Until the End of Time

by Melanie Schuster

• ISBN13: 9781583143636
• ISBN10: 1583143637
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Bet Books

Summary

After seeing her childhood tormentor in a new,light, a woman discovers that facing the past is,the only way to free herself for a love that will,last until the end of time.

Excerpts

"Benita, if you do not do something about that brother of yours, I am going to be forced to take drastic measures." Renee Kemp accompanied the ultimatum with a look that said she was not playing. Bennie tried not to smile, but it was difficult.

"Well, Renee, which one of my five brothers would that be?" she asked sweetly.

Renee rolled up a magazine and lightly whacked her best friend on the head with it. "Don't get cute! You know very well that I'm referring to your twin brother, the perennial thorn in my side, Andrew Bernard Cochran Junior. He needs to be restrained or lobotomized, whichever." Renee fairly spat the words, which meant that she was really steamed.

The two women were in the sitting room that adjoined Bennie's bedroom in the big house that they shared in the Indian Village section of Detroit. They had been friends since college and were as close as sisters, which is why Renee felt free to disparage Bennie's twin brother. Not that it would do any good-she and Andrew had not gotten along since the day Renee discovered him in Bennie's half of their dormitory suite. She swore to this day that he had seen her naked, a charge that he had denied for seventeen years. They had declared many truces over the years in deference to their love for Bennie, but with the best intentions in the world they could not get along for more than a week. Renee was just too much fun to tease, in Andrew's estimation. Bennie tried to be sympathetic, but it was difficult.

She looked at Renee, who was obviously pissed. "Well, what has he done this time?" she asked warily.

Renee turned her golden eyes to Bennie. "He has been sending me samples of Viagra in the mail. Samples and brochures, thank you very much," she hissed. "I do not have to tell you how funny that is not," she added.

Unfortunately, Bennie did think it was funny. She tried to control herself, but she started laughing, deep belly laughs, which had her convulsed with merriment within seconds.

Renee dated older men exclusively-very wealthy, well-connected men who were at least ten years her senior. Her escorts of choice were a never-ending source of hilarity to Andrew; he never seemed to run out of lame jokes to make at her escorts' expense. Even Renee had to admit that on some primitive level sending the information packets on impotence had a certain sly-albeit crude -wit about it, but she would never admit this. So she continued to try and look perturbed, although it was not easy with her friend rolling about, laughing like the proverbial hyena.

Renee had a great deal of practice in looking aloof. It was an expression that she had mastered after years of having her tender feelings trampled on by others. Renee's personality was often at odds with her appearance, and no wonder-it was an elaborately constructed thing. Renee was as complicated as one of those tiny ivory balls hand carved by Japanese artists that are actually a series of balls, one inside the other, each with its own intricate pattern.

She had learned over time that the best way for people to hurt you was for them to get to know you in some way. But she and Bennie had known each other for too many years to hide much. Now Renee waited patiently for her best friend to get over her fit of laughter. Bennie was one of the few people with whom Renee was really close. Theirs was a friendship that Renee truly treasured. Although it was being tested this day.

Bennie finally regained control of herself. "Ne-ne, I am sorry. I'm sorry I laughed"-she gasped, wiping away the tears-"and I'm sorry that Andrew is being a jerk. Again. I'll have a little chat with him, but you know how that goes." Bennie sat up straight on the love seat and took a deep breath. "You know my brothers think of you as a sister. So I think it's just brotherly ... you know, that makes him tease you so," she offered in a voice of conciliation.

Renee gave a ladylike snort. "Ain't gonna work, girlfriend. Andrew is your true brother and he treats you like gold. No, like platinum studded with diamonds. So don't hand me that sibling high jinks crap. None of your brothers would go to the lengths that Andrew does to plague me. He's just perverted, that's all. That man acts like I'm some kind of play toy for his amusement," she said. She was starting to get angry all over again.

"One day I'm going to have him just where I want him. And he will rue the day that he ever laid eyes on me," she vowed.

At the moment the culprit was bringing his long day to an end. Dr. Andrew Cochran was in his private office at his clinic, speaking rapidly into a small tape recorder, which would be used to transcribe his daily reports. A knock at the door caused him to look up and bid the caller to enter. It was his youngest brother, Adonis, who answered only to Donnie. Andrew was pleased to see his brother, although not necessarily surprised. He was close to all of his siblings, and often the only time he saw them was when they dropped by his office because his schedule was so full.

After exchanging greetings, Andrew said, "I know you did not come by here just to gaze on your older and wiser brother. What's up?"

Donnie picked up a small wooden maze from Andrew's untidy desk and laughed as he shook it. "The jury is still out about the "wiser" part. Listen, Adam and I are going down to the islands in a few weeks and we wondered if you would come along. You haven't had a vacation in, like, a thousand years, and the three of us haven't hung out in a while. How about it?" Adam was the Cochran brother next in age to Donnie.

Andrew hesitated for a moment. He was sorely tempted, but he shook his head in regret. "Can't do it, Donnie. I'm booked until June and then I go to Haiti with Medic International. That's going to he my vacation this year," he said.

Actually, it was his vacation every year. Andrew was a board-certified plastic surgeon who specialized in facial reconstruction He was not the man to give one a prettier nose or to turn back the hands of time by removing unwanted wrinkles. Andrew Cochran specialized in hope. For burn victims, patients with congenital deformities and those suffering from disfiguring accidents, he was often the only man who could restore even a part of a person's normal life. Andrew was totally dedicated to his career. He had yet to marry, and in truth he had never made time for any really serious relationships. He worked very long hours at his clinic and at the hospitals where he had privileges. He also lectured and wrote articles that had been featured in a couple of medical journals.

Donnie sighed with real regret but could not resist pointing out, "You know, you need to have some kind of social life, too, man. I know you're a great doctor and your patients depend on you and all of that, but you've got to take some time for yourself. This is why you never got married and why you can't keep a woman. You work too much."

Andrew lifted his brows and stared at his brother with amusement. "And what makes you think I can't keep a woman? I've got plenty of women, hordes of 'em. There's a couple in the closet, and one under the very sofa you're sitting on. And they're all free, too" he added with a yawn. "Stone foxes," he said tiredly.

Donnie had a smart rejoinder on the tip of his tongue, but the telephone interrupted his flow. It was Benita, touching base with Andrew.

"Don't tell me," he said, chuckling, "your little friend got a package in the mail that she wasn't too happy about, right?"

Bennie moaned with exasperation at Andrew's amusement.

"Yes, Bunchy, she did. And no, she is not happy about it. Although"-Bennie let out a guilty laugh-"it was pretty funny. But nevertheless, you have got to stop that! Can't my brother and my best friend get along for two minutes without me having to referee?"

Andrew took a deep breath. It was childish and he knew it, but it was so much fun at times. Still, he made a half-hearted promise to try and behave himself.

"So are we still on for tonight?" he asked, referring to his weekly dinner with his sister.

Bennie looked forward to the meal as much as Andrew did, but she had one stipulation.

"Yes, but either you cook, we get takeout or we eat out, I wouldn't show my face around here for a couple of days if I were you."

Andrew laughed. "Damn, is she that mad?"

"At least she says she is. You know that her hot button is her gentlemen callers. Anyway, are you willing to take that risk?"

Andrew decided that he was not. But he could not resist a parting shot. "Yeah, well, tell her if she doesn't want people getting her goat, she shouldn't let them know where she ties it up."

Donnie was looking at his brother with a big smile when he got off the phone. "So you're still picking on Renee, huh? Why do y'all go at each other like that? Can't you get along like adults?"

Andrew did not answer for a moment. The truth was way too complicated to try and explain. If he were to be completely honest, he would have to admit that there were indeed times when he wished that he had never heard the name Renee Kemp. He wished that his sister had fount herself another suitemate altogether when she attended the University of Michigan; then, Andrew reasoned, he would have never even seen Renee, at least not the way he had when they were all college freshmen. It was a sight that he could never forget, and the recollection of it could even today precipitate the need for a cold shower. It was probably the immense impact of that first sighting that caused Andrew to pick on Renee so endlessly. That, and the fact that Renee bristled like a wet cat every time Andrew came near her. It was that as much as anything that kept him or her case, he had to admit it. Renee made no secret of the fact that she could barely stand him. The fact that his pulse jumped every time she came into a room was no one's business, he felt, but his own.

Finally Andrew answered Donnie. "I don't pick on Renee; she picks on me . I'm just trying to defend myself, You know she's madly in love with me and won't admit it."

"In love? With your old tired butt? Please! You gotta do better than that!" Donnie laughed. "Now if she was after me or Adam, the fine Cochrans, I could see that, but not you, Bunchy. Not with your nonpartying, nonplaying, workaholic self. You're way too out of it for someone like Renee."

Andrew threw a paperweight at his brother, which Donnie easily caught. "I party plenty," he said, defending himself. "And I'd watch the cracks about my looks since you look just like me."

Which was true. All of the Cochraus shared a decided similarity in features. They were all well over six feet They shared with their sister, Benita, a golden caramel skin color and thick, wavy black hair that fairly gleamed with health and good grooming. Andrew also had what used to be referred to as "bedroom eyes," meaning that they were sexy, direct and inviting. In Andrew's case, they were also large and clear, with eyelashes that were unfairly long for a man. He had shiny thick eyebrows and a perfectly shaped mouth that would have looked almost feminine, had it not been for his thick black mustache. All the Cochran men, Andrew included, were big, handsome and pretty much irresistible to women. Except when I came to Renee.

Finally Andrew's hunger overrode his musings. "Let's go. I'm hungry and so is Bennie. So why don't you come with us to dinner? And since you're the youngest, you get to pay," he said with a grin.

Donnie agreed, adding, "Man, this is why you need a wife. We wouldn't be eating out and my money would stay in my wallet."

Continuing their amiable bickering, the two men left the clinic.

Bennie and Andrew need not have worried about a confrontation with Renee. She had a date that evening with one of her usual escorts. She had agreed to accompany Edwin Jackson to a play and a late supper afterward. As always, she took great care with her toilette, which was not symbolic of vanity but rather of years of insecurity. It was sometimes difficult for Renee to reconcile the reflection in the mirror with the image she held in her mind.

Renee jumped guiltily as Bennie entered her bedroom She hated for anyone to catch her looking in the mirror. No one knew what she saw reflected in its depths. Bennie however, knew pretty much what was on her friend's mind.

"Renee, you always do that. You can't stand for anyone to see you looking at yourself. In fact, I think you can't stand to look at your own reflection! After all this time why is that?" Bennie asked her pointedly.

Renee narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Have I told you how much I dislike the caring, perceptive part of your personality?" she murmured. "Bennie, it's hard to explain. I look in my mirror and it's like looking into my past. I don't see what you see; I see what I remember," she admitted softly.

She would see a smooth, velvety complexion but would remember the savage acne that had led to years of unmerciful teasing from her peers. She would see the curvaceous body but remember the plump little preteen who was afraid to wear a bathing suit or even look at a second helping for fear of ridicule. She did not see the satiny seduction of her chocolate brown skin; she would see only the little black face that was so much darker than her sisters'. By one of those strange genetic quirks, Renee was the darkest member of her immediate family.

"It's really stupid, but I still remember that color thing. All my sisters are the same shade of medium brown, just like Daddy. My mother is darker, but not as dark as I am, even though she has these same ol' yellow eyes. Nope, I look just like my grandmother. Not that it's a bad thing; Big Momma was quite a belle in her day," Renee admitted.

"But people always made such a big thing out of it! `Ooh, Pearlie Mac, where'd you get that little pickaninny from! Chile, you best to keep her out the sun or you won't find her come dark,'" Renee whined in a perfect imitation of the old ladies she despised in her youth. "I have to tell you, when I was a kid, you could call me anything and I would fight you, but call me black and I was zoom! in the house with a quickness. For some reason, it was just the most hurtful thing in the world to me. And I was the meanest little girl on Chateau Avenue, too! Nothing bothered me, except being called `darky.'

"The family reunions were the very limit. I love my mother's family, but Lord, it was all I could do to get through that week of examination and comparison. `Hmmph, Effie's child sho' got some big teeth! Unh, look how bowlegged that girl of Lula's is! And looky here at little Ree-nay! She just the spittin' image of Big Momma, ain't she?'" Renee shuddered delicately at the memory.

Continues...

Excerpted from UNTIL THE END OF TIME by Melanie Schuster Copyright © 2003 by Melanie Schuster
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.