Family of Lies

by Mary Monroe

  “I hope you have better luck with the next security guard.”

  “I hope we do too. Baby, you look bored.” Bo leaned forward and gave me a firm hug. “Do you feel all right, baby doll? You look a little peaked too.”

  “I’m all right, I guess. But since you brought it up, I am so bored I could scream!” I hollered. “I don’t know what to do with myself when you’re not around.” Shopping and going out to lunch had become old to me. Every day when I got out of bed, I had to decide what to do with myself. Some days the boredom was so intense I had to go outside and walk around to keep from losing my mind.

  “Maybe you should get a hobby outside of the house or a job,” Bo suggested.

  “I can’t think of anything interesting enough to me that I’d want to take it up as a hobby. And I’m still not ready to go to work.”

  “Baby, there has to be something you want to do.”

  I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them, I looked at Bo and grinned. “I can think of something.” I cleared my throat and looked at my husband like he was the most handsome man in the world. And at that moment, he was. “I think it’s time for us to have a baby. Daddy and Vera told me it would make them the happiest couple in the world. I always knew Daddy wanted a grandchild, but I was surprised when Vera told me she couldn’t wait to be a grandmother.”

  “Huh?” From the look on Bo’s face, I got the impression that he liked the idea. He hugged me again, kissing up and down my neck. “Do you think you’re ready to become a mother? That’s a real big step, you know.”

  “I’ve taken more than one big step these past few years. Moving here, getting married. Sometimes I have a hard time remembering who I really am and my real purpose in life.”

  “And do you think having a baby will remedy that?”

  “I think it will. I’d have something better to do with my time than looking for things to do every day. I’m a housewife, but since Delia does all the cooking and cleaning, I don’t even get to do any of the things that a regular housewife does,” I whined.

  Bo gave me a weary look. “I think we should get our own place. That might help bring you out of the doldrums. We won’t hire a cook or a housekeeper, so you will have plenty to do.”

  “Uh, we don’t have to move,” I said quickly. It would have been nice to have my own house so I wouldn’t have to deal with Collette’s meddling and Vera’s mysterious ways, but I wasn’t ready to leave my daddy’s house yet. I wanted to stay as close to him for as long as I could because I was worried about him. Besides that, I still needed to be able to keep tabs on Vera, Cash, and Collette, and that would be hard to do if I moved out. They hadn’t said anything too mean or stupid about me in a few days, but I knew it was just a matter of time before they had another “bash Sarah session” in the kitchen. “I love living in Daddy’s house. I feel comfortable and safe here.” I coughed to clear my throat and then I gave Bo a pleading look. “I’m so ready to have a baby.” I sighed. “I don’t like to bring up the subject of age, but I want you to be young enough to do things with our children that you won’t be able to do if we wait too much longer.”

  “You’ve got a point there,” Bo agreed. “Lord knows I’m beginning to feel my age.”

  “Then let’s do it!” I squealed, teasing him by fondling my breast and sliding my tongue across my lips. “Let’s do it now!”

  “That’s fine with me.” He grinned as he rose up off the bed.

  Bo unzipped his pants and flung them halfway across the room. Then he jumped on the bed and began to undress me. When he got down to my panties, he removed them with his teeth.

  We spent the next hour making love. Bo was so tired afterward, he went into such a deep sleep so fast that I thought he had slipped into a coma.

  After I’d made sure he was still alive, I got up and removed my birth control pills from the medicine cabinet and flushed them down the toilet.

  CHAPTER 34

  VERA

  “THINGS ARE WORKING OUT JUST GREAT! ONCE SARAH GETS PREGNANT, we won’t have much to worry about. That baby will be our permanent link to Kenneth’s fortune! All you need to do is make sure you keep her happy so she won’t ever think about leaving you before you get her pregnant,” I told Bo. I didn’t like to discuss this subject with him in the house unless I had no choice. That was why I’d met him at a coffee shop a few blocks from the house right after he and I and Kenneth had had drinks in the living room that Thursday night around nine.

  I couldn’t believe that Bo had just made love to Sarah for two hours straight and had come four times! Whoa! That was a record in my book. I had never enjoyed a session that lasted that long or resulted in that much pleasure—with any of my men! Hopefully, Sarah was fertile enough and Bo’s sperm was potent enough for her to get pregnant soon.

  “Kenneth will be on top of the moon, so the sooner the deed is done, the better.” I took a sip of my frappe and wiped sweat off my forehead with a napkin. Kenneth was at home in bed, as inactive as a corpse. I had just come from having a quickie with Ricky, my newest and best lover, and my crotch was still tingling.

  “It would be nice to have a baby around, I guess. It would give Sarah something to occupy her time and keep her company. She’s always complaining about how bored she gets when she’s stuck in the house with just the housekeeper.” Bo sipped his coffee; then he gave me a thoughtful look. “By the way, what do you do with your time every day? I’ve been meaning to ask you that ever since I moved here.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, already in my defensive mode.

  “For one thing, I know you spend a great deal of your day out of the house. I’ve called you from my office dozens of times and you’re hardly ever home during those hours.”

  “I have a lot of things on my plate during the day, every day,” I replied, giving Bo a reserved look.

  He rolled his eyes and snickered. “I’ll bet!”

  “For your information,” I began with a smirk, “I go to the gym and work out several times a week. I go to the spa. I shop and I visit friends. I even go by Reverend Cecil’s Glide Memorial Church every now and then just to help out feeding those homeless people.” Bo didn’t laugh at that.

  “No shit? I never would have guessed you would get involved in something like that.” He nodded and looked at me in awe. “I assumed that you spent a lot of your time running from one shoe and dress store to another, wrapped up in a towel in some fancy spa, the hair dresser, getting your nails and toes done, and whatnot. But helping feed the homeless—I’m impressed!”

  “Well, since you asked, that’s how I spend some of my time during the day, Bo. I’m a very private person. I don’t like to toot my own horn about something like that, so not too many people know about it. I like to do certain things somewhat anonymously. Sometimes when the wrong people know you’re generous with your time and money, they come begging. What’s the big deal anyway? What’s it to you?”

  “Aw, Vera. You know I’m just messing with you.”

  “Don’t mess with me, Bo. I have feelings and I resent you or anybody else implying that I’m a shallow woman, because that’s not the case.”

  “I’m sorry. And I have to say you really impressed me. I admire you for helping give back to the community by donating your time to worthy causes. One day when I’m not too busy, I’d like for you to introduce me to the famous Reverend Cecil Williams. I’ve been reading about him for years.”

  “I’ll do that,” I said. Reverend Williams was well known, and he knew a lot of people. But he wouldn’t know me from Moses. I had only met him once when I actually worked on a project that Kenneth had initiated for low-income families to get meals and other assistance from Reverend Williams. That had gone so well, Kenneth got slap-happy and donated dozens of computers and other electronics to some local low-income families. “As soon as I can set up something, I’ll let you know. But it could take a while. Cecil Williams is a very busy man.”

  “And we’ll take Sarah along w
ith us. I’m sure she’d love to meet the reverend, too, and help him with his causes. She could be just as busy as you are. Maybe she won’t feel so bored then.”

  “Sarah’s not interested in doing the things I do. And besides, I don’t want her tagging along with me too much. It’s like dragging along a little kid. When she goes shopping with me and Collette, she gets impatient real quick.”

  “You can at least encourage her to do more things that women do on her own. Like getting her nails done and getting weekly facials. That would certainly take up a lot of her time.”

  “Pffft!” I gave Bo such an abrupt wave of dismissal my arm felt like it was going to fall off. “She’s very low maintenance. She still gets her nails done at some Spanish hole in the belly of the barrio on Mission Street where they probably use the same drill for everybody. I wouldn’t take a skunk to some of the places Sarah still goes to. And anyway, she’d rather do things like that with her old friends. You know what they say, ‘you can take a person out of the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto out of the person.’ ” I laughed. Bo didn’t.

  “Sarah’s my wife now. I want you to remember that, Vera.”

  “I’m just kidding.”

  “I would appreciate you not kidding about my wife.”

  I sucked in my breath and glared at him. “You’ve changed since you moved here,” I accused. “You’re not the Bo I used to know. We’re supposed to be a team shooting at the same target. What’s the matter with you?”

  “We are shooting at the same target and there is nothing the matter with me,” Bo said.

  “Something is wrong with you. Because with all the blessings you have now, you don’t even look happy,” I told him. He shrugged. This conversation had become awkward, but I had to see it to the end. “I hope you don’t think that I think I’m better than Sarah, because that’s not the case. She’s slow and simple, but she’s good people. And, to tell you the truth, I kind of like her now. If some of the things I say about her hurt your feelings, I’m sorry. But you know I’ve never been one to hold my tongue.”

  “It’s not something you said about her that’s bothering me at the moment. I have other things on my mind.” Bo swallowed hard and gave me a wan look. Then he dipped his head and started talking in a low, controlled voice, looking at me with a strange look on his face. Between him and Kenneth, I couldn’t decide which one gave me the strangest looks. “One of my boys back in Houston called me at work today. You remember Bobby Delaney?”

  I let out a disgusted snort. I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes too. “How much did Begging Bobby want to borrow this time?”

  “He didn’t ask for money this time. He called to tell me that Gladys has been calling everybody who knows me, trying to get my phone number.”

  My jaw dropped and my blood pressure shot up. “That bitch! She took everything you had and you’re depositing her alimony payments into her checking account on time every month! What else does she want? Hasn’t she caused you enough problems? Why does she want to talk to you now that you don’t have a damn thing left to give her? As far as I know, she doesn’t know you’re working for Kenneth and living like a king and all. Unless that damn long-tongued Cash blabbed to one of those long-eared dogs back in Houston.”

  “I don’t know who Cash has been talking to back in Houston. And I don’t know what Gladys knows about how well I’m doing out here. I haven’t told my old friends much about my new life.”

  “Then why does she want to talk to you?” The look in Bo’s eyes said it all, and I was not trying to hear it! “Do you mean to tell me she wants you back?” I shouted, balling my fist.

  “She told Bobby she misses me and wants to talk. . . .” Bo looked like he had lost his best friend. If he went back to his ex, or even talked to her, he would lose his best friend—me. I would never forgive him!

  “Look, Bo, if you take that low-down bitch back after all she’s done to you—and after all I’ve done for you—I will never speak to you again. And you’ll be frying fish for a living! What about Sarah?”

  Bo held up his hand and shook his head. “Hold up now! Don’t bust a gasket until you hear all I’ve got to say. I told Bobby to tell Gladys to go to hell. I don’t want anything else to do with that woman. Not now,” he said. “I gave her too many chances, and besides, I have everything I want now. You made it all possible and I will be in your debt forever.” He smiled and that reassured me.

  “I’m glad to hear you say that.” I was so relieved I wanted to jump across the table and kiss him. “You know how much it pisses me off when you mention Gladys, so you didn’t even have to tell me about that call from Bobby, you know.”

  “I know I didn’t, but I don’t like to keep things from you. You’ve been too good to me. Had it not been for you, I’d have never met Sarah.”

  “Do you really and truly care about her?”

  Bo shuddered and gave me an incredulous look. “Of course I do. I’ve already told you that so many times I’ve lost count. It started out as a plan to secure your future and mine, but as it turned out, I got the best of both worlds. Security and a woman I love. And things are only going to get better.”

  I nodded my approval. I was beaming. I didn’t care if Bo loved Sarah or not, as long as everything continued to go well for me. It was not even going to bother me to be called “Grandma,” and I was going to dote on that child when and if it ever arrived. “So, Sarah was the one who brought up having a baby?”

  “Uh-huh. And all of a sudden too. I guess Kenneth must have dropped a few hints. He’s desperate for a grandchild. She told me she wants to give him at least one before . . . before it’s too late. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Kenneth has been looking real run-down lately.”

  “Not run-down enough if you ask me,” I snapped. “He’s getting on my nerves so bad I can barely stand the sight of him. When he touches me, my skin crawls.” Bo gave me such a long, hard look it made me squirm. “Why are you staring at me like that?” I narrowed my eyes and stared back at him.

  He took his time responding. “I guess I’m just trying to figure you out, cuz.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes and that made me squirm even more. “I’d like to say something, but I want you to stop me when you think I’ve crossed the line. I don’t want to offend you.”

  “You can say anything you want to say to me. I’ve been offended before.”

  “I want you to know up front that I admire and respect Kenneth. He’s done a lot for me and he is my wife’s daddy. But I realize how much he’s getting on your nerves. I know a lot of that is because you two have been together so long and the flame of romance is probably a lot dimmer.” Bo stopped talking and let out a loud sigh.

  “Don’t stop talking now. Tell me everything that’s on your mind,” I advised. “And by the way, that flame you just mentioned, it burned out years ago.”

  Bo looked around the coffee shop, then back to me. “Have you ever thought about having an affair?”

  I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from laughing. “Are you encouraging me to have an affair, cuz?”

  Bo held up his hand again. “Yes and no. I mean, my first wife cheated on me left and right. I never cheated on her and to be honest with you, I don’t think I could live with the guilt if I cheated on my woman.”

  “But you think an affair would help me?”

  “I didn’t say that. If what that Dr. Ruth and all of those other TV sex doctors say is true, you’re still in your prime and you need sex more than ever now. And you’re not getting it from Kenneth.”

  I did laugh this time. “I never said Kenneth was not making love to me.”

  “Well, I just assumed—oh shit. I can’t keep secrets from you after all you’ve done for me. Men talk, see. Kenneth has shared a few things with me. He told me he wasn’t doing so well with you in the bedroom. And he’s too proud to use Viagra.”

  “Tell me about it. He tries to please me and that’s part of the problem. Sex with an old man
, who has a body like a dolphin, is no fun at all.”

  “Hmmm. Kenneth was old when you married him. Was the sex with him ever good?”

  “I’m sure it was to some of those whores he fooled around with.”

  “Oh. I didn’t know Kenneth had fooled around that much. I thought Sarah’s mother was the only one.”

  “She wasn’t. He’s had more affairs since we got married than five men put together.”

  “Well, in that case, if you have one or two brief no-strings-attached affairs, it would even the score and probably make you feel better.” Bo paused and gave me a dry look. “It would be one thing if you had let yourself go and looked like the typical hag, but you’re still good-looking and sexy for a woman your age. I’m sure you wouldn’t have any trouble at all finding somebody. And maybe you should find a young man. I know it’s been a long time since you had a relationship with a man your own age and you probably don’t even remember what a firm young body feels like. But you’re a . . . a . . . real mature woman now, so I suggest you have a fling with a college-age dude—as long as he’s eighteen or over.” I looked at Bo and blinked as he continued. “If you are careful, you won’t have to worry about getting caught. Just make sure you make him use a condom every time he lays pipe. You should at least give it some thought. I have a feeling a good fuck is what you need.”

  I finished my frappe and gave my cousin a big smile. “You know, I just might take your advice. . . .”

  Sex was always on my mind. A good fuck was what I needed. But right now Sarah having a baby was on my mind even more. I would give up Ricky and all of my future boy toys if it meant Sarah producing just one gold-plated grandchild before I got too old to reap the benefits.

  CHAPTER 35

  SARAH

  IT WAS HARD FOR ME TO BELIEVE THAT TWO MORE YEARS HAD PASSED and I still had not become pregnant. Bo and I had made love several times a week during all that time! We had almost given up hope. But Daddy’s long face and the way he got misty-eyed around other people’s grandchildren was the main reason we kept trying so hard.