Evelyn nodded. “You have to speak up and protect Kenny. I’m with you on that.”
“No question,” Charmaine said.
“At the same time, I can kind of understand where Tyrone is coming from,” Evelyn added. “It can be hard on absentee dads. It’s natural for him to want to coddle her.”
“Up to a point,” Charmaine said. “But like Beverly just mentioned, this is way over-the-top. I can’t excuse this.”
“You still have to try and strike a balance with him,” Evelyn said.
“Don’t you think I am?” Charmaine said indignantly. “But that’s much easier said than done. When it comes to this man and his daughter, it’s like he has tunnel vision.”
“Just try to be patient,” Evelyn said. “That’s all I’m saying.”
“Maybe he’ll come around with time,” Beverly said before Charmaine could respond. The talk between her sisters was heating up, and she wanted to try and lower the temperature.
“I hope so, ’cause Lord knows I’m trying to be patient,” Charmaine said.
“I’m sure you are,” Beverly said.
“It got ugly yesterday, and I do mean ugly,” Charmaine said. “We haven’t spoken since it happened.” Charmaine twisted her lips. “Why do I have such rotten luck with men?”
“Oh, Charm,” Beverly said. “You just hit a wall. Tyrone seems like a decent guy. I’m sure you two will work it out.”
“That’s what I kept telling myself with Clarence,” Charmaine said, thinking back on those turbulent days with her second ex-husband. “He was the one I thought I would make it with, but we all know where that went.”
“Tyrone is nothing like Clarence,” Evelyn said. “And Tyrone is a father. Clarence wasn’t.”
“That’s why I can’t imagine that Tyrone won’t come to his senses soon,” Beverly said. “He knows how important Kenny is to you.”
“What I don’t understand is why he isn’t more balanced with them,” Charmaine said. “He’s a parent. He should understand that you never favor one child over the other, never. He’s such a good father figure to Kenny when his daughter isn’t around. They hang out together watching movies at home and go out and shoot hoops. All that goes out the window when she comes to visit, and I don’t understand it for the life of me. I just hope to God this doesn’t ruin my marriage.”
“Whoa, Charmaine,” Beverly said. “You aren’t thinking of leaving him for this, are you? That’s crazy. She’s only here a few weeks out of the year.”
“That’s a bit dramatic, Charm,” Evelyn said.
“I’m not about to walk out tomorrow,” Charmaine said. “But no one is going to take advantage of my son or overrule me in front of him, even for just a few weeks out of the year. Hell no. That’s disrespectful.”
Beverly and Evelyn exchanged glances as the waitress brought the drinks. After she had taken their orders, Charmaine turned to Evelyn. “Now tell us what’s going on with you.” Charmaine wanted to hear about Evelyn’s problems, but she also wanted to get off the subject of Tyrone and Tiffany and all this talk about patience. She knew that she would have to tread carefully in the days ahead and not do something she’d later regret. But she also knew that she had her limits when it came to what she would tolerate with Kenny, and no one was going to change her mind about that.
Evelyn carefully placed her drink down and smoothed her hands over the tablecloth. She had been mulling over how much to tell her sisters ever since she left her house. She wasn’t ready to admit that Kevin had left until she was sure it was going to be a permanent deal, and she prayed it wouldn’t come to that. But she couldn’t pretend everything was hunky-dory between them either, when it was probably written all over her face that something was troubling her.
“We’re having some problems,” Evelyn said softly.
“Who’s having problems?” Beverly asked. “Not you and Kevin?”
Evelyn smiled awkwardly. “Yes, Kevin and I, believe it or not. He’s been acting strange for several months now.”
“This is Kevin we’re talking about?” Charmaine said with disbelief. “My brother-in-law? The straitlaced, buttoned-up attorney?”
“He’s about to turn fifty, isn’t he?” Beverly asked.
“In about six months,” Evelyn said, nodding. “I think he’s having a midlife crisis.”
Charmaine smiled thinly. “What did he do? Go out and buy a sports car?”
“I wish,” Evelyn said. “It’s a lot more serious than that.”
“I wondered why he stopped coming to family get-togethers,” Beverly said. “But you always told us he was busy.”
“I wasn’t exactly forthcoming,” Evelyn admitted.
“I have to say, I thought something was fishy,” Charmaine said.
“The truth is, he started acting like I was asking him to go to a funeral or something whenever I asked,” Evelyn said. “So I stopped asking.”
“You’re not about to tell us that Kevin is cheating on you, are you?” Charmaine asked.
“No, it’s nothing like that. At least not that I’m aware of.” Evelyn thought that she wouldn’t put anything past Kevin these days. But Kevin said he wasn’t having an affair, and she was going to believe that until she had evidence otherwise. She was miserable enough as it was. She didn’t need to drag more crap into this situation unless it was absolutely necessary.
“Then what is it?” Charmaine asked anxiously.
Beverly listened quietly. She realized that if Evelyn had brought this up, it was probably serious. In all the years Evelyn had been married, she had never discussed any real problems with Kevin. The biggest crisis was when Kevin wanted to start his own law firm, and Evelyn was reluctant to go along with it. Although that whole episode dragged out for months, it never looked to be marriage threatening, and they had worked it out in the end. So if Evelyn was looking a bit disheveled and saying that she and Kevin were having problems, things must be grave. And that made Beverly nervous.
“I’m not sure what’s going on with him, to tell you the truth, which is part of the reason I haven’t said anything about it,” Evelyn said cautiously. “I don’t want people to worry about me. I really hoped that Kevin would come to his senses sooner rather than later, but that hasn’t happened. In fact he quit his job last fall and turned the business over to his partners.”
“What did you just say?” Beverly asked, eyes wide with amazement.
“Damn!” Charmaine said. “You mean he left his law firm? After all the work he put into it?”
Evelyn nodded. “You heard me right.” She was determined not to cry, but hell if she didn’t feel like it.
Beverly stared at Evelyn, mouth hanging open. She couldn’t believe Kevin would do something so radical. But more than that, she couldn’t believe that Evelyn had hidden something this big all these months.
Charmaine whistled. “I thought something was up with you two, but I honestly never expected anything like this. Where is he working now? Another law firm?”
Evelyn cleared her throat. “At Blockbuster.” She said it so softly she could barely hear her own voice.
“ ’Scuse me?” Charmaine asked, straining across the table to hear Evelyn.
“I said at Blockbuster!” Evelyn snapped in frustration at having to repeat such vile words.
“Get out!” Charmaine said.
Beverly was still silent when the waitress appeared with their fondues. She took a big sip of her martini as her mind raced back over the past months for clues of all this, other than Kevin being a no-show at family gatherings.
“I’m as shocked as both of you are,” Evelyn said when the waitress left. “None of it makes any sense whatsoever. He seems to be going through an antimaterialistic life-is-too-short-to-worry phase, and he wants nothing to do with anything middle class. He says that’s trying to be white. And last weekend he shaved his head. All of it.”
Beverly gasped.
“Un-fucking-believable!” Charmaine said in a whisper so as
not to stun the other patrons.
Beverly put her martini glass on the table and took a deep breath. “How are you dealing with all of this, Evelyn?”
“There’s not much I can do except try and wait it out. I’m sure it’s temporary. At least I hope it is.”
“Has he explained to you why he’s doing this?” Beverly asked.
“Hell, Beverly,” Charmaine said. “He probably doesn’t understand why he’s doing half this crap himself.”
“Charmaine’s right,” Evelyn said. “Talking to him does no good. He doesn’t even make sense most of the time. He’s still upset that he let me talk him into updating the kitchen. Claims I spend too much money on frivolous things. That I care too much about appearances and so on.”
Evelyn leaned back. She felt better now that she had opened up a bit. It was good to share her woes with her sisters, to get some of the burden she was carrying alone off her mind. Still, she wasn’t ready to go all out and admit that Kevin had left her. She hoped he would come back home soon and she would never have to tell a soul.
“Earth to Kevin,” Charmaine said, hoisting her margarita glass. “Actually that should be earth to all husbands, period. They’re all nuts.”
“Don’t say that,” Beverly said. “They could still work things out. You do think you’ll work it out, don’t you, Evelyn?”
“I’m trying to stay positive. Yes.”
“At least you’d be able to make ends meet if your marriage fails,” Charmaine said. “Not that it will, but I know that if I left Tyrone I wouldn’t be able to afford the house we just bought by myself. We’d have to sell it, and I’d probably have to get an apartment somewhere in—”
“Why in the world are you even talking like that Charmaine?” Beverly interjected. “You just got married a year ago.”
“I’m not saying anything is going to happen,” Charmaine said. “I’m just being realistic, and it doesn’t take much thought to realize that I couldn’t afford our house all by myself. I love living here, but it’s so damn expensive.”
“That’s because you have a brand-new mortgage,” Evelyn said. “We bought our house so long ago, the mortgage is low now, and I could pay it on my own. But please, I haven’t started thinking about those things. And I don’t plan to start. This is a phase that Kevin is going through.”
“Of course it is,” Beverly said. “I’m having a hard time imagining Kevin even acting like this.” She shook her head. “Shaving his head. Jeez!”
Evelyn laughed nervously. “I know, I know.”
“A lot of men look sexy with shaved heads,” Charmaine said.
“I have to admit that it looks good on him,” Evelyn said. “It was just a shock to walk in and see him like that when I wasn’t expecting it.”
Beverly forced a smile on her face. This was all so weird. Kevin, attorney-at-law, now working at Blockbuster. Maybe if he and Evelyn had been married for just a few years, all of this would be less startling. But couples who had been married for more than two decades were not supposed to act this way. Their lives were supposed to be routine and predictable—boring, even.
Charmaine’s problems with Tyrone were disappointing, but they had been married only a year, and Charmaine changed husbands about as often as she changed hairdos. Evelyn’s problems with Kevin were truly mind-bending.
Beverly smiled wistfully. “And here I am holding you two up as examples when I tell Valerie to dump that bum Otis and wait for someone better to come along.”
Charmaine snickered. “You should have known better.”
“What’s going on with Valerie and Otis these days, Bev?” Evelyn asked. “Is she still with him?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Beverly responded. “She forgave him for hitting her or shoving her or whatever he did.”
“She said he shoved her, not that he hit her,” Charmaine said.
“Not much difference, in my book,” Beverly said. “She has a bruise on her arm too. Let’s face it. No man is perfect, but you have to have limits when it comes to what you’ll put up with.”
“Any time a man puts his hands on you, that’s a deal breaker,” Evelyn said. “That’s crossing a line.”
“I would have thought Valerie felt the same way,” Charmaine said. “I’m surprised she’s putting up with it.”
“At one time she wouldn’t have,” Beverly said. “But lately she’s getting desperate because of her age. She really wants to get married again. And soon.”
“So she moved the line between what’s acceptable and what isn’t,” Evelyn said.
“Or erased it altogether,” Beverly added.
Chapter 12
Beverly opened the front door to her town house to see Julian standing on the stoop, looking handsome as ever in black jeans and a fresh white T-shirt. Dinner with her sisters—and their tales of marital problems—had reminded her how lucky she was to have him. She had rushed home and quickly changed into her favorite pair of cutoff jeans, a pink tank top, and fluffy Ugg flip-flops in anticipation of Julian’s visit after he got off work. Now she ran eagerly to him and smothered his face with wet kisses.
“Whoa!” he said, laughing. He dropped his canvas duffel bag as he balanced the Giant Food bags he carried in his arms. “What did I do to deserve all this luscious goodness?”
Beverly smiled and stepped back. “Nothing, besides being you and loving me.” She picked up his garment bag. “I’ll go put this upstairs for you. What ya got in the grocery bags?”
“Stuff for the Spanish omelet and homemade waffles I’m going to fix up for you in the morning. And the margaritas for tonight.”
Beverly smacked her lips. “Yummy, I can’t wait for breakfast. And you ask why you get so much goodness.”
Julian smiled. “I aim to please. I’m going to put the groceries away and mix our drinks while you put that up.” He crossed the dhurrie rug on the living room floor and headed toward the kitchen as Beverly took the stairs two at a time. Julian’s coming to her town house and cooking for them was one of her absolute favorite experiences on earth. As exotic as their nights out on the town were, she liked nothing better than slipping into jeans and simply lounging around with her man.
Listening to her sisters earlier that evening as they complained about the ups and downs of married life had tripled Beverly’s appreciation of Julian and their special relationship. They had so much in common. They both loved their jobs and worked hard to get ahead in their careers. They both liked to relax around the house with good food and the occasional mixed drink or glass of wine as they shared lively conversation about everything from family to work and world issues.
They sometimes argued, but the disagreements never lasted more than a few hours. And even their differences were complementary. He liked to cook; she could live without it. She found washing and folding the laundry relaxing. He despised those chores. It was beyond obvious to Beverly that they were soul mates.
She knew that there would be problems ahead and difficult moments. There was no such thing as the perfect marriage. But they were both mature and open enough to realize that their differences could be opportunities to grow and learn from each other. Beverly was confident that the special bond she and Julian shared would help them get through anything that might come up in the months and years ahead.
She placed Julian’s bag across her bed, then walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she slid onto a chair and propped her elbows on the table. She loved watching him at work in the kitchen as much as he loved cooking. And she thought the way the late evening sun slanted through the sheer white curtains on the bay window at that moment was as romantic as a candlelit dinner on the banks of the French Riviera.
She smiled as he deftly sliced a lime and dipped the rims of two stem glasses into a dish of kosher salt. Julian always said that if he hadn’t gotten into computer animation he would have become a chef, and it showed in the time and care he took with the details whenever he was in the kitchen.
“How
many holes did you-all play?” she asked.
“By the time we got to the course, there wasn’t enough time for that. We just went to the driving range and worked on our swings.” He stepped back from the counter and imitated a golf swing.
She nodded. “Any new developments on that racing car game you’re working on?” Beverly loved her job as an editor at the Baltimore Sun covering books, film, and television. She had started working at the newspaper two years ago, after being employed for several years as a reporter at the Environmental Review magazine in Washington, D.C. Now, instead of chasing leads for stories out in the field, she worked behind a desk editing articles written by other reporters. Occasionally she would get out and report on a story herself, the last being a feature about costume design on the locally filmed hit cable series The Wire. But she did that only when something really grabbed her interest.
Still, she thought that Julian’s new job as an animator at Falcon Studios, a small company that made games for video consoles like the Xbox and the PlayStation and for personal computers, was much more thrilling. Video games were so fresh and all the rage among kids, teens, and young adults. The competition for positions at the development companies was fierce, and when Julian landed the job he was ecstatic. He had called her from his cell phone as he walked out of the building to deliver the good news.
With a major game for the Xbox due out in a few months, the company was in the midst of crunch time, and Julian was working weekends and late into the evening during the week. He loved the hustle and bustle, though, and his only complaint was that so few African Americans worked in the field. But that just made him want to work harder to prove himself.
“It’s all good. I finally finished several physical poses for a dragon. That was really challenging, since we can’t use mocap to record the motions digitally.” Beverly smiled broadly and listened patiently. She never thought she’d find smart men who wore glasses and got all excited about complex technical stuff sexy. But Julian’s sharp mind was a huge part of his allure, even if her handsome hunk of a fiancé could sometimes talk weird. Just now—although he was dressed in a short-sleeved T-shirt that showed off his muscular brown arms—Beverly had visions of him in a white shirt with pens sticking out of a pocket protector.
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