by Cydney Rax
Burgundy fiddled around the house working on some chores. But after a while, she received an unexpected call from a Baller Cutz employee. He informed her that she needed to handle a problem they were having with a distributor.
“This is a bad time. Can you get Nate to help?”
“His phone is off. That’s why I called you, Mrs. Taylor.”
Burgundy thought about it. Her husband must have gone to his hotel room and fallen asleep. Since Liz was there with the kids, it should be no problem to rush out and handle that little bit of business.
“If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Tell you what. I’m on the way.”
Burgundy always loved when she could get away from everybody. She told Liz to watch the girls and that she’d return as soon as she could.
It was late afternoon. One half of the sky was clear, the other filled with slow-moving, dark clouds. The clouds threatened to release some rain so the girls had to hurry if they wanted to get in a good swim.
Elyse reclined on a cushioned chair and watched her beautiful nieces. The Taylors had an in-ground pool, but they also had space enough for an aboveground kiddie pool. Sidnee and Natalia laughed and played as they splashed water on each other. Then they jumped up and ran to leap into the larger, in-ground pool.
Elyse thoughtfully observed the girls. She wondered how it felt to be carefree and joyous without any worries.
“C’mon, Elyse. Get in.” Natalia encouraged Elyse to join them.
She stood up and held her arms as she shivered.
“I can’t swim that well. Gamba is supposed to give me some lessons. But I don’t know when he’s coming back.”
“Don’t wait on him. Swim!”
Natalia splashed around some more.
Elyse thought about it. How long could she wait for someone else in order to have fun, feel good, get some loving? She removed her cover-up and was wearing a bikini.
She knew she looked good and wished Gamba could see her.
Elyse walked over to the edge of the pool and dipped her toe in the water.
“Cold, too cold.”
“No, it’s not. C’mon.”
“Okay, Nat. Hold on a sec.” Elyse decided to muster up some courage. She walked backward, stopped, then raced toward the pool. She closed her eyes, pinched her nose, and hurled herself into the water. A loud splash could be heard.
Soon her entire body was covered in wetness. The sound of water rushed over her head. Elyse violently kicked her legs until she rose to the top. She let out a breath and an exhilarating shout.
“Woo, baby,” she said with a laugh.
“Yay. You did it.”
“I can’t believe it, but yes. I did it,” Elyse said to Natalia.
She awkwardly moved her arms about in the water but it felt like she was drowning. As if the water was pulling and holding her down; like she was fighting to get free. Elyse did not like how that felt. Plus, it had just started to sprinkle. Gamba always warned her to get out of the water if it should ever begin to rain.
“Lightning is unpredictable,” he had told her. “And you never know when a bolt of lightning will flash down from the sky. You don’t know where it may strike.”
It was as if her mentor were there with her, a guardian angel who never left her side. Elyse felt his presence and began to miss him.
Elyse hung around a bit longer as she felt raindrops fall on her head. She waded through the water and lifted herself out of the pool.
“I can’t swim in the rain,” she told the girls, who whined when they saw her get out.
“Why not?” Sid asked.
“Too dangerous. And both of you need to get out.”
Liz was busy talking on her cell phone and wasn’t completely aware of what the girls were doing. So they ignored Elyse and continued to play.
Elyse dried herself off and went to sit in a lounge chair that was inside the covered patio. Once she was done, she sat there with her mind on Gamba. Suddenly, she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She jumped. The girls were so busy playing that they never noticed their dad enter the backyard.
Elyse looked into his eyes, which loudly spoke to her. She shook her head. Nate bobbed his head and pointed to the door that led to the house.
Suddenly all the lessons that Dru and Gamba taught her rapidly disappeared. She couldn’t think of one thing to say to him.
“Let’s go,” he said.
“Can’t.”
“Why?”
“Sick.”
“I’ll help you feel better.”
Elyse quietly moaned as if her stomach was aching. She was glad Natalia and Sidnee were too preoccupied to see what was going on. Nate gave her an impatient look. She slowly got up. She glanced back at the girls, then quietly followed her brother-in-law into the house.
“Where is Liz?” he asked.
“She was there before. I dunno.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Elyse shrugged, but then she saw through the kitchen window when Liz emerged from the pool house. She must have briefly gone to the bathroom to talk on the phone.
Nate told Elyse, “Wait here.”
When he returned he had a body camera attached to his shirt. He turned it on.
He asked her, “Elyse, so you say you don’t feel well? What on you hurts?”
“Stomach.”
He told her, “We have medicine for that. Follow me.”
He walked to the powder room and opened up a medicine cabinet. He found something to relieve acid indigestion and belly aches. He ripped off two sheets of chewable tablets.
“Here you go. Eat a couple of these. It’ll make you feel better.”
She did as she was told and noticed that the camera was rolling.
He also gave her some other pills that had to be taken with water.
As he stood and watched Elyse, large dots of sweat covered his forehead, and his armpits were damp.
“Do you see what I’m doing?” he said.
She gave him a blank look.
“I’m being good to you. I’m watching out for you, for your well-being. That’s what I do.”
“That’s what you do now.”
Nate got Elyse a cold bottle of water to wash down all the drugs then he went to put the medicine back in the powder room. When he returned, he heard voices coming from the kitchen area.
A voice was saying, “Where’s Elyse?”
He strained his ears to listen.
“I dunno. We looked up and she was gone,” Natalia said.
Then Sidnee asked, “Aunt Coco, can you make us a cheeseburger and some Kool-Aid? And some baked ’tato wedges?”
Coco laughed. “Y’all love my cooking, huh? Okay, baby girl. I need to find my sister first. Go upstairs and change into some play clothes. And don’t get the carpet wet. Put on your flip-flops.”
The girls said okay. The pitter-patter of their little feet could be heard as they pounded up the back stairs. Nate quickly escaped to the master bedroom before his daughters could see him. He locked his door and his mind began to race.
What’s Coco doing here all of a sudden? Did she notice my car in the driveway? Shit, why didn’t I pull the car into the garage?
His cell phone began to ring. It was Coco. But he did not answer. He decided to ignore his nosy sister-in-law and head for the shower. To try and clean himself off with lots of water.
Chapter 16
Reinvention
The following day, Burgundy was seated in a restaurant booth across from a male companion. A hearty sandwich, a steaming bowl of soup, and a fresh salad were nicely arranged on the table in front of her. But she wasn’t very hungry.
“How are you doing, Burgundy?” the man asked.
“I’m good.”
“You sure?”
“I am.”
“C’mon, it’s me you’re talking to.”
Burgundy smiled. Her lunch partner could see right through her lies. Edmund Langston Murray was a recently divorced thirt
y-two-year-old who owned several catfish restaurants in the Houston area.
She took a sip of her ice water then set it down.
“Look at me,” he commanded.
She did. It was difficult yet wonderfully easy to lock eyes with Edmund. He possessed very strong, handsome features. A neat mustache, smooth, thick lips, penetrating eyes that could see right through her. Ed had that effect. And that’s what made Burgundy happy yet afraid.
“You are going through a lot, Burgundy, probably way more than you’ve already told me.”
“Hmm. You’re right. It’s just that I don’t want to—”
“For the millionth time, you are not bothering me. We’re buddies. We talk. That’s what we do. We get things off our chest. God knows you were there for me when I needed somebody.”
Burgundy shifted in her seat and crossed her legs. She was wearing a sleeveless belted dress with a pair of sandals that showed off her fresh pedicure. Ed liked a woman who knew how to take care of herself.
He admired that this woman had gone through hell with her no-good husband but she still knew how to keep her hair and nail salon appointments.
“Did you hear what I said?” he asked. “We can talk about whatever you want to talk about. No topic is off topic.”
“That’s easy for you to say. People claim they want to listen to you, but they’re not always telling the truth. They say that just to be polite.”
He reached over and caressed her hand.
“Please don’t do that.”
“Why not?”
She nervously glanced around the deli that they’d been patronizing for lunch dates during the past few weeks.
“You never know who is around. Or who’s watching. Or who’s taping you with their phone.” She winced in anguish. “And you never know who you’ll run into. How can I explain having lunch with you?” She laughed almost hysterically. “None of this makes a bit of sense.”
“What? Why can’t we be friends? We can’t do lunch? Discuss business? Which, by the way, is what we do eighty percent of the time anyway. We discuss the restaurant business, am I right?”
“Yes, you are. You’re just nice enough to listen to me gripe now and then, which is something I promised myself never to do again. Yet I find myself opening up to you in ways I never imagined.”
Her voice was soft, gentle. Ed made her feel jittery. She surmised that her heart was now more involved than she ever wanted it to be.
I’m married, she told herself.
Then, I’m horny and angry. I’m uptight and ruder than I’ve ever been. A nice piece of dick just might do the trick.
She instantly pushed those thoughts far, far from her mind.
“If you want to stick to business, we can do that, Burgundy. I don’t want to pressure you. I’ll let you decide what we do, when we do it, where we do it—”
“Stop, stop, stop,” she said as she toyed with her silverware. “Edmund, why do you do that? You always make me laugh even when you’re not trying to.”
“Hey, laughing feels good. Way better than crying.”
“You’re right.”
“And it’s good to laugh and let go sometimes. To chill and not worry about the industry, the trends, the whatevers that we tend to let bother us.”
“The current spouses.”
“And the ex-ones. Hey, if I could move on from a bad relationship anyone can.” He winked at her and leaned back in his chair. Edmund was cool like that. That’s why she enjoyed being around him.
“You’re a free spirit, Elm.” Elm was the nickname she’d recently given him, and he liked it.
“Oh, is that what you call it? I’ve been called a lot of things, but the word ‘free’ has never been part of the description.”
“You’re something else.”
“You ain’t seen nothing yet, Burgundy.”
She loved the way he pronounced her name. The syllables rolled off his tongue as if he were a soul singer.
Ed took a sip of his own drink and then waved over the server.
“This water here. It’s good, man, but it just isn’t doing it for us. Please bring us two mai tais.”
“Elm—”
“C’mon, woman. You need to loosen up. You look so stiff that it’s embarrassing. Lookin’ like a statue in a wax museum.”
“It’s that bad?”
“Worse.”
Her eyes twinkled. She laughed in spite of herself.
“What the hell?” she said. “Tell you what, skip the mai tai. Make that a hurricane for me.”
“Whoa. You sure?” Ed asked.
“Positive.”
“This I gotta see.”
“Elm, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
The couple continued to chat with ease, sipping slowly on their cocktails and nibbling on their Reuben sandwiches and chef salads.
If anybody had needed her during the lunch hour, she would have had no way of knowing. She had locked away her phone in a secret compartment in her SUV, a rarity for Burgundy, who was accustomed to always staying connected. She enjoyed how she was now purposely trying to calm down and ease back from the pressures of her life.
“If you knew what I knew about myself, you might not even want to be my buddy,” she told him.
“It can’t be that bad.”
“It’s worse.” She thought about how bitchy she’d been with Elyse and with Alita. It wasn’t in her nature to be that mean-spirited. And she felt awful inside.
But since early summer Burgundy had had Ed to help take her mind off her troubles.
Right then the restaurant atmosphere was relaxed and happy and filled with patrons enjoying their lunch breaks with easy conversation and good food.
“You know what? I adore this place, Elm. It reminds me of New York. Dammit, I had so much fun while there. It’s sad that I rarely take a vacation. All I do is work and solve other people’s problems. And it’ll be good when I can find time to get away again.”
“That’s why I’m glad that we’re attending the upcoming conference. It’s not a real vacation, but it’ll give you a little bit of a break.”
She said nothing.
“You are still going, aren’t you?”
“I guess so,” she replied. “I mean, with everything else going on. Hiring the attorneys. Figuring out legal troubles. And making sure the nanny works out.”
“Is Liz giving you problems?”
“She’s working out okay, but I’m very picky. She seems to be devoted, but sometimes I sense that she is distracted. She is from Jamaica, you know, and she’s always on her phone dealing with quite a few calls from her people. She told me she has relatives who live all over the world. And I understand she wants to hear from them, yet the whole thing irritates me. She acts like I don’t notice how much she’s on that damned phone.”
“Families are always dealing with issues, Burgundy.”
“Yes, they are.”
“If you want to get away from it all even for a nice weekend trip, you need to commit to going to that trade show. It’ll be nice to go mingle, gamble, and do other things as required.”
“You just won’t stop, will you?”
“Can’t stop. Won’t stop.”
* * *
Later that evening, after Burgundy came home, she pondered the state of her affairs. And the more she thought about it, the more she felt that she should continue on her quest to keep her family strong and intact. It’s just that trying to do it alone was draining. She needed some help.
And when she went to Nate, of all people, that’s when she knew she was desperate.
They were seated outside on the covered patio. The bubbling of water could be heard from the swimming pool. It was late evening, twilight, and from outward appearances everything looked tranquil and perfect within their small world.
Nate was wearing his reading glasses and was studying a sheaf of documents.
“What are you up to?” Burgundy asked.
“These contracts. I�
�m going over the fine print. To see if every detail is right regarding the launch of the fourth Morning Glory. You know the one we want to set up in Clear Lake?” Clear Lake was a Houston suburb located on the southeast side of the city, and Nate had a goal of owning restaurants in the four corners of the metropolitan area.
“You know what, Nate? I’ve been thinking. I have a feeling we shouldn’t open a fourth restaurant. The timing isn’t good. And quite frankly, we’re already spread too thin with the current three.”
“Are you serious? A few weeks ago, you were getting on me to set things up.”
“Many things have changed. So I’ve changed my mind.”
“Seriously? But why, Burg?”
“I’m feeling overwhelmed. About a lot of things. These legal issues, these business ventures. Life isn’t feeling right these days.”
Burgundy bit her bottom lip, which threatened to start trembling. She could feel seeds of resentment building up inside of her. That was one of her faults. Some issues she could freely speak about. Others lodged deep inside of her and threatened to explode with no warning.
“I just feel that there is no need to add extra burdens to my life, Nate. I feel like I’m doing these very important things all on my own.”
“But now we have Liz. You begged me to hire a nanny to help out.”
“I know. I know, but it’s still not enough.” Burgundy knew she was skirting the issue. Domestic help wasn’t the problem that vexed her during the night.
“The girls are doing great,” she continued. “They are happy and healthy. I’m not exactly worried about them.”
“Then what are you worried about?”
“You.”
“Me?”
“Yes.” She felt exasperated. “You bother me, Nate. A lot. I just don’t understand.”
“What are you talking about this time?”
She stood up and started pacing on the cobblestone flooring that felt slippery underneath her feet.
“This time, Nate, I’m talking about how you seem to just blow off the Elyse thing like nothing ever happened. You expect me and our attorneys to clean up your messes for you. It’s like you’ve washed your hands of anything that’s happened. You duck, hide, and bury yourself in your work. It’s an avoidance move that doesn’t deal with the issues.”
