22. Leah
22
Leah
“ I
knew that PJ was bad news. I knew it. You said he was nice and talented, that he baked the best crème br?lée you’d ever tasted, and what did I say?” my mother asks me, hands on her little Puerto Rican hips. She doesn’t let me answer even though I know this one. I’d get one hundred percent on this test if she allowed me to take it. “I said, he’s got skinny ankles and he’d never be able to save you in a bear attack. Plus, he never ate enough of my cooking.”
“It’s true,” Dad says, scrolling through the news on his phone. “That’s what she told you.” He leans back in his chair at the kitchen table, eyes on the news.
“I remember,” I say. “She told me again when PJ refused to come for Christmas dinner and then again when he broke up with me.”
“And now that boy is suing my girl. My girl . ” Mom throws her hands in the air. “I’m going to bust his skinny ankles in half. No bear needed.”
“Camila.” Dad blinks up from his phone and stands from his seat at my mother’s dinner table. He sets his hands on her shoulders and leans down to kiss her cheek. “Leah’s got this under control. She’s hired a lawyer. Let the legal system do its job.”
“You mean karma,” Mom says, patting Dad’s hand with her own. “Karma is going to chew that boy up and spit him out.”
“Yes,” my father says. He gives me a smile, letting me know I’ve got this and simultaneously telling me he’s there if I need him. Man, I love my dad.
“Who is this lawyer? How much experience does she have? When are we chewing up PJ?” Mom stabs the table with her pointer finger with each question she asks. And while I like where she’s going with this, her intensity helps me keep a level head.
“My lawyer is a he ,” I say, a nervous tic pulsing in my wrist.
Yes, I was quiet and shy in school, but not at home. In my safe place, I could be me. So, my parents and my sister, Caitlyn, heard me complain plenty about Cooper Bailey. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if my mother had offered to chew Cooper up and spit him out at one point in my life—though I don’t recall. She chews up a lot of people.
“Fine, he . Who is he?” Her dark eyes are wide and demanding.
“He would be”—I clear my throat and mumble—“Cooper Bailey.”
Mom’s dark brows cinch. “Did you say Cooper Bailey? As in the boy Caitlyn thought was a real sexy pants while you thought he might be the devil in disguise?”
I blink my gaze up to my mother’s. “ That Cooper Bailey.”
“Huh.” Her lips purse and her head tilts, but she doesn’t offer to chew anyone up.
“Huh? What does huh mean?” I mimic her stance—hands on hips. “You don’t have a comment?”
“Ah, mija, I know school was hard for you. I know you struggled to be your beautiful self. And I know you feel that boy played a part in that struggle.”
“Wait— I felt , as in you didn’t agree?”
“He was a dumb kid. Who did a dumb thing. But was it a mean thing? I wonder, did he make you feel two inches tall? Or did you make yourself feel two inches tall?”
I curl my fingers into a fist. “I?—”
“I do not like that he embarrassed you.” She shakes her head. “But before Cooper Bailey came along, you hung your head. You dated that boy that was never good enough for you, and then he yelled at you. I’d rather be sung to than yelled at.”
“All of that happened because of Cooper’s actions, though.”
“It did. And yet, when you went to college, you found your people, your calling. You found your light. And today, if Cooper Bailey or any other man were to sing and dance and make you feel foolish, you’d?—”
“Break their ankles?”
She grins that youthful grin. She may be well into her fifties, but my mother has always had a youthful smile. “Maybe. Or maybe you’d voice your feelings and shut them right up.” She reaches out a hand and cups my cheek. “Which is exactly why I always disliked that PJ.”
I shake my head in her hold. “Okay, you lost me.”
“He brought you back to two inches, baby girl.”
“Not at first.” I shake my head no. “At first it was fun. It was good.”
The wrinkles around Mom’s eyes crease as she studies me. “You thought it was good. Until he decided to crush you. No more being crushed. You’ve come too far. You’ve worked too hard. Your light is for shining. No one can put out that light but you.”
I press my lips together and sit back in my chair. Mom’s hand falls back to her side. She grins and sits beside me.
“My question is,” she says, sipping from her tea. “How are you handling Cooper Bailey as your lawyer?”
I swallow. “ Fine . It’s… fine. We’re moving past the… past. I got everything out. We went to dinner with Mitch and Andrea, and I yelled at him in the middle of the restaurant.”
“Ooo, I like him already.”
“Mom,” I moan.
“What? A man who flames your fire instead of putting it out?” She winks, holding her cup close to her lips but not sipping. “Yes, that man I like. Plus, have you seen him? He’s like looking at a Greek god.”
“Mother!” I throw one hand over my eyes. “How would you know?”
“I saw him at his brother’s wedding—with your sister.” She shuts her eyes. “Yum.”
I grunt. “It’s not like that.”
“It’s not? Because you’re blushing like a maraschino cherry.”
“We have decided to be friends. I’m over high school. That’s it. So, get your mind out of the gutter.”
Her warm brown eyes crease with her smile. “Whatever you say, mija.”