Matrimonial Bliss
by Jessica Tilles

 

Chapter 1

 

Those Whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder...including one's sister.

 

China’s Residence – Orlando, Florida – The Eve of Ron’s Funeral

Maya grew disgusted with each passing moment, as she peered at China’s psychotic looking ass. The one last nerve she had left, and her sister was tap dancing all over it! She didn’t know how much more she could take. As she tilted her head to the side, she followed China’s gaze to the cinnamon red walls. Maya wondered how anyone could sit and stare at a wall for hours, as she assessed that China had always been a nut, and they called her the odd one. Still, Maya felt sorry for her sister and all the pain she had endured. Yet, Maya refused to mourn the loss of a man who molested his own children. Well, he didn’t directly molest them; not in the physical sense anyway. Nevertheless, forcing his underage children to watch pornography and portray Debbie Does Dallas and Dexter Big Dick was damn near close to touching them, as far as Maya was concerned. So, for that reason alone, his ass should be cremated, and his ashes flushed down the toilet with the rest of the shit.

China had not uttered one word since Maya and Free’s arrival earlier that morning. In fact, she did not open the door. After five minutes of waiting for China to respond to their constant doorbell ringing and knocking, Free felt around under the terracotta flowerpot for the spare key she knew would be there, while Maya shifted her weight, huffing and puffing like a spoiled brat.

Staring at the wall, with disheveled hair, China looked like a nutcase straight out of an asylum. She took Ron’s suicide extremely hard, struggling with mixed feelings. Part of her wanted him dead for all he had done to their children. She also wanted to be the one who had pulled the trigger, sending that speeding bullet that blew a powerful hole in the back of his head, for all he had put her through, having an affair and being intimate with someone else other than his wife. However, China would not have taken Ron’s betrayal so hard had his choice in lovers was of the opposite sex. The idea of her husband fucking another man left her to feel as if she was not enough for him, less than desirable. The disgusting visual danced in her head and she cringed at the thought of her husband caressing another man. Continuously, the questions of when did he stop wanting her and what made her man desire another man consumed her twenty-four-seven. And, what was more frustrating was her not having the answer to those questions, and Ron since committed such a cowardly act, her questions would remain unanswered. It was all disgusting as far as she was concerned, two men entwined, rubbing, kissing, sucking, fondling…she would do everything in her power to ensure her son, Andre, does not end up like his daddy.

Agitated, Maya shifted around on the sofa, as she continued peering at her older sister. Shaking her head, she parted her lips to speak when Free entered the living room, stopping her short of spewing her usual venom of hatred toward China, the sister she loved to hate.

“The dishes have been put away and I mopped the floor, too,” smiled Free, with her hands propped atop her full-figured hips. She looked at China, then to Maya where she held her gaze.

Peering at Free, Maya shrugged her shoulders, rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Returning her attention to China, Free took a step closer to her youngest sister and placed her hand on her shoulder. Noticing the tiny lint ball resting in her hair, Free picked it out before she spoke.

“China, honey, can I get you anything?”

China maintained her zombie-like state, so eerie and unlike her. In fact, it sent a spine tingling chill throughout Free. She was quite concerned that China may do something drastic, as if she were suicidal, maybe borderline psychotic.

The need to say something was like a bad crab itch she needed to scratch, and Maya could not hold her tongue to save her life, and nor did she want to. She was going to scratch that itch if it killed her. “She’s been sitting there for most of the day. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She needs to—”

Free stood erect and squared her shoulders, shooting a piercing look at Maya, cutting her words short.

Maya tossed her hands up in the air. “What? Free…look at her! She hasn’t moved.” She folded her legs beneath her, Indian-style, and huffed. “It’s kind of weird. Don’t you think?”

Free sighed and sat in the recliner next to the marble fireplace, emblazoned with a hot ass fire in Orlando, Florida in the month of July.

“She could’ve at least combed her hair,” Maya insisted on pointing out. “And, it’s hot as shit in here. Who the hell lights a fire this time of year?”

Piling her micro braids atop her head, Free stretched her neck to the side and sighed from exhaustion. The drive from Atlanta to Orlando had taken its toll on her, especially when Maya’s lazy ass refused to drive.

She dabbed her forehead. It is quite warm, she thought before saying, “Leave her alone, Maya. You know she’s dealing with something tragic.”

“Has she bathed?”

“That’s enough, Maya.” Free spoke in her normal irritated tone used when addressing Maya.

“For real, Free, it’s not healthy.” She sighed, looking at the fireplace and pulling her T-shirt over her head. “I think it is warm enough in here. Can we please put out the fire?”

Hissing, Free snapped her head toward Maya. “She’s grieving,” she snapped between clenched teeth. “What is wrong with you?”

Maya met Free’s stare dead on. “What’s wrong with me? You should ask her that question, a damn fire in the middle of July!” Not in the mood to go toe-to-toe with Free, the muscles in her face relaxed as her shoulders slouched. “It just breaks my heart. I wish there was something I could do.” She dabbed the back of her neck with the T-shirt. “Damn, it’s too hot in here, for real.”

Free released a slight chuckle. “Yes, it is warm. But I suppose China was cold, which—”

 “No, China is crazy as shit.” Out of habit, Maya rubbed the twenty-something-year-old scar above her eye. “Just like when we were kids, she—”

“Oh, let’s not sing the same song again, Maya. You were children, and China didn’t know any better.”

“Yeah, well, I will never forget it.”

Although disheartening, it was no secret that China and Maya weren’t the best of friends, and there surely wasn’t any love lost between them. It may have had something to do with China lassoing Maya like a baby calf, and pushing her down a flight of stairs when she was five years old, leaving quite a nasty cut above her right eye for remembrance.

 

eeee

 

It was late 1970 and twelve-year-old China stood at the top of the stairs leading to the dark, damp basement. Knowing five-year-old Maya dreaded that horrid place, and feared it immensely (from constant teasing about the Boogeyman and creepy crawling things that would eat her alive), she was determined to lock her away and maybe she wouldn’t be found. Maya was a spoiled brat, harboring all of Mama and Daddy’s attention, which left China with the feeling of neglect. No one is going to miss her for a little while, she had thought to herself, as she hunched up her shoulders and crouched down, peering down the steps, into the darkness.

She flipped the light switch and crept down the steps. As quiet as it’s kept, China was equally afraid of the basement. At the bottom, she looked around the cold, concrete basement until she spotted an extension cord coiled in the corner, next to the monstrosity of a furnace. Quickly, she held her breath and darted over to the corner, snatched up the extension and jetted up the stairs. At the top landing, she flipped off the light switch and started humming You Are My Sunshine as she trotted up the stairs toward the bedroom she shared with Maya and Jade. As the eldest of the four sisters, Free had a room of her own.

A vindictive, mischievous child, China felt Maya was garnering too much attention and it was time for her to disappear, but only for a little while, of course. At least until after dinner. She loved her sister, and didn’t want any real harm to come to her, she was just sick of her for a hot minute.

“Maya, you wanna play a game?” China yelled up the stairs to her room, where her sister played with her dolls.

“Yes,” she yelled back, excited to be playing with someone else besides herself. Maya dropped her dolls and ran to the top of the steps. “I wanna play.” A smile as wide as the Atlantic Ocean graced her angelic face.

“Well, come on then.”

“Okay,” Maya smiled, as she took one carpeted step at a time, holding tightly to the rail.

“Hurry up, Maya!”

“I’m comin’,” she said, finally descending the bottom step and running behind her big sister, the one who held the trust of a five-year-old in the palm of her hand.

They ran through the living and into the kitchen, stopping abruptly at the top of the stairs leading to the basement.

Fear blanketed Maya’s face. “Uh huh, China. Me no wanna go down dere. I scared.”

“What are you scared of?” asked China, trying to coax her sister down the stairs so she could close the door behind her.

“You said the bogeyman was gon’ get me, and I don’t wanna go down dere.” She started to cry, as tears welled her big brown eyes.

China grabbed Maya by the arm and sat her down on the top step; she sat down beside her. “Ain’t no Boogeyman down there, you scaredy cat.”

Maya, on the verge of wailing, nodded her head frantically, tears glistened her plump cheeks. “Uh huh.”

“No it’s not…” She took the extension cord and tied it around Maya’s tiny ankles.

“Whatchu doing, China?”

“This gon’ scare the Boogeyman. He won’t hurt you with this around your ankles.”

Maya, too young to know any better, looked at her sister with admiration and a huge smile. “Dats gon’ scare him away?”

China nodded her head. “There,” said China, tying the final knot in the extension cord. “You have to stand up.” China stood up and pulled Maya up with her. “Now stand right here. Okay?”

Maya looked up at China, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. Instantly, fear blew through her like a tornado and urine trickled down her tiny legs. “I want my mommy,” Maya cried out. “I want my mommy!” she cried out again, hollering at the top of her lungs.

Maya’s crying angered China. “Stop crying, you big baby!” she snapped at her, causing her to waiver. China, with not so much of a thought, yelled, “You get on my nerves!” and pushed Maya down the wooden basement steps, slamming the door shut.

Loud, blood-curdling screams rose from the basement up two levels to Free’s bedroom, where she was doing her homework. Startled, she tossed her books on the floor and darted into the hallway.

“What’s wrong?” she yelled, looking in her sisters’ bedroom. “Maya? China? Jade?” she called out and no one responded.

The horrific screams continued as she jetted down the steps toward the cries to see China standing with her back against the basement door. A look of pleasure and contempt heated her face.

“What is going on, China?”

China remained quiet, never budging, as satisfaction pursed her mouth.

“Mommy! Mommy!” Blood curdling cries came from behind the door, sending chills up and down Free’s spine, causing chill bumps.

 Lunging toward China, Free shoved her to the side. “Girl, you better move out of my way!”

China stumbled to the side and slid against the wall, moving slowly toward the doorway of the kitchen.

Free flung the door open and flipped on the switch. “Maya?” Seeing her baby sister lying at the bottom of the step, in a fetal position, with blood oozing from her face, she yelled, “Call 911!” and ran down the steps. “What happened?” Her cry was deep, throaty and pulled from deep within.

China didn’t budge until Free yelled to the top of her lungs. “China, call 911, now!”

“She’s always messing with me,” China cried out after her behind was lit up with a scrawny thin switch that had instantly become an extension of her mother’s right hand.

The swooshing sound of the switch whipping through the air blanketed the room before it connected with her tender brown skin.

“She’s always messing with me, Mama!” she cried harder, as her pleas were ignored. When her mother’s arm tired, the whipping ceased and China’s ass felt like a towering inferno, as she could not sit down for hours. Back then, the punishment she received for tossing Maya down the stairs would be considered child abuse, as had to sleep face down. That was the end to China’s plotting activities to get rid of her sister.

 

eeee

 

Slowly, China turned her head toward Free and Maya, stroking her tongue around the inside of her mouth. She was about to speak, but she paused, as if in deep thought. She hadn’t spoken in hours and her mouth felt dry and cottony. Lifting her hand, she raised her index finger and spoke above a whisper. “Don’t talk,’ he paused as she cleared her throat, “about me as if I’m not here. That’s rude.”

Dramatically, Maya threw her hands up in the air in praise. “Hallelujah! The dead has arisen. We were getting worried about you, girl,” Maya said sarcastically, reaching for the spring issue of Spiegel catalog on the small Mediterranean-style coffee table and flipping through the pages.

Stretching her legs out before her, China peered at Maya from the corner of her eye before addressing Free. “Thank you for cleaning the kitchen, Free. You’ve been a big help.”

“I don’t mind, China. That is why I’m here. Can I get you anything at all?”

“No, thank you.” With the tips of her nails, China tapped the arm of the chair and looked around the massive living room. “What am I going to do now? I have no job. No husband...”

Still flipping through the catalog, Maya confirmed, “You’re going to continue living your life.”

“I have no life,” China rebutted.

“You know, China,” Free started, “you could always open that hair salon you’d always talked about opening, with the restaurant.”

Closing the catalog and returning it on the table, Maya chuckled. Then, she frowned up her face and immaturely sucked her teeth. “First of all, it sounds like something straight out of BAPS, and not with the way her head looks now. Besides, doesn’t she need a cosmetology license or something?”

Free softly chuckled. Even though Maya was a huge agitator, there was truth in her words. China’s head looked a hot mess.

“I could use something to drink, Free,” chirped Maya, “since you’re taking orders.”

The look on Free’s face spoke volumes, as she snapped, “Do I look like your maid?”

“Well, no, but you did ask, and…oh, never mind.” Unfolding her legs and stretching them out before her, Maya groaned, “I guess I’ll get my own drink then,” before standing and stretching her arms high above her head.

“Now that’s a fine idea,” Free warmly joked, smiling.

Maya smirked, turned up her nose and asked Free, “You want anything, smart ass?”

Free shook her head no.

“I’d like some water,” China mumbled. “With cucumbers, please.”

As her brows drew together in an agonized expression, Maya frowned at the thought of cucumbers floating in a glass of water. “Now that’s some weird shit,” Maya mumbled, disappearing into the kitchen.

China lovingly gazed at Free. She closed her eyes and vaguely smiled. The pain in her face matched the tears slowly creeping down her cheeks. Free remained calm and waited for China to speak. Free knew, all too well, what her sister was experiencing. Although she had never experienced the death of a spouse or significant other, losing both parents was no picnic. China’s demeanor traveled Free to a place and time that saddened her tremendously, where she never wanted to revisit. Her parents’ funerals. For a moment, her heart felt heavy, with a stinging in her eyes. She missed her parents, especially her mother. She would give her life to have her mother at her side. She shook it off and redirected her attention to China.

“Has anyone heard from Jade?”

China nodded her head. “Spoke with her yesterday.”

“She is coming, isn’t she?”

“She’ll be here tonight; flying in on Jon’s private plane, of course.”

“Of course... How did she get so damn lucky?” asked Maya, entering the living room. “You’re out of cucumbers.” Maya handed China the glass of water. “So, I used onions instead.”

China looked at the glass of water and slowly rolled her eyes up toward Maya and snarled, “I should throw this shit in your face.”

“She’s back!” Maya chuckled, taking the glass of onion water from China. “I love you, too, and I’ll get you a slice of lemon.”

“So, what are we going to do tonight?” asked Free, as she rolled her eyes at Maya.

“I don’t know about you hens,” Maya yelled from the kitchen, “but I’m going out tonight,” she announced. “I’m feeling claustrophobic with Mother Theresa and Psycho Pattie.”

China shook her head and looked at Free.

Returning China’s look, Free smirked, shrugged her shoulders and mouthed, “What are we going to do with her?”

“Put her up for adoption,” China chuckled and Free fell out with laughter.

“Maya,” Free yelled into the kitchen, “you need to keep your hot behind here. You’re not in Kansas, Dorothy.”

“You know, that actually sounds like a good idea,” China admitted. “I haven’t been out in years.”

“Well then, let’s go!” Maya squealed, entering the living room and handing China the glass of water with freshly sliced lemons.

“I don’t know. Do you think it’s a good idea to go out to a club on the eve of your husband’s funeral?”

“He’s dead, Free,” countered Maya. “Do you think he’s going to know?”

China stood up, wrapped her arms around her and arched her back. “Well, it wasn’t a good idea that my husband fucked another man, but he did.”

Free cringed with disgust, and Maya’s mouth fell opened.

“It wasn’t a good idea that he forced our children to fondle each other,” China continued, her tone now filled with anger, “but he made that happen too.” She faced Free. “So, forgive me if I don’t give a shit about being disrespectful right now. I hope he’s burning in hell, with the devil’s pitchfork poking at his faggot ass.”

Pressing her hand against her chest, Free shook her head. “China, you don’t mean that,” said Free, studying China’s face. The dark circles and lines forming at the creases of her eyes was telling of China’s emotional state.

“Don’t I?”

“No, you don’t. I know how you’re feeling, China, but—”

China’s expression of anger turned to sarcasm. “Do you really, Free? How could you know how I feel? You still have your man.”

“You’re not the only one who has suffered a loss, and can we please not argue?”

China ran her fingers through her matted hair and, for a quick minute, she, too, ventured down memory lane to the day her parents were buried, and how, out of the sisters, Free took it the hardest.

“Yeah…” She looked at Free and forced a smiled. “I know, sorry. Well…” she paused and sighed. “I need to wash my hair.”

Maya threw up her hands and sucked her teeth. “Oh no, I am not waiting for you to wash that head of yours. I’ll catch y’all the next go-round.”

“Fine,” snapped China, but in a playful manner. “Take your hot ass on. We’ll be fine.” She looked at Free and smiled. “How about a movie?”

“I’ll pop the popcorn,” offered Free with glee. Watching movies was her favorite pastime.

“Good and I’ll make the Cosmopolitans.”

“You’d better stay here with us, Maya,” advised Free. “You’ll have more fun!”

I doubt that seriously. Maya smirked. “Maybe next time.”