THE GREAT PRETENDER (9 page)

“I’m not hungry, Val. I’m turning in early,” replied Olivia in a drained tone. She rushed for the stairs, not giving Valerie enough time to comment.

Secured in her cozy pink room, she let the tears flow freely again. She rushed over to the caller ID, checking to see if Sean had called yet…although she knew he hadn’t, because he would have called her cell phone first.

How come he hasn’t called?

She went over to the stereo and put on a
Color Me Bad
CD. Then she dragged herself back over to the double doors and flipped the light switch, plunging the room into darkness. Finally, Olivia crawled into bed, curled into a fetal position, and sobbed into her pillow.

T
racy Brooks held her hand in the air and scrutinized her well-manicured nails. Her nail tech, Josie, had polished them in a light, glittery brown, and she was happy with the result. She hadn’t thought she would like the color, but once applied, it was beautiful. It went perfectly with her highlights.

“See? Didn’t I tell you this color would work?” said Josie with a smug grin on her face.

“Thanks, Josie. It’s an excellent color. I guess you’re better with colors than I am,” said Tracy, laughing.

Josie worked in the
Nail Haven
at the Miami Pines Mall, and Tracy, Olivia, and Valerie were three of her most faithful customers. She often gave generous discounts on all the services, and, in turn, they tipped her extremely well.

Gazing at her nails, Tracy’s eyes fell to her wedding bands. Lately, she tried to avoid looking at them. Her involvement with Frank made noticing them a bad omen.
You are still Reginald’s wife!
they seemed to shout.

Everything was going to change now that Reginald would be home more. She and Frank were accustomed to being together on most of the nights Reginald spent in Orlando. What would they do now? She’d never needed to lie to Reggie about her whereabouts as long as he was away, but now, that would certainly be changing. She would definitely have to lie. She would have to lie
a lot
.

Tracy wondered if she could handle it…

Thanking Josie, she said goodbye and moved over to a fan to dry her nails. At that moment, she knew she would go back on her word. She would telephone Frank. She’d promised herself that she wouldn’t be the one to call this time. She wanted Frank to call her for a change. He knew when Reginald left for Orlando.

However, it had been two days and he had not called her, even when he must’ve realized she wasn’t going to call him. Therefore, she was going to swallow her pride and call. They had lots to discuss.

She needed to feel him out, discover exactly what his intensions were. Why was he attentive and tender one minute, but sneering and rejecting in the next? Why hasn’t he ever mentioned the prospect of her leaving Reggie? The possibility of a future together? They’d been seeing each other for nearly four years, yet Franklin had never said anything concerning the future. But then again, neither had she.

And why should she? Shouldn’t the man initiate such a step? Tracy also wanted to find out how Frank felt about Reggie’s sudden urgency to be a family man.

When her nails dried, Tracy gathered her purse and keys from the table where Josie had placed them, and headed for her Jeep.

Her mind drifted to that haunting night. The night that started it all…

Reginald had been
away in Orlando, and Frank had come to their rescue when Hurricane Donna was barreling down on the east coast of South Florida.

Frank’s seduction had actually begun a few weeks prior to that night, with arbitrary and subtle romantic insinuations. Never one to cheat on her husband, Tracy had laughed, treating his attentions as innocuous teasing. Though she had always thought Franklin an attractive man, he was Reginald’s oldest friend, and she’d never had a romantic thought about him.

Some doors were locked for a reason, and should never be opened.

But on that rainy Saturday evening when Tracy and the girls couldn’t install the hurricane shutters on their own, Reginald had sent Frank to the rescue.

Reaching category-five strength, Hurricane Donna packed winds in excess of 170 miles per hour, and Dade County was in the forecast track, facing the possibility of a direct hit. Reginald couldn’t get a flight in time, and the roadways were impossible due to the numerous mandatory evacuations. He told Tracy he would phone Frank and a couple of their neighbors to ask that they come over and help her secure the shutters.

With the neighbors’ help, they all labored in the strong gusts of rain and wind to secure the entire house. The weather had worsened so quickly that Frank wound up staying with her and the girls to ride out the storm. Luckily, they never lost power, so for the next two days they watched lots of movies and ate lots of food. It was an enjoyable time.

The house was dark since shutters covered every window and glass door. The rain came down in torrents; the thunder clapped. But they were all safe inside and having a good time together…

Until the night Frank touched her.

At first Tracy had been startled. She couldn’t believe it!

She’d gone into the kitchen to put a bowl in the dishwasher, and he’d followed her with a drinking glass. With Valerie and Olivia laughing at Jim Carrey in the den, she and Franklin were alone. Isolated.

“Tracy,” he’d said in a low voice.

She had glanced over her shoulder, surprised anyone had followed her into the kitchen. “What’s up?” she’d laughed. “Haven’t had enough to eat yet?”

Saying nothing, Frank had put his glass down and closed in on her. Taking the bowl from her hands, he gently pinned her arms to her sides. “Tracy.” He slipped an arm around her waist, bending close to her ear. “I can’t take it anymore. You know what I’m feeling…And I think you feel it, too.”

She’d pulled away from him, so hard she nearly tripped. From a safer distance, she stared Franklin down. Tense seconds passed in silence.

Then she slapped him—twice.

“Don’t ever touch me like that again.” Then she turned and left the kitchen.

Hurricane Donna had eventually veered to the north, grazing them with outer bands of heavy rain and tropical storm-force wind gusts.

But an even deadlier hurricane had hit Tracy that night…and its name was Frank.

Now as she
made her way home from the mall, she thought,
Would I actually leave Reginald?

She imagined Frank asking her to be with him…permanently. Would she do it?

Yes,
she thought.
Yes, I think I would. I’d miss him…but I hardly know him anymore.

In supplying the answer to her own question, Tracy realized that she would leave because she had apparently fallen out of love with Reginald. The love and passion she had for him before he took that Orlando assignment…well, they’d been stripped away by the last ten years. Who could blame her for accepting comfort elsewhere?

Although she occasionally flew up to Orlando to be with Reginald while he was there, she’d grown into a woman with extraordinary needs, and he’d no longer been around to meet them. Years of that lifestyle had taken its toll, eventually leaving Tracy to gravitate toward Frank, who had lured her into open arms.

The incident in the kitchen had lit a flame that still burned inside of Tracy. Frank knew it, and he preyed upon it. And Tracy succumbed.

The first time they’d made love in his apartment, she’d felt like an adulterous slut. She avoided him for weeks thereafter, fraught with guilt. But as weeks turned into months, Frank inveigled her back into his bed. No one had to know; they were simply fulfilling each other’s needs… for the time being.

That was almost four years ago.

Maneuvering her Cherokee along Ludlam Road, Tracy thought of her daughters, wondering,
What kind of mother does this make me
?

Tracy was glad
to see Olivia’s car in the driveway w
hen she got
home. She had hoped Olivia hadn’t gone out with Sean. She’d been meaning to talk to both Valerie and Olivia about their father’s decision to change his schedule. Tracy knew that Olivia nursed resentful feelings toward Reggie, but she was confident that, in time, that would mend. The last thing Tracy wanted was for the girls to resent their father—on top of everything else.

In the kitchen, she noticed the pizza. Upon opening the box, she discovered that they’d left her zilch.
Great…now I’ll either have to cook or order out,
thought Tracy as she took the empty box into the garage.

Back in the house, she found Valerie in the den with the cordless telephone tucked between her ear and shoulder.

“Hey, Val,” she said, getting her attention. “Listen, call your friend back later. I need to talk to you and Olivia about something. Is she here?” When Valerie nodded, Tracy added, “I’ll go up and get her.”

Valerie watched her mother leave. When she was sure Tracy was gone, she whispered into the telephone, “Listen, Debbie, we’ll finish talking about it when I call you back.” After a pause, she said, “Yeah, she said she wants to talk to both of us about something. I’ll tell you about it later. Bye.” Valerie placed the handset into its cradle.

Upstairs, Tracy knocked for the second time on Olivia’s bedroom door.

“Olivia, are you there?” She waited a moment and called again.

“Yes, Mom, I’m here,” said Olivia, barely audible. “I was asleep.”

“Well, I’m sorry I woke you up, but I want to talk to you and Valerie, so come on down.”

“Mom, I’m really tired. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to wake up in the morning and find you gone. This is important.”

“Okay, Mom…tomorrow.”

Tracy descended the stairs and rejoined Valerie in the den.

“What’s the matter with Olivia?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” replied Valerie. “You know how she is. She came in and just went straight into her room. She didn’t even eat any of the pizza I ordered, and it was fully loaded,” said Valerie matter-of-factly. “She probably had another fight with Sean. You know she acts like this when they fight.”

“Speaking of pizza, how come you didn’t leave any for me?” asked Tracy, joining Valerie on the sofa.

“Well, I didn’t know
when
you’d be coming home tonight,” replied Valerie with mock innocence.

Tracy’s hands itched to wring her neck.
W
hen in the hell did she become so forward?
Tracy asked herself.

“Look, I want to talk to you two about your dad going back to his old schedule.”

“Yeah?” Valerie asked with interest. “What about it?”

“I want to know how you feel about it.”

“What do you mean? I’m glad Daddy’ll be staying home now! We’ll be a normal family and go on vacation like we always talked about.”

“I know
you’re
okay with it, but—”

“But you’re not,” said Valerie, cutting her off. “Mom, I hope you don’t mess this up and make him change his mind!”

“What in the world are you talking about? Make him change his mind? Why on Earth would I do that?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Mom,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Maybe you’re used to not having him around anymore, or something.”

Tracy fumed. “Okay, cut the bull, little girl, and say what you mean!” she demanded, staring a hole through her youngest daughter. “I’ve had it with your lip! What are you implying? And don’t you
dare
forget who gave birth to whom here.”

“I don’t mean anything, Mom,” answered Valerie. She stared down toward the rug. She didn’t want to push her mother too far—not yet, anyway. “I’m just happy that Daddy will be home now, and I hope nothing comes up that would make him change his mind. That’s all. I don’t mean anything.” Valerie turned her attention to the TV set.

Tracy rose from the sofa and blocked Valerie’s view of the television. She treated her daughter to one of the infamous glares that always put both she and Olivia in their places. “I already spoke to your father about that insolent tongue you’ve developed, so we’ll see just how long you’ll be happy to have him home, young lady.” With that, Tracy left the room.

Oh, Mom,
thought Valerie.
We’ll see just how happy
you’ll
be to have Daddy home.