Palace Council Read Online Free PDF Page B

considered one of the most desirable Harlem bachelorettes, had been eyeing Eddie half the night, but grew annoyed at the way his glance kept following the bride, and finally switched to Gary. Rumor said she preferred white men anyway. As for Junie, she mostly sat at the table. A couple of the more daring young fellows invited her to dance, but she smiled shyly and dipped her head and declined. People pointed, and whispered. But, then, the senior clans of Harlem found her odd to begin with. The Czarinas did not know what to make of Junie, who studied law and showed no interest in marriage. Family ties might have rescued another young woman from similar strangeness: Mona Veazie, for example, was rather peculiar herself, pursuing a doctoral degree, but the Veazies, architects for six generations, enjoyed a social prominence that excused eccentricity. On the other hand, for all the respect in which Wesley Senior was held for his civil-rights activism, his family was not really—
    And then the whispering stopped, because Junie, too, was dancing, not with a nobody like herself, but with Perry Mount,
the
Perry Mount, Harlem’s golden boy, the young man every clan hoped its daughters might snare. A roomful of beautiful debutantes of the darker nation, and Perry was dancing with Junie. The Czarinas looked at each other in perplexity. Eddie glared. He had never really liked Perry, perhaps because of the golden boy’s ill-concealed crush on Junie, stretching well back into their shared childhoods. Nowadays Perry went after everybody. Eddie was determined to protect his sister from heartbreak. It did not occur to him that Perry might, at this moment, be making her happy.
    Gary Fatek, back at Eddie’s side, handed his friend a club soda, then, for a while, watched him watching Junie.
    â€œLook at the bright side,” he said after several minutes. “At least you’re not staring at Aurie any more.”
    (III)
    T HE BAND PLAYED a fanfare. Flurry on the dance floor as the guests parted, forming an aisle. Bride and groom were departing the palace, hand-in-hand, wearing their traveling clothes, and Eddie was cheering along with everyone else, because that was what one did; besides, Junie’s fingers were digging into his arm. The bandleader announced that the dancing would continue until midnight for those so inclined. Eddie was not inclined to do anything but lead the charge to the exit. Gary and Mona were very cozy in a dim corner. Eddie looked around for his sister. Perry, bowing like a cavalier, delivered her to his elbow. Junie was glowing.
    Eddie made himself a bet that Perry wouldn’t call her for six months.
    He had almost made his escape, arm around his sister’s waist, when an imperious voice bade him halt.
    Amaretta Veazie, the most senior Czarina in Harlem, demanded his attention. Amaretta was tall and stout and swaybacked, people said from years of sniffing down her nose. Her honeysuckle skin bespoke generations of careful breeding, for the Clans admired such planning. Her tongue was the most feared weapon in Sugar Hill. Turning to face her, Eddie imagined himself being asked his intentions toward her daughter, Mona. But Amaretta was smiling: a friendly viper.
    â€œOh, Mr. Wesley,” she cooed, sliding her fleshy arm through his. “There’s a simply lovely man here who insists that he is a fan. He’s too shy to ask, but he would be honored if you would inscribe a
dédicace
”—which she mispronounced.
    â€œIt would be my pleasure,” said Eddie, bewildered, as she led him across the room—bewildered because he had published nothing but a short story.
    â€œHis name is Emil something,” the Czarina explained as she led the way. “A white man, Mr. Wesley. He came with Kevin’s cousin Derek. Enid Garland’s son. Weren’t you and Derek Garland in school together?”
    â€œNo, ma’am.”
    â€œI suppose they’re just friends.