“What the hell!” Eustace shouted. “Is this some conspiracy?”
“What’s up, Daddy?” Melinda asked as she approached the counter.
“These three,” he said accusingly, pointing a finger at Hannah, Tonya, and Nicole, “are badgering me to take your mother on vacation.”
Melinda threw a towel over her shoulder and rolled her head on her neck. “Make that four. We keep telling you that you’re working too hard, but you won’t listen until you’re flat on your back. Look, Daddy, we have Tonya working with us, so you don’t have an excuse not to take time off.”
Eustace bobbed his head. “I’ll talk to your mama and maybe we’ll go somewhere after Mardi Gras. Satisfied, Mrs. St. John McNair?”
Hannah’s smile was dazzling. “Quite.”
“Tonya, give Hannah whatever she wants and don’t take her money, because we never charge family. And that includes you.”
Tonya’s jaw dropped. “I’m not family.”
He glared at her. “As long as you work inmykitchen youarefamily.”
Nicole patted her father’s back. “Give it a rest, Daddy. I don’t think Tonya’s the least bit intimidated.”
Tonya wanted to tell Nicole she was right. She was long past being intimidated when working in a restaurant’s kitchen. An executive or head chef could scream at her until they lost their breath, yet she refused to take it personally. She knew who she was and what she could do and had enough confidence to know that if she decided to quit, she could get another position—even if it meant starting at the bottom. Fortunately, now she didn’t have to start at the bottom, not when she was about to become owner and executive chef of her own restaurants.
Nicole gave her father a direct stare. “Mama’s taking off Monday and we’re closed for Dr. King’s birthday, so why don’t you take her on a dinner cruise on the steamboatNatchezto show her how much you still love her.”
Eustace’s dimples deepened as he smiled. “I like that idea.”
Melinda narrowed her eyes. “Just make certain Mama doesn’t come back pregnant, or I’ll never appear in public again.”
“Lindy, I can’t believe you said that,” her twin chastised. Nicole shook her head. “Hannah and Tonya, please forgive my tactless sister.”
Eustace’s smile faded as he glared at Melinda. “FYI, young lady, your mama couldn’t have any more children after carrying you two knuckleheads. She spent most of her time in bed, and the last month of her pregnancy in the hospital, because her doctor feared she would lose her babies. Three weeks before her due date the doctors had to perform a cesarean to save you and your sister. Two days later she underwent a complete hysterectomy. So if you have jokes, then just keep them to yourself.”
Melinda’s eyes filled as she covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t know.”
Eustace beckoned her and Nicole closer. “Come and give your gruff old dad a hug.”
Tonya watched as Melinda and Nicole hugged their father, feeling like a voyeur. It was apparent the Toussaints also had family secrets, just as she did. Rather than tell anyone that her brother was one of Harlem’s major drug suppliers, she felt it more plausible to say he’d died from an OD after injecting himself with a speedball of heroin and cocaine.
“Is there anything else you want?” she asked Hannah, who’d averted her gaze from the exchange of affection between her husband’s relatives.
“I’d like a baguette.”
Tonya slipped the bread into a paper sleeve. “Anything else?”
Hannah smiled. “I don’t think so. I have to watch what I eat or I’ll blow up like a balloon, and goodness knows that at my age the weight will settle in my belly and butt.”
Tonya shook her head. “Please, Hannah. You’re talking to the wrong person about belly and butt. Whenever I gain weight it’s always in the three B’s: belly, breasts, and behind.”
“Stop complaining, Tonya. You have the perfect body.”
Tonya wanted to tell Hannah that it took a lot of hard work to shed the weight that hung on to her like a good friend. However, she made certain not to obsess about her weight by counting calories, points, or even weighing and measuring her food. The reality was she felt better and now had more energy.
“What time do you want me to come over?”
“Any time you want. We can look at the video before or after we eat. The choice is yours.”
Tonya glanced at the wall clock. Melinda and Nicole always left at two, leaving her and Eustace to clean up. “I probably won’t leave here until four, and then I’m going home to shower and change into something that doesn’t smell like Creole seasoning. Look for me around six.”
“Six it is.” She waited for Nicole and Melinda to leave with Hannah, and then closed and locked the door behind them. Forty minutes later she slipped behind the wheel of her car and headed for the Garden District.
