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Adrienne didn’t really want to touch anything, but she took the knife and started to run it under the tap water.
“Just hand it to me, Adrienne. It’s clean,” Debra said, exasperated. “I swear, you just as prissy as they come.”
“Debra, I didn’t come in hear to argue with you.”
“Well, whatchu come for, then? ’Cause I know you didn’t come in here to wish me no Happy Easter.”
Adrienne didn’t know how to begin. She was beginning to think this was a bad idea.
“I was wondering if Mel had said anything to you.”
“What you say?” Debra asked, shouting above the music. She was busily making a salad.
“I said, has Mel said anything to you?—about us, I mean. We hadn’t been talking much, and, well, it just seems like he has a lot on his mind.”
“I guess he do. Hell, his baby gone, and something like that, you just can’t blink and jump back on your feet.”
Adrienne couldn’t believe how blunt Debra was—or that she was acting as though Mel were the only one who was suffering, too. She didn’t know how to respond without causing a scene, so she just glared at Debra, watching her mix up the salad.
“And Adrienne,” Debra said softly, “don’t be over there lookin’ crazy. I ain’t got no kids, but I was a girl once, and I know how much you love your little girl. It’s gone take some time, Adrienne, maybe a whole lot of time, ’fore you and Mel work through that kinda loss.” She watched Adrienne staring at her, mistrustful. “But if you don’t want to lose him, too,” she continued, “I think you better just chill and don’t play him so close. Mel a grown man, and prissy as you is, you know how these men do,” Debra said slyly.
Now what does that mean? Adrienne wondered as Debra stuck her plump finger into the bowl and licked it, checking the salad’s taste.
The music seemed to grow louder, and Adrienne felt a headache coming on as Debra sucked the last bit of blue cheese dressing off her finger and held the bowl in her hand.
Just when Adrienne thought she couldn’t take another minute of the gathering, Debra slipped out of the kitchen and stood in the doorway. “Dinner is served,” she said grandly.
Ann and Debra filled the plates in the kitchen, and Tina passed them out to the crowd in the living room. Everyone ate with their plates on their laps and drinking glasses at their feet. There were the traditional Easter foods—ham, fried chicken, collard greens, and macaroni and cheese—but there was also roast beef, cornbread made from scratch, homemade apple pie, and caramel cake. Adrienne was picking at a little bit of everything when Mel sat down beside her and began to eat as if he hadn’t seen food in months.
“Why you not eatin’, baby?” he asked.
“I’m not feeling too well,” Adrienne lied softly. Debra’s words had sunk into the pit of her stomach.
He stopped eating for a moment. “Yeah, you do look strange. We can leave in a little while if you want.”
Adrienne nodded. They were talking quietly about how tired he was from driving all night and half the day, when Adrienne felt Mel stiffen beside her. He choked on a piece of ham, and she pounded him on the back as he reached frantically for his drinking glass. “What’s the matter?” she asked. Before Mel could answer, Big Boy’s voice clamored over the music. “Well, what a surprise! Look who’s here. If it ain’t my favorite cousin!”
Big Boy was taking coats
from a woman and two small girls. The woman was wearing a green dress in some kind of shimmery fabric, and the neckline was so low, it almost reached her nipples. She was wearing two huge gold earrings in each ear, and a lot of bracelets. The two little girls were wearing ruffled pink dresses and black patent leather shoes. The woman whispered something to them, and they waved shyly at Mel.
“Mel, you remember Lillian, don’t you?” Big Boy shouted. There was no mistaking the glee in his voice.
Mel stiffened beside her. “Yeah,” he muttered.
Big Boy helped his cousin into a chair and then looked at Mel again. “Well, it would seem to me that a man could say hello if he remembers somebody.”
Mel said, “Hello Lillian,” without taking his eyes off his plate.
Big Boy grinned widely and whispered in his cousin’s ear.
“What cute kids,” Adrienne said. “Do you know them?”
“No,” he said shortly. “I only seen ’em once when they got on the bus with Big Boy’s cousin. I met a lot of people when I was staying here.”
Why did Mel sound so defensive? Adrienne sighed. His moods were so unpredictable lately. She felt someone staring, and when she looked up, the woman in the green dress was looking at her with unabashed curiosity. Big Boy did the introductions, and Adrienne thought there was an odd gleam in his eye.
“Lillian, I think you know everybody here except Adrienne.”
