Sisters and Husbands

by Connie Briscoe

  Charmaine nodded eagerly. “That’s the best idea you’ve come up with in a long, long time.”

  He picked up his wineglass, she grabbed hers, and they held hands as they slipped up the stairs.

  Chapter 31

  Dinner with Reuben at the Crab Shanty in Ellicott City seemed to fly by for Evelyn. One minute he was knocking on her door and helping her into his black Lexus sedan; the next he was tipping the waitress. In between, they had dined on some of the best seafood in Maryland, all the while talking and laughing nonstop.

  It had been decades since Evelyn had dated, and she had not been looking forward to the prospect. Truth was, she had been separated just under a month and hadn’t really had time to think about anything as far out as dating again. She suspected that if she’d had much time to think, it would have scared her silly. Yet here she was having the time of her life with a man who was fun and flirtatious and made her feel alive again.

  They held hands and walked back toward Reuben’s car as the sun was falling, creating a luminescent glow in the evening sky. It was the first moment of silence between them since he had picked her up at six that evening, nearly three hours earlier. She looked up at him and smiled, and he squeezed her hand gently.

  He pulled out of the parking lot onto Plum Tree Drive and turned onto Route 40, heading toward his new condo in Columbia. She had agreed to stop by and see it before he drove her the thirty minutes to her home in Silver Spring so she could meet up with Kevin and give him the keys to the house as promised. She honestly didn’t want the date to end. Reuben was upbeat and pleasant to be around. And she found him even more attractive now than she had when he was younger. Some people tended to grow better-looking with age, and Reuben was definitely one of them.

  She had even toyed with the idea of calling Kevin and telling him to come later that night so she could have more time with Reuben. Going from Reuben to Kevin was going to feel like walking from daylight into darkness. But she decided against doing that. She didn’t want to overplay her hand with Reuben and have him get tired of her before they got started.

  His condo was right in the midst of downtown Columbia, within walking distance of the shops and restaurants in the area. He pointed out a group of new town houses being built near the mall, where he hoped to buy once he and his wife sold their house in Prince George’s County.

  “You excited about being a bachelor again?” she asked.

  He threw his head back and laughed out loud. “Yes and no. Meaning that I’ll probably enjoy it for a while, but I’m really a one-woman kind of guy. I appreciate an evening out with good company like we just shared, but what I really enjoy is having a steady companion. What about you? Are you looking forward to getting back into the dating scene?”

  Evelyn shook her head. “Not even a little bit. If anything it makes me nervous. I’m so rusty when it comes to all of this.”

  “You shouldn’t be nervous. You won’t have any trouble getting dates and you were fine with me tonight.”

  “It’s sweet of you to say that. But I think I was comfortable with you because we already knew each other. And at my age, most men are taken, gay, or too old to get it on.”

  He chuckled. “Well, thanks a lot for that vote of confidence.”

  “No, not you. I didn’t mean it like that. See? I’m rusty at this dating thing.”

  They laughed and continued their discussion of the ups and downs of newfound singlehood in Reuben’s kitchen as he removed two wineglasses and a bottle of cabernet sauvignon from the cabinet. He popped the cork, and she picked up both glasses and held them as he poured.

  “I do want to say that you’ve given me more confidence about what it might be like to be single again,” she said.

  “Have I, now?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Glad to be of help.” He finished pouring and placed the bottle on the countertop. But instead of taking one of the glasses from her hands he took them both and set them down. She looked up at him, a puzzled expression on her face.

  “You know what I want before we toast, drink, and all of that?”

  A chill ran up her thigh, which was odd, she thought. Usually they ran down her spine. “What?” she asked, smiling at what she thought was coming.

  “This.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers as he gently touched her chin with his fingers.

  She closed her eyes and held her breath. Even though she was expecting this, she was in a mild state of shock. It had been ages since she had kissed any man besides Kevin, and it had been months since she’d kissed Kevin. But she liked it. She really liked it. She liked it so much that when he released her and moved to pick up the wineglasses, she put a hand out to stop him. She tugged lightly at his shirt until he bent over and kissed her again. This time she didn’t freeze up but let herself enjoy the feelings as he wrapped his arms around her and tightened his hold.

  Evelyn wasn’t sure what came over her, maybe something that had lain dormant for far too long. But she found herself arching her body against his urgently and pressing tightly as she felt him become more aroused. They wriggled and moaned and he backed her up to the countertop.

  At that moment, as he kissed her passionately on the neck, a voice in her head told her to put a stop to this. Things were going too far too fast. She pulled her lips away from his and placed her hands on his chest. But before she could push him away, his lips found the crevice of her breast, and the sensation of his hot tongue on her bare flesh sent her into a frenzy. He reached down and hiked up her skirt.

  When she felt his hand tugging at her bikini underwear, she knew they were approaching the moment of no return. If she was going to back out, she needed to do it now. Goodness knew she hadn’t seen this coming. She’d had no idea how needy her body had become all these many months with no affection from Kevin.

  She had no false illusions of love forever after with Reuben. She understood that if she had sex with him now, it could well become a one-night stand of hot passion. Could she live with that?

  Hell yeah. She helped him tear off her panties; then they both moved to the zipper of his slacks. She kicked off her heels and he pulled her down to the cold, hard kitchen floor. They flipped around and she lifted her skirt and anxiously straddled him. She could tell that he was as startled by her sudden burst of eagerness as she was.

  He pulled her face to his and reached for her lips, kissing her gently at first and then more excitedly. The kiss became wetter and more urgent, until finally at the height of passion she bit him, shuddered, and moaned loudly.

  “Ouch!” he muttered, reaching up to touch his bottom lip. “You’re a wild one tonight.” He laughed softly.

  “Sorry if I hurt you,” she said as her heartbeat slowed down a bit.

  “Don’t be.” He flipped her beneath him and landed on top of her. Their hips moved rapidly, and she could feel her passion beginning to inflame anew.

  Reuben pulled into Evelyn’s driveway and leaned over to the passenger seat to kiss her softly on the lips.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said.

  Evelyn smiled, remembering how those words used to leave her so hopeful when she was dating years ago. She could recall many nights waiting near the telephone for him—whoever he was at the moment—to phone her.

  Now the words had an entirely different meaning to her—or little meaning at all. She would be flattered if Reuben called. She enjoyed his company, and he had reawakened feelings that hadn’t burned through her body in eons. But she also knew that if she never heard from him again, she’d be just fine with that too.

  He placed his hand on his door handle, preparing to get out and walk her the short distance to the side door, and at that moment she remembered that she was supposed to meet Kevin there between ten and eleven. She knew without even looking at her watch that it had to be close to midnight. After their hurried lovemaking on the kitchen floor, they moved to Reuben’s bedroom with the wine bottle for a second, more leisurely session. />
  Now she felt bad about forgetting Kevin. Oh, wait. No, she didn’t, not really. Anyway, there was a good chance that Kevin hadn’t even shown up, knowing him.

  She reached out and touched Reuben’s arm. “You don’t have to get out.”

  “You sure? I don’t mind.”

  “I’m positive,” she said, smiling. God knew that if he walked her to the door they’d probably end up in her bedroom. “I’ll be fine.” She removed her keys from her bag, they kissed briefly once again, and she climbed out. He waited as she unlocked the door and entered the house, and then he backed out of the driveway and took off.

  She removed her heels, and picked them up. She walked across the kitchen floor to the stairs in her bare feet, all the while humming softly. She felt as if she had not a care in the world. It was amazing how much a little loving could do for a woman, she thought as she skipped up the stairs.

  Just as she reached the landing a knock came at the side door. Maybe she had left something in Reuben’s car or maybe he just wanted more of her. For a moment she tried to think of what she would say to get rid of him. Then she realized that she didn’t want to get rid of him. She wanted him to make her feel good again.

  She dropped her bag and heels on the floor and ran back down the stairs. When she was close enough to the door to see the figure through the glass panes, she realized that it wasn’t Reuben coming back to make more love to her. It was Kevin.

  She opened the door slowly. Kevin stood on the threshold, a look of bitter astonishment on his face.

  “I don’t believe you just stood me up,” he said angrily as he brushed by her and into the kitchen.

  Evelyn closed the door softly and turned to face him patiently. She was determined that he was not going to alter her joyful mood. She was feeling too peaceful, too contented about her time with Reuben to allow Kevin to ruin the moment.

  “Sorry to be late getting back,” she said. “I, um, got held up.”

  “I bet you did,” he said sarcastically. “Was that him?”

  “Was who him?” she asked with studied innocence. She knew it was a stupid question the minute she asked it. He had obviously been parked outside waiting for her to return. But she was enjoying every minute of watching Kevin squirm, and she wanted to string it out for as long as she could.

  “The dude who just dropped you off,” he said. “Who the fuck else would I be talking about?”

  Evelyn had to struggle to keep the smirk off her face. “Oh, you mean Reuben. Yes, that was him.”

  “Where have you been all night?”

  “Out. With Reuben.”

  “Smart-ass,” he hissed.

  “Have you been waiting here since ten?”

  His lips tightened. “What was I supposed to do? I really need to get some things out of the garage and you said you would be here.”

  “I got held up. What can I say?”

  “You must be screwing him. What else would you two be doing until almost midnight?”

  She studied her fingernails. “I know you’re not talking to me. Not when you just slept with my sister’s best friend.”

  “Oh, so that’s what this is. Revenge. Payback time.”

  “No, Kevin. More like ‘I have needs too’ time. And since you can’t fulfill them, I found someone who can.”

  Kevin stared at her with disbelief. “So you admit you fucked him?”

  She said nothing.

  “You know, I really do need my tools from the garage, but another reason I contacted you was to see if we could talk and try to work things out. As long as we’ve been together, it would be irresponsible for us not to try.” He shook his head. “But now I don’t know. I can hardly believe you did this. Although I guess in a way we could call it even.”

  By the time he finished his little speech, Evelyn’s eyes were as big and round as pancakes. She walked up to him and got right in his face. “If you’re going to stand there and compare what I did to you screwing my sister’s best friend and try to call it even, then you’ve become a bigger fool than I realized. And if you think for one minute, for one second, that I would ever go back to your sorry ass after the shit you pulled, then you’re the biggest fool on this goddamn planet.”

  He stared in silence as she hastily went to a kitchen cabinet, opened it, and retrieved two keys from a hook on the door. She removed one key and held it out to Kevin without looking in his direction. As soon as he took the key, she walked to the door and opened it.

  “I’ll see you in divorce court.”

  He opened his mouth and looked like he was about to say something until she turned to him and he saw the look of disdain on her face. He quickly shut his mouth and walked out the door. She slammed it right on his heel and swiped her hands together as if brushing him out of her life.

  Damn, that felt good.

  Chapter 32

  Charmaine reached into the dryer and pulled out an armful of freshly laundered dark clothing. It seemed that the load got larger every time she did the laundry, which was now a few times a week. Tyrone and Kenny were the worst. Although Tiffany had more clothes, guy stuff was bigger, heavier, and dirtier.

  This batch was going to take at least two trips from the basement up to her bedroom, where she usually did her sorting and folding. The wedding was the day after tomorrow, and she wanted to make sure the kids had whatever clothing they might need, so she was washing everything. She took the first armload, mostly jeans and slacks, and carried it up the two flights of stairs and dumped it on the bed. Then she went all the way back down to the laundry room for the rest of the items in the dryer. Both times she passed Tiffany, lounging on the couch in the recreation area, watching television and talking on her cell phone.

  It dawned on Charmaine that she shouldn’t have to do this all by herself. She also needed to get dinner on the stove. Tyrone and Kenny were out getting haircuts for the big day and planned to stop at the grocery store on the way home. Everyone was doing their part of the household chores. Why couldn’t Tiffany pitch in and do her share?

  Charmaine marched into the recreation room and planted her feet between Tiffany and the television set. “Just a second, Dawn,” Tiffany said into her cell phone. She paused in conversation, covered the mouthpiece, and looked up at Charmaine with annoyance. “Yeah?”

  Charmaine was tempted to tell Tiffany to address her as “Yes, ma’am,” but she knew that what she was about to ask Tiffany to do was going to upset her enough and she didn’t want to push it. “I need help with the laundry.”

  “Oh,” Tiffany said, acting surprised that Charmaine would dare mention that word in her presence. “Um, I’ll be there in a minute, after I get off the phone.”

  “I need help now. You can call Dawn back later.”

  Tiffany frowned. “I don’t think so. She’s getting ready to go out with her mom, and we need to finish this up.”

  “I would appreciate your help now, Tiffany, not later.”

  Tiffany blinked and started to say something, no doubt something sassy, but the look on Charmaine’s face made her decide against it. Maybe it was the fire pouring from her flared nostrils, Charmaine thought as Tiffany reluctantly told her friend good-bye. Tiffany hung up and dragged her feet as she followed Charmaine into the laundry room. She rolled her eyes with disgust as Charmaine removed the laundry from the dryer and piled it in Tiffany’s arms.

  “That’s enough,” Tiffany protested as Charmaine started to drop more jeans into her arms.

  “Is that the best you can do?” Charmaine asked.

  “Yes, this is a lot.”

  Charmaine rolled her eyes skyward. “Go on and take it up to my bedroom then.” Charmaine grabbed the rest of the clothes from the dryer and followed Tiffany up the two flights of stairs. Tiffany walked into the bedroom, dumped the clothes, and made a beeline for the exit.

  “Uh-uh,” Charmaine said, as she dropped her own pile on the bed. “Where do you think you’re going? I need help folding them.”

  Tiff
any stood in the doorway and placed her hands on her hips with indignation. “Most of that stuff isn’t even mine. It’s Kenny’s.”

  “Some of it is yours. And what difference does that make? We’re family, we help each other out. Kenny and your dad are shopping for food. Do you plan on eating any of it?”

  Tiffany smacked her lips and walked back toward the bed.

  “What do you want me to do?” she said, staring at the laundry as if it was a new species of animal that she had never seen.

  “Haven’t you ever folded laundry before?” Charmaine asked.

  “Sure. But I’ve never folded boy’s stuff, since it’s just me and my mom.”

  Charmaine nodded with pretended understanding at this newfound excuse. “It’s simple, really,” she said. She lifted a pair of Kenny’s running pants and tossed a pair of Tyrone’s jeans into Tiffany’s arms. “I’ll admit that guys are different in a lot of ways, but since they basically have two legs just like us, you shake them out, fold them over like this, then like this. And presto!” She held the folded pants out for Tiffany to see. “Probably the same way you fold your own. Right?”

  Tiffany couldn’t help but crack a tiny smile at Charmaine’s cleverness. “I guess.”

  They both folded in silence for a few minutes as Tiffany quickly got the hang of it.

  “You do much housework at home?” Charmaine asked.

  Tiffany nodded and turned up her nose. “All the time.”

  “Like what?”

  “Let’s see,” Tiffany said. “Laundry. I do the dishes every other day since we take turns. On weekends, I clean up my room and the bathroom. Vacuum.”

  Charmaine nodded. She was surprised to hear that Tiffany did so much around the house. So she wasn’t treated like a princess at home. The royal treatment was more Tyrone’s doing than anything. “So your mom makes you help out. That’s good.”

  “Good?” Tiffany asked with surprise. “What’s so good about it?”