Just Make Him Beautiful (41 page)

“Do you want me to introduce you as Momma or Ms. Annabelle Stewart?”

“Let’s see if she recognizes me first,” Momma said
,
ringing the doorbell.

“Wait a minute
!
” I heard Ms. G
e
rdy yell.

“She must be cooking because I smell something that sure smells good,” Momma said.

“Well
,
Cameron, why are you ringing the doorbell?” Ms. G
e
rdy asked as she opened the door.

“Hey
,
Ma,” I said
as we
walk
ed
in
.
I
gave
her a hug.
“I brought a friend of mine by for you to meet
. “Ma, this is Ms. Stewart
.
Ms. Stewart, this is Ma.”

“It’s nice to meet you
,
Ms. Stewart. Y’all come on out in the kitchen
’
cause I got food on the stove
.
” Ma led us out into her kitchen.

“Same here
.
Y
ou have a lovely home,”
Momma said as we entered the kitchen.

Ma took a closer look at Momma.
“Janet?”

“Yeah
,
g
irl
.
H
ow have you been?” Momma
gave
Ma a big ol
’
hug.

“Well
,
l
awd, Janet Wilson
,
as I live and breath
e
.
” Ma looked at Momma up and down.  “
Well, what
…
I mean when
…
what do you have on
,
honey
c
hile
?
”

“I know I look older than you
,
but I’m going to a little get
-
together and we’re
supposed
to dress up like an old person
. So
,
don’t even go there. You know I’m still all that
.
”
Momma
took
off her wig and straighten
ed
out her jazzy bob hairdo.

“Well, you surprised me.
Cameron, you didn’t tell me your mother was out,” Ma said
,
looking at me.

“I know
,
Ma, but Momma
asked
me not to say anything because she wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, y’all sure did that.
Why don’t y’all have a seat
?
Y
’all hungry? I can fix y’all a plate. And I know you hungry
,
Cameron
.
Y
ou just so thin
,
sweetie.”

“M
a, I’m thin because I wanna be.
I have to watch my figure,” I said
,
laughing.

“Janet, that child of yours, I swear
…
”

“I know
,
G
e
rdy
.
Y
ou ain’t gotta tell me. And
,
yes, I would love a plate. Everything just smells so good.”

We all sat and talked for hours.
I watched Ma and Momma go back and forth talking about the good ol
’
days
and how they used to go out from time to time.
Ma told Momma that she remarried and how much she loved her husband
,
but the interesting thing was that Momma never told Ma that her husband was her brother. I definitely ha
d
to ask Momma about that later.

But I enjoyed watching them talk
,
and laugh until they cried. I truly loved these two women, one very meek and mild
,
the other strong and aggressive.

“Well
,
G
e
rdy, before we leave, I seriously just wanna thank you for what you did for my kids.
I thank you and love you for doing that
.
” Momma
had tears in her eyes as she
look
ed
at Ms. G
e
rdy.

“Janet, I should be thanking you. Your kids have brought so much joy in my life
,
and for that, I’ve been blessed
.
T
hank you
.
” Ma
got
up and hugg
ed
Momma.

“Y’all need to stop that because y’all gonna make me cry too
.
” I
got
up and hugg
ed
them both.

“And
,
G
e
rdy, I need one last favor
.
”
Momma
sat
back down at the table.

“What
,
Janet
?
W
hat’s wrong?”

“
Everything is fine
,
G
e
rdy
,
but like I said, Keshia ha
s
been staying with me.
T
his Saturday, I want her to stay here with you, and I will pick her up on Sunday. Is that
o
kay with you?”

“Sure
,
baby
.
T
hat’s not a problem at all. This is still Keisha’s home, just like
it’s
still Cameron’s home
.
” Ma smil
ed
at me.

“Thank you
,
G
e
rdy,” Mommy said in a genuine tone.

“Look
,
Janet, you gonna have to stop all this thanking
-
me stuff. These kids have been calling me Ma for the past almost five years.
Now stop it, you hear me?”

“Okay
,
G
e
rdy, I just love you for what you’ve done
for my kids. I can’t help but say thank you.”

“Okay
,
Janet
.
Y
ou’re welcome,” Ma replied
,
looking at Momma with her head hanging down.
“Hey, maybe you can do the same for me one day
.
” Ma laughed while holding Momma’s chin up with her hand.

And with that, Ma and Momma were back at laughing and talking about the good ol
’
times once again. 

Chapter 23

Today was Saturday the first, the day whe
n
all the shit was gonna hit the fan, as Momma would say.
It was high noon
when
I picked up Momma and Keisha, and then dropped Keisha off at Ms.
Gerdy’s
house.

“Momma, why can’t I come to the dinn
er party with you and Cameron?”
Keisha pouted.

“Look
,
Keshia, it’s for adults
,
okay
.
I promised we will hang out tomorrow, maybe go to the mall and do some shopping
.
” Momma kissed her on the forehead.

“What time you gonna pick me up?”

“What time you want me to pick you up?” Momma smile
d
.

“Ah, eight o’clock.”

“Girl, the mall don’t open
un
til
ten
a.m.
W
hy eight o’clock?”

“We can stop at Micky Dee’s for breakfast.”

“Hmmm
.
O
kay, okay. Love you
.
M
ean it.”

“Love you
,
too, Momma,” Keisha said
,
getting out of the car.

“Hey, what about me
, little girl
?” I pout
ed
.

“Love you too, Cameron
.
”
S
he
was
smiling and
waving at me as she walked up on Ma’s front porch.

We h
eaded
back
to
the mansion because Momma said Uncle Bill was stopping by to do her a favor
and that he was suppose
d
to be there by
one
p.m.
I didn’t know what kind of favor
,
and I didn’t bother to ask.
I knew
Robin
had
left out earlier this morning to get her hair done,
and a
pedicure and manicure
,
as well as pick out a new outfit for tonight’s dinner party, so I knew she would be gone most of the day. Keith
on the other hand
was to pick up Junior and have him back at the
mansion
by
six forty-five
p
.
m
.
because dinner would
begin
promptly at
seven
p
.
m.

Momma had gone all out by buying a black
-
and
-
white maid
’
s outfit, along with one of those little white hats that maids used to wear back in the day. We went grocery shopping yesterday and purchased all that Momma had on her list like lunch meats,
a
variety of
cheese
s
,
Ritz
C
rackers for hor
s d’oeuvre
,
a variety of fruit, whip
ped
cream, honey
ham, a roast, turkey, yams, white potatoes, rice, stuffing, biscuit mix, and cake mix
.
Y
ou name it, Momma got it, along with red and white dinner wine.

Fortunately, Momma cooked most of the food last night, so today it
was
just a matter of warming most of it up.

Momma and I pulled up at the gate just in time because Uncle Bill had pulled up right behind us. I input the code and waved
him
to go around me so he could enter first.
I then re-entered the code and proceeded through.

As w
e all got out of our cars
,
I noticed that Uncle Bill had a large black cloth bag that
he carried over his shoulder.
“What’s that for?” I asked
,
looking at Momma and then at Uncle Bill.

“
Don’t worry about that
,
baby
.
L
et
’
s just let Uncle Bill here do his job, okay
,
” Momma
said
as we entered the kitchen area.

“Where do you want me to begin?” Uncle Bill asked.

Momma told me,
“Baby, why don’t you go check and make sure no one else is here, al
l
right
.
”

“Ok
ay,
Momma
.
B
ut no one’s car is here but mine
,
so I know we are alone.”

“Go check anyway,” Momma snapped.

“
Okay,
okay,
” I replied going up the back kitchen stairwell.

I first checked Keith’s room
,
and just as I thought, it was empty
.
T
hen I went to Robin’s room
,
and her room was empty too.
I then ran down the front stairs and checked Keith’s office
,
and again, it was empty as well.

I walked back towards the kitchen and overheard Uncle Bill telling Momma, “Once I’m finished, don’t ever contact me again
,
and my debt has been paid in full.”