When You Come to Me (54 page)

Helen only sighed. “Their father hasn’t been around for many years…I’ve raised them myself…”

Martha Greene pursed her lips, made an indecipherable noise of dissatisfaction, but ultimately remained silent. She only stared at Helen.

“Nat, why don’t you open your presents?” Scotty suggested, breaking the awkward silence. “In the meantime, Maya and I can go into the kitchen and get the dessert…if that’s okay with Ms. Chandler…”

Helen Chandler nodded. “It’s fine with me, Scotland…”

They watched Maya and Scotty head back into the direction of the house.

Jo got up from her seat next to Mark, and reached for the small stack of brightly colored packages on the table next to the food.

“Here you go, Tallie,” she said, placing the packages at her feet.

“Thank you,” Natalie replied.

She stared at her presents, and she wasn’t really sure why she felt a stint of hesitancy run through her.

“What’s the matter, Nattie?” Sidney asked her. “You’ll like what we got you…”

“Open your presents, baby,” Helen encouraged.

She reached for the first one.

“That one’s from me,” Asha said, smiling.

She pulled out a series of white pillar candles with Brandon and Natalie’s full names, written on the front.

Natalie smiled in Asha’s direction. “Thank you, Ash…that is very sweet of you…”

“You’re welcome…”

Scotty and Maya returned with yellow cake and banana pudding, placing them on the table next to the food. Natalie then reached for the next present.

“That’s from me,” Sidney said. Inside was a gift certificate for a couple’s spa weekend in Atlanta.

“Thank you, Sid…”

“You’re welcome, darlin’…”

Natalie then retrieved an attractive black box, tied with pink ribbon at her feet.

“Um, maybe you should open that one a little bit later,” Jo suggested, pursing her lips.

Natalie looked at her. “Why is that?” she asked.

“Just because…”

“I don’t know about anyone else,” Helen Chandler began. “But I’m now incredibly curious as to what’s in that box…?”

“Me too,” Natalie said, glancing down at it. “Why can’t I open it?”

Helen Chandler sat up abruptly, extended her hands to her daughter’s lap and said, “Here, allow me…”

“Oh…wait…” Jo said, breathlessly, watching as the mother tore off the ribbon and snatched off the black top.

Natalie watched her mama’s eyes enlarge. “What kind of freak show is this?”

Helen pulled out a pair of white crotchless panties for everyone to see. Natalie was certain that her heart stopped beating as everyone around them gasped in the heat of the summer afternoon.

“What kind of sick person would give this as a gift? Do you think this is funny?”

Helen only looked at Joanna Greene. Jo, the poor redhead, reached for her husband’s hand. “No—uh—no, ma’am…I just thought that…”

“You thought what? You thought you’d bring this filth into our home and expect it to be acceptable?”

“Mama…” Natalie murmured. She then wished that her mama would put the panties down. They were starting to make her sick at the sight of them.

“Natalie Savannah Chandler! What were you thinking, huh? What were you thinking bringing these people into our house?”

“Mama…I…”

“You…you what?”

“Mama, she meant nothing by it,” Maya interceded. “It’s a normal gift…Natalie’s getting married…”

“No, no,” Helen said, rocking her pointer finger from side to side. “It’s not that simple, my darling…Natalie brought a plague upon this house!”

Natalie couldn’t remember the last time that she was this embarrassed.

“It’s sick, really,” Helen continued. “Bringing these people here. I tried it, didn’t I, girl? I tried my darndest. I tried my darndest to please you, my child, didn’t I? But this woman brings this filth into the house [her mama held up the crotchless panties]. And this woman [Mama darts her eyes at Martha Greene], this high and mighty woman, this ‘Queen of Sheba’, comes into my home, visibly insults my cooking and just sits there, likes she better than everyone else…”

“Helen Marie,” Granny said. “Calm yourself!”

Helen Chandler ignored her mother.

“How dare you insult my family, my daughter’s hospitality with your haughty looks?”

“Mama…” Natalie murmured. Her mother didn’t even look in her direction. In the biting summer’s heat, the two mothers only stared at each other.

“How dare you talk to me that way?” Martha Greene sniped.

This shocked everyone. Natalie reached for Maya’s hand.

Jack Greene attempted to place his hand in his wife’s lap. Martha only shoved it aside.

“Why do you pretend like this makes sense? This whole circumstance?” Helen said, dropping the box, panties included on the grassy patch beneath her feet. I see it in your eyes. You despise my daughter as much as I despise your son!”

Martha Greene noticeably searched for a refutation. But the truth lay in her icy blue eyes. What Helen Chandler claimed was painfully true.

Martha Greene looked at Natalie as the daughter felt nauseous.

“Admit it, Mrs. Greene. Admit it, so we can be rid of you!”

“Mama!” Sidney said.

“Not now, Sidney Gabriela…admit it, Mrs. Greene…”

Natalie glanced at Asha and Scotty, who now held hands. Natalie covertly mouthed Sorry and turned back to her mother, who now had beads of sweat forming at her forehead.

“Mama, quit it now,” Maya said. “It was just a pair of drawers…”

Helen only shook her head. They all knew that it was bigger than a pair of underwear.

“I’d been waiting to meet you, you know,” Helen muttered, narrowing her eyes at the woman. “I pictured you in my mind...a sun-thirsty, pale, dried up old woman, who wanted nothing more than to make my daughter feel inferior…”

Natalie longed for Brandon then.

“And your treatment of my son was any better, Ms. Chandler?” Martha spoke softly. “Making him spend Christmas away from his family in this godforsaken domicile? You talked to him as if he were miniscule, inferior, as you said it.”

“What about the money that you offered Brandon if he dumped Natalie?” Asha said finally.

“Asha…” Natalie said.

“Oh, grow some balls, Natalie,” Asha snapped, rolling her eyes. “This woman had Natalie all over Saratoga! Brandon spent the entire day looking for her!”

“Is this true, Nattie?” Helen asked.

Natalie nodded slowly.

“My son’s lives are the most important thing to me,” Martha Greene said. “And how they conduct them is more significant. If you’d enjoy my honest opinion, Ms. Chandler, your daughter didn’t fit into the mold of what I’d envisioned for Brandon’s life.”

“Speak layman’s terms you pasty, old bat! She’s black. What else is there to say? I can agree with you, though, Mrs. Greene. Your overgrown son didn’t fit into the mold of what I’d envisioned for my daughter. We don’t necessarily attach to spineless crackers with flat behinds.”

“That’s quite peculiar,” Martha Greene began, attempting a sarcastic smile. “Because we typically don’t adhere to underprivileged crows…”

Natalie was certain that she’d lost enough oxygen in her brain to kill her. Her vision became fuzzy, and the last thing she could remember seeing was the outline of Asha’s body, leaping out of her chair and lunging outward. A series of howls and screams followed as Natalie slumped out of her chair and onto the floor.

#

“Natalie…Natalie, wake up…Natalie…”

She hesitated to open her eyes. She wasn’t sure she could handle what would happen if she opened them. She wanted to convince herself that it had all been a nightmare, her worst fears of Martha Greene and her mama meeting, manifesting themselves in her subconscious.

Three heads loomed above her in muddled light.

“She’s opening her eyes,” a male voice said.

“I can see that you idiot,” a female voice said.

“Baby, open your eyes.” She recognized this voice as Maya’s instantly.

“It’s us,” she said, stroking her forehead.

Maybe she’d had that nightmare after all…

“What time is it?” Natalie muttered through a scratchy voice.

“It’s seven,” Scotty answered.

“Where’s Mama…and where’s…?”

“Gone, baby,” Maya said sullenly. “Granny took Mama for a drive…and…the Greenes…the Greenes are at the airport…they’re taking the first flight back…”

She couldn’t believe it. It had been true!

“What…what happened?”

Maya huffed. “Mama kicked all of them out, saying that she ‘didn’t ever want to see their honky asses again’…”

“She said that?”

Maya nodded. “It was terrible…”

“Where’s Sidney?”

“Getting you some water.”

“Nat,” Asha began quietly, placing a hand to her friend’s cheek. “It’s over…”

“What’s over? What are you talking about?”

“They’re…they’re not coming…”

Natalie felt a lump rise in her throat as she sat up hastily. “Who’s not coming, Asha? Speak plainly!”

“Nat, calm down,” Scotty coached, attempting to lay her back down. Natalie only shoved him off.

“His parents,” Asha mumbled. “And your mother…”

She didn’t want to tell him, but she felt she had to. She was expecting the worse outcome as she dialed his number that night, just before bed. She was expecting him to call the whole thing off. She would hold back her tears as much as she could, but she couldn’t promise herself much.

“Hello?”

“It’s me…”

“I know that,” he chuckled. “How was the party? Oh, before I forget…I made the dinner reservations at the Bee’s Knees for the rehearsal like you told me to…oh, and the sleeves on my tux are a little short, so I’m going to have to take it back to the tailor and see about it. Did you check on the reservation for the honeymoon? I’m not supposed to tell you, but Jo said the cake design is fantastic and you’ll just die when you see it…oh and—“

“Brandon…” she said, stopping him from going any further. Hearing all the plans that she’d organized only made telling him feel even worse.

“What? What’s the matter?”

“Our parents aren’t coming to our wedding…”

She thought she’d simply get the news telling over with and let him mull over it. After a few drawn out moments of pure silence, Natalie huffed and said, “Talk to them…ask them what happened…if you decide to marry me, I’ll be waiting at the county clerk’s office in Augusta in a couple of weeks. Then we’ll sign our license, and forget about them…if you don’t show, then I’ll know…”

And she hung up the phone.

They were to meet with the justice of the peace at three on August 10th. She stood on the steps, beneath a stifling Georgian sun in the prettiest sundress she could find in her closet, checking her watch insistently.

It was two-fifty, and her fiancé was scarily nowhere in sight. She’d been dreading this moment for days. She hadn’t seen Brandon in over a month, and just when she thought that everything would work out in her favor, her crazed mother and his crazed mother had bumped heads in what could only be marked as the worst bridal shower in wedding history. She hadn’t talked to him since she delivered the bad news, making her worry more. Her bad habit of pessimism pressed her to think the worst about her baby. After all, could she expect more from someone who had a history of running away when things got tough? As two-fifty-five approached, she glanced at her engagement ring, the one that caused their break-up and their miraculous (god-sent, rather!) reunion, and sighed. She knew then that she’d really wanted to marry him, and she regretted not stopping the fight between the mothers before it got too bad. But, could anyone blame her for the fact that she was in shock? They’d talked about her as if she wasn’t there, as if she were as invisible as the branches on the trees above them, or the vanilla wafer in the banana pudding.

At three, she dropped her hands and glanced out toward the street. She refused to be angry with him. She would only humbly accept her defeat.

Two minutes later, she ambled down the stairs pitifully, her head sunk low.

And at three minutes…

“Where on earth are you going? We’re late, you know…”

She turned and stared at him. He looked so beautiful, didn’t he? She ran to him. She leapt into his arms. She didn’t care who saw. She kissed his face with such might, that she was convinced she’d bruise him.

Brandon Greene lowered her to her feet and cupped her face.

“You think one little fight between two bitter old women is going to stop me?”

She smiled. “I wasn’t sure…”

“Then you don’t really know me…”

She leaned up to kiss him. He pinched the silky fabric of her dress between his fingers.

And she nodded slowly. “Yes, I do…”

SHE AND HER BRIDESMAIDS had gone to a wedding dress shop in Athens just days before the wedding, to try on wedding dresses for kicks even though she’d picked out a dress weeks prior. Heck, it was only two days left till the wedding, and she figured that she and the girls should act a little zany. Lord, she only planned to get married once, right? They’d tried on big, puffy gowns, channeling Cinderella and Princess Diana, pretending as if they were walking down the aisle, humming the “Wedding March” and “Pachelbel Cannon”, neither of which Natalie had chosen to use for the moment when she walked down the aisle. She opted for something a little bit more soothing, like “Ave Maria”, something that wasn’t annoyingly overplayed, and tasteful, and she couldn’t believe her luck when she found out from Jo that Chloe Greene played the guitar and was more than willing to play for her processional. She later got the idea to ask her Aunt Miriam, whose voice she’d heard and cherished for years in church, to sing along with the guitar, and her Auntie agreed, immediately looking to the internet to find lyrics to the song.

Natalie tried on the biggest dress yet, and Maya pretended that she was the preacher officiating.

“Do you, Natalie Chandler, take thee, Brandon Greene…”

And Natalie responded with, “I do,” and proceeded to twirl around in itchy tulle and crinoline in the process, unfortunately reminding herself that her mother wouldn’t be there to watch her marry Brandon.