Mattie's Call (8 page)

“What scares you most?”

“Starting over again. I've been isolated so long I don't know what to do.”

Synaria pulled into the driveway and kept the engine running. “Get what you need. We'll pick up where we left off when you get back. I'll help you all I can.”

Alice fished in her purse for the house key. Their house was one of the few purchases she had a say-so in acquiring. Only Beryl's name was on the property, but she helped with the floor plan and decorated it to her tastes.

She opened the door and stepped inside. She halted after five steps, overwhelmed by the smell of onions and roses. The familiar scent permeated her house. Jazz music thumped throughout the house from surround-sound speakers, her special request when the house was built. She followed the trail of funk up the stairs, stopping at the sound of Beryl's voice.

“That's the way I like it. Don't stop!”

Low moans were the response from his bedmate. Alice gritted her teeth. She kicked the door open, startling Beryl and the woman. She couldn't believe her eyes. Davina Crenshaw. Davina stopped mid-stroke, jumped off Beryl, and fell to the floor. She clutched the mattress, managing to cover herself with the duvet. He pulled the wet sheet around his midsection, raising one arm in surrender.

“Let me explain, Alice!”

“He said you wouldn't sleep with him anymore. I'm so sorry, Alice.”

“Shut up, Davina!” he shouted.

Alice picked up the closest object she could find, her favorite decorative ceramic cat, and hurled it at Beryl. The cat shattered against the wall, narrowly missing Davina's head.

“You'd be nasty enough to bring another woman in my house, and you couldn't pick someone clean!”

“It was a mistake, baby. A big mistake!”

Alice turned on her heels, keeping down waves of nausea. She slammed the wall as she hurried downstairs, drowning out Davina's and Beryl's voices following closely behind. When she reached the bottom step, he touched her arm.

“Don't walk out like this. At least hear me out.”

She faced them. Davina, now clad in one of Alice's robes, stood next to him. “Please don't tell my husband. If this gets out, the church will be ruined.”

“Oh, now you're worried about appearances? You both disgust me.”

Davina swept Alice up in a hug. “Sister, God wouldn't be pleased with this dissension.”

Overpowered by Davina's body odor mixed with sex, Alice vomited on her. The morning's waffles, eggs, yogurt nut mix, and water cascaded down the robe and Davina's manicured toes. She ran out of the front door, Beryl followed, balancing the sheet wrapped around his body as he yelled, “Don't go, Alice. I'm sorry.”

Alice ran toward the car, arms flailing. Synaria opened the door for her as she jumped in. “Go! Get me to Josh's.”

“What the hell?”

“I'll explain later.”

Synaria backed out the driveway, unsure of how to comfort Alice who was shaking like a caught shoplifter. She opened her mouth to ask what was going on but stopped short when Beryl lost control of the sheet he wore.

I've seen it all. A naked man in December. In Savannah, Georgia.

12

“W
ho is it?” Joshua yelled. The banging interrupted the conversation with his boss. Whomever was ringing the doorbell and banging at the same time had better be the police or someone with an update about his mother. “Stu, let me call you back. Some nut is banging on my door.”

Joshua took cautious steps to the front door, gazed into the peephole, then relaxed when he saw Synaria. He snatched open the door. “What's wrong? Is Alice okay?”

The look of panic on Synaria's face answered his question. Synaria's shaking head and trembling hands gave him pause.

“Do you need to sit down? Say something, Synaria.”

“It's your brother-in-law. He—”

“Did he touch my sister?”

She shook her head. “She caught him with someone in their house and now she's sitting out in my car. She won't talk, she won't move, she won't respond to me at all. She was fine after she got in the car, but she shut down after that and I don't know what to do. She's in a catatonic state.”

Joshua stole a glance around Synaria and motioned for her to follow him. They walked to her car, Synaria using the key fob to unlock the door.

Joshua knelt, touched Alice's hair. “Al, it's okay. Whatever happened, it's going to be okay.”

Alice stared ahead.

He closed the door and pulled Synaria aside. “Even as a child, Alice couldn't handle conflict or confrontation. Fights on the playground, disagreements with us, disappointment from our parents, and she'd shut down. I'll deal with Beryl later, but right now, you have to help me bring her in.”

“What should we do?”

“She can hear us; she won't respond, though. We'll grab either side of her and bring her in the house. My guest bedroom is on the main floor, so the first thing we'll do is get her in there. Open the door for me.”

Synaria did as instructed. She gently tugged Alice's right arm and gathered her legs together so she faced the opened door. She pulled her up as Joshua grabbed her left side. They carried her in as Alice faced forward, no expression on her face. They made it to the bed and placed her there. Synaria removed the old coat Alice wore and laid it across a chair. Joshua looked at the homely dress with bits of vomit on the left collar, and unattractive boots his sister wore. Her hair, pulled back in a bun, was streaked with a few strands of gray, no doubt a result of being with that tyrant. When she was herself again, he'd take her shopping and to a beauty salon. One thing he knew: she wouldn't be going back to Beryl.

“Synaria, do you mind getting her out of these shoes and that dirty dress?”

“Not at all.”

“I was making lunch. Turkey sandwich and chips okay with you?”

“Sure.”

“I'll be back in a few.”

Synaria watched him walk away. The other women at the library always made a fuss about Joshua the few times he stopped by to see Alice, but she never paid attention to him. Now she understood why they made a big to-do over him. From his confident swagger, to the low-cut Afro, white teeth, and chiseled body, it was easy to see why women found him sexy. He shared Alice's beautiful, rich brown skin. She turned her attention back to Alice. She soothed her, not waiting for a response.

“Alice, we made it to Joshua's house.”

She removed Alice's scuffed boots. The black trouser socks she wore had tiny holes in them.

“I'm taking the rest of the day off and going out to get you a few things. You'd like that, wouldn't you?”

Synaria scanned the bedroom, her eyes settling on a chest-of-drawers in the corner. She took the liberty to inspect the drawers for socks. She pulled out a pair of black socks and found a pair of men's athletic pants and an oversized Savannah State University T-shirt.

“You'll have to help me help you, Sis. We have to get you bathed up and get those teeth brushed.”

Synaria's one-sided commentary continued as she found a black paddle brush for Alice's hair.

“The way I see it, everything happens for a reason. What are the odds that I'd take you home and you'd find what you found today? I think I was placed in your path to help you get through this. You'll have to do a lot to get rid of me.”

Thankful the bedroom had a bathroom, Synaria turned on the shower. Alice prided herself on cleanliness, and Synaria knew whenever she came to, she'd be furious another woman would let her walk around rancid. That's how she'd justify cleansing her friend.

“Do you have something I can use to transport Alice to the shower?” she called to Joshua.

He padded down the hall to the room. “Mama's wheelchair should be in back of the closet. The shower is accessible also. I had it reconstructed last month. You can wheel her in and sit her in the shower.”

“Thanks, Joshua.”

Synaria lined up the chair next to the bed. She worked quickly to place Alice in the chair and get her in the bathroom. Alice, loosening up from her experience across town, stared at Synaria.

“What are you doing, Syn?” she asked, barely above a whisper.

“Getting you bathed up. You have vomit on your clothes and you need to brush your teeth. Now that you're responding, I can sit outside and wait until you get yourself cleaned up.”

“Don't leave me.”

“You need your privacy. I'll be outside the door. I found a T-shirt and jogging pants, but I'm sure you want some feminine clothes to wear. We can go to the mall, or if you tell me what you like, I can get you something. You
won't
be putting that homely dress and shoes back on, though.”

Alice shrugged. “Look down in the cabinet and get me the Lever 2000. Mama always brought the soap with her. It was the only kind she wasn't allergic to when she bathed. I like it, too.”

Though Alice spoke, Synaria was afraid to leave her alone. She looked around the bathroom as if she'd never visited her brother's house. She scratched at her hair, untangled the bun, and let her hair fall around her face.

“I didn't know you had that much hair.”

“Beryl said a woman's hair is her glory and shouldn't be out unless it's a special occasion.”

Synaria bit her lip. “Alice, you have a long road ahead of you, but right now, this minute, you can't repeat anything else he said.”

“It's second nature.”

“A new nature is on the horizon that doesn't include him.”

“I have nowhere else to go.”

“You have your siblings and you have me. Starting over is not impossible. It's always the first step that's the scariest.”

She let the words soak in. Five minutes later, she said, “Let me shower, please.”

“Call me if you need me.”

Alice tugged Synaria's arm as she walked away. “Thank you.”

Synaria nodded. “Anytime.”

Alice stood from the wheelchair and moved it aside, memories of Mattie rushing back. She looked at the wheelchair and remembered the last time they were all together was last year, the Fourth of July, on Joshua's deck. Mattie pushed the chair away and danced the Electric Slide. She prepared her famous Italian pasta salad, red velvet cake, and shared stories with them about their childhood. That was the happiest she'd seen her mother in a long time. She felt ashamed that so much time had passed without spending time with her. She looked in the mirror and saw a country bumpkin staring back. Tired eyes, gray hairs, and small lines dancing around the corners of her mouth made her feel older than thirty-eight. Mattie swore by egg-white tighteners and oatmeal honey masks to keep the skin supple. Beryl said aging was a natural process and women who fought it were vain Jezebels. She shook away his voice and turned on the shower. She sat in the corner seat in the shower and let the water run over her. Over the years, she endured criticism from former friends who fell away as she submitted to Beryl. Their voices came back one by one.

“Ain't no way a man would be taking
my
paycheck and giving me my money like I'm some damn child!”

“Husband or not, there woulda been a cast-iron skillet upside his head by now.”

“Un-unh, the spirit of Mary Woodson woulda come over me and I'da tossed a pan of hot grits on him.”

“We teach men how to treat us, and God knows you oughta love yourself better than that, Alice.”

Her tears competed with the water flow rippling overhead. She cried and longed for life as a single woman. She scrubbed harder as Davina Crenshaw's face played over in her mind. Too many years had passed and she didn't know how to start over.

“Something has to give. I'll die if it doesn't.”

13

“S
o you're telling me that dog didn't have the decency to go to a hotel?” Gabrielle sipped the Mimosa she'd prepared instead of the nonalcoholic drinks Joshua set out for lunch.