CHAPTER 60

“I made a fool of myself last night,” Yolanda screeched into the phone.

“What did you do?”

“What didn’t I do? I went to my parents’ anniversary party and lost my mind. I just exploded,” Yolanda said, sighing deeply.

“What did your dad do this time?” Natalie asked.

“The sad part is, he didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. Just the same old thing—constantly praising Gina.”

“While ignoring you?”

“Exactly. For some reason, this time I couldn’t take it. No, I refused to take it. I made a huge scene and…” Yolanda stopped, too embarrassed to tell Natalie what else she had done.

“And what? What else did you do?”

“I threw my parents’ anniversary cake on the floor.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Yes. I confess. I need to be locked up in some mental ward.”

“Did Gina make it?”

“Yeah…”

“Oh, no! You know how sensitive that girl is! Especially when it comes to her special desserts.”

“I know. She spent about six hours making this four-tiered creation, and I pushed it onto the floor. I’ve tried to call them to apologize, but no one is picking up the phone. It’s as if they’ve banned me from the family.”

“Can you blame them? You ruined their anniversary party!”

“I know, I know. I probably could’ve handled it differently if I hadn’t had such a crappy weekend.”

“You can’t let what happened at the reunion ruin everything. As much as you don’t get along with Gina, pushing that cake was a big no-no. You can’t take all your frustrations out on them. Who you need to be taking it out on is Maxwell. Has he called again?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Yeah, you can. I’ll pick you up, and we’ll go get lunch and you can tell me more about it.”

“Fine.”

“Be there in an hour.”

* * *

“What made you pick this place?” Yolanda asked, pulling out a chair at Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

“I don’t know. I guess I wanted to switch things up a bit,” Natalie said, sitting down.

“You hate Italian food.”

“Not all the time,” Natalie said, picking up her menu. “Okay, tell me, has Maxwell been calling you?”

“Yeah, he’s been calling like crazy. We talked briefly.”

“And? Come on, what else?”

“Nothing happened. He said he was sorry and that he wanted to see me to explain a few things.”

Yolanda thought back to the desperation in his voice.

“Please, Yolanda, we really need to talk.”

“We don’t have anything to talk about. I think you said all you wanted to say.”

He sighed. “Look, can I come over?”

“In daylight? Whoa, that’s a bold move for you considering how ashamed you are of being with me. You don’t want to risk somebody seeing you leave ol’ skinny girl’s apartment, do you? Yeah, I think the phone fits your personality better. No one can see us talking, no one will even know I exist, which is what you prefer, right?”

“No, that’s not right at all. You’re taking this whole thing too far. I really like you—”

“Oh, now you like me all of a sudden? Hmm, let’s see— you reject kissing me twice. You see your ex-girlfriend at a restaurant and leave me to get home by a taxi. Then you leave me all by myself at your family reunion to be seriously dissed by your family. Yeah, you sure do like me, Maxwell. Promise me you won’t fall in love with me; you may just kill me.”

“Is that why you wanted to leave? Somebody said something to you?”

“It doesn’t matter. None of it matters. The point is that you’ve made it quite clear that you don’t want me. So I’m doing us both a favor…”

“And then what?” Natalie asked, taking a bite out of her fried calamari.

“I hung up the phone in his face.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

“Felt good, didn’t it?”

“It felt great.”

“Uh-oh, speak of the devil,” Natalie said, looking beyond Yolanda.

Yolanda turned and saw Maxwell and Theresa entering the restaurant.

“Great. I really can’t handle this,” she said, picking up her purse to leave.

“No! You’re not going anywhere. You’re in control, remember?” Natalie reminded her.

“Right, right. Maybe he won’t even come over here.”

“Fat chance. They’re walking this way.”

“What do I say?”

“Just relax,” Natalie said, as Maxwell and Theresa approached their table.

“Hi, Maxwell, Theresa. Small world,” Natalie said, rubbing her belly.

Yolanda kept her head down, pretending that something on the menu was keeping her attention glued to it.

“It sure is,” Maxwell said, looking at Yolanda.

“How are you doing?” Maxwell asked softly, his brown eyes boring into her.

“Just fine,” Yolanda answered, looking up and giving him a warm smile.

“So, Theresa, you found a job yet?” Natalie asked.

“No, not yet. But it won’t be long,” she answered coldly.

“We’re out to lunch just talking,” he said, still looking at Yolanda. “We’re just friends; I’m just giving her moral support. That’s it.”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Maxwell. I’m not your woman. You’ve made that perfectly clear,” Yolanda said, taking a sip of her iced tea.

Theresa yawned loudly.

“I’m ready to eat, Maxwell,” she said, putting her arm through his possessively.

He shook her off, his eyes still on Yolanda.

“You’ve been doing okay?” he asked again.

“You already asked her that. She’s fine, Maxwell. I’m the one who lost her job, remember?” Theresa said, irritably.

“How can we forget, Theresa? The whole salon knows how you lost you’re job,” Yolanda said.

“Excuse me?”

“Who else has been giving you moral support?” Natalie asked Theresa, trying to ease the tension.

“Nobody else, really. Although Jackie calls me just about every day.”

“Really?” Yolanda interjected. “Jackie calls you?”

“Yes,” Theresa said, rolling her eyes.

“What do y’all talk about?” Natalie asked.

“She keeps my spirits up. She’s trying to talk to her mother, see about getting my job back. Jackie’s the only one who believes me. She knows I never wrote those letters. She thinks she is on to something. She told me she had some evidence about who really did it.”

“Really?” Yolanda asked.

“Yes, really. She knows I’m innocent. Anyway, I’m hungry,” Theresa said, tugging at Maxwell’s sleeve. “Let’s go to our table.”

“In a minute. I need to speak to Yolanda.”

Theresa gave Yolanda a hard look, then turned sharply on her heels and walked toward their table.

“Don’t keep me waiting long,” she called out.

“We really need to finish our conversation.”

“We are finished.”

“You hung up the phone; I never got a chance to explain to you my side—”

“I know your side, Maxwell. You’re ashamed, remember?”

He sighed.

“Listen, can we talk?”

“We are talking.”

“I mean privately.”

“Why? I’m just gonna tell Natalie everything you said, anyway, so let’s just cut out the middle man. What do you want?”

“I want to apologize.”

Yolanda sat back in her chair and looked at Maxwell.

“Go ahead.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low and sincere.

“You are sorry, Maxwell. I already know that. Anything else?”

He opened his mouth as if to speak and then closed it, shocked by Yolanda’s blunt and unyielding response.

He nodded and walked away like a defeated puppy dog with his tail between his legs.

Yolanda looked at Natalie and they burst out laughing.

“You learn fast! That was good!”

“It felt good, too,” Yolanda said. And it did. It felt good to be in control.

Their lunch arrived and they were still laughing.

“Man, I haven’t laughed this hard in months,” Natalie said. “I feel kinda bad for Theresa, though. That’s nice of Jackie, trying to get her job back.”

“Yeah that’s real nice of her,” Yolanda said nastily, disgusted by Jackie’s behavior.

“What, you don’t like her? I thought y’all were starting to be friends.”

“What if I told you Jackie wasn’t all she seemed to be? That she was one way one minute, another the next?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Remember that day at the salon cafe when she told me off?”

“Yeah, I remember. Sorry about that,” Yolanda said sheepishly.

“All in the past,” Natalie said, waving her hand.

“I think that Jackie is the one who wrote those letters.”

“What? Are you sure? How do you know?”

“She told me.”

“She just flat out told you? That was stupid.”

“Well, it was more like she hinted. But still, I know she did it.”

“Why would she do something like that?”

“Simple. She wants Theresa’s job.”

“That greedy dog! She already has a good job. If she just waited, her mom probably would have given her the whole salon,” Natalie said, chewing on a piece of lasagna.

“Homeboy keeps looking at you, by the way,” she added.

Yolanda turned around and saw Maxwell watching her. He winked at her, and Theresa turned to see what had him so distracted. Her eyes became cold, hard slits when she saw it was Yolanda.

Yolanda smiled, and turned back to Natalie.

“So what are you gonna do?”

“He can look all he wants, I don’t care. It doesn’t mean anything…”

“Girl, I wasn’t even talking about him! You really like him, don’t you?”

“I haven’t felt this way about anybody since Russell…”

“It’s that serious? Well, don’t worry, the way he keeps looking at you, you ain’t the only one.”

“You think so?” Yolanda asked, allowing a bit of excitement to creep into her voice.

“I know so. He likes you, Yolanda. Dog him out a little longer, and he’ll be in the palm of your hand. But anyway, back to what I was saying earlier, what are you gonna do about Theresa?”

“What do you mean, ‘what am I gonna do?’ Nothing!” Yolanda said.

“You can’t just sit around and do nothing! It’s your moral responsibility to tell someone.”

“I’m not helping that woman; I can’t stand her. When we worked together, she did everything in her power to make my life miserable. I’m not saying anything. Dee Dee’s not gonna believe me over her own daughter. Forget it.”

“Look, I know you don’t like Theresa…”

“You got that right.”

“But that still has nothing to do with her losing her job, and it doesn’t justify your withholding information that could clear her name. That isn’t right. You have to tell.”

“Jackie is gonna kick my butt! She’ll deny the whole thing.”

“So? You’re in control, remember? It’s better than her lying and saying you did it.”

“You think she would do something like that?”

“Oh, wake up, Yolanda. Stop being so naive. She probably realized she made a mistake by telling you and is figuring out a way to get rid of you even as we speak. Why do you think she’s telling Theresa she’s gonna find the person who wrote those letters? You better tell someone, Yolanda, and quick. It’s your job or hers.”

Yolanda nodded reluctantly, but she had to admit that Natalie was probably right about Jackie. She remembered how Jackie had talked to those women in that club. The girl was psycho.

“But I still need to get proof. Nobody is gonna believe me without proof.”

“Behave is a big salon, Yolanda. I’m sure somebody saw something. Just ask around. You’ll get the answers you’re looking for.”

“Okay,” Yolanda said, sighing heavily to show her reluctance, “I’ll start looking into it.”

“Good. I’m thirsty,” Natalie said, draining the last of her Coke. “Where’s the waiter?”