Just Make Him Beautiful (40 page)

“
Momma, your name is Ms. Janet Wilson
,
or ha
ve
you forgot?”

Momma looked at me and I looked at her
,
and we both burst out laughing.

After a minute or so and the laughter qui
eted
down, Momma said she was just checking to see if I was paying attention
.

Yeah, right!

Anywho, since we had a couple more weeks of this charade, Momma said she needed to stop by a thrift store so she could get a few more old lady dresses. Of course the thrift store
,
or Goodwill store
,
as some people call
ed
them
,
was not my kinda place to shop
.
B
ut it didn’t matter to me because I was spending time with my
momma
,
and I was enjoying every second of it.
I had never been to a Goodwill store
,
but I recall
ed
seeing one at the
Whitmore
Shopping Center
,
which wasn’t far from where I lived.

Within minutes we were pulling into the shopping center and
into
a parking space rather close to the entrance.

Momma and I got out of the car and strutted
arm
in
arm
into the store
. And
,
h
oney, I hadn’t even made it that far into the store before the odor or musk from the old clothes
almost
knocked me out. I had to stand there for a minute just to get myself together
.

Momma turned and looked at me.
“What’s wrong
,
baby?”

“What is th
at
smell?” I asked
,
covering my nose.

Now, if I hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have believed it
,
but Momma hit me upside my head and said, “
Chile
boo
,
”
and kep
t
on walking.

Chile
, I
hollered
.
After she said that,
for some reason, I couldn’t smell the odor anymore. “No, you didn’t,” I said
,
catching up with her.

“Yes
,
I did
.
”
S
he
started
looking through a rack of old dresses.

As I stood next to her looking at one dress after another,
there were a few odds and ends that caught my attention. I left my mom where she was and began looking at one thing
,
and then something else caught my attention
,
and before I knew it, I grabbed a cart
,
and within minutes, I had a cart full of shit.

Chile
, I was like a kid in a candy store. Now, I understood why so many people shop
ped
here.
And t
hey had these
1960s
leopard tights that were in perfect shape and
cost
only two bucks
.
H
umph, they mine now.
On top of that, I saw this
light blue
b
oa they had wrapped around one of those plastic mannequins, and you know I had to have it.

Momma finally caught up with me, looked inside my cart and sh
oo
k her head. 
“A
b
oa?”

I looked back at her. 
“Yeah, and?”

“I don’t even wanna know
.
”
S
he chuckle
d
.

We made it back to the house
,
and Momma told me she was gonna show me h
ow
much
of a great cook she was
. We unpacked the bags and put all the food away.

She
sat down at the table
.
“H
ave you thought of a way to have the three of them here on the first of the month?”

“Not yet
.
W
e just spoke about it earlier. I hadn’t thought about it yet
.
” I
sat down
at the table across from her.

“Well
,
Cameron, you should always be planning your next move, baby. Remember, you always gotta stay ahead of the enemy
.
”
S
he
got
up and pour
ed
herself
a cup of coffee. “Would you like a cup?”

“
No
,
Momma, I’m good.
So
,
let me ask you
.
H
ave you thought of a way to get all of them here on the first?”

“As a matter fact
,
I have.”

“Oh
,
really?”

“Well
,
I was thinking while we were in the grocery store
,
How about I throw a dinner party for them?”
she stated
,
sitting back down at the kitchen table.

“A din
n
er party
?”
I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“W
hat’s the occasion?”

“Hmmm
.
H
ow about I play matchmaker?”
S
he smiled.

“Matchmaker
?
W
ho are you matchmaking?”

“Well, let’s say I have a gorgeous
granddaughter
that I wanna hook up with Junior?”
She
sipp
ed
her coffee.

“Whatchoo talking
a
bout, Momma?”

“How
a
bout the next time I see Keith, I start asking him questions about his family
?
If he tells me he has a brother and I get all the vital information
,
I’ll then tell him about my gorgeous granddaughter and that I wanna have a
dinner
party so they can meet.
How does that sound?”

I shook my head.
“There’s only one problem
,
Momma
.
”

“And what’s that
,
darling?”

“Ah, you don’t have a granddaughter
.
D
uh!”

“I know that
,
and you know that
,
but they don’t know that
.
”
S
he wink
ed at me as she sipped her coffee
.

“So
,
what happens when they show up and this gorgeous granddaughter
doesn’t?”

“Baby, I just wanna get them all in one place. And the least of their worry will be my granddaughter,
”
Mo
mma said with a devilish grin.
“T
rust me
.
”

Chapter 22

A
fter
a
few weeks
,
Momma had Keith and Robin just where she wanted them. They
’d
actually started treating
her
as though she was their real
m
omma.
When
ever
Keith mistreat
ed
Robin,
she
would go to Momma seeking advice and shit. I thought it was the funniest th
i
ng
,
because Momma would tell her to do shit that made no sense
,
but stupid
-
ass Robin would do it anyway
.
W
hich would cause Keith to be even more upset.

Keith wasn’t any better, calling Momma at home and complaining about Robin did this and Robin did that
.
S
tupid
m
uthafuckas, they all had what was coming to them.

When Momma first asked Keith about the dinner party and wanting to set her granddaughter up with his brother, Keith originally said he would pass on the idea, but by the time Momma finished
b
abying him and catering to him, a week later
he
changed his mind. Told Momma he couldn’t wait to meet her granddaughter
,
and besides, his little brother needed to meet someone and settle down.

When M
omma told me that, I fell out.
Momma also said that Keith said he had an appointment schedule
d
for that same evening and that he had to be there by
eleven
p
.
m. Momma said she assured him that the dinner party would be over no later than
ten
p
.
m.

And as luck would have it, I didn’t have to make up some lame excuse for not being present because Keith actually lied to Momma and said his brother didn’t like homosexuals
,
that
he didn’t know if Momma notice
d
but I was one flaming queen
,
and if she could talk me into making other plans so I wouldn’t be there.

Ain’t that some shit?
Flaming queen
.
T
he nerve
.
H
e don’t be saying that shit when he be dicking me down, the faggot
-
ass muthafucka. But little d
id
he know, I
was gonna
be making
my grand
appearance, ok
ay.

Anyways, a few days before the dinner party, Momma said she wanted to
visit my
stepfather
, Mr. William Jenkins
,
and get his ass straight about his threats towards me and my sister.
And she also wanted to go see Ms. G
e
rdy and thank her for what she had done for raising her kids and to say good
-
bye.

*

“Well
,
Momma, what are you planning on saying to him?” I asked her on the drive head
ed
towards my stepfather’s grocery store.

“I’ma give his ass a piece of my mind,” she said
,
her lips poked out.

“Momma, he
doesn’t
even know who you are.
W
hy would he care what you say?
Besides, am I to introduce you to him as my mother or Ms. Stewart?” I look
ed
at Momma out of the corner of my eye
.
She was
still in her Ms. Stewart disguise.

“Suga, it really
doesn’t
matter at this point
.
” She open
ed
her purse and show
ed
me what looked like a gun.

“Momma, where did you get that from?”

“Don’t worry
,
baby
.
Momma
,
got
this
.
”
S
he
sat
back in the seat and twist
ed
her neck from side to side.

“You not gonna shoot him
,
are you?”

“That depends
.
”
Momma shrugg
ed
her shoulders.

“Depends on what?”

“Depends on whether he wants to keep on living, baby,” she said
,
looking at me.

My eyes popped out as I continued to drive
,
and
a lump got caught in my throat.
I tried hard to swallow
,
but the thoughts that ran in and out of my head were making it hard to do so.
I didn’t know what Momma was going to say to my
stepfather
,
and wors
e
yet, I didn’t know if
she
was actually going there to kill this man or not.
Either way, I didn’t have a good feeling about this.

I began thinking that may be Momma had spent too much time in that sanitarium and just might be crazy.

*

I found a parking space right out front of my stepfather’s store.
I parked the car
,
and Momma and I got out and headed into the store.

“Hi
,
Cameron
,” Ms. Ruby stated.
“H
aven’t seen you around here in a while.
How have you been?”

“I’m good
,
Ms. Ruby. I just stopped by because I wanted to see my father
.
I
s he in?”

“Yeah, he’s back there in his office.
Why don’t you go
on back there and surprise him?
”

“I think I will
.
T
hanks
.
”

Momma and I headed towards the back
,
where my
step
father’s office was located. His office door was closed
,
so I knocked.

“What are you doing?” Momma asked me.

“Knocking on the door.”

“Boy, please
.
”
Momma opened his door.

I walked in first
with
Momma
right
behind me. My stepfather was sitting at his desk looking at some reports and still hadn’t noticed
us
standing there.

Momma cleared her throat.

“Hey
,
Dad,” I said as nice as I could.

“What da
h
ell
?
”
He
raised h
is
head and noticed that I wasn’t by myself.

“Dad, this is
…
”

“Janet, is that you?”
He
put
on
his glasses that were on his desk and st
ood
up.

Momma slammed his office door.
“In the flesh
,
Bill
.
”

“Wha
-
wha
-
what are you doing here?”

“Are you gonna invite us to have a seat, Bill?” Momma asked
,
standing there with her hands on her hips
.

I didn’t know what was going on
,
but whatever it was, Momma and my stepfather knew each other
,
and
he
seemed a little scared of
her
. 

“Ah, ah
,
sure
. H
ave a seat
.
”
H
e too sat back down and
started shifting
around
in his seat
.

“Don’t worry
,
Bill
.
N
o need to
be nervous.
I didn’t call the po-po on yo
’
trifling ass
.
” Momma said sitting down.

“Look
,
Janet, before
…
”

“No
,
Bill, you look. I’m here because I don’t like anyone
…
do you hear me
,
Bill?
I don’t like anyone threatening my kids
,
and according to Cameron, you threaten
ed
him and Keisha. Is that true, Bill?” Momma pull
ed
out her gun and twirl
ed
it around her fingers. 

Chile
, I felt like I was at a dayum movie or something.
Momma wasn’t taking shit from this man
,
a
man who had bullied me as well as Ms. G
e
rdy. And no
w to see him act like a bitch in front of Momma was freaking me out. What did Momma have on this man?

“Yo
,
s
is, you know I wouldn’t harm my own kin folk. Hell
,
I
was just playing with the boy.
I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“Sis?” I look
ed
at Momma then at my stepfather.

“Yeah
,
baby, this is Bill, my older brother
…
your
u
ncle,” Momma said
,
looking at me. “So
,
now that the introductions been made, I need you to apologize to your nephew
.
”
Momma stood up and walked
to the
back of my uncle’s chair.

“Come on
,
Janet
. 
I was just having a little fun with the boy.
I wasn’t gonna hurt him
.
”

“Cameron, did I ever tell you the time when my brother, your uncle here
…
”
Momma point
ed
the gun at his head
,
“
b
lew up our parents’ house with them in it, just so he could collect on their life insurance policy? And you sit here and say, he kinfolk and you wouldn’t have hurt him?” Momma hit him over the head with the butt of the gun.

My uncle h
eld
the back of his head.
“Ouch
!
S
hit
!
”

“Now
,
Bill, like I said, you need to apologize to your nephew
.
O
r how
’
bout I tell G
e
rdy that you just married her so that you could kill her and collect on her insurance policy as well?
Or how about I just call the po-po and let them know you were responsible for killing one of their own?
When was this
,
Bill, six or seven years ago when you came running to my house and cried like a little bitch because you thought the po-po was gonna catch yo
’
punk ass because you didn’t wanna go to prison
?
”
Momma circl
ed
him like a vulture.

“I apologize,” he stated softly
,
still holding the back of his head.

“Speak up
,
muthafucka
!
I couldn’t hear that shit. Did you
,
Cameron?” Momma look
ed
over at me.

I laughed.
“No
,
m
a’am
.
”

“I apologize,” he replied
,
almost yelling.

“Now, was that so hard?
And the next time I hear anything about you threatening my kids, I will kill you
.
”
Momma took her seat and put her gun back in her purse.

I guess
that was
a good thing because at that point Ms. Ruby opened the office door
.

“Everything al
l
right?” she asked.

Uncle Bill responded,
“Yeah
,
Ruby, everything is fine
.
”

“Okay, I was just checking
.
”
S
he clos
ed
the door.

“So, you knew you were my uncle
?
W
hy did you treat me that way?”

“Baby, he treat
ed
you that way because as a gay
bottom
man himself, he has a problem with
feminine
gay individuals.
I think deep down inside, he wish he could be more like you
,
but he’s too dayum scared. Scared of what society might think
. So he overcompensate by butching it up, even though you love yourself some dick too
. Or don’t you remember telling me that when we were younger
?
A
in’t that right, Bill?”

Uncle Bill never said a word
.
H
e just hung his head low, looking down at his desk.

I wanted to feel sorry for him
,
but how could I?

“Well
,
b
aby, it’s time for us to leave.
I’ve said my p
i
ece
.
”
Momma got up and opened the office door.

We walked out to the front of the store
,
where
I saw Ms. Ruby waiting on a customer
.

“See you
,
Ms. Ruby.
Have a nice day,” I said
,
as Momma and I walked out of the store.

Momma and I got in the car, looked at one another
,
and cracked up. Momma was something else
.
 

“Now, I wanna go see G
e
rdy,”
she
said
,
putting on her seat
belt.

“Okay
,
Momma
.
B
ut
,
wow, I can’t get over the fact that you and the man I knew as my stepfather are brother and sister. Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

“Baby, you find out things in life all in good time
.
”

“But you said you didn’t have any family. I knew that your parents had died in a fire
,
but I didn’t know it was because of Uncle Bill
.
”

“So
,
now you know
.
”

“So
,
Momma, had you thought about where we would go after the dinner party?”

“I sure have.”

“Where?”

“I’ve always wanted to go to
New York
. Even as a child, I thought that
someday
I would go there but never had a chance
.
N
ow I do
,
and I can hardly wait
.”

“Why
New York
, Momma?”

“It’s the city that never sleeps
,
baby. Not like tire
d-
ass
Omaha
, you know
.
I wanna walk through
Times Square
.
I wanna see
t
he Statue of Liberty in person
. L
et’s just say
,
I wanna take a bite out of
The
Big Apple
.
” Momma laugh
ed
.

*

Minutes later, we pulled up in front of Ms. G
e
rdy’s house.
This time I parked in the driveway because I no longer feared my
uncle
. I was with Momma
,
so
he knew bett
er
than to fuck with me ever again.

We got out of the car and walked up to the front door
.