The Best of Everything (12 page)

T
he house was jam-packed. From Melanie and Brad to Curtis, Charlotte, and Matthew, to Tanya and James, to loads of people she didn’t even know, everyone was piled into Phillip’s parents’ home. Even Elder Jamison and Elder Dixon, one of the oldest members of Deliverance Outreach, and one of Alicia’s favorite people, had driven over from Mitchell to show their respect. They were all planning to come back for the funeral tomorrow as well, so Alicia thought it was nice of them to be there this evening. Which had turned out to be a real blessing to Mom Katherine because her spirits were way up. People were talking, laughing, eating every kind of food imaginable and just having a very good time, and Alicia could tell this was Mom Katherine’s best day thus far.

Even Phillip seemed a lot less unhappy and was across the room, laughing with Brad, Curtis, and the two elders. He still wasn’t really speaking to her, though, and while she was trying to be as understanding and as patient as she possibly could, she was starting to get a little fed up with his cold and very mean-spirited attitude toward her. All day yesterday and then again this morning, she’d been begging and pleading with him by phone, at first through voice mail and also when he’d finally decided, in his
own precious time, that he was ready to answer her call. She’d told him how sorry she still was, that she was dead wrong, that there was no excuse for what she’d done and that she’d learned her lesson. She’d even told him how, even though she didn’t see anything wrong with buying nice things, she was now more than willing to sit down with him to figure out a monthly budget, both for their general household expenses as well as for her personal spending—if that would make him happy.

She’d said everything she could in order to make things better between them, but it hadn’t made any difference. He’d listened but then basically told her he had more important things to concern himself with right now and that
their
problems would simply have to wait. Alicia did understand to a certain extent because they were preparing to bury his father tomorrow and, yes, that was extremely important, but she hadn’t seen where that gave him the right to shut her out in the meantime. Shut her out until he was good and ready to try and fix things. She was still his wife, and regardless of what issues they were at odds about, he owed her a certain amount of respect. Alicia had watched her father demand respect for as long as she could remember, and he’d also raised her to never accept anything less for herself, not under any circumstances. And she wouldn’t. She’d give Phillip the time he needed to deal with his father’s passing, but she wouldn’t grovel or kiss his behind forever—not over something as small as her stopping at a mall for only a couple of hours. She wouldn’t do that, and if Phillip didn’t eventually come to his senses, well, she didn’t want to think about any of that right now. All she knew was that she wouldn’t keep pursuing someone who didn’t want to be bothered.

Alicia grinned when she saw her brother walking toward her with a plate crammed with three different kinds of cake. “I know you’re not going to eat all of that by yourself.”

Matthew took a bite of the red velvet cake and spoke with his mouth full. “Watch me.”

“You crack me up.”

Alicia loved her little brother so much and was very proud of all of his accomplishments. He was a sophomore in high school, pretty much received all A’s in his classes, and he was Mitchell Prep Academy’s top football star.

“So, are you still planning to run track again this spring?”

“Yep. Coach doesn’t want us becoming too idle or getting out of shape, and that’s why he requires us to participate in at least one other sport besides football.”

“That’s good.”

“Actually, I like track. I don’t love it as much as I love playing football, but I really like the individual and sometimes one-on-one competitiveness that it offers.”

“I could see that.”

Matthew bit into the caramel cake and raised his eyebrows. “Wow. I gotta get some more of this before it’s all gone. I’ll be back.”

Alicia shook her head at him, and Melanie made her way through the group of ladies who looked to be sampling some of the same cakes Matthew was filling up on. “It’s really wonderful to see so many people dropping by to give Phillip and your mother-in-law so much support.”

“It really is. I was just standing here thinking the same thing. How this is really good for Mom Katherine. She seems so uplifted.”

“She does, and I just hope that even after tomorrow is over, people will still come by to see her.”

“I do, too, but either way, Phillip and I are going to be here for her as much as we can, and Miss Thelma will definitely be here also.”

“There’s nothing like having family and close friends who care about you, and Miss Thelma is such a sweetheart. She seems like the kind of person who would do anything she could for Mrs. Sullivan.”

“She’s the best, and she’s been with her every step of the way.”

“I’m just sorry I had to work the last couple of days and couldn’t be here every day myself.”

“Girl, please don’t give it another thought. You’ve called me I don’t know how many times, and just hearing your voice has really helped me. And then you took off today and tomorrow from work. Which I
know
isn’t something you would do for just anybody,” Alicia teased.

“You’re right about that. But no job is more important than you. Period.”

“I know that, Mel, and I really appreciate it.”

Alicia glanced over at Phillip who just so happened to be looking in her direction, but then he quickly turned away from her. He was still upset; however, Alicia simply shook her head and returned her attention to Melanie, who said, “So, you’re spending the night here in Chicago, right?”

“Yeah. That’s the plan, anyway.”

Melanie lowered her voice just above a whisper. “Are you and Phillip doing okay?”

“Not really.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Why won’t you tell me what this is about?”

“Because I don’t want to burden you with our problems, and to be honest, I’m trying my hardest not to focus on it.”

“Okay, but when you’re ready to talk about it, I hope you’ll call me.”

“I will. I promise.”

Alicia looked in Phillip’s direction again, but then she saw
Brad smiling and winking at Melanie. Alicia smiled as well and remembered when there was a time Phillip would have shown the same sentiments toward her. He would have shown her the utmost kind of affection and would have never considered treating her in the heartless way he had over the last three days. He had always been such a gentleman, so loving and caring, and so concerned with her happiness and well-being. He hadn’t seemed to concentrate on much else, and that made Alicia love him more every day. She’d been sure that there was no better man and that he was her soul mate. She’d been sure that they were meant to be together.

But it was amazing how quickly things tended to change and how, no matter how much one wanted to prevent change, a person rarely had control over it. People were who they were and that was just a fact. Phillip had begun complaining about the money she spent more and more, and while she’d had this same thought not long ago, she couldn’t help thinking again how she’d shopped in the same exact manner before she’d met him and while they were dating. She hadn’t tried to deceive him in any way, but maybe Phillip had somehow made himself believe that he would have no problem changing her once they were married. If that were true, then Phillip had deceived himself and he was the one who was wrong for trying to turn her into someone she wasn’t. No one had the right to do that, and her husband was no exception.

Alicia’s mother walked over and joined Alicia and Melanie. “Sweetie, do you need me to do anything before I go? I just asked Katherine the same thing, but she said everything was in order.”

“No, Mom, I think we’re fine. But thanks.”

“I really like it when you wear your hair back in a bun,” Melanie said to Alicia’s mother.

“Well, thank you. But I have to tell you, I only wear it this way because I’m tired of curling hair and tired of rolling it. This is the lazy woman’s hairdo.”

The three of them laughed, and then Alicia said, “I get tired of curling hair, too, and that’s why I sometimes wear mine pulled back as well.”

Melanie agreed. “I do the same thing for the same reason, but it’s just that it really, really becomes your mom,” she said, now looking at Alicia’s mother again. “You should wear it like that all the time.”

“I appreciate the compliment and now when I feel lazy and want to wear it like this, I won’t feel guilty. I’ll just think about what you said.”

“I’m glad to be of service,” Mel said, and they all laughed again.

Her mother really did look nice, Alicia thought, but then it wasn’t like this was something new because she always looked that way. She’d always been just as beautiful as she was today. That was one of the reasons Alicia had never fully understood why her mother hadn’t been enough for her father. She was beautiful, kind, and decent, and she’d loved him completely, so Alicia didn’t see why he’d always had to find comfort in another woman’s bed. She grew up wondering about that all the time but basically had kept her questions to herself. But then he’d done the same thing to Mariah and the same thing to Charlotte, and both of them were noticeably attractive, too. Any man would have wanted either one of them and even now, as Alicia scanned the house and finally spotted Charlotte, the woman looked flawless. Her hair was in place, her makeup was perfect, and the fuchsia turtleneck and matching fuchsia leather jacket she wore screamed class and stylishness.

But that was neither here nor there and not something she
should be worrying about because she had her own marital problems to deal with. Plus, it wasn’t like her mother was still dwelling on the past. She had James, a man who had treated her like a queen from day one and who unquestionably deserved some sort of an achievement award for best stepfather of the century because he’d always been wonderful to Alicia and still treated her like she was his biological daughter.

Alicia smiled when she saw him walking over to them.

“You okay?” he asked her.

“I’m fine, and thank you for being here.”

“Where else would I be?”

“I guess you’re right.”

James placed one of his arms around Alicia and hugged her.

Her mother smiled at both of them and then said to James, “So, honey, are you about ready to get going?”

“I’m ready when you are.”

“We should probably leave, but we’ll be here in the morning, a couple of hours before it’s time to line up for the funeral procession.”

Alicia embraced her mother. “Okay, Mom, and thanks for everything.”

Her mother hugged Melanie and then said good-bye to Mom Katherine and a few other people and then everyone else slowly started filing out. Melanie, Brad, and Miss Thelma had been the last ones to leave, and now Alicia and Mom Katherine were in the kitchen.

“Well, there’s really not much else for us to do because Thelma has already put all the food away and cleaned up everything. She’s such a doll, and I honestly don’t know how I would have made it through this week without her.”

“Melanie and I were talking about her earlier. She’s such a good friend. Such a good person.”

“And she’s always been that way, too. We met about fifteen years ago when I was forty and she was fifty, and at our age, you don’t expect to find best friends. One day, we struck up a conversation at the beauty salon, exchanged phone numbers, and we hit it off from there. Then she and her husband joined our church, and he and Phil became very close friends, too. But then her husband passed away about five years later, and that was about ten years ago.”

“And she never thought about getting married again?”

“No. She doesn’t even really see other men. There’s a widower from the church that she sometimes goes to lunch with and maybe to a movie, but that’s about it.”

“Well, as long as she’s happy.”

“It’s more about not being able to find another man you can love as much as you loved your husband. So, just a little companionship every now and then is about all you can expect. And then when you get past fifty, you’re pretty set in your ways and you’re not willing to change those ways for a new relationship.”

“I guess not,” Alicia said and thought about how she felt the same way at twenty-two.

“Why don’t you go on in there with your husband? Because I’m fine. Really. I’m going to have me a piece of that German chocolate cake you brought, and then I’m going to take a shower and go to bed.”

Alicia was glad she’d thought to pick up her mother-in-law’s favorite cake for her before driving back over this afternoon.

“You’re sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Now go.”

Alicia hugged Mom Katherine and then walked through the house and into the bedroom. Phillip was already in bed, with the lights out, but it looked as though he was watching David Letterman.

“Phillip?”

“Yeah?”

“Oh. I was just checking to see if you were awake.”

He didn’t say anything else, so Alicia turned on one of the lamps and opened her bag. She pulled out her nightgown and then started toward the guest bathroom.

“Alicia?”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t do this without you. I’ve tried, but now I know that there’s no way I can continue harboring all this animosity and also deal with my father’s funeral.”

Alicia wasn’t sure what to say, but she was glad he’d finally spoken a few pleasant words to her.

“Is that okay with you?”

“It’s more than okay, Phillip, because I need you, too.”

Phillip reached out his hand and Alicia sat down and then lay next to him.

“All I want to do is hold you, make it through tomorrow, and move on with our lives.”

Alicia snuggled closer to him. “That’s all I want, too.”

“But there is one thing I have to say.”

“What?”

“That what happened on Tuesday can never happen again. You have to make me as much of a priority as I always try to make you, and I don’t think that’s asking too much.”