by Mary Monroe
“Now don’t you worry your pretty self about anything. Everything’s going to be just fine,” Mel said. He sniffed and took a long drink from his wineglass. “So when do you want to do it? As soon as possible I hope.”
“Yeah. We’ll work on a date later. Listen, us gettin’ married is not the only thing I wanted to talk to you about tonight.”
“Oh? What else did you want to talk about?” Mel asked, his chest tightening, his blood pressure rising. It was stressful being who he was. At the rate he was going, he was bound to have a heart attack or a stroke, so he told himself to slow down.
“What about your family?” Maureen asked, giving him the kind of goo-goo-eyed look that made him want to laugh out loud.
Mel’s jaw dropped. “My family? What about my family?”
“I know you said you don’t have much to do with them, but don’t you want your mama and your sisters to know you decided to get married again? They might want to come down here for the weddin’. Even though you put them on the top of your shit list, I’d still like to meet them someday.”
“I really don’t want to discuss my family right now. Like I already told you, I am not that close to my folks.” That was putting it mildly. Mel hadn’t spoken to any members of his family in over a year. He had not responded to the few messages that his mother and sisters had left on his answering machine. He had sent his mother a card on her birthday and last Christmas. He didn’t think she deserved one for Mother’s Day, so that was one card he would never send. As far as those bitch sisters of his were concerned, he would never send them any kind of card, period. “Some families will never be close. Didn’t you tell me that you had folks somewhere in Louisiana that you haven’t spoken to since you were a child?”
“That’s true,” Maureen admitted with a mild groan. “And that’s only on my mama’s side. I don’t know a thing about my daddy’s folks. After he took off, he never even tried to contact me or my mama. Oh, well. Like you said, some families will never be close.”
“To be honest—and I hate to admit this—I don’t care if I ever see my folks again. They caused me a lot of misery that I would rather not discuss right now. It’s too . . . painful,” Mel barely managed to say. He had to force himself not to break down and cry.
Maureen shook her head in pity. “In that case, I won’t mention your family again unless you do. I guess we just need to keep our minds on ourselves, and especially on Lo’retta. I have a feelin’ she’s goin’ to need more supervision than ever these next few years.”
Even though Maureen had told Loretta she didn’t want Mel to know that she had had sex with some knuckleheaded boy in her bedroom, Maureen now felt this was something she shouldn’t keep from him. He would have to know about it sooner or later. Especially since he was going to be in such an important position in her and Loretta’s life now. Mel had a right to know what he was getting into. It might even make him change his mind about marrying Maureen and becoming the father of a teenager.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” Mel asked. “Is Loretta in trouble?”
“I really hate to start dumpin’ loads of shit on you already, but it’s important for you to know what all you are gettin’ yourself into. You don’t have any kids, so you don’t really know what raisin’ one is all about.”
“I had two older sisters. I saw what we all put my mama through. I decided a long time ago that I didn’t want any kids,” Mel informed Maureen. “I don’t want to be tied down with that responsibility.”
Maureen’s jaw dropped and she gave Mel a sharp look. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about! If you don’t want to be bothered raisin’ kids, especially one that ain’t even yours, why do you want to marry me? My daughter will be livin’ with me at least until she finishes high school, and that’s two more years from now.”
“I realize that,” Mel replied. He held up his hand. “You’ve pretty much raised your daughter already, so there won’t be much for me to do. Like you just said, she’ll be on her own when she finishes school.”
“Until then, though, she’s a big responsibility,” Maureen croaked. “Two years is a long time.”
“Maureen, I am the one who brought up marriage in the first place. Don’t you know me well enough by now to see that I know what I’m doing? If I thought for one minute that Loretta was going to be a problem, I would have been out of your life by now.”
Maureen rose up off the couch high enough to look behind her toward the hallway that led to Loretta’s bedroom. “I’ll be right back,” she said in a low voice as she stood up. She darted across the floor and tiptoed down the hall. She stood in front of Loretta’s door and listened for a couple of minutes. Then she tiptoed back to the living room and sat down next to Mel.
“Is everything all right?” he asked, puzzled and curious.
Maureen leaned her head toward his. “I found out that my daughter is, uh, havin’ sex,” she blurted. She took a long drink from her wineglass. “For at least a year now.”
“Oh me, oh my,” Mel muttered, sounding reasonably alarmed and disappointed. “Well, I’m surprised that she held out this long. I mean, she is a teenager. A lot of young girls today start doing it at twelve and thirteen.” Mel gave Maureen a sympathetic look and patted her shoulder. He drank some more wine. He was glad that it was potent enough to give him a nice buzz so quickly. He needed one to get through this night. “Face it, Maureen. Kids nowadays are fucking the hell out of each other. With people like Madonna and Prince rubbing sex in their faces all the time, it’s no wonder.”
“Tell me about it, but I always told Loretta that when she got ready to have sex to let me know. I wanted to make sure she was protectin’ herself properly.”
“Loretta is a very mature and responsible child. She wants to go places. She’s not going to give that up to raise a baby. How do you know she’s not protecting herself?”
“Oh, she’s protectin’ herself all right. I found a condom wrapper on her bedroom floor last year. I don’t know when it got there or if that was the first one.”
“How do you know she was the one who used it? She’s got a couple of wild girlfriends. One of them could have been in her room with a boy. I see that Mona girl out at all times of the night. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she talked Loretta into letting her bring one of her horny boyfriends over here. You know how kids are these days. They cover for each other all the time.”
Maureen shook her head. “It wasn’t Mona or any of the few other girls that Lo’retta associates with. I asked her about it a little while ago and she admitted it. Whoever the boy is, he must have been here this evenin’ too. I found a used condom in the trash tonight.”
“Well, I’m sure she’s just curious. It’s normal. Let her grow up and learn from her mistakes. Don’t hold on to her too tight the way you told me your mama did with you.”
“My mama was not normal. She didn’t want me to even think about boys, let alone screw one.”
“Well, you didn’t get pregnant by yourself—”
“True. But that was different. That boy ra—Uh, that boy . . .” Maureen couldn’t finish the sentence. She wanted to forget about John French and how he had raped her in the blackberry patch behind Mama Ruby’s house. She could never forget it if she told the wrong person, or any person for that matter. “My mama had a fit when I got pregnant.”
“I don’t think we have to worry about Loretta getting pregnant.” Mel was so emphatic it startled Maureen.
“What makes you think that, Mel?”
“Like I just said, Loretta wants to go places.”
Maureen felt better knowing that Mel was so optimistic. “You got a point right there, I guess.” She sighed. “One good thing is that she and her boyfriend use condoms. There may come a time when they don’t. I know how easy it is to forget to make a trip to the drugstore, and I know how easy it is for some boy to talk a girl into lettin’ him make love to her without protection.”
“Honey, don’t get too worked up
over this,” Mel advised, patting Maureen on the back. “If it’ll make you feel better, sit the girl down and have a long talk with her on a regular basis. Let her know that you are not being judgmental, just concerned. That way she’ll know how much you care about what she’s up to. See, the problem with most parents these days is they don’t communicate with their children.”
For someone who wasn’t a parent, Mel sure had some reasonable theories when it came to raising kids. Maureen was so impressed that tears pooled in her eyes. She blinked hard and took a series of deep breaths.
After she felt more composed, she continued. “Most teenage girls don’t want to discuss their sex lives with their mother. I know I didn’t and neither did any of my girlfriends. I just don’t want my child to grow up too fast. Too many emotions are involved when it comes to sex, and I don’t want her to get hurt.”
“Maureen, like I said, Loretta is a responsible young lady.” Mel was getting tired of repeating himself, but he was prepared to say or do whatever was necessary. He had come too far and invested too much time and sex in Loretta and Maureen to give up now.
“Lo’retta admitted to me that havin’ sex with that boy wasn’t worth it, so maybe she won’t do it again until she’s older,” Maureen said with a hopeful look on her face.
Mel nodded. “Uh-huh. I’m sure she won’t. It’s something you have to get used to. For girls Loretta’s age and their lack of experience, the first few times can be a real letdown. Especially with some inexperienced, frisky boy that only cares about his own needs. I was like a jack-in-the-box with my first girl,” Mel laughed. He didn’t laugh long when he saw the sad look on Maureen’s face. He cleared his throat and continued. “Loretta probably found her first few times just as painful and disgusting as most teenage girls, so you shouldn’t worry about her becoming some kind of sexpot anytime soon. You can bet your bottom dollar that I will do my part to make sure she stays on the straight and narrow.”
Mel’s support was a blessing to Maureen. It pleased her to know that she was not going to have to deal with this situation alone. She didn’t feel as agitated or as let down now. As a matter of fact, Mel’s attitude made Maureen feel a little more empowered. He was just as concerned about Loretta’s behavior as she was. He was going to be a good father.
“Thanks, Mel. I’m so glad to hear you say that. If you don’t mind, I’d like to wait a little while before we get married.”
Mel’s breath caught in his throat. “Oh?” he croaked. “You got cold feet already?”
“No, not that. Now that we have this situation with Lo’retta, I’d rather wait until I feel a little more relaxed about that. What she did is a lot for me to take in. I don’t want to get married feelin’ the way I feel right now.”
Mel kissed Maureen again and hugged her so hard he almost cut off her circulation. “Baby, whenever you’re ready to get married, just let me know.”
“I promise I won’t make you wait too long.” Maureen hauled off and kissed Mel so long he had to push her away so he could get some air.
No, Maureen didn’t love Mel, but she loved that he was in her life at such a crucial time. Maybe he was right. Maybe it didn’t take love to make a successful marriage—just two people with common sense and similar goals. Once they took that step, she was going to do everything she could to make him glad he married her, and she was going to do everything she could to make herself glad that she had married him.
CHAPTER 17
MEL FELT SORRY FOR OTHER MEN. HE HAD TWO BEAUTIFUL WOMEN in his life—one in the palm of his hand and her daughter in his bed whenever he wanted her. Some days they pampered him like he was a new puppy. He had never experienced so much adoration.
What was so ironic about this tragic comedy was the fact that even though he hated women, they gave him so much pleasure. That balance was the reason he was able to continue his charade so well. What more could a man ask for?
Unfortunately, despite the importance of the two women in his life and all of the fun he was having, each one got on his nerves in her own way. Loretta was a sexual pest. He enjoyed sex as much as the next man, but even he had some limitations. After all, he was not as young as he used to be. That Loretta was so frisky she pounced on him every chance she got. Like last Wednesday evening after that Parker Department Store shoot. She couldn’t wait to get home or even to a motel so he could cool her off. He drove his SUV into an alley behind the mall where they humped each other like rabbits for half an hour. When they got back to Maureen’s apartment, there was a message on the answering machine from her. She had informed them that she was going out for drinks with some coworkers and wouldn’t be home until after around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. Loretta wasted no time. After she’d made sure the doors were locked, she grabbed Mel by the hand and led him to her bedroom. The juice from their earlier tryst was still wet in the crotch of his boxers.
“You are going to kill me, girl,” Mel had playfully complained as Loretta straddled him.
“Can you think of a better way to die?” she had huffed, tongue hanging out of her mouth like a dog.
“Not really. If I have to die before my time, getting fucked to death is the way to go, baby girl.” Mel paused and pinched Loretta on the side of her butt. “Now roll over so I can hit it from behind.”
Maureen was a totally different kind of “pest.” She claimed she didn’t love him, but the way she pampered him, she made him feel like he was the last man on earth. She liked to cook special meals for him, iron his boxer shorts, shave him, and do other silly shit on the spur of the moment. Last Sunday, she had surprised him with a platter of chicken that she had dipped in buttermilk batter and deep-fried. She liked to give him foot massages and back rubs when he least expected it. She took him around her brother and his wife, two miserable busybodies Mel didn’t have any use for, but he never complained—at least not to her.
He didn’t even complain when those two disgusting, ignorant, gossiping black crows Catty and Fast Black dropped in with their diarrhea of nasty remarks. What a pair! He couldn’t stand the sight of either of them; he wondered how they managed to keep men in their lives. And the way they meddled! One recent afternoon while Catty and Maureen were in the kitchen picking some collard greens and didn’t know that Mel had entered the apartment, he had overheard something that enraged him almost to the point of no return.
“Girl, you and Lo’retta need to stop kissin’ Mel’s funky black ass all the time. He ain’t nobody! The first time I laid eyes on him, I could tell he thought his shit didn’t stink. If y’all don’t stop spoilin’ that sucker, you’re goin’ to have a fine mess on your hands—especially after you marry him,” Catty snarled. “Me, I wouldn’t let him fuck me with Prince’s dick.”
That bitch! Mel could not believe his ears. He wouldn’t fuck that dollar-store Jezebel with a dead man’s dick.
Instead of making his presence known, Mel had tiptoed back out of the apartment, seething with anger. He wanted to cuss out the world for letting a woman like Catty roam around like a loose wheel. He had to hold his breath to keep from screaming like a banshee. He wanted to slap Catty’s hag face off so he could dance in the street with joy. Since he couldn’t do that, he had to get back at her another way. While she was in the kitchen with Maureen, probably still trashing him, he shoved a nail into one of the back tires on that rusty jalopy of hers. As bald and threadbare as the tire was, it wouldn’t go flat right away, but it would be as flat as a pancake by the time she got halfway home. Hopefully she’d be on the freeway.
A few minutes after his mischief, Mel went back into the apartment. This time he whistled so the women would know he was present. Like the two-faced crone she was, Catty gave him a big hug, lying through her liver lips about how good it was to see him again.
“It’s always nice to see you, Catty. You’re looking as lovely as ever. Is that a new dress? It looks nice on you,” Mel said, almost choking on his words.
“Yeah, it’s new, but you should have seen me yesterd
ay. I wore a frock that was even cuter than this one,” Catty hollered with a cheesy grin. “I’m glad to see that all your taste ain’t in your mouth like I thought it was,” she added.
That did it. Mel had another treat for that bitch. When she and Maureen moved to the living room, he offered to get them some wine. Maureen declined, but being the alcoholic pig that she was, Catty jumped at the chance. Mel didn’t think she deserved any of the good wine that Maureen kept in the cabinet—especially the bottles that he had paid for. He poured her a glass of the buy-one-get-one-free shit that Virgil had given to him and Maureen. Then he hawked the biggest wad of spit he could manage into the wineglass and stirred it with the same finger that he had just used to pick his nose. Catty gulped down the wine so fast he offered her some more. It was a good thing she declined and left a few minutes later because he had some more boogers and spit he wanted to get rid of.
Despite Maureen’s meddlesome and obnoxious family and friends, Mel managed to enjoy his life with her anyway. He had a good thing going, and he planned to keep it going for as long as possible. He was forty, so he didn’t have a whole lot of time left to hit it really big and enjoy it. He had to keep Maureen and Loretta happy, especially since he still believed Loretta was going to be his ticket to ride. She was in such big demand now that he was more convinced of that than ever. There was no way he was going to let a bunch of countrified peasants ruin his plans! He couldn’t wait for the right time to spirit Loretta off somewhere so he could have complete control of his future. Two more years to go . . .
Maureen didn’t mention her concerns about Loretta’s sexual habits to Mel that often, and she eventually stopped altogether. There had been no more evidence of her having sex in the apartment.
It had been a year since Maureen had agreed to marry Mel. He had been patient and not badgered her to set a date, but she didn’t want to push her luck. She didn’t want to risk losing out on what was probably going to be her last chance to be a married woman. However, during the year that she had put off the wedding date, she had almost secretly wished that Mel would change his mind. She was nervous about making such an important commitment. However, every time she even thought about backing out of the engagement, she thought about how disappointed Loretta would be. Maureen would never admit to her friends or her brother, but she felt like she had slipped and fallen into a spiderweb and couldn’t get out. Therefore, she would make the best of the situation.
