Wrong Way Renee (25 page)

Gary Junior and Alyssa shot questions at Renee like automatic rifle fire. Little arms hugged her the moment she stepped out of her car
at her parents’ house
. Their eyes were as bright as their green and red outfits as they jumped and squirmed
and squealed
.

“Merry Christmas, Alyssa. You too, Gary. You'll have to wait until morning to see what I got you.
”
She
buttoned up her lips and refused to say another word.

The kids
disappeared inside the house in a split second.

Char
loaded
shiny packages with huge bows into
her husband’s
arms and
hung
red foil gift bags from his fingers.

“
Merry Christmas.
”
Gary leaned his head toward Renee as best he could, loaded down with gifts and tried to kiss her cheek.

Sh
e air kissed him
back
.
“Merry Ch
ristmas, guys. Need some help?”

“No thanks, Gary's got it.
”
Char
closed the back door of the Expedition and walked toward the house, empty-handed.
Typical Char.

Renee rolled her eyes as she opened the hatch of her Jeep and pulled out two shopping bags full of gifts. Their
mother
used to call
Char
the
delegator
when they were growing up because she always managed to dole out her chores to someone else.

Inside the house
Renee
followed
her nose to the kitchen
and
found her father carefully placing marshmallows on top of a sweet potato casserole while
her mother
washed pots and utensils.
He popped one in his mouth.

Renee jumped right in and carried serving dishes into the dining room.
Char
gathered her children to wash their hands. It was as loud and crazy as every event the
re, a typical family Christmas.

During dinner, Renee felt
her mother
's stare before she saw it. When she looked over the platter of pork roast, past a wine goblet of eggnog, her fear was confirmed. Elizabe
th's gaze was trained upon her.
“Yes,
Mama
. I'm feeling the vibes. What is it?
”

Her mother
leaned back in her seat.
“I was wondering how poor
Toy
is.
”

Renee pushed a blob of melted marshmallow off her sweet potato.
“She's okay. Her last divorce was rough, though. It took a toll on her.
”

Don't look at the ceiling or s
he'll know you're lying.

That had been a dead giveaway when she was a child.

“I ran into her
mother
last week at the grocery store. Victoria said
Toy
was doing great, dating, working. Is that not true, Renee?
”
Char
asked.

Elizabeth looked at
Char
.
“Renee had to leave the firm Christmas party to comfort poor, poor
Toy
. Isn't that right, Renee?
”
She
moved in for the kill.
“At least that's what you told
Cleave
, hmm?”

“You know,
Mama
, it really
isn’t your business
.
”
She
sat ramrod straight in her seat and folded her arms, challenging her
mother
.

Elizabeth raised one eyebrow.
“I know you're not a big fan of pork roast, dear. So I got you something you're m
ore comfortable with—
bologna.”

Luther
shifted in his chair, his gaze darting from his wife to his daughter and back again.
He shook his head. “I don’t know what the hell you two are talking about.”

After a minute of uncomfortable silence, someone started another conversation and Renee finally relaxed a little.

Making her excuses after all the dishes were done,
sh
e
headed to Joe's father's house but s
he had trouble finding her way in the dark in an unfamiliar section of town. She took a wrong turn
and ended
up in a scary part of the city. Ramshackle buildings with shells of burned out cars adorned the landscape. She pulled over and
called
Joe's number.

“Hey there. Where are you?
”
he asked.
“We
thought you'd be here by now.”

She glanced
up at the street sign in front of her.
“I'm at Thirty-Sixth Street and Bel Aire Aven
ue. Do you know where that is?”

“Oh God
, how did you get
there?
”
His voice was low and
full of concern.

“I don't know
. I guess I took a wrong turn.”

A loud bang on her car startled her, causing her to drop her phone. She looked around to find the source of the noise. A vagrant stood at the passenger window, his face pressed against the glass.

Cold
fear spread through her. She frantically groped around the floorboards for her phone. She could hear Joe's voice
but
hands shook as they patted the carpeting, feeling under her seat.

“Renee? Renee, what's wrong? Renee?
”
Joe was yelling.

She finally
retrieved the phone
.
“
Tell me how to get the hell out of here.
There's a man banging on my car
.
”

The whites of
the man’s
eyes
appear
ed yellow under the dim street lamp. He wore a knit cap over his stringy, gray hair. His lips moved and she could hear him making some noises, but she couldn't tell what he was saying.

“Drive. Drive now. Get away from him,
”
Joe ordered.

“Okay. I'm going.”
The moment
she gave the car a little gas, the man stepped back and her
heart
finally slowed down
.

“Are you with me, honey?
”
Joe asked.

“I'm here.
”
S
he was trembling
but thankful she was okay
.

“Tell me where you are now.”

“Thirty-Seventh Street.”

“
Take your next right onto Thirty-Eighth.
”
She could
hear the worry in his tone as he
talked her out of harm's way. His voice calmed her as she drove toward him, her safe haven.

She arrived at his father's house ten minutes later, still on the phone with
him
. He was in the front yard, cell phone in hand, pacing.

She hurried
out of the car and dashed across the lawn to him, still shaking. He wrapped his strong arms around her, rubbing up and down her back, and everything was better. The warmth of his body eased the tension.

“You're okay, babe. I'm here. I'll never let anyt
hing happen to you. You're fine.
”

Looking into his eyes, she
saw his relief
. His furrowed brow relaxed as he inspected her, making sure she was all right. In his arms, no harm
w
ould come to her. He kissed the top of her head, then rubbed her back as he led her inside.

A heavyset man with white hair sat in a recliner chair in the living room. He stood when they came in.
“Glad you're safe. Joe was beside himself. J. J. Morton. Nice to meet you, finally.
”
He
offere
d his hand.

Sh
e shook
with him
.
“Thank you. Merry Christmas. I sure am glad to be here.
”

A middle-aged blonde woman came in holding a dishtowel.
“Ah, you ma
de it. You had us all worried.”

“Sorr
y about that. Nice to meet you.”

“Eloise. Pleasure's mine. Have a seat. Can I get
you some eggnog? Coffee? Tea?”

“A virgin eggnog would be great.
”
They didn’t seem put off by the fact that their son was dating a black woman. If she brought Joe to her family’s home, it would unfortunately be a very different story.
She sat on the couch. Joe joined her, draping his arm around her shoulder protectively.

Eloise returned with a glass of eggnog and set it down
on an end table.

“So, no harm done, right?
”
Joe
squeezed
her shoulder.

“I'm a little shaken up, that's all. I'm sure the guy meant me no harm, but you never know.
”
Sh
e snuggled closer to him.

“Always assume they mean you harm. Now
, how about opening your gift.”

Not him, too.
“Joe, I
thought we weren't doing that.”

“We're
not.
I
am.
”
He
handed
her
a small gold package
. She pulled off the gift wrap to reveal a velvet jewelry box.

“
I can't believe you.
”
She opened
it
to find an emer
ald and diamond tennis bracelet
.
“Joe. You shouldn't have. But I'm glad you did. It's beautiful. Thank you.
”
She kissed him. Realizing his father was staring at them, she pulled away, heat rushing to her cheeks.

“Don't mind me,
”
J. J. said.
“I love watchi
ng a pretty woman kiss my son.”

Her face burned.

“Dad. Don't embarrass her.
”
Joe's smile brightened his face, revealing the beginnings of crows' feet next to his eyes.

“Here we are,
”
Eloise said from the adjacent dining room.
“Pecan pie and apple
pie. What does everyone want?”

J. J. stood and went into the dining room to stake his claim.
“Pecan, of course, dear. “

Renee leaned over to kiss Joe again when his father was gone, her lips lingering near his, savoring the taste.

“What was that for?
”
he asked.

“You are too sweet. I love this bracelet. Will you help me put it on?
”
She took in the
room while Joe struggled with the clasp. Two matching floral print recliners flanked either side of a large beige couch. Paintings were everywhere, landscapes, portraits and one still life.

Finall
y Joe got the bracelet closed and t
hey headed into the dining room for pie.

Renee took a bite of the pecan, savoring every morsel.
“Eloise, did you make this?”

“
I don’t believe in store-bought pies.”

“That is without a doubt the best pecan pie I've ever had. It's delicious.
”
She took a bite of the apple.

“Thank you.
”
T
he older woman
smiled from ear to ear.

“Eloise is a chef.
”
J. J. beamed at his wife.

“Oh really? I'll bet you eat well
.”

The man patted his belly.
“I think that's obvious.”

“That's just your winter coat, honey,
”
Eloise
patted his hand.

“
Do you own a bakery or
something?” Renee asked the other woman.

Eloise’s cheeks reddened.
“
I wish. I work at
Southern Estates
Country Club.”

Renee choked on the apple pie. She grabbed
for
her eggnog.
W
hy did it have to be the same club where
Cleave
was a member?

Joe
covered her hand. “You okay?”

“I'm fine,
”
she croaked. She forced herself to suck in a br
eath, then immediately coughed. Finally, she recovered. “I'm fine. Really.”