by Mary Monroe
“Let’s concentrate on today, Rhoda,” I said in a gentle voice. “This is supposed to be a happy day.”
Rhoda sniffed and blinked rapidly a few times. Then she glanced at me with a faraway look in her eyes. “You’ll know what it’s like in a few years with Charlotte.” She shook her head like she was trying to shake something loose. “Oh shit!”
“What’s wrong now?” I asked, rolling my eyes.
“You smell that?” She turned up her nose and sniffed the air.
“Whatever it is, it smells good,” I told her. We both looked toward the door.
“Chicken wings! And fried chicken wings at that! Aarrgghh! I forgot to tell Louis to take those damn chicken wings off the list. I wish I had not let Bully talk me into includin’ chicken wings on the menu! Jade almost had a cow when she found out. She said she didn’t want anything too ethnic. And she’s the one who told me to add tacos, chili peppers, refried beans, and Spanish rice so Marcelo would feel more at home. Now if that’s not ethnic, I don’t know what is. Can you believe that girl?” Rhoda paused long enough to catch her breath and shake her head some more. “And poor Louis. I’ve been ridin’ his back all week over that damn menu! After this is all over, I’m goin’ to apologize to him and give him a huge bonus. You can take care of the rest for me….”
“The rest of what?” I asked, with a dumb look on my face.
“Makin’ him feel good.” Rhoda gave me a mischievous wink.
“You stop talking like that! Somebody might hear you,” I warned, looking toward the door again.
Rhoda tilted her head to the side and shrugged. “Well, as long as everybody is happy with the food, that’s all that really matters, I guess.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about Louis. He always does a good job. I can vouch for him,” I said with a few vigorous nods.
Rhoda jumped up from the bed, stumbled across the floor, and stood in front of the full-length mirror on the back of the door of one of the two large walk-in closets. She gave herself a critical look as she patted the side of her hair. “Did I tell you I found another gray hair the other day?” she said with a groan.
“Well, we are middle-aged women, Rhoda. Graying hair comes with the territory. But as long as they keep making hair dye, we don’t have anything to worry about,” I said, patting my own hair.
“Yeah, but we have to remember to keep our hair appointments, and I missed the last one. I forgot all about it.”
“Well, memory loss is another thing we have to deal with. It’s all downhill from here….”
“Please stop remindin’ me that we’ve tumbled over the hill. I can feel it in my bones every day.”
I took it upon myself to lighten up the conversation. “How’s the groom-to-be?” I had not seen the mysterious Mexican up close since that disastrous day at the mall. I still didn’t know what to make of seeing him sitting on Rhoda’s front porch the other day, looking like a lost boy.
“And that’s another thing! Poor Marcelo is so nervous. Did you see him out there? He went to get a haircut three hours ago.”
“I didn’t see him,” I answered, looking toward the window.
“Well, maybe he stopped off somewhere to have a drink alone. Poor thing. That boy is so nervous about all this. You’d think that a man who fights bulls for a livin’ would have more balls. And that’s another thing. I don’t know what kind of money bullfighters make or how often they work, but he’d better brace himself. It’s not goin’ to be easy for him to keep Jade happy for the next forty or fifty years. That girl is more high maintenance than the Concorde. Do you know what she did last week?”
“There’s just no telling,” I replied, tuning my ears up to hear yet another horror story about Jade.
“She had maxed out her credit card, so Otis gave her a new one, with a ten-thousand-dollar line of credit. Twice the amount that we allowed her to have before. She maxed the new card out in one weekend. I just found out that she treated all her friends to extravagant dinners, bought a bag of weed and some new clothes for Marcelo, gave one of her friends a cash advance for a down payment on a new car, paid for one of her friend’s upcomin’ Caribbean cruise, and God knows what else! Remind me to get in her face after she returns from her honeymoon in Paris!”
I gasped so hard, I almost swallowed my teeth. “Honeymoon in Paris? She just decided to get married, but she had time to plan a honeymoon in Paris?”
“You know Jade. She’s always bookin’ ahead. I have a feelin’ she and Marcelo started cookin’ up this shit the day they met. By the way, what do you think about my future son-in-law?”
“I met him only briefly, but Marcelo seems pretty well grounded,” I replied. “I don’t think you have to worry about him.”
“He’s so quiet, though. I never know what he’s thinkin’. And that worries me. My daddy used to say that still waters run deep, and it always scared me when he said that about somebody.” Rhoda blinked and gave me a curious look. “Maybe Marcelo is just…you know…shy.”
“Maybe he feels out of place. You told me that this is the first time he’s been outside of Mexico,” I reminded her. “This is a whole new cultural experience for him.”
“Latin people are so complicated! They are as complicated as we are. Why can’t black folks and Latinos be more like Asians or Jews? They’ve got it all figured out, and that’s why they are so successful in just about everything they do! I swear to God. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear that God was havin’ a bad day when he created blacks and Latinos. Half of the time, most of us don’t know if we are comin’ or goin’.” Rhoda laughed. I was glad to see that she was in a jovial mood. That was going to make it that much easier for me to get through the day.
“Rhoda, you should be ashamed of yourself!” I scolded. “That’s an insensitive, racist point of view—especially coming from a sister.” I had to pause to catch my breath. “However, since it comes close to hitting the nail on the head, I won’t argue with you about it.” We both laughed. “Anyway, I am sure that Marcelo misses being around his own kind.”
“Well, I introduced him to that Puerto Rican couple across the street. Unfortunately, that didn’t help his mood much, because they think that with that blond hair on top of their dumb-ass heads—which is obviously dyed—that they are lily white. Remind me to introduce Marcelo to my banker. Javier is from Cuba. He hates blond hair so much, he won’t even wear yellow clothin’. Poor Marcelo. None of his family could be here, and he’s been bendin’ over backwards to keep Jade from goin’ off the deep end.” Rhoda gave me another curious look. “All I want is for the child to be happy. I know she can be a bitter pill to swallow, but she’s still my baby girl, and I love her to death. You know what I mean?”
“I know what you mean,” I said, looking away. “I’ll check on the caterers,” I added, slowly moving toward the door.
“Did my boy Pee Wee change his mind about comin’ to the weddin’?” Rhoda yelled.
I had my hand on the doorknob. At the mention of my husband’s name, my entire body stiffened. “No. Uh, he wasn’t feeling well,” I said, shaking my head.
Rhoda gave me a blank look and shrugged her shoulders.
“Rhoda, I don’t know how you do it, but I don’t think that I could stand to be in a house with my husband and my lover at the same time. I’d be a nervous wreck!” I hollered. “Every time I see Bully and Otis together, they act like they are best friends.”
Rhoda narrowed her eyes and gave me an incredulous look. “What’s wrong with you, girl? They are best friends,” she snapped, talking so fast her lips trembled. “You know they’ve been best friends forever. Otis is the one who introduced me to Bully.” She stopped talking for a moment, but her lips were still moving. Her words couldn’t keep up with her mouth. “How are things between you and Louis?” she asked in a much lower voice, with her hand cupped around her mouth. Then she continued in a whisper. “Is Louis feedin’ that kitty cat like he’s supposed to?”
�
�You mean Sadie? He’s feeding that cross-eyed creature too well, if you ask me. He just bought her a collar that could fit around my neck.”
“I was talkin’ about the kitty cat between your legs,” Rhoda told me, still whispering.
“Everything is fine,” I whispered back, glancing toward the door again.
“Good, good! That’s what I was hopin’ you’d say. I can’t say it to you enough. Enjoy it while you can.” Rhoda chuckled and shook her head. “This may be your last time to get this loose.”
CHAPTER 44
I had been in Rhoda’s bedroom only for a few minutes, but by the time I got back to the living room, almost all the guests had arrived. I was glad to see that Otis and Bully had removed themselves from the living-room sofa, and I hoped that they were off somewhere getting dressed.
There was such a mob in the house now, I had to squeeze through bodies to get to the spacious dining room. Louis and two of his male employees, all three in tuxedos, were in the dining room, juggling large pans and bowls. They were scurrying around like bees, organizing things on a long table with a tablecloth that was such a bright shade of white, it hurt my eyes to look at it. I knew about the dreaded chicken wings, but I smelled all kinds of other wonderful things in those pans and bowls, too.
I walked toward Louis, taking slow, tentative steps. “You look so nice,” I said as soon as I got close enough for him to hear me. I glanced around to make sure his employees were not listening or looking in my direction. I didn’t want them to hear what I had to say or see me give Louis a playful tap on the chin with my fist.
“Hi, honey,” he replied. “I’m glad you think so.” He made a face like he was in pain. Then he rolled his eyes. “Wearing this monkey suit was not my idea. But since this is what the hostess wanted us to wear and she’s paying such a pretty penny for it, what the hell?”
Louis smiled, and then he gave me a dirty look, his eyes bugged out, and he licked his lips. “Baby, you look so good to me. You just wait’ll I get you alone again,” he whispered.
“And I can’t wait for you to get me alone again,” I assured him, giving him another playful tap on his chin.
“I hope you like what’s on the menu. In addition to deep-fried chicken wings, deviled eggs, several Mexican items, Yankee pot roast, smashed potatoes, quiche, crawfish, and every veggie in the book, I made some roasted duck.”
“I’m standing in front of the best thing on the menu. Roasted dick,” I whispered. I slid my tongue across my bottom lip.
I was so glad that I had come to this wedding now. I just wished that I could spend my whole time behind the scenes, like in the kitchen with Louis, instead of in the living room, with the rest of the guests. I enjoyed watching him do his thing. He had prepared a mean feast, and he deserved all the glory.
I gave his cheek a hungry little kiss and his crotch a naughty little pat. He moaned and then froze in his tracks like a pillar of salt. I had witnessed this behavior before. This was how he looked when he was in ecstasy. Every time we made love, he moaned and froze just before he climaxed.
“That’s payback for what you did to me with your fingers in Antonosanti’s restaurant that day we went there for lunch,” I quipped. I leaned close to his ear. “I just hope you don’t leak out as much love juice as I did that day.”
Louis had stopped moaning, but he still seemed frozen in place. It was the sudden frown on his face that startled me. He nodded toward the door. I was afraid to turn around to see who it was, but I did.
“Y’all need to get a room,” Scary Mary laughed as she entered the dining room, waving her ubiquitous cane in the air. When she got to Louis, she stopped in front of him, grinning like a fool. “Louis, you look sweet enough to eat. If it wasn’t for my arthritis, and if I was five years younger and wasn’t still recovering from a severe case of grippe, I’d drop to my knees and blow that young tallywhacker between your legs to kingdom come. And don’t think I couldn’t do it! I done had seventy years of practice!” The old madam laughed some more. “And ain’t I cute?” she asked, posing. She wore a multicolored, flowing robe with ruffles on the sleeves, and a matching turban. She looked like a cross between a piñata and the Dalai Lama.
“You do look cute today,” I hesitantly agreed.
“I know I look good, girl. I always look good,” she told me, looking me up and down. “You do, too. But the next time I hope you leave them earbobs at home. They look like clovers.”
“They are clovers,” I said, clearing my throat.
“Well, at least they match that green dress you got on.” Scary Mary glanced around the room. “I came in here to let my mouth inspect a mess of them chicken wings. Them damn things is screamin’ so loud, I can hear them all the way in the livin’ room. Can smell them damn things all the way out in the livin’ room, too. That means they gots to be good to eat!”
Without waiting for permission, she lifted the lid off one of the large pans and helped herself to two deep-fried chicken wings, clutching them between two fingers. She chewed and spoke at the same time, her eyes back on Louis. “Young man, you might want to wipe that lipstick off your jaw. This is gettin’ to be a habit with y’all, ain’t it?” She paused and swallowed hard. Then she looked at me. “Annette, you might want to drag your tail into the bathroom yonder and spread on some more lipstick. You look like you been mauled.”
I excused myself and entered the bathroom near the empty kitchen, on the other side of the dining room. I took my time repairing my makeup. As I was walking through the kitchen on my way to the living room, the kitchen telephone rang. I ignored it at first, but when it didn’t seem like anybody else was going to answer the call, I did.
“This is the O’Toole residence,” I said, actually sounding cheerful. A few moments of silence followed. “Hello?”
“Who is this please?” The caller spoke with a Spanish accent. His voice was low and hollow. And, he sounded frightened.
“This is…Annette. Marcelo, is that you? Is everything all right? Did you get your hair cut?” My first thought was that the poor man had gotten lost on his way to or from the barbershop, and this was a call for help.
“Everything is not all right,” he muttered.
“Marcelo, where are you? Hold on so I can call Rhoda or Otis to the phone.”
“No!” he hollered quickly. “I don’t want to speak with either one of them. Ay caramba!”
“Marcelo, are you all right? You sound like you’re in pain! Are you in trouble? Have you been injured?”
“Oh God. Something like that,” the poor man moaned.
This was a call that I was sorry I had answered.
“Then hold on while I go find Jade—”
“No! I really don’t want to speak with her! Ay caramba!”
My heart started to beat like a bongo drum. I knew that whatever Marcelo had to say, it wasn’t going to be pretty. I didn’t know much Spanish, but something told me that Ay caramba was an expression of despair. Something also told me that the shit was about to hit the fan in a big way.
“Tell her for me, I will always love her. But I cannot marry her,” Marcelo said, his voice trembling. “I must go now.”
I had heard about brides, and a few grooms, getting jilted on their wedding day. And when I was younger and had zero confidence, I had thought that something like that would happen to me. Never in my wildest imagination had I thought it would happen to Jade. But that was exactly what was happening! If this was just the beginning of her downfall, she had a dark row to hoe ahead of her.
“You’re what?” I shrieked. “Did I just hear you right?” More silence followed. “Marcelo, please tell me this is a joke. And if it is, it’s not funny at all.”
“You heard me right. I have to leave this country today!”
I didn’t want to believe my ears, but I had to. I still felt some degree of compassion for Jade. She was about to get part of what she had coming. There was no doubt about that. But this was something that I would not have wished on
my worst enemy.
“Boy, why did you wait until today to do this?” I asked. “Do you realize what you’re doing and how many people you are going to hurt?”
“I realize I can’t marry Jade! I never wanted to marry Jade! I’ve been trying to tell her that ever since she told me we was getting married! I never asked her to get married!” He paused and lowered his voice by a few decibels. “She just come to me one morning, hand me a coffee, and say, ‘By the way, we’re getting married soon.’”
“That was it?”
“That was it! At first I thought she was making a joke to me, so I said, ‘Sure, no problem.’ But she was for real! What do I know about being a husband? I don’t know nothing, that’s what. I only been shaving my face for one year, and I’ve only had two girlfriends so far. I’m not ready to give up my life to get married!”
“Marcelo, are you telling me that you shared all of this with Jade, and she still went through with her wedding plans?”
“Sí, señora! Even last night I tell her I am not happy about this.”
“Well, what did she say?”
“Nothing! She cover my mouth with her hand and tell me to shaddup and do as she tell me because she is the boss! I must go now!”
CHAPTER 45
“Marcelo, don’t hang up yet! Just tell me where you are. Let me come get you and bring you back here,” I pleaded. “Don’t do this. Don’t cause this much pain! You’ll regret it for the rest of your life!”
“Tell Señor Otis I will leave his car in the airport parking lot. Tell Señora Rhoda that I will pay her back the money, because I took some money from her purse this morning to use to pay for my way back to my home in Mexico, where I belong.”
