Chapter Fifteen - Hanā BandānVanyaXerxes
VANYA
“DO YOU MIND if we come in?”
“No. Not at all.”
I opened the door and one of the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen before walked in behind Mrs. Babette. She seemed familiar but, I couldn’t remember where I’d seen her face.
I was staying in the penthouse suite of the Warren Hotel because I was getting married in less than two days.
Two days.
Time had flown by so quickly between fittings and getting to know the man I was going to marry and business that it seemed like I’d time traveled to this moment.
“I hope we’re not intruding.” Ms. Babette glided into the room, as did the woman she brought with her. They were both dressed so beautifully but I wasn’t sure why they were here. The new woman was taller than us both and had a graceful elegance in her walk.
“I wasn’t doing anything. I’m sorry for staring but I feel as though I know you.” I said it to the woman who was with her and tried not to be so timid about it.
She had incredibly long legs and wore a stunningly beautiful pair of sky blue silk pants. “I don’t mind looking. I’m used to it by now. I’m Patricia Warren.”
“ The Patricia Warren. The model.” My mouth hung open as she took my hand to shake it and I was pulled into a hug.
“Former. I prefer my current role as an entrepreneur.”
“I think you are grossly underestimating your success if you’re calling yourself an entrepreneur, soer . Mogul is far more accurate.” Ms. Babette playfully bumped her with her shoulder and Mrs. Warren pulled her into a hug.
“I feel like I’m unprepared for you all and I’m doing the wrong thing. Should I call for room service to bring up some refreshments?” I started to turn toward the room phone but Ms. Babette stopped me.
“What have you been doing the whole time you’ve been in this room?” She was looking around in confusion and I wasn’t sure what I should be doing.
“Just sitting. Thinking.” I shrugged and spoke honestly because I didn’t have any idea what to do with myself.
“You’re not trying to back out of this are you?”
“Never. That didn’t cross my mind.”
They both looked relieved and I didn’t want her to think I wasn’t fully committed.
“Shiiit you’re better than me. I was more than worried about marrying Michael’s ass and I was more famous than he was. But those NFL hoes were going to have me under the jail.” Mrs. Warren folded her slender arms over the chest of her cream silk blouse.
“For what reason?”
“For fighting. I was more than ready to bust any of those bitches’ heads behind my husband.”
“She’s not lying either. Many bribes went into ensuring that her freedom was a foregone conclusion.” Ms. Babette rolled her eyes and I could see she was teasing but I knew she wasn’t lying. As stunning as she was, Ms. Pat had an aura that she didn’t take any shit.
“But would that not give her absolute freedom to behave the way she wanted to?” The more that she spoke, the more I felt like she and Jada were kindred spirits.
A smirk danced between the two of them as though she were trying not to laugh. “Basically. But they knew not to try my man again. Word spread pretty damn fast that Michael Warren had a crazy wife. They would be okay with trying him despite how many times he refused, they thought he was going to get worn down. But me? I had a crazy right hook. You can’t take the Detroit out of the girl, no matter how many couture gowns you put her in.” She started to playfully shadow box and if this was how she was hitting women, it was no wonder they backed off.
“Thankfully, you haven’t needed that in a long time.”
“You almost make me feel like you testing my gangsta, Bab.” Mrs. Warren crossed her arms and cocked her head like she wanted to go swing on somebody just cause.
“There is plenty of potential for foolishness tomorrow. Right now we are to get her prepared for the wedding. You are going to be massaged until your brain is numb, waxed if you would like and have a deep scalp massage. I’ve been giving strict instructions that you can’t leave the spa until you’ve fallen asleep. This is part of his father’s culture but let me tell you, it is more than worth it. You will be oiled, lotion and pampered until you feel like a bowl of jelly.” Ms. Babette clapped her hands happily and I was excited by her excitement.
“That sounds like exactly what I need right now. I have to thank you Mrs. Warren—”
“Girl, if you don’t call me auntie—” I wanted to laugh but the look on her face told me I’d better not.
“Sorry. Auntie Patricia. The clothes that you sent over were beautiful. I didn’t put your name together with Midas’ last name.” Xerxes had come in with an entire clothing rack full of items saying they were from his aunt. He gave me no indication his aunt was the designer of the items.
“Not that I wanted you to, but you didn’t research this family before you agreed to become a part of it?”
“No.” Now I was wondering if I should have.
“And why not?”
I took a deep breath and told her the truth. “Honestly? Because I trust Xerxes would tell me whatever he felt was necessary. It will probably take me a long time to just see you as Maman Babette or Auntie Patricia because you women have already set yourselves in my mind as larger than life to me. Mrs. — Auntie Patricia is a mogul and how you command a room maman is more than intimidating in the best ways. He sees you all how I’m sure you desire to be seen- as just regular women who love their families, That only reinforces the reason I trust him so easily.”
Mrs—Auntie Patricia stood there stunned and Ms. Babette had her lips formed in a small o before the former spoke up. “Well damn. The damn girl has me wanting to kiss that boy I made and go snuggle under Michael for a few hours.”
“If you have this one ready to cry I know you are truly something special. I want you to ask me whatever it is you think you want to know. I don’t care how personal it gets, I’d rather you be prepared than to be miserable.”
“How did you balance it all? Being the women that you are in business to the mothers you obviously were to Xerxes and Midas. I don’t even know if children are in our future—”
“They are.” Maman Babette grinned far too knowingly for my liking. She’d talked to me about her roots including her ancestors that worked hoodoo and voodoo. I didn’t know there was a difference but I researched both.
“But I want to do that and not lose myself. I’ve worked hard to become this Vanya. As wonderful as Xerxes is, I don’t want to be just his wife.” I picked at my hands feeling the smooth gold band that had been placed there as an engagement ring. Apparently, the more elaborate ring was saved for the wedding day and I was truly already satisfied with this one. I knew he was going to be over the top with whatever he did.
“Honey, he wouldn’t marry a woman like you to strip you of everything he found attractive about you. He likes that you are ambitious. He loves seeing you work in your passion. I’ve seen the way you have found us exactly what we wanted. You have a gift. A natural talent for what you do. He would never try to squash that.”
“If he did, we’d both have something to say about it.” Auntie Patricia waved her finger between the two of them to emphasize they would’ve beaten Xerxes’ ass.
“Was it hard to marry a man that was a different religion than you?”
“I can’t say hard but it had its challenges. Bijan was a man who wanted to stick as closely to his religion because it made him feel that it would keep him from turning out to be as worthless as his brothers and his father. Dealing with me made him feel as though he’d been lied to his entire life. And then when they tried to come after me—”
“After you?”
“Yeah girl. Them folks thought that Babette was a pretty little light skin thang from Virginia by way of Nawlins. They ain’t know she had that dog in her.” Auntie Pat was laughing and from what I’d heard Ms. Babette was definitely nothing to play with.
“They came for Bijan first. Then me. Neither of their assassins lived to tell the tale.” A small and seemingly deadly smile played across her lips.
“And you just get used to this? How you have to move about the world with protection?” I wasn’t going to change my mind, but I still wanted insight.
“Do you understand that most people would love the idea of having someone dedicated to watching their back? People praise the police for doing that, but they don’t prevent crime and half the time they don’t investigate it unless it benefits them in some capacity. We have people around us who are vetted to ensure we are safe. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t going to need to learn to handle yourself.” I gulped because Ms. Babette was speaking to something I’d been thinking on. I’d used my gun at the range, but I was nowhere near as equipped as Navi to handle a situation.
“I was lucky. My daughter-in-law is about wilder than me. Xerxes is a true lover cause he went and picked him a romantic. But if you’re out here slapping bitches for disrespecting your godchildren and protecting my nephew when he’s shot, you are more than capable of doing what you need to.” Auntie Pat gave me a wink and I blushed and turned my head.
“It didn’t feel like it. When the bullets were flying, I couldn’t help.”
Ms. Babette walked up toward me and took my face in her hands. “That wasn’t your job at the moment. Your job was to sit there and be safe so Xerxes could do what he does best: protect. Had you done anything else, it would’ve distracted him. I don’t think you understand that there are levels to being capable. Some women are quick to broadcast their ability to the world, like Jada. Others are sneaky about it, like Jasmine. Or even Francesca. The girl makes jam and preserves for a living. But when she needed to, she was more than ready to get down to business. You don’t have to be a—”
“Gat tottin’ pistol holdin’ nigga on these damn streets.” Auntie Patricia started rapping a song I didn’t know and I just stared at her wide eyed as she started to bounce around.
“I did not think now was the time for Knuck if You Buck lyrics, soer .”
“It was the perfect time because you were going to freak the girl out. Be you, Vanya. Have your big hair and sweet heart and let me send you all the clothes I can because you make them look so good. I love seeing my son and his wife and her friends wearing creations that were once just visions in my mind. I can’t wait until my new collection is finished. It is inclusive up to size thirty and I’m going to have all of y’all in the campaign. Even if the photos never get used in print, this generation of women will be complete when Ori stops playing around and I can’t wait to capture it on film.” Auntie Patricia might’ve been a badass, but the look on her face showed she was a big softie, too.
“Is it always like this? The family atmosphere?”
Ms. Babette rolled her eyes slightly before she answered me. She adjusted the soft green sundress she wore before smoothing her hand down the skirt. “No. We had one wife we couldn’t stand and another that didn’t want to be around us.”
“You mean Ori’s mom was the one who didn’t want to stay?”
Ms. Babette was shaking her head and I wondered who else had a mother they didn’t like. “She wanted a normal life. She ended up with a man who wanted what she had and didn’t wanter to have a voice in it. I’d offered to kill him several times but she never took me up on it. And Shantel, Jahmir’s mother, well—”
“Shantel didn’t let the depth of her evil shine through until it was too late. We would see her doting on Jahmir and think she was at least doing something right since Cardinal was always a piece of shit.” Auntie Patricia looked completely annoyed about this Cardinal person. I knew very little about what happened besides what Xerx had told me.
“I was told they made trouble for your family.”
“He needed to get himself out of trouble and tried to throw the Cannons under the bus discreetly. A shipment of guns had to be rerouted and a few people paid off. But it would’ve been the one thing that brought the Consortium to the light. Since then, we have changed things so that it’s never an issue, but I still won’t ever forgive him for that.”
“Good thing he’s dead.” My head snapped up to a laughing Auntie Patricia and Ms. Babette was trying to keep her face straight.
“Yeah, for him. I won’t mind watching him get tortured again.” Ms. Babette couldn’t hold it in any longer and bust out laughing.
“I’m going to assume this is a bad person.” I didn’t understand the humor but I was fighting not to laugh myself.
“ Was . But they don’t matter anymore.”
“Is there anything you think I should know? About what it means to be married into this.” My hair was in a braid and I started playing with the ends of it as I waited anxiously for them to tell me something.
Auntie Pat took my hand and squeezed it softly before Ms. Babette spoke. “You’re already doing it. Go to him if there’s an issue no matter how big or small you think it might be. Always remember that y’all are a team. No one should tell him something about you that he doesn’t already know and vice versa. But stop thinking too much into this, you’re getting married. This is all about fun and joy. Remember that whatever you want this marriage to be, that’s what it will be. It will take work from both of y’all, but I don’t doubt that you’re willing to work hard and meet my son more than halfway.”
I wiped my cheeks quickly and I swore this was the most emotional I’d been in my entire life. Before my tears would’ve been ridiculed, my emotions swallowed so I could appear unaffected. But here it felt safe to be vulnerable. All the deadly people I’d come across, I was safe in their midst. They saw me as one of them and I was more accepted than I’d ever been. “I am.”
“Good. Now they’re going to be bringing up something for us to eat so that we are full and ready to relax. Is Nev joining us?” I wanted a chance to talk to her as well, since Midas and Xerxes had practically grown up as brothers.
“I’m sure she’ll be up shortly. Her and my son are somewhere trying to give Mansa a sibling.”
“And you will handle two at once?”
Auntie Pat tugged on my braid playfully and looped her arm through mine. “I will figure it out. Now, come on new niece, let me get your measurements before we eat. I feel inspired to create looking at you and all this beautiful hair.”
There was a large box sitting at the foot of my bed when I got done soaking in the bathtub. Normally I wouldn’t use a hotel bathroom, but this place was exceptional. The Warren Hotel in Uptown, a property that spanned an entire city block. From what I could gather from the dinner last night, security had this place heavily fortified. Whatever pull Midas, Xerxes and the rest of the Consortium had, they’d shut down both portions of Tryon and Trade redirecting traffic so that only guests of the event were allowed in. Cars were being checked since there were foreign dignitaries coming and I was positive there was a sniper on the roof and people guarding the hotel from the buildings surrounding us. It wasn’t pandemonium, but it felt like a lot. It was a lot.
Auntie Patricia and maman weren’t wrong about the relaxation they said I would receive. Apparently, pampering the bride was a big deal in Persian culture and they weren’t going to let me skip the tradition. Nevaeh walked in with a glow that let me know Auntie Pat was probably right about her activities. We’d eaten lunch after she took my measurements and then I had the works done in the suite. Manicure, pedicure, light facial and the best deep tissue massage. I’d slept like a baby all night and then woke up to soak before we got down to business today. On my wrist was the delicate gold and diamond butterfly pendant that maman had presented me with after dinner. It was the first piece of gifted gold jewelry that I’d owned besides the gold band that Xerxes had given me. My dress was being delivered by Lira who would stay and help get me ready. Everyone would be here within the next hour and I was excited to get the day started and see Xerxes again. Sex had been on my mind heavy and I was so curious about what it could be and how it might not be so terrible with him.
But back to this box.
I eyed it carefully, noticing the bright gold paper and the large cream and gold bow tied on the front. It seemed to be a box of flowers and I wondered why Xerxes would have them package them up this way.
I opened the paper carefully, trying to yet again savor this foreign feeling of being given a gift. The weight of the wrapping paper was heavy, almost slightly thinner than card stock. I don’t know why I wanted to save it, but I did. I got down to a brightly colored box that was bright purple with a message scrawled across the front: Designed especially for Vanya for her wedding day.
This didn’t seem like a box of flowers and went I went to lift the lid, I got a shock. It was me. Not just me, but me in doll form. Same full lips, face full of freckles and big wild red hair. The doll looked as though someone had taken a photo of me and aged me backward and then cast me in vinyl. Blindly, I reached for the card tucked next to her, not bothering to keep the tears from falling. I could tell by the calligraphic handwriting it was from Babette.
Her note had me in full-blown tears and I wanted nothing more than to find her and squeeze her until I couldn’t any more.
I was ready to run out of the room but Frankie walked in the room with the key I’d given her last night.
“Are you okay?” She was dressed causally with her hair pulled up in a bun. Her eyes were panicked as she saw how I was in distress.
“Where are the mothers? Where is Babette? I need to see her.”
“Why? Are you trying to run away—” I rolled my eyes at her but I couldn’t even get mad because less than a year ago I was trying to help her scale the side of a building to freedom.
I tore the doll out of the package and battled the urge to hug her to me. For a woman to make me feel so seen, so appreciated, I was almost speechless. I had never had dolls to play with that looked like me. I was told that I was too funny looking to have a doll. My job was to take care of the younger siblings if I wanted a doll. But this was a little me, like I was important enough to be represented. “I have to thank her, Frankie. Look at what she did! She got me a doll! She made me a little me! Nobody has ever—”. The sobs took over again and Frankie held me up as best she could.
“Van, I’m getting you a Prozac or a shot of liquor. Your mother-in-law got you a gift. It is a beautiful thing. You know I know a lot about shitty mothers, but mine was actively awful just like the bitch who supposedly took you in. I want you to understand that you are overwhelmed, but these women are wonderful. Look at the men they raised…” she looked off but then shook her head. “Okay, look at them from the non murdery point of view.”
I laughed and then didn’t mind hugging the doll to me. “Isn’t she beautiful, Frankie?”
“Of course she is, Vannie. She looks like you.” Frankie was crying with me and I felt so much joy. Like this doll was the first piece of joy on my happiest day.
“Thank you for this. For being my friend. For allowing me the chance to be in your life so fully that led me to this man. I’m so happy in a way that I didn’t think was possible. I’m so happy I met you in the grocery store. Thank you for being my sister.” She was sobbing now and I grabbed her up in a big hug.
“You helped me when I was down. Loved my baby as your own. I love you too, baby daddy. Now come on so we can get you married.”