Playing Hard To Get

“Oh, Lucy.” Troy laughed like she hadn’t heard a word her grandmother said. “Look at you! You know God doesn’t tolerate a gossip.” She shook her finger as a warning.

“He also doesn’t like fools.”

“Who said anything about Sister Glover being a fool?”

“I didn’t say anything about that woman. I don’t even know that woman. I can only speak about my own.”

“Lucy, did you just imply that I’m a fool?”

“I’m just saying, watch yourself, ma cherie. I know you think that because you’re in the church, you left the devil outside, but he knows how to open doors, too. I should know. You watch what those people are putting in your head, and you watch that woman.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Troy said as Kyle came back into the sitting room with Ms. Pearl in his arms. “See”—Troy got up and stood next to Kyle—“my man is right here.” She kissed Kyle on the cheek and he leaned into her.

“The dog wouldn’t drink a thing,” Kyle admitted, handing Ms. Pearl back to Lucy.

“I know, darling.”

“You staying for dinner?” Kyle asked. “I made some pork chops…mashed potatoes.” He was the assigned cook of the house. Troy had tried, without success, to find her way in the kitchen after they’d gotten married, but mostly things had gotten burned.

After Lucy turned down the chops and retrieved her purse, Troy insisted on walking her to the car. While Lucy was nosy and calculating, Troy felt like she was exhaling the entire time she was talking to the old woman with old ways. Troy complained that she doubted everything Lucy was saying, but what she was hiding from herself was that what Lucy said was what Troy actually felt.

“There was another matter,” Lucy started as Paul opened her car door, “I hoped to chat about.”

“What is it?” Troy asked.

“Nothing big. Just that Mr. Hamilton expressed that he had to put more money into your account.”

“Oh, Lucy, I—”

“No matter.” Lucy grabbed Troy’s arm to stop her. “I don’t need you to explain. We don’t talk about money. It was just a matter of me signing off. See, after you got married, you said you didn’t want any more money put into your account, so I told Mr. Hamilton to leave just a bit of change in case of an emergency. Well, as the emergency money, which he said was $50K, ran out last month, he put in another amount, and now there’s only $5K left. You need some more?”

“I—”

“If you need money, just tell me. That’s what it’s for.” She handed Ms. Pearl to Paul. “That’s what all of my sacrificing was for. There’s no sense in you living…on a budget.”

“There’s no budget. Kyle has money.” Troy was ashamed. Yes, Kyle had money, but her habit had gone past anything that he wouldn’t notice or would allow. And as his wife, she’d agreed to living within the means he could provide. She didn’t want Kyle to feel intimidated by her family’s money and as Myrtle insisted, she wanted him to feel like a man. “I don’t need any money, Lucy. You can tell Mr. Hamilton to stop the deposits.”

“Are you sure, dear?”

Troy kissed her grandmother on the cheek and helped her into the car.

“I love you, Grandma,” she said.

“Lucy,” the old woman said, full of dignity and humor. “The name is Lucy.”

?

Someone had paid the bill. The only thing Tamia was sure of and glad about was that it hadn’t been her. And judging from the fact that Ava only seemed to have lip gloss and a mirror (which she reached for whenever Nathaniel looked away) in her sparkling Judith Leiber disco-ball clutch, it hadn’t been her either.

“Well, frat, I have to be honest,” Nathaniel started, leaning into the table. “I didn’t just call you about the CD.” He reached for Ava’s hand and suddenly the girl felt little cold fish jumping around in her veins.

While Tamia was still thinking about the name on Charleston’s phone and how long he’d been away from the table, she noticed how quickly Ava’s disposition changed. She was glowing like nothing from her past mattered that second.

“What’s up?” Charleston asked.

“I…Ava and I…we’re about to get married.”

“What?!” Simultaneously, Tamia and Charleston’s attention went from how to ask about the phone call and how to avoid answering anything about it to Nathaniel and Ava, who were now entangled like a lopsided pretzel.