Once Upon a Project (5 page)

Elyse was happy to see her old friend for another reason: now Minnie Johnson and company had someone new to pump for information. She continued moving toward the rear of the room, far from all the appraising stares and endless questions. No wonder this group sat close to the door. That way they could question every person the moment he or she stepped inside. She'd catch up with Susan later. Right now she was just glad to get away from these women who'd been on her like vultures on a corpse.

Chapter 6

S
usan answered Minnie Johnson's question. “I'm Susan. My maiden name was Bennett.”

“Oh, yes, I remember,” Minnie said with a nod of her head. “Your mother's name was Frances.”

“Yes, that's right. Still is,” she added with a laugh. She hoped that the forthright Minnie wouldn't bring up the subject of her father, David Bennett, a white man who worked occasionally, drank all the time, couldn't hold a job, and eventually was thrown out by a fed-up Frances. Susan wasn't ready for her children to know the whole story about the grandfather they adored, who'd been sober for years now.

Minnie peered at the two children hovering behind Susan's tall frame. “These your grandchildren?”

“No, Mrs. Johnson, actually they're my
children
.”

She noticed that Minnie didn't look in the least embarrassed at her blunder, despite the mild rebuke Susan deliberately allowed into her tone. Instead Minnie leaned forward and peered at the youngsters over her bifocals. “Your kids, huh? How old they be?”

“I'm ten,” the boy stated.

“I'm seven,” his sister replied shyly, moving closer to Susan and partially hiding her face in Susan's coat.

Susan put a reassuring arm around her daughter. “I was, uh, somewhat of a late bloomer,” she said with a smile.

Minnie sat back in her seat. “I'll say. What were you, forty when you had your first?”

“Thirty-nine.” Susan suspected that her unfriendly tone and the hard set to her jaw would keep all the other women from asking any more questions, although they were listening intently. They could take a hint, but Minnie Johnson was another matter. The woman didn't have a shred of decorum.

“Uh-huh. So you found somebody after all that fuss with the Valentine boys, I see. Where's your man now? He leave you?”

Now Susan could barely keep the hostility out of her voice. “He chose not to come. If you'll excuse me, Mrs. Johnson, I think we'd better find seats. It looks like they're about to start the program.”

Just then Susan saw Elyse walking toward her.

“Susan, over here,” Elyse called out quickly.

“Snippy little thing, ain't she? Just because her daddy's white, I suppose.”

Susan turned to glare at Minnie. Quentin whispered something to her, and she said, “Don't mind her. She's rude, but she's old. Let's go sit down.”

The two friends hugged each other, laughing at the silliness of it all.

Susan shook her head. “My God, that Minnie Johnson should be muzzled.”

“I'm glad you came along when you did,” Elyse said. “I felt like they had me on the witness stand.”

“I came here to give my kids an idea of where I was raised, not to raise eyebrows,” Susan declared. “My mother taught me to respect older people, and I can't say I'm surprised that someone brought up all that old stuff with Douglas and Charles, but who is Minnie Johnson to try to make me feel like I committed a crime for having children late?” She grinned sheepishly as she sat down, placing a compact black leather shoulder bag on the table. “It's good to see you, Elyse.”

“Same here. I'm so happy you came. And seeing your children makes me realize how long it's been. I feel like I know them, courtesy of your annual Christmas cards with the family photo, but I haven't seen them in person since your daughter was a baby.”

“Did you know my mother when she was little?” Alyssa asked shyly.

“Yes, I sure did, since we were smaller than you are today. In fact, I don't even remember when we first met each other.”

Susan shook her head at Elyse's questioning glance; she couldn't remember when they'd first met, either.

“She was just always there,” Elyse continued. “A group of us used to walk to school together, from the time we had to get the crossing guard to stop traffic for us to cross the street, all the way through high school.”

Susan introduced Elyse to her children, who dutifully said hello.

“Mom, when do we eat?” Quentin asked.

“Soon.” Susan turned to Elyse. “My son feels like I've tortured him by bringing him down here today. But I always wanted my children to see where I grew up. My husband never felt it was necessary, although he made sure they saw his old house in Kenosha, which his family owned. That's what made the difference.”

“There's nothing shameful about coming from the projects,” Elyse agreed, thinking of Franklin's haughty attitude. “Kids today, with all those extras they get, have no idea of how things used to be, when parents were doing good just to keep their children clothed and fed well.”

“I hate the idea of being grilled like a T-bone by those nosy old women. I wanted my kids to understand just how fortunate they are. They stared like I'd brought them to another planet. Of course, Dreiser looks really raggedy now.”

Elyse drew in her breath. “You actually drove through there?” Even she hadn't dared to do
that
.

“Yes. With the car windows up and the doors locked.”

They laughed.

“Did you drive down by yourself, Elyse?” Susan asked.

“Yes. My husband begged off at the last minute. He really has no interest in my old neighbors.”

Susan scanned the room. “I guess a lot of husbands felt that way, mine included. I only see a few men here, probably dragged by their wives. I do see Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell over there. Of course, the dragon ladies up front are all widows . . . or their husbands ran for their lives.” Her eyes rested on the group briefly. Now the elderly women took up three tables, their heads bobbing as they chatted and their jewelry shining in the rays from the fluorescent lights overhead. She gasped and quickly turned away.

“Susan? You all right?”

“Um . . . yes. I just saw Ann Valentine sitting up front with the others.”

Elyse instantly looked across the room. “Oh, yes. She sees you, too.”

Mrs. Valentine now glared at Susan with an undisguised hostility that made Elyse's blood run cold.

“If looks could kill,” Susan muttered.

“Whatever happened to Douglas and Charles, anyway?”

“Pat told me Charles is still around. Douglas has been in and out of jail.”

“He still hasn't gotten clean after all this time?”

“Afraid not.”

Elyse shook her head. Few things in life were more pathetic than a fifty-year-old drug addict. Douglas Valentine, unanimously considered the best high school player in all Chicago back in the early seventies, dropped out of Wake Forest University in his junior year when he'd been drafted by the Lakers. Douglas had a few shining moments in the NBA, but did not achieve superstar status in that period after Dr. J's heyday and before Michael Jordan's rise to prominence. The rumors of drug and alcohol abuse that drifted back to Chicago while Douglas was still at Wake Forest became more heated, and after a few years in the NBA Douglas found himself playing for one of the lesser teams, then an even more inferior team, and finally the European leagues, where he played until his early thirties. Upon returning to Chicago, Douglas promptly was arrested for robbing the corner store on 87th Street where he'd bought candy as a child. He'd threatened the owner with a gun and had driven all of five blocks before the police caught up with him. The presence of the gun added years to his sentence. Douglas Valentine, former NBA player, became Douglas Valentine, convicted felon.

An incident that occurred between the Valentine boys was what had Ann Valentine looking at Susan with such venom. Douglas and Susan had gone together in high school. The relationship hit the rocks when Douglas accepted the basketball scholarship from Wake Forest. Susan would have loved to have been able to follow him there, but she couldn't afford it, so she enrolled in one of the City Colleges of Chicago. After three years of seeing each other sparingly and dating others on a casual basis—Douglas much more frequently than Susan—he signed with the Lakers. Now even farther away from Susan and suddenly wealthy, he began sleeping with many of the women who threw themselves at him. Elyse knew that most folks believed that he dropped Susan for greener pastures, but actually she quit him once she got a whiff of what was going on. Within a year she started dating Douglas's older brother, Charles. For nearly two years they kept their affair under wraps, but eventually the word spread.

When Douglas learned his brother was dating his former love, he confronted him as Charles and Susan were leaving a bar on Cottage Grove Avenue, and the siblings came to blows. The fistfight shattered their previously close relationship, and soon after Douglas was thrown out of the NBA and went to play in Italy. His drug abuse worsened, and eventually he was cut from the team, returning home in disgrace. The house he'd purchased for his parents was all that remained of his income from professional sports.

Ann Valentine told anyone who would listen that Susan Bennett ruined Douglas, as well as the lifelong camaraderie between her sons. Most people gave the first part of her rant little merit, believing that Douglas's alcohol and drug abuse lay at the core of his wasted life. Many said that Douglas's downward spiral killed his father, who died of a heart attack shortly after Douglas was sent to prison for the first time.

The two brothers fighting over Susan was a different matter entirely. The altercation occurred out in the open, by a popular bar. Many people said Susan was a whore to sleep with two brothers. But Elyse didn't see it that way—she felt that Susan had no choice but to break up with Douglas after photographs of him escorting various women were published in magazines. It wasn't as if Susan took up with Charles the next day, and Elyse doubted she had sought him out. Elyse had always suspected that Charles Valentine had a crush on Susan, but put his feelings aside when she started going with his younger brother.

In Elyse's opinion Charles made a much better match for Susan than his trifling brother, but after the brothers fought, Susan left Charles and went up to Kenosha, where her mother had settled after she left the projects. Susan never spoke about why she left Charles. Eventually she met and married businessman Bruce Dillahunt.

Elyse watched as Pat made her way to the podium. “Looks like they're about to start,” she said to Susan.

“I'm surprised Grace isn't here.”

“She's supposed to be coming, but Pat said she's always late. I'm sure she'll show up any minute.”

Chapter 7

G
race arrived close to the end of Pat's welcome speech. Camera bulbs flashed as Pat spoke, mostly from a young man who appeared to be a professional photographer. It looked like Pat had received the media coverage she sought.

Susan held up a hand as Grace scanned the dim room. Grace nodded and waved back, then made her way to the back. Her late arrival allowed her to skip past Minnie Johnson and company, all of whom were focused on listening to Pat speak. Susan wished she'd been so lucky.

Grace looked good, Susan thought. She'd been voted Best Looking in high school, and she really hadn't changed much in thirty years. Susan's practiced eye told her Grace probably wore a size 8. None of the rest of them could say that. Elyse, who'd been on the chubby side even as a child, had put on the most weight. Pat's always curvaceous figure had become somewhat more voluptuous, but she probably wasn't much heavier than Susan herself, who managed to get into a 10 most of the time. She had to admit that despite the extra pounds they all looked pretty good for women about to turn fifty.

Too bad the Dreiser Homes hadn't held up as well. Had the fifteen-story buildings always looked so shabby? No wonder her children were so appalled at the sight of the complex. Maybe the city should just tear them down, like the other old high-rise projects they were in the process of razing.

Grace quietly leaned over to press her cheek against Susan's, then greeted Elyse the same way. “Have I missed much?” she asked in a library whisper.

Elyse shook her head. “No, not really. Pat's just saying that the buffet is ready, and that after lunch she's going to pass the mike and ask everyone to say a few words about their time in Dreiser and a little about what they're doing today.”

“Perfect.” Grace glanced around the room at the attendees, most of whom were rising to go over to the buffet table, then gave a dismissive shrug. “Well, I see it's mostly old folks, like I expected. I only came because Pat wanted me to make a statement after lunch.” She rolled her eyes. “I hope the party tonight is more exciting than these senior citizens sitting around giving their dentures a workout.”

Elyse and Susan spoke at the same time. “What party?”

“The party at Junior's Bar. When Pat posted a flyer on their bulletin board, they decided to hold a Dreiser Reunion Party tonight. They'll charge a cover and serve some chicken and spaghetti, maybe a little salad. Aren't you coming?”

“I didn't even know about it,” Elyse said.

“I didn't, either,” Susan added. “But it sounds like fun. If I'd known about it ahead of time, I wouldn't have brought my kids so I could go. But I'll have to bring them home after lunch.”

“I wish you'd known about it,” Quentin piped up.

“Be quiet, Quentin; nobody's talking to you. And say hello to Ms. Corrigan.”

“Hello, Ms. Corrigan,” he said obediently.

Susan then introduced Alyssa to Grace, who said, “They're so sweet, Susan. Sometimes I wish I'd had another baby, maybe while I was married to Danny, since I could afford to do more for a baby at that time in my life than I could when I was married to Jimmy.” She sighed. “You girls don't know how lucky you are to still have young kids.”

Elyse gave her friend a dubious stare. “What're you talkin' about, Grace? My kids are eighteen and twenty and both in college. You make it sound like they're in third grade.”

“Your kids may be older than Susan's, Elyse, but they're still dependent on you to a certain degree. My Shavonne will be thirty-two in October. She's married and has two kids.” A wistful look came over her pretty face. “I'm glad she got to live the dream I had. A good marriage and a couple of kids. She's at a nice age to have young children. I was too young when I had her. I was a grandmother by the time I was forty-three.”

“I was forty-two when I had Alyssa, and people are always asking if she and Quentin are my grandchildren,” Susan lamented. “That Minnie Johnson acts like I ought to be listed in the
Guinness Book of World Records
as the World's Oldest Mama.”

Elyse chuckled. “Remember when we were kids and we used to say that our own kids would be best friends, just like us? It's ironic that none of our kids are the same age, but it's impossible to know something like that ahead of time.”

“Or that Pat wouldn't have any children at all,” Grace added.

Elyse stopped smiling. They all knew Pat had no children. Leave it to Grace to point it out. She probably would have said it even if Pat had been sitting with them. Although the comment couldn't be called untrue, it had been delivered with a “poor Pat” intonation to it that Elyse felt wasn't warranted. It might have been uncharacteristic of Grace to be so wistful about her life, but it was just like her to point out that other people—in this case, Pat—lacked even more.

Elyse decided to change the subject. She thought about the party tonight at Junior's Bar, and suddenly she recognized an opportunity to do something that might give Franklin the push he needed to get off his ass.