My Son's Wife

by Shelia E. Bell

  Audrey raised her hands in joy, and clapped them in the air and began yelling, Amen. Come to Jesus!”

  Pastor Chauncey and the deacons stood up and extended their hands out toward the congregation, calling the unsaved to come to God. Several people walked down the aisle and the church did thundered an applause as each of them came forward.

  Rena’s eyes glistened with tears too. She looked in her purse and pulled out a tissue to catch the tears before they fell.

  At the close of the service, members formed a line to greet Stiles and tell him how much they enjoyed his message. Rena was one of them. When she finally made it up to him, she hugged him tightly while grasping his hand inside of hers.

  “Stiles, I’m so proud of you. Your message was outstanding. I’ll remember it always.”

  “That’s good to here, Rena. The word of God never returns to us void.” He smiled. “Are you going to stay for the church banquet?”

  “Yes, I’m headed to the Fellowship Hall now.”

  “Good. Oh, by the way, looks like my sister pulled a fast one on us, huh?”

  “Yeah, looks like she did,” Rena answered before walking away.

  The banquet went off without a hitch. The Kitchen Ministry had prepared so much food that it was nearly impossible to get a taste of it all. Stiles and his family were seated at the head table. Members stopped to welcome him back home. It was almost three o’clock when the last members left, including the Pastor and his family.

  “Rena, thank you for coming,” Stiles told her as he walked her outside to her car.

  “No need to thank me,” she replied. “I wouldn’t have missed this for anything in the world. I’m sorry that Frankie didn’t show up. You know I’m worried about her.”

  “So am I. But from what Momma tells me, this is her M.O. Is that true?”

  “Basically. But usually she would have called me by now. I hope she hasn’t gone and gotten herself into trouble again. She’s good for doing that.”

  “I heard that too. I’m praying for my sister. And I’m praying for you too. From what I hear, you’re being drawn into this with Frankie. Racing to her rescue, always getting her out of jail, helping her to maintain a place to live. You know you can’t keep doing that, Rena. You’re only enabling her.”

  “I know that. But why can’t people understand that Frankie’s my friend, my very best friend. Like I told your mother, I can’t just leave her out there to face God knows what all alone.”

  “You’re some kind of friend. Look, I know you have work tomorrow, but after you get off, do you think you’d like to go to dinner with me? No strings attached. I’d just like to get out for a while, refamiliarize myself with the city.”

  “I wish I could, but tomorrow is my late night at the library.”

  “Oh, I see. Which library is that?”

  “Marion Public Library, in Arkansas. I don’t know if I mentioned it yesterday, but I live in Arkansas.”

  “No, you happened to leave that bit of information out about yourself. I don’t think we had much time to talk about anything. We were too busy eating,” Stiles laughed.

  “Yeah, you’re right about that. Tuesday will be fine.”

  “I beg your pardon?” Stiles replied.

  “Tuesday evening will be fine for dinner. That is, if you don’t have any plans. I get off early on Tuesdays.”

  “Hey, gee, that sounds great. I’ll come to Marion. Give me your phone number and I’ll call you tomorrow and you can tell me how to find you.”

  “Sure.”

  Stiles pulled out his cell phone and added her number to his Contacts list as she called it out to him. She in turn added his number to hers as well.

  “Look, I guess I’d better be going. I have to get across the bridge and prepare myself for work tomorrow.”

  “Okay. Oh, by the way, I don’t think I told you that you look lovely today.”

  Rena blushed before turning away and saying, “Thank you, Stiles. Bye.”

  He walked over to the driver’s side of the Honda, opened the door for her and waited until she climbed inside.

  Rena took one last glimpse at him before starting the truck and pulling off. On the way home, her thoughts were on Stiles Graham. Not once did she think about Frankie.

  9

  Worry is a total waste of time. It doesn't change anything. All it does is taint your mind and steals your joy. – Unknown

  Rena scanned the computer for the new shipment of library books that were scheduled to arrive today, but it was hard to remain focused. She still hadn’t heard from Frankie. She went into the break room and called Frankie’s apartment for the umpteenth, time and for the umpteenth time there was no answer. She began to perform the ritual that had become way too common whenever Frankie pulled a disappearing act. She called the hospitals in Memphis, knowing all the numbers because she had called them so many times over the years. After confirming there was no Francesca or Frankie Graham, Rena went back to the front desk and logged on to Internet Explorer. She went to the Shelby County Jail Information website. Putting in Frankie’s name, she was surprised when the system said, ‘No information.” Now Rena was really worried.

  Frankie wasn’t in jail and she wasn’t at her apartment. She wasn’t in the hospital. Where could she be? Rena called Frankie’s job, not expecting her to be there, and she was right. The man who answered the phone informed her that Francesca Graham no longer worked there.

  “Rena, excuse me,” her co-worker, Irma said, sticking her head in the break room, “but you have a phone call on line two. Do you want to take it?”

  “Yes, of course. Thanks, Irma.”

  “No problem.”

  Rena rushed to the phone, hoping to hear Frankie on the other end.

  When the voice end identified themselves as UPS, Rena didn’t know whether to feel overjoyed that it wasn’t bad news about Frankie or sad that it wasn’t Frankie on the other end of the line. She listened as the UPS employee explained the reason for her late shipment of books.

  When she finished talking, Rena began organizing books that needed to go back on the shelves and others that needed to be placed on the sale rack in the front lobby of the library.

  She and Irma went to Pizza Hut for lunch. Irma’s jokes allowed Rena to relax and release her stressor-Frankie. Irma was hilarious. Rena couldn’t understand why she worked at the library instead of being on somebody’s stage performing comedy.

  When they made it back from lunch, Rena jumped right back into her work. Her cell phone’s ring startled her. She looked at the number.

  “Hello.”

  “Hello, Rena. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “No, not really. I just returned from lunch.” She felt a sense of calmness when she heard Stiles’s soothing voice.

  “I won’t hold you. I wanted to know if you’ve heard anything from my sister.”

  “No. I wish I could tell you that I have. I’ve checked the hospitals and even the jail. But there’s nothing. I don’t know where she could be. Frankie is known to disappear into oblivion from time to time, but there’s just something that has me rattled this time around. I can’t imagine that she would purposely miss hearing your first sermon, whether she despises church or not. She loves you too much to disappoint you.”

  “And you’re sure that you don’t have any clue where she could be?”

  “None.”

  “Okay, look I’ll call you later tonight.”

  “Sure, that’ll be fine. And if I happen to hear from her, I’ll call you.

  “Thanks, Rena. Bye for now.”

  Rena closed her cell phone and returned to work on the project she started before lunch.

  It was going on ten o’clock when Rena unlocked the door to her apartment. She kicked off her shoes, dropped her purse on the living room table and went straight to the kitchen to grab a cold bottle of water. Taking the first sip of the ice cold liquid cooled her off immensely. The phone rang just as she was about to take another
gulp. Walking into the living room, she lifted the cordless phone from the base unit.

  “Hello.”

  “You must be just getting home?” Frankie asked like she hadn’t been AWOL since Saturday afternoon.

  “Where the…are you?” Rena swore. She hated to swear but it was times like these that Frankie brought out the worst in her.

  “Chill, will you? I’m with a couple of my girls. I would have called earlier, but we went out of town and you know I have a Cricket which means no long distance.”

  “I’ve been worried sick about you? I’ve called the hospitals, jail, your former job.” Rena placed extra emphasis on former job indicating to Frankie that she knew she had been terminated yet again. “Your parents are worried, not to mention Stiles.” Rena continued to voice her anger.

  “Stiles? What does he have to do with this? I’m a grown woman, Rena. I don’t need Stiles, my folks, you or anyone else all up in my business. I was just calling to tell you that I’m home. I didn’t have time to tell you that I was going to ride to Jackson, Mississippi with some friends. One of my girls had to go down there to handle some business and she wanted some company. That’s all. Anyway, I’m back.”

  Rena was quiet. “Don’t you have to be in court tomorrow?” Rena spoke up, without addressing anything Frankie said.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there. I’m hoping the judge will let me walk. Are you going to pick me up?”

  “Not unless you call your parents and let them know you’re safe.”

  Frankie was quiet.

  “Frankie, did you hear what I said?”

  “Yeah, I heard you. Look I’m tired. I’m going to crash. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Whatever.” Rena retorted and pushed the end button on the phone.

  The phone rang again.

  “Look, Frankie, I meant what I said.” Rena yelled into the phone without looking at the caller ID.

  “You’ve heard from Frankie?”

  “I’m sorry. I thought you were Frankie. Yes, we just hung up. She said she went to Jackson, Mississippi with some friends at the spur of the moment. I told her to call and let you guys know she was back.”

  “Hold on a sec, Rena. Someone’s on the other end.” Stiles told her.

  Holding on for more than a minute, without Stiles returning to the phone, Rena decided to hang up. She went into her bedroom, and stepped out of her clothes before going into the bathroom to run her bath. No sooner than she started the water, added her bubble bath did the phone ring again. She answered the phone that was laying on her nightstand next to the bed.

  “Hello, Stiles,” Rena said when she saw the Graham’s number pop up on the ID box.

  “Hey, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to leave you on hold, but that was Frankie on the other end,” he apologized.

  “Oh, I thought it was an angry girlfriend you left back in North Carolina,” Rena joked.

  Stiles was shocked at Rena’s assumption, but in a pleasant way, he found she was fishing. “No. That was definitely not the case. One thing I don’t have is a girlfriend. Getting my doctorate was my girlfriend. It was no easy feat, you know.”

  “I’m sure it wasn’t.” Changing the subject back to Frankie, Rena asked, “What did Frankie say?”

  “We just had a rather heated conversation. That girl is not going to be the death of my parents. I told her that too. All this running around, in and out of jail, has got to stop.” Stiles ripped out the words impatiently. He was highly upset.

  “What was her reaction?”

  “She didn’t like what I said, but I said them anyway. She ended the conversation by hanging up in my face. But that’s cool. I said what I needed to say. And I meant every word of it too. Anyway, now that I know my little sister is safe, I’ll get to the reason for my call earlier this evening.”

  “Oh, I thought Frankie was the reason for your call. Hold on for a minute.” Rena rushed into the bathroom to turn off the water before it spilled over and onto the floor.

  When she returned to the phone, Stiles asked her, “Is everything okay?”

  “Sure. I forgot I was running my bath water, that’s all. But I caught it in time. Now what were you saying?”

  “I called to see if we’re still on for dinner tomorrow.”

  “Of course we are. There’s this nice cozy restaurant in West Memphis called Ron’s. The food is delicious.”

  “Ron’s it is. How does seven sound?”

  “Seven is perfect.”

  “Do you want me to pick you up?”

  “No, that won’t be necessary. I live about seven minutes from Ron’s. I’ll meet you there.”

  “Okay, that’ll work.”

  Before ending the conversation, Rena told him how to get to Ron’s. Climbing into her lukewarm bath, she laid her head back against the Jacuzzi tub, closed her eyes and cleared her mind of Frankie and her antics. She replaced them with pleasant thoughts of Stiles that made her smile.

  The following morning, Rena made the trip over the bridge. Frankie was due in court at 9:30. It was exactly 8:45 a. m when she pulled up in front of Frankie’s apartment. Rena turned off the engine and climbed out of the car. Before she could make it to the stairwell, Frankie came bouncing down the steps. Reaching out to hug Rena, Frankie encountered Rena’s coldness toward her.

  Aren’t you going to speak to this morning? You still mad? Frankie asked Rena.

  “Good morning,” Rena replied nonchalantly.

  Rena wished there was somebody for her to talk to about the relationship she was trapped in with Frankie. But who would listen to her without condemning her? There wasn’t a single person she trusted when it came to talking about her involvement with Frankie. It was a good thing her parents were no longer living in the city. Thank God for small miracles is how Rena felt about her daddy’s job transfer. Her two oldest siblings seemed more like distant relatives. With one living in Rhode Island and the other in Seattle, she rarely saw or talked to them. She didn’t have many friends outside of work because she didn’t want anyone to suspect anything weird about her. There were times she considered seeing a psychologist, but she always managed to talk herself out of it. Rena believed that she was definitely going up the creek without a paddle.

  Breaking the stiff silence, Rena asked, “What do you think is going to happen in court? The last time you were there the judge told you that he didn’t want to see you back in his court room.”

  “They all say that. My lawyer told me that the most I’ll get is a year, maybe two, of probation.”

  “I hope your lawyer knows what she’s talking about. I’ve paid her enough. And if you’re going to continue to spend more time in court than on a job, then I’m letting you know that you need to get those girls who you rode out of town with to take care of you. I’m not going to do this anymore. I’ve told you that before. But this time I mean it, Frankie.”

  “Rena, stop getting your panties all up in a wad. I didn’t know you were jealous.” Frankie said, grinning.

  “Jealous!” Rena made a sharp right turn on to Poplar Avenue and gave Frankie a wicked stare when she could. “Jealousy is the least thing on my mind. You’re breaking me financially and mentally. I can’t keep this up. Worrying whether you’re all right, or if you’re locked up, or somewhere hurt.”

  “I’m sorry. I really am. I promise things will be different. I know I’ve said it before, and I know you don’t believe me. But you’ll see. When I walk out of that court room today, I want you to drop me off at the unemployment office. I’m going to find a job, and this time I’m going to keep it. You have my word on that.”

  A sigh pierced Rena’s pink lips. She looked over at Frankie and smiled slightly.

  Frankie stood before the court, hands clasped behind her back; legs parted like the police had ordered her to spread eagle against a car. The judge knew Frankie all too well. She had several arrests on her rap sheet. Theft of property under $500, fraud, shoplifting, simple assault and today she was being senten
ced on a charge of third degree assault. When the judge sentenced her to serve eleven months and twenty-nine days in the Penal Farm, with one year of probation, to begin immediately, Rena’s mouth dropped open. Frankie slowly turned around to meet her gaze. A tear drop trickled down Frankie’s oval shaped face as the deputy led her away.

  Rena rushed around Wal-Mart to purchase toiletries and other items Frankie was allowed to have. The list was quite limited but detailed. She bought six pair each of plain white women’s t-shirts, crew socks, and cotton panties. Frankie was allowed to have one eight ounce bottle of clear shampoo in a clear bottle, one hair brush and a plastic comb. When she arrived back at the Penal Farm with the items, a guard told her they would be dispensed to Frankie once she was processed into the system. From past experience, Rena understood that could take as long as two days. She wouldn’t be able to visit Frankie for at least four or five days.

  Leaving the Penal Farm, Rena set out for home. On her way across the bridge, she phoned the Graham’s. Audrey picked up the phone on the first ring.

  “Hello,” Audrey said loudly in the phone.

  “Mrs. Graham, it’s Rena.”

  “Hi, how are you? I’m glad you called. Stiles told me about Frankie. I tell you, I don’t know what we’re going to do about her. I just don’t know. It’s time we do more than talk about tough love. I told Pastor that it’s time to start practicing what he preaches. We have to learn how to let go and let God, child.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Rena agreed, afraid to tell her what she’d call to tell her.

  “Do you know she went clean off on her brother? She even had the nerve to hang up in his face. Something has to be done.” Audrey didn’t rest between words. Rena didn’t have a chance to answer before Audrey blurted something else out. “Where is she ? You tell her that I want to talk to her,” demanded Audrey.