Relapse: A Novel (18 page)

“Wow!”
Beijing was stunned. “Are you kidding?”

“I’m coming clean with you because I can. For the first time in many years, things feel different. Having you in my life was something that I genuinely wanted and needed. Do you love me?” he asked her.

“I have very strong feelings for you,” she answered slowly.

“I think I love you too,” he admitted.

“You think?” Beijing shot back.

“I do,” he corrected. “I never thought I’d be here feeling this way, but I do and here I am.”

Beijing took Lootchee into her arms. “I love you, baby, and I hope the feelings I have for you will never go away.”

“Then what should we do about these feelings?”

With her eyebrows raised, she asked, “What do you suggest?”

“How about marriage?” He took her hand. “Will you marry me, Beijing Lee?”

Beijing’s mouth dropped wide open. She began to feel lightheaded and disoriented, unable to speak.

Hoping her reaction didn’t equate to a rejection, he said, “A simple yes or no will do.”

The next four words rolled over him like hot butter on an ear of corn. “I’ll be glad to.” Then she smiled the most beautiful smile Lootchee had ever seen.

“Then it’s official,” he said, showing all thirty-two teeth. “When do you want to make it happen?”

“I’m ready when you are,” she said.

“How about tomorrow?” Lootchee had no reservations or doubt about what he was asking her to do. And he always got what he wanted … when he wanted.

He got up, went into the other room, and returned with a red velvet box and handed it to her. She couldn’t contain her smile as she opened the box.

“OH MY GOD!” she screamed, covering her mouth when she saw what was inside: a seven-carat flawless solitaire engagement ring, surrounded by seven carats of smaller diamonds. “This ring is gorgeous,” she said.

“Seven carats for the seven months we’ve been together.”

They made love for the rest of the morning, and they both dozed off until Lootchee woke Beijing up. “Baby, get up. We need to go get everything together for tomorrow,” he whispered.

“Tomorrow?” she asked. “What’s going on tomorrow?” She was scheduled to work in Charlotte the day after tomorrow for a big conference.

“Our big day. Me and you. You becoming Mrs. Cazelle.”

“Like within twenty-four hours tomorrow?”

“Yes, my dear.” He planted a kiss on her forehead.

“That’s too soon, baby. Can we push it to next month?”

“Why next month? You said whenever I was ready. I’m ready today, but I will settle for tomorrow.”

“I want to plan a real wedding, a wedding where everybody can make a big to-do about me; the flowers, the guests, the ruffles,
the invites. I know a fabulous wedding planner that can pull it all together.” She went on and on, excited.

“If that’s what you really want,” he relented.

“Just give me a month or so and though I am all yours now, then I will be all yours legally.”

“You got forty-five days.” He sealed the deal with a kiss on the lips.

The next day he dropped her off at the airport to head to Charlotte. As usual, she called him once she got to her departure gate and talked to him while boarding her flight and up to the time that the FAA required her to shut off her phone. Once Beijing landed, she called Lootchee back. He answered immediately, “Hey you made it safe?”

“Yup, and I miss you already.” She was filled with joy.

“I miss you too,” he said. “Can I call you back, though? I got a few important matters that I’m trying to take care of. I’ll hit you later when you get home.”

“Of course, hon. I’m going to stop by the CVS and grab some bridal magazines so I can get a few ideas.”

On her ride home, Beijing begin to make calls to touch base with a few of her clients, promising that she would have all of their requests taken care of over the next couple of days.

As soon as she walked in the door to her beautiful condo in the ritzy Ballantyne neighborhood of Charlotte, she kicked off her shoes and called Lootchee. He answered on the first ring. “Yeah.”

“Hey, babe, I just wanted you to know that your blushing bride-to-be is home.”

“Okay, baby. But still I’m trying to get this shit over here under control. Today is hectic, I’ll call you back.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

While she waited for Lootchee’s call, she browsed through several bridal magazines and a couple of different wedding websites. The more ideas she ran across, the more ecstatic she became
about her own wedding plans. She got so caught up she hadn’t realized that it was almost midnight and Lootchee hadn’t called her back.

This is odd
, she thought. When she called him and he didn’t answer, she was sure that he would return her call, but he didn’t. As the night got later and later and sleep eluded her, she began to think the worst: Had something happened? Was he okay? Had he been hurt somehow? Gone to jail? She called several more times and still got his voice mail. She began to look up all the local hospitals and the jails in his area and gave them a call. Part of her was hoping to find him at one of the places and another part was hoping that she wouldn’t.

After two days, she didn’t know what to do, so she took it way back to high school: She called Seville and told her to call Lootchee on a three-way call. He answered on the second ring. “Yeah.”

“Baby, are you okay?” She was so worried.

“Yeah, I am cool.”

Then why hadn’t he returned or answered her calls?
she thought. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

“I’m good, could never be better, but I’m in the middle of something. I’ll call you back as soon as I’m done.”

“Okay, I am here. Try not to keep me waiting too long.”

“Yup,” he said before hanging up.

Beijing couldn’t focus on the call with Seville, because she was too busy replaying the conversation over in her head with Lootchee. It didn’t sound right to her.

“Is that right?” Beijing said. She was staring out the window at the Charlotte skyline.

“What the hell do you mean, is that right? Are you listening to me or are you looking at porn on your Internet?” she joked.

“I’m sorry, Seville. I’m thinking ’bout this conversation I had with Lootchee. Something isn’t right, and I can’t figure out exactly what it is.”

“He’s just busy, that’s all,” Seville assured her. “You know his nose is wide open for you.”

“That’s just it, girl,” she said. “I don’t know that. I don’t know anything!”

After she hung up, she tried to call Lootchee again to get to the bottom of things.

“Hey, there, leave a message and I’ll get back to you when I get around to it,” the voice mail answered.

She didn’t even bother leaving a message. What the hell was so important he couldn’t answer his dang phone? What was going on?

She decided to get caught up on some paperwork for Thaddius. She needed to fill out expense reports for the past three weeks or she’d get so behind, she’d never get caught up. But all the while her stomach churned. Two hours and two weeks of reports had passed and she finally picked up the phone again. This time she would outsmart him. She blocked her number.

“Yo, wassup?” Lootchee said after the first ring.

“Wassup? You really want to know what’s up,” Beijing huffed. “I want to know what’s up, too, Lootchee. How come you only pick up the phone if you think it’s not me?”

“Ah, baby, you’re just imagining things. I’ve just been really busy,” he said. “I’ll call you later. Promise.”

“Okay,” Beijing said, disappointed. She didn’t believe him but it seemed there was nothing she could do. He held all the cards.

It was like her father always said: The truth of the matter was the person who loved the least controlled the relationship, and right now Lootchee was in the driver’s seat.

The following morning Beijing was charged and ready to get to work. The day was filled with lots of small requests, causing the hours to fly by and her not to focus on the call that never came from Lootchee. Before she could get out the door of the hotel to head home, she got a call from her niece.

“Hey Chyna doll,” she answered. Her only niece always brightened up her day whenever she spoke to her.

“Hi, Auntie. I need you to get over here quick. It’s Gram. She’s out of control. Hurry up. She’s having a real bad day, and I’m worried that it might get worse and there’s no telling what she might do.”

“Did she take her meds?”

“She hasn’t taken them in a few days.”

“Ah hell.” Beijing knew it was serious. “Why didn’t you tell me when she first stopped taking them?”

“Because she promised she would take them the next day and then promised again the next day, but she didn’t and now I think there are going to be big problems.”

“Okay, I’m on the way. Now, it’ll take me a couple of hours to get there, but don’t worry, I’ll be there.”

“Just hurry, I really need you.”

Her niece’s cry for help made her forget about everything else. In no time flat, she was out of the door and headed to her pride and joy’s side.

Once she got in the car Beijing called Greta and said, “Ma, I need you.”

“What’s going on, baby? Are you back home?” Greta could hear the panic in Beijing’s voice.

“Yes, I got in two days ago and I’ve been meaning to call you but I got a little caught up.”

“You’ve been caught up with that new boyfriend, huh?”

“Not hardly. That’s a whole other story; I will have to tell you about that later.” She sighed, then got back to the reason she called. “Chyna just called me sounding really scared and she says that Willabee is off her meds again. I’m headed over there now.”

“I can meet you over there,” Greta offered.

That’s the kind of person Greta was. Without any hesitation she always had Beijing’s back and genuinely wanted to help anybody in need. People in the church, the neighborhood, it didn’t matter to her; she just wanted to be a blessing to folks.

“That would be wonderful.”

Greta was always happy to help wherever her stepdaughter needed her, even if it meant dealing with Willabee. She’d once despised Willabee, because Willabee could have children and Greta couldn’t. She knew it wasn’t her place to ask God why, but she couldn’t understand why God would give a person like Willabee chance after chance to have baby after baby but not give her one. Through the years, her feelings transformed from hate to
more or less pity. She knew Willabee, so she only prayed for her to get better and be a positive person for Beijing and especially Chyna.

When Beijing pulled up, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Her fifty-four-year-old mother was outside in a black Wonderbra and a pair of big black bloomers, hollering and screaming, “Where the fuuuccckkk is my goddamn eggs? You said you were going to give me my damn eggs back on the first of the month and today’s the twenty-fifth and a whole new month is about to come in this bitch and you ain’t gave me shit, not a goddamn thing.” Willabee was screaming at the top of her lungs at Marsha, her next-door neighbor of seven years.

“Willabee, I’ll give them to you next month, on the first,” Marsha tried to explain. Marsha was a big, burly, light-skinned lady who looked to be scared for her life.

“No the hell you won’t! You need to give me my shit right fucking now or else I am going to take them out of yo’ stankin’ ass.” She rolled her neck around.

“Willabee, please calm down,” her neighbor begged, embarrassed by all the commotion.

“Calm down, my black ass. I don’t think so.” Willabee was dead serious. “Easy for your freeloading, food-stamp-getting ass to tell me when you done got my shit, cooked whatever the fuck your non-cooking ass done cooked with my motherfucking eggs and ain’t think enough of me to give me my shit back.” She was walking around the fence to attempt to attack her neighbor. “And a matter of fact don’t invite me over for that bullshit-ass meat loaf anymore.”

Beijing parked her car, jumped out, and ran over to try to defuse the commotion. She caught her mother before she got all the way into the neighbor’s yard.

“Willabee, what’s going on?” she calmly asked her mother.

Willabee noticed Beijing for the first time.

“Who in the gates of hell called you?” She looked around and
didn’t even care about the crowd she was drawing. She turned her attention back to the offending culprit. “Motherfucking snitching-ass bitches, oh they gonna get it now. Bitches wanna run and call my fucking daughter from a few cities over to come and rescue you from this ass-beating, huh?” She was bending down to pick up a stick but Beijing was quicker, tossing the stick out of the way to the other side of the yard.

“Nobody called me to come by,” Beijing explained to her mother. “I came by to check on you and to bring Chyna some things I bought for her when I was out of town. Now, why are you out here with no clothes on ready to fight?” Beijing continued firmly. “You know good and well that ain’t right.”

“Check this shit out, Bay, this bitch is gonna come and get my shit and then don’t wanna pay me back.”

“Gram, can we go in the house please.” Chyna came running out of the house and handed Beijing a housecoat for Willabee to cover herself up. Beijing tried to wrap it around her mother.