The Night Before Thirty (14 page)

“Yes, but he's here too early. I'm not ready to get up yet. What time is it anyway?”

Buzz from the bell again and again.

“It's three forty-five.”

“But we don't have to be up for another fifteen minutes.”

The bell sounded again. So Catara jumped out of bed, put on her robe and slippers, and went to the door. Cheryl obviously had no intention of budging.

When she opened the door a tall, slim attractive guy was standing there. “You must be Catara,” he said, with the widest grin on his face. “I'm Lamont.” He reached out and gave her a big hug.

She stood there, speechless. Lamont walked past her. “And just where is Ms. Cheryl? I know she's still in bed. Sleeping beauty, time to get up!” he yelled as he walked toward her room. Catara followed. He crawled into bed next to Cheryl, who had thrown the covers over her head. “Come give your daddy a hug,” he said, and began tickling her.

Cheryl yelled at the top of her lungs, “Stop, Lamont!”

He continued tickling.

“I'm not playing, leave me alone, I'm trying to sleep.”

“You know you want me,” he said, then pulled the covers off her face and began kissing her cheeks and forehead.

Catara watched from the door. She wasn't sure if she needed to stay or go. Cheryl never mentioned to her that they were seeing each other. She always thought they were only friends. Plus, from the tone of his voice and the presence he commanded when he entered the apartment, Catara was under the assumption he was gay—attractive, but just a little soft.

The two horseplayed, and as they settled down Cheryl said to Catara, “So, I guess you met Lamont at the door.”

“Yeah, we met,” Catara said, and became suddenly aware of her appearance. Her hair was wrapped in a scarf, she was in pajamas, and there were still traces of sleep in the corners of her eyes.

“So, ladies, you have a plane to catch, right?”

“That's the plan,” Catara responded.

“Well Big Papa's here, and I'm gonna make sure you two get to the airport on time.”

“Thank you,” Catara said.

“Okay then, my BAPs, let's get you two dressed for the day. Although your pajamas are so nice, Catara, that you could probably get away with wearing them all day.”

“Thanks, I made them myself.”

“You got a gift,” he said casually. “Now, go get dressed!”

Cheryl threw the covers over her head.

“You have thirty minutes or this train is leaving without you,” he said, then got out of the bed and turned on the radio full blast. Destiny's Child's “Survivor” was playing, and Lamont started grooving to the beat. He had such energy, such enthusiasm, that Catara's eyes were glued to his every move. She couldn't turn away.

“That means you too, Miss Missy,” he said to her, continuing to dance all the while.

Catara smiled and looked away, embarrassed for the way she was gawking at him. Looking for comfort, she glanced at Cheryl, who was getting out of her bed and had caught her glimpse and smiled. Catara shrugged shyly and went to get dressed.

By the time Catara was dressed and in the living room, Cheryl and Lamont were sitting around talking health-club politics.

“You'd better be glad I'm just meeting you today, or I'd be all over your case. You took forever,” Lamont said, noticing her.

“My bad. The shower just felt so good that I didn't want to get out,” Catara said.

“I told you,” Cheryl replied.

“Well, you can't rush beauty. And you made it happen, my dear. You're working it,” Lamont commented.

Catara looked down at herself, then back up at Lamont, who was still staring at her with a proud grin on his face.

“Let's do this!” he said.

LECIA LAY IN
bed, moping. It had been nearly two weeks since she'd spoken to William. Although flowers came every day, he didn't call, probably because he was avoiding the inevitable conversation he knew he couldn't get out of. She, on the other hand, refused to call him. She was determined he was going to have to put in extra time and work to get her back. Flowers were not enough.

It was a few days before Thanksgiving, and for the first time in a long time Alecia didn't have plans. She didn't want to go skiing, and she didn't want to be bothered with the families of any of the men who'd invited her to meet their folks, but she didn't want to be alone, either. She didn't consider Thanksgiving a major holiday, but it was a special day, and she always liked feeling special on special days. That wasn't going to happen if she lay in bed all week.

She knew she'd have to take action if she wanted results. No matter what the day would bring, she had to face it. Reluctantly, she threw back her Sferra Bros. lime-green duvet cover and three-hundred-thread-count lavender sheets and jumped out of bed. Deep purple and lime green were the color scheme of her bedroom. The rest of her condominium was decorated with the same bright California-inspired colors: The furniture was modern and varied, in outlandish sizes and artistic shapes.

After slipping into her Hanro of Switzerland robe and slippers, she sauntered into her living room, past her bright red sofa, to her plush sheepskin rug, and picked up her Louis Vuitton Palm case. Then she walked over to her dining-room table, sat down, and went through her addresses, starting with the letter A. Most of the entries were male. Being in the company of any of the names listed seemed too much of a chore. She only wanted to be with William, but she knew that was not going to happen. William would be spending time with his family, sitting at the head of the dinner table, carving the turkey.

The thought of spending time with her own family crossed her mind. It had been a while since she had spent a weekend with them. Maybe it would do her some good to be home. Instead of thinking too hard about it, she picked up the phone and called the airline. She wasn't going to ask anyone to pay for the trip—she would take care of it herself. She would use some of her frequent-flier miles and book a flight to Dallas to spend time with her mother and sister.

ARMED WITH A
bouquet of flowers for her mother and a handful of fashion magazines for her younger sister, Alecia propped her luggage next to her and rang the doorbell to her childhood home. She felt giddy as she thought about how excited her mother and sister would be to see her. It was late in the morning, and, if she knew her family, they were just now starting to get dressed for the day. She looked around at the outside of the ranch-style, three-bedroom home. It needed a paint job, but her mother had done an exceptional job of keeping up the yardwork on their spacious lawn.

The door flew open and Alecia's sister, Tabitha Renee, stood at the door in faded jeans and a T-shirt. She was still wearing her sleeping scarf. After taking one look at Alecia, she let out a screech so loud it could easily have been heard throughout the working-class neighborhood. Tabitha hopped onto the front porch and threw her arms around Alecia, almost causing her to drop her gifts.

“What are you doing here?” Tabitha cried out.

“I was in the neighborhood, so I figured I'd drop by and surprise you guys.”

“Well, you've done your job.” Tabitha turned around and yelled in the house, “Mom, Alecia is here!”

Before Alecia could catch her breath, her mom, Gloria Marie, was at the door, as excited as Tabitha. “Alecia, honey, what are you doing here?”

“Tabitha asked me the same question. It is Thanksgiving, isn't it? I thought it would be a good idea to spend it with my family. These are for you.” She handed the flowers to her mother.

“These are nice, but where's my hug?”

Alecia embraced her mom. She could see their resemblance. She would look like her mother as she aged, only better, she assured herself. Her mother carried extra weight from age, which looked good on her; however, Alecia swore she'd not gain weight when she got older.

“We've been up for about an hour, but we're just now getting dressed. My friend Lou is picking us up in his limo and taking us out to breakfast. He's a limousine driver, by the way. Are you gonna go with us?” Gloria asked.

Before Alecia could answer, Tabitha grabbed at the magazines.

“These are for you,” Alecia proudly announced, handing them to her.

“Oh good! Did you bring me anything else?”

“Can I get inside first?”

“Oh yeah,” Tabitha said, and held open the door.

Alecia grabbed her suitcase and lifted it inside, and her mom and sister followed her.

“Louisa is gonna be at her mother's today,” Gloria commented while pulling at the rollers in her hair. “She asked if you were going to be in town.”

“Oh, really? How's she doing?” Alecia asked.

“Well, you know, she's on the radio every day,” her mom said.

“Are you going to hang out with her?” Tabitha asked.

Alecia looked at her younger sister. She was an overdeveloped, over-excited teen who hadn't had enough of a childhood, just as Alecia hadn't, because their mother was too busy schooling them on how to get every last dime out of a man's pocket to have ever played with them. “You're growing up much too fast,” she said.

“No I'm not. You just don't visit often enough, and you're missing the process.”

“Hush, Tabitha,” Gloria said. “Alecia, I'm glad you're here. We're going out for Thanksgiving dinner because I didn't feel like cooking this
year. Plus, my new friend Caleb owns this hot, new soul-food restaurant, and he wants me to have dinner over there with him.”

“The food is good, Alecia—you'll like it,” Tabitha said.

“You're not cooking?” Alecia said, disappointed. Some things never changed around that house. Her mother was still exposing Tabitha to too many men, and Tabitha seemed not to mind.

“Well, Alecia, I didn't know you were coming, and everybody else in the family decided to stay home this year.”

“It'll be fun, Alecia,” Tabitha said. “Caleb is cool, and it's a nice place, and the food is good.”

“Whatever,” Alecia said, sulking like a child.

“Look at you,” her mother fussed. “You always have been spoiled. Think the world revolves around you. We're eating at the restaurant tonight, and that's the end of this discussion. Plus, it's free, and, like Tabitha said, the food is good.”

Gloria pulled a few more rollers out of her hair. “I'm getting dressed. Lou will be here soon. Now, Tabitha, if you're coming, you need to finish getting dressed yourself. You know how slow you are.” She turned and walked to her room.

“Okay, Mom, I will,” Tabitha said. “Why are you tripping, Alecia? You know things don't change around here. Mom has a flock of boyfriends. She always has, always will. How else could we afford this house?”

“I know,” Alecia said, disappointed and embarrassed about the circumstances surrounding the place that used to be her home. “So, how have you been?” she asked, changing the subject.

“I'm hanging in there, just waiting on responses from my college apps.”

“How many did you apply to?”

“Five. I applied to USC and UCLA so that I can be close to you. But if all else fails, I'll go somewhere around here.”

“With your grades, you'll get into UCLA.”

“Yeah, hopefully, but it's a scholarship that will make the difference,” Tabitha said.

“You just get in. We'll worry about tuition when the time comes.”

“So how are things in Cali?” Tabitha asked.

“Great,” Alecia replied.

“How's the acting thing coming along?”

“I'm going through the motions. You know, submitting head shots and auditioning,” Alecia lied. She hadn't had new head shots made in nearly two years, and she couldn't remember when she'd last auditioned for a part or taken an acting class. Alecia was not much different from her mother: She had also made a career of being a professional girlfriend, only in Alecia's world, the stakes were higher and the rewards greater.

She had dropped out of college after only two years but in that time took classes that would be beneficial in helping her secure a wealthy husband, life-enhancing skills like her foreign language and investment classes. She was very intelligent, just like her mother and sister, but getting a degree and working a nine-to-five job never appealed to her nature.