CHAPTER 28HUGH
CHAPTER 28
HUGH
True to my word, I drove us to Grams’s house instead of ordering a car on Sunday. It was nice to look over at her and hold her hand while she studied the water below the Bay Bridge. She had a point. This felt way more intimate than hiring a car. I liked it. Our weekend had been a calm one. It had to be. She’d been having trouble sleeping. We both needed the time to relax.
Saturday, we’d spent half an hour grabbing a few things from her apartment before she grabbed my hand and said everything else could be thrown away. A service came through after we left, and she was officially living with me.
After a few episodes, Denise insisted we get out of the house and walk around, and I begrudgingly agreed. We came back with a few things, including a giant bag of brussels sprouts and a bag of red onions. When I’d asked her what she was making she just eyeballed me.
“Don’t ask, just chop,” she said, putting several onions in front of me. “Julienne,” she added, waving at the knives that lived along the wall.
She’d already proven she could throw down, so I did as I was told. After I’d chopped half the onions, I leaned over and grabbed her ass as she peeled and cleaned the brussels sprouts.
“I have other skills,” I said into her neck, and she shoved me.
“Now you know this needs to be done before tomorrow. Don’t try and dickmatize me while I’m cooking for Grams.” Her hands slapped mine away and I nipped her shoulder.
“Boy, get out. Out the kitchen,” she groaned, pushing me toward the living room.
Grams took one bite and dropped her fork, gawking at Denny.
“I don’t know what you did to these onions, but damn.”
Grams was right, the tang and spice of the pickled onions and the natural sweet garlicky taste of the cabbage were delicious. I nodded and grabbed another forkful when Grams continued.
“I wish my grand-mère could taste these. That woman survived on pickled everything. You could pickle a white man’s toes and she’d suck on them bitches to the bone,” Grams half-sang as she grabbed more onions.
She covered her mouth with her sleeve, while I paused mid-chew and watched my plate, horrified.
“Grams!” I said around the food in my mouth.
“Cover your mouth. And don’t act like your nasty behind ain’t ever put a toe or two in your mouth.”
Denise snorted and she went from sipping her water to coughing it up.
“See what you did?” I patted Denise’s back.
“That’s the reaction of someone who knows you picked up your great granny’s love of feet.”
Denise’s cough-cackling was interrupted by the doorbell. Someone had come to deliver me from the chaos that was this woman.
“I’ll get it,” I said, throwing Grams a look as she winked at me.
“I can’t remember the last time I saw Hugh drive; I’ll assume that was you,” I heard Grams say behind me and rolled my eyes. She always took every chance she could get to gossip with Denise when my back was turned.
I peered out toward the porch and froze. It was Tyler. He could see me through the window, and he held up a hand. He wasn’t there for my Grams, so I opened the door and stepped out, closing it softly behind me.
“Hey, long time,” he said, dapping me up.
“Yeah, it’s been a minute,” I replied, studying him and the relatively empty street around us.
Ty was older. Much older. Age hadn’t softened his edge. The scar that reached from his eye to his hairline was just as aggressive as I remembered. I’d been there the night he’d gotten it. All the wild shit we did and he’d tripped and fell running from someone’s pitbull.
“I know you’re eating with your people. My pops has a question he wants to ask you. He sent me over to get you.”
His father was Mr. Parker. I already knew what my answer would be, but I didn’t want to disrespect the man.
“Sure.” I nodded and followed Tyler down the steps.
“How you been?” he asked, trying to fill the awkward silence.
“Good, just working. You?”
“Same.”
The silence was back before we talked at the same time.
“How’s J—”
“Pops said you—”
We chuckled and I waved my hand.
“Pops said you brought home a girl,” he said
I smiled before I could stop myself.
“Damn, it’s like that! Okay.”
Shaking my head, I put my hands in my pockets.
“How’s your girl?” I asked.
“She’s good, swearing up and down she ain’t want no more kids, but I see her ass staring at my cousin’s baby girl, grabbing her up every chance she can get.”
“That’s good. Real good, I’m happy for you, Tyler.”
We stopped in front of the house.
“I’m happy for you, too, man. I… I know I said some shit back in the day, but this is the path you were meant to be on.” He clapped my shoulder as Mr. Parker stood up from the front steps.
“Hugh. I’ll be quick, I don’t want Regina to get suspicious.” His hand fished around in his pocket. He pulled out a rose gold diamond ring and placed it in my palm. Waves were etched into the sides and an ocean-blue stone sat at the center. It was perfect and I knew she would love it. I smiled up at him and saw his eyes full of happiness. He knew her style.
Grams was only married once a long time ago and didn’t last. She swore up, down, and sideways that she’d never tie herself financially to a man again. It took her years to even admit she liked the man. He was twelve years younger than her, but they’d been together for a decade.
“I know it’s old-fashioned, but I’d like your blessing to marry your grandmother.” Before I could reply, he held up his hand.
“You ain’t gotta answer now. I’ll let you think about it. Now go on back over there before she starts screaming your name loud enough for St. Peter to hear her.”
I handed him back the ring and watched him retreat into the house. Tyler walked down the driveway with me before he grabbed my bicep.
“You’re gonna say no.” It wasn’t a question. He knew.
“Ty.”
“What am I supposed to tell him?” he pointed to the house and shook his head.
“It’s not up to me,” I sighed.
“Nah. You look me in the eyes and tell me that it’s not because of me.”
Silence stretched between us as a breeze kicked up. Tyler turned to me. His face was serious, and his eyes were desperate. His voice was on the edge of pleading as he whispered.
“I’ve got her. Pops got her. This whole ass block has her, Huey.”
“And when they spin the block searching for you?” I asked.
He frowned. “That ain’t never happened.”
“Yet. It hasn’t happened yet, Ty,” I corrected.
Taking another breath, I put my hands in my pockets again, hoping it would ground me in the here and now and keep me from falling back.
“You, me, Pops, Grams. We’re family. Ring or not. Married or not.”
Time had passed, but I could still see some semblance of the kid I’d run the block with. We had a bond, a connection. When I’d left that bond broke. But we’d always been there for one another.
“Think about it.” Tyler handed me a thick card with nothing, but his number scribbled on the back.
“Let me go before she tells my girl more embarrassing shit about me,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“What, like that time you thought her stool softener was juice, and you shit yourself in Calculus?”
I flipped him off and heard him chuckle behind me as I headed to the house.
“Who was that?” Grams asked as I settled into my seat.
“Jehovah’s Witness,” the lie slid off my tongue easily and Denise gave me a sweet smile as I sat down. Her hand found its way to my thigh and gave it a squeeze as she popped a brussels sprout into her mouth.
While Denise and Grams talked about buddy cop movies from the eighties and the newest unnecessary reboot, I was stuck thinking about Grams and what life could look like for her if she remarried.
Denny was watching me. I was trying not to notice, but I couldn’t ignore the way her eyes were looking into me. Her favorite spot allowed her to rub against my dick and lull herself to sleep, but tonight, her head was perched on her hands. My eyes were closed, but I could feel her, demanding my attention.
We hadn’t said much since we’d been back home, but I knew she had something on her mind.
“If you have a question, you know you can just ask it,” I said, keeping my eyes shut.
“I figured you have something to tell me,” she said. Her voice was doing that singsong thing that meant she wasn’t going to let it drop.
“It was nothing,” I said, trying hard to put it from my mind.
“If it was nothing, you'd have just told me what it was.”
I opened my eyes to see her chin resting on her crossed arms across my chest. Everything about her gaze was open and curious.
“It was… an old friend.”
“Of Huey's?” she asked.
“Yes.” We sat in silence for a few seconds. She was just as patient as I was. She'd waited until I was home and settled to get me to talk. It kind of terrified me how similar we were.
“Mr. Parker wants to propose to Grams.”
She sat up.
“Oh,” was all she said.
“You're surprised?” I asked.
“Um, no, you weirdo. I just thought it would take longer to get you to spill the info.” Clearing her throat, she sat up. “So, Mr. Parker is about to be your grandpappy. Why does that make you grumpy?”
“It's not him. It's Tyler, his son.”
She looked half-confused and for a moment before understanding lit her eyes.
“Huey's old friend.”
I nodded. “We ran together. Back in the day.”
Denny’s hand came to my beard, her finger running through and smoothing it. The familiar gesture made my chest clench.
“So, something happened,” she said.
Her gaze was soft, and I frowned.
“With Tyler?” I asked, confused.
She mirrored my confusion.
“With Grams and Mr. Parker,” she answered.
“...nothing?” I replied, still confused.
“So, wait.” She sat up so that she could glare down at me. “Mr. Parker and your Grams have been together for years. And… nothing has happened? She hasn’t been caught up in anything?”
Now it was my turn to sit up.
“Just being with him makes her a target,” I replied, feeling defensive.
“She’s been a target for years, then.” The annoyance was clear on her face.
“I told her I didn’t want her to date him,” I argued.
“And she did anyway. For years, it’s been fine. And now you’re standing in her way again. After she told you she wanted to date him.”
Well, when she said it like that, I sounded like an asshole.
“Denny—”
“Baby, I kind of like your testosterone bullshit—”
“Baby?” I interjected, raising my eyebrows and smiling.
“Nah, don’t change the subject and get all cute. Grams is grown. And she loves that man, and he clearly loves her.” When her eyebrows went up, she put her arms across her chest.
“Her safety—”
“She isn’t unsafe.” She cut me off, and we sat there staring at each other. It was clear that she had more to say, but instead of continuing, she laid down and settled into her spot.
“What she wants is more important than you needing to control everything, Hugh.” I heard her yawn, and I reached for her, suddenly wide awake.
“What happened to baby?” I asked, grabbing a titty.
“Take your ass to sleep,” she replied, moving my hand to her waist.
She was right. Grams loved Mr. Parker. Hell, I had wondered on more than one occasion why they hadn’t gotten married. I’d spent a fraction of that time with Denise, and I knew that she was it and once all this shit settled, I was going to give her the ring she deserved.
Why had Mr. Parker waited so long? A part of me wondered if that was my fault... Grams knew I didn’t approve and why. Was she putting her happiness on hold for me?
Grams was my whole world. The idea that she could’ve been waiting on me to come to terms with her and Mr. Parker… He made her happy and I was standing in the way. Shit. I wasn’t okay with that.