The Pleasure's All Mine (29 page)

“He’s my nephew; I’ll talk to him,” Raven replied.

The doctor reached out, giving Raven’s hand a gentle pat. “My prayers are with you and your family.”

“Thank you, doctor. That’s kind of you.” She walked over to Manny, Janetta’s son, enfolding him in her arms, while trying to push her anger at Janetta away.

When Janetta’s screams continued to tear through the emergency room, Dr. Peters appeared at Raven’s side. “Is she going to need a sedative?”

“She actually needs a brain transplant,” Raven replied, covering Manny’s ears. “But I don’t think you’d have one that would fill that much empty space.”

The doctor grimaced, trying to remain composed, as she watched a now subdued Janetta trying to climb into bed with their mother. She had lost her damn mind!

Almost soundlessly, Raven moved into the room, biting her tongue against the sharp remark she was ready to shoot her sister’s way. She heard Reverend Lowry whisper, “Oh my Lord,” as he watched Janetta, green eyes wide with disbelief.

Eric and the red-faced pastor tried to pull Janetta off, but she clung to the steel rails of the bed, her muumuu rising so far up that her private parts could take pictures within twenty feet.

Reverend Lowry was standing downwind—never the place to be around Janetta. Eric lost his grip and stood back to cover his nose, leaving the good pastor to fend for himself.

The pastor finally gave up. “Shall we bow our heads in a word of prayer?” He moved as far away from Janetta as the room would allow.

“Yes, let’s, before another soul meets her Maker right here in this room,” Raven mumbled.

“Behave, Mom,” Eric said, just loud enough for her to hear.

She glared at her sister. “Do I have to?”

Drew and his wife Dina walked in. He cautiously approached the bed, lips trembling with unconcealed sadness, tears pouring down his face. The sight was unsettling, for Raven had never seen him cry. She had been trying to hold it together for everyone’s sake—mostly her own—but her brother’s tears brought fresh ones to her own eyes.

Their mother had been a strange type of anchor for their family. Always there for Janetta and Drew, and even though she was remotely distant from Raven, she had still been there for her, too, whenever the shit
really
hit the fan.

Mama was always partial to boys, so naturally Drew was the favorite. But it was Janetta who seemed to command the most attention.

Raven, on the other hand, suffered from a stigma her mother had never let her live down. Raven’s classically pretty features and long, jet black hair differed from that of her brother and sister, but in some ways, resembled the best of their mother’s features. There had always been a rumor that Raven was the product of a fling her mother had had with a man from Belize who was visiting a neighbor across the street. Jaylon “affectionately” called Raven her “going-away present.” In other words, she was the “present” that made Drew and Janetta’s father “go away.”

Janetta, the oldest, hadn’t always been slovenly and so unkempt. She had once been one of the prettiest girls at their high school, slender, smart, and outgoing. But Raven had to admit, even back then, Janetta hadn’t been too discerning about the men she spent time with. Before she graduated, Janetta ran away with an ex-convict named Maurice who worked in the school’s lunchroom. She spent ten years on the street selling her body for him and miscarried at least nine babies before running back home after he scalded her. The woman who appeared on their mother’s doorstep was a far cry from the beautiful, bright teenager who had left a decade earlier. Still, Jaylon welcomed her back with open arms and gave her addict daughter the entire run of her house; which meant Janetta ran off with the VCR, the stereo, jewelry, a kitchen appliance or two––or three all to support her drug habit and her current lowlife boyfriend.

What would happen to Janetta’s kids now? What would life be like for her siblings now that their mother was no longer around to support them? Raven suspected they would have to do exactly what Raven had done—grow up—something they would try to fight at every turn.

Raven bowed her head as Reverend Lowry led them in prayer. She felt warm, welcoming hands envelope hers. Eric glanced at her, his lips lifting into a small, bitter smile.

Fifteen minutes later, Raven lifted her eyelids and winked and sighed at Eric, who grimaced with impatience. Would the prayer never end? Whatever place God decided to let her mother rest—and she hoped it was definitely with the Creator—Reverend Lowry’s prayer here on earth wouldn’t sway a vote in either direction.

Twenty-two minutes later, Raven’s eyes fluttered open. Deaconess Rochelle had entered the room and joined the circle. The man was
still
praying for her mother’s safe passage into heaven.

Actually, he should have been praying that Raven wouldn’t send Janetta right behind their mother. Instead of bowing her head while the pastor prayed, the bitch was rummaging through their mother’s purse.

Through clenched teeth Raven growled, “Put it down, now!”

“Our dear sister…” Reverend Lowry trailed off as all eyes opened.

They turned toward Raven, then slowly followed her gaze to Janetta, who had one hand still lodged halfway in the little black purse that was dangling precariously from the end of the bed.

Grief took a backseat as Raven went ballistic.

Lunging, Raven grabbed Janetta’s grubby fingers in a crushing grip, but her sister clung to the leather purse. “Put it down before I rattle what’s left of your pathetic little brain!”

“I’d like to see you try,” Janetta taunted before giving Raven a nasty grin. “You don’t even belong in this family.”

Raven snarled, “I know you haven’t forgotten the time I hosed you down like a cow ‘cause you didn’t know what parts needed washing.”

Everyone gasped.

The incident she was referring to had been the one time Drew helped Raven get Janetta. He, too, had been embarrassed by Janetta’s neglect of personal hygiene—his friends had started to laugh at him because of his stinky sister. Raven didn’t care about other people, but she did care that her nose hairs singed within ten feet of her sister. As Raven doused Janetta in laundry detergent on the front lawn, scrub brush in hand, the whole block came outside to take note.

“Back away from the purse before I lose it in front of all these people.”

“You don’t need Mama’s money,” Janetta shot back, tightening her grip. “You don’t deserve it.”

“It’s not about her money, you cow,” Raven said, trembling with indignation. “It’s about respect. She’s not even laid to rest and you’re taking what doesn’t belong to you. You had class when you were seven, reach back and
tap into that
‘cause you sure don’t want
me
to help you.”

Someone picked her up and turned her 180 degrees. It took a second to register that Eric had carried her out of the room—no easy task since she had at least seventy pounds on him. He opened the door to the nearest restroom—which just happened to be the men’s—pushed her inside, and closed the door behind her.

Raven was too angry to bang on the door, let alone demand to be let out. Janetta had placed an order for an ass-whipping, and with all the emotions swirling inside Raven, she was ready to deliver—with a side order of hood-style beatdown.

Raven turned on the water, splashed some on her face, and took several deep breaths.

Minutes later, Eric peeked in. “Mom, are you okay now?”

“I’ll be fine, Eric,” she said, sliding into the hallway and standing next to him. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” He linked his hand in hers, holding back a laugh. “Did you really hose Auntie Jan down like that?”

“More than once,” she mumbled. “And neither time had a long-lasting effect.”

“Geez. Sometimes I’m glad I’m an only child.”

“Oh, we had our good moments growing up,” Raven said, ruffling her fingers through his waves.

“Really?”

“No, but that sounded pretty good, didn’t it?”

Eric chuckled.

A nurse came up, holding out a stack of forms. “Have you decided who will prepare her?”

“Good question,” Raven responded, her somber tone back in place. “We’ll have to discuss it with my brother…and sister. Give me a minute.” She entered her mother’s room. Her brother still held their mother’s hand, shoulders heaving with his sobs. Now wasn’t the time to ask. There were now too many people in the room for conventional comfort, so Raven and Eric waited in the doorway.

What in the world was she to do? She had never gotten along with Drew and Janetta. How were the three of them supposed to tolerate each other long enough to make these decisions about their mother? They couldn’t even agree on what time the sun rose. Raven and Drew might come close, but Janetta would defy
anything
Raven said, swearing that the sun didn’t come up at all.

Manny was still sitting in the corner watching everything, his dark brown eyes filled with confusion and sadness. Raven remembered what she’d told the doctor. Now was the time to do a little sugarcoating. “Hey, little guy,” Raven said, sliding his hands into hers as she took the spot next to him. “You all right?”

He nodded absently, whispering, “Grandma. Grandma’s sick.”

Raven took a long, slow breath. “She’s a little more than sick. She’s not…with us anymore.”

Manny bit his bottom lip. “She won’t be getting off that bed?

Raven shook her head.

“She won’t be coming home?”

“How would you like to stay with me tonight?”

“ ‘Kay.”

Janetta—who’d always had the hearing of a bat or some other rodent-like animal—swooped over and hovered near them. “Over my dead body.”

Raven didn’t miss a beat. “That can be arranged.”

“My kids are comin’ back to me now.”

“I’m sure DCFS would say otherwise,” Raven shot back, moving away from Manny. She nodded to the nurses’ station. “Care to do a drug drop right now to prove you’re a
worthy
parent?”

Janetta’s lips clamped shut.

“Didn’t think so.”

“Actually,” Deaconess Rochelle said, reaching for Manny’s hand, “the children should stay with
us
until things are all sorted out.”

“I’m fine with that,” Raven replied remembering how highly her mother had spoken of the lock-wearing woman who would make sure that Kayla and Manny made it to church every Sunday and to children’s programs during the week.They had spent many nights at the woman’s home.

“I’m not
fine with it
,” her sister fired back.

“Janetta, you won’t get your hands anywhere near their money for at least a month. You can wait a few days.”

“ ‘A month’!” her sister’s beady eyes widened in horror.

“What? It’s not like you were beating down the door to get them before. You let Mama do all the hard work and I’m sure that helped her health.” She leaned in so only Janetta could hear. “A grown-ass woman choosing dick over her children. You’re a class act, babe.”

“Ho!”

Instantly, they were twelve again. “Takes one to know one. And word on the street was that you were a real good one. Five dollars, anyone?”

Eric pulled her away. “Mom!”

“Don’t hold me back!”

“Grandma was her mother, too. She’s grieving just like you are.”

“This has nothing to do with grief,” she said, glaring at Janetta as she snatched away from Eric’s grasp. “This is stupidity and greed at work.”

“Calm down, Mom. I’ve never seen you like this,” Eric replied in his most soothing tone. “I don’t want you laying anyone out tonight.
Don’t let the worst in her bring out the worst in you
.”

Raven let out a long, slow breath, hearing her own words to him a long time ago come back in full force.
Damn!
He was right.

Dina came forward. “Andrew wants her to be buried by the same place as Aunt Rose. They’ll pick up the body. I’ve got a friend that works there.”

Raven would have preferred to use Unity Parlor because of the elegant service they had provided for their grandmother.

Janetta smirked at Raven. “You got a problem with that, too, Ms. High and Mighty, Damn Near Whitey?”

She was about to respond with a biting remark when Eric pinched her arm. “No, it’s fine,” Raven replied softly.

“We’ll meet at the funeral home tomorrow morning,” Dina said. “Is eleven good for you?” Her eyes were searching and careful.

Raven looked back at Dina, softening as she realized that her brother’s wife had actually feared Raven’s opposition. “I’ll be there.”

Raven arrived at the funeral home an hour early to scope out the place, and found it to be exactly what she’d expected—a far cry from top of the line.
Damn!
Her mother would do cartwheels in her grave.

But the funeral director, Ms. Sullivan, was all business. Raven liked her immediately. She settled into the vinyl seat, and got right to the point. “What’s the absolute best you have to offer here?”

The woman flipped open the catalog to a pearl-white casket with an image of an open bible.

“Perfect,” Raven proclaimed, knowing her mother would approve. “And I’d like to pay for any additional things needed without my brother or sister knowing about it.”

“Programs?”

“I’d like to have them in color. I’ll get you a picture tomorrow.”

Ms. Sullivan scanned her notes and frowned. “Actually, Ms…” she looked up, then reviewed the papers again, “Ms. Ripley, I’m sorry, but it looks like it’s not up to you. I received a faxed copy of the insurance policy from Anita Rickman with your mother’s note that Andrew Ripley is to make all of the arrangements, and that
none
of the money should come from you.”

Raven felt as if she’d been punched in the gut. “If you don’t mind me asking, how much is in the policy?”

“Fifteen thousand, split three ways.”

“How much is the average funeral?”

“Around $10,000.”

Raven grimaced. “Which means we’ll have to cut costs if I’m not able to pitch in.”

The woman nodded, closed the file, and offered to take Raven to the showroom.

At 10:40 a.m., Drew and Dina walked in. As Drew hugged Raven, Janetta waddled in ignoring her, which was just as well considering the not-so-fresh air that followed.