by Carl Weber
Knock, knock.
No answer at Kyle’s door.
Knock, knock.
Still no answer. The first thought that came to mind was that he had already gone down to the restaurant, but then I noticed his plastic room key was still in the door.
“Kyle?” I opened his door. His room was pitch black, so I flicked on the lights.
“Turn off the light!” he yelled, pulling the covers over his head.
“Aw‘ight, man, calm down.” His room smelled like a brewery, which didn’t make any sense, ’cause when he left us the night before, he’d only had one drink.
“Get up. It’s nine o’clock. We gotta meet Allen and Jay.” I turned on a few more lights. To hell with his protests.
“I’m not goin’,” he groaned.
“Stop playin’, Kyle. Get up.” I pulled the covers off the bed.
“Stop it, Wil. I’m not goin’. I’m not going to breakfast and I’m damn sure not going to no wedding.”
“Man, you better get up. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Stop messin’ with me, Wil. I know Diane told you what happened last night. She definitely wouldn’t pick now to keep her trap shut, would she?”
I didn’t move from the spot where I was standing.
“Oh my God. You really did fuck her?” There was a strange silence between Kyle and me. A silence that only two best friends could understand. A silence whose meaning could only be determined by his answer, and Lord help him if it was the wrong answer. He sat up.
“I swear on my kids, Wil, I didn’t touch her.” His voice was humble. He was begging me to believe him.
“Okay, bro. That’s what I thought.” I sighed thankfully.
I picked up his pants from the floor and threw them at him. “Get dressed. You still got a lot of explaining to do.”
Kyle told me his side of the story as he dressed. A story that actually made sense, although I still shoulda slapped him for going into Rose’s room in the first place. And why he stayed after she’d disrobed was beyond explanation and was as asinine as anything even Jay had done in the past.
“You think I should tell Al?” Kyle asked after he finished his explanation.
I took a deep breath. “Probably. But before we make that decision, I think we need to talk to Rose.”
“Why? Fuck that bitch.”
“Kyle, Allen didn’t have a chance to tell you this before you went upstairs last night, but Rose is pregnant. And you know how much he wants to have kids.” Kyle’s eyes were as wide as silver dollars.
“You serious?”
“Yep.” I walked over to the phone. “Why you think Rose and Ma Jackson been so tight lately?”
“I don’t know. I never gave it much thought.”
“Well, think about this. Rose mighta already told Allen her version of the story to cover her ass. And if I know her, you’re the one who’s gonna look like the bad guy in the end. We might wanna hold off ’til we know a little more.”
“Damn, you’re right,” he said sadly, scratching his head. “You think he’d believe her over me?”
I didn’t answer Kyle ’cause I didn’t really know the answer. What I did know was that if it was me and it came down to Diane and my kids or him, well, Kyle would be ass out in the long run. ’Cause I’m sticking with my family, even if Diane is wrong. My kids just mean too much to me. Chances were, on their wedding day, Rose had a good chance of beating Kyle in a game of “guess-who’s-telling-the-truth.” I picked up the phone and dialed 0 for the hotel operator.
“Can you connect me with room 1611? It’s the honeymoon suite.”
“Hello?” a female voice answered. It wasn’t Rose, but an older woman.
“Can I speak with Rose, please?”
“Rose is getting dressed. She’ll have to call you back. Can I ask who’s calling?”
“This is Wil. Can you tell her it’s important?”
“Hey, Wil, this is Mama Jackson. Everything all right, baby?”
“Yeah, Ma, I just need to speak to Rose. Can you tell her it’s about last night?” I never would have expected Allen’s mother to be answering the phone in Rose’s suite, but things seemed to be getting stranger and stranger. I hoped I hadn’t said too much by mentioning the reason for my call. No need to get her suspicious about anything, but I guess it was too late to worry about it. I’d already said it.
Apparently it hadn’t meant much to Ma Jackson, because she didn’t ask any questions, and a few seconds later Rose was on the line.
“H-hello?” Rose’s voice was trembling.
“This is Wil. We need to talk.”
“I’m trying to put my wedding dress on before the photographer gets here, Wil. Can’t it wait?” I didn’t appreciate her evasiveness. She knew damn well it couldn’t wait.
“No, it can’t wait. Now if you wanna play this little game, you can play it. But if you don’t get down here in the next five minutes, you ain’t gonna have a wedding to wear that dress to.” The line was silent.
“I’ll be right there,” she finally answered.
“We’re in Kyle’s room, 1624.”
“Okay.”
It took longer than I expected, but about ten minutes later there was a knock on the door. I got up and answered it, but to my surprise, it wasn’t Rose. It was Allen’s mother, and she walked right past me without a word. She sat on the bed next to Kyle.
“Wil, you grab one of them chairs and bring it over here. I wanna talk to you boys.”
“Yes, ma‘am,” I obeyed. Ma Jackson wasn’t my mother, but Kyle and I gave her that kinda respect ’cause she damn near raised us.
“Now I heard what happened last night and I hope you boys ain’t tryin’ to break up this here wedding.” Kyle and I both glanced at each other. I’m sure he was thinking the same thing I was. Somehow Rose had gotten to Ma Jackson.
“Ma, I don’t know what Rose told you but—” Ma raised her hand and Kyle shut up.
“Rose told me y’all had a friendly drink last night that mighta got misconstrued.”
“Well, that’s not exactly the truth, Ma. She—” Ma raised her hand again, turning so she was face to face with Kyle.
“It’s the truth. Let’s leave it at that, okay, baby? Ain’t no reason to stir up nothin’ on my baby’s wedding day.”
“But, Ma, she ain’t right,” Kyle pleaded.
“She’s carryin’ Allen’s baby, Kyle. That makes her all right with me. I know you wouldn’t wanna do anything that might keep me from seeing that baby, would you?” Kyle sat in silence a second.
“Would you?” Ma repeated.
“No, Ma Jackson.” He sounded just like a little kid.
“Now that’s what I wanna hear.” She patted Kyle’s knee and stood up. “You boys get downstairs to Allen. Make sure he looks real good. I wanna be proud of him. And don’t you worry. I got my eyes on Rose. She’s not as slick as she thinks she is.” Ma Jackson walked toward the door then turned to me. “Wil, you keep your wife quiet, you hear? I’m countin’ on you boys to keep this whole thing between us.” She left, and Kyle and I stared at each other in stunned silence.
“Let me ask you something, Wil. Did I miss something or did she not care that her future daughter-in-law is a piece o’ shit? I mean, that was scary.” Kyle had a look of bewilderment on his face and mine probably didn’t look much different.
“I don’t know, man, but I’m afraid for Allen.”
“Me too, Wil. Me too. If Rose gives Ma Jackson a grandchild, she’s gonna let Rose rule over Allen for the rest of his life. Man, he ain’t got a snowball’s chance in hell of ever being truly happy.”
I only wish I could have disagreed.
24
Allen
It was exactly one hour and fifteen minutes from my wedding and I can’t ever remember a time when I was more nervous. My stomach was doing flips, and I thought for sure I was gonna throw up at any moment. And if that wasn’t bad enough, my hands were shaking so bad I could
n’t put my tie on right. Oh, and to top it all off, I just screamed on my boys so bad they decided to go back to their own rooms to get dressed for the wedding. In retrospect I wish I hadn’t acted so stupid ’cause I could sure have used some company right about then. I was an emotional wreck and about ready to call off the whole thing.
As I stood in front of the mirror trying to straighten my tie, I thought about Rose and the life we were about to start. Was she really the woman I wanted to marry? Up until breakfast this morning I was positive she was. At least I was until Kyle posed a question that made me doubt the reasons I was getting married.
“Yo, Al, let me ask you a question,” Kyle said seriously. He hadn’t spoken all morning and had barely touched his breakfast. I hadn’t pushed the issue ’cause I figured he’d taken Lisa showing up at the hotel bar last night with her new friend badly.
“Sure, bro. Ask me anything.”
Wil cleared his throat and Kyle waved him off, saying, “Lemme handle this, Wil. I know what I’m doing.” Then he turned to me. “Allen, are you settling?”
“What do you mean, am I settling?” I asked as I crunched on a piece of bacon.
“Are you settling? Are you settling with Rose because the three of us are married and you’re not? Or maybe because your mother wants grandchildren? Marriage is not an easy road to travel. Look at me.”
I picked up another piece of bacon and smiled as I made eye contact with each of my best friends.
“No, I’m not settling. I love Rose and I’m going to marry her,” I said confidently, pointing my bacon at each of them. Kyle dropped it, but all through breakfast and up ‘til now I kept thinking about what he had suggested. Now that the seed had been planted, I kept reminding myself that I did get with Rose on the rebound from Cinnamon. Hell, if she had-n’ t put so much pressure on me and Ma hadn’t given me Granny’s ring, I might’ve waited another year before proposing. Throw in the fact that I had gotten sick of Ma constantly asking me when she was gonna get some grandkids. I guess I could’ve been settling. The ironic thing was now I was feeling pushed into this, not by one, but by two women! Thank God my thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. The last thing I needed now was to be left alone to think.
“It’s open,” I yelled. I smiled when my cousin Malcolm walked in wearing a tailor-made blue suit. I was hoping he wasn’t mad at me for not asking him to be in the wedding.
“Somebody told me there was a brother who lost his mind and decided to get married in here. I gotta find that brother and see if I can get him some help, ’cause he’s certifiably crazy.” Malcolm laughed hard as we embraced. “How you holdin’ up there, Al? You nervous?”
“Nah, this is gonna be easy,” I lied.
“Sure it is.” Malcolm smiled then turned serious. “No, really, Allen. You nervous?”
“Nervous as hell.” I took a deep breath, shaking my head. “Nervous as hell!”
“Don’t worry. I hear everyone gets nervous a few hours before.” Malcolm glanced at my crooked tie and laughed. “Man, you need to get your shit together.” He straightened my tie. “Where the hell’s that crew of yours anyway? They should be doing this.”
“They were getting on my nerves so I kicked ’em out. They’ll be back in a few.”
When Malcolm finished with my tie, he stood in front of me, checking me out like Ma used to do on Sundays before church.
“You look good,” he said, nodding his head in approval.
“Thanks,” I replied.
“Congratulations,” Malcolm stuck his hand out and pulled me in for another embrace. “Love you, man.”
“Yeah, I love you too, cuz. Where the hell you been anyway? I thought you was coming to my bachelor party.”
Malcolm sat down in one of the chairs the hotel provided. “Yeah, well, I wanted to but I figured I’d ruin things for you by being there.”
“Ruin things, how?”
“By gettin’ into a fight with your boy Jay. You know I owe that nigga an ass whuppin’ for what he did to me at Wil’s house.”
“I wish you two would grow up. Y’all too old for this shit.”
“Yeah, well, I came to the same conclusion once the swelling in my eyes went down. That boy sure knows how to throw a punch.” He rubbed his eyes. “But seriously, I got Jay’s number from Kyle so that we could squash things, but every time I call, Jay’s never home. I did talk to his wife a few times, though. She’s a real nice woman. How the hell did he ever get her?”
“Yeah, Kenya’s a good woman.” I ignored his last comment. “Look, I want you and Jay to sit down and talk tonight.”
Malcolm shot me a look. “You sure you wanna take that kinda chance? You know how we get. He’s fire and I’m gasoline.”
“On second thought, maybe y’all two should talk when I get back from my honeymoon.”
“Aw’ight, man. Lemme get downstairs. My moms and pops are waiting for me to drive them to the church.” We hugged again.
“Look, I’m sorry about you not being in the wedding. It’s just with Jay—” He cut me off with a wave of his hand.
“Say no more, bro. This is your day. I’m just here to celebrate it with you. By the way, I hear more congratulations are in order.” He rubbed his stomach.
“Yeah, I’m gonna be a daddy.” I smiled, remembering why there was no turning back.
“It must be a good feeling.”
“It is,” I smiled. “Hopefully you’ll be next.”
“You never know. I’m workin’ on something as we speak.”
“I hope it works out for you, cuz. I really do.” We both smiled as he walked out the door.
“Clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink, clink!” The entire reception room was filled with the sound of silverware lightly hitting crystal. Rose and I responded by kissing for the millionth time. We’d just been introduced for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Allen Jackson and were slow-dancing to our wedding song, “Endless Love” by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross.
“I love you, Mrs. Jackson,” I whispered in her ear as we danced. All the doubt I felt ended the minute I saw her walk down that aisle. She was so beautiful and I was proud to know she was gonna be all mine.
“That’s Mrs. Brown-Jackson,” she corrected me. “Your mother is Mrs. Jackson.”
“Oh yeah.” I gave a fake laugh. The last thing I wanted to hear on our wedding day was that she wasn’t taking my last name.
When the song ended, we walked over to the reception line to be greeted as man and wife by our friends and family. Standing in the front of the line were Jay and Kenya. Jay had stood in as my best man. Wil and Kyle were my best men also, but Jay stood in front and held on to the rings. I figured it was the least I could do since he had set up my bachelor party.
“Congratulations, dawg.” He grabbed my hand tightly and nodded his head with approval before kissing my new bride on the cheek. “Take care of him, Rose.”
“I will,” she assured him as he and Kenya moved out of the way for Wil and Diane.
“Congrats, my brother.” Wil shook my hand.
“Thanks, Wil.” I couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t smile when he spoke.
“You got a good man here, Rose. Don’t blow it.” Their eyes were locked on each other. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn Wil had won a staring contest.
“I won’t,” Rose said as she looked away.
“Congratulations, Allen.” Diane wrapped her arms around me tightly then stepped back. “If you ever need a real friend, you know my number.”
“Huh?” I gave her a confused look.
“What she means is, you know our number. Right, Di?” Wil elbowed his wife, who gave Rose a wicked smile as they shook hands. I thought it was really odd that Rose and Diane didn’t hug or kiss, but that might have had something to do with what happened during the wedding ceremony.
It wasn’t funny then, but now that I think about it, Diane did add a little flavor to the wedding. The entire wedding ceremony ha
d been going perfectly. That is, until the preacher announced, “If there is anyone who has reason that this couple should not be married, let them speak now or forever hold their peace.” I took a deep breath and glanced at Jay, Wil, and Kyle, and although Kyle and Wil were fidgety, they remained silent. But out of nowhere there was a sudden loud cough that sounded a lot like She’s a slut, she’s a slut. Everyone in the church turned to the culprit, who turned out to be Diane. Just like a child who got caught with their fingers in the cookie jar, she smiled and said, “Oops, sorry. Something got caught in my throat.” I don’t know if Diane did that on purpose or not, but I was gonna have to ask Rose what she thought when we got to the Bahamas later that night.
When I looked down the reception line, conspicuous by his absence was my man Kyle. “Yo, where’s Kyle?” I turned to Wil and Jay, who were congratulating Ma and Rose’s parents.
“I don’t know, he was here a minute ago,” Wil replied. He never even lifted his head.
“I think he took the girls to the bathroom,” Jay told me.
I glanced down the reception line again. The girls were with Lisa. She’d really done the right thing by not bringing her friend to the wedding. I’d have to thank her for that one day. But my main concern was where the hell did Kyle disappear to ?
“Don’t worry about him, Allen, we’ve got other guests to greet,” Rose demanded, tugging on my hand.
It was almost three hours later and my reception was almost over when I finally saw Kyle stroll through the doors followed by my ma and Wil. He’d taken off his tux and was wearing street clothes now as he walked up to me and Rose.
“I’m sorry I missed the reception. I was in my room sick. I think it was something I ate during breakfast.” His voice was weak and not once did he make eye contact or even look at Rose. I couldn’t help but think he was lying. He had barely touched his breakfast.
“You feeling any better?”