TAMMY
“I got one. I got one,” Victoria shouted over the boisterous laughter.
Everyone in the Storm’s large parlor quieted so that Victoria could tell her joke.
“Okay, y’all. I heard this one at work. There was a woman. She put an ad in the paper. It read that she was looking a man who wouldn't beat her, wouldn't leave her, and that could make great passionate love to her. Soon after, the doorbell rang. When she opened the door, there was a man. He had no arms and no legs. ‘Can I help you?’ she asked him. He replied, ‘I’m here to answer your ad. I’m the man that you're looking for. I have no arms, so I can't beat you. I have no legs, so I can't run out on you.’ The woman asked, ‘Then what makes you a great lover?’ The man replied, ‘I rang the bell, didn't I?’”
Everyone in the room except for Emily fell over laughing. With her eyebrows bunched together, she nudged Tammy.
“I don't get it,” she mumbled.
“If the man had no arms or legs, there are only two ways that he could have rung the doorbell,” Tammy explained through laughter.
Emily contemplated Tammy’s explanation for seconds before exploding into laughter herself. Before she could tease Emily about her “blonde moment”, the doorbell rang, causing everyone to laugh even harder.
Jack excused himself to answer the door just as Luca handed Tammy a glass of red wine.
“Taste this,” he said.
Tammy took the glass and sniffed the contents.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“It’s a 2000 Chateau Margaux. Taste it and tell me what you think.”
Tammy took a sip, and her frown was immediate. The wine was extra dry, almost bitter. She took another sip, in hopes that it would be better the second time. But it wasn't.
“No?” Luca asked with a smirk.
“Umm…no. This shit is nasty.”
“Give her ass some Mad Dog 20/20. She’ll be all right,” Natasha shouted from across the room.
“Whatever,” Tammy responded, rolling her eyes.
“I don't like it either,” Luca said in Tammy’s defense. “The man has a thirteen hundred dollar bottle of wine that tastes like shit.”
Tammy could’ve choked on oxygen. She snatched the glass from Luca and took another taste. Surely, she was missing something. But when she tasted it again, it was remarkably worse. Tammy returned the glass to Luca, shook her head, and muttered, “crazy rich folks.”
“The last time I checked, you were rich too,” Victoria chimed.
“Yeah, but I’m not crazy rich like y’all. Thirteen hundred dollars for nasty wine, really?”
“I happen to like it,” Victoria argued.
“You a damn lie!” Tracy blurted. “You told me you hated that wine!”
“Shut up!”
More laughter erupted. Tammy loved the way Tracy and Victoria interacted. Their friendship was a pure and genuine example of true sisterhood. Tammy was happy to be part of the fold.
“Tammy, look who’s here,” she heard Jack say.
Tammy turned toward the doorway. Standing next to Jack was her mother. Tammy froze, surprised to see her. Had Luca invited her? It was when she held up her portfolio that Tammy remembered that she had told her to come by. When she did so, she’d forgotten all about their family dinner at Victoria’s. She hurried over to Beverly.
“Oh, darn. I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “I totally forgot that I told you to come by.”
“No, no, it’s okay. I can come back another time.”
