Read an Excerpt
Chapter One
The Funeral
Hello, Aunt Sally? It's Princess. We're gettin ready to leave now. Yall are gone ride in the limo with us, right?"
There was a slight tone of anxiety in her voice, a small flutter.
"Sure, baby, we on our way, soon as we pick up Janice. How's everybody holdin up? How's your sister and her kids makin out?"
"Well, so far, so good. Kim's takin it pretty hard, but the kids, they too young to realize what's really goin on."
"Okay, fine. Now, Princess, just in case we don't have too much time alone when I get there, I want you to know I'm here for you. Any problems, just let me know. You know we yo family now, me, Jan, and Roach, don't you?"
"Yes, ma'am, Auntie. Thanks."
"Here she is now. I'm on my way. See you in a minute. Stay calm, baby."
Sally Mae heard a slight sob on the other end of the line, then nothing but the dial tone. Poor babies, she thought, as she set the receiver down. Kim was only twenty-six, and Princess was what, twenty-two, twenty-three? Way too soon to lose their mama. As she grieved for these now-motherless children, the front door opened and in came Omar, her own son.
"Ready, Mom?"
"Yeah, just about. You go head back to the car. Where's my grandbaby?"
"Well—" he hesitated.
"Well, what?" Sal glanced around at him quickly.
"Well, Miss Shirley offered to keep Doll, and I figured that would be best, since she too young to be goin to a funeral, anyway."
"That rotten-tooth cow?"
"Aw, come on, Mom. She is her grandmother, just like you, and I know how busy you and the aunties are gone be." Omar ducked his head, notmeeting Sal's eyes."Well, I guess one day won't hurt. But know we gone stop and get her after the funeral, now, don't you?"
"Whatever." A quick flash of annoyance passed over Omar's face, then was gone. "You look real nice, Mom."
Sally smiled and finally stopped fidgeting with her hat.
"Thank you, baby. Now, you go head. I be right out."
She brushed her hand across his forehead, tracing the high, delicate arch of his eyebrow, so like his father's. Omar leaned down and kissed her cheek.
"Lookin good, Mustang Sally."
"Boy, git on outta here."
Sal blushed in spite of herself. Mustang Sally. Where had that come from? It had to be a coincidence. He couldn't possibly know — She knew she wasn't too shabby for a forty-something ole babe. It was true. Though she had put on a bit of weight in the last few years, she could still squeeze into a size 12. While the face now showed a few more laugh lines than she would have liked, and that pesky frown line between her brows seemed to deepen with each passing year, her breasts were still holding up pretty well, and her waistline was well defined.
The legs, her best feature, were still long, slender, and beautiful. Mustang Sally. She chuckled to herself, shaking her head at the irony of her son teasing her with the nickname she had been tagged with so long ago. If he only knew.
She grabbed the phone before the end of the first ring.
"Sal? It's Rasheeda. Jan's here now. They're out in the car, and I'm on my way. We'll be in our van, and we'll follow you over to Jan's. And Sal?"
"Allah is with us today."
"I sure hope so, Roach. We can use all the help we can git." Though Rasheeda had been using her Muslim name for over a decade, the JGs had never called her anything but "Roach."
After a brief conversation, Sal hung up, grabbed her purse, and took one last look in the mirror.
How could Peaches be dead, God? How could you let her die? She's only six months younger than me.
Oh, Lord.
Fresh tears streamed down her cheeks, ruining her carefully applied makeup. She heard the horn honking somewhere. It dawned on her that it was Roach and them, waiting for her in the car.
Okay, she could do this. She'd just fix her face in the car. She adjusted her hat once more, and went out to the car.
The small procession pulled up in front of Bible Way Baptist Church. This was where Peaches, Jan, and Sal had attended Sunday School, Bible School, and where they had been baptized. Rasheeda sometimes came with them, even though she had gone to Catholic school.
The little church looked even tinier now than it had all those years ago. It stood silent and unforgiving, like a betrayed lover.
Sally Mae stepped out of the limo first, glancing upward to the top of Bible Way's tall spire. She shivered in the cold weather. Janice followed, stepping right into and sharing Jan's memories. The church itself, the very building, seemed to rebuke them, holding Peaches like a hostage, forcing them to return.
They pulled their coats tighter, trying to shield themselves from the deep bone-damp chill that only a Philadelphia winter can bring. Rasheeda stepped out next, standing in between her friends. Sal looked at her and smiled. She was envious of her friend. Islam seemed to have given Rasheeda a calm, centered confidence and sense of peace that Jan herself had once felt at Bible Way, but no longer.
Sal had left the church years ago, disenchanted with the way the membership seemed to turn more inward, insulating itself, even as the problems in the community grew ever larger. Instead of reaching out, Bible Way sat like a lonely outpost in the middle of a war zone. So she had abandoned God's house, and instead of the church, had begun to rely on herself.
As for Jan, once a member in good standing, a strong voice in the choir, the Willing Workers and various other clubs within the Bible Way family, she hadn't been here since Junie, her beloved husband, had passed, and Sal knew she didn't want to be here today.
As for Roach, a former Catholic, she bit her lip, remembering all the times she had snuck out of Mass early to join the others at this very same church, all the while praying that her soul would not be damned to hell for doing so.
One by one, the family exited the flower-covered limousine. First Princess and Kim, Peaches's two daughters, then Pumpkin and Lang Lang, Kim's two children. From the second car came Rasheeda's fourteen-year-old twin sons, accompanied by their father, Hakim, followed by Omar, Sally's only child.
They could see a line of people already entering the church. A few waved or nodded. There was Puddin, Gigi, and China Doll. Tookie and everybody from the White Devil seemed to be there. There was Sheila Brewster, still running her mouth. Even Monsieur Daddy Baby and Red Top were there.
Mr. Daniels, the mortician, nodded. Jan had met with him previously, once with Kim and Princess, to identify the body, and once again with Sally Mae and Rasheeda to attend to the preparations and details of the funeral. Thank God, Peaches had kept her small insurance policy paid up, and even that wasn't quite enough to bury her properly.
The women had all dug into their own pockets to come up with the $1700 more needed to pay the total bill.
Mr. Daniels smilingly assured them that everything was in order.
With that, the women closed ranks around Kim, Princess, and the children, and they all began to walk up the steps and into the church, their own children following closely behind. As they walked in, two by two, the choir, led by Bertha Gray, began singing, "God Will Take Care of You."
Bertha was a shy and awkward girl who didn't say much, but when she sang, ahhh, when she sang, her voice, a sound somewhere between a child's prayer and a sigh from heaven, made the old folks in the church weep and the younger ones grab each other by the hand.
They could see the casket as soon as they entered, all bronze and peach satin. Kim immediately started to break down…
