Theresa surmised that the conversation between the two women was getting awfully good when Miss Baby Doll took the mold teeth out of her mouth and placed a hand firmly on one hip. She almost looked regular to Theresa, standing there talking like she and Miss Queen Esther had been friends for ages.
“You lying, Baby Doll,” Queen Esther exclaimed in a tone of voice that let Baby Doll know that she actually believed every single word coming out of her mouth.
“If I’m lyin’, I came outta my mama’s womb with these here teefs I’m holding in my hand, in my mouf,” was all Baby Doll said.
Mr. Lacy stopped “looking” around the store and made his way over to the two women, saying, “My baby ain’t tellin’ a lie, Queen. Now, I know she kinda special . . .”
“Ooo, Lacy, you is so sweet, Daddy,” Baby Doll slurped out, blushing and hunching up her shoulders like she was in middle school.
“But she ain’t never been no liar. She wasn’t a liar back in the seventies when she got all tangled up with Big Gold Sykes, thinking she was in love with that Negro, and upped and lost her husband, got to drankin’ hard and taking them pills, went crazy, and then lost her chirrens to the Social Services peoples.”
“How you know all that ’bout me, Daddy?” Baby Doll questioned, shocked that somebody knew who she was.
“Didn’t you live next door to me and my third wife, when you left your mama’s house to marry that Henderson boy?”
Baby Doll just nodded, feeling kind of tearful every time she thought about her first and only love until she met Lacy, Davy Crockett Henderson. He had been a bit on the ugly side—light brown, big wide mouth with widely spaced teeth, big ears that seemed to move of their own volition, and skinny with the biggest feet she’d ever laid eyes on. But he had to be the sweetest, kindest, hardest-working boy in the Cashmere. And back in the day, when she was walking around thinking she was too fine for words, Davy Crockett loved himself some Doll.
Queen Esther gave Baby Doll a thorough once-over and then shook her head in disbelief.
“Doll Henderson? Your daddy name is Skillet, right? That’s who you are, girl?”
Baby Doll nodded her head and said, “Yeah, I’m Skillet’s oldest baby girl—the one he got on the sly right after he married Miss Ella.”
“Yeah,” Queen Esther said. “I remember that. Was a big mess. Your mama’s name was Zenobia, and she used to press heads at the old beauty parlor that used to be off Fayetteville Street, over near where the old St. Joseph’s AME church used to be.”
Queen Esther stared at Baby Doll’s new hairstyle for a moment, wondering why her deceased mama’s skills at giving a good press and curl had not passed down to her child. The woman’s coarse, steel gray hair was parted in a bunch of triangles all over her head, with stiff braids that were held in place with multicolored rubber bands. She looked like she had just been told “thanks but no thanks” at an audition to play Topsy in the remix of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
“You know I really don’t want to speak ill of your mother, God rest her dear departed soul,” Queen Esther began. “But girl, that was a hot affair that she carried on with your daddy. She absolutely couldn’t stay away from Skillet. Would drive by his wife, Miss Ella’s, house, and blow for Skillet to come out and leave with her. Your mama messed up a good marriage to Mr. W.L. Just like you upped and messed up your own marriage to Davy Crockett.”
Mr. Lacy leveled his eyes on Queen Esther. Ever since he’d known her from back in the day at Hillside High School, Queen would blurt out what most folk thought was best left unsaid.
“Yeah, from what little I’ve been told about that, seems like me and Mama were cut from the same cloth on messin’ up. Sometimes I wonder what happened to Davy Crockett and my children after Social Services took ’em from me.”
This time Queen Esther smiled.
“Davy Crockett came and got your four children, married a lady from Memphis, and moved back there with her. From the little bit I’ve heard, they all turned out fine.”
Baby Doll sighed with relief and felt a deep prayer of thanksgiving. She’d always felt in her heart that the children had fared well without her. But it felt so good to have that feeling confirmed.
Mr. Lacy reached out for her hand and patted it gently when he felt the tears welling up in her over those babies. He knew that she cried over them at night and always asked God to take care of them for her.
Theresa, who’d been busy fussing over the latest shipment of nightwear for the Holy Ghost Corner, trying to act like she wasn’t in “grown folks’ business,” couldn’t resist moving a little closer to the three of them to hear more. She didn’t know why she’d been so surprised to learn that they knew Miss Baby Doll in her former life. Mr. Lacy and Miss Queen Esther were old-school black Durhamites—they knew a little bit of something on just about everyone who had ever claimed to be black in Durham County.
Baby Doll turned to Theresa.
“You been satisfied with my cleaning? You ain’t had all of that dust and the store smells better since I’ve been taking care of it.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Theresa answered honestly. “My store has never been as clean and fresh as it has been under your care.”
“You think you want to handle me as permanent part-time? ’Cause I just got on part-time to clean the church and part-time is all the time I have left. Had to look for another job quick after Lacy and I went through Jethro Winters’s things.”
Baby Doll reached inside of her big yellow patent leather pocket-book with a tarnished gold chain strap and pulled out some crumpled-up and motley papers.
“Here, Miss Queen Esther. Give this to your nephew. Like I told you on the phone, the papers got everything he’ll need to build the Cashmere back up.”
Queen Esther took the papers and then gave Baby Doll a big hug.
“Girl, we owe you. Now, when you coming to church and letting the Lord know you thankful for all of the blessings He’s been dropping down out the windows of heaven into your lap?”
Baby Doll took her mold teeth out of her mouth for a second time and went to the back to rinse them with some cold water. She wished those heavenly windows would open wide enough to pour down enough money to get some real false teeth, instead of these painful things that hurt her gums when she wore them too long.
She swished the cold water around in her mouth, and then rubbed some of that stuff you put on babies’ gums when they were teething on her own tender gums.
Within a few minutes she came back, still at a loss as to how she should answer Miss Queen Esther. On the one hand, Miss Queen Esther was absolutely right—Baby Doll really did need to go back to church. Yet on the other hand, she was having a hard time with her excruciatingly slow walk to putting her life back together.
Baby Doll wished she were more patient because she certainly didn’t end up where she was overnight. And even though she was thankful to the Lord for how far she’d come, there were times when she wished the changes she prayed for happened sooner than later.
She dabbed the wet mold teeth dry with a paper towel and put them in the container Theresa had given her. She took a deep breath and then took a stab at sharing what was on her heart.
“See . . . I want to come back to church but . . . I didn’t want to come back like I am. If I’m trusting the Lord to put me back together, don’t it stand to reason that I’d want to come back with a testimony?”
Queen Esther, Theresa, and Mr. Lacy were staring at Baby Doll like she had some real false teeth in her mouth.
“That has to be the craziest thing that I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth yet, Baby Doll,” Mr. Lacy said, adjusting his shades as if he were trying to get a better look at her. He turned toward Queen Esther.
“Don’t you have a scripture to rebuke off that foolishness coming from my woman?”
Queen Esther sighed, mind racing to find the right scripture.
“Here, Miss Queen Esther,” Theresa said, as she grabbed an Amplified Bible off of
a table and flipped through the Book of Psalms. “You think this one will work?” she asked, pointing to the beginning of Psalm 71.
Queen Esther read it over silently and then turned to Baby Doll.
“It says right here . . . In You, O Lord, do I put my trust and confidently take refuge; let me never be put to shame or confusion.”
“So, what’s your point?” was all Baby Doll said, wondering how that scripture applied to her.
“Do you trust in the Lord or not, Baby Doll?” Queen Esther asked her.
“I’m beginning to more and more,” was all that she said.
“Well then if you are learning to trust the Lord and depend on him, and you take this scripture to heart, why would you think that He would not take care of whatever you’re concerned about if you went back to church, say . . . this Sunday?”
“Good point, Miss Baby Doll,” Theresa chimed in. “You know, you and I did have an agreement about church. I’ve let you come and work for me and you owe us some church time.”
Baby Doll turned to Queen Esther.
“So, what you’re saying is that if I take this scripture to heart, it means that the Lord will make it comfortable for me when I come to your church on Sunday? And maybe even give me a way to give my testimony, huh?”
“Umm, hmm,” was all Queen Esther had a chance to say when the shouting music came on, pulling everybody’s attention to the door.
“What brings you into this neck of the woods?” Queen Esther asked, surprised and curious about why Lamont had deigned to set foot in Miss Thang’s this morning.
Mr. Lacy took a deep breath and thought that whatever reason Queen’s nephew gave her, it certainly would not be the full story, judging from the scent of the cologne he was wearing this morning. Because if Mr. Lacy didn’t know anything else, he knew for certain that Lamont was smelling like a man intent on capturing some woman’s attention.
“I was in the neighborhood, had some papers for Rev. Quincey to sign, knew you were here, was wondering if you were planning on going by the church today, and if so, hoping you would drop them off for me.”
Queen took the envelope and nodded.
“Tell him to look over everything. And if he doesn’t have any problems with what’s being proposed, to sign the forms indicating that he is raising money to fund the closing cost program. I’m going to need that to have some leverage when Green Pastures makes the presentation to the DUDC.”
“Hey, girl,” Lamont called out to Theresa, who all of a sudden had found a dire need to rearrange the shelf she’d just got through stocking minutes ago.
“Hey,” she said quietly, wanting to join them but not sure if that was the right thing to do. Last time she became too chummy with Lamont, he cut the conversation short to run off and talk to Gwen about some insipid reason or another. That hadn’t felt good and she wasn’t in a hurry to relive that experience.
Lamont wasn’t sure if he should go over to where Theresa was working, or just finish up his business with Aunt Queen Esther and leave. He had seen her entire face light up when he walked into the store. Now, she was over in that corner being unnecessarily industrious and very careful with him. Pity. Theresa was looking absolutely delicious this morning in a pair of booty-hugging jeans, a mint-colored, snug-fitting long-sleeved cotton T-shirt, mint crochet poncho, and some of the sexiest navy leather ankle boots he’d seen in a long time.
He absolutely adored the way her thick hair hung around her face, lightly touching her shoulders. And that mouth, with those full, wide lips stained with a deep blackberry-colored gloss, was practically begging to be kissed.
“Umph, umph, umph,” he thought as he tried to take in all of the dimensions of that high round booty, giving off the slightest bounce when she moved. “What my hands could do with all of that.”
“Lamont,” Queen Esther practically yelled in his ear.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, jumping to attention, hoping she hadn’t seen him staring at Theresa’s behind.
“If he read the Bible as hard as he staring at that girl’s butt, he might learn something he needs to know from the Lord,” Queen Esther thought before she said, “Lamont, have you forgotten your home training? You busted up in this store without a word to Mr. Lacy and his lady friend standing here.”
“Sorry,” Lamont murmured, as he stuck out his hand toward Mr. Lacy, who grabbed it with such speed and dexterity he could have sworn that old man could see where he was standing.
“Son, this sweet lady standing next to you is my boo, Baby Doll Henderson.”
Baby Doll grinned and then remembered that she didn’t have her teeth in her mouth. She reached down in her purse for the red teeth box but was stopped by the gentle pressure of Mr. Lacy’s hand on her arm.
“Baby, you don’t need to do all that. Lamont is family. And when he sees what you have for him, he won’t care if you ever put your teeth in your mouth whenever he’s around you.”
Theresa bit her lip to keep from laughing. Sometimes folks treated Miss Baby Doll’s fake false teeth like they were a member of the family.
Lamont stuck his hand toward Miss Baby Doll, who grabbed it in a grip as firm as any man’s. He thought her to be the most paradoxical woman he’d ever seen. On the one hand, Miss Baby Doll, with her deep copper-toned and very smooth and beautiful complexion, dark brown eyes, slender yet well-built frame, and thick silver hair that was begging for a perm, had the potential to be a striking woman, despite those missing teeth. Yet her natural attractiveness couldn’t make up for her appearance. That “Topsy” hairstyle; the blue denim, calf-length, A-line skirt, purple plaid, flannel peasant-styled shirt; the purple silk men’s hosiery; and those yellow jelly shoes, made it seem as if she was funny-looking, when in actuality she was far from it.
“It’s a pleasure to finally be able to meet you, Mr. Lamont Green. I always read about you but I’m glad to have a chance to see you face-to-face.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Lamont said, humbled that this woman took the time to read about him.
“Here, Lamont,” Queen Esther said and handed him some crumpled sheets of yellow legal paper and the card holders for two hotel room keys.
As soon as Lamont saw that there were names on the key holders, he thought, “How dumb can you get?”
“Where did you get this?”
“From Baby Doll,” Queen Esther told him. “She used to clean Jethro Winters’s office and got this out of his trash can.”
“This is some pretty condemning evidence. Miss Baby Doll, have you ever seen Patty Harmon and Jethro Winters together?”
“I done seen them together a lot—more than I done seen Mr. Winters with his own wife. Sometimes they’d be all over each other like they on one of them reality TV shows. Use to make me wish I was blind as my Big Daddy, so I didn’t have to be exposed to all of that.”
“Who?” Lamont queried, hardly believing that she had called little red Mr. Lacy “Big Daddy.”
“Lacy here, Mr. Lamont Green. He my man and I loves to call him Big Daddy.”
Mr. Lacy puffed out his chest, winked at Baby Doll through his shades and laughed, “Heh, heh, heh,” causing her to grin and blush like he was her very first boyfriend.
Theresa dropped one of the boxes of note cards she’d just started putting out on the floor. All of that “heh-heh-hehing” and blushing, skinning, and grinning was a bit unnerving. She couldn’t imagine Mr. Lacy and Miss Baby Doll exchanging a simple chaste peck on the lips, with or without her mold teeth. But the thought of them doing anything worth “heh-heh-hehing” about was a bit too much to digest.
There were times when she truly wondered if she was missing the mark in her prayers for a husband. Theresa just couldn’t believe that she was so undesirable that about the only romance she could experience was watching a feisty exchange between a little-red-rooster-looking blind man and his girlfriend who sported fake false teeth, and then wore dark men’s socks and yellow plastic shoes as if she was making a fashion statem
ent.
“Baby Doll,” Queen Esther said sternly. “You and Lacy need to get saved and get right with the Lord, and get married. Y’all don’t want to be running around Durham doing all of this ‘heh-heh-hehing’ and be unable to even get your feet off the ground when the Rapture comes.”
“Auntee, does it always have to be that way with you?” Lamont asked, wanting know more about the information this Miss Baby Doll had obviously collected and not about her hot and torrid romance with Mr. Lacy of all people.
“Hand me that Bible again, baby,” she commanded Theresa, mumbling, “Lord, do I have to do all of the work around here, to help these people get saved and steadfast on Thee?”
She looked up, muttered, “Help me, Jesus,” and flipped open the Bible, thumbing through page after page until she found the right scripture.
“Hmmm, here’s something that should get some folks straight around here,” she said, cutting her eyes at Lamont.
“In the Book of Joshua, chapter twenty-four, verse seventeen, Joshua tells Israel that . . . it is the Lord our God Who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, Who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the peoples through whom we passed.
“Baby Doll, if my memory serves me right, you once said that you used to be so crazy, you wore a winter coat in July in North Carolina. I believe your exact words were monkey-fool crazy. Girl, that is crazy. Now here you are standing before me as in your right mind as everybody else in here is. Because the good Lord saw fit to deliver you from bondage some poor souls find themselves caught up in until the day they die. You blessed and you need to recognize.”
“But . . .” Baby Doll began. She knew she was blessed but she didn’t want to lose the one person she knew loved her.
“Don’t get it twisted and let this little red Negro put you on the bullet train to hell,” Queen Esther admonished. “If Lacy truly loves you and wants your good lovin’ as much as you obviously want his, he’ll do right by you.”
Holy Ghost Corner Page 13