The Sunday Brunch Diaries Read online

  Jermane decided to check in on her husband before she left to have tea. “Hey honey, how’d golf go this morning?” She cradled the phone in the crook of her neck as she finished applying her mascara. She slicked her hair back into a ponytail for a no fuss, but classy look.

  “Good, honey. I need to run by the office for a little while,” he said as he pulled out of the country club parking lot.

  “I thought you weren’t going in to the office today?”

  “Uh, baby, your dad. He brought in a new client in this week . . .”

  “I know, babe, I just don’t want us to go backwards. I was getting used to our having more time together. You finally learned how to tell my dad no.”

  “Jermane, don’t start. Didn’t we go to Lexi’s housewarming? And your dad no longer affects my schedule. It’s under control. Just don’t stress me out by nagging me.”

  Jermane paused before adding another light layer of mascara. “Okay, Rex.” She paused. “So when are you going to make it home?”

  “It won’t be too long. I need to go through some files. Jermane, I just think if maybe you started teaching like you promised you wouldn’t be as fixated on my schedule. I know you could probably teach at the University of Houston or South Texas College of Law.”

  “Rex, I know I said that, but you also said there was no pressure. Are we in financial trouble? Do I need to work?”

  “Jermane, don’t get defensive. It was just a suggestion.”

  “Rex, why don’t you just give me a call when you’re finishing up.”

  He took a deep breath and said, “Alright, honey, I will.” He knew if he went to the office now his father-in-law would be there. Maybe then Rex could work up the nerve to ask him some much needed questions. His future with the firm depended on it.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Delayed and Denied

  There was no better sound to Capri than Anthony’s SUV driving into the garage after a game. She heard the door shut and Anthony’s size fourteen sneakers pounding the steps after several minutes. She ran in the bathroom and lit a few more candles, then met him at the top of the stairs wrapped in her silk kimono.

  “I missed you,” she said as he dropped his gym bag and wrapped his large, muscular arms around her. She felt secure enveloped in his large frame.

  “I missed you too. Did you check out all my three pointers in the second half? I was on fire,” he said like an excited kid.

  “Yeah, I did. You hungry?” she said as he released her from his grip. She was happy for him but needed a break from basketball.

  “Not too much. Just want to relax. I showered at the gym and grabbed a quick bite with the fellas.” He placed his full lips on hers. “Mmm, that’s some good sugar.”

  Capri’s insides got warm. “Well, I thought you’d want to take a nice little soak for your muscles.” She felt his arm.

  “Naw, I’m okay.”

  “Not even with me?” She looked into his eyes and raised her right eyebrow.

  “Oh, you didn’t say that. And don’t do that, you know when you raise that eyebrow it turns me on,” he said as he grabbed her from behind and kissed her behind the ear.

  “Umm. Okay now, let’s take it to the bathroom,” she said, prying his hands away. “I ran the water and put in that soothing mineral salt you like. We can just relax. We haven’t had much playtime since the season’s started.”

  She grabbed his hand and they walked toward the large bathroom. They passed the huge vanity island in the middle of the room and the marble shower. The flat-screen television above the Jacuzzi remained off. The bubbles filled the tub and she let out a sigh at the gurgle of the water. The burning candles and caviar potpourri scented the room with a sensual Ebonywood fragrance. She’d made a special trip to the Bombay Company earlier that day to pick them up. The Bose sound system released the soothing sounds of David Benoit.

  Capri watched as her husband peeled off his clothes. Her eyes scanned every indentation in his six-pack. She knew his body well, every muscle and curve, and the intricate designs of his crucifix tattoo. He got in the water first, as always. Capri liked the way her back fit in the cavity of his chest. She especially loved the way he kissed and played in her hair. That was one of the few times she didn’t mind it getting a little wet. She looked forward to the way he’d bathe her arms with water and the feel of his large legs framing hers.

  After they soaked for a few minutes, Capri realized her husband was practically asleep. She heard deep breathing and a little teeth grinding. He never falls asleep in the tub, my big baby is tired. He jumped when she kissed the inside of his arm.

  “Oh, sorry, honey. I’m exhausted. You okay?” He grabbed her tight.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “Tell me, how was your week?” he said quietly as he lightly stroked her hair, then wrapped his finger around one of her ringlets already softened by the steam.

  “Umm, good. The firm’s moving along. Lots of former clients are sending business. I’m really excited. With Thanksgiving coming up, I’m hoping we can settle a few cases.”

  “You and Lexi doing okay?”

  “Yeah, so far so good. I love being my own boss. I get to work at home or go in to the office whenever I want. I love working on the cases that I want to and no more being a slave to billable hours.”

  “That’s great.” He paused briefly and closed his eyes. “Baby?”

  “Yeah?”

  “How come you haven’t come to the last few games? I like knowing you’re there,” he said as he buried his nose in her mane.

  “I know. I just like watching from home. You should see me. I can barely sit on the couch. I love being here in my comfy sweats jumping up and down, yelling at the top of my lungs. And, well, most of the other wives are so superficial. You know me. I’m just not into all that.” She circled her finger on the inside of his palm.

  “Baby, I don’t care if you come in jeans and a T-shirt, as long as I know you’re there. Do it just for me . . . I mean, you could at least come to the home games.”

  “Wow, you sound so pitiful. If it means that much, yeah, I can do that.” She closed her eyes. “That’s a small sacrifice for my handsome husband. And just for that I will wear jeans and a T-shirt, and put on a little makeup.” She slid her fingers through his.

  “Mmmm. Thanks sweetie.”

  “Now you can do something for me. I didn’t go through all this tonight for nothing. I’m trying to get just a little lovin’,” she said as she rubbed the thickness of his thigh.

  ZZZZ.

  Uh-oh. No he didn’t.

  After a few minutes she woke him to get in bed. He managed to dry off and collapsed in the bed like a huge slab of concrete. She climbed in after him. The six-hundred-thread-count sheets did nothing to soothe her attitude. “Now, when I’m like this, it’s a federal crime,” she thought as she dozed off. “But there’s always the morning, that may be even better,” she said to herself as she rolled over with a smile.

  __________

  Capri hadn’t realized how tired she’d been. She looked at the clock and noticed it was close to 9:45 a.m. She wanted to go to early service, but it was too late for that. She went to use the restroom and pulled on the door. It was locked. What in the world? He never locks the door. “Anthony, you in there? Why is the door locked?”

  She could barely finish the question before the door flew open. “Sorry, sweetie. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  She paused momentarily, then walked past him toward the sink to wash her face. “Okay, um, are we going to late service today?”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever you want babe, whatever you want,” he said as he rushed out of the bathroom.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The Future Has a Past

  Angel waved her hand as she saw Octavio walk through the church lobby. She wanted to make sure they were going to be on time for their first night of the Bible lesson series.

  She knew he’d be running late because of th
e weather. Houston didn’t get much snow, but it had its share of the nasty mix of cold and rain, especially near the end of fall.

  “Hey you,” he said as he reached over to kiss her on the cheek. “It’s a mess out there.”

  “I know. C’mon, we’re only a few minutes late,” she said as she grabbed his hand and led him to the escalator.

  “Welcome to ‘Living Victoriously!’ ” a young woman who looked to be in her early thirties said with enthusiasm. It was a very casual atmosphere since the series was being taught on Sunday evenings. She was dressed in jeans and a vibrant turquoise tunic. Her shiny brown hair was pulled back in a long ponytail, exposing her large hoop earrings.

  “Hmm, she seems so spiritually mature for such a young age,” Angel thought as she wrapped her hands around her Bible.

  “My name is Amber. I’m a ministry leader here at Lakewood and I am so excited to lead this study. Part of becoming a victorious Christian is understanding how to apply biblical principles to your life. Jesus died so we could live life more abundantly and to the full! Our God is an awesome God. Amen?” she said as she raised her arms like a high school cheerleader.

  “Amen!” chorused the thirty or so people attending.

  She moved through the rest of her introduction, Octavio and Angel sat quietly and listened as she led the study.

  “Let’s start with the lesson ‘Discovering Who We Are in Christ Jesus.’ Sometimes the world has programmed us to see ourselves and each other a certain way. So, we have to do some deprogramming. It’s not about what the world or your circumstances say about you, but what God says about you. You are not your circumstances! Say it with me: I am not my circumstances!”

  “I am not my circumstances!” they all chimed in.

  “So, before we begin to understand who God says we are, we’re going to have an assignment. We need to discover who we are right now. We need to think about how our past and present circumstances have defined who we are. We want to clear away anything that may hinder us from hearing God clearly and keep us from embracing and owning who we are in Christ Jesus. We want to be the people that God originally created us to be. That’s when we can truly tap into His power. Amen?”

  “Amen,” everyone echoed.

  She passed out a one-page assignment. “I want you to really pray about this exercise, one of the most important exercises. It deals with your family. What impact did your mother, father, siblings, and anyone else who was a significant figure in your childhood have on you? There are specific questions in this exercise that will help you. Some of us may need to dig deep, but don’t be afraid. Be bold and honest.”

  Angel noticed Octavio’s body shift and watched as he quickly folded the paper and stuffed it in his Bible. She knew anything that dealt with his childhood seemed to cause instant agitation. He rarely spoke of it. In their friendship and relationship most of the focus was on her past issues. She was finally realizing that her man may have some healing needs too. This class is gonna bless us both. Peace settled in as Amber’s voice led the closing prayer.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Brunch Unplugged

  “We’re going to be on MTV Cribs . . . this is really wild,” Capri said as she adjusted her napkin. “I didn’t think this was something I’d be into, but I’m kind of excited.”

  “Wow! I’d just love to do something like that! But who would come to our house? I mean, I’ve decorated it like a professional, but Kevin and I only have a little three-bedroom home. All of us can’t live in Lake Olympia,” Jewel said as she looked Capri up and down.

  “Okay, there are people who would love to have a three-bedroom home,” I said as I eyed my Creole cream cheese crepes. “Be thankful.”

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong. I am grateful,” Jewel said. She paused as she watched me about to savor a large forkful of food. “Lexi, dear, watch your carbs,” she added as she tapped my hand.

  I sighed deeply. “Jewel, slap my hand again and see what happens. I had a rough week. If I want to drown myself in food, that’s my business.” Just then I noticed I had dropped a bit of cream cheese on my new silk Nicole Miller dress. It was my one splurge in six months. Shoot, can’t have anything.

  “Goodness, you don’t have to be so crabby about it. I’m just lookin’ out for a sista—as long as it took for you to get Chris, you may want to work on keeping him. Just because you’re married doesn’t mean the work is done. See if I care if you walk around all bloated.”

  Gee, thanks for that reminder. Can we women get a break, God? It takes forever to get somebody, now we got to do stuff to keep ’em too? When will it ever end? I rolled my eyes at her and continued to chew.

  “Anyway, Capri, I think that’s fabulous. So when is it? I want to make sure I clear my schedule so I can be there!” Jewel said as she reached in her purse for her BlackBerry.

  Capri threw her hand up in protest. “Uh-uh, Jewel. It’s just gonna be me and Anthony,” she said as she sliced her mushroom and onion omelet.

  “Are you serious? That’s so selfish. You know when they have all the rappers on Cribs they always do the cameo shot with their ‘peeps.’ You could do that,” she said, waiting for Capri to agree.

  “Jewel please. First of all, I’m a little too old to call anybody ‘my peeps.’ That’s why the only person I was gonna tell was Lexi, so she wouldn’t expect me at work that day,” Capri said as she poured syrup on her pancakes.

  I tried to give a half smile, but again, Capri seemed to be spending more time at home than at the office. As long as the money comes in when it’s supposed to. I nodded my head and faked a smile.

  “Okay, alright. Be that way. You know you’re wrong for that. Isn’t she wrong for that, y’all?” Jewel said as she waved her fork in the air.

  “Jewel, no one else really cares,” Angel barked, then grabbed a spoon to try her fresh berry parfait.

  “Okay, I see how it’s going down. I guess we’ll just move on then. If you all don’t care, then I don’t care . . . Speaking of reality shows, did anyone see the last episode of I Love New York, the spinoff of Flavor of Love? I forgot to TiVo it this week.”

  “Are you serious? I know you don’t watch that ridiculousness. It’s so degrading. Not only is it time to ‘take back the music,’ it’s time to take back the television, the videos, and the movies,” I said as my head whipped in her direction.

  “Please girl, talk about a stress relief, that show is pure entertainment. What can I say? It’s my one guilty pleasure. Our life can’t always be about CNN, MSNBC, or 60 Minutes. We have enough real-life drama. Sometimes we just need to laugh,” Jewel asserted.

  “I can’t believe Flava Flav and this New York character are making money off of that triflin’ show. It’s like they scraped the bottom of the barrel with that mess,” I said.

  “The Flavor of Love? Is that some type of new cooking show?” Jermane asked as she sliced her pecan-crusted catfish. “Does it come on the cooking channel?”

  “Are you serious? No, this is the show with Flava Flav of the old rap group Public Enemy—uh, never mind.” Jewel added more sugar to her coffee.

  “Well, that’s why Rex and I don’t even watch much television. It’s all garbage. I mean even regular TV is too risqué,” Jermane said, unfazed by Jewel’s frustration.

  “Yeah, it’s spilling over into books too. How come every person who lost custody of their kids, stripped, or did a porn movie needs to have a ‘tell all’ book? Every time I walk in a bookstore, all I see are covers with half-naked women holding a gun or some crap. I mean, that’s definitely not all Black folks read,” Capri said. “We just need something else to define our culture.”

  I cleared my throat. “Uhhh, speaking of porn . . .” Everyone looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Well, I wasn’t going to say anything, but the morning after our housewarming, we noticed someone had been looking at porn on our computer.” I waited for a response.

  “How do you know it wasn’t Chris?” Jewel asked. “I know that Kevin,
as crazy as he is, wouldn’t do that. But then again, that fool would probably tell me if had done it.”

  “Well, Chris swore it wasn’t him. Besides, remember, he didn’t even want to have a bachelor party.”

  “Lexi, you eloped girl. He didn’t get a chance to,” Jewel said.

  “Don’t start that again.” My eyes locked with Jewel’s.

  “Don’t look at me,” Capri said, then folded her arms. “Lexi, I mean you’ve known Anthony from the jump and you know his character. That’s definitely not his thing.”

  “Well, Rex is not lacking for anything at home, so I can’t see him needing to do that. That’s just disgusting,” Jermane said.

  “That’s really trifling. Whoever it was definitely has an addiction if they have to use someone else’s computer,” Angel said. “There were a few other folks there, so it doesn’t have to be one of our men.”

  “Hmm. Maybe sooner or later the truth will come out,” Capri said.

  Everyone was quiet for a moment. “I guess. Anyway, back to the state of our books and music. We have to take responsibility for our images. There are people out there who are supporting this crazy mess. It wasn’t until Don Imus made his degrading comments about the Rutgers girls basketball team, that we even started dialoging about our images and the way we are viewed by the media,” I said as I took another sip of coffee.

  “It makes me wonder, do books and music that degrade Blacks sell well because that’s what the public wants, or do they sell well because that’s all there is to purchase?” Angel analyzed aloud. “I guess we just need to be more supportive and proactive about what we want to see on the bookshelves and on television.”

  “Wait,” I interjected, “I just thought of something. Maybe we should start our own book club?” I looked around the table for a response. “That would be one way to take action. We could talk about change or we could effect change.”

  “Lexi, you know you are the infamous book club dropout,” Angel taunted.