Family of Lies (12 page)

I
DIDN’T THINK MY STEPMOTHER WAS EVER GOING TO ACCEPT ME AND
be sincere about it. She was all kissy-poo nice and sweet to me in front of my daddy and other people, but she wasn’t so nice when she and I were alone. I always seemed to do something that irritated Vera. She criticized the way I talked, my friends, what I ate, and the way I dressed. “You have too much money to be looking and acting so
black
,” she scolded one day. I had come home with a Tupac Shakur T-shirt in one hand and a half-eaten bucket of fried chicken gizzards in the other.

“Excuse me, but when I look in the mirror, a black woman is the only thing I see,” I quipped, licking grease off my lips.

“You know what I mean,” she insisted with a hand on her hip and a frown on her face. “When you have money, you can’t afford to be too
ethnic.
It makes people nervous.”

I brushed Vera off that time, and from that point on, I brushed her off every other time she said stupid shit to me. I no longer cared if she liked me. I decided that as long as Daddy was not complaining about me, that was all that mattered.

My life was somewhat boring, but I did everything I could to keep myself busy and out of Vera’s way. I still wasn’t ready to work, so getting a job was not on my agenda yet. Daddy had even offered to hire me as a cashier, but I turned that down. That sounded too boring for me! But I had to admit to Daddy that the real reason I didn’t want to work was because I wanted to enjoy the luxury of lying around in a mansion not having to worry about money a little longer.

Feeling so out of place and unaccepted by Vera was one of the reasons I became so promiscuous. I went out with men I didn’t even like just so I could get out of the house and away from her for a few hours, or a few days, at a time.

The following year I dated a lot of guys but none I liked enough to make a commitment to. Finally, I thought I’d found the man of my dreams. Two weeks after my twenty-third birthday, I started going out with this brother named Vincent Bruner. He worked for a company that made garage door openers. I had met him on a bus one day on my way to visit some of my friends in my old neighborhood. He was on his way to an appointment with his parole officer. He had no idea I was a “poor little rich girl” until I rolled up to his apartment in the projects in the Ferrari Daddy had bought for me last month.

“Girl, why do you be riding on a bus when you got a ride like this?” Vincent asked me, looking at my shiny black car like he wanted to kiss it.

“Uh, you know how bad parking is in this city,” I said with a shrug. “Besides, I like riding on the bus.”

“What kind of job you got?”

“I don’t work. And I still live at home.”

Vincent reared back and looked me up and down. “Your folks must be real well off, huh?”

“My daddy is real well off. Uh, he owns the five Lomax Electronic stores,” I confessed with hesitation. I had kept this information from Vincent since I’d met him a month ago because I wanted to see if he’d still like me if I was broke.

Vincent’s eyes lit up, but he tried to remain calm. All he said was, “No shit?” An hour later he asked me for a “loan” so he could take his mama out to dinner for her birthday. I gave him the money, which he was supposed to pay back a week later. I never heard from him again. Getting screwed like that was the only thing I hated about having money.

It was easy to see why some people thought having a lot of money was more of a curse than a blessing. Despite what I believed, I continued to be generous when it came to my “friends.” Daddy didn’t seem to mind, but the more I gave to my friends, the more it bothered Vera. And she didn’t hesitate to let me know.

One day while I was in the living room, she spied on me from behind a bookcase in the hall that led to the kitchen. I had just given a thousand dollars to one of my homegirls so she could pay some bills. Cathy Proctor had practically run out the door as soon as the money landed in her hand. A few seconds later, Vera marched into the room with her hands on her hips. “Sarah, I know it’s none of my business, but you need to be more careful about loaning money to your friends. You’re going to regret it one day,” she warned.

“They would do the same for me,” I said. I was perched on top of a stool at the bar. “They told me they would.”

“Ha! People like the friends you have will say anything they think you want to hear as long as it’ll help them get your money. Honey, these damn freeloaders don’t care about you. If you’re not careful, they are going to bleed you dry. Your daddy works too hard for his money for you to keep giving it away. How come you don’t socialize with some of those nice young girls I introduced you to?”

“I don’t have much in common with those girls,” I answered. I almost laughed in Vera’s face. The girls she had introduced me to had treated me like dog shit on the bottom of their shoes. They knew about my childhood background, so that was reason enough for them to always treat me like an outsider. One girl had even asked if I had been in a gang before I came to live with Daddy. And most of them thought that I knew drug dealers who would sell drugs to me at a discount that I could pass on to them. I had never been in a gang, and the drug dealers I grew up with were all dead or in jail.

“Well, I’m telling you for your own good; you really need to be more careful about who you associate with!” Vera must have realized how mean she sounded because a few seconds later, she started smiling. Then she gave me a hug. “I don’t mean to sound so harsh,” she said, rubbing my back. “I just want you to be happy.”

“I am happy,” I declared.

“I know you don’t know much about fine wine, but let’s have some. It’ll help you relax more than that cat-gut beer you drink.”

I followed Vera over to the bar and she poured me and herself a glass of her finest red wine. “This is good,” I told her with a burp as we moved to the couch and sat down.

“I love martinis and cosmopolitans, but this particular wine is my favorite. It’s more expensive than that shit most black folks drink, but it’s worth it. All of my friends back in Houston love it just as much as I do.”

“Houston must be a cool place.”

“It is.” Vera reached for a photo album on the end table and placed it on top of the coffee table. “Let me show you some of my friends.”

I couldn’t think of anything more boring than looking at somebody’s photo album and gawking at people I had never met and probably never would. There were pictures of homely babies, fat old women in outlandish hats and muumuus, and Vera as a teenager riding a bike. How lame was that?! Just as I was about to pour myself another glass of wine, I saw a picture of one of the most handsome black men I’d ever seen before in my life. He looked like a cross between Dwayne “The Rock”Johnson and Will Smith. Vera was in the picture with this hunk of black gold, and his arm was around her waist.

“Dang! Is this one of your old boyfriends?” I was actually enjoying myself now. But I wasn’t going to let my guard down. Vera was still the same witch I overheard talking trash about me in the kitchen with Cash and Collette on a regular basis.

“That’s my cousin Bo Harper,” Vera said casually. “He’s married to a woman who used to live across the street from my mama’s house.”

“Does he have any unmarried male relatives?” I laughed.

Vera laughed too. “Yeah, but most of them are a lot older than he is.”

I shook my head and let out a loud breath. “Why can’t I meet a man like your cousin Bo? His wife sure is a lucky woman.”

“She doesn’t think so. The marriage is on the rocks.”

“Oh that’s too bad,” I said quickly, forcing myself not to sound too excited.

Vera gave me a sickly look. “The next time we all go to Houston, or if he ever comes out here for a visit, I’ll make sure you meet him.”

“I hope so.” I sniffed.
Boy would I love to wrap my legs around his waist,
I thought to myself.

That night was the beginning of the end of the life I had come to know.

“B
O’S WIFE HAS BEEN THREATENING TO DIVORCE HIM FOR MONTHS.
They’ve been having problems for years,” I said quickly, wondering where this conversation was going and what was in it for me. “Poor Bo. That hussy he is married to is the Bride of Satan. She treats my poor cousin like a dog.”

Sarah couldn’t take her eyes off Bo’s picture. “That sure is cold, Vera. Your cousin looks like a real cool dude.”

“He is,” I replied, trying to look and act nonchalant. The last thing I wanted was for her to suspect I was up to something. The thought that I could use Bo to “straighten Sarah out” had entered my mind immediately after she’d expressed her interest in him. He’d be good for her and she’d be good for him as long as I was the one in control.

“He’s so damn cute.” Watching Sarah swoon like a love-struck puppy was sickening, but it was worth it.

“His wife took him to hell and back. She grew up in some fancy neighborhood in Boston. She has this notion that people from that part of the country are better than the rest of us—especially people from the South like me and . . . people from California like you. That wench was so trifling she’d fuck her lovers in the same bed she shared with Bo.”

“Ooo wee! That’s what I call a straight-up skank!” Sarah snorted. She softened her voice and grinned. “So . . . uh . . . he’s single now?”

“Oh yeah, the divorce is in the works. He put up with her as long as he could before he finally threw in the towel. Well, actually she’s the one that moved out. She was screwing one of their neighbors who was also one of Bo’s fishing buddies. When she left Bo, she moved in with the dude—in the house right next door.” I sniffed and gave Sarah a serious look. “I wish he could meet a nice girl like you. He’s somewhat older than you, but an older man can enrich a younger woman’s life tremendously. Look at your daddy and me.”

“Uh-huh.” Sarah gave me a mildly incredulous look. Then she grinned like the Cheshire cat and blinked a few times. I could just imagine the wheels turning in her head. “I like older men as long as they’re cute and not too broken down.”

“Me too,” I said. Had I known Sarah was this big of a fool over a handsome older man, I would have been on this case a lot sooner. I could have hooked her up with Bo a long time ago.

“Having his wife leave him for one of his friends must have been real hard on Bo,” Sarah continued with a glazed look on her face. “If I were a dude and my woman disrespected me the way Bo’s wife did him, I’d beat her ass.”

This was getting so good I wanted to lick my chops. Instead, I just cleared my throat. “Tell me about it. She’d park her car in the dude’s driveway so Bo had to look at it every time he left his house or looked out the window.”

Sarah’s eyes darkened and her brows furrowed with anger. “She sure was a bold soul sister.”

“She’s a lucky one too. Bo wanted to kill her. He’d even bought a gun. He probably would have killed her if Cash and I hadn’t called him up every day and talked him out of it.”

“Well, the next time you go visit your family in Houston, take me with you. I sure would like to meet your cousin.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Sarah.” Her interest in my long-suffering cousin had really piqued my interest. “Would you like some more wine?” I poured what was left in the bottle into her wineglass before she responded.

“Thanks, Vera. This stuff sure gives a smooth buzz.” She took a long drink and then let out a sharp hiccup. I had purposely left the photo album open to the page with the picture of Bo. Every few seconds I looked at Sarah out of the corner of my eye and caught her staring at that same picture. “Want me to get another bottle of wine from the bar?” she asked, already rising.

“That’s all right. I’ve had enough for now.” Now that I had the ball rolling, I needed to focus on my own love life. My pussy was itching like I had fleas. I had to put Sarah on hold for a little while so I could go get myself taken care of. “Um, I just remembered I’m supposed to call up Mr. Beauchamp to discuss that fundraiser for a children’s home in South City that houses troubled kids.”

“Huh?”

The fact that I did some charity work surprised a lot of people. But there was more to me than shopping and dining out and having affairs. During the year, I spent a few hours a week now and then at various inner-city churches or some youth facility, helping out any way I could. Those places had become havens for kids in low-income families and other bleak situations. Had it not been for places like that when I was growing up, I would have lost my way and ended up like my sisters.

“Why is a woman like you off into stuff like that?” The look on Sarah’s face confused me. I couldn’t tell if she was surprised or amused by what I’d just told her. “I used to help serve dinners to the homeless at our church on the holidays. And when I was acting up a little in my early teens, Grandma Lilly put me in a youth home for a few weeks and it sure straightened me out.” Sarah gave me a pensive look. “You’re the last person in the world I expected to be doing charity work or helping out with the troubled kids.”

Her last statement stunned me. I didn’t want her to spend too much time thinking about how I spent my time during the day. The last thing I needed was for Kenneth to start monitoring my movements.

“Well, I care about people, so that’s why a woman like me is off into stuff like that!” I snapped.

“I . . . I didn’t mean anything by what I just said!” Sarah fumbled defensively, rearing back in her seat. “What I meant was, you are such a glamorous, dainty lady. I just thought that when you weren’t at some fancy country club or having lunch with one of your rich friends, you’d be hanging out at fashion shows and beauty parlors and stuff every day.”

I only did enough charity work to make myself look good. But that was not what I wanted to discuss at the moment. I had a more important matter to address, but Sarah seemed to be so interested in what I did with my time, I decided to indulge her a little longer. My pussy would have to itch a little while longer. The more I got her into my corner, the easier it would be for me to keep her there.

“No matter how glamorous and dainty I am, I still enjoy helping less-fortunate people. I had a hard life when I was young, so I can relate to those people. It’s a burden I accept without complaint. That’s why God has blessed me so much.”

Sarah looked at me in awe. “Dang, Vera. I think that is so hella cool! Is there anything at one of those places that I can do to help out? I’d love to help out less-fortunate people like I did at our church when I was younger. Now I can donate some of my money, too, especially now that I have so much of it.”

Tell me about it
, I said to myself. Sarah had already “helped out” enough less-fortunate people by being so generous with her friends. This conversation had taken a wrong turn. The last thing I wanted to do was encourage this stupid girl to give away even more of Kenneth’s money. “Uh, yeah. I’ll look into it. Right now we have more help than we need,” I mumbled. I finally snapped my photo album shut. I glanced at my watch for the third time in the last five minutes. “Hmmm. I’d better go freshen up and use the bathroom before I call up Mr. Beauchamp. He’s so long-winded he might keep me on the line for an hour.” I was going to call Mr. Beauchamp—and Andre—but later. I had another call to make that was a little more important. I practically floated upstairs to my room so I could use the telephone in private.

Bo was the only person I knew who did not have call waiting on his landline. I got a busy signal for ten minutes. I finally called his cell phone, but it went straight to voice mail. After three more attempts, he answered his landline. I didn’t want to waste any time putting my latest scheme into action. “We need to talk!” I yelled.

Bo greeted me with an exasperated sigh. “Look, Vera, I know I still owe you a couple of grand. As soon as I get myself sorted out with that bitch and her alimony, I’ll break you off a payment. Now stop harassing me. Do you hear me?”

“I hear you and I don’t appreciate you accusing me of harassing you.”

“What else is it? You’ve called me five times this month asking me when I’m going to pay back the money I borrowed from you last month.”

“Fuck that. As a matter of fact, you can forget about the money you owe me. Consider it a gift,” I said in a low voice, my eye on the door. Sarah had a rude habit of entering my room without knocking. “Listen, I’ve got a proposition for you.”

“I’m afraid to ask what it is,” Bo replied with a groan.

“You told me one time you’d love to live in Frisco someday.”

“So? I still do. Why?”

“Now that you and Gladys have finally called it quits, a serious change would probably do you a world of good.”

“That’s true. I even thought about moving up to Buffalo to start up a landscaping business with one of my old navy buddies.”

“Buffalo gets real cold in the winter.”

“So?”

“Well, it’s warm out here most of the year. And we’ve got all these empty bedrooms in this beautiful mansion. . . .”

“Cuz, I know you, so I know you want something from me. You don’t need to beat around the bush. Whatever is on your mind, you need to tell me and you need to tell me now. I have to get to my second job in a little while. That bitch left me so high and dry that I have to work two jobs now just to get by!”

“It would help if you didn’t have to see her for a while. Is she still living right next door to you?”

“Yeah, she is! I’m going to start looking for a new place as soon as I can afford it. I’d rather live in a hole than stay so close to Gladys!”

“Bo, how would you like to live with us and work for Kenneth? You’ll be earning way more money than whatever you’re earning now. I’ll see to that.”

Bo was taking too long to answer.

“Bo?”

“I’m still here. What’s going on, Vera? For you to be offering something that sweet to me, there has to be something in it for you. Now what the hell is it?”

“When will your divorce be finalized?”

“One month from today. And not soon enough for me! I will say this much—had I known how many headaches I was going to have as a married man, I never would have taken that step in the first place. I still think about shooting that heifer dead!”

“You stop talking like that! What good would it do for you to kill Gladys? And believe me, Texas is not the state where you want to commit murder. Those courts down there would love to fry another black man. Or at the very least, put your ass in jail for life.” The words were rolling off my tongue so fast I had to pause for a few seconds to catch my breath. “Baby, let nature run its course. At the rate Gladys is going, you ought to know that somebody else is going to kill her sooner or later.” Bo’s ex had played several different men at the same time before he married her. One had attempted to choke her to death when he caught her screwing his brother.

“Going to prison for killing that tramp would be worth it to me. I can take care of myself.”

“Bo, a pretty boy like you wouldn’t last a week locked up with all those thugs. Some snaggletoothed redneck or some bald-headed brother from the ghetto would make you his bitch in no time. Just forget about that woman and move on with your life.”

“I wish I could. I’ve never been hurt like this. I never thought losing my woman would hurt so much. I wish she was dead. If . . . if I can’t have her, I don’t want anybody else to have her.”

“You married the wrong woman, Bo. That’s all. There are a lot of other women available for you to choose from. And there are women you can trust who will treat you the way you deserve to be treated. A smart man like you should know that.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that.”

“Well, then, move on with your life, cuz. Don’t let what happened with your first wife turn you against women!”

“My first wife?” Bo guffawed and I could hear him snorting like a bull and clapping his hands like a seal. “Gladys was my first and
last
wife! I will never go through some shit like this again!”

“Gladys didn’t have anything to offer you anyway,” I said. “You brought so much more into that marriage.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that either. She even had the nerve to tell me that she married me because I was such a hard-working man. She saw me as a goose that laid golden eggs from the get-go. The money that I had saved up over the years, that bitch is taking half of it. And my retirement and 401K money too!”

“It’s time for somebody to give you something, cuz. You deserve it.”

“I deserve a lot. I deserve to be rich. I deserve to get my dick sucked on a regular basis. What are you getting at?”

“Now, I want you to listen to me and I want you to listen good. I’m going to get you back in the game. Honey,
have I got a woman for you!
”

Bo let out a loud and impatient sigh. “Now that’s just great. I already feel like a pile of shit and now you’re telling me I need you to help me find a new woman. I used to listen to shit like that from my mama! I don’t want you or anybody else to pity me—or find a woman for me!”

“Calm down, sweetie! I do not pity you. I’m trying to help you.”

“Thanks but no thanks. I don’t need your help. If you are trying to dump off one of your homely friends on me, don’t waste your time. I’ve seen a few of the women you associate with and I already have one dog.”

“Stop trying to be funny.”

“Vera, I’m not trying to be funny. I’m serious. I still know how to pick a woman on my own.”

“I hate to remind you, but you didn’t do such a good job when you picked Gladys.”

“I guess I didn’t.”

“Will you just listen to what I have to say? That’s all I want you to do.”

“All right. I’m listening. And this better be good!”

“It is,” I said with a triumphant sigh.