Sisters and Husbands

by Connie Briscoe

  Back at home sitting on the couch in the dark, Charmaine kicked off her heels, hoisted the skirt to her sundress up several inches, and put her feet up on the coffee table. The main level of the house was deserted, but Tyrone’s car was in the driveway, so he was around somewhere. If the previous days were any indication, everyone was off doing his or her own thing. Kenny was in his bedroom, where he had recently moved the Xbox. Tyrone was downstairs in his office on his computer, and Tiffany was down there in the recreation room watching television.

  It had felt good to sit and yak it up with Evelyn. For once she had exercised patience with her eldest sister and her pretentious ways. Divorce was going to be real hard on Evelyn if it came to that, since marriage was all she had known for so many years. Charmaine had figured that the best course of action, given what Evelyn was going through, was to keep her own mouth shut and just listen for once. She and Evelyn had their differences, but they were still sisters.

  So many marriages were crashing and burning these days. Sometimes it was over an affair; sometimes the couple just grew apart or realized too late that they weren’t right for each other. On some occasions the man left and on other occasions, the woman. Regardless of the reason, divorce was always a sad, messy affair, especially after a long-term marriage.

  Charmaine figured that if she could survive three divorces, her sister could live through one. Evelyn might not believe that now. She was vulnerable and clinging to what she knew. But Charmaine was confident that her sister would be fine. Evelyn was a strong woman, stronger than she herself probably realized.

  As difficult as all three of Charmaine’s divorces had been, they had taught her a lot about herself—about what she could and couldn’t take in a man and what she wanted out of a relationship. Evelyn couldn’t see it now, but she’d learn some things about herself too. Upheaval could be a great teacher if you were open to learning the lessons.

  That didn’t mean that Charmaine was ready to go through another divorce. Hell no. If her marriage to Tyrone went bust, she was never getting hitched again. She would take lovers, might even live with another dude, but no more husbands, ever. This one had to work or she was through.

  Someone once told her that marriage was a decision, that you had to decide that you were going to stay married and then work your ass off at it. You didn’t just fall into happiness and stay there ever after. And if you were foolish enough to believe in fairy tales, then you were just headed straight for divorce court.

  As she sat there thinking about her talk with Evelyn and remembering how depressing divorce could be, Charmaine decided to work her butt off to make her marriage work. She would give it everything she had. If things still didn’t work out, at least she would know that it wasn’t for lack of trying.

  She stood and walked barefooted down the carpeted basement stairs. Tiffany’s long, lean body was stretched out on the L-shaped sofa. She was wearing a pink knee-length T-shirt and watching a movie on the 42-inch television with the volume blasting.

  Charmaine walked over and stood beside the couch. “What are you watching?”

  “Black Snake Moan,” Tiffany said without ever taking her eyes off the screen.

  “Isn’t that rated R?” Charmaine asked, frowning with disapproval.

  Tiffany shrugged. “I’ve seen it before. No biggie.”

  Charmaine didn’t care if Tiffany had seen it a thousand times before, it was still too mature for a fourteen-year-old. If Tiffany had been her daughter, no way in hell she would get anywhere near that movie. But Charmaine had lost that battle with Tyrone the previous summer. Although Tyrone agreed that R-rated movies were wrong for Tiffany, her mother allowed it, and he thought there wasn’t much point in disallowing it when she visited them. To Charmaine’s way of thinking, that was no excuse for permitting a teen to watch R-rated movies in their home, especially when she was trying to raise a fourteen-year-old son under different rules.

  “Uh-huh.” Charmaine stood and watched for a few minutes, then slipped out of the recreation room and into Tyrone’s office next door. She wasn’t even going to mention the movie to Tyrone. That would start an argument, just what she wanted to avoid. She was going to have to choose her battles carefully if she wanted her marriage to have a chance.

  “What you up to?” Charmaine asked as she slid up behind Tyrone, seated at his desk. He was obviously watching a film on the Internet, but she was trying to break the chill that had frosted the atmosphere in recent days.

  “A political documentary,” he said as he pressed the mouse button to pause the film. He turned around in his swivel chair to look at her and smiled. It was an awkward smile, but at least he wasn’t scowling at her. Maybe he was ready to mend things too.

  “I came to apologize for…” She paused when she realized she didn’t even know what she was apologizing for. In her opinion, she hadn’t done anything wrong. But she wanted to warm the air between them. She wanted things to be the way they were. And to get that, she had to give a little. She scanned her memory over the past several days, back to when it had all started going wrong. “For not being more understanding.”

  Tyrone nodded. “Apology accepted. I’m sorry it got so far out of hand.”

  It was kind of painful to apologize when you didn’t really think you had done anything wrong. But she was damned if she was going to let a spoiled teenager ruin her marriage to a man who was a good husband most of the time. And if she wanted to save this relationship, someone had to take the first step. She honestly didn’t think Tyrone had the foresight or clarity of mind to do it when it came to Tiffany. That left her. “Let’s try to avoid letting things go that far in the future, okay?” she said.

  “Deal.” He reached out and lightly touched her breast through her sundress. It was so unexpected, given that his daughter was right in the next room, and it sent tingles up Charmaine’s spine. She laughed softly as his hand slid slowly beneath the dress and up to her thigh.

  “Whoa, big guy. You don’t waste any time, do you?”

  “We’ve already wasted too much time,” he said as he pulled her toward him.

  She hiked her skirt up, spread her legs wide, and straddled him. He gave her a long and tender kiss. His tongue traveled slowly down her neck, and he slipped the spaghetti strap to her sundress off her shoulder as he kissed it. She felt him growing harder between her legs, and she gripped the back of the chair and pressed herself against him. He moaned softly and hastily pulled his shirttail from his slacks.

  He gently pushed her onto her feet, then stood and shut the door to his office. He sat back down, reached up, and quickly slid her thong down to one foot. She straddled him again and he undid his fly just as a voice came from the other room.

  “Daddy!”

  They froze. Tyrone shut his eyes. Charmaine swallowed hard and prayed that she had imagined it.

  “Daddy, can you come here? The TV’s not working right.”

  Between the two of them, they released enough hot air to melt the snowcap on a mountaintop. Charmaine dragged herself off Tyrone, pulling her thong up and her dress down. He zipped his pants.

  “Sorry,” he whispered hoarsely. He kissed her lips as he stood.

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I understand.”

  He paused at the door before opening it. “Can we finish this later tonight?”

  She nodded. “You’re on.”

  “Again, I’m really sorry.”

  “Daddy!”

  “Go,” Charmaine said. “I’m fine. Or I will be.”

  They both laughed as he walked out the door.

  Chapter 19

  Evelyn lit a scented candle and placed it on the edge of the bathtub, then poured a generous amount of gel under the tap. As the tub filled and bubbles began to form, she walked back into the bedroom, slipped out of her nightgown, and wrapped herself in a white terry-cloth robe.

  Today was D-day. She was about to launch Operation Tell Me Now. Not next week or next month. Today.

/>   But first she had to decide what to wear. She strolled into her walk-in closet and remembered that Kevin loved blue on her. He’d told her that on their very first date, and it had been years since she’d thought about it. In fact the color blue had fallen completely off her radar.

  She searched through the closet until she finally stumbled across an old powder-blue St. John pantsuit that she hadn’t worn in years. It was funny what you remembered, given the right circumstances, she thought as she selected a sleeveless beige silk top and a long double strand of fake pearls.

  She laid the clothes across the bed, then went back into the bathroom and slipped out of her robe. She sank beneath the bubbles and breathed in the sea-scented oil as she leaned back and refined her plan of attack.

  Today was Wednesday, one of Kevin’s days off. She had called the store where he worked and learned that he stayed late on Tuesday nights and slept in on Wednesday, so she was going to surprise him at his apartment. She was tired of waiting for him to come to her. Tired of letting him have all the control. No longer would she allow him to jerk her about like a rag doll. It was time to take action. She was going to get all dressed up, then park her rump at his place and refuse to budge until he told her exactly what he was planning to do about their marriage.

  She had decided yesterday afternoon to make this move after having lunch with Reuben. Spending time with an attractive man just made her miss her husband that much more. After lunch, she had gone back to her office and spent most of the afternoon phoning clients and rescheduling them for later this week or next. Then she telephoned one of Kevin’s poker buddies and sweet-talked him into giving her the apartment number of Kevin’s new digs in College Park, not far from the University of Maryland. Last night she stopped and bought bagels and cream cheese, one of Kevin’s breakfast favorites.

  She stepped out of the tub and dressed slowly and carefully, paying close attention to each and every detail. She finished off with the pair of platinum and sapphire earrings that Kevin had given her on their tenth wedding anniversary. She knew not to apply perfume too liberally and to avoid eye shadow altogether—Kevin hated all that.

  She stood in front of the full-length mirror next to the bed and checked herself over, from the hair, neatly tucked into place, to the black patent leather sandals and bag. Hmm, she thought. Not bad for a forty-seven-year-old mama. She thought she looked pretty hot. The question was, would Kevin?

  No, no, he absolutely wouldn’t. She shook her head at herself. He would hate every bit of it, from the fancy suit and shoes to the expensive jewelry. Wasn’t that exactly the point he was trying to get across to her? Hadn’t she learned anything at all?

  She snatched the glittery earrings out of her earlobes and slammed them down on the dresser. She kicked the shiny heels across the floor and ripped the designer suit off. She marched into the walk-in closet, threw on a pair of blue jeans and a white cotton shirt, and slipped her feet into her Pumas. Now she was ready for the new Kevin.

  Or was she?

  Charmaine was typing a draft of a letter for her boss when the telephone rang at nine-thirty that morning. She placed the receiver between her ear and shoulder and kept on typing until she heard Tyrone’s breathless voice on the line. Something was dreadfully wrong.

  She stopped typing and listened as Tyrone explained that Tiffany had just called him screaming about something that happened at the house and that Kenny had given her a busted lip.

  “Wait a minute, Tyrone,” Charmaine said. “Slow down. First, is Tiffany all right?”

  “What the hell do you mean, is she all right? Her lip is busted.”

  “I don’t mean it like that,” Charmaine said. “She’s not bleeding or seriously hurt or anything, is she?”

  “Not as far as I know. I’m leaving work and on my way there now.”

  “Well, how did it happen?” Charmaine asked.

  “I have no idea. She said Kenny hit her.”

  “If that’s true, it must have been an accident.”

  “Not according to Tiffany. She said he hit her on purpose when they were playing a game or something.”

  “I don’t believe that for a minute,” Charmaine said firmly. “No way.”

  “Are you saying that she’s lying?”

  Charmaine hesitated. Careful here, girl, she thought. “Maybe you misunderstood her.”

  “I don’t think so,” Tyrone said. “She sounded pretty clear to me. And we both know they don’t get along. But I’ll get to the bottom of it when I get there.”

  Charmaine glanced toward the letter she was typing. She wanted to leave the office so badly to see what was going on herself, but her boss needed this draft now. And then she would probably want to make revisions. Charmaine figured she would be lucky to get out of there within the next hour.

  “Do me a favor?” she asked Tyrone. “Call me when you get to the house. I’m going to try to get off here, but I’m not sure when I can.”

  “We don’t both need to be there. I can handle it.”

  Charmaine wasn’t so sure about that. In fact she was sure of the opposite. Tyrone would never be able to deal with this impartially because it involved his daughter. The only way to ensure that Kenny got a fair shake would be to get there herself.

  As soon as they hung up she dialed the house. Kenny picked up on the first ring.

  “Ma, I was just trying to reach you,” he said anxiously. “Tiffany has a busted lip.”

  “I know. Tyrone just called me. What happened?”

  “We were playing tennis on the Wii, and I reached back to swing and hit her. I didn’t mean it. It was an accident, I swear.”

  “I know you didn’t mean it, Kenny. But I’ve told you repeatedly to stand far apart when you play on that thing.”

  “I forgot and then she moved in just as I was swinging.”

  “Did you apologize to her?”

  “Yeah. About a hundred thousand times, but she keeps saying I did it on purpose,” Kenny said, his voice rising with anger. “I’m through apologizing to her.”

  “Calm down. I know you would never do something like that deliberately, okay? Tyrone is on his way to the house. You just explain your side to him, and I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

  “Can you hurry up? He’s not going to believe me over her, no way. She’s walking around now talking about how her daddy’s going to kick my ass.”

  Charmaine sighed. She wanted to leave so desperately. But there wasn’t much she could do other than try and will Kenny to be strong. “No one is going to kick your ass or anything else. Just tell Tyrone your side of it when he gets there. Don’t be scared. And if there’s a problem, you call me back here. I’ll be there as soon as I can, and we’ll get it straightened out.”

  God, she thought as she put the phone down. It was always something. Tyrone had stayed home the first two and a half weeks of Tiffany’s visit; today was his first day back to work. Charmaine had wondered that morning as she left for the office how long Kenny and Tiffany would be able to get along without adult supervision before one of them killed the other. Guess she knew the answer now.

  She turned back toward the computer and typed as fast as she could.

  Chapter 20

  Evelyn parked her black Benz in front of the garden-style apartment building in College Park that Kevin now called home, shut off the engine, and paused to calm herself. It was crazy how hard her heart was pounding. This was Kevin she was about to see, a man she had known for more than two decades. Why on earth was she so panicked?

  Because he had changed so much, and she wasn’t sure what to expect from him. It felt as if she didn’t know him at all anymore, and that was frightening. There was a time when she could predict Kevin’s reactions with almost perfect precision. No longer. The man upstairs was about as predictable as a boat on a storm at sea.

  If she was going to do this, she might as well get going, she thought. Movement would help her shake off the jittery nerves. She grabbed her purse and the
bag of bagels from the passenger seat, stepped out of the Benz, and walked across the parking lot.

  One good thing to come out of this was getting the jeans and tennis shoes. She almost never wore either unless she was working in the yard. Stylish they were not, but very comfy. She just hoped that Kevin would notice and appreciate her newfound “sluminess” and willingness to bend. She could try to meet him halfway, within reason, if he would just tell her what halfway meant to him. This silence wasn’t going to get them anywhere.

  She walked up the stairs and found his unit on the second floor. She knocked and stepped back so he would be able to see her clearly through the peephole. The door opened soon enough, and Kevin stood there. The sight of his bald head still jolted her every time. He was wearing a navy bathrobe and black slippers, although it looked like he had been up and about for a while.

  “Evelyn,” he said, eyes wide with surprise to see her standing outside the door of his new apartment.

  “Hi.” She forced a smile. “I hope it’s not a bad time.”

  “No.” He opened the door wider. “Come on in.”

  She stepped inside to see a studio apartment that looked almost exactly as she had envisioned it would, furnished sparsely with inexpensive but serviceable rentals. “So this is where you’ve been hanging out?” she said, walking around slowly.

  He nodded. “I know it’s not much, but it will do until I make some decisions. Can I get you anything? Something to drink? I don’t have much besides water. Think I might have a couple of sodas. It’s too early for wine.”

  “I’m fine.” She held the bag up. “Brought you some bagels.”

  “Thanks,” he said, accepting the gift. “I had a pretty big breakfast, but would you like one now?”