Any Way the Wind Blows - E. Lynn Harris [18]
“Will you let me know what he says?”
“Not unless he tells me to,” Windsor’s mother said as she pulled the pitcher of lemonade out of the refrigerator. “Now, come on and let’s go on out there. I’m hungry and I know your daddy is starving.”
That was my cue to hightail it to my seat.
“I still think you should have let me and Toukie cook,” Mrs. Adams said under her breath as she approached the table.
Windsor followed her mother out of the kitchen, and everyone else was already seated at the table. Mr. Adams was at one end of the table looking miserable, and Wardell was at the other end, forehead shiny and covered with sweat. Aunt Toukie was sitting in the middle, spreading butter on a piece of corn bread.
“Windsor, I hope you don’t mind, but I’m having a little smidgen of your corn bread. Your auntie is famished,” Aunt Toukie said.
“Toukie, why can’t you wait for everyone else? And in front of company, too!” Mrs. Adams asked.
“’Cause she wouldn’t be Toukie,” Mr. Adams said, his voice sounding like he was coming out of some kind of trance.
“Louis, don’t start with me. Don’t let me remind you who drove you to the airport and who is supposed to take you back. I wouldn’t feel nuthin’ putting your ass on the airport bus when we get back to Detroit,” Aunt Toukie said while pointing the butter knife sideways toward Windsor’s dad.
“Toukie! Stop with that filthy language,” Mrs. Adams screamed. “You know we don’t talk like that.”
“What did I say? All I said was ‘ass.’ We all got one. Wardell, do you use the word ass?” When he didn’t answer quickly, Aunt Toukie looked in my direction and said, “Miss Yancey, I know that word has crossed your lips a time or two, hasn’t it?” I didn’t answer but gave Aunt Toukie a polite that’s right, girl smile.
Wardell still seemed a little startled but looked at Aunt Toukie, smiled and said, “I have used it on occasion.”
“What about shit?”
“Toukie, please,” Mrs. Adams said.
Before Wardell could answer, Mr. Adams looked at Windsor and said, “Let’s hold hands and say grace. Father, we thank you for this food our body is about to receive, amen.”
Mrs. Adams and Aunt Toukie looked at Mr. Adams in shock. Windsor had told me many times that her father was known for giving a five-minute sermonette at every meal.
“Eula, if you can get him to say grace like that in New York, then maybe y’all need to move here,” Aunt Toukie said, and laughed.
For about five minutes, the dining room was filled with the sounds of utensils hitting plates and the subtle smacking of lips. Then Wardell looked up and said, “Windsor, the food is just delicious. You did a wonderful job.”
“Thank you, Wardell,” Windsor said as she put another spoonful of the macaroni and cheese on his plate.
“Can you cook, Wardell?” Mrs. Adams asked.
“Not that well, Ms. Eula,” Wardell responded.
“You can call me Eula,” Windsor’s mother said. Her father was silent and eating very slowly, like he wasn’t feeling well.
“Are you all right, Daddy?” Windsor asked her father.
“I’m fine, baby,” he said softly.
“Windsor, honey, everything is just dee-lovely,” Aunt Toukie began. “I would have put some onion and chives in my macaroni and cheese for more flavor, but you’ll learn. I need to send you some of my recipes. You know, I been thinking about doing me a cookbook. What do you think, Wardell?”
“Can you cook as well as Windsor?”
“Honey, pleeze. What is Windsor puttin’ on you besides food?”
Before Mrs. Adams could chastise Aunt Toukie, Mr. Adams’s voice took on a deep and soulful tone. “Toukie, stop your foolishness or else you might not make it back to Detroit or anyplace else.”
“Y’all know I’m just being playful. Why is everybody so uptight?”
After we finished dinner, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was tired and wanted to go to bed in a quiet house. To speed things along, I got up and helped Windsor clear the dishes. As Windsor reached for her aunt’s plate, Miss Toukie looked up and said, “Now, I know we just got through eating, but Windsor, I thought you had been doing that Weight Watchers, baby. The last time I saw you I thought you had