Facing the Music

The activity level in the dining room, den, and kitchen had increased threefold while I was in the bedroom on the phone. People seemed to occupy every square foot of the house. So many faces were familiar, yet I couldn’t associate names with many of them. My fatigue weighed heavily, and I felt I was walking the thin line between grief and depression. I sought out Uncle Thomas. Being with him gave me an inexplicable comfort.

“See, I understand what my man was going through. Now you know ole Willie here got a few fillies in his stable. But I’m as much a man as I was twenty years ago. But with so many women, I need a little help from time to time.”

“So what chu tryin’ to say, Willie?” Uncle Thomas chuckled. “You wasn’t much of a man twenty years ago, either?”

“You know how a man tries to get a woman to say his name? Ole Willie be havin’ ’em spell his! W-I-L-L-I-E!”

“God gon’ strike you dead lyin’ like dat.”

“Long as He don’t strike mah johnson dead, we be just fine!”

“So what kinda hep you been gittin’ wit’ all yo’ women? You taking them Viagra pills, too?” Uncle Thomas inquired. Both men were still unaware of my presence.

“I got me some herbs that do the same thang. Ole Sweet Daddy Willie here can go all … night … long!”

“See Ima move out of da way of da lightnin’, ’cuz you just lyin’. Only thing that goes all night long on you is your pacemaker. Them young gals want one thang and one thang only from you. And it’s dead!”

“Ain’t a damn thang dead on me, Thomas. Nothing ’tall.”

“I’m talking ’bout dead presidents, ya ole fool. Dem gals only want yo’ money. Yo’ ole ass can barely git out of bed in da morning.”

“Maybe I gots me a reason for wanting to stay in bed, you old fart.”

“Yeah ‘n’ dat reason’s name is arthritis!”

“Thomas, my man, in case you didn’t know, there are three thangs a man never wants to get out of.”

“So tell me what dem three thangs is.”

“Let me enlighten you, my brotha. A hot shower, a warm bed, and some good p—”

“Mister Willie!” I startled them both.

“Glynda, chile, how long ya been standin’ dere?”

“Long enough, Uncle Thomas! Shame on you, Mister Willie!” I laughed.

“Glynda, baby, I just was speaking the truth.” Willie grinned.

“Renee and Collette was looking for you, baby. They both looked kinda mad. But I guess that has been par for da course these past couple of days.”

“I’ll find them. You two better behave,” I teased. I knew what lay in store for me when I came face-to-face with the terrible two.

I worked my way through the maze of friends and family, stopping occasionally to shake hands with some and hug others. The common thread connecting us all was disbelief that Eddie Naylor was gone. I found Renee, Collette, and Dawn in the laundry room, with Collette hanging outside the door smoking.

“So, what were we supposed to do?” Dawn asked defensively.

“Oh, let’s see … when all else fails, tell the truth!” Renee had that anger/sarcasm thing in full effect.

“We didn’t lie to you.” I came to my baby sister’s defense.

“You’re right. You didn’t tell us anything. If Lette hadn’t walked in when she did, God knows when we would have found out the truth,” Renee spat.

“Y’all always overreact to everything. I’m sick of you two getting a little bit of information and then dwelling on it. You’ve always been that way. I admit, we were probably wrong, but all of this wasted energy and drama is what we’re trying to avoid.”

“Probably! See, that’s what I’m talking about. You still don’t see anything wrong with what you’ve done by keeping us in the dark. We know about two things. God only knows how many others there are.”

“We’ve told you everything we know about everything. We swear.” Dawn sounded like a ten-year-old pleading with her parents for forgiveness.

“She’s right. But I’ve apologized all I plan to. You can either accept it or hug and kiss my narrow ass. Like I said, if you weren’t such drama queens, we wouldn’t even have to think about keeping stuff from you.”

“All right, this is enough. We aren’t going to start this ridiculous arguing again. It accomplishes nothing. Who were you talking to on the phone, Glynda?” Dawn tried changing the subject.

“Rico.” I didn’t feel like making peace.

“Oh, so when does the good doctor get here?” Collette closed the screen door as she crushed her half-smoked cigarette.

“My friend will be here tomorrow morning, along with her husband. I fully expect that you’re going to be nice to her.”

“As nice to her as you’ve been to Roberta?” Renee gladly interjected.

“Interesting you should ask. I begged her to stay here with me, and she said she wouldn’t intrude. I find that quite interesting. Don’t you?”

Rolling her eyes and working her neck sistahgurl style, Renee simply said, “Whatevah.”

“So she thinks she’s too good to stay at the house?” Collette pounced at the opportunity to start more mess.

“You know what? This conversation is over!” I turned abruptly to rejoin our guests.

If possible, it seemed as if even more people had arrived. Some spoke in low whispers while others laughed and made jokes about the good ole days with Daddy. Sister Greene was in command of the kitchen, and she barked orders to others wearing white uniforms with a patch on the sleeve that read WILLING WORKERS BOARD MEMBER. Everyone had either a plate or a cup in hand. There was another group of Willing Workers that was cleaning. Had I not known better, I would have thought this was a party. I stood in the midst of all these people, yet I felt so alone.

“You look lost.” As I turned, I was face-to-face with my first love, Michael Brockington.

“Oh, Michael!” Instinctively I hugged him. Michael and I had been sweethearts from the fourth grade until I left for college. We’d promised to stay together no matter what as we went off to colleges on opposite ends of the continent. We had remained close the first semester of our freshman year, writing and calling constantly.

When we returned home for Christmas vacation, something was different about him. Though his mouth professed all was still the same, the guilt behind his eyes betrayed him. On New Year’s Eve at five minutes to midnight, he finally told me he had met someone who attended Spelman. He said his nights at Morehouse had been lonely and that she was there. I’d thrown my drink in his face and ran to find a phone, crying.

Of course, the phone call I made was to Daddy to pick me up. Michael was pleading with me to forgive him on the steps of Delores Butler’s lavish home when Daddy arrived. I fully expected him to pick me up and take me straight home, but instead he first wanted to have a tête-à-tête with Michael. Daddy leapt from the car and seemed to be on the porch with us in two steps. Towering over Michael, he explained to him he would never have a second chance to make me cry.

Despite his calling every fifteen minutes, Daddy wouldn’t let him speak with me. After three days Michael simply gave up. When I returned to school in mid-January, a four-page letter waited for me from Michael, explaining that he would always love me but he needed to have a woman who was in the same city. It had taken us more than five years before we spoke again.

“I know this is a stupid question, but how are you, Glynda? You look wonderful!” Michael was as handsome as he was the first day I saw him in grade school.

“Sometimes I’m okay and other times I feel like I’m so out of control. And you ain’t looking too shabby yourself.” I slipped from his embrace.

“Well, just don’t expect too much from yourself. This is really hard stuff to deal with. I heard you passed the bar. Congrats!”

“How did you know that?”

“There isn’t much I don’t know about you. I’ve always kept tabs.”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

“Why are you so surprised? I’ve loved you since I was in the fourth grade. When I got to college, all those fine sistahs across the quad sent my wrong head into a spin, but my heart always belonged to you. Mr. Naylor scared me so bad with his threats to castrate me that I just left you alone. I haven’t been in one meaningful relationship in all these years.”

“Wow! How did you find out about Daddy?”

“I work at the plant. I head up their engineering department.”

“So you and Daddy worked together and he never told me?”

“Believe it or not, he was still mad at me for hurting you. He pretended like he didn’t know who I was, but he did. Hell, he still scared me. When they posted the notice on our Intranet, I knew I had to come.”

“Oh, Michael, I’m so glad you did! It’s so wonderful to see you again. Have you eaten?”

“The good sisters here have fed a brotha well.” He laughed, rubbing his stomach.

“Have you seen my sisters?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t say anything to them yet. Dawn sure did grow up nice!”

“That she did. She grew out of her tomboy ways with style, didn’t she?” It felt good to laugh with an old friend.

We continued to talk for several minutes, catching up on old friends and long-forgotten times. We made promises to stay in touch, and I told him I wanted him to meet Anthony. He declined.

The crowd began to thin. Each group left quietly, promising to return with more food and comfort in the days to come. Struggling for the right words played tricks with people’s hearts and minds. Some barely said anything, while others rambled on endlessly.

“I’m heading out to pick up Jimmy from the airport,” Estelle said. “We’ll be back in the morning around ten or so. Miss Hollywood will be in on Friday morning at five.” Estelle hugged me as she gathered her things to leave.

“She must be on the same flight as Rico and Jonathan, just a day later. Estelle, thank you for everything. We’ll make it through these next few days somehow.”

“Did you hear from the lawyer?” Estelle looked troubled.

“No, I’m sorry, we didn’t.” I wondered if I should tell her what we’d discovered so far.

“I just know my Eddie was faithful to me, Glynda. I just know he was.”

I hugged her but said nothing.

“Tell Jamaica to call me when he gets to your house. I love him so much. He’s like the brother I never had.”

“Chile, now you know my Jimmy is more like the sister you wished you didn’t have!” We both laughed and hugged each other again. The release felt good.

Shortly thereafter, Estelle and I said good night. The others followed close behind, leaving just immediate family. “Renee, are you and the kids spending the night?” I really wanted us all to stay together.

“No, we’re going home, but I’ll be back first thing in the morning. Derrick junior wants to spend the night with Devin, though. I wonder why the lawyer didn’t call us back today?”

“I wondered the same thing. It couldn’t take this long to pull the file. This seems a little odd to me,” I said, holding Renee’s hand.

“This whole thing is odd to me. Daddy taking Viagra. Naming strange folks in the will, us fighting like we live in the projects.Quite strange indeed.” Renee spoke the words with no particular recipient in mind. I felt her anguish.

“Dawn, are you and Devin spending the night?” I yelled to the kitchen, where Dawn and Collette were drinking laced coffee and eating chocolate cake.

“Considering how much Irish Cream and coffee I’ve had, I don’t think I have a choice,” Dawn answered as I entered the room.

“Good. Derrick junior is staying, too. What about you, Collette?” I asked, though I knew the answer.

“No, I need to be home in my own bed. Maybe tomorrow night. I guess we’d better get going so we can get some sleep tonight. This may be the last opportunity we have for a good night’s rest until after this is all over.”

I found it quite interesting that Renee and Collette didn’t want to spend the night together, but Dawn and I did. “What time will you be over in the morning? I want to call the lawyer first thing, since he didn’t call us back today.”

“I’ll be here at eight-thirty.” Collette responded quickly.

“I guess I’ll be here at the same time. I saw you and Estelle talking before she left. Did you tell her what you found out today?”

“No, I thought about it and then changed my mind. We may as well wait until we have some definite answers before we start sharing information.”

“My God, we actually agree on something!” Renee started to laugh.

“Yeah, I guess we do.” I, too, laughed as I hugged her.