Charmaine arrived home from the dress rehearsal, dropped the dry cleaning she had stopped to pick up for Tyrone onto a kitchen
chair, and grabbed the ringing phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Charm,” Evelyn said.
“Oh, hey.”
“I’ve been calling and calling,” Evelyn said.
“I had to make some stops,” Charmaine said. “What’s up?”
“I’ve been trying to reach Beverly, but she’s not answering her cell or home phone,” Evelyn said. “I wanted to talk to her
since she was so subdued at the dress rehearsal.”
“I noticed that too,” Charmaine said.
“What do you think is going on with her?” Evelyn asked.
“If you ask me, she’s still got that thing with Valerie on her mind,” Charmaine said. “Understandably.”
“Yes, but you know how she is,” Evelyn said. “And she and Julian arrived in separate cars. I’m more than a little worried.”
“I don’t think she’ll cancel tomorrow, if that’s what you’re thinking. She told me that she and Julian were getting together
for dinner after the rehearsal.”
“Oh, good,” Evelyn said. “I didn’t know that. So I can stop worrying.”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Charmaine said. “Julian is special and she knows that. But how are
you
holding up? And how did things go with Reuben? I didn’t get to ask you at rehearsal.” Everyone was so worried about Beverly
with the big day approaching, which wasn’t surprising, given Beverly’s shaky history with weddings, Charmaine thought. But
Evelyn was the one going through the roughest time.
“My date couldn’t have gone better, actually,” Evelyn said. “Until Kevin showed up, that is. He was waiting when Reuben dropped
me off.”
“You’re kidding!”
“Nope.”
“What happened?” Charmaine asked.
“It was a mess,” Evelyn responded. “But I said what needed to be said to him and kicked his butt to the curb.”
“Good for you,” Charmaine said. “Are you really over him emotionally? It’s been less than a month since he left.”
“Honestly, I’m so over him it ain’t even funny. Do I still have feelings for him? Of course. But I’m past the point of wanting
us to get back together because I know it would never work. Our relationship had been strained for years, and after what he
did with Valerie, I would never be able to trust him again. And I can’t be married to someone I can’t trust. I’ve definitely
moved on.”
“You slept with Reuben, didn’t you?”
Evelyn gasped and laughed out loud. “Now where on earth did that come from?”
“I hear it in your voice, girl. You sound like a new woman.”
“Really?”
“Yes, and it’s about damn time too!”
Evelyn laughed again. “I know. Better late than never, I guess.”
“Damn straight. I’m so happy for you. When are you seeing him again?”
“He might come to the wedding with me tomorrow. We’re discussing it.”
“So you’re a couple already?” Charmaine asked.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Evelyn said. “But you know what? I’m not even anxious about things like that, like I would have
been after sleeping with a man years ago. If we become a couple, fine; if not and we decide to move in different directions,
that’s fine too.”
“Yes! I never thought I’d hear you talking like that.”
“Neither did I, to tell you the truth,” Evelyn said. “How about you and Tyrone? How’s that going since he moved back in?”
“So far, so good,” Charmaine said. “We’re getting along better. So are Tiffany and Kenny. He looks like a keeper. Got my fingers
crossed.”
“Tyrone seems like good people,” Evelyn said. “I’m glad you all are working things out. Sounds like he must have come around.”
“We both did. I had to ask myself whether I wanted to win every argument or I wanted to be married. I decided to swallow a
little of my pride and offer to meet him halfway, something I would never have done before. I would have insisted on having
it my way, ninety-nine percent.” Charmaine chuckled. “A sure prescription for divorce.”
“So you compromised,” Evelyn said. “Good. But don’t bend too much. You have to draw the line somewhere.”
“Marriage is a trip, isn’t it?” Charmaine said. “A constant juggling act. Why is it so hard?”
“Good question.”
“You’re the therapist. What do you think?” Charmaine asked.
“If I knew the answer, I wouldn’t be just a therapist. I’d also be a best-selling author.”
W
hen Tyrone returned from dropping Kenny and Tiffany off at the bowling alley on Route 40, Charmaine was buck naked and posing
seductively for him in bed. He stripped on the spot, letting all his clothing fall to the floor, and climbed in beside her.
They were both so eager that they actually bumped heads, then fell back laughing. They got so little time alone together that
it almost felt like they were vacationing in the Bahamas.
Twelve minutes later she was gripping the brass headboard, gyrating wildly as the pleasure welled hotly through her loins,
and calling out his name. Her voice incited him, and he went deeper, sending them both to new peaks of bliss.
No sooner had he rolled off her and onto his back than the telephone on the nightstand next to her side of the bed rang.
“Damn,” Tyrone said, pulling the sheet up over his waist. “Perfect timing, whoever that is.”
“No kidding.” Charmaine looked at the caller ID. The number that showed up was the only one she would have bothered to answer
at that moment—Kenny.
“Hi,” she said. “You two aren’t ready to come home this soon, are you?”
“Ma.” Kenny paused, but even with only that one word, Charmaine could tell from the tone of his voice that something was wrong.
She sat up straight, and Tyrone turned toward her, a big question mark on his face.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Charmaine asked.
“We got into a fight,” Kenny said.
“
Who
got into a fight?”
“Me and Tiffany.”
Oh, hell, Charmaine thought. Not again.
“What’s going on?” Tyrone asked anxiously.
“They got into a fight,” Charmaine whispered as she covered the mouthpiece.
“Oh, boy. Anybody hurt?” he asked.
“Are you both all right?” she asked Kenny.
“Yeah, we’re fine, but can you come get us?”
Tyrone was already up. He grabbed his clothes off the floor and went into the adjoining bathroom.
“We’ll be right there,” Charmaine said.
Within ten minutes of the call, Charmaine and Tyrone were pulling out of the driveway and heading toward the bowling alley.
“Do you think we should call and talk to them while we drive?” Tyrone asked.
“He said they were both fine.”
Tyrone shook his head. “They seemed to get along better lately. They were laughing and joking while I drove them to the bowling
alley. What do you think happened?”
“I don’t know. But I still believe we’re making progress. This is just a temporary setback, and whatever happened, we have
to be impartial. The goal is to get them back to getting along again.”
“I agree,” he said, nodding his head.
“They’re teenagers. Hormones and tempers flying. Rivalries.”
He patted her thigh. “Don’t worry. I won’t lose my cool this time. You’re absolutely right.”
Charmaine smiled but prayed to herself that they wouldn’t get there and find things were so bad that one of them was unable
to stay calm and neutral.
“Wonder what it could have been about,” Tyrone said.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Charmaine said as he turned into the parking lot in front of the bowling alley. Almost immediately,
Charmaine spotted Kenny and Tiffany sitting side by side on the curb in front of the bowling alley. Tiffany was holding what
appeared to be wet brown paper towels from the bathroom up against Kenny’s eye.
Tyrone and Charmaine looked at each other with confusion as Tyrone pulled into a parking space. It looked like Kenny had gotten
injured despite his claims to the contrary, but at least they weren’t still trying to punch each other out.
Tyrone shut off the engine, and they both jumped out of the car and ran up to Kenny and Tiffany. The two teens stood up, and
Tiffany removed the towels from Kenny’s eye. Charmaine winced and examined him closely. She didn’t like what she saw. Kenny’s
eye was starting to swell up. No telling what it would look like tomorrow for the wedding. Why couldn’t these two get along?
“Oh, no, Kenny,” she said.
“Let me look,” Tyrone insisted.
Charmaine stepped aside to give Tyrone a chance to examine Kenny’s eye.
“That’s a real shiner you got there, but it will heal,” he said. He reached for the wet paper towels in Tiffany’s hand. They
were filled with slowly melting ice. “This is good. Keep that on there until we get home,” he said, moving her hand back to
Kenny’s face. “Now, tell us what happened.”
“And why are you-all out here?” Charmaine asked.
They both looked at each other and grinned. Charmaine frowned. This was getting more puzzling by the minute. The two of them
seemed strangely chummy for two people who had just fought each other.
“We got kicked out,” Kenny said.
“What?” Charmaine and Tyrone cried in unison.
“The manager told us not to come back until we grow up some,” Tiffany said.
“Or bring our parents with us,” Kenny added.
Tiffany and Kenny both laughed.
“For some reason you two find this funny,” Tyrone said. “Go ahead. I’m waiting to hear exactly what happened.”
“So am I,” Charmaine added.
“Well, this girl in there was picking on me,” Tiffany said.
“What girl?” Tyrone asked.
“Danita,” Kenny said. “She goes to my school. I don’t know her all that well, ’cept I know she’s a troublemaker, always starting
stuff with people.”
“Why was she bothering Tiffany?” Charmaine asked.
Kenny shrugged. “You have to ask Tiffany that. I was inside with some of my boys when all of a sudden I heard shouting where
Tiffany was hanging with some girls. I looked over and I saw that it was Tiffany and Danita.”
“She said I thought I was all that,” Tiffany said. “’Cause I’m from California, I must think I’m cute. She was getting all
up in my face. So I told her, ‘Back off, bitch.’ That’s when she shoved me and I hit her back.”
“So if you were the one fighting,” Tyrone said, “how did Kenny get the black eye?”
“He tried to stop it,” Tiffany said.
“Yeah, I stepped in, trying to break them up. Then Danita’s older brother started messing with me, telling me to mind my own
business. Next thing I know me and him are going at it.”
“So you both got thrown out,” Charmaine said. “Did the other teens involved in this get thrown out too?”
Kenny and Tiffany both nodded.
“I know we shouldn’t have been fighting, but they started it,” Tiffany said.
“You always told me not to start fights but to protect myself, Ma,” Kenny said. “I couldn’t just stand by and watch that girl
pick on Tiffany. We’re family.”
Charmaine sighed deeply.
“Are we in trouble?” Kenny asked.
Charmaine and Tyrone looked at each other, both trying to suppress the smiles about to break out on their faces. She wasn’t
exactly overjoyed to see Kenny all banged up or to hear that he’d been in a fight. Yet she was thrilled to hear that he was
standing up for Tiffany and to see the two of them getting along so well.
“I just got one thing to say,” Tyrone said. “I hope the other dude is busted up at least as bad as you are, man.”
B
everly dashed out of the Baltimore Hyatt hotel room and down the corridor, her overnight bag flung across her shoulder. The
heated exchange with Julian of only moments ago was fresh and vivid in her mind.
“Bev, please. I love you and I want to get married tomorrow. Don’t do this to us.”
“I’m sorry, Julian. I can’t go through with the wedding. I just can’t.”
She reached the elevators out of breath and pressed the down button. She couldn’t shake the sad and disappointed look of rejection
she saw in Julian’s eyes when she had removed the diamond ring from her finger and held it out to him.
“C’mon, c’mon,” she mumbled as she paced in front of the elevators. She needed to get away from there. She saw something moving
out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Julian scrambling down the hallway toward her, dressed only in the slacks he
had hastily thrown on.
“Bev, come back to the room so we can talk,” he said.
She shook her head firmly and turned away from him. “No, Julian. We’ve done enough talking.”
“You’re not making sense, Bev.” He reached out and touched her shoulder. “What are we going to do about tomorrow and all the
people coming? Our family and friends?”
Beverly knocked his hand away. She couldn’t think about tomorrow. If she did, she might go through with something she would
live to regret. She had to think about what she was feeling at this very moment. And what she felt was scared. “I’m sorry,
Julian, but I can’t think about that right now. Please, go away.”
“Is this because of Valerie liking me? I told you it was just a silly crush that she had on me for a while. That’s all.”
Beverly pressed the elevator button again, anxiously willing it to get there. She didn’t want to discuss this anymore. They
had talked about it constantly ever since Valerie admitted her feelings for Julian a few days ago. As soon as Beverly arrived
home after visiting Valerie on Tuesday, she’d called Julian.
“I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me all this time if you knew Valerie liked you romantically,” Beverly had said after
Julian admitted that Valerie had expressed her feelings to him once or twice.
“Maybe I should have, but she told me that before you and I met, and nothing ever happened between us. Not even a kiss.”
“We’re planning to get married, Julian. There should be no secrets between us, especially about something like this.”
“You’re right,” he said. “The two of you were such good friends, and I didn’t want to come between that. But I misjudged.”