by Mary Monroe
Loretta gasped so hard she almost swallowed her tongue. “What?”
“What I mean is, do you think you will ever love Mel the way you probably would have loved your real daddy if he hadn’t died?”
“Oh.” Loretta was so relieved she almost peed on herself. “I think I could . . . uh . . . love Mel.”
“I was hopin’ you’d say somethin’ like that. The thing is, I’m doin’ this more for you than for myself. You started pesterin’ me for a daddy as soon as you learned how to talk. Catty, Fast Black, and even your uncle Virgil seem to think that it would be a good thing for me to marry somebody.”
“You won’t be just marryin’ somebody, Mama. You will be marryin’ Mel. A woman like you couldn’t do no better unless you had a fairy godmother helpin’ you.” Loretta laughed.
Maureen nodded and laughed, too, even though she didn’t like Loretta’s last remark. “I hope you’ll still feel that way about Mel once he moves in with us and gets settled. Him livin’ with us will be a whole lot different from him just visitin’. He can’t tell me or you what to do now, but once he becomes the man of the house, he might set up a few rules.”
“I don’t have no problem followin’ rules,” Loretta scoffed. “Ever since I was in first grade, I’ve been gettin’ nothin’ but straight As in citizenship.”
“Followin’ rules in school is different. A stepdaddy might have different expectations that you probably won’t like.”
“Mama, me and Mel have been workin’ together for a long time now. Everything he tells me to do is for my own benefit. He works real hard to get modelin’ jobs for me. He and I have been gettin’ along just fine so far, so I think I can handle him livin’ with us.”
“Workin’ with him is one thing. Livin’ with him is a different story. I know you are growin’ up, and pretty soon you are goin’ to get more involved with boys. Right?” Maureen dipped her head and stared at Loretta with a knowing look on her face.
Loretta blinked. “Uh-huh.”
“With a strong male presence in here, those little funky-tail boys you know will think twice about makin’ a fool out of you, I hope.”
Loretta blinked some more.
“I hope that you will mind Mel and continue to treat him as good as you have been doin’ ever since we met him. I want you and him to be even closer than you already are. Most of the men in my life over the years didn’t want to get too serious with me because they didn’t want a ready-made family, but that’s exactly what Mel wants. He wants to be a daddy.” Maureen laughed. “I’m sure he won’t mind you callin’ him that. It’s got a nice ring to it, huh?”
“Uh-huh.” Loretta looked away and took a deep breath.
“I’m goin’ to call him up and ask him to come over here so I can tell him to his face that I’ll marry him,” Maureen said with a sigh and rose from the couch. She finished her wine. Then she reached for the telephone on the end table and dialed Mel’s number. He answered right away. “I need to talk to you about somethin’,” she told him.
“Oh? Wh-what about?”
Maureen laughed. “I would rather say it to you in person.”
Well, if she’s laughing, it can’t be anything for me to be too concerned about, Mel thought. “It’s kind of late. Is it somethin’ that can wait until tomorrow?”
“I guess it can wait. I’ve already discussed it with Lo’retta,” Maureen said.
“Oh?” Maureen’s response made Mel’s chest tighten. It made Loretta’s chest tighten too. “Maybe I should come over there right away, huh?” he said.
Loretta held her breath.
“Mel, it can wait until tomorrow,” Maureen said, laughing some more. Loretta was happy that Maureen was in such a jovial mood. “I’ll call you tomorrow and you can decide when you can come over.”
“No, it can’t wait,” Mel said quickly. “I want to know what’s going on. I’ll come over there as soon as I can.”
Maureen took a deep breath and exhaled so slowly tears pooled in her eyes. “All right. I won’t keep you in suspense. I didn’t want to say it over the phone, but I’ll marry you if you still want me to,” she said in a shy voice.
“Oh, baby, that’s wonderful!” Mel hollered. “I’m so glad to hear that!” He wiped bullets of sweat off his face and rubbed his chest. He was so relieved he felt light-headed. His dirty little secret was still intact.
Loretta was even more ecstatic than Mel. The last thing she wanted was for her mother to find out that she had had a man in her bed tonight.
Maureen found out anyway. A few minutes before Mel arrived, she decided to take out the trash. On her way to the Dumpster in the backyard, she stumbled and fell against the porch banister, dropping the large garbage bag. Along with empty milk cartons, dried bones, and other debris, a used condom rolled out and landed at her feet.
CHAPTER 15
LORETTA HAD RETURNED TO HER ROOM AND SHUT HER DOOR BY THE time Maureen finished emptying the trash and got back inside.
Maureen didn’t bother to knock like she usually did. She opened the door to Loretta’s room and entered, with the nasty condom dangling on the end of a twig. “What the hell is this?” she yelled, waving the twig in Loretta’s stunned face.
Loretta gasped and almost rolled off her bed. She couldn’t believe that she’d been busted.
“I asked you what the hell this is!” Maureen hollered.
“I . . . I . . .” Loretta stood up by the side of her bed, trembling so hard her teeth rattled. “Mama, I . . . I—”
“You had . . . you had . . .” Maureen stopped talking because it was difficult for her to continue. The words felt like poison sliding off her tongue. “You had sex tonight in this apartment, didn’t you?”
Loretta’s eyes almost popped out of her head. “Who, me?”
“Yes, you!”
“Mama, let me explain!”
“Explain what? You don’t need to do that! I know about you messin’ around with boys in here when I’m gone, and I know it’s been goin’ on for a while. I found a condom wrapper on your bedroom floor last year! You’ll stop your shenanigans after Mel moves in here. I don’t expect you to be perfect when it comes to boys—I wasn’t. I did my share of foolin’ around when I was a teenager, but I had a lot more respect for my mama than you have for me, girl.”
A suspicious look crossed Loretta’s face. “Do you mean to tell me that you never got busy with a boy in Mama Ruby’s house?”
Maureen froze. She didn’t have the nerve to tell Loretta that she had not only given her virginity to Bobby Boatwright in Mama Ruby’s house, but also it had happened in the upper room—the only place outside of heaven that Mama Ruby had held as much regard for. Had Mama Ruby found out that Bobby Boatwright had even poked his head into the upper room, let alone entered it and had sex with Maureen, he would have been “residing” in the cemetery right now instead of Seattle with his third wife and their four kids.
“I did have sex in Mama Ruby’s house, but I didn’t disrespect her by leavin’ condom wrappers and used condoms where she could find them!” Maureen was so hurt and disappointed she wanted to scream.
“Mama, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, honest to God!” Loretta swore. From the wounded look on her face, you would have thought that she was the injured party in this case.
“I had always hoped . . . I didn’t want you to do . . . what you did . . . this soon. A child your age should not be havin’ sex!”
“A child? I am not like other girls my age, Mama. You should know that by now. You tell me all the time that I’m ‘goin’ on twenty-five. ’ ” Loretta let out a very nervous laugh.
“You ain’t twenty-five yet. Don’t start actin’ old before your time. You’ll be old soon enough and you’ll be wishin’ you could be young and innocent again.” Maureen shook the twig with the condom on it in Loretta’s face again. “I am so disappointed in you, Lo’retta. Real disappointed.”
“I said I was sorry, Mama.” Loretta bowed her head. Then she l
ooked back up with a pleading look on her face. “Don’t be mad at me.”
“All I want to know is, was it worth it?” Maureen asked, her voice cracking.
Loretta bowed her head again and shook it. “No, ma’am. It wasn’t worth it.”
Maureen held her breath and shook her head too. Then she closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head again. “Was it the Warren boy or the Harris boy?”
“Uh, neither,” Loretta said in a broken voice. “It’s a boy you don’t know. His family moved here last year from . . . uh, Memphis. His whole family is real snobby, so they keep to themselves. That’s why you don’t know them.”
“Well, this boy can’t be too snobby if he’s over here makin’ a fool out of you!” Maureen shouted.
Maureen was too tired to give Loretta the whupping she deserved. Maybe if she had done that last year when she found that condom wrapper, they wouldn’t be having this conversation now. Loretta stood in the middle of the floor with a pitiful look on her face. “Look, I know you will do things that I don’t want you to do. I know I can’t stop you, but don’t let some funky-tail boy make a fool out of you. Be better than that.”
“I will, Mama. Anyway, that funky-tail boy already kicked me to the curb for some bowlegged Cuban girl. Before he left here tonight, he told me he was through with me.”
“See there! That’s what boys do! You got a lot goin’ for you, Lo’retta. If you really want to be a supermodel, you have to put your hormones on hold. Don’t let some boy ruin your future. You work too hard, and I don’t want it all to be for nothin’ at the end of the day.”
“I know. I will take your advice. Honest to God, I will,” Loretta said, even crossing her heart with her fingers.
“Uh, now this is between you and me and whoever that boy is. If you plan to be sneakin’ around with him in the future, or any other boy, the least y’all can do is get a cheap motel room. I’m not goin’ to have you doin’ your business under my roof—not at your age—and please make sure your boyfriends always use protection!”
“Mama, can we drop this subject? I get the message,” Loretta snapped, flopping back down onto her bed.
“You better get the message! I still know how to swing a switch, girl!”
“You finished?” Loretta rolled her eyes. “Anything else you got to say about this?” She snatched a Glamour magazine off the side of her bed and started to flip the pages.
“I don’t want Mel to know what you’ve been up to tonight. He’d be so disappointed. I know it won’t be official until I marry him, but he already treats you like his own daughter.”
Loretta shrugged. “I know, I know,” she sighed, not even looking up from her magazine.
“Or your uncle Virgil. He’d be so hurt. I already told him about that condom wrapper I found. He’s the only family we have out here in Florida now, and he’s had enough misery in his life.” Maureen blew out a tortured breath and glanced at her watch. “Well, I guess I need to go call Virgil and tell him I’m goin’ to marry Mel.” Maureen paused and shook her finger at Loretta. “You can’t have no company or go to the mall with Mona for two weeks! Do you understand me, girl?” Maureen shouted. “Now you put that magazine away and get some rest.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Loretta mumbled, rolling her eyes as soon as Maureen looked away.
After Maureen had disposed of the condom, she went back into the kitchen and picked up the telephone to call Virgil. He was happy to hear that she was going to marry Mel.
“I don’t want you to spend the rest of your life alone,” Virgil said. “I just hope Mel is the right one.”
“Well, from the way my love life has been goin’, Mel is the only one. If I don’t marry him, this might be my last chance. But . . .”
“But what?”
“But maybe I should just be engaged to him for a while first. Like Mama Ruby was with Slim, that old man that died a month after she did.”
“Why?”
“Just to be sure,” Maureen answered.
Virgil choked on some air. “Mama Ruby and Slim stayed engaged for over twenty years, and they was no closer to gettin’ married when she died. You ain’t Mama Ruby, so don’t do none of the crazy shit she did. Besides, Mel might not want no long engagement. From what you keep tellin’ me, he is anxious to move in with you and Loretta. You done already made it clear to everybody that you won’t live with a man unless y’all married.”
“Yeah. I just don’t want to make a mistake.”
“Mo’reen, you won’t be the first person to make a mistake. Makin’ a mistake is a good way to learn what to do and what not to do. Marry the man and if it don’t work out, get a divorce, girl. I married the wrong woman the first time, or she married the wrong man, whatever way you want to look at it. We got a divorce and moved on and I’m with a better woman now. If Mel turns out to be the wrong one for you, you will find out soon enough. You will eventually find the right man, if you lucky.”
A few minutes after Maureen’s conversation with Virgil, Mel arrived with a bottle of red wine. He gave her a very wet kiss before he said a word. “Baby, you’ve made me the happiest man in Florida!” He caressed Maureen’s chin.
“I’m happy, too, Mel. I think marryin’ you is what I need to do, and I’m glad you didn’t give up.”
“Oh, I love hearin’ you say that!” Mel kissed Maureen again and then he glanced around the room. “Where’s Loretta?”
“In bed, but I don’t think she’s asleep yet. Go say hello to her while I get the wineglasses,” Maureen said over her shoulder as she headed toward the kitchen.
Mel set the bottle of wine on the coffee table and headed toward Loretta’s room. She had been listening at her door, so when he entered her room, she was already standing in the middle of the floor with a huge smile on her face.
“Hello, sweet thing,” Mel whispered, glancing over his shoulder, then back to Loretta. “I’m sorry I had to rush off this evenin’.”
“She found the condom wrapper on my floor last year from the first time you and me did it here, and she found the used condom in the trash this evenin’! I told her that I was with some boy that already dumped me,” Loretta hissed, looking over Mel’s shoulder. “I thought you had flushed that damn thing down the toilet tonight like you always do!”
“Dammit! I meant to, but you know how worked up you had me. We’ll be more careful from now on,” Mel replied, burying his nose in Loretta’s hair. The scent of her green-apple shampoo made him dizzy with lust. He wanted to grab her and fuck her brains out again. He was just as excited now as he had been when he was on top of her a couple of hours earlier. He was not too worried about getting some release because he knew that Maureen would take care of him before the night was over. Now that she had agreed to marry him, there was just no telling how hard she would work to please him once they made it to her bedroom. He would go home with a smile on his face for the second time tonight.
“Kiss me.” Loretta’s arms were already wrapped around Mel’s neck like a necktie. “I said kiss me, dammit!” she said again, pulling him closer.
“Now you behave yourself!” he ordered, pushing her away. “It’s too risky! We can’t be taking chances when she’s in the house. Listen, I’ve got another shoot lined up for you in Miami Beach in a couple of days. It’s the last part of the Jupiter dress store contract that we have to fulfill. My client is comping me a room at the hotel where we’ll be shooting, so you and I can hook up for a little while there and celebrate.” Mel paused and gave Loretta a triumphant look. “We did it, babe! Your mama and me are getting married. I’ll be living here with you and we can be together a lot more than we are now. Just the way we planned it.” Despite how much Mel hated women, he still loved what they could do for him. He would never get tired of that.
“Let’s not talk about you gettin’ married to my mama. I’d rather talk about us.” Loretta paused and gave Mel a dreamy-eyed look. “That little romp we had this evenin’ only made me hotter. I want to make
love again so bad, I can barely stand still!” That was for sure. She kept shifting her weight from one foot to the other, almost hopping like a rabbit.
“So do I, baby! I just can’t fuck any more tonight!”
“Not even my mama?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you think she’ll want some dick tonight?”
“Uh, she most likely will,” Mel said, nodding. “Baby, we’ve come a long way, but I have to continue to play my part, and I have to play it right. It won’t be easy and I’d rather get my groove on tonight with you again, but what the heck. If your mama wants me tonight, I have to do what I have to do.”
“Just don’t enjoy it too much,” Loretta advised.
“I won’t,” Mel grunted, rolling his eyes. “Now you get back to bed and let me go spend some time with your mama. The last thing we want is for her to change her mind about marrying me! Then we’ll be right back where we started.”
Mel gave Loretta such an extreme French kiss she almost choked on his tongue. Afterward, he wiped his lips with the back of his hand and returned to the living room. He plopped down next to Maureen on the couch and kissed her the same way he had just kissed Loretta.
CHAPTER 16
“WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG? IS LORETTA STILL UP? ” MAUREEN ASKED Mel as soon as his lips left hers. She draped her arm around his neck, pleased to see such a sparkle in his eye.
“Uh, I had to take a leak. My bladder was about to explode. And, yeah, Loretta was still up, but she was so tired she wanted to get to sleep real fast. She’s real happy that I’m going to be her daddy,” Mel said, pouring himself a glass of wine. He crossed his legs, hoping to hide his massive erection.
“I . . . Your hands are shakin’ like leaves,” Maureen noticed. “I know you must be real nervous about us gettin’ married. Especially after I put you off for so long. That’s all right because I’m nervous too,” she chortled, patting his knee. She didn’t notice that his knee was shaking too. “I know we’ve been together for a while, but marriage is such a big step, so I guess it’s normal for us to be nervous.”