with teachers who short-changed you, attending every single one of your events. Do you remember how I drove through that snowstorm to make sure you got to audition for that school? I made a home for you, ungrateful brat!”

Joe was still ranting. “Made me wait while you locked yourself in the car. That tantrum because I wouldn’t let my 14-year-old daughter go on a couple date.”

Key, hovering in the background with a ferocious scowl on his face, chimed in. “Because she’s a brat! You two spoiled her rotten, gave her everything she wanted, let her twist you around her finger!”

Crystal’s head swiveled from one to the other.

Vonetta turned her outrage on Key. “Oh, don’t you dare! Don’t you
dare
. Who was it who got a car when he was sixteen years old because he begged and moped? Who wouldn’t eat anything but scrambled eggs for six weeks? Who do you think fixed them for you night after night? Huh? And who scratched both your behinds when you had chicken pox!” she concluded as if she’d scored game point.

“You act like you’re the only one who ever did anything for these kids,” Joe exclaimed. “Who was I, the invisible man?”

Vonetta ignored him and whirled on Crystal, who jumped. “And why the devil do you sit there letting Shonté
talk about you like a dog? That’s right, they told me all about that fight at the theater and how she ran over you the last few weeks. Didn’t we teach you to have a backbone in all these years?”

“Don’t you talk to her like that!” Joe spoke in a peevish tone. “You know how sensitive she is.”

“Sensitive?” Shonté screeched. “If you knew what she’s been saying about me—”

Key roared. “If you knew how she’s been protecting you—”

They were off once more. Crystal pressed her hands against her throbbing head and wished she was in another country.

Suddenly Key flung up his hands. “I’ve got to get out of here for awhile.”

He stalked from the room, and after a moment they heard a door slam.

Silence descended on the room. The family looked at one another in shame-faced realization.

Shonté burst into tears. “Oh, Mommy, I am so sorry! I love you so much.” She squeezed Vonetta in a hug that should have broken her back while Vonetta hugged her just as fiercely. Joe went to throw his arms about both of them while they all babbled apologies and devotion. They turned to Crystal to draw her into the group hug. In minutes they subsided to chairs with relief and exhaustion.

Vonetta wiped the last tears from her face. “I swear if you guys put me through many more of these—”

Chuckles of agreement answered her and the last of the resentment drifted away.

Shonté turned to Crystal.

“I am so sorry, Crystal. I know I’ve been absolutely
awful
to you. I just haven’t been happy with myself, and somehow it was easier to take it out on you.”

“Yes, you did,” Crystal grunted. But she reached over and gave Shonté’s hand a quick squeeze.

Shonté peeped at her with a half-smile. “Cee, you remember how together you always were back in high school? Key and I were in awe of you.”

Crystal choked. “Me? You’re kidding, right?”

“You were on all the committees and boards, you were in all the honors classes. I don’t know how Key and I would have gotten through math and English without you. Sometimes I felt stupid after you explained something to me five times. Everything seemed to come so easy to you.”

She stared at her in disbelief. “Easy? I struggled and studied all the time. I
worked
.”

“She certainly did,” echoed Vonetta. Joe nodded. “We were so proud of you, Crystal.”

“Me, too,” said Shonté. “All the teachers and other students respected you. They just took one look at me and knew I didn’t have a brain in my head.”

“Shonté, please. If you think you had it bad, try being the brainy, weird, fat girl in high school.”

“Oh stop, both of you.” Vonetta waved her hand in annoyance. “Shonté, you were
adorable
. As well as kind and exciting. Nobody could help loving you. And Crystal, you never gave yourself enough credit for your strength or your appeal. We were crazy about you and thankful that you loved us.”

“Really?” Crystal breathed, tears threatening to spill.

“Yes,” said all three at once. The comfortable laughter bubbled out of them once more. Crystal looked around at them, a glow of affection warming and strengthening her from the inside out. She belonged.

When Key came home, calm and remorseful, he was treated to the same loving renewal.

Tracey and Alex returned, looking cautious. But now the family was able to joke about the evening’s drama and the evening ended on a happy note.

Early on Sunday morning, while Joe drove Alex and Tracy to the airport, Vonetta, Shonté and Crystal whisked through the house to tidy up the ravages of the weekend. Key emptied garbage and made some minor repairs around the house.

Carrying a bulging garbage bag, Key walked into the family room where Vonetta and Crystal were hanging pictures.

“Hey, Mom, I almost forgot, I brought some shoes for your church’s homeless shelter.”

Vonetta took the bag. “I know they’ll be excited when I bring these. You spend a fortune on shoes, don’t you?”

“I can afford it, Mom,” he assured her with an affectionate laugh.

Crystal eyed the plastic bag wistfully. What had happened to the shoes she’d thrown up on that first night they made love? Had he been able to clean them up enough to be useful to someone else?

“But the shoes I take to the shelter are hardly even worn! I never saw a man so particular about his shoes.”

Key did a little dance step in his blue-trimmed white Nikes. “Hey, I’ve got no responsibilities. Why shouldn’t I indulge myself with some new shoes when I feel like it?”

Vonetta gave an exaggerated sigh. This was an old argument, and only half-serious. “And you can get more use out of the things you hold on to.”

“Once the thrill is gone, I move on.”

Vonetta laughed and left the room with the bag slung over her shoulder.

Crystal fought off a whisper of doubt. She must be really tired, or else having a severe bout of PMS. They were talking about shoes, for Chrissakes! Okay, so maybe Key used to change women like he changed his shoes. He’d told her he wasn’t like that anymore.

She was his friend.
And his current thrill
, whispered a little voice in the back of her head. She felt more secure with the family than she had in a long time. But Key was still an unfinished issue.

Key walked over to her. “What’cha doing?”

“Helping Vonetta with some pictures. We can’t decide.”

Key watched her flip through a stack of framed prints. Heat was seeping into her from his nearness. How long could she go on like this?

Vonetta came back into the room carrying a bundle which she held well away from her body. “I found these in with your other shoes, Key,” she said, holding them out to show him. “These aren’t yours, are they?”

Crystal glimpsed a pair of dirty white sneakers in a clear Ziploc baggie.

Key leaped at his mother and snatched the bag. “My bad, those got in there by mistake. I’ll take them.”

“And put them in the trash,” Vonetta called as he vanished through the doorway.

Determined, Crystal hurried after him. She was just in time to see him stuff the shoes back into his suitcase, which was stashed behind the sofa in the living room. Key’s mouth was in a tight line and his cheeks had a ruddy tint under the chocolate complexion. He didn’t look up at her.

She walked over and pulled the baggie from the suitcase to gaze at the contents wonderingly. “Are these the shoes you wore the first night we went out?”

“Yes!” He spat the word out as if it tasted bad.

She searched his expression for some clue to what this meant. She had just been berating herself for seeing significance where it wasn’t supposed to be. But still…“You kept them? Why?”

“I don’t know! I was about to throw them out and then I just tossed them in the back of the closet, but they smelled, so I put them in this bag and then I just…forgot.”

His gaze shifted and he looked belligerent.

Crystal looked from the shoes to his face and back again.

She felt a tension in her stomach. “I can’t decide if this is incredibly sweet,” she fought with her impulse and lost, “or pathetically freaky! The baggie is just too, too Monica Lewinsky! You know?”

Key snatched the baggie back from her, his mouth twisting in a sardonic half-smile. “I’ll give you pathetic, but I was not planning to use them against you in your political career. It was just an impulse. It was stupid. I’m throwing them away. Look.” He stomped to the corner and dropped the bag into a trashcan dramatically. “There, see? It’s over. Let’s forget it.”

She walked over and retrieved the bag. “No, no, it’s sweet, Key. It’s really kind of romantic. In a way.” She laughed aloud, hugging the bag to her chest. “Look, I’ll keep one and you keep one. How’s that? We can have them bronzed! We’ll always remember how our love began the night I threw up on your shoes.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

He shook his head and laughed. “I guess that’s better than nothing.”

He pulled her toward him, his hands slipping down her arms. The ardor shining in his dark eyes caught Crystal unaware.

“Key…” Crystal began uncertainly, but before she could finish, he’d lowered his mouth onto hers. With Key’s soft lips pressing against hers with compelling fervor, she couldn’t help responding.

A panting noise that didn’t come from either of them made them part enough to look down. Masai plopped down on the floor at their feet.

When Key knelt to rub the huge mastiff on the head, Masai moaned with delight at the attention and mugged for more scratching.

“You big, spoiled, hairy monster,” Key laughed. “Thanks for the reminder. But when I get her home—” He glanced back up at Crystal.

Her breath hitched at the promise shining from his eyes.

* * *

They finished packing and loading the car. After the good-byes, the three travelers made themselves comfortable in Key’s Explorer for the long drive home. Shonté leaned over Crystal’s headrest to talk and reminisce about the weekend just past. They joked now about the explosion.

Crystal still wasn’t quite sure she understood it, but Shonté seemed so much more relaxed now than she had when they arrived. Crystal had always been frightened by the Emersons’ arguments. But with a closer examination, she realized that even in the midst of passion, they never put one another down in a personal way or stopped anyone from expressing their feelings. This time Crystal had found herself firmly in the center of the controversy, even drawing some fire. Yet she hadn’t felt rejected.

Shonté slipped an arm around Crystal’s shoulder for an affectionate hug.

“You’ll be happy to know that I’m going to take a hiatus from men for awhile,” she announced.

“Really?” Key responded. “I took a break from relationships for about a year. Best thing I ever did.” He directed a sideways glance at Crystal, who struggled to keep her expression straight.

“Did you, Key?” Shonté asked with interest. “Why?”

He lifted and dropped his shoulders, hesitated, then said in a slow drawl, “I don’t know if this is something I want to tell you guys.”

“Oh, come on,” Shonté urged, bouncing on her seat. “You know you can tell us.”

Crystal sat on her side of the car, biting her lip to control her curiosity. She’d almost forgotten about Key’s celibacy. He’d told her right before they—