“Yes. She always listens to that old stuff.”
Vivian smiled, remembering when she thought people in their thirties and forties were ancient. Now, nearing forty, she knew they were barely middle-aged.
Vivian had just reached for an “80s Gold” anthology when her cell phone rang…. “Hello?”
“You’re not going to believe who’s back in town,” Tai said without a greeting.
Vivian didn’t answer immediately. From the sound of Tai’s voice, whoever it was wasn’t someone she welcomed. Vivian asked anyway, not knowing if she wanted to hear the answer. “Who?”
“Tootie.”
“Tootie?” Would the drama never end? Tai and King’s marriage had just gotten back on track following King’s last infidelity. And now Tootie, his schoolboy crush, was back in town? Vivian motioned to the boys and headed to the counter, Elisia following her. “Look, I’m in a store. Let me call you when I get to the car.”
“As soon as you can,” Tai said, exasperated.
“On second thought, I’ve got the kids. I’ll call when I get home.”
Vivian tried to remain calm as she waited in line. No need to get upset before hearing the details. But what did Tai know that had upset her so? Then again, just the mention of Rita “Tootie” Smith’s name could be enough.
Vivian was thankful for the kids’ mindless chatter on the way home. That and the smooth sounds of the newly purchased Kem CD she’d placed in the stereo before starting the car. She only half listened, however, her mind wandering from thoughts of Tai to the Sanctity of Sisterhood seminars she’d been moderating. Thankfully, traffic was light and soon she was turning into her driveway.
The tires had barely stopped rolling before the kids rushed out of the car. Kathy, Chris’s mom, was just running by, at the end of her afternoon jog. Chris ran up and showed her his namesake Chris Brown CD.
“Yes, Kathy, you can thank me for the noise you’ll hear later,” Vivian said as her neighbor trotted up the drive. “It’s the radio-edit version, but you still might want to have a listen.”
“Gee, Viv, thanks a lot. I really needed to hear more hippity-hop in my house.”
“Hip-hop, Mom,” Chris groaned, the expected reaction and exact reason his mother had mispronounced the term.
“Hey, man, let’s ball,” D-2 suggested, inviting himself over to the half-court basketball asphalt in Chris’s backyard. He and Chris began walking toward the Winters’ home.
“Derrick, don’t lose that CD I just bought you,” Vivian directed at his back.
“You can lose yours, Chris,” Kathy added. Both women laughed. “See you later, Viv.”
Vivian ejected the Kem CD, placed it in its case, and retrieved the shopping bags. Once inside her home, she put down her purchases and quickly looked through the mail on the foyer table. “Change your clothes before going out to play, Elisia,” she said to her daughter, who was headed up the stairs. “I need to make an important call. Only disturb if it’s an emergency, okay?”
“Yes, Mama,” Elisia answered.
Vivian watched her rapidly growing daughter bounce up the stairs. Lord, please help her not grow up too soon. She lay down the mail, walked into the kitchen, and took marinating chicken breast fillets out of the refrigerator. After placing them in the oven and setting the other dinner preparations on the counter, she headed to her office and called Kansas City.
Tai picked up on the second ring. “I thought you said you’d call right back.”
“This is right back. I had to start dinner. So what’s up with Tootie being back in town? How long has it been, ten, fifteen years?”
Tai’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Janeé, she goes by Janeé now.”
“Tootie is Ja-nay?” Sometimes an upset Tai was hard to follow.
“Yeah, I guess the name Tootie didn’t look so good in lights. Remember she moved to Germany, did some recording? She was pretty popular from what I hear, starred in musicals, recorded a couple albums. What was that one hit song of hers? ‘Heat’ or ‘Hot’ or something? Anyway, I haven’t heard anything about her in a minute….” Tai’s voice trailed off.
“So what is she doing back in Kansas City?”
“Her mother’s sick. In the back of my mind I just knew that would bring Tootie’s ass back here. I prayed it wouldn’t, but I just knew…”
Vivian was all too aware of how Tootie used to be Tai’s nemesis, continuing to see King while he and Tai were dating, and having an affair with him after they married. She remembered how relieved Tai had been when right after her second child, Princess, was born, Tootie moved from the Midwest, swearing never to return. But that was a long time ago. Everyone was older, wiser, and Tai and King’s marriage was on solid ground. Vivian wasn’t going to make a mountain out of a molehill.
“Okay, wait a minute, Tai. Why are we going here? Why are you making a big deal of this? Of course she’d come back to care for her mother.”
Vivian continued, determined to make Tai focus on what was really important. “You and King are back on track, tighter than ever. He loves you. He’s committed to you. So, Tootie’s back in town—Tootie, Janay, whatever her name is. So what? What has that got to do with you?”
“Everything. One of the first people she asked about was King. That’s how I found out she was back.”
“Well, good. He told you.”
“That’s the other thing. King didn’t tell me. Mama Max did.”
Vivian wished it had been King instead of his mother, but she still wasn’t going to help her friend trip.
“When did Mama Max tell you?”
“Earlier today. Sistah Stokes ran into Tootie at the store. Tootie asked about King. Sistah Stokes called Mama from Albertsons parking lot.” Sistah Stokes, a longtime church member, knew of King’s affair with Tootie and had believed a warning was warranted.
Vivian let out a chagrined breath. That’s how stuff got started. “You just found this out? So how do you even know King knows she’s back, Tai?”
A pause on the other end, and then, “I guess I don’t.”
“See? And you’re getting all worked up, letting your imagination take you where you shouldn’t want to go, over nothing.”
“You’re right. You’re absolutely right, Viv. I guess I’m still a little paranoid.”
“A little?” Vivian teased her friend.
“Okay,” Tai said, laughing. “Your sistah’s trippin’. But King’s past infidelities aren’t easy to forget.”
“Nobody says you have to. Just remember, the operative word in that sentence is past. We’re living in the now, and right now, you and King have never been better.”
The conversation drifted to other things until Vivian noticed the smell of teriyaki chicken floating under the office door. “Listen, I need to finish dinner. Call you later?”
“Sure. And Vivian?”
“Uh-huh?”
“Thanks.”
Vivian smiled, glad to hear the relief in Tai’s voice. “Don’t mention it, sistah. That’s what friends are for.”
5
Tootie Says