didn’t you tell me you were bringing Kira over
here?”
“Trust me, it was a last-minute decision.”
I chuckled. “It’s not his fault, Ms. Mavis. I just decided to
tag along, since I didn’t have anything else to do.”
“What’s going on with you? Are you moving back home?”
I sighed heavily. “No, ma’am! I wouldn’t move back to VA if
somebody paid me and built me a home from the ground up.”
“Come on now. You know you miss living here,” Ms. Mavis joked.
“The only thing I miss is you and these kids. All that other
mess, I can’t be bothered with.”
“Well, you’re gonna be bothered today, ’cause I got a pot of
hot chicken soup on the stove right now. So y’all come on in here and get you a
bowl,” Ms. Mavis said as she led the way inside.
It had been a little over a year since I’d been in Ms. Mavis’s
house. The last time I was there I had come to pay my respects for Rhonda’s
death. I had left her a nice piece of change too. I wondered if she’d used any of
it for Rhonda’s kids, since that was the reason I left it.
She gave me a brief tour of her living room, showing me all of
the pictures Rhonda took through the years, while Tony and the kids raced for the
kitchen.
As I looked at each framed picture, Ms. Mavis had a story to
tell. But one particular picture stood out. A photo of me, my late husband Ricky,
Rhonda, and my old stylist, Sunshine, at the grand opening of my hair salon. We
were dressed to kill. And we looked so damn happy. Ricky stood in the middle, between
me and that bitch Sunshine. Looking at him now with his arm around her waist, I
should’ve known he was fucking her behind my back. Scandalous motherfuckers! Yeah,
they deserved each other!
On the other hand, Rhonda sure didn’t deserve to get killed.
I just hoped that I could convey that in a suitable manner and leave in good graces
with both Tony and Ms. Mavis before I headed back out of town.
Tony and both of his children were in the kitchen digging deep
inside their bowls of soup. Ms. Mavis offered me some, but I declined. I lied to
her and told her that I’d gotten a bite to eat right before I’d arrived at Tony’s
place.
So Ms. Mavis and I ended up taking a seat in the den area, where
we chatted a little bit about what my life had been like since leaving Virginia.
I painted a beautiful picture of me settling down with Mr. Right and having a successful
hair salon and day spa back in Houston. I even lied to her and told her that I might
be expecting a baby, and she seemed very happy for me.
We even reminisced about Rhonda helping me run the business and
being such a great mother.
Tony walked in the room when I was telling a story about how
Rhonda had once handled an irate customer for me. I couldn’t tell you what his problem
was, but he abruptly cut me off in mid-sentence, telling me, he was ready to go.
Ms. Mavis wasn’t ready for me to leave and wanted me to finish
the story.
“Ms. Mavis, I just got a call and I got to go,” he informed her.
“Why don’t you just leave and come back to get her later?” Ms. Mavis asked.
“I can’t, because I’m not coming back this way.”
“It’s OK, Ms. Mavis. I can call you later and tell you the story
some other time.” I stood and gave her a big hug and kissed her on her cheek. “You
take care of my godchildren.”
She smiled and held me tightly. “Oh, you can bet your last dollar
I will do just that!”
While she walked me to the front door, I slid her my new cell
number and told her never to hesitate to call me. She assured me that she would.
I hugged her once more, and then I made my exit to meet Tony, who had already gone
outside.
Behind Door #2
W hen I got into the car with Tony, he was on the phone, but he
quickly got off. “I gotta make one quick stop before I go back to my house,” he
told me.
“That’s cool.”
Tony pulled away from Ms. Mavis’s house while she stood there
on the
Lisa Black
Margaret Duffy
Erin Bowman
Kate Christensen
Steve Kluger
Jake Bible
Jan Irving
G.L. Snodgrass
Chris Taylor
Jax