In My Sister's House (19 page)

“You were always Dutch’s little adult,” Nettie said, patting Sky’s head gently.

“I know that, Nettie. But did he ever think that maybe, just maybe, I didn’t want to be his little adult, but just be his little girl?” Skylar said. She took a moment to regain her composure. Wiping her eyes, she stood up and moved over to the edge of the bar where the mail had been placed in a stack. One letter stood out. She could tell by the envelope that it was the check from the attorney for the balance of Dutch’s estate.

“I never gave my father any trouble. Nor was I ever locked up!” Skylar said.

This made Nettie lose her cool. “But that don’t make you no better than her, Skylar!” she screamed at her. “Instead of judging every little thing Storm does, why don’t you try loving her more, supporting her more? Love goes a long way, baby. Sometimes you don’t have to understand a person to love them, because that’s all they really ever need, is love. I should know. I grew up without it. Not loving myself was the reason I couldn’t love anybody else. That man right there”—she pointed to Dutch’s photo on the wall— “showed me more love and care than my own family. And I miss him.” Nettie started to cry. “And Storm misses him, too, but most of all, she misses your stubborn ass!”

“Yeah, well, Nettie, Storm should have thought more about that before she went to prison. Even if that screwup wasn’t her fault. Storm went to jail for everything that she
didn’t
get caught for in the past. How about the many times she made Dad cry, getting him all sick? If it wasn’t for her, Dutch would still be alive! She was going to have to pay for all of that at some point.”

“Everything you say is true, but nothing … nothing … hurt Dutch more than … when you turned your sister in.” Immediately Nettie covered her mouth in regret. She had given Dutch her word that she would never let Skylar know that he knew this.

Skylar was stunned. She could not move or speak. It was as if a ton of bricks had fallen on her. She wanted to get up, leave, and pretend that she hadn’t heard what Nettie said.

“What?” she said softly, turning toward Nettie.

“I … I told Dutch that I would never tell you that,” Nettie said as she began to pace, wringing her hands together and looking away. Looking up at the heavens, she mouthed
I’m sorry
. But she had come too far down to stop here.

“It wasn’t Lenora or Asia who turned your sister in. It was your call to the police tip line that told them the car outside the house belonged to Storm,” Nettie said.

A few words managed to stumble out of Skylar’s mouth: “Daddy knew? You knew?”

“Yes, Dutch knew and it hurt him to his very core. He knew that Storm was not involved in that murder. Storm’s attorney didn’t even know how to tell him that the records revealed that the call came from your cellphone. It was in the records, Sky,” Nettie told her. “Dutch begged the attorney not to bring it up during the trial. It wouldn’t have helped the case any, just cause more division between his girls at a time when the family needed to pull together more than ever.”

Skylar wanted to disappear but she knew she had to face what she’d done.

“Nettie, please understand: I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought that saving my sister from her own self-destruction was a
priority. I didn’t want her to hurt Dutch anymore or end up dead in some back alley. And more important, I didn’t want her to be able to hurt herself. It was all just to scare her. I had no idea …”

“But that was not your place!” Nettie said. “Who put you in charge of your sister’s journey or her destiny? Huh?” Nettie was raging now. She continued to lash out as she walked around the club. “You don’t own nothing but this club! And even that’s only half yours! What you did was worse than anything
she
has ever done! Now that ain’t coming from your father, but from me, dammit! You should be ashamed. That’s the reason why you stopped going to the jailhouse to see her. Wasn’t ’cause of all you were dealing with here. No, that shit was guilt! And guilt is a muthafucka!”

Nettie was so upset now that she could have slapped the shit out of Skylar, not because she wanted to hurt her but to knock some sense into her. Instead, she went over to the bar and poured herself a stiff drink. Before she put the glass to her lips, she said, “And I ain’t on duty yet, so I can have a drink! And I’ll make sure I pay for it!”

“Not a day has gone by that I haven’t agonized over the choice I made. I know it was wrong,” Skylar said. “I thought the worst that would happen was that maybe the judge would put her on probation. I never thought Storm would be forced to take a plea.”

“You’re an entrepreneur, not a lawyer, in case you forgot that,” Nettie said. Then she raised her glass in a toasting manner, and consumed the drink in one swig.

“Does Storm know? Will you forgive me?”

“I had to forgive you long ago. So did Dutch. He felt forgiveness was a part of the healing process. But what I wants to know is do you forgive yourself?”

“Will Storm forgive me? Does she know?”

“No, Storm doesn’t know. I done fucked up one too many times today by running my mouth to you. I ain’t saying shit to your sister. Matter of fact, I’ma superglue my damn lips together!”

“Thank you for not saying anything, Nettie. You don’t know how much I love and appreciate you. I agree with most of what you’ve said, and I’ve tried reaching out to Storm by giving her employment,
offering her a room in my home. But she chose to stay with that loser, DuBoy, instead. And it doesn’t help that Torch has given her some ridiculous idea about a far-fetched business venture. I’m at a loss here.” Skylar searched Nettie’s face for answers.

“Why not start by letting your sister be her own woman and work through all her shit!” Gathering up her things, Nettie said, “Just like you’re working through yours.

“Remember that tonight is June’s affair at Deana’s place, so I will see you later at the club. Get there around nine—before the bulldaggers and silly queens take up all the seats,” she said lovingly. Skylar couldn’t help but laugh at Nettie.

Skylar knew that Nettie was right. Her eyes fell upon the smiling portrait of Dutch on the wall. Lightly touching his photo, she said, “Dutch, I’ll make things better with Storm, I promise.”

P
rincess called all the dancers together for a rehearsal. Two of the regular girls, Rainey and Vanessa, were already there; they were waiting for Gidget.

“Okay, y’all. We’ve got a hot new number for y’all to perform for the seventies-eighties flashback night. For this number, you’re gonna have to channel your inner Vanity 6.” Rainey looked a little perplexed.
Probably wasn’t even born yet, youngin’
, Princess thought, before continuing, “You know …. Prince’s sexy trio that he produced back in the day? That Vanity 6? So, we’re going to use their biggest record, ‘Nasty Girl,’ as our song for this.”

Princess was more than annoyed with Gidget. She had been calling out sick more and more frequently, and when she did come in, she wasn’t as on point as the other girls. In fact, her routines had gotten a little sloppy lately. Princess didn’t know what was going on with Lovely, but she’d be happy when she returned. But Lovely or not, she’d made up her mind that if Gidget didn’t straighten up her act in a hurry she’d be placing another ad for dancers in the papers.

As Princess prepared to show the girls the routine, a disheveled, haggard-looking Gidget pushed open the door and apologized for being late. Already dressed for rehearsal, Gidget tossed her dirty
gym bag to the side. Rainey and Vanessa exchanged looks as Gidget said, “What’s up, y’all?”

“Okay, ladies, let’s make it happen!” Princess shouted as she pushed the Play button on the nearby boombox.

For the next hour and a half, Princess led the girls through a rigorous routine with complex choreography. Afterward all the dancers slapped five and collapsed on chairs and the floor. Princess was very pleased at how the rehearsal went. Surprisingly, Gidget kept up with the rest of the girls. “Okay, ladies, see everyone tonight. Don’t be late!” Princess said.

As the girls bid each other good-bye, Gidget lingered. “Hey, Princess, can I have a word with you?” Princess was too busy toweling herself off to notice that Gidget had stayed behind or to hear what she’d stayed behind to say.

Gidget repeated herself. “Excuse me, Princess,” she began again, but still no response. Not one for being ignored, she figured maybe a direct approach would be better, so she started again, this time in her “outside voice.” “Yo, you and the other chicks aren’t feeling me, are you?”

Princess was startled. “Excuse me?” she said. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She put the towel around her neck and sat down at one of the tables.

“Ever since I walked in that door it was obvious you didn’t like me,” Gidget told her.

“Maybe I should remind you that, um, I
hired
you. Why would I hire someone I didn’t like?”

“Yeah, you hired me, but that was because I was damn good. That’s why.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. You did all right Gidget. You weren’t the worst, but you weren’t the best, either.

“Really, then why didn’t you go for someone else? Why settle?” Gidget waited for an answer.

“Well, you know, we believe in not discriminating here. I happen to have a boss who felt that we needed to hire some minorities. To
show the community that we are
one
here at Legends,” she said cynically. “But listen, Gidget, my personal opinion of you doesn’t matter. As long as you perform well, my issues are limited.”

“I beg to differ. I think a person’s work environment is very important to what kind of performance they give.”

“Speaking of performance, although you did surprisingly well today, frankly you haven’t been up to par lately. You’ve been late a few too many times, and you’ve been looking more tired than usual onstage.”

“Wow, the jealous angry black woman rears her ugly head,” Gidget said under her breath.

“What did you say?” Princess walked toward her in a defensive mode.

“Your problem is twofold,” Gidget said. “One, it’s obvious how you’re a little jealous of the attention the customers give me when I dance, because all my solo numbers have been cut. Trust me, I do not want your job. And two, I think you’re scared I’m here to steal someone’s black man.”

Princess thought to herself that she could jump this bitch right here and now and beat the shit out of her but decided to whip her with her tongue instead.

“You have it all wrong, Miss Thing. Princess is not jealous of anything. Especially of another girl’s dancing. Please! You must know that I don’t have to be at Legends. It’s a career move for you, not me. Offers come to me all the time, from New York, L.A., Vegas,
and
Europe,” she boasted.

“Yeah, I heard all of that. But then why? Why ain’t you going on this global escapade, being one of the world’s dancing divas? Wait, don’t answer that. Let me. You’re afraid. Yeah, see at Legends, you’re Queen Bee, you’re the one! No matter how small the crowds are, they come to see you. Outside of here, you’d be just another decent dancer,” Gidget said, letting her have it. “And you can’t take being second. Not
Princess,”
Gidget laughed.

“Let me tell you something, little girl,” Princess came back. “I am here because of my respect for a
sista
who owns and operates a topnotch
spot and my wanting to be a part of her dream. You don’t know my journey—”

Gidget cut her off in mid-sentence, “And you don’t know mine!”

There was a moment of silence before Princess continued.

“As far as the whole
black man
thing, I couldn’t care less about who you fuck. And if your choice of a nigga is Torch and you really think you’re stealing one of
our
men, bitch,
please
, don’t flatter yourself. Now I think we have come to the end of our little conversation. If you’re not happy with the way I run the dancers here, leave. Other than that, I’ll see you when you report to work tonight—
on time.”

Princess retrieved the boombox and CD and prepared to leave. But Gidget was not ready to be dismissed.

“You know, I think you have a few more issues and problems in your life than you want to deal with, so maybe it’s best that I put in my resignation. Effective now. That’ll be one less bit of stress on you,” she said. Reaching the door, she turned back to Princess. “You need to be less judgmental. Sistas shouldn’t fear that every white chick that comes around wants their black man. That shit is tired and played out. Torch just so happens to be black and we’re doing our thing. If I can give you some advice, I’d stop worrying ’bout white chicks, we ain’t the problem. It’s those Asian bitches you better be worried about. They’re the ones that got a lot of brothas on
lock
. Hell, we ain’t even in style no more. You know what I’m talking about? You are biracial aren’t you?” Gidget quipped as she reached for the doorknob.

With her back to Princess, Gigdet cracked a killer smile that showed just how much she’d relished this opportunity to tell home-girl off. But before she got a chance to feel the midday breeze outside, the door had been slammed shut and she was being dragged by her hair back into the club.

Princess proceeded to beat the shit out of her, ripping off her blouse and slapping Gidget around like a rag doll. Gidget got in a few good licks, but nothing compared to the sista-girl beat-down Princess gave her. Princess only stopped after she was out of breath, her arms worn out from throwing so many solid blows. Dragging an
exhausted Gidget by her hair toward the front door, Princess said, “I just wanted to thank you for your resignation. I hope this was something you can remember us by,” she laughed. “And oh, yeah, I am biracial. But don’t worry about that. If anybody asks you what happened to you, just tell them that a
jealous, angry black woman
whooped yo ass.” Princess pushed Gidget outside and tossed her dirty gym bag out behind her. “And I’ll make sure last weekend’s check is mailed to you.” She slammed the door shut and began to pick up chairs and overturned tables, returning them to their rightful places.