Hot Girlz: Hot Boyz Sequel (17 page)

“Psalm 51, verse seven,
Cleanse me
with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
If anyone had a clean heart and a steadfast spirit of joy of His salvation,
Mattie Belafonte Wilson had it. She was loving and she endured. Born in 1931,
she had a life some wouldn’t call easy, growing up an only-child in
Mississippi. Raised by a single mother who would work three jobs just to keep
on the lights while Mattie would often stay home alone making her own way,
barely a teen.

“She married her childhood sweetheart
named Jesse Wilson. When they earned their college degrees they married and had
their three boys who later took care of their mother after their father passed
away. They kept her home, even when the signs of her failing health were
obvious. When the Lord called her home she was just shy of turning eighty. But
when it was time you can trust and believe that Mattie Wilson closed her eyes
and held out her hands, saying, ‘Thank you, Lord, for this amazing life. I’m
ready. I’m coming home.’ Here’s a video portrait of the many phases and stages
of the life of, Mattie Belafonte Wilson.”

The instrumental version of the song,
“Home,” by Stephanie Mills played through the speakers and a large projector
screen appeared. The pictures began to scroll along, one by one.

There were shots of Mattie pregnant
with Mason - one of her with Torino as a baby - one with Claude hugging her - a
shot of Jesse Wilson holding Rashaad in the hospital the day he was born - a
family portrait of all three sons, along with Rashaad, Star, and Mercedes just
before Jesse passed away - and a photo of Mattie with Nadia when they first brought
her home. Also, there was a picture of a three year-old Star, sitting in her
grandmother’s lap at the piano, playing away with just one finger. The
presentation ended.

“A beautiful life. A job well done,
Mattie Wilson. You lived the time between your birth and your passing with
purpose and left much to show for it. The people here today honor you, cherish
you, acknowledge you, and love you, for the lives you have touched are many. We
celebrate that beautiful life you lived, and your talented granddaughter, Star
Elizabeth Wilson, has selected a song she’d like to play on the piano, just for
you.” He looked at Star and offered a large smile. “Star.” He motioned with his
hand for her to approach, and he stepped aside, taking a seat next to his wife
near the pulpit.

Sitting next to her brother Rashaad,
Star stood as those in attendance applauded. Wearing black ballet slippers, she
walked over to the white baby-grand piano while the musicians put down their
instruments and allowed her full reign. She held her head high and positioned
herself smack dab in the middle of the shiny bench. She cracked her long,
slender fingers and positioned her feet over the pedals, then placed her hands
into position, took a deep breath and began to play. With blue-gray painted nails,
her trained fingers worked with precision.

With every keystroke she gave a subtle
shoulder sway, moving along to the melody. The notes signaled a familiar song.
She stared straight ahead at the casket before her, then down at the keyboard,
and then toward the audience, and said with volume, “This is the song my Grammy
liked. We’d watch “
The Wizard of Oz
” all the time together. No matter
how she felt, she’d focus on nothing but the television screen when we’d watch
it. I’d crawl into bed with her and we’d just watch. Her favorite song of the
entire movie, the one she’d sing along with and eventually hum along to was
“Over the Rainbow.”

Star continued to play, sharing her
gift from God - the gift that had landed her scholarships and recognition and
led her toward her bright future, all inspired by her grandmother who had
taught Star to play when she was only three.

But this time at the age of
twenty-two, words accompanied the notes and Star began to sing – sing from a
place deep down in her soul, a place that only her grandmother knew about
before now. “Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there’s a land that I
heard of, once in a lullaby.” She belted out the words, continuing to sing
about troubles melting like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops, and then
sang, “That’s where I’ll find you,” changing the words a bit with a twinkle in
her eyes. It was a soulful and powerful rendition.

Mason, who had been holding it all
together on the outside allowed his insides to show and a tear rolled down his cheek
and into his mouth. He swallowed and coughed. Then another tear followed, this
time making it to his chin, which he dabbed away.

Mercedes was way ahead of him. She
wiped her mascara-laced eyes with a white handkerchief, sniffled and then
squinted her eyes shut only to reopen them releasing more tears. She was moved
by the sight and the sound of her daughter paying tribute to a grandmother she
had grown to love in a way she would never love anyone else. She was also in
shock that her baby girl could even carry a tune, let alone do it very well.
She looked at Mason who only looked straight forward, so she did as well.

Torino held Sequoia just a little bit
tighter, and Sequoia squeezed little TJ’s hand.

As the song went on, Claude, who was
seated in-between his wife and daughter, placed his hand on Venus’s thigh just
as Skyy snuggled in closer to him, tucking her legs underneath her. He kissed
the top of her head and wept.

Cameron and Rashaad sat next to each
other, both with their mouths wide open. Rashaad wiped his eye and played it
off as if something was in it. Cameron looked over at him and nodded to say,
it’s
okay
. Rashaad nodded back.

Mattie’s caregiver, Lucinda Ramirez,
was next to Rashaad along with her family. She cried like a baby having told
Mercedes she was mad at herself for not staying over the night Mattie died.

Extended family members filled the
remaining reserved rows.

Meanwhile, Star continued to show that
she was given the perfect name. She shined so bright that it was blinding. A
beam of light shone through the stained-glass windowpanes that aimed itself
directly upon the piano and its pianist. The rays had met their intended target
who ended her song, singing, “If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow
why, oh why, can’t I?” Then Star held the last note, pressing the keys even
harder, giving strong pitch and tone. Her efforts were all for her grandmother,
every ounce of breath and every intense facial expression she could muster. She
pounded the last set of keys to signal the final note and sat straight up,
tearless, and said before anyone could applaud, “Grammy always had a lot of
sayings, like ‘do it right the first time,’ and ‘it’s not what you say, it’s
how you say it,’ and ‘God don’t like ugly,’ and ‘the early bird gets the worm.’”

Mercedes looked at Mason. He looked at
her and winked.

Some people smiled and some laughed.

Star smiled. “One special thing my
Grammy always said when preparing me for life out in the world, that I could
have sworn I heard her whisper to me this morning when I looked out of her
bedroom window was, ‘A lady always knows when to leave.’”

With that, Star got up. It was then
that everyone stood and clapped while she headed for her grandmother’s open
casket again. She stood over Mattie’s body. Mattie was dressed in green with
her silver gray hair in cornrows by Mercedes. Star leaned down, hair in
cornrows as well, and planted a kiss on the coolness of Mattie’s cheek. She
removed a note from her pocket and placed it on Mattie’s stiff hands, leaving
it there. The front of it read
, Pretty Girl
.

Star stood tall, turning back around
toward the still standing crowd and walked over to take her seat. Her brother
sat as well, hugging her tightly. Mercedes hurried over and sat next to Star.
She put her arm around Star and checked for tears, rocking her back and forth.
Mercedes wept for the both of them.

As they left the service a little
while later, all family members proceeded to the awaiting cars that would
proceed to Holy Cross Cemetery. The lead car was the one that carried Mattie’s
body.

Star looked up in the sky before she
ducked her head to get inside of the limousine. The day’s grayness had managed
to morph into blueness. And Star saw . . . a rainbow.

She smiled a colorful smile.

A smile that was stronger than her
anxious, frowning tears.

18

Venus

“Don’t let pride do that to you.”

Later that day, Venus and Claude had
everyone out to their new home in Laguna Hills for the repast. The kitchen had
an octagon-shaped island. It was roomy yet cozy.

Mason stood in the kitchen leaning
back against the island. Claude and Venus stood before him.

“Man, you okay?” Claude asked.

Mason’s eyes were reddened from tears.
“I should’ve brought her with me.”

“Don’t do that to yourself. None of us
should. We didn’t know when she’d pass away. It would’ve happened no matter who
she lived with. It was her time.”

Mason only looked at the floor. “I’d
just told Torino I was going to bring her with me.” He looked at his brother.
“Man, Mom’s gone.” Mason’s face was pained.

“I know. But Mom lived a long, good
life.” Claude sounded positive.

Venus spoke up. “Mattie wasn’t living
the quality of life she would’ve wanted. Before, she was so independent, and
yet over the last years she was bed ridden and couldn’t speak. Her non-ambulatory
state was tough on her. And on us. Like Claude said, it was just her time.”

Claude said, “It is hard to face the
fact that she’s really gone. She’s no longer in pain, though. Bottom line.”

“I just wanted to be home more so I
could spend time with her.”

“And you did. You did fine. We did
fine,” Venus said.

Claude told his brother, “Mason. One
thing I know is you need to go home. After today you need to remind yourself
not to let more time go by without being with your family, man. Come on. Don’t
let your pride do that to you.”

“Pride?” Mason looked like he fought
not to react. “You’re actually right. I should’ve been home. Home with my
family when this happened. I shouldn’t have had to leave my own house to deal
with what my wife did.”

Venus said to him, “I know you and
Mercedes have some things to work out. But remember no one came closer to
loving Mattie like she was their own flesh and blood than Mercedes. Mattie had
taken the place of Mercedes’s own mom. No matter what, she was there for her.
I’ll give her that. No one blames her.”

Claude added, “I can’t imagine what
that’s done to her. Mason, go home.”

“Hi, everybody.” Mercedes came into
the kitchen and stood by the other end of the island.

“Hi,” Venus and Claude said together.

She asked, “Mason, you still haven’t
eaten?”

“No.”

Mercedes headed toward the dining
room. “Let me go and get you a plate. You’ve got to eat something. The food is
excellent. Sequoia did a great job.”

Venus said, “She sure did.”

“I’m good,” Mason said.

Mercedes stopped and walked back to
them. She looked reserved.

“Mercedes, how are you? Are you okay?”
Venus asked.

She sort of replied, saying, “I’m
about to go home, actually. I’m tired. I need to take Rashaad back so he can
catch a flight later on tonight.” She asked Mason, “Honey, are you coming?”

“No.”

“You sure?” she asked.

“I’m sure.” He took a step away from
the island. “Where’s Rashaad?”

Mercedes said, “Oh, he’s in the living
room with Cameron.”

“I’ll be right back.” Mason stepped up
to Mercedes and leaned in, kissing her on the cheek.

“Okay,” she said, blinking fast,
looking flushed.

Mason walked out.

Claude followed.

Venus told Mercedes, “He loves you.
You know that.”

“I do. He’s just so damn stubborn.”
Her eyes looked misty.

Venus told Mercedes, “I don’t know the
details but I do know you two have been together too long. Something like this
just goes to show, you never know when in an instant, life can be taken away.
It’s just way too short.”

“I agree.”

“And I’m sorry you went through what
you did that night. Thanks for doing all you could to revive Mattie.”

Mercedes remained solemn.

Venus said, “I can imagine it was
hell. It was just her time.”

Mercedes said, “Thanks for having the
repast here. The house is beautiful. I’ll talk to you later.” Just as she
finished her sentence, Star walked in. Mercedes said, “Hey, honey.”

“Hey.” Star looked at Venus. “Hi,
Auntie.” She walked over to the kitchen sink, looking out the window.

“Hi there.”

Mercedes said, “Rashaad and I are
going.”