Read Online The Makeover by Vacirca Vaughn - Free Book Online Page B

to play cards.  Mr.
Salas, always the quieter one in the bunch, nodded vigorously.
    “I-I
know.  You’re…right, Mr. Kembro ,” Phoenix bit
her lip to stop its tremble and was thankful for her sunglasses.  “Well, I
got to go up and—”
    “Fe, it’s not
just about weight,” Mr. Rodriguez let his grumpy demeanor fall away as his eyes
came to life with compassion.  “Some men like women who are more…
thick.  It’s about taking care of yourself, really.  Look at
me?  I always looked pretty trim.   But I had that sugar
and refused to listen when the doctor told me to cut back on the foods I loved
to make when I ran my restaurant.  What Dominican person don’t like their maduros or their café con leche ,
very sweet?  But me? I didn’t listen.  Now, I have half of one leg
and the other ain’t working out either, which is why they got me in this
chair.  Those foods we all like, the things we do instead of
exercise?  They mess us up.”
    “Yeah, and I
can see ya poor diet is messin ’
with ya skin too,” Mr. Kembro interjected, looking up from his card briefly to peruse her, before tossing a
card onto the small table between them.  “With skin dark as molasses, last
thing you need is pimples.”
    “Okay! 
Well, thanks for your help.  You’re right.  I do need to be
careful.  My mother is expecting me.  See y’all later. 
Bye!”  Phoenix’s smile was forced as she waved and hurried away. 
    When she
reached the elevator she gasped and drew huge breaths.  She did not need
her mother to see her in tears.  “I just can’t believe that I look so bad
that people got to lecture me right on the street.”
    When she
reached her mother’s apartment on the seventeenth floor in the old public
housing building, she paused to pull out her hand mirror.  Her hair was
tied with a scarf since it had not been done in over a month.  Her eyes
were swollen and red.  Her skin was shiny with sweat.  And although
she had showered, she was wondering if her mother would be able to tell she had
been drinking so early in the morning.
    Before she
could ring the bell, the door flew open.  Her mother stood there with her
eyebrows raised.  “Well?  Why you stand in the hallway like
this?  Come inside.”
    “What, Ma? You
were standing at the door waiting for me, or something?” Phoenix asked as she
swept past her mother to slump on the armchair without her usual kiss of
greeting.  She didn’t want to sit next to her mother on the couch.
    Her mother said
nothing at first, just stood there, wrinkling her nose. 
    Phoenix slowly
took her sunglasses off, blinked, and regarded Magalie Jean- Baptiste .   “What, Ma?  Why are
you staring at me like that?”
    “You look
horrible, that’s why!  And you smell…funny.  Not like you haven’t
bathed, but like…you’ve been drinking.  Like it is coming out of your
skin.  Have you been drinking?”
    Sheepishly,
Phoenix looked away.  “Last night, I had a couple of drinks.  But I
showered this morning, so I am amazed that you can smell it.”
    “Listen, you
don’t smell like someone who had a couple of drinks the night before,
but like someone who has been drinking a lot over the past few
days.  You smell sour.”
    “Well, I don’t
know.  Maybe it’s your imagination, Ma.  Can we move past this,
please?  You summoned me here, and I am here.  What did you want to
talk about?” Phoenix struggled not to suck her teeth, clench them, or even roll
her eyes.
    Magalie went into her kitchen and returned with a glass of
water.  She handed it to Phoenix and snapped, “Drink!” 
    She stood in
front of Phoenix with hands on her hips until Phoenix downed half the
glass.  Only then, did she sit on the couch and glare at her daughter for
several minutes. 
    Phoenix
finished her water and waited. 
    Magalie crossed her arms.  “I want to know what you
are doing.  You haven’t been around for weeks, you tell me you broke off
the