Talk a Good Game (41 page)

Probably two or three more kids,
but I wasn’t even going there.

“
And then there’s all that money
that’s been spent. My dress is bought, the banquet hall reserved,
invitations have been sent out.”

I sucked my teeth. “Forget all
that. Fuck that money and your parents because I know
that
’s
what
’s
really
bothering you. For once do you boo.”

“
That
’s
easy for you to say.” Nyree
paused and took a sip of water then cleared her throat.
“I
’
m not like
you.”

I brought my coffee to my lips
then shook my head and said, “That
’s
where you are
wrong. You
’
re more like me than you think.
You just have to start believing it.”

There was a long silence and I
could tell she wasn’t completely convinced.

“
Try putting together a list of
pros and cons. Reasons for marrying Jeremy and reasons for not.”
She may not see it but I already saw a long list of reasons why she
needed to stay the fuck away from him.

There was this sad distant look on
her face. “Together Jeremy and I have been on this spiritual roller
coaster ride and I don’t want to get off. I love having a man who I
can pray and fellowship with. Men like him are rare.”

“
But liars come a dime a dozen,” I
murmured.

Nyree cringed at the mention of
his dishonesty but she had known me long enough to know I don’t
hold punches for anyone.

“
If Timmy was the one, we would
have already been together yet something has always kept us
apart.”

“
How about
miles?” I answered without missing a beat. “He
’s
now
within a ninety-minute commute. You’ve known him long enough to
know what you
’
re getting yourself into.” I took
another sip then leaned in closer. “
Look, I
’
m not saying
break up with Jeremy. Hell. If you love it—I like it. What
I
’
m saying is maybe you just need
to take a little more time to get to know him… and his kids before
you decide this is the man you want to spend the rest of your life
with.”

She stared at me for a moment,
then nodded. “Maybe you
’
re right.”

Of course I am
. I grinned and brought the cup to my lips.

NYREE

We had just gotten done with our Monday morning
staffing meeting and I was heading back to my office when I saw
something that made me duck behind a chair in the conference
room.

“
Girl,
what
’s
wrong with you?” Jenna said and
laughed. I guess I did look ridiculous trying to hide. What I
really wanted to do was slide under the table.

“
I think I just saw my mother go
by,” I whispered.

“
Why in the world would you be
hiding from your mother?”

“
It
’s
a long story.” My heart was
pounding like crazy. I prayed to God I was just seeing things. “Can
you please go tell her I
’
m not here?” I know I
was being a coward but what choice did I have?

“
Are you serious?” Jenna had this
incredulous look of disbelief on her face.

“
Yes!” I snapped then waved my
hand. “Go—now—before she comes and find me.”

“
Okay, I—” As
soon as I heard her voice trail off I already knew even before I
heard my mother
’s
voice that Mabeline had stepped
into the room.

“
Where
’s
Nyree?”

“
Sorry, but I can’t lie to your
mother.” Jenna whispered and before she scurried out the room I
caught her pointing down at me.

Traitor.

“
Nyree Gail Dawson, get from under
that table.”

Oh my goodness. I peeked out over
the edge of the table. “Hey Mama.”

“
Don’t, hey Mama me! You have a
lot of explaining to do.”

I guess I could pretend I had no
idea what she was talking about but Lord know I’d been avoiding her
calls all weekend, and for obvious reasons. I needed to figure out
what I wanted to do about my wedding to Jeremy that was five days
away.

I rose to my feet and watched as
my mother closed the door to the room. I swallowed hard and hoped
there were no meetings scheduled because Mabeline wasn’t going to
tolerate any interruptions. Regardless of who it was.

“
Sit down,” she ordered and I
quickly dropped onto the nearest chair. “What’s going on with
you?”

I counted to five, drew a deep
breath then replied, “I
’
m not sure if I want to
get married.” I leaned across the table and told her about the last
few months. All the lies… Jeremy’s wives and children.

So imagine my surprise when she
snorted rudely and said, “Is that all?”

Okay, so maybe she hadn’t heard me
correctly. “Mama, he
’s
been lying to me!”

“
So what? If anything you should
feel flattered that a man wants to be with you so bad he pretends
to be everything you are looking for in a man.”

I never thought of it that way.

Mama was smiling. “Chile, that man
loves you. You’ll be a fool to let him go.”

The look she gave me told me she
definitely didn’t understand where I was coming from and never
would.

“
Listen, Jeremy came to see me and
he told me everything, but the only thing I heard was how much he
loved you.”

I stared at her for a moment. “He
came to see you?”

“
Yes he did.” She nodded. “Nyree,
see, what you don’t understand is you and Jeremy didn’t put this
together. God did!”

God
?

I felt myself sitting up straight on the chair.

“
What you fail
to realize is… this isn’t about what you want or what Jeremy wants,
it
’s
what the Lord wants.”

I took a moment to let her words process and what
she said made sense on so many levels, and yet all it did was make
me feel even more confused than before.

“
Mom I
understand what you
’
re saying, but I just don’t know.
Jeremy and I are so different. If he had been honest in the first
place, he and I would have never gotten
together.”

“
Exactly!
That
’s
how we know you didn’t put this
together.” She smiled. “God has a plan for the both of
you.”

I drew out a long breath. As much
as I wanted to believe what my mother said was right, I just
couldn’t help but think about the way Jeremy had gone off and
embarrassed me in front of his family. Was that
God
’s
plan as well?

“
Mama, I just need some time to
think about all this.”

What in the world did I say that
for? The smile slipped away from her lips and she glared across the
table as she sneered, “Then you should have thought about that
before you announced your engagement at church.”

What? Was she serious?
“Mama, people change their mind all the
time.”

“
Not my daughter.” She spat then
pointed her finger over at me. “We told you to marry Charlie and
you went off and married that fool Shane, and what he do? Dog you
out and bring you down! Since then all you’ve done is make a mess
of your life, and your father and I are tired of it. Jeremy is a
good man and he loves you.”

“
But love isn’t enough.” I was
pleading for her to understand.

“
Well, you should have thought
about that.” She reached up and scratched her chin. You have no
idea how many times I’ve been tempted to grab a pair of
tweezers.

Mama shook her head. “Your father
and I have shelled out thousands for this wedding on Saturday and I
advise you to be there.”

I lost my composure. How dare she
tell me what to do? “Mama, I’m not a child anymore! I don’t have to
do anything I don’t
want to
do.”

She gave this loud obnoxious laugh
that sent chills down my spine. “Like I said God is in control, not
you, not me.”

I swallowed and didn’t know what
else to say.

Her expression softened as she
reached over and patted my hand. “Marriage isn’t easy. But
you
’ll
learn that soon enough. It
takes hard work on both your parts but Jeremy is a good man… a
God-fearing man.”

“
If he feared God then he wouldn’t
lie to me all the time.”

She waved her hand. “Like I said
before, he loves you and people in love do stupid stuff.
I
’
m sure you’ve done a few in your
lifetime.”

Sure, like dating a married man even though I knew
he had a wife.

“
You have a lot to learn but there
will be plenty of time for that later. Right now you need to get
your head on right and whatever you’ve been doing, needs to stop,
now!”

I tried not to flinch. How was it she always
knew?

“
Call your fiancé and apologize,”
she ordered, then patted my hand again. “We’ll see you on
Saturday.” She started for the door then swung around and narrowed
her gaze at me. “And if you embarrass your father and I…, I swear
you’ll live to regret it.”

With that she left the conference room with me
sitting in the chair for the longest time trying to figure out how
I got myself in such a mess.

JANELLE

I woke up in
Frankie
’s
bed, and his arms wrapped
around me. I smiled and tried to remember what happened the night
before and grinned. It was one of those rare moments when you can
lie beside someone and not have sex and I enjoyed it more than I
had imagined.

I stuck around long enough for him
to make us breakfast, then I went into work. We had several dinner
reservations tonight, including the mayor and a few of his
colleagues. People can say what they want, but white folks like
soul food just as much if not more than us. Once the mayor got a
taste of my baked macaroni and ribs, he
’s
been
sending one of his aides over to pick him up a special
order.

I parked my BMW on the street and
was walking along the sidewalk when I passed Frontline,
Alphonso
’s
store. I stopped, and did a
double-take. In the display window was a slamming jeans jumpsuit
with a wide belt and a plunging neckline. As much as I hated
Alphonso there was one thing he offered his customer, original
pieces. Meaning, if I bought something from him I didn’t have to
worry about some other bitch buying the same outfit at least not
anywhere else in Columbia. And that outfit had my name written all
over it.

I went inside the restaurant and walked to the rear
where April was sitting at a round table working on the employee
schedule for the next pay period. She was better at that than I
was.

“
April,” I called and I strutted
over to her in white pencil skirt and a yellow halter top. On my
feet were neon green sandals.

“
Yeah?” she answered and didn’t
even bother to look up. Anyone else I would have felt some type of
way.

“
I need you to do me a
favor.”

“
What kinda favor?” April finally
glanced my way with her brow pointed toward the ceiling like she
was expecting me to ask her to do something crazy.

“
I need you to go next door and
buy that jean jumpsuit in the window.” I took a seat across from
her.

“
You mean from
that
tacky
store
next door?” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“
Okay, whatever,” I commented with
a playful roll of the eyes that sent her giggling.

“
Why don’t you go and get it
yourself?” she teased.

“
You know why.” I rose and headed
back to my office.

Fifteen minutes later April
appeared at my door. “Al says if you want it then you need to come
and get it yourself.”

I gasped. “
What
? You told him it was for
me?”

She had the nerve to try and look
offended. “
Really
?”

I shrugged. “I
’
m
just saying…”

“
You know me better than that. Al
said he saw you salivating when you walked by his
window.”