I hope you like white wine.”
“Yes, ma’am. I sure do,” Leon lied. Other than beer and rum, he didn’t drink any other alcohol. But it didn’t take me long to realize what Leon’s strategy was. He was the type of man who was willing to do and say whatever it took to keep people happy.
Everybody except Inez. The first time I saw him angry was when I told him that Inez wanted to be maid of honor in my wedding.
“No way! No way will I let that bitch be involved in my wedding!” he roared.
His words horrified me. “She’s my best friend. I know she doesn’t like you, and you don’t like her. But I love you both, and I don’t want to be in the middle of all this animosity. My wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event, so I want what I want.”
“What about what I want? This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me, too.” Leon had never been married before, but he’d lived with the mother of his daughter for eight years.
“Baby, she wants to be there for me. Until now, she didn’t even want to be in the same room with you. If she can get to this point, can’t you?”
“Why are we even having a church wedding in the first place? Can’t we just go down to the courthouse?”
“We don’t have to have a big church wedding. I didn’t want that, anyway. That’s all Mama’s idea. And your mama’s, too. If you want us to go to the courthouse, that’s fine with me.”
“And anyway, every couple I know that had a big church wedding ended up getting a divorce,” Leon said.
“Leon, you can stop now. I already told you that getting married in the courthouse is fine with me,” I chuckled. “And if you change your mind later on, we can always renew our vows in a church.”
I avoided Mama, Inez, and everybody else for the next few days. I didn’t have enough nerve to tell them that the big church wedding that they’d been wanting to experience wasn’t going to happen. At least not with me.
I got Mama’s answering machine when I called from the Hyatt Hotel in nearby Cleveland. That’s where Leon and I had checked in right after we’d exchanged vows at the courthouse, six months after our first date.
Leon didn’t believe in spending money on frivolous things, like the weeklong honeymoon in Niagara Falls I’d suggested. I didn’t argue with him at the time, but I’d pouted behind his back. I decided that it would be to my advantage to keep our disagreements to a minimum until our marriage was more secure.
I didn’t leave a message for Mama. But when I called Inez’s house and got her answering machine, too, I didn’t hesitate to leave a message telling her that Leon and I had “eloped.” Before I could hang up, Inez clicked off her answering machine and picked up the telephone.
“I’m here,” she said in a low, raspy voice.
“Please be happy for me,” I pleaded. “I love Leon, and he loves me. That’s all that counts. I never said it, but I didn’t want you to marry Vince. I was happy for you, anyway. Not that I didn’t like Vince, but I honestly didn’t think that he was the right man for you at the time.”
“Well, apparently Vince didn’t think he was the right man for me, either,” Inez told me.
“Excuse me? Inez, tell me what’s going on,” I demanded.
“I packed his shit and told him to get the hell out of my house before I threw him out. I filed for divorce yesterday.”
“Already? You’re practically still a newlywed!”
“Better now than later. He wanted to change me. He started talking about how he wanted me to tone down my wardrobe, stop wearing so much make-up, and get rid of my blond weave. No man is going to change me.”
“Are you all right?”
“I am now. Some of my best friends are bartenders.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t around to…to talk. I swear to God, Inez, if I had known, I would have been there for you.”
“You need to be there for your husband now, baby girl. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll stop by the shop as soon as we get home, day after tomorrow. We can go for drinks,” I suggested, feeling guilty because I was so happy about my marriage, and Inez’s had just ended—again.
“Where are you?”
“We are at the Hyatt. Uh, Leon didn’t want to go to Niagara Falls or on a honeymoon cruise.”
“Well if I was him I’d have chosen the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Cleveland over Niagara Falls, too.”
“Inez, please don’t start that shit,” I said, blowing out a plaintive sigh. “You didn’t want anybody to make fun of you when you married any of your…uh…three husbands.” There was a moment of silence before we both laughed. I didn’t know about Inez, but I had to force myself to laugh. “So when and where do you want to hook up for drinks when I get home?”
“I’m getting out of town for a couple of weeks. I’ll call you when I get back and we’ll decide then. I booked a flight to Barbados this morning. As a matter of fact, the cab’s out there now,” Inez said, talking fast. Inez had already seen more of the world than any other person I knew. Being her own boss, and having the kind of money she needed to do just about anything she wanted, it was nothing for her to jet off to some exotic location at the spur of the moment.
“Will you call me as soon as you get back home so we can get together?”
“I will. And, Renee, congratulations and good luck. I really mean it.”
I was surprised when I turned around and saw Leon standing a few feet behind me.
“That was Inez. She and Vince broke up. He’s moved out, and she’s already filed for divorce.” I shook my head and looked away. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw a cruel smile cross Leon’s face.
CHAPTER 12
Leon was the one to break the news to Mama. I didn’t even know he had done it until she called the hotel the day before we checked out.
“I don’t care what that man do to you, you better stay with him. There ain’t never been a divorce in our family,” Mama told me. “And your baby sister is mad because she spent her last penny on one of them throwaway cameras, which she bought to take pictures of the wedding with. I hope you know what you doing, gal,” Mama said in a gruff voice. I never got mad at my mother when she stuck her nose in my business. I didn’t know too many women who didn’t go through some of the same things with their mothers that I went through with mine. I usually listened to Mama, with respect and patience. After all, she had made a lot of sacrifices for me. But I was my own woman, so I always did what I wanted to do, anyway.
“I love Leon, Mama,” I purred. I had just come out of the shower. One towel covered my body; another one covered my wet hair. Leon was stretched out on the bed, in just the bottom part of the silk pajamas I’d bought him. “I’m never going to let him go,” I vowed, giving my new husband a playful kick with my damp foot. “Mama, can I call you when we get home Monday? I am still on my honeymoon.”
“And that’s another thing. When you was a little girl, all you talked about was going to Niagara Falls for your honeymoon. It’s a crying shame you ended up on a honeymoon in Cleveland of all places. Right in your own backyard!” Mama paused and clicked her teeth. “And with all that money Leon makes working for the IRS, the least he could have done was take you off somewhere romantic.” After saying such a mouthful, Mama had to stop to catch her breath. And it didn’t take her long to do that. She had other things to say that I didn’t want to hear, which she whispered. “I heard Leon was stingy. I bet he’ll be shoving chicken gizzards down your throat for dinner three times a week. You better hope you don’t lose your job at that schoolhouse.”
“Mama,