“You’re right. I’m sure they will.”
Charmaine walked up and tapped Beverly’s elbow. “C’mon, kiddo. Time to open your presents and see how many thongs you got.”
Beverly laughed. “You so crazy.”
“I can tell you right now that the little number I got you is going to heat your sex life up to the boiling point.” Charmaine looked at Valerie. “Can you get us a couple of trash bags out of the kitchen pantry, honey? We need them for the gift wrapping. Then join us.”
“No problem,” Valerie said. She walked off to the kitchen as Charmaine guided Beverly to the armchair in the living room where she and Evelyn had piled up all the gifts and the guests were gathering around.
Beverly put her hands on her hips just before sitting down. “What makes you think my sex life isn’t already at the boiling point, Charm?”
“Well, excuse me if it is,” Charmaine said with mock indignation. “You can use what I got you to keep it that way.”
“All right, girls,” Mama said. “That’s a bit too much information. We don’t need to hear all that.”
“I have to agree,” Evelyn said, laughing.
Charmaine gently pushed Beverly down into the chair as Valerie entered the room and Evelyn tied the corny little hat she had made from paper plates and balloons onto Beverly’s head.
“The things a girl will do for love,” Beverly said as she smiled broadly for the cameras.
Chapter 17
Julian was acting especially amorous that evening when he arrived to pick up Beverly after the bridal shower. As he helped Beverly load up the trunk of his black SUV with her gifts, he kept touching her whenever Evelyn and Charmaine looked the other way or went into another room. Once he got Beverly alone in the kitchen he backed her against a wall and playfully licked her behind the ear. She laughed and shoved him away.
“What the hell is going on with you?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Just wanting my woman, that’s all. Can’t I want my woman?”
“Of course, just not now.” Normally, touching her and eyeing her lustfully was all it took for him to send her into a frenzy. It wouldn’t have been all that unusual for them to pull into an almost empty parking lot behind a strip mall on their way to her town house, let down the backseat of the SUV, and get it on with feverish abandon.
But Beverly had her sister Evelyn on her mind that evening. She lingered a little longer than usual at the front door to say good-bye and comfort Evelyn, willing her eldest sister to hang in there.
“You sure you don’t want me to stay and keep you company? We can sit up and talk all night if you want.”
Evelyn smiled weakly. “Thanks, Bev, but I’m fine, honestly.”
“I’m going to hang around a while longer and help her straighten up,” Charmaine said. “You go on and be with that man you got waiting for you, girl. Nothing better than new love.”
“Charm is right,” Evelyn added. “Please don’t worry about me.”
Beverly hugged Evelyn as Julian slammed the rear door of the SUV shut. “Call me if you need anything, day or night,” Beverly said. “I mean that.” She blew a kiss to both of her sisters.
Once in the car with Julian, Beverly couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that her brother-in-law had left her sister. She hadn’t let on just how much the whole thing bothered her at the bridal shower because she could see that Evelyn was having a difficult time with it. But now she found herself trembling uncontrollably.
Julian frowned with concern, reached across the seat, and squeezed her leg just below the hemline of her denim skirt.
“Talk to me, baby,” he said. “Something’s obviously bothering you.”
The warmth of his hand on her leg helped her begin to relax. She let out a deep breath and filled him in on what was happening with Evelyn and Kevin. Julian listened silently and attentively while she poured out her feelings for ten minutes straight, relieved to get it all off her mind.
“Other couples do this kind of thing, not Evelyn and Kevin,” she continued. “They were supposed to be different. They were the ones who got it right. At least I thought they were different. I thought they were doing everything right. I…”
Beverly stopped talking abruptly when she realized she was just repeating herself. There was nothing more to say.
“They’re human and flawed just like the rest of us,” Julian said soothingly.
“No, uh-uh. Don’t you see? They were supposed to be better than everybody else. They were the ones who proved that marriage could work. Even though it might be hard, you could still make it work. Now I don’t know what to think.”
“I can understand why you’re worried about them. I just hope this doesn’t mean that you’re getting second thoughts about us.”
She shook her head no. “I am thinking that we need to talk more. We both have to be real clear about what we want out of marriage. And what we don’t want.”
“We talk about that stuff all the time. We want two kids and we know that we need to get started sooner rather than later, given our ages. We want to live here in Columbia, Maryland, in your town house and later get a bigger place. We’re equal partners, et cetera, et cetera.”
Beverly sighed impatiently. Did he really understand the gravity, the urgency of her feelings? This was important to her and she had to make sure he got it. “I know we talked some, but it can’t hurt to talk more. We don’t want to jump into marriage without covering all the bases. It’s too important. That’s exactly what I told Valerie about Otis.”
“Whoa, wait a sec. You aren’t comparing us with Valerie and Otis, are you? Gimme a break. He smacks her around. He’s a damn thug.”
“I don’t mean it like that, Julian. I know you’d never hit me or get violent in any way. But we still need to discuss things more. I mean, what is your stance on how kids should be raised?”
Julian hit his forehead. “My stance? My stance? Jeez, Bev. You make it sound like we’re having a damn political discussion or something. We’re engaged to be married! The wedding is in two weeks. Lighten up.”
“I wish you wouldn’t be so flippant. Charmaine and Tyrone are going through some stuff too, something about their kids. And like you just said, we only have two weeks to talk.”
He shook his head adamantly. “Actually, we have the rest of our lives to talk, you know?”
She sighed with exasperation.
“What? I see the way your folks raised you. That’s all I need to know. I assumed that we were on the same wavelength about that.”
“Well, we shouldn’t assume,” she said. “That’s the problem. We need to put it all out there on the table. What about religion?”
“What about religion? We’re both Christians.”
“But you’re Baptist. I was raised as a Catholic.”
He knitted his eyebrows. “And?”
“Which church will we take our children to?”
“Bev, we did talk about this. That much I know. We decided that we didn’t care which denomination we practiced as long as it’s Christian. Remember?”
“That’s fine for us, but what about our kids? Which church are we going to raise them under?”
Julian sighed with resignation.
“Don’t get mad at me,” she protested. “All I’m saying is that marriage is a big step.”
“I hear you.”
“We need to talk about these things.”
“Baby, we can talk all you want,” he said. “I have no problems with that. Talk is good.”
“Thank you. We can have a question-and-answer session when we get back to the house.”
“No problem. But can it wait until after I ravish you? I’ve been waiting to get you naked all evening.” His lingering hand roamed a bit higher under her skirt.
She smiled. “So I gathered.”
By the time they walked in the front door of her town house, Julian’s burning passion had ignited her. Before they even got all the packages out of the back of th
e SUV, she had slipped out of her thong and he had removed his glasses and dropped his black jeans. She fell back on the living room couch and eagerly lifted her skirt above her thighs.
He penetrated her instantly, and they both released deep guttural moans. They needed no foreplay—no kissing, hugging, or fondling—only the memories of all the previous rapturous encounters to send each other to the heights of sexual delight.
It was over in a matter of minutes, and they both lay silent, still intertwined and utterly spent. He eventually rolled off Beverly and landed on the dhurrie rug, and she could hear him trying to steady his breath.
“I’ll take that kind of bonding over talking any day of the week,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re a dude, you would say something like that.” She stood up and reached for her underwear.
He perched up on his elbows in his T-shirt and watched her. “You’re gonna tell me you didn’t enjoy that?”
“Of course I did. I always enjoy this with you. You know that.”
“Just checking. I mean, the way you were squirming a minute ago, I thought so, but now you’re popping up and running off. What’s with that?”
“I want to get the rest of the things out of the trunk, then go take a shower.”
“Uh-huh.” Julian sat up on the rug and leaned back against the couch, watching her as she smoothed out her skirt.
She stared down at him. “You going to help me or just sit there looking cute?” she said sarcastically.
He reached for his briefs, hopped up, and slipped them back on. “What’s your rush? You don’t usually cut and run like this.”
“I told you. I want to get my things. You can see everything in the back of that SUV. My stuff could get stolen.”
“C’mon, there aren’t any thieves out here in the suburbs.”
“Thieves are everywhere.”
He reached for her hand and gently pulled her into his arms. He pushed a lock of her auburn hair out of her face. “Evelyn still on your mind?”
She inhaled deeply. “It hit me hard.”
“I know.”
“She told us they were having problems last weekend, but she never said anything about him leaving. My heart goes out to her. It’s a shock.”
“She probably didn’t want to bother you with her marital problems, seeing as how you’re planning to get hitched soon.”
“I know. Does it ever make you nervous at all?”
“What? Getting married?”
Beverly nodded.
“Some. I just remind myself that it’s normal and think about how crazy I am about you. It’s a big change, yeah. I’ve gone almost forty years without getting married. Never really wanted to until I met you. So hell yeah, I get the jitters now and then. You’d probably have to be some kind of freak not to be a little nervous about it. But this is us, Bev. We agree on so many things. We love each other. We’ll be fine.”
“I wasn’t nervous about it at all until recently. I mean, I’m not thinking about backing out or anything, just feeling a little shaky, I guess.”
Julian wiped his brow in mock relief.
She smiled. “Seriously, though, this has got me thinking about stuff I didn’t before.”
“Such as?”
“Evelyn and Kevin were almost the only two people in our generation whose first marriage lasted more than a few years. There may be one or two others, but I can’t think of them now. A woman at work has been with this guy for twenty years and they have four kids, but they never actually got married. And my boss has been married about fifteen years now, but it’s her second marriage. The divorce rate is even worse for black married couples than it is for white married couples. Did you know that?”
“I do now.”
“So yes, I’m wondering what the heck is going on with this marriage thing. Is it, like, we’re all selfish brats who cut and run at the first sign of trouble, or is there something wrong with the whole institution of marriage itself? Because something is not making sense, if you ask me, and I want—”
He covered her mouth with his hand. “Beverly, wait. Slow down. You’re getting all worked up again about nothing, really.”
“How can you say that? This is our life we’re talking about here. And my sister.”
“I’m not talking about your sister. You know me better than that. I’m talking about marriage in general. Yes, your sister and her husband broke up, and I’m sorry about that. But it has nothing to do with you and me as a couple. I’m telling you, that won’t happen to us.”
“How can you be so sure?” she asked.
“Because we’re madly in love.”
“You say that like it’s the be-all and end-all,” she said. “Like it solves all problems. So were Kevin and Evelyn at one time. I’m sure all these other couples thought they were in love and that their marriages would last forever. It wasn’t enough. I mean, they didn’t go into it thinking it would fail.”
“No one does.”
“So why should we be the exception? Can you tell me that?”
He sighed impatiently. “What are you getting at here, Beverly? ’Cause everything I say, no matter what, you have a counterargument for it. Are you saying you think we shouldn’t get married?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m just saying we should…” She paused when she realized that she didn’t know quite what she was trying to say. She just had a gut feeling that all was not well, that they could be getting themselves into something far bigger and more challenging than they realized.
She was trying to give a voice to the feeling, but it was coming out all wrong precisely because she didn’t understand exactly what was bothering her or why. It wasn’t as if Julian had suddenly done something wrong. Or that she had stopped loving him. None of that had changed and yet everything seemed different. She was thoroughly confused. Or maybe she was just scared.
“We can talk about it later,” she said. “I’m a little tired, so let’s just get the gifts out of the car now.”
She needed time to digest all of this. Chances were that she was making a big deal out of nothing, just as Julian was implying. She would probably wake up tomorrow morning and feel fine.
He took her hands into his. “Okay, but if you’re having any kind of doubts about us going through with this, I want to talk sooner rather than later. I want this to work.”
“I’m not having doubts. And I want this to work as much as you do.”
“I think you’ll feel better after you get some sleep tonight.”
She nodded in agreement. “As usual, you’re probably right.”
He let her go and put his eyeglasses on. “Why don’t you go run yourself a hot bath? I’ll get the rest of the things out of the car.”
She smiled at him as he slipped into his jeans and fastened his belt. She wasn’t sure why she had doubted this sweet man, even for a minute. Or doubted them together. Julian was good to her and for her, and she couldn’t imagine going forward without him. “That sounds fine to me.”
He opened the front door and looked back at her. “I love you.” He blew her a kiss.
“Love you back.”
Chapter 18
Charmaine stepped into her kitchen, arms stuffed full of goodies left over from the bridal shower. She placed the shrimp salad in the refrigerator and the rolls and chocolate cake on the countertop. Then she dropped her shoulder bag onto a chair near the kitchen table and walked into the living room, where she sank down onto the couch. She didn’t bother to turn on the lamps even though it was dusk. There was something soothing about sitting alone in the darkness at the end of a long, hectic day.
After all the guests had left the bridal shower, Charmaine had hung around and helped Evelyn tidy up. Then they sat at the kitchen table and chatted for two hours about everything—kids, work, dieting, but mostly marriage and divorce.
“Never in a million years did I think this would happen to me,” Evelyn said as she placed cups of steaming herbal te
a on the table in front of both of them. She removed her suit jacket and draped it on the back of a chair. Then she sat across from Charmaine, put her feet up on an empty seat, and blew into her hot cup. “Call me stupid, but I thought we would be together forever.”
Charmaine shrugged as she kicked off her heels and reached for her tea. “Happens to the best of couples.”
Evelyn sighed. “I guess.”
“Kevin has really changed,” Charmaine said. “You can see it in his eyes, his whole demeanor.”
“Tell me about it,” Evelyn said. “How does that happen?”
“Don’t look at me, ’cause I couldn’t tell you. All I know is that men pull stuff like this all the time. Too damn often. Even men like Kevin who seem to have their shit together, apparently. So if you’re going to be out there dating again, you’d better get used to it, ’cause trust me, many of ’em are worse than Kevin.”
“Girl, please. We don’t need to talk about me dating. That’s the last thing I want to think about now.”
Charmaine smiled. “Yeah, it’s early to talk about it. I’m just saying. Maybe you and Kevin will still work things out. Who knows?”
Evelyn nodded. “God, I hope so. I can’t even think of a life without him.”
“Even though I suspected something was wrong, I was absolutely stunned when you told us he left. I figured whatever the problem was, you guys would work it through. Never in hell did I think one of you would leave.”
“We’ve always had ups and downs, like any couple,” Evelyn said. “But this is the first time he’s left. I kept it to myself because I didn’t want to bother others with my problems.”
Charmaine nodded. She suspected that Evelyn’s secrecy also had a lot to do with her pride. Evelyn had more than enough of the stuff to go around. For some reason, Evelyn had this need for people to think that she was perfect, that her marriage was perfect, and Charmaine could never understand that.
Personally, Charmaine thought it was silly to hide the truth. She believed in being frank about all things, good and bad. Let it out there. But she had sipped her tea, kept her thoughts to herself, and let Evelyn do most of the talking. At least Evelyn had started to open up, and that was what counted.
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