Charisma #3
“You mean his girlfriend? Charisma, the harem.” Vashti made the introductions with a wave of her hand and I simply stared at the woman who was wearing Nate’s face like it was fashionable.
“Hmmm, I guess you all should be known as the stalker and the professional side-chick. Harem is too high a title for you two because they actually get benefits. I don’t remember your name being in the will when it was read.
” Vashti reminded me of a modern day Dominique Devereaux: rich, witty and without a fuck to give.
She was being classy as hell with each cut she inflicted but if they kept on I knew it would get ugly.
“You talk a lot for a woman who wouldn’t be shit without her husband.”
Vashti feigned a look of thoughtfulness as she tapped her perfectly manicured finger against the side of her lips. Her diamonds flashed as she moved and I noticed she had a little beauty mark on her face.
“Hmmm, now what do I have without my husband since he’s dead?
Let’s see, I have our son, the mansion in Preston Hollow, the retirement accounts, the trust funds, the bank accounts, the house on the coast, the condo in Aspen and the villa in Italy.
And over seventy percent share in our business.
You know, the one that I founded and he barely funded?
So yeah, I guess I have nothing without my husband.
” Her face looked so delighted that I immediately wanted these women to go away because it was obvious Vashti had even more in the barrel for them if they kept on.
“All of that can be contested.” Meredith was speaking like she knew something was coming down the pike and the way Vashti smiled, she was already prepared for it.
“Oh! Look at you. That was a big word for Elmo wasn’t it?
Contested. Someone has been watching Judge Judy reruns.
Or was it Law & Order? The will is ironclad.
Living trusts can’t be negated and we were both thoroughly checked to be of sound mind when we made our wills at the time of our wedding.
Funny thing is that I know you were working with his mama.
Tell Sarah Jane I said she can burn in hell too by the way.
But she don’t like you either, sugar. She’s just using you to do her dirty work.
See, you have to remember the hierarchy to this social thing, darling.
You look down on me because I’m Black and they look down on you because you’re poor.
Black is something I would never wanna change and rich, shit I’ve been rich for generations.
But you? Your background? Your pedigree?
That will never be accepted. These people are the grandsons and great-grandsons of liars of thieves and whores.
And yet you’re not good enough for them.
Because while their people were lying and thieving and whoring, yours were out there still being poor.
And that lack of ingenuity in whiteness just isn’t respected.
Don’t you know that, Meredith? Now, me and my new friend here are going to find Nate’s family so we can enjoy the show.
I hope once you pick your face up off the ground it doesn’t have to be surgically repaired by whatever doctor gave it to you in the first place.
And that you will stay out of our way whenever we cross paths again, okay?
We actually want to enjoy the view minus whatever the hell the two of you are.
Thank you in advance. Now, y’all enjoy your day!
” Vashti gave a little wave over her shoulder as we stood and walked away.
The smile she’d been wearing dropped and she rolled her eyes. “Two stupid bitches, I swear.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever had my feelings hurt for someone by proxy like that.”
Our laughter flowed as we walked arm in arm to the family booth. The rest of the Chisholm-Loves had already made their way there and I didn’t want to be late.
“Oh, they deserve it. Trust me. I hate that you have to see the mean girl side of me. It makes me look like a judgmental bitch, huh?”
“Um… not gonna lie that was a lot, yeah. But I feel that life made you this way.”
“It did. But one day I’m going to put down my bitch armor and go back to being the sweet and gentle girl I once was in Kentucky.”
“You ever think of moving away?” If she was going through this kinda hell I wondered why she didn’t go back home. But then again, I was an adult runaway so I wasn’t one to judge.
“Oh no! See, the city of Dallas owes me too much. Far too much and it’s going to pay up.
One way or the other. Besides, I like it here.
The weather is fairly good until summer when it gets hot as hell but then you heard I have different places to go to escape that.
And then the business is here. And since I built that shit brick by brick no one is going to run me away from it. Even if they tried to Bernadette me.”
Every Black woman understood that reference and it had me stopping in my tracks. Because I was definitely ready to fight. “Oh, hell no!”
“Yes, ma’am he did. Trust me. This lil ole girl from Kentucky knew her shit.
Didn’t hurt that my daddy is a lawyer, You’d think they knew better but Cliff’s notes version: they did not.
Those incorporating papers are so ironclad they can’t even pry my company from my cold dead hands.
I made sure that my son, my offspring, could benefit from it besides me.
So yeah, they’ll kick up a fuss. They already have.
But I’m more than prepared to fight. Besides, Kentucky doesn’t have the type of shopping that I like to do.
And once you’ve built a business to a certain level of success you get the privilege of basking in your hard work while you hand off the day-to-day drudgery.
I can focus on my son and just oversee what is necessary.
That’s the beauty of working hard when you’re younger. ”
“How old are you?”
“I’m thirty-eight. How old did you think I was?” She looked at me warily as she willed me to flatter her. I didn’t need to because I’d truly thought this woman was younger than I was.
“Far younger than that.”
“You’re gonna make me tip my esthetician even more than usual the next time she comes to give me a facial.”
We finished making our way to the family section and despite the number of people there, plenty of seats were still available.
I introduced Vashti to people and got introduced to new faces in return.
Yzzy’s sister and her husband had their entire family there including Yzzy’s mama.
They were a beautiful group of people and Jacoby and Runt played for the same team.
It was wonderful to see so many people interact with one another without pretense.
Vashti played with the kids for a little while despite saying she wanted to enjoy being child free for the night.
She clearly couldn’t help herself and Yzzy’s nieces and nephews were so adorable.
Once they moved on to use their father and his teammate as human jungle gyms, we got situated with drinks waiting for Nate to make his appearance. I focused on thinking positive thoughts remembering what Vashti said.
“Billy, you’re an agent?”
“The best in the country.” Yzzy grinned as she boasted on her sister but Billy only smiled softly.
“You have to be a lawyer for that, right?”
“I am a lawyer, yes. You need help with something?” Nate was always saying that Billy was quick to hop onto a cause but the way she was responding proved he was right.
“Potentially, but I doubt you take on the type of contract law I might need. And I think I’d probably need a family lawyer as well.” I could tell that Vashti respected Billy in the short time she’d known her and valued her opinion.
Billy, whose hair was slicked back into a bun to complement the high neckline of the denim dress she wore looked at Vashti like she was confused. “You run Holloway Industries but don’t have a group of your own lawyers?”
I didn’t know anything about what Holloway Industries was but clearly Billy knew Vashti. I was glad that she wasn’t letting gossip keep her from getting to know her. To her credit, Vashti nodded somewhat sheepishly.
“I’m not sure who might have been infiltrated by my ex.”
Understanding dawned on Billy’s face. Obviously, these types of games were played often enough that she wasn’t surprised at the tactic. “That’s fair. I know people so don’t hesitate to reach out. I wouldn’t set you up with anyone I wouldn’t let represent me if I needed it.”
Yzzy bumped her sister playfully as she picked up her soda. “As if Coby would ever give you a reason to leave him.”
Billy blushed and it was so cute to see that even after four kids she was still feeling the effects of being loved so fully by a man. There must be something in this water in Texas ‘cause the men I met didn’t play about their women at all.
“Thank you. To think I started today pleased that Charisma was a potential friend and I was blessed with even more. And I definitely will be reaching out. The Devereaux family has been dragging my name through the mud, I think it’s time I fight back.”
Billy nodded but the overhead announcement came over the loudspeaker before she could respond.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, back from his injury hiatus on the rodeo circuit this past season, please welcome back our very own, Nathaniel Chisholm-Love!”