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Mel told her about step eight. “Put Big Boy on the phone.”
Debra whooped with laughter. “Can I listen on the extension?”
Mel felt foolish. “No. And this is not funny, Debra.”
“So lemme understan’ this. You gotta tell everybody you wronged how sorry you are. How far back you gotta go? It seems to me that just callin’ up all them women at your old telephone company job would take a coupla years.” Debra guffawed again.
Mel was puzzled. Did Ready for Recovery expect him to go that far? He had thrown away his little black book the day after he met Adrienne. How was he supposed to find all those women? Then a new thought occurred to him. I don’t have to call all those women, because I wasn’t doing no drugs when I pissed them off. I also wasn’t married to none of them, so I didn’t commit any sin. Anyway, they should be over it by now. “Just put Big Boy on the goddamn phone,” he said.
Mel heard Debra tell Big Boy to pick up the phone. “Me and your brother ain’t got nuthin’ else to say to each other.” Mel knew that Big Boy was shouting the words so that he could hear them. Then there was a long silence. Mel was about to hang up when Big Boy spoke into the receiver.
“What the fuck you want, Mel?”
Mel swallowed hard. “I’m sorry for what I did to Lillian.”
“Say what?”
“You heard me, man.”
“Tell her that, too. You hear me, Mel?”
“Yeah.”
“I ain’t playin’; you hurt her again and you gonna be real sorry.”
Mel gritted his teeth in anger. “Don’t threaten me, man.” He hung up before Big Boy could say another word.
He lay on the sofa at Dan and Charlene’s house and watched TV until it was dark outside. Then he got up and put on a sweatsuit and sneakers. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. It was time to go see Lillian.
He walked a block before he decided to call first. She might have company, and he didn’t want to make matters worse between them by intruding on her privacy. He dropped a quarter in a phone booth and got her number from the directory assistance operator.
She picked up on the first ring.
“Lillian?”
“Yeah, this is me.”
“Uh, Lillian. This is Melvin Jordan. I know you’re mad at me, but . . .”
“Oh, Mel! How are you?” Her tone was cool.
“Fine.”
“And Adrienne?” The voice was now glacial.
Damn. She wasn’t going to make this easy. “Uh, she’s fine, too.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Lillian said briskly. And then there was silence. Mel gripped the receiver tightly, feeling like a fool. “Look, I’m sorry to bother you. Good-bye.”
“Don’t hang up so fast! At least tell me why you called.”
Mel took a deep breath. “I owe you an explanation, Lillian. Can I come over?”
“See you when you get here,” and then she hung up.
Lillian answered the door with two little girls staring out at him from behind her. She was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. Her dark-brown hair was pulled back into a short ponytail. It made her look younger. She held the door wider, and her narrowed eyes never left him as he walked in and stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say with the kids watching.
“Say hello to Mr. Jordan,” she told them.
