A Family Reunion

by Jackson, Brenda

  Taye stabbed her fork into her link sausage as she glared at her cousin. “You see too damn much, Alexia.”

  Alexia sighed. “No, Taye, I see what I want to see, and I ignore what I don’t want to see. And when it comes to you and Rae’jean, I’ve always kept my eyes open. We promised Gramma Idella that we would always look out for each other and that’s what I’m trying to do. Regardless of whether or not you think you want one, you need a man in your life, just as much as Michael needs a woman in his.”

  Taye’s mouth dropped open and she stared at Alexia. “Good grief, do you know what you’re suggesting? You’re actually advocating that Michael and I have a relationship, some sort of an affair.”

  “Yes. I’d even go so far as to propose marriage if that’ll work.”

  “That’s insane. That’s ludicrous. That—”

  “Makes sense,” Alexia cut in. “Think about it, Taye. Like it or not, you still have feelings for him. Feelings I can clearly see, so don’t bother denying them. You owe it to yourself to be happy.”

  “But not with Michael. It would never work.”

  Alexia sliced her hand in the air to halt any further words from Taye. “Fine,” she snapped. “Then stop drooling each time he comes within arm’s reach of you. Stop trembling every time he innocently touches you.” Leaning forward, she added, “And for Pete’s sake, stop watching that doorway waiting for him to come down for breakfast.”

  Taye and Alexia stared at each other from across the table for a few tense moments. Then Taye bowed her head in silent acknowledgment of everything Alexia had just said. When she lifted her gaze to meet her cousin’s once again, she wore a small flustered smile on her lips. “Am I that obvious?”

  Taye’s question, asked with the enraptured emotions she could no longer hide, eased the tension between them. “Only to someone who knows you so well, Taye. Although we haven’t spent a lot of time together in recent years, some things don’t change. One of those is your inability to hide your emotions.”

  “Do you think Michael has picked up on it as well?”

  “No, and that’s why I decided to give him a little eye-opener. I think after last night he may start noticing you more. If he does, then he’ll be able to read your emotions as well as I can. But isn’t that what you want, for Michael to finally notice you?”

  Taye smiled at the thought of Michael noticing her. Then reality struck and a frown marred her features. “It would cause too many problems if something was to develop between us. First of all, to our family it would be taboo, forbidden, sacrilegious. They’d consider a relationship between us synonymous with incest.”

  “They would be wrong if they did. You and Michael are not related. He was adopted and everyone knows it, so the two of you aren’t blood relatives.”

  “Yeah, that may be true, but to our family, we are family. We have the same last names. Our grandfathers are first cousins. My aunts are his aunts. My uncles are his uncles. My cousins are his cousins.”

  Alexia rolled her eyes. “As long as your mama ain’t his mama and your daddy ain’t his daddy, you don’t have a thing to worry about.”

  Taye shook her head, still not convinced. “What about the girls? Not only would a relationship with Michael stir up bad feelings within this family, but it would totally confuse our daughters.”

  Alexia shook her head, disagreeing. “I think the girls would be fine with it. It’s obvious that Monica and Sebrina would go along with anything that makes you happy. I know for a fact that Sebrina is excited about the two of you going to Disney World with Michael and Kennedy next month.”

  Taye grunted. “Yeah, she should be, since she’s getting a free trip out of this and a chance to have fun and kick up her heels for a week.”

  “Maybe so, but from what Michael has told me, he’s been having discipline problems with Kennedy lately and thinks that since she’s been around your girls these last few days she’s shown definite signs of improvement. I think both Sebrina and Monica are good for Kennedy.”

  “As cousins?”

  “Even as stepsisters if it came to that. I can see you, Michael, and the girls as one big happy family.”

  Taye sighed deeply. “For ten years I haven’t given diddly squat about a man. Now that I’ve seen Michael again, he has stirred up longings and desires that have been dormant for that long. I try telling myself that I shouldn’t feel that way about him, but I can’t help it. It’s like I’m a fifteen-year-old girl all over again and he is the recipient of all my cravings. But this time they are adult cravings.”

  Taye decided not to tell Alexia about the dream she’d had last night. The one where Michael had played a major part. It had seemed so vivid and so real that if she missed her period and found herself pregnant next month she wouldn’t be surprised. She expelled a frustrated sigh. “Oh, Lex, what am I going to do?”

  Taking a deep breath, Alexia launched into Taye without showing any mercy, since she had asked for her advice. “The first thing you’re going to do is stop worrying about what the family is going to think. It’s your life to do whatever you damn well please as long as you aren’t breaking any of the Ten Commandments.” A smile tilted her lips. “I do draw the line somewhere. And speaking of the Ten Commandments, there’s no place in the Bible that says you can’t marry an adopted cousin. Jacob married both Rachel and Leah, and they were actual first cousins. So if it happened in the Bible it can’t be wrong.”

  Taye smiled at Alexia’s logic. “Yeah, well being wrong and being tolerated are two different things. You know as well as I that as far as the members of the Bennett family are concerned it doesn’t matter if a relationship between Michael and me is right or wrong; to them it won’t be tolerated. The family would probably divorce themselves from us.” She sighed, deep in thought. “I’m probably getting all worked up for nothing, since my interest may be one-sided. Michael hasn’t done anything to indicate he sees me as anything other than a cousin that he’s fond of.”

  “Then you had better pay close attention, because what you see may suddenly surprise you,” Alexia said, smiling, just as Michael entered the room flanked by Rae’jean and Grady. His gaze immediately sought out Taye, and he gave her a warm smile.

  Alexia cleared her throat as a huge I told you so grin touched her lips. “See what I mean?”

  “Do I detect trouble in paradise, Rae?”

  Rae’jean glared across the table at Alexia. “Is there anything you don’t notice?”

  Sitting on the side of Rae’jean, Taye released a soft chuckle. “Didn’t you know, Rae’jean, that Madam Alexia and her crystal ball know and see everything?”

  Alexia frowned at Taye. “Shut up, Taye, before I get back into your business again.”

  “Heaven forbid,” Taye grumbled as she picked up her glass of orange juice and took a sip.

  Rae’jean glanced across the room at Michael and Grady. The two of them were in the buffet line fixing their plates. She and Grady had had their second argument in a matter of two days, and because of it she wasn’t in the mood to eat anything heavy and had settled for a cup of coffee. “Grady is upset with my handling of Uncle Victor,” she finally said.

  “Did you explain to Grady that in the end Uncle Victor agreed to tell you what you wanted to know without being coerced?” Taye asked as she took another sip of orange juice.

  “Yes, I tried to explain that to Grady, but he still thinks I went too far. He thinks I’m forcing Uncle Victor to break a promise he’s made to the family. Grady believes that a promise is a promise and if you make one, then you don’t break it.”

  Alexia snorted as she pushed her plate aside. “But in this case, it was a promise that should never have been made. For crying out loud, what’s the big deal? Doesn’t Grady think you have a right to know who your daddy is?”

  “Yes, but he thinks I’ve suddenly become obsessed with knowing and he can’t understand it. But then I really don’t expect him to. He knew the identity of both of his parents from the d
ay he was born. Unless you’ve been there and done that, you won’t fully understand.”

  Taye nodded, wondering how she would handle it when the time came and Monica began asking more questions about her father. She knew that sometime in the future she would have to make contact with Lynell. He needed to be prepared for the fact that when Monica got older and if she asked for the name of her father, Taye would give it to her. It would be up to him to get his business in order and tell his wife about Monica before she found out another way. Seeing what Rae’jean was going through over not knowing the identity of her father, Taye refused to protect Lynell at the expense of Monica’s happiness and well-being. “So what are you going to do, Rae’jean?” she asked, bringing her thoughts back to the conversation. “Have you changed your mind about getting the information from Uncle Victor?”

  Rae’jean shook her head. “No. In fact, I plan to pump him for all it’s worth. I think I deserve to know who got my mother pregnant and any details Uncle Victor can give me. Grady will have to accept that.”

  “After you find out the truth, what do you plan to do?” Alexia asked, studying Rae’jean intently.

  Rae’jean shrugged. “I don’t know. That will depend on what I find out. I just hope and pray that this doesn’t turn into a soap opera or Peyton Place.”

  Grady and Michael returned to the table. Rae’jean watched as Michael sat down next to Taye and began sharing some of his food with her. As she studied them, she wondered if perhaps Alexia was right and Michael and Taye did, in fact, need each other. They sure as heck looked good together.

  Chapter 21

  On the steps of the Mount Calvary Baptist Church, there was nothing more pleasing to the eyes that Sunday morning than the three good-looking sistahs dressed to a tee and profiling hats, shoes, and other accessories that accented their outfits.

  Rae’jean, Taye, and Alexia’s attire would have made Gramma Idella proud. When the three of them had gone shopping together the day before, they had purchased outfits their grandmother would have been pleased to see them wear back to Mount Calvary, a church where the three had gotten baptized on the same Sunday morning at the age of twelve.

  Alexia was dressed in a hunter green jazzy jacquard two-piece suit. She wore a hunter green asymmetrical profile hat that was decorated with a front bow of the same jacquard print as her suit. Matching hunter green shoes adorned her feet.

  Taye wore a red-and-black two-piece suit that had a shapely button-front jacket. A matching red-and-black Tiffany-brimmed hat covered her head, and sleek two-tone red-and-black pumps were on her feet.

  Rae’jean’s suit was meant to dazzle…and it did. The color of rose petals, the two-piece number was made of satin and had an embroidered lace shawl-collared jacket. Her pillbox hat was of the same color, and its double-tiered veil detailed her flawless facial features. The matching satin rose petal criss-cross sling-backs on her feet provided the finishing touch.

  Even Grady did a double take and smiled with male appreciation when he saw her.

  The three of them were definitely Sunday showstoppers, and everyone was complimentary on their outfits, even Aunt Fannie, who was known to be stingy with her compliments to anyone.

  “If I wasn’t related to you ladies, I’d hit on you myself,” Victor Junior said, grinning, as they entered the church. “The three of you look just that good.”

  Michael discovered he was hard-pressed to keep his eyes off Taye. There was just something about the way she looked in her outfit that kept drawing his gaze back to her. “You look good, Taye,” he whispered to her as they were led to their seats by an usher.

  Taye gazed up at him from under the wide brim of her hat and smiled. “Thanks, Michael.”

  When everyone had been seated, Reverend Overstreet asked that they all bow their heads in prayer for this special reuniting of the Bennett family.

  “I don’t like it when we’re mad at each other, Rae’jean.”

  Rae’jean glanced up at Grady and smiled. “Me, neither.” She was grateful that the loud singing of the choir was drowning out their whispers.

  Grady reached over and captured her hand in his. “Love you.”

  Rae’jean’s smile widened. The man sitting next to her was proof of God’s many blessings. No matter what color he was, Grady had come into her life at a time she had needed someone, and for that he would always be special to her. He was a very special person, and she regretted that some of her relatives couldn’t look beyond his skin color to see that. “Love you, too,” she whispered back. “What do you think of today’s service?” She knew Grady’s Catholic background was a lot different from her Southern Baptist one. That was one of the reasons they had decided to get married in a private ceremony that would be performed by the brother of one of their colleagues, who was a judge.

  He grinned. “Different.”

  Taye recognized some of the people in the congregation as being members at Mount Calvary when she was a child. The majority of the Bennetts, including her parents, still actively attended service here, but she and her girls had joined a church in Atlanta, closer to their home.

  “Deacon Simon still looks the same, doesn’t he?” Michael whispered to her when the older man came forward to pray over the tithes and offerings.

  Taye nodded as a deep heat settled in the pit of her stomach. Because of the large congregation at church that day, the pews were full and she and Michael were squeezed close together. She inhaled deeply when she felt the hardness of his thigh pressed next to hers and the solidity of the arm he’d placed across the seat around her shoulders.

  Murmured amens filled the church’s auditorium when Reverend Overstreet walked back up to the pulpit. After reading the Scripture, he said, “Today, ladies and gentlemen, we are blessed with one of our very own who has returned. She started singing here at this very church as a child, and today she is a well-known singer in this country. We’re proud of her. Join me in welcoming back home our very own Alexia Bennett.”

  The entire congregation began clapping as Alexia got out of her seat and started walking toward the front of the church. She turned to the audience when she reached the microphone. “Giving honor to God, who is the head of my life,” Alexia began by saying. “To Reverend Overstreet; the mother of the church, Mother Phelps; deacons, sisters, members, and friends. I want to dedicate this song to my grandmother, Idella Bennett. This was her favorite song, and I used to sit in this very church on Sunday and listen as she sang in the choir, and I prayed that one day I’d be able to sing it just as beautifully as she did. Today, I’m going to try.”

  The congregation got completely quiet when Alexia closed her eyes for a few moments before any sound left her lips. Then she began singing “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.”

  As Alexia continued singing, the soothing, soulful, melodic sound of her voice filled the sanctuary and touched everyone present as she put her heart, soul, and mind into every note and every lyric. She sang from her heart. She sang from her soul. She sang as her mind relived memories of faithfully attending this church under the watchful and protective eyes of her grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, and cousins.

  Her family.

  As she continued to sing, she couldn’t help but get caught up in the spiritual significance of being at this church on this day and with her family. In her heart she knew it was time to put aside any unpleasant memories of the past. It was time to remove the animosity from her heart for those family members who had thought she wouldn’t ever amount to anything. Those who had believed in her had never let her down and had given her more than enough encouragement and love to make her believe in herself.

  When the song ended, she opened her eyes and saw the entire church on their feet in a standing ovation, including every member of her family. Some of them had tears in their eyes, including Grampa Ethan. Everyone was clapping and smiling, and she knew in her heart as she lifted her eyes toward the heavens that somewhere up there Gramma Idella was smiling and clapping right along w
ith them.

  Chapter 22

  “Do you think you have enough food?” Rae’jean asked Grady, grinning. After church, dinner had been set up on the grounds of her grandfather’s home, and they had found a shady spot under a huge oak tree to sit and eat.

  “I hope so,” Grady replied with a lovable boyish grin on his face seconds before attacking the barbecued ribs on his plate. From his expression after biting into the meat, Rae’jean could tell he thought he had died and gone to heaven the minute he licked his lips. Uncle Joe’s special barbecue sauce was to die for, and it appeared Grady was practically there.

  Rae’jean unfolded her hand and looked at the dollar bill she held and couldn’t help but smile. For as long as she could remember, Aunt Mary had always slipped a dollar bill into her hand and folded it before whispering. “Buy something special, chile.” When she got older she had understood why her grandfather’s only sister had singled her out to be the benefactor of such a gift. She was the only one of Poppa Ethan’s grandchildren who hadn’t had a daddy accounted for. Giving her that dollar had been Aunt Mary’s way of saying how much she cared. Even now, like always, Rae’jean appreciated it. And although she earned a nice income as a cardiologist, her aunt still pressed the dollar in her hand whenever she saw her and whispered the same words in her ear.

  Rae’jean glanced around the grounds. Tables of food were everywhere. There was Cuzin Sophie’s delicious potato salad, Aunt Otha Mae’s “git down with it” dirty rice, and Cousin Agnes’s crab meat dressing. Then there was corn on the cob as well as a number of other pots of vegetables, watermelons, iced tea and lemonade, baked ham, fried chicken, all kinds of cakes and pies, as well as coleslaw and tossed salads. Everyone figured that if you were going to get together to reaffirm family ties, you may as well do it on a full stomach.