Getting to the Good Part Page 18

Straight ahead, there they were. My family. Tyrone and Tyrene. Smiling conservatively, which was a major display of emotion for them. They stood there, all prim and proper, and seemed to be quite impressed by the fact that their daughter had brought the entire house to its feet.

  Tyrene wore a royal blue velvet turban around her head and was garbed in royal blue velvet, loose-fitting, African-styled attire. My mother looked quite the regal picture. My father wore a tux, with a kente cloth bow tie. Unmistakably her kingly counterpart.

  Yup. By the look on their faces, they were definitely impressed. But there would be questions, without a doubt.

  Question number one, I could already guess. It would come from Tyrene.

  Reesy, why did you have to play such a sexual role?

  It would never dawn on my mother that perhaps I’d made the role sexual. That I was the one who put that kind of a spin on it.

  As much as she was my mother, Tyrene really didn’t know me. It would never occur to her that maybe I’m just that way.

  Sitting beside them was the woman who wouldn’t have to ask me anything. She already knew the answer to the question of me.

  Grandma Tyler stood beside my parents, all petite and radiant, with her hands clasped together. She wore a red suit, and her face was touched with a delicate hint of makeup. Her hair was wound into a beautiful gray french roll.

  It had been almost two years since I’d last seen her. As I peeked at her from behind the curtain, I turned into mush and my eyes, at last, filled with tears.

  My relationship with Misty was the tightest bond I had with anyone. But my grandma laid claim to a special place in my heart that no one else could ever reach.

  I secretly waved to all of them and blew them a kiss.

  Then I turned, snatched my flowers up from the chair, clutched them tightly to my breast, and disappeared backstage.

  My dressing room was so packed with people, I could barely breathe.

  Julian was all over me, smothering me with hugs and kisses.

  “Oh my God, girl!! You were awesome!!”

  I grinned, squirming uncomfortably under all the attention.

  Still, this was the most exciting moment I had ever experienced. I was so keyed up, I just wanted to run up and down the streets, screaming.

  While we were talking, Donovan stopped by, peeking inside the room as though he were terrified to enter.

  I beckoned to him.

  “Come in! Why are you just standing over there?!”

  Julian chuckled under his breath.

  Donovan walked over to me like he was scared.

  “C-c-congratulations,” he stammered. His eyes were wide with wonderment. “Reesy, you flipped that shit lovely tonight! You were… Man, I can’t even describe it!”

  His voice was barely above a whisper, he was so nervous. I was impressed. I expected him to drop another Morris Day line.

  “Thanks, Donovan.”

  He stood there, fidgeting nervously, tugging absently at one of his dreads. People continued to spill in and out of the room. He awkwardly glanced around.

  “You got a full house in here,” he mumbled.

  “Yeah,” I replied. “Everybody’s being so gracious. ‘Cept your girl. I don’t think she’ll be stopping by.”

  “What girl?!” he snapped quickly. “I ain’t got no girl!” He hesitated a moment. “I been waitin’ for you.”

  Hmmph!! Like I didn’t know this.

  In fact, I knew what he wanted, standing in front of me like that. He wanted to get with me tonight. But he knew things had changed. So much so, that he was now afraid to even step to me the way he had always done so confidently before.

  My energies were running high. I felt like fucking with him.

  “Still got that brass wawtahbed?”

  Beside me, Julian snickered.

  “Huh?” Donovan asked, surprised and confused.

  “You heard me,” I whispered, batting my eyes at him seductively.

  A cautious smile began to form on his lips. Brother actually thought he stood a chance.

  Thankfully, at that moment, Gordon burst into the room, his block head casting a shadow across my dressing table.

  “You were magnificent, young lady!” he bellowed.

  Donovan, not nearly as familiar with Gordon as I, faded away discreetly, eventually disappearing from the room and taking his tiny piece of false hope with him.

  “A star was born out there tonight!” Gordon announced. “You know that, don’t you?”

  I blushed, looking down at the floor.

  Gordon lifted my chin.

  “Don’t you play that role with me, Teresa Snowden! I knew you were a fireball from day one, cussin’ me out on the phone like that!”

  “Oh!” I laughed. “So you had to go there, did you?!”

  “Of course, I did,” he chuckled thickly. “Who knew that hiding behind all that fire and contention was the kind of talent you showed us out there tonight?”

  “I knew it!” Julian beamed, his arms thrown around my neck. “I knew she was special from the very first!”

  “Yeah, right!” I countered. “That’s why your azz treated me like shit during all those weeks of rehearsal!”

  I pushed him away, laughing as I did so.

  “Get off me!” I exclaimed. “Don’t be tryna jock me now!”

  More people were crowding into the room, offering their congratulations and hugs.

  Gordon picked up my hand, kissing it respectfully.

  “I gotta go, my queen. There’s some folks outside I need to see. There were a lot of press people out there tonight. Did you realize that?”

  “Really?!” I asked, surprised. “Did you know they were coming?”

  “Of course! The show’s pretty popular. Any time a popular show has a major cast change, they always show up to see how it’s going to affect things. That’s to be expected.”

  “It’s a good thing I didn’t know about that,” I replied. “That probably would have really made me nervous.”

  Gordon put his hand on my shoulder.

  “You? Nervous?” He gave that soupy laugh again. “I don’t think there’s a soul alive out there that could do that to you!”

  I smiled.

  “Gotta go!”

  He patted me on the hand and walked away. As he was walking out, someone knocked on my open door.

  I turned around in my chair, trying to peer around the people standing in the room to see who it was.

  It was Misty and Rick.

  “Come on in, y’all!” I yelled.

  Misty pushed her way through, maneuvering around everyone, until she made her way over to me. I stood up from my chair and gave her a big hug.

  “Girl… you were phenomenal out there!” she exclaimed. I grinned proudly.

  “Phenomenal woman, that’s me!”

  “I’m so happy for you!” she said. “This is obviously the place you’re supposed to be. Reesy, girl, you were meant for the stage! No question about it!”

  “For real?” I asked desperately, clasping her hands in mine. “Did I really seem like I belonged out there?”

  “Yes! You were so natural! And you did the show totally different! Did you and Julian change it up this way?”

  Julian, hearing her speak his name, chimed in.

  “Hell naw!” he shrieked. “Miss Thang ain’t even tell me she was planning on trying something new! Shocked the shit out us all!”

  “I didn’t expect to, Julian,” I muttered. “I told you, it just happened when I hit the stage. I just got caught up in the role!”

  “You damn sure did!” Rick said, finally coming over to where we were standing. He gave me his usual kiss on the cheek, this time followed by a hug.

  “Girlfriend, you were bomb-diggity out there!”

  “Thanks a lot,” I replied graciously. “I appreciate all the props!”

  “Props, hell! You were the shit! You should see my boy! You got my man flippin’!”

  Dandre.
I glanced around the room to see if he was there.

  “Where is he anyway?” I asked Rick.

  “He ran out real quick to get something. He’ll be here in a few, though.”

  “Cool,” I said as Tyrone, Tyrene, and Grandma Tyler stuffed themselves into the room.

  Grandma Tyler was the first to greet me. She swallowed me up in a great big ol’ hug.

  “Granny’s Tweety!” she rasped. “Baby, I’m so proud of you!”

  Her wizened yellow face was just a-glowing.

  I hugged her tightly, kissing her on the cheek.

  “It’s so good to see you, Grandma! I’ve missed you so much!”

  We stood like that for a few seconds, just holding each other.

  “What about us?” Tyrene asked sharply. “What are we, yesterday’s trash?”

  My mother. Gotta love her.

  “Hey, you two!” I said, letting go of Grandma Tyler and giving them both quick hugs and kisses.

  “You were good, baby girl,” Tyrone announced. “I never figured you for doing this with your life, but if it’s what you want, you seem to have a knack for it. Of course, you know, your mother and I would rather you do something different. Something with a little more prestige and dignity. But, sela.”

  “Sela is right!” Grandma Tyler piped in, cutting her eyes at Tyrone.

  Sela was Tyrone’s way of putting an end to a discussion. It was kind of like amen or so be it. To me, it was more like c’est la vie.

  As in, that’s life . . . and ain’t jack shit you can do about it.

  As such, him saying sela to me right now was about as appropriate as you could get.

  “I’ll take what you just said as a compliment, Tyrone,” I chuckled.

  “Well, take it how you want. I’m just speaking my mind.”

  “As you always do,” I muttered.

  Tyrene stood there, beside him, studying me intently. Her eyes grazed my body from head to toe, checking for any new cracks or crevices that might have arrived since she’d done her last inspection.

  “You look good, daughter,” she finally admitted, sucking her breath in dramatically as she spoke.

  “Thank you, Tyrene,” I replied, with just as much drama. “You look good, too.”

  She nodded, concurring with my comment.

  “So this is what you do these days, yes?” she asked, giving me a penetrating stare.

  I gave her back the same stare, locking my eyes onto hers.

  “Yes, Tyrene. This is what I do.”

  She nodded her head again, and began to walk around the dressing room, picking up things here and there, studying them.

  She moseyed over to the clothes rack, checking out the various costumes. Her lips were pressed tightly together. That was always a giveaway. Tyrene was in research mode. Gathering data for her assault.

  “Slinky, yes?” she asked rhetorically, holding up a very short, very sheer white cocktail dress.

  In the scene where I wore it, I was required to do a lot of kicking and bending, showing much ass and plenty thigh. My variation on that theme tonight added even more ass and thigh than usual.

  “Mmmmm” was all I said in reply.

  “How you doin’, baby?” Grandma Tyler said to Misty, giving her a hug. “I ain’t seent you in years! You shole is pretty!”

  Misty beamed.

  “Thank you, Grandma Tyler! You look beautiful, too!”

  “So, people!” Julian’s voice rang out. “What’s the plans for tonight, everybody?! We need to celebrate Miss Thang’s triumphant debut!”

  “Miss Thang?” Tyrene sneered. She turned toward me. “Since when did you become Miss Thang?”

  “It’s just a figure of speech, Mrs. Snowden,” Julian interjected quickly. “That’s my nickname for her. She’s got so much talent, spunk, and attitude, Thang is about the only word I can come up with that’s sufficient enough to describe her.”

  “Well, we didn’t raise any Thangs, young man!” Tyrone huffed. “I’d kindly appreciate it if you would show our daughter more respect!”

  Julian was stunned.

  “Tweety, baby, you know where I been wantin’ to go?” Grandma Tyler chimed happily in her raspy voice, coming toward me as swiftly as her time-weathered legs would allow.

  “Where, Granny?” I replied, humoring her, trying not to sound as frustrated as I actually was.

  “This my first time in New York. I always wanted to go to Tavern on the Green. You heard of that place? I read about it in a magazine once.”

  “I have two words to say to you, Granny,” I replied.

  “What’s that, baby?”

  “Gingko biloba.”

  Grandma Tyler burst into laughter.

  “You little heffah!” she rasped. “Ain’t shit wrong with my mem’ry!”

  Tyrene rolled her eyes at her mother’s words. I couldn’t help but giggle.

  “Granny, you know I’ve heard of Tavern on the Green. You talk about it every time you mention New York. I already made us reservations. That is, if anybody still feels like celebrating.”

  Misty spoke up quickly.

  “We’d love to go, right, honey?” She looked at Rick.

  Rick took a second to answer. I glanced over his way. He was watching the door.

  When I looked in the direction of his gaze, I noticed Miss Tamara switching by in a skintight outfit.

  Hmph! Looks like somebody still had a bit of a roving eye.

  “Rick,” Misty repeated. “You wanna go to Tavern on the Green?”

  “Sure, baby,” he finally answered. “And don’t forget, Dandre’s coming with us, too.”

  “Wherever he is,” I mumbled.

  “He said he was coming back,” Rick insisted. “Trust me. He’s a man of his word. He will.”

  Niggas and flies, I thought to myself.

  Grandma Tyler had told me that phrase once. I thought it was hilarious, and so very apropos. I didn’t consider it a put-down to the race. It wasn’t meant that way.

  She only used it in reference to tired-ass people that you couldn’t depend on. It was actually part of a longer saying. The phrase went Niggas and flies I do despise. The more I know niggas, the more I love flies.

  Right now, ‘bout the only people in the room I had any semblance of love for were Grandma Tyler and Julian. The rest of them, I would have gladly traded.

  For a swarm of nasty flies.

  “Who’s Dandre?” Tyrene asked nosily.

  “Bzzzzzzzz,” I hissed at her, and happily walked away.

  Julian chuckled as I went by.

  “Good for you,” he mumbled. “They’re a mess!”

  “You never lied,” I mumbled back, sitting down at my dressing table.

  “You guys need to get going and get us a table,” I said. “Our reservations are for eleven o’clock. It’s almost ten-thirty now.”

  “When are you coming?” Tyrene demanded.

  “Go ahead. I’ll be right along, as soon as I can get out of this makeup and these clothes. Just take a cab over. Tyrone, you know where it is.”

  I glanced over at Misty, beckoning to her with a subtle jerk of my head.

  She eased over.

  “Why don’t you and Rick hang around for a minute,” I whispered.

  “Sure thing.”

  Tyrone, Tyrene, and Grandma Tyler began to spill out of the dressing room.

  “You’ll be there by eleven?” Tyrone confirmed as he was walking out of the door.

  “On the dot.”

  Within moments, they were gone, and it was just the four of us. Me, Julian, Misty, and Rick.

  I was able to collect my thoughts for a minute.

  The silence was short-lived. As I was sitting there, reveling in the afterglow of success, Gordon stuck his head back in the room.

  “Reesy!” he boomed.

  I turned around. He had his finger crooked.

  “Yeah?”

  “Could you come here for a minute?”

  I stepped outsid
e.

  “What’s up?” I asked.

  Gordon was smiling brightly.

  “Got a couple of people I want you to meet.”

  Two distinguished-looking white men were standing a few feet away. One of them was very tall and thin, with sparse blond hair and a ruddy complexion. His keen blue eyes were small and curious. His lashes were so pale, they were practically nonexistent. The other man was also tall, though not as awkwardly so as the other. His physique was tight. This I could tell by the way his immaculate gray suit conformed to the shape of his body. His dark brown hair fell in a heavy lock that stopped just above his left eye.

  He looked like a cross between one of the guys from Devo, that techno group from the late seventies, and the lead singer of Depeche Mode.

  Out of nowhere, a tune played in my head.

  “Trans… Europe… Express.”

  Both men stood there, solemn expressions on their faces.

  Gordon led me over to him.

  “Teresa Snowden,” he began, “meet Gustav Schwartz and Helmut Wagner.”

  “It is an honor,” the tall, gangly one said with a slight bow of his head. His words were delivered with a slow, deliberate enunciation. His accent was faint and elegant.

  “The pleasure is all mine,” I responded automatically, my tone empty and flat.

  What a trite thing to say, I thought. I don’t even know these jerks.

  Whatever. My brain was fried. I was in no mood to be thinking up clever things to say. Who the hell were they anyway?

  “You were brilliant,” the dark-haired one remarked. He had a serious German brogue.

  “Why have you chosen not to grace Broadway with your presence before?” he asked.

  “What?!”

  “Helmut, Black Barry’s Pie is Teresa’s first foray into theater,” Gordon explained. “And tonight was her debut in the role of Mimosa.”

  “Surely you jest!” Helmut exclaimed. “Is that true?”

  “I kid you not.”

  I was getting hungry. I was already bored. My eyes wandered, checking how empty things had become backstage.

  “Well, Gordon,” the tall one, Gustav, began, “tonight convinced us. We want to do the show.”

  Now, that caught my attention.

  “We’ll make the show grander, bigger,” Helmut was saying. “We’re going to need more dancers, so that she’ll truly stand out as the centerpiece that she is.”