The Perfect Mistress (4 page)

“We'll try this one,” her grandmother said. She twisted open one of the tubes. It was beige, kind of clear. Lauren was a little disappointed. She wanted the red, like her grandmother, but she was willing to start anywhere.

“Okay,” Granny said. “I'm going to put just a little dab on your lips. But first I need you to promise me something.”

“What?” Lauren said.

“You have to promise first,” her grandmother said with a wide smile.

“I promise!”

Granny laughed out loud. “You have to promise that this is our secret. You can't tell anyone that I let you wear lipstick. Can you keep a secret?”

Lauren nodded.

“Are you sure?” her grandmother asked with an expression that made Lauren think that her grandmother doubted her.

She wasn't sure if her grandmother was teasing her or not. Grandma Helen loved to play teasing games. But Lauren couldn't take the chance that her grandmother was serious. If she thought that she couldn't keep a secret, she might not let her wear that lipstick. Lauren knew of only one way that she could convince her.

“I can keep a secret, Grandma. I've been keeping a secret for Daddy for a long, long time.”

Her grandmother gave her that teasing look again. “What kind of secret you been keeping for your daddy?”

Lauren bit her lip. She'd been dying to tell someone anyway; it was exploding inside. And if she told her grandmother, she'd get that secret out and she'd get to wear lipstick.

“Well,” she began with a whisper because she knew that when you told a secret you weren't supposed to say it too loudly, “one night Daddy took me to this lady's house. And they were kissing and they were—”

The smile disappeared from Grandma Helen's face so fast, it seemed like someone had ripped it away. “I don't wanna hear no more.”

She dumped the lipstick back in the drawer and slammed it shut.

“But Granny . . .”

Her grandmother put both of her hands on Lauren's shoulders and made her stand squarely in front of her. “I don't want to hear that secret.”

“I was only telling you so that you could see that I could keep a secret.”

Her grandmother shook her head sorrowfully.

“Are you mad at me?”

Lauren watched her grandmother's face soften before she pulled Lauren into her chest. “Oh, no, pumpkin. I'm not mad at you. You've done good, baby. You've kept the secret.” She made Lauren stand back. “Now, I want you to keep that secret. You can't tell nobody. I mean, nobody, okay?”

Lauren nodded.

“Now go on back to the living room and wait there for me,” she said.

Lauren didn't budge, wanting to remind her grandmother about the lipstick.

But when her grandmother added, “Go on,” and then waved her hand, shooing Lauren away, she obeyed.

She left her grandmother's room the same way she had come in, feeling like she'd done something wrong. But she didn't know what.

Outside her grandmother's bedroom, she paused. Not because she was spying, but because her grandmother began talking. At first Lauren thought Grandma Helen was talking to her, but with the way she mumbled, Lauren could tell she was talking to herself.

But she mumbled loud enough for Lauren to hear. “Don't make no kind of sense, that man putting that little girl in that position.” Then she tsked.

Lauren wasn't sure what her grandmother meant by that. Not that she cared. All she cared about was that now she wouldn't get to wear that lipstick.

T
his was the husband she loved. Joyce sat at the table as Vernon did the bird across the dance floor. The ballroom at the Embassy Suites hotel was decorated with Christmas trees in each of the four corners, and red and green lights shone from the chandeliers. The room was merry for the Black Lawyers' annual Christmas gala.

When he misstepped and bumped into the guy on his right, Vernon leaned his head back and released a Santa Claus laugh. Joyce laughed, too. She wondered why her husband couldn't be this way all the time.

She was still chuckling as he danced his way over to the table. “Come on, baby,” he said flapping his arms like an eagle.
“What, have you heard? It's a brand-new dance and it's called the bird.”

Joyce laughed. The way he was moving, he could have been a member of The Time.

He grabbed her hand, but just as they got to the dance floor, the music switched from Morris Day to that old-school Al Green. Vernon pulled her closer.

“Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.” He leaned in her ear and crooned,
“I'm so in love with you, whatever you want to do . . .”

Joyce melted into his embrace. She wished that she could stay in this moment forever.

They'd had a rough beginning to the year. One too many late nights, stories that didn't add up, and a constant looming feeling that her husband was cheating, always cheating. All of that had made for a rocky marriage. But since July—since she found a birthday card from someone named Tammy—Vernon had been behaving like they were on their honeymoon. He was putting in as many overtime hours in their marriage as he was at the office; he was working hard to erase her concerns and let her know she was all he needed.

She took a good long while to believe it. Even longer to
feel
it. But here, in her husband's arms, she felt like they were finally headed in the right direction.

When the music ended, her heart sank. She wanted to shout out to the deejay and tell him to play “Let's Stay Together” again and again. She didn't want to let her husband go.

But Vernon pulled back, entwined his fingers with hers, and asked, “You want something to drink?” as he led her from the dance floor.

“We both do,” Joyce's sister-in-law, Velma, said, approaching them.

“Hey, when did you get here?” Joyce hugged her, then stepped back to appraise her red formfitting one-shoulder gown. She nodded her approval.

“We just walked in.” Velma embraced her brother, kissing Vernon on his cheek. “We're late as usual, thanks to Carl,” she said, referring to her longtime boyfriend.

“I'll be right back, babe,” Vernon said. He leaned in and kissed her passionately.

“Awww sookie, sookie now.” Velma tapped Joyce's arm
playfully as Vernon strutted away. “My brother's got major game. I love black love.” She sighed.

Joyce watched Vernon's backside as he walked off. “I love that man.” She kept her eyes on him until he disappeared in the crowd surrounding the bar.

“I know you do. I'm really glad you two are working things out.”

Joyce shifted uneasily, then walked Velma to their table. But as she led the way, her thoughts drifted back to that territory that she hated. Back to the women who'd invaded their marriage—by Vernon's invitation. Every time he said the same thing: each one meant nothing.

Alicia had been only the beginning. She was followed by Lois, a woman who he claimed was a pro bono client, and finally, the birthday card from Tammy had sent Joyce rushing over to Velma to cry on her shoulder.

“I'm never going back to your brother,” Joyce had said to her sister-in-law.

Of course, once Vernon came begging and crying, that resolve lasted all of one day.

And those women—Alicia, Tammy, Lois—were just the ones she knew about. She wasn't dumb enough to believe that these were the only ones.

As she introduced Velma to the other couples, she searched for Vernon out of habit. She saw him standing on the outskirts of the crowded bar. Her eyes narrowed as she watched a woman laugh, then place one hand over her cleavage and the other on Vernon's arm.

But as if he knew she was watching, he brushed the woman off, taking a couple of steps away from her and shaking his head. That made Joyce smile. Maybe the last time had really
been the last time. Just maybe Vernon was going to remain the faithful husband that he always promised to be.

“Hey, baby, here's your drink,” he said, approaching her and handing her a red cup. “It's just punch, but I have some Jack Daniel's in the car. I can spike it if you'd like.” He flashed a wicked grin.

“Punch is fine,” she said. “The Jack Daniel's, maybe later.” She rested her lips on the edge of the cup and looked up at her husband through her eyelashes.

“Where's mine?” Velma asked, making Vernon shift his gaze from his wife to his sister.

“Oops, I forgot you.”

“Wow, so that's how you treat your sister?”

“Sorry, but I'm so blinded by my beautiful wife.” He leaned over and kissed Joyce once again.

When they pulled apart, Joyce was breathless, but not overpowered enough to keep the words she'd meant to say from escaping. “I saw that woman flirting with you. She wants you.”

“But I want you,” he replied without hesitation. “Only you.” He kissed her neck. “Now, let me go get my sister a drink so she can feel special since her man is over there telling lies to his friends.”

“Whatever,” Velma said, playfully pushing his shoulder as he walked off.

Velma smiled at her sister-in-law. Leaning over, she whispered so that no one else at the table could hear, “I'm so happy for you guys. You know I don't cut for some of my brother's ways. Our father was a dedicated family man, so I don't know where he got this gallivanting from.”

“Well, hopefully, it's over.” Joyce kept her voice just as soft.

“I have to give you your props, though, because you've taken more than most women. You've definitely taken more than I could.” She eyed Carl across the room, talking to his friends. “Because I already told Carl, if he pulled some of the stuff my brother pulled, we're gonna be doing a remake of that Farrah Fawcett movie,
The Burning Bed
.”

Joyce chuckled, but her sister-in-law wasn't playing. Everyone knew that, especially Carl. And Carl wasn't crazy, so he remained faithful, at least as far as everyone knew.

Joyce propped her elbow on the table, then cupped her chin in her palm. Vernon was maneuvering his way through the thick crowd at the bar. Maybe that's where she'd gone wrong. She'd never shown Vernon her crazy side. Maybe if she yelled and threw knives, Vernon would have never strayed—at least not more than once.

She sighed. Why was she spending all of her time thinking about this? She and Vernon were on the right track. She really believed that. She'd never have to worry about unleashing her crazy side. That was good for her and that was definitely good for Vernon.

K
eeping secrets had its benefits. Lauren couldn't help but smile as she sat down at the cafeteria table and twisted the glittering tennis bracelet around her wrist. She loved the way that it sparkled in the light.

Her father had given this to her this morning right before she left to catch the school bus. A Just Because gift. “Just because you're so special,” he'd told her.

Because she was older, she knew that her father didn't give her gifts all the time just because he thought she was special. He did think that about her. But she knew that the reason was more that she'd kept his secrets. And the older she got, the more she understood.

Besides her grandmother, Lauren had told no one her father's secret over the past five years—she still had not said a word to Carly, her best friend. Or rather, make that her former best friend. They weren't as close anymore because Carly didn't like Lauren's new friend, Tanya.

“You guys act like you share a special secret and it's only for the two of you,” Carly had said just yesterday. She'd said it with an attitude, like she was sure that something was going on, but she couldn't figure out what.

If only Carly knew. Lauren and Tanya did share a special secret. They were sisters. Well, not real sisters who came from the same mother and father. But they were sisters in a special secret kind of way. Because Tanya's mother was Miss Tammy, Lauren's father's girlfriend.

It was actually Lauren who was responsible for her father meeting Miss Tammy. She and her dad were out eating pizza when she saw Tanya, who she knew attended her school. When Lauren had spoken to Tanya, Miss Tammy immediately began making googly eyes at her father, and before Lauren knew it, her father had given Lauren and Tanya money to go play at the arcade, while he and Miss Tammy sat and talked.