Page 77 of The Fake Husband Play
Mimi squirms around her, her nose up in the air and sniffing. “That smells so good. I’m hungry, Mama. Cake doesn’t fill up your tummy as good as gumbo. That smells like gumbo.”
“That’s Beanie’s world-famous red beans and rice,” I say, my stomach flipping with equal parts hunger and dread. “Looks like she used that key I gave her.”
“Beanie’s here?” Mimi’s face lights up. “Yay! I want to tell her about the baby alligators!”
“I’m sure she’ll love that,” I murmur, fitting the key in the lock.
Elly and I share a look that says exactly what we’re both thinking:what are we about to walk into?
But there’s no sense dragging it out. I push open the door, and sure enough, my mother’s voice comes sailing from the kitchen, belting BeauSoleil at a volume that means she and Adelaide killed that champagne. The music isn’t quite loud enough to get the neighbors curious, but it’s plenty loud to confirm one thing:
Bernadette Graves has officially taken over my kitchen.
“Mama?” I call out as I set Mimi’s gift bag from the party on the entry table. “We’re back.” I raise my voice to be heard over the accordion solo, “What you up to in here?”
“Making meals and solving problems,” she calls back. “At least the problem of keeping myself out of prison for strangling a certain boy who has kept his mama waiting four hours for a text.”
Elly winces as we step around the small partition separating the entry from the rest of the open space.
We find Beanie at the stove, hip-swaying to the rhythm while she stirs a bubbling concoction in my cast iron pot. There’s another pot on the back burner, the rice cooker is full of fresh sticky rice, the kind we both like better than traditional long grain, and every inch of counter space is covered in Cajun dishes in various stages of preparation.
But the rice and beans are done, something I’m certain the hungry gremlin launching herself at my momwill be happy to hear. “Beanie! You’re here! I’m so glad, I’m starving.”
Mama barely gets her spoon down before Mimi’s arms are around her, giving her a big hug. “Ma petite chou!How was your Saturday? You look so pretty in green!”
“Thank you, and it was so fun! It was my friend Sage’s birthday party. She had it at an alligator farm, and we got a private tour and saw all the alligators, and got to hold the babies! The tiniest ones were so little!” Mimi holds up her fingers an inch apart. “But we didn’t hold those. We held the bigger ones, but not big enough to bite, and we were all very gentle, so they didn’t get scared.”
“I’m not surprised,chère. You’ve got a gentle heart,” Beanie says, but she’s looking at Elly when she says it. “I knew that the moment I met you and your mama.”
Elly blushes, but she’s smiling as she says, “How are you, Beanie? Sorry to keep you waiting for a reply. It’s my fault Grammercy couldn’t text. I had my ringer off, and he had to drive out to the party to get in touch with me.”
“No worries at all, darlin’,” my mama says with a pointed smile my way. “And don’t you go taking responsibility for my boy’s shortcomings. In this family, we let the menfolk do their own apologizing.”
“I’m sorry, Mama,” I say immediately. “I wanted to talk to Elly before I answered your questions, but you’re right, I should have gotten back to you sooner.”
“At least to let me know that you were still alive,” Beanie agrees over Mimi’s head. She gives her a final squeeze before motioning to the silverware drawer. “Gofetch some spoons and napkins,bébé. Red beans and rice for everyone is coming in hot.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Mimi says, glancing between the three of us as she wanders toward the silverware. “Is Grammercy in trouble?”
Mama laughs. “Not anymore. He was putting his woman first, the way I taught him and his brother to do. You gotta respect the person you’re living your life with. That’s what makes a happy home.”
Elly stiffens beside me—we haven’t had a chance to talk to Mimi about our evolving relationship just yet—but Mimi takes the comment in stride.
“Gee is very respectful,” Mimi says seriously. “He hardly ever says bad words, and he always gets Mama sweet tea before he gets anything for himself to drink at dinner. And he puts one sugar in, just the way she likes it.”
Beanie’s eyes go round. “Is that right?”
Mimi nods seriously. “Yep. They’re best friends now.”
“That’s one word for it,” Beanie says.
Elly muffles a laugh behind her hand as my mother waves my way. “Get over here and fill the bowls with rice, son. We’ll eat, then we’ll swim and sort out all your problems. I brought my suit. I do my best thinking in the water.”
“Yay!” Mimi cheers again. “Best day ever!”
As she bounces out of the kitchen to set the table, I murmur in a voice soft enough not to carry, “Thanks for cooking, Mama, but you don’t have to?—”
“Don’t you tell me what I do or don’t have to do, Grammercy Germaine Graves.” She points the business end of her spoon at my face. “Your phone’s been goingoff like fireworks since noon. And that’s thelandlineyou just set up a few months ago. I can’t imagine what your cell looks like. You’re in the deep end, son. And when you’re in the deep end, you need your people in the water with you to keep you afloat until the danger’s passed. So, we’ll float, we’ll think, and we’ll get it all sorted. Now eat up. Beans are thinking food.”
