SIS

By Didi Daniels

Mel has been estranged from her sister for over a decade, but is happily married to the man with whom she plans to grow old. Her confidence in the solidity of their bond is rock solid until she suspects that her best friend wants him for herself. Unexpectedly, she is reunited with her long lost sister and must make things right between them at a critical time when she needs to be keeping an eye on her husband. But before she can make anything right, she needs to discover what went wrong in the first place.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483544540

Book preview

9781483544540

Chapter 1

For many nights, a reoccurring dream played over and over in my mind like a re-run of a popular television show. My eyes would shift gently beneath moist eyelids. Although asleep, my brain would not rest. It kept replaying scenes which I believed were meant to convince me of the worth I possessed in relation to my friends. It was rather silly. In my dream, I was the host of a televised dating game. Wearing a pink power suit with a large, frilly, red bow-tie, red run-way pumps, too much make-up, and big wig hair, I resembled something between a clown and an attorney. The name of my show was Wo!.

Welcome again, friends! I would say with an obnoxiously exaggerated smile. I’m glad you could join us today on, ‘Wo!’. In case you haven’t heard already, ‘Wo!’ is ‘woman’ without the ‘man’.

Here, I would be holding up a sign that had the word WOMAN on it in capital letters. In the midst of the statement, I would break off the MAN part of the sign and toss it into the air leaving the letters WO.

"And today we have five more beautiful, but lonely, woeful women who are looking for the perfect hookup. Let’s meet them!" Then, all five contestants would parade out. They were my best friends in real life.

Meet Lynette Taylor, a 5-foot 3 -inch tall chef, born and raised in the South. She enjoys crocheting and quilting. In her spare time, she babysits for her friends. She absolutely adores children. Often in conversation, she will talk about her biological clock ticking away. Lynette is 35 years old and has never been married. Oh! ‘Wo!’ is Lynette, I would say shaking my head with an over-the-top display of sensitivity. As I turned away from the camera towards her, I asked, Lynette, are you prepared to do whatever it takes to get a man?

As show protocol required, Lynette answered, "I’m prepared to do anything to be a complete woman!"

Good! Our next contestant is the dynamic Cynthia Brown! She is a 6-foot 1-inch tall waitress with big hands and strong shoulders. Cynthia has an aggressive personality, knows how to speak her mind, and sometimes doesn’t know when to stay quiet. In her spare time, Cynthia plays basketball. She is pushing 30 and is still unmarried. Aw! Cynthia, ‘Wo!’ is you! Are you willing to do what it takes to swipe a guy?

I am! I’m willing to do what it takes to be a complete woman!

Awesome! Contestant number three is Maxine Quartermaine, a 5-foot 1-inch tall cashier who many say is ‘as cute as a button’. Maxine has the coveted hour-glass figure, a doll face with long eye lashes and dimples. She is perky and bubbly. Her favorite color is pink. As if I needed to draw more attention to my suit, I performed a slight modeling motion looking in her direction and said, Eat your heart out, girl! Then I continued, People rarely take Maxine seriously since she finds it hard to put her foot down. Maxine is 28 years old, has had many boyfriends, but remains single. Maxine, do you have what it takes to finally win a hunk?

I’m going to give all I have to be a complete woman!

Oooh! I like her spirit! Now, meet Priscilla Pearson, a 5-foot 6- inch tall office clerk who hates to answer her phone. Priscilla is a pretty girl and is usually very pleasant, but she avoids the spotlight at all cost. People find it difficult to get to know her. To describe her in one word, many would say she is ‘quiet’. At 32 years of age, Priscilla has not yet married. At this point, with this contestant, I began to shake my head and suck my teeth to show pity as I asked her, Priscilla, Priscilla, Priscilla… Do you think you can come out of your shell to get a man, girl?

I think I can! I’m going to be a complete woman!

Alright! I am rooting for you. But let’s not forget our last contestant for today, Charlotte Humphrey. She is a 5-foot 4- inch tall veterinary assistant who owns two birds, a horse, three cats, two dogs, a ferret, a gerbil, and ten fish. I would sound as though I had almost run out of breath as I articulated the list. Charlotte is a vegetarian who loves animals. She is a self-proclaimed big-eater, craving food when she is excited, bored, happy, and sad. She has gained an excessive amount of weight over the years, but insists that she will one day find a man who will love her for her mind, not her body. Pausing here, I would bat my eyelashes and tighten my lips so that my cheeks dimpled and quivered slightly as if I were holding in a laugh about to burst out. But then, I would recover to help her save face by saying, No, but it’s possible. It’s definitely a possibility. I would nod reassuringly. However, at age 33, Charlotte has not found a man to marry. Oh dear, sweet Charlotte! Are you keeping hope alive and finding a man to call your own today?

When I leave today, I will be a complete woman! She said this with a twinkle in her eye.

That’s what I like to hear!

As ridiculous as my dream was, I did love my friends, and had a sincere desire to help them find love. I would have liked to have been able to speak to them about the joys of matrimony with them fully understanding from experience. However, whenever I did speak to them about my joy, they seemed to stare back at me like sugar-hungry, salivating children watching me suck on a giant lollipop. A while back, I was speaking to Cynthia at Finger Lickin’ as she prepared a cup of coffee for a customer.

Timothy is so good to me, I was telling her. He can sense when something is bothering me before I’ve even said anything. He’s so sweet. I raised a steaming cup of cocoa to my lips and sipped loudly. He knows exactly what to say and do, and he tries so hard to solve my problems… Do you know what he did after he came home from work yesterday? He gave me a foot massage! I really- Cynthia! Watch what you’re doing! Lost in my narration, Cynthia had poured some coffee until it overflowed from the cup and was dripping off the counter.

Cynthia was not the only one who was in awe of my relationship with Timothy. I was having dinner at Charlotte’s one Friday.

Mel, she said, you exercise entirely too much. Does Timothy give you a hard time about staying in shape?

Oh no, I answered. I could honestly say, I just like to exercise. Tim has told me many times that he’d always be attracted to me whether I weigh 120 pounds, 150, or 250.

Hmmm. Must be great. I detected some doubtful sarcasm in her voice. She didn’t believe me. Admittedly, I was just so in love with the guy that I was in the habit of just accepting whatever he said no matter how unbelievable it sounded. I only had good things to say to others about him. He’s handsome, I would say. He’s smart, funny, responsible, affectionate… I could understand the difficulty they all had in believing me. They say that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. I mean, when it came to Tim and I, all the clichés about love applied. It was love at first sight. We were made for each other. We were soul mates. We couldn’t live without each other. Timothy was the love of my life.

I may have had a bragging tone that irritated my friends. It’s not as though I thought that I was better than anyone else, though. I just felt extremely fortunate. And I didn’t feel that I should have to hide my happiness. It was my duty, I felt, to inspire others to not give up on looking for love. I had been blessed, and I had a calling; hence my reoccurring dream. You could say that I was giving them hope.

It was very much my pleasure to do that until I was knocked off my married high horse for a while. You might wonder who or what had force strong enough to jostle my deeply rooted sense of security. Well, I guess it could have been a number of things. I do know, however, that it was Lynette’s covetous envy that helped throw me off balance.

Chapter 2

I watched Lynette, bent over, wiping spilled juice off her dining room table. After eating his afternoon snack of dry Cheerios and grape juice, little Tyler went to Lynette’s bedroom to play. I could hear him bouncing on the bed with a carefree glee that only a four year old could produce.

I think you’d make a wonderful mother, Lynn, I said. I had stopped watching her and turned my attention to the television, but that thought still lingered in my mind.

I know I would, she said back. How sure of herself she was. It was as if she couldn’t conceive of herself failing. I had always been intimidated by the idea of having a child. I felt the need to correct the imbalance in her ego.

All you need is a man, I reminded her. No man, no babies. I bet she didn’t like that comment. She didn’t respond. Then, I wished I had not said it.

We concluded my visit by watching an episode of our favorite court television show. Tyler must have tired himself out good. He was sprawled out on the floor with the comforter he had pulled from Lynette’s bed. Tyler had played his little heart out, and yet Lynette managed to keep things in good order.

I had to admit, she was an excellent host as well. Whenever I’d go over, I was treated with homemade cookies, cake, or pie. Her meals were the best. Her house was very attractive and cozy, always clean. I felt right at home in her company. On that particular day, we laughed about how the judge completely humiliated the smart businessman who thought he could swindle an elderly widow. Then, I saw that it was getting late.

Well, let me get going. When is Cookie picking Tyler up?

Oh, I don’t work tomorrow, so I’m letting him sleep over. I stopped putting on my shoes, glanced up to look at her, and then down again quickly.

I’m serious, Lynn. You should just buy him a bed, chest of drawers, and a toy box, and just move him in. I mean, he’s a nice kid, but pretty soon he’s not going to know if Cookie is really his mom or you. I could tell that that annoyed her. The girls and I had a cruel habit of teasing Lynette about being so desperate for a child. We tended to imply that it signified weakness of character to be so attached to the idea of motherhood that you had to live off of other people’s kids. Lynette’s idea of a good time was going down to the neighborhood playground with one or two bags of extra buttery popcorn to sit and watch strange children play. We saw the way she interacted with children and, yes, we were impressed. Still, we felt that she appeared pitiful and needy.

I saw that I struck a sore nerve in her again, so I tried to redeem myself. I softened my voice.

"Cookie is fortunate to have you watching him. You are the best babysitter in the world… I know Tyler wouldn’t mind if you were his mom."

Lynette had turned off the television and looked at me as though she was reaching deep down to come up with the appropriate words. Finally, she laughed lightly, regained demeanor of calmness, and began to tell me a little about her childhood. She seemed so mature in her actions and behavior that I almost assumed she had been an adult forever.

I don’t know about you, she said, but when I was a girl, I was very close to my mother. She stayed at home with me while dad worked. I was an only child, as you know. So, she spent the day with me and we’d do everything together. We’d clean, we’d shop, we’d cook, work in the garden… Just me and mom. She smiled at her memories. And we’d talk about everything. I really didn’t have anyone else. Dad worked all the time. There were a couple of kids in our area my age, but we seldom played together. My father was so adamant about me not going to public school because he thought I might become corrupted by my peers or something. Anyway, I think that because those kids in the neighborhood had developed strong friendships with people they knew from school, they hardly had the chance or need to get to know me. She stopped for a moment as if she had to think about the accuracy of her statement. And to me, they seemed to be too far out of my reach, from a different world. Like, I was too different from them, you know? She paused again.

So… she continued, My best friend was my mother. I tried to imitate everything she did. It came to a point where gaining her approval was all that was important to me.

Lynn was sitting on the couch as she spoke to me. Her calmness had steadily disintegrated into nervousness. She reached over to pick up a cooking magazine from the coffee table directly in front of her, and began to flip rapidly through the pages.

Mom always said she had the greatest job in the world, being a mother, she started again. But I suspected that she secretly was jealous of dad because dad had a successful career. Even though I think she wanted a different life, she decided to make the most of what she had. She decided to be the best mother she could be. And, I guess, as she taught me that it was a privilege and honor to raise children, I think she finally convinced herself of that.

When she passed away, the loss I felt was so… so overwhelming, Melanie. She wasn’t looking at me, but she was shaking her head. I didn’t think I could make it in the world without her here. Her presence alone meant everything to me. As I grieved, though, I began to recognize the impact that she had over me as a mother. As a mother, she had this tremendous ability to invoke such respect, love, and such…emptiness at her death. I wanted that. I want someone to feel the same way about me. At that moment, Lynette looked up at me for the first time since she began her monologue to explain why being a mother meant so much to her. Her eyes were wide and glowing.

Lynette seemed to think there was some great power attached to motherhood. For a certainty, I’d never viewed motherhood quite the way she did. She may have had a point about the respect and love she’d receive as a mother, but that didn’t’ change the fact that she seemed desperate. And the last I’ve heard and seen, there is a great amount of disrespect that comes with parenthood. It’s not all kisses and hugs.

Now, I do believe Lynette did care for me as a friend in the beginning. However, her desperation took over and she set her sights on my Timothy. She wanted him to father her children. Her goal was to ruin my happiness with him. Her actions were subtle. With the stealth of a slow moving plague, she infiltrated our lives with her deceptive innocence and her toxic conniving. Before I left that evening, her scheme was in full effect, unbeknownst to me. As I exited, she said, "On