Page 66 of Happy Is On Hiatus
“She deserves some light in her life, and so does Jemel. When do you think her and Marc are gonna settle down and get married? Ceil’s ’bout to have a conniption waiting for grandchildren.”
“I don’t think Aunt Ceil should keep pressuring Jemel about having babies. People can make their own timetables,” she said. She knew firsthand how much pressure mothers could apply to their daughters and the lives they wanted them to lead. She didn’t wish that on anyone, but she also knew the Johnson sisters and their strong will.
“Nobody’s pressuring her. But she’s not gettin’ any younger either.”
Rita walked away after that comment, remembering that Jemel had said something similar to Sharae this morning. She spotted Jemel sitting at a table with Marc and Omar and Jason from down the street. Omar and Jason had also brought their dog, Trixter. Rita had meant to give the dog a special treat after hearing he’d chased Ethel down the street the other day because she’d been snooping around in Omar and Jason’s yard. Rita had already prepared her letter of resignation from the board, deciding that it was one of the things she just wanted to release from her life. Besides, once the announcement was out about her catering company, she knew things were going to take off and much of her time would be devoted to seeing that come into fruition.
“Hey, Ma. Aunt Rose wants to know if there’s another bowl of seafood salad. Cedric and his greedy kids have already wrapped up four plates.” Necole shook her head as she talked, her golden curls moving with the motion.
Rita was so happy to see both her daughters here today. Taryn had even brought a friend with her. Glancing across the yard, she saw them sitting in two chairs. Taryn had no doubt purposely moved away from the tables where the rest of the family were seated. Since the incident with Vance, she and her girls had grown closer. Rita knew that Nate had spoken to them, but neither of the girls had mentioned it, nor did they talk much about the divorce anymore.
“Yeah, I knew that would go quick, so I made three pans of it last night.” She looked down at her watch. “Let’s see, it’s almost six now. You can go ahead and get the second pan out of the refrigerator. By the time they go through that, things’ll be winding down, and it’ll really be time for people to get their to-go plates. We’ll use the third pan for that.” Rita knew her family and their eating habits well. That was why she never made one pan of anything when they were all gathered together.
Two of Cedric’s children ran past squirting water guns at each other, and Necole yelled something about them being rug rats before heading into the house.
“There she is,” Hale said, coming up to wrap his arm around Rita’s shoulder. “My baby girl. You’ve prepared a good spread once again.”
Her father rubbed his protruding belly with his free hand and chuckled. This man right here had been Rita’s first love. Six feet two inches, with a burly frame and the same amber eyes Rita stared at in the mirror each morning, he’d been her first glimpse of what a man should be. She’d never witnessed him yelling at or disrespecting her mother in any way, and even though there were lots of rules in their house, there was never a day that she or Benny doubted their father’s love for them. Not even in the times when he put the church before them. They’d been taught to understand the sacrifice of sharing their father with his congregation.
“Thanks, Daddy,” she replied and then frowned when Benny reached out to tweak her nose.
“It’s a’ight,” he said and grinned the same smile their father had.
When he pulled her away from Hale to fold her into a hug, Rita went willingly and held on tight. “Missed you so much,” she murmured.
“Missed you too, Margarita.” He was grinning when they pulled apart.
“Tell her the good news,” Hale insisted.
“What news?” Rita asked. She was hoping that she, Jemel, and Sharae would have the only announcement tonight. They’d planned todo it at around six thirty or seven, but it seemed Benny was going to beat her to the punch with his news.
“Yeah, it’s not really news just yet,” her brother said, the look on his face conveying how he wished his father had kept his mouth shut.
Now she was eager to know what was going on. “You can tell me now, and I’ll still act like it’s a surprise when the time comes for you to share with everyone else,” she said.
Benny, who was just a couple of inches shorter than their father and wore his hair in a low afro, shrugged. “Sure you will.” They both laughed. “I’m comin’ home after I graduate. I’ll be ordained at NVB.”
That wasn’t really news, but still Rita smiled. “I can’t wait.”
“There’s more,” Hale said.
“Yeah, that’s the part we haven’t really ironed out yet,” Benny said. “I’m not sure I wanna come into NVB and go straight to the top. You’ve got other preachers there now, Dad. If you’re about to name a new assistant pastor, it should be one of them. I can wait my turn.”
“Nonsense,” Hale interjected. “You’re my son.”
And NVB was Hale’s church. Nobody said that part, but Rita knew that each of them was thinking it. She also knew that Benny wasn’t going to win this argument. He would become the assistant pastor at NVB because that was what Hale wanted. She wouldn’t allow herself to get into the politics of that decision. As long as Benny was back home, she’d let them hash out the details of his pastoral career.
“Well, it’s about time for me to make an announcement of my own,” she said and tried to ease away from them.
“Hold on,” Benny said, grabbing her arm. “You don’t get away that easily. What announcement?”
She only smiled at him. “You’ll see.”
Minutes later she had an arm locked with Jemel’s as they went to where Sharae was now sitting with Desmond and Ivan.
“What?” Sharae asked when she looked up to see the two of them.
“We’re doing it now because she’s too excited to wait,” Jemel said. She was smiling with barely restrained enthusiasm herself, so Rita ignored that playful jab at her eagerness.
