Harlem Redux by Persia Walker Read Free Book Online Page B

needs to be, yet still hungry.
    “It was Halloween,” Annie was saying. “Miss Lilian got to the door before me. She didn’t even bother to ask who it was. She was expecting a bunch of kids, some trick-or-treaters, I guess. When she saw who it was, she lost her voice. Couldn’t find nothing to say.
    “Miss Gem stood there like a ghost that everybody’s done put out of mind, even if they ain’t quite forgotten about it. The wind was at her back—whipping her hair up, like a black cloud. She’d been gone five years— five years —but didn’t look a day older. Maybe she was a bit thinner, but she still had that smooth, creamy skin. And she had this sable coat, thrown over her shoulders. Wore it like a queen, she did. Rich and sophisticated—like a Eur’pean. Miss Gem knew she was sumptin’ to look at. Knew it. It was in the way she held herself: just so. And in the way she looked down at Miss Lilian.
    “Y’know it’s hard to b’lieve that they started out as iden’ical twins. I ain’t never seen two women given the same material work so hard to do sumptin’ diff’rent with it. ‘Course, Miss Lilian was lovely in her way, too. It’s just that her way weren’t Miss Gem’s way.”
    No…it wasn’t, thought David. Lilian also had the slight but shapely build of a dancer and the paradoxical air of being fragile yet strong. She too had the oval face, fawn-colored complexion, and lustrous chestnut hair typical of her family. But Lilian downplayed her looks. Her full lips were sweet and generous, but she was puritan in outlook. She rarely put on makeup. She wore her long hair in a tight bun. And she treated clothes as a pragmatic matter: Fashion was a secondary indulgence. Her outfits were neat, tailored suits; her perfume, clean and light.
    “Well, Miss Gem was a-looking at Miss Lillian like a lion on the hunt. Miss Gem threw her head back and laughed. You know how she likes to flash them pretty teeth. Then she teased Miss Lilian. Said: ‘Cat got your tongue, sister dear?’
    “Miss Lilian asked Miss Gem, just as cool as you please, ‘What’re you doing here?’ Miss Gem didn’t like that. She got this funny look on her face and said, ‘It’s wonderful to see you too, dear.’ She took Miss Lilian’s face in her hands and kissed her twice, once on each cheek. Lawd, Lawd! You woulda thought Miss Lilian was being clawed, the way she yanked her face back. She looked down at Miss Gem’s suitcases—two large ones standing on the doorstep—and Miss Gem caught her.
    ‘“You’d better make up your mind fast,’ she said.’ The neighbors’ll start talking if they see me standing here like this.’
    “Well, that did it. You could see Miss Lilian didn’t like it, not one bit, but she stepped aside and made for Miss Gem to come in.
    ‘“You ain’t changed a bit,’ Miss Gem said. ‘Still a fool for appearances.’
    “Then she put her hand on her hip and strutted on by. Miss Lilian asked Miss Gem what time her ship had got in, but I think she really wanted to ask Miss Gem when her ship was leaving. Either way, Miss Gem ignored her. Just gave a little wave of her hand. She stood under the light of the vestibule chand’lier. She coulda been an actress standing in the spotlight. Her face glowed; her eyes sparkled. Miss Gem always did have a flair for the dramatic. She just stood there, quiet-like, looking round. Then she whispered sumptin’ about not much having changed. Turned to me, told me it was good to see me. Then she gimme them little pecks on the cheek them Eur’peans pass for kisses. I know they treat the help different over there, but Miss Gem knew she was back in Harlem, where a smart colored woman don’t try to lord it over the help.”
    David smiled at that. Gem knew better than to strut in front of Annie. If anybody in the house could yank Gem’s chain it was this old woman. He raised his cup to his lips and took a sip of coffee, enjoying its bitterness. “Did Gem say exactly