Soul Matters

by Yolonda Tonette Sanders

  “There ain’t one. You know we tellin’ the truth,” Frances stated.

  “Kim, tell your father that he can’t tell you to stay out of grown folks’ business anymore ’cuz you’re grown also,” Marlene mentioned.

  “Yeah, Daddy, that’s right, I am grown,” Kim said wittily, and smiled at her father. “Now, as I was saying, you do sound like that. As a matter of fact, you were whining about your stomach hurting after we ate.” Kim intentionally deepened her voice in order to mock her father. “Oh baby . . . that food was good but it sho’ messed me up. I think I ate too much or somethin’ ’cuz my belly’s startin’ to ache.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “I simply mentioned having a little stomachache, but I didn’t whine,” Michael stated, rubbing the tire that had grown around his waist over the years.

  “Terrance, I don’t know why you’re laughin’ at my daddy—you’re just as bad, if not worse.”

  “Why you gotta put me in it?” Terrance said for lack of anything better.

  “You’re the one who started it.”

  Terrance was stuck. He had opened up the door to the battle of the sexes. Marlene, Kim, and Frances continued teaming up against Michael and him, who denied being adult babies. The women’s coalition fell apart when the telephone rang and Marlene got up to answer it.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, we were just talking about you,” she said. From the high pitch of Marlene’s voice, everyone suspected she was talking to Wendy, and they focused in on her conversation. “How are y’all doing?” Marlene’s face lit up as she spoke.

  “Is that Wendy?” Kim asked for verification.

  Marlene nodded.

  “Oh, okay . . . well, tell Kevin that I said hi and Merry Christmas.” Marlene paused for Wendy’s response. “Okay, love you too, sweetie.”

  She hung up the phone.

  “Why didn’t you let anyone else talk to her?” Michael was irritated.

  “She said she and Kevin were on their way out the door and she didn’t have time to talk to everyone, but she wanted to call and wish us all a Merry Christmas.”

  “But still, she could have at least said hi or called at a time when she would be able to talk.” Kim spoke sourly.

  “Well, she said she’ll call back later. Right now they are on their way to visit some of Kevin’s relatives.” If it weren’t for the fact that Marlene was the one who’d answered the phone, she also would have been upset if she hadn’t gotten a chance to speak with Wendy.

  “That still don’t sound right.” Frances frowned.

  “Mama, please don’t get started with one of your conspiracy theories. Maybe Kevin was rushing her. Maybe she didn’t want to be rude and stay on the phone—who knows? Anyhow, she sends everyone her love and said she will drop our presents off when she returns.”

  Kim agreed with Frances, but she wouldn’t dare say so out loud. Wendy had been making such a big deal around Thanksgiving about how she was going to miss spending Christmas with everyone this year. It was strange that she would call on her first Christmas away and speak only with one person.

  “The next time she calls I want to talk to her,” Michael said firmly. He was more upset than anyone else because he hadn’t gotten to speak with her the last time she’d called, either.

  “Okay, I’ll tell her next time that you want to talk to her.”

  “Mommy!” Tyler came yelling from downstairs.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Tori said that I’m ugly.”

  Everyone wanted to laugh, but poor Tyler had huge crocodile tears in his eyes, and it was clear his feelings were very hurt.

  “Are you ugly?” Kim asked.

  “No, but she said I was.”

  “If you know that you’re not ugly then it doesn’t matter what anyone else says, right?”

  Tyler nodded in agreement.

  “Look at my baby’s hair, Mommy?” Tori walked in the room to see what Tyler had told Kim.

  “Oooh, that’s pretty,” Kim beamed.

  “Thank you,” she said, stroking the doll’s hair after getting reassurance from her mother.

  “I told Mommy that you said I was ugly.” Tyler scowled at his sister.

  “So what?” Tori snapped.

  “Hey guys, don’t start. Not today—it’s Christmas,” Kim scolded.

  “But he said my baby’s hair was ugly!” Tori pouted.

  Tori had diligently worked on that doll’s hair, combing and recombing it to make it look good, but Tyler was right. The doll’s hair was hideous. Kim couldn’t admit that to her daughter, though, without crushing the six-year-old’s self-esteem.

  “If y’all can’t say anything nice to one another then just don’t speak at all. Maybe y’all need to take a nap. Is that the problem?”

  “No ma’am,” they both said.

  “Well chill out or I am gonna make both of you put away your toys and go upstairs and lie down.”

  Neither child said a word. They both looked at their mother and then at each other. “Sorry for calling you ugly,” Tori mumbled to her brother.

  “Okay,” Tyler said and ran back down the stairs without apologizing. Tori followed behind him just as the doorbell rang.

  “Terrance, that’s probably your parents,” Michael stated.

  “What?” Kim said in surprise.

  “Uh . . .” Terrance uttered. He’d known this moment was coming, but he hadn’t prepared a response.

  “I invited Evelyn and Doug over to spend the evening with us,” Marlene quickly responded.

  “Why the evening? That doesn’t make sense. Why didn’t you invite them to eat Christmas dinner with us?” Kim asked.

  “They couldn’t make it for dinner so I asked if they could come over this evening.”

  “I thought we were going over their house.” Kim addressed Terrance.

  “We were going over to their house until your mother invited them over here.”

  “So when was someone gonna fill me in?”

  “I’m sorry. I thought you knew.” Terrance was aware that she didn’t know, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say at the moment.

  Liar! Kim said to herself and rolled her eyes at Terrance.

  “Actually, it’s my fault, honey. I asked Terrance to invite them over and I should have told you.”

  “Mm-hmm.” Kim didn’t believe Marlene either. It was nothing against his parents. In fact, she loved them. As much as she stressed open communication with Terrance, he knew that she didn’t like to be caught off guard. “If you knew they were coming, why did you have me leave their presents in the car?”

  The doorbell rang again.

  “I’ll get it,” Terrance responded before Marlene could get up. If he didn’t move, Kim would continue questioning him until he answered her.

  “Well, they didn’t tell me nothin’ either,” Frances said after Terrance went to get the door. She was telling the truth, but there was a good reason for that. The family had learned a long time ago that Frances could not keep secrets. The surest way to guarantee that someone would find something out was to tell her.

  “Well, everyone knows now, so that’s all that matters, right?” Michael winked at Kim.

  “But some of us didn’t find out until the last minute,” Kim rebutted.

  “Merry Christmas,” Evelyn and Doug Carter called out as they walked into the living room.

  “Merry Christmas,” Kim replied. “This is quite a surprise.”

  “We forgot to tell Kim that you guys were coming over. She is a little upset with us because she thought they were going over to your house later,” Marlene told Terrance’s mom and dad.

  “Oh, honey, I’m sorry.” Evelyn said to Kim. “I assumed you knew we were invited. I guess I should have said something when I talked to you the other day.”

  “That’s okay. It’s no big deal. I was just shocked, that’s all.” After seeing Terrance’s parents, Kim didn’t know why she had been upset in the
first place. They were like her second parents. Before she and Terrance started going together, they’d always said Kim was the daughter they never had.

  Evelyn was beautiful, and Kim hoped she could keep her figure when she got older like Terrance’s mom had. Evelyn and Doug made a very attractive couple, although they seemed like complete opposites. Doug was casually dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, while Evelyn entered the room wearing slacks and a metallic silver shirt. She claimed to be forty-eight but looked at least ten years younger. Her skin was flawless, and she didn’t have one strand of gray hair. Even Doug would look younger if it wasn’t for his receding hairline.

  “And how are you?” Kim asked Doug as she hugged him.

  He smiled. “Fine, sweetie.”

  “Hi, Grammy. Hi, Grandpa,” the kids yelled as they ran up the stairs.

  Both Evelyn and Doug bent down and gave them big hugs. Even though Terrance wasn’t Tori’s biological father, he and his parents treated her as though she carried their blood. They had all been a part of her life since the day she was born.

  “Where are Wendy and Kevin?” Evelyn asked after greeting her grandchildren.

  “They went to Philadelphia to spend Christmas with Kevin’s mother,” Marlene answered.

  “Oh. Well, we brought some presents for them. Will it be okay to leave them here?”

  “Sure. They won’t be back until after the first of the year, but I’ll be sure they get them.”

  Evelyn handed the presents to Marlene, who set them underneath the now empty Christmas tree.

  Terrance went to the car to get the presents he and Kim had bought for his parents. Tori and Tyler eagerly opened more gifts. The children couldn’t have had a better Christmas. Both sets of grandparents had spoiled them completely rotten. Earlier that day, Kim’s parents gave them brand-new thirteen-inch televisions to go in each of their rooms. From Evelyn and Doug, Tyler now received a PlayStation 2 with several games, while Tori got a collection of dolls, purses, toy jewelry, and makeup.

  The children spent the rest of the evening playing with their new toys while the adults continued chitchatting in the living room. Frances, Terrance, and Michael all dozed off after getting leftovers. Later, Marlene asked Kim if she would start the dishes while she and Evelyn straightened up the mess in the living room. Doug helped the kids gather all of their toys.

  Kim was standing at the sink doing dishes and thinking about what a good time she’d had today with everyone, including her grandmother. She thought about Wendy and was a little hurt that she didn’t get to talk with her, but she would see her in a week or so. Kim and Wendy had always spent the holidays together. Even though they were five years apart, they had grown to be very close. Wendy had spent a lot of time taking care of Kim when they were younger. She would help Marlene do her hair, get her ready for school, and even help Kim with her homework. Wendy was always very protective of her little sister. Kim was confident that Wendy would be an excellent mother.

  The phone rang.

  “Will someone get the phone?” Kim yelled. “My hands are wet.”

  The phone continued to ring.

  “I guess I’ll get it,”she said sarcastically. She was tired, ready to go home, and she was trying to finish the dishes as quickly as possible.

  Kim wiped her hands on the dish towel and answered the phone before it clicked over to the voice mail. “Hello?” she said, a little frustrated.

  “Uh . . . hi, Kim. This is Kevin.” He sounded nervous.

  “Hey. What are you doing?” Kim hadn’t expected him to be on the other end. She’d figured it would be one of Marlene’s friends from church.

  “Nothing much. Just sitting around my mom’s house.”

  “I thought Wendy said that y’all were going somewhere.”

  “Huh?”

  “I was sort of mad that she didn’t talk to me, but she said that y’all were on the way out the door.”

  “Wendy called you and said that we were leaving?”

  “Yeah. She didn’t talk to me; she talked to Mama.”

  “Kim . . .” Kevin hesitated. “I was calling to speak to Wendy.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She didn’t come to Philadelphia with me. I called the house. When she didn’t answer I assumed that she was over there.”

  “Hold up—Wendy isn’t with you?”

  “No, she’s not.”

  “Then why did she call here and say that she was?”

  “I’m really not sure. . . . I . . . I had no idea. . . .”

  “Why didn’t she go?”

  “I . . . Look, maybe you need to talk to her. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called. I’ve said too much already. Listen, if you talk to her, just tell her that I was thinking about her. I’m sorry, Kim.” Kevin hung up the phone, leaving Kim outraged.

  She dialed star-six-nine to get the number he had called from, but the recording stated that the call came from a non-published number. “Dang!”she grumbled. She was confused by the conversation and mad that he had hung up on her before she had a chance to figure out what was going on. She had started to dial Wendy’s home number when Michael called her from the living room.

  “Yes,” Kim said, trying not to let the frustration show in her voice.

  “Can you come here, please?”

  “Okay.” She hung up the phone and swore that she would find out what was happening with her sister somehow.

  “Who was on the phone?” Marlene wanted to know.

  “Huh?”

  “Just a few minutes ago . . . who was on the phone?”

  “Oh, it was the wrong number,” Kim lied. She didn’t want anyone to know that Kevin had called. There was no need to have her parents panic, especially since she didn’t know all of the facts. “What did you need, Daddy?” Kim asked.

  “Terrance wanted you.”

  “I have a Christmas card I want to give to you,” Terrance announced.

  Kim now noticed that someone had turned off the TV, dimmed the lights, and lit a few candles on the mantel. Her children were also sitting quietly on the couch, and everyone else was staring at her. “Okay, why does it have to be a public forum when you give me a card?” she asked, giving Terrance a strange look.

  “Just open it up,” Terrance replied impatiently.

  Kim sighed but obediently opened the card while Terrance bent down to tie his shoe. Inside was a handwritten note that read: Christmas is not over. Look down at me.

  She looked down and saw Terrance on his knee holding a one-carat diamond ring; her heart began racing.

  “Kimberly Michele Tibbs”—his voice cracked—“will you marry me?”

  She wanted to scream from the top of her lungs “Yes!” but could barely speak.

  “Well?” Terrance summoned her reply.

  “Of course!” She managed to squeeze out those words through her tears. Everyone started clapping and yelling.

  “Y’all were in on this, weren’t you?” Kim said, sobbing, to both sets of parents. She then pointed to Evelyn and Doug. “That’s why no one told me that y’all were coming over.”

  Everyone laughed as an admission of their part in the surprised proposal. Kim wasn’t exactly sure if the kids understood what the proposal meant, but she would talk to them about it later. She glanced at Frances, who mumbled congratulations and quoted some scripture about it being better for them to marry than to burn. Kim could tell she was slightly offended because no one had let her in on the surprise. Oh well, she thought. Tonight was one of the most memorable nights of her life. Even with all of the excitement about the proposal, Kim couldn’t keep from wondering about the phone call she’d received from Kevin. If Wendy’s not in Philly, why isn’t she here?

  Chapter Five

  More Than Just a Little White Lie

  I’M COMING!” Wendy shouted to the annoying person banging on her front door. It had been less than two weeks from the time she’d confronted Kevin about her visit with Dr. Korva. Kevin had left
that day, and she hadn’t said much to him since then. For now, he was temporarily staying at one of the apartment buildings he owned. Before he went to Philadelphia he’d left Wendy a message saying that he would like to talk to her when he got back. You can stay in Philly until you die, for all I care, Wendy thought as she reflected on Kevin’s voice-mail message. She was in no hurry to hear what he had to say. Chances were he’d use this time in Philly to think of some crafty way to explain how she contracted chlamydia, but nothing he said would change the fact that he had cheated on her.

  “I said I’m coming,” Wendy repeated as the knocking became more aggressive. This would be the fifth time Kevin had sent roses to her since the night he left. Wendy hadn’t even taken the time to place them in water or read the attached cards. Rather, she’d trashed them, just like she intended to do with the roses she expected to receive now. She tried using the intercom to tell the delivery person just to leave them at the door, but something must have been wrong with the system because no one responded.

  She was so frustrated by the time she got to the door that she swung it open without even looking through the peephole. “You don’t have to knock so—” Wendy’s plan was to give the man or woman a snide remark for beating the door down. However, she was taken by surprise when Kim stood in place of the supposed delivery person. “Kim? What are you doing here?”

  Kim was fuming after the long drive from her east side town home to her sister’s exclusive New Albany residence. It would have been more convenient to come last night since her parents lived closer to Wendy than she did, but doing so was impossible. The fact that she was out under two conditions she loathed, early morning and cold weather, did nothing to appease her anger. Her red Mitsubishi Eclipse had came close to nicking several cars as she skidded along the snow-covered highway. “Back from Philly so soon?” she asked sarcastically with one hand on her hip while the other was apparently used as a weapon against the door.

  “I . . . um . . . I . . .” Wendy searched for words, but nothing came to mind.

  “Next time you decide to play hooky, you ought to tell your husband not to call over to Mama’s house looking for you,” Kim snapped with eyes piercing Wendy.