Day of Atonement (5 page)

“You ready to do this again?” asked Tracy.

“Girl, I don't know. Ready or not, come March, these babies will be here.”

“Are y'all still goin' to wait to find out the sex of the babies like y'all did with Nate?” Diane seemed a bit impatient.

“Yep,” answered Troy proudly. “Natalie and I have decided that knowing beforehand isn't important to us. Whether they're boys, girls, or one of each, they will still be a blessing.” Guilt rushed over
Natalie as he spoke since Troy had no idea that she'd asked the ob/gyn to verify their babies' genders. With Nate, she wanted to be surprised. With these babies, the pregnancy itself was a surprise. She'd only wanted to be prepared, but in retrospect, finding out behind Troy's back only made her feel paranoid. She was eager to start shopping and yet could not buy any gender-specific things without raising his suspicions. She had shared the info with her best friend, Aneetra, and had stashed some things at her place until it was safe to bring them to their house. Other items were on her Amazon wish list ready to be confirmed immediately after delivery.

“In my day we didn't have a choice but to wait. I don't understand why y'all have to be so difficult. How am I supposed to know what to buy my grandbabies if I don't know what they are goin' to be?”

“What matters most is that they are healthy, right?” Reed affirmed.

“If one of them is a boy, please don't let my brother talk you into having a junior. I think one Troy is enough.”

“So was one Al, but you had to jack up my nephew's name, huh, Trace?” Troy fired back. He smiled as if his dig at Al had been a compliment. He must've figured that using “Trace,” his pet name for her, would soften the blow. “I told Natalie that she should leave them in the oven until April so they can be my birthday present,” he added after Natalie kneed him under the table.

“You know your brother is crazy, right?”

“I've always known it. I'm wondering why you married him.”

Natalie made sure to knee Troy again before he could say anything sarcastic about her choice of spouse.

“I think having twins is neat,” Tracy continued. “Y'all are lucky.”

“Luck had nothing to do with it, baby sis. Your brother happens to be a very skillful man.” Everyone laughed, including Nate who was simply copying off of everyone else since he was too young to
pick up on his father's innuendos. Instead of kneeing him, this time Natalie chose to kick him for embarrassing her.

Tracy used one of her hands to make the “cuckoo” motion and pointed at Troy.

“Definitely.” Natalie nodded and the two of them exchanged an extra laugh, leaving the others at the table wondering what they had missed. Natalie and Tracy were not extremely close, but they had a decent time whenever they were around each other. Their mutual love for Lifetime movies and Troy bonded them. It always warmed Natalie's heart to see Troy interact with his younger sister. His love and protection of her was undeniable. It often made Natalie feel nostalgic about her childhood. Though she didn't have any siblings, she had several male cousins and when she was growing up she had been the youngest grandchild and the only girl. Her cousins looked out for her the way big brothers like Troy had surely done for Tracy.

“What's the game plan for today?” asked Reed.

“Al and I were thinking about going to see a movie. AJ and Alyssa don't want to go, so we were either going to take them home or let them hang out with y'all.”

“I want to go to the zoo,” said Alyssa.

“Mommy, I wanna go to 'da zoo,” pleaded a suggestible Nate.

After such a restless night, Natalie did not want to go anywhere, but a zoo trip seemed fun. “We'll see if we can work that out, okay?”

“Nuh huh,” Diane quickly jumped in. “Natalie, you can't go to the zoo. You're pregnant.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Girl, don't you know that goin' to the zoo while you're pregnant will mark your babies and they will come out lookin' like monkeys?”

The roar of laughter that came confirmed that Natalie had not misunderstood her mother-in-law. “I have never before heard that
in my life.” Stunned by this fallacious reasoning, Natalie looked at Tracy, expecting her sister-in-law to make the “cuckoo” motion for Diane as well.

Tracy shrugged. “That's the same thing she told me when I was pregnant.”

“Di, you are too superstitious. That is not true, it's an urban legend.”

Her mother-in-law could not be swayed. “Some things you're goin' to have to trust me on. We can do somethin' else, but we are not goin' to the zoo.”

“I wanna go to 'da zoo and see 'da animals.” Nate pouted.

Di looked at him apologetically. “Pumpkin, Gigi will have to take you another time. We don't want your mommy to have monkey babies, okay? I'll take you somewhere else today.”

My poor child,
Natalie thought, looking at the confusion on Nate's face because he could not comprehend his Gigi's rationale. Natalie had known her mother-in-law was superstitious, but this one defied the usual ones she'd heard like breaking a mirror brings bad luck for seven years. She and Troy both looked amusedly at each other. They would have a good laugh about this later.

“Um, Troy, maybe, we can, uh, go to Bayou Place and hang out for a little while,” Reed suggested. “I, uh, know we haven't really done things together, but I would like to change that.”

Natalie swallowed her food slowly and held her breath waiting for Troy's response. She still didn't know much about Houston, but she was aware that the Bayou Place was a dining and entertainment center located in Houston's Downtown Theater District. Everyone was looking at Troy. He was looking down at his plate.

“I promised to meet Elvin at eleven so I'm going to have to leave soon.” He seemed to speak generally instead of specifically to his father.

“Reed, remember I told you that Lilly's daughter was found. You know how close Elvin and Troy are. I'm sure Elvin needs Troy today.” Diane obviously felt it was necessary to explain things further.

“Oh, okay. Maybe later this week?”

Troy didn't respond.

“I'm still amazed that Elana's birthmark helped Lilly identify her after all these years,” Diane continued. “The news has said it's heart-shaped, but I would think that there are probably a lot of people with heart-shaped marks.”

“Maybe,” replied Troy, “but Elana's was very distinctive. If you ever saw it, you would not forget it. I'm pretty sure it's one of a kind.” He remembered all too well the unique pattern that branded Elana as though it had been put there by a very skilled tattoo artist.

“I don't watch the news much, but I did see a little bit of her story,” Tracy chimed in. “The whole thing seems so bizarre to me.”

“Did you know her, Ma?” asked AJ.

“Naw. I was too young when it all happened, but I remember Miss Lilly and Elvin of course. Tell them I said ‘hi' for what it's worth,” she said to Troy.

“I will. They're having a service for Elana Monday evening. You're welcome to come with Natalie and me if you want to pay your respects in person.”

“Why don't we all go?” suggested Diane. “It would be great to show them the support of our entire family.”

“I don't think that's a good idea.” Reed's voice was stern. “There are too many people here to show up to a funeral unexpected.”

“Not to be rude, but I don't know these people at all. I would feel awkward intruding at a moment like this.”

“I can understand your point, Al, and yours, too, honey, but I think the rest of us should go. Lilly and I haven't kept in contact
much since Troy and Elvin were in school and we were shufflin' them back and forth. I saw her over the summer and we'd talked about gettin' together, but neither of us followed up. I still consider her a friend and I think it's only right that I make an appearance. Maybe Tracy, Natalie, Troy, and I can go. Reed, would you mind keepin' an eye on Nate?”

Troy didn't give his father a chance to answer. “Nate is going with us.” Any hint of playfulness had been drained from his voice.

“I don't mind watching him if you guys want him to stay.”

“He is young and I don't know if there's goin' to be an open casket or not. It might be better to let him stay with your father.” Diane's voice was almost begging Troy to reconsider. It was a sharp contrast from the direct woman known for not holding back and often peppering her words with profanity.

“The issue is not open for discussion. I said he's going with us. Case closed.”

Quietness filled the room. The venomous manner in which Troy spoke made Natalie feel sad. She could not recall a time when her husband had been so callous. She was sure she knew what was going on with him, even if he did not. Troy had told her numerous stories about his dad, recalling the tiniest details like they had happened the day before. Troy spent years resenting Reed and could list all the reasons why, but Natalie understood the truth of the matter. Each negative memory equaled an experience of unprocessed pain. Together, they culminated into a mountain of hurt, which Troy masked with anger. She knew from experience how cancerous not forgiving another could be and she prayed that God would soften Troy's heart toward Reed.

“What's a casket?” Nate broke the silence.

“It's a bed for dead people.”

Content with his father's answer, Nate went about eating his food. Diane began asking Alyssa and AJ questions about school and their sporting activities. Alyssa was a cheerleader. AJ played football and wrestled. He was telling Troy about his stats from his sophomore season last year and how he hoped to break a school record this year when Nate decided that he wanted to join the conversation.

“My mommy and daddy wrestle a
lot
,” the three-year-old proudly announced.

Natalie felt her face starting to flush. “Finish eating your food, honey.”

“Okay, but I wanna tell my cousin somethin'.” He looked at AJ as if he really had valuable information to share. “Every time Mommy and Daddy wrestle, I think he wins 'cuz I hear her yellin' more than him. But 'dis morning me and Gigi heard my daddy yellin'. Does 'dat mean you won this morning, Mommy?”

Natalie, too embarrassed to look in the faces of anyone chortling at her expense, buried her head in her hands.

“Our son asked you a question, sweetheart.”

Natalie turned to Troy. Though she wanted to howl, she was too ashamed to say anything, but “I…am…going…to…kill…you!” The only good thing Natalie saw from this was that the joy had returned to her husband's face.

Amused, Troy said to Nate. “Yes, Mommy won this morning because Daddy didn't get to wrestle like he wanted. Mommy didn't want to play.”

“Her probably not want you to hurt 'da monkey babies.”

Natalie could have gone deaf by the boisterous sounds of cackling that filled the room. She elbowed Troy hard in his side. “I'm going to get you for this,” she said before getting up from the
table and leaving. Both Diane and Troy called for her, but she kept going up the stairs, finally chuckling to herself while wishing they had used another term besides wrestling to explain to Nate what went on in their bedroom the first time he walked in on them.

N
atalie's phone had stopped ringing as soon as she walked in the room. From the specialized ringtone, she knew it was her best friend, Aneetra. She started to call Aneetra back, but then saw a text she had gotten from Corrine.

Hey, U get 2HOU ok? Lmk. 143.

Natalie was texting long before her twenty-four-year-old daughter, whom she had given up for adoption, came into her life, and she'd considered herself pretty good at it. But, Corrine had introduced her to a form of texting shorthand she'd never seen. The first time Corrine had put “lmk” in a message, Natalie didn't know what in the world the girl was saying. Their relationship was still fairly new then and Natalie didn't want to request a translation, so she Googled it, learning that “lmk” was short for “let me know.” The 143 was another brain stumper, but by the time Corrine hipped her to it, they were much closer. When Natalie learned its meaning, she cried.

Yep. Here. Arrived l8. Sorry ddnt text. 1432.

To this day, Natalie only used the number code with Corrine. If it had been Troy, or anyone else, she simply would have written. “I love u 2.” Corrine probably used it with multiple people, but Natalie still felt it was something special between them. They exchanged a few more texts, promising that one of them would call the other on Christmas Day so Corrine could talk to Nate.

“You know it's rude to abruptly leave the breakfast table without saying anything.” Troy walked in the bedroom with a huge smirk on his face.

“Hush.”

He caught the pillow she threw at him and tossed it back on the bed. “What's up with you and all this abusive behavior? You were nearly beating me up at the table and now you're throwing things.”

“Correction. I threw
a
single thing, not multiple items, but I can change that.” She pretended like she would throw her iPhone and laughed when he flinched.

“You think that's funny?” He jumped on the bed and started bouncing so that it began squeaking again.

“Stahhhp!” She started hitting him with the pillow this time. Thankfully, he listened. The two of them gazed adoringly at each other. “What am I going to do with you, Mr. Evans?”

“Whatever you want. Maybe we can do that thing we did to make those monkey babies in your belly.” He put his hands under his armpits and started making animal noises.

Natalie shook her head in disbelief. “Craziness really does run in your family, huh? Don't you have somewhere to be?”