Precious rested a hand over her flat middle. At twenty-eight, she’d become the perfect wife and hostess for a man nine years her senior. She was perfect in every way; however, she was unable to give Dennis what he wanted more than the fortune he had amassed. He wanted a son to carry on the Boone name.
She lowered her eyes. “Lovely and unable to give my husband a child.” Tears filled her eyes, and she reached for a tissue to catch them before they fell and ruined her makeup.
Lillian approached her daughter and rested a hand upon her shoulder. “I’ve thought of a way you can give your husband a child.”
Precious stared at her mother as if she’d taken leave of her senses. Only Lillian knew why she hadn’t been able to get pregnant. Precious had just begun her junior year at college when she met a boy at a fraternity house party. She’d drunk alcohol-spiked punch and ended up in bed with him. Two months later, she discovered she was pregnant. When she told her mother, Lillian reassured Precious she would take care of her problem. Taking care of the problem meant an illegal abortion. She’d gotten rid of her problem, unaware that the backroom procedure would leave her sterile.
She and Dennis had recently celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary, and with each month that passed, her womb remained empty. Precious was beginning to panic after she’d overheard her husband talking to one of his business associates that he was thinking of divorcing his wife because she was unable to give him a child.
“How, Mama?”
“You’re going to have to get someone to sleep with your husband, and once she’s pregnant and gives birth, then you can claim the child as your own.”
Precious began laughing and couldn’t stop until she realized her mother was serious. Touching a fingertip to the corner of one eye, she smiled at her mother; then it faded once she met Lillian’s eyes. “You are really serious, aren’t you?”
Lillian pressed her manicured hands together. Always impeccably turned out with coiffed hair, perfectly applied makeup, and wearing the latest fashions, she slowly nodded. “I’m certain you remember your bible study lessons about Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar,” Lillian said in a controlled, modulated tone.
“Of course, but what does that have to do with me and Dennis?”
“You’re going to get him to sleep with that young girl who helps clean your house.”
Precious’s eyebrows lifted. “Are you talking about Justine Russell?”
Lillian nodded. “Her complexion is similar to yours, so folks won’t talk if the baby comes out too light or dark.”
Precious shook her head. “No, Mama.”
“Yes, Precious. You’re twenty-eight, and despite having sex with your husband, you still haven’t given him a child. And you know he’s been talking about divorcing you because you’re barren.”
Precious’s eyelids fluttered. “Weknow why I’m barren.”
A scowl crossed Lillian’s delicate features. They were features that Precious had inherited along with her mother’s thick black hair. “Don’t you dare put that blame on me, Precious. If you had kept your dress down and knees together, you wouldn’t be in this predicament. But there’s no need to cry over spilt milk. What you need to do is listen to what I’m proposing, or you’ll find yourself replaced by the next Mrs. Dennis Boone.”
Precious sat on the stool at her dressing table; at the same time, Lillian folded her body down on the padded bench at the foot of the bed Precious shared with Dennis. “Okay, Mama. I’m listening.”
“You are going to accuse Justine of stealing a piece of jewelry, and rather than report her to the police, you’re going to blackmail her into sleeping with Dennis.” Lillian held up a hand when Precious opened her mouth. “Please let me finish. You know Dennis always has a drink before going to bed. What you’re going to do is slip some of my sleeping pills into his glass, and after he’s in bed, Justine can take your place. He’ll be so out of it, he’ll think he’s making love to his wife. Once she discovers she’s pregnant, we can set her up in an apartment in the city. I’ll hire a midwife to check in on her. Then, you’re going to begin eating more than you do so you can put on weight. I’ll have Dr. Raitt recommend complete bed rest for the duration of your confinement. And don’t worry about his ethics, because I’ll give him enough money for him to go along with whatever I propose.”
A beat passed before Precious asked, “After she has the baby, then what?”
Lillian flashed a Cheshire cat grin. “Let me handle that.”
“I need to know how you’re going to handle that, Mama.”
“Don’t worry, child. Justine will be compensated for her efforts. I’ll make certain she will have a place to live, and that she can get a job so she can support herself.”
Precious’s eyes narrowed. “How long have you been concocting this scheme?”
“From the moment you told me you had overheard your husband talking about divorcing you. You’ve worked too hard to become the perfect wife and hostess for Dennis Boone for him to discard you like the water in a pail after soaking chitterlings. It’s the same with me and your father. I knew I wanted to marry him the moment I saw him at his brother’s wedding, and I’d become what folks called a ‘brazen heifer’ when I chased him until he caught me. You were luckier than me, because Dennis took one look at you and knew that he wanted you. What really helped is your resemblance to Dororthy Dandridge. You lucked out when so many other women had failed when they tried getting Dennisto marry them. So, I’m going to do everything I can to make certain you stay married to him.”
A slight smile touched the corners of Precious’s mouth. She and her mother had been born into a group of socially and financially respectable New York Negroes who had to pass certain criteria for acceptance. It was through their husbands that they were afforded a status few would ever hope to achieve.
Precious thought about Justine Russell. The pretty seventeen-year-old girl with delicate features in a flawless nut-brown complexion, and thick black hair, had come to work for Dennis to help out her housekeeper grandmother, whose arthritic knees prevented her from standing on her feet for long periods of time to cook and clean the house. Justine, who had moved into a small room off the downstairs kitchen, was scheduled to complete all her high school courses this coming January. She’d told Dennis that she had attended summer school classes to accelerate and graduate six months earlier than her peers. She planned to take time off from her studies before enrolling in college in September with the goal of becoming a schoolteacher. Justine would be the first in her family to graduate high school and also go to college.
Precious resented the young girl, who was as quiet as she was pretty. Pretty enough for Dennis to give her a lingering glance whenever he encountered her. It was something Lillian had noticed and commented on whenever she came to visit. So it stood to reason for Precious that Dennis would be attracted to their housekeeper’s granddaughter.
“Okay, Mama. When are we going to make it happen?”
“We’ll begin this weekend. Give me that ruby bracelet Dennis gave you for Christmas, and I will hide it Justine’s room when she’s busy serving guests.”
