Chapter 3 #3
“You ain’t said nothing but a word, sis,” Shy countered. “Let me play bartender real quick. Ellie, go get my nieces so I can say hi before I take these shots. They not about to call me the drunk auntie. Where they at?”
“Girl, they’re around here somewhere with their cousins.
Knowing Tess, she’s convinced Brook to take her sledding down that hill in the backyard,” Ellie said, shaking her head.
She picked up her phone to FaceTime Brooklyn and, sure enough, when she answered, Ellie saw the large pine tree that marked the top of the sledding hill.
“We’re out back, Ma! Come outside!” Brooklyn shouted.
“Okay, baby, here I come,” Ellie called back. It was the most innocent she had heard her teenage daughter sound in months and Ellie loved it.
“Oh, if I’m going outside, I’m definitely taking a shot first,” Shy said.
“Did you bring anything besides those high-heeled boots?” Sloan asked, frowning.
“No, but I’ma just sit on the patio. These are Fendi. Besides, I’m not trudging up that hill to play with them kids,” Shy answered.
Ellie snickered as Shy found red cups and set up six shots. There were three of them, and their routine was to always run it back. They each grabbed a cup and held it up.
“To us being together again. Y’all bitches mean everything to me. I’m so glad you came home, Ellie. To Friendsmas,” Shy toasted.
“To Friendsmas!” they all joined in. They tapped the cup on the edge of the counter before taking it, then picked up the second cup and took that round to the head, too. Ellie grimaced, and Sloan frowned in disgust.
“My shot days are few and far between. This is terrible,” Sloan complained.
“Who are y’all?” Shy laughed. “Y’all know the rules.
See a shot, take a shot. This is the energy I need all week.
” As if she had jogged her own memory, she held up a finger to get them to wait.
“Oooh, speaking of, you know we must start the festivities off in a benevolent spirit, so we’re going to choose a charity and volunteer at one of their events tomorrow.
I didn’t want to choose the charity by myself, so I sent a list to your emails,” Shy said.
Cassidy walked back in the front door carrying two large brown paper bags. The family that was gathered in the living room all stopped him along his way to the kitchen.
“But wait, Cass is hosting a toy drive at his cigar lounge. Can we just support that?” Ellie asked.
“Sounds good to me,” Shy said.
“You good with that, Sloan?” Shy asked.
Sloan’s eyes followed Cassidy through the house.
“Nigga fine as fuck, ain’t he?” Shy asked, snickering. Ellie shook her head. She remembered her friends and their crushes on her brother back in the day.
“Don’t start, y’all,” Ellie warned, gagging playfully. “Hey, Cass! Come here for a second!”
Ellie poured a hefty shot for Cassidy and handed it to him.
“You remember Sloan,” Ellie said. It had been 23 years since he had seen her, but there was no way he couldn’t remember her.
“Of course; how you doing?” Cassidy greeted.
“I’m good,” Sloan replied with a short smile. “It’s good to see you.” Ellie frowned because she knew her friend. She was always pretty demure with men, but she couldn’t even look Cassidy in the eyes.
“So, you know we have a week of Friendsmas events planned, and one of the tasks includes supporting a local charity event. We want to pull up to yours tomorrow. How can we help? You need toys? Need us to serve food? Like, what you need? We got you.”
“That’s love,” Cassidy replied. “I appreciate you ladies. I think we’re set on the donations but just come by. We could always use the extra hands on deck. I’m sure I can put you to work somehow.”
“It’s a date,” Sloan replied. She grimaced and then tried to correct herself. “I mean, not a date. I don’t know why I said that. I meant…”
“It’s a date,” Cassidy confirmed, smiling graciously, relieving the foot from her mouth. “Here are your bottles. Y’all don’t get too tore up, a’ight?”
“Nigga, you ain’t nobody daddy, go’n about your business,” Ellie dismissed, waving him off and pushing him out the back door. “Go check on your nieces and make sure Tessa keeps her hat and gloves on, please!”
“I got you. Have fun with your girls,” he said.
“Bitch, not jail did a body fucking good! They don’t even make niggas like that on the outside!” Shy hissed.
“Eww, stop,” Ellie groaned. “Help me with this food and pour some more shots.”
“You and my mommy were best friends in high school?” Tessa asked.
“We were. Your mom is my favorite person in the whole world,” Sloan answered as she held the little girl in her lap while they warmed up in front of the fireplace.
“I wish I had a best friend,” Tessa said, sadly.
“You don’t? What about kids at school?” Sloan asked curiously.
“They’re mean to me. They call me ugly,” Tessa revealed. “One day, Mommy and Brook came to school for family day, and they said I don’t look like them. They said I’m the ugly one.”
“Tessa, baby, you’re beautiful. Those eyes and that beautiful nose.
Your skin. Your locs. Don’t listen to those kids.
Kids are mean when they’re hurting inside.
Somebody hurt them and it makes them feel better to hurt other people too.
Don’t let them. You heal hurt people with love.
Okay?” Sloan schooled. Her heart ached for this little girl.
Kids could be so mean. “And whenever you need a reminder of how beautiful you are, you have your mom call Auntie Sloan, okay?”
Tessa nodded. “Can you be my best friend too?”
“I sure can. I’ll be your best friend forever, baby doll,” Sloan agreed.
“And you tell them kids at your school that your uncle don’t play. I’ll fuck their daddies up since they can’t control their mean-ass kids.”
Sloan turned to find Cassidy leaning against the door frame.
Tessa jumped up from Sloan’s lap and ran to Cassidy.
He scooped her effortlessly and tossed her in the air before slamming her softly on the plush couch.
It all looked so rough to Sloan, but Tessa loved it.
She giggled endlessly. “You better head out and get a couple more turns on that sled before the kids leave,” Cassidy said. Tessa went racing out the door.
“You’re good with her,” Sloan complimented. Cassidy took a seat on the floor next to Sloan and wrapped his arms around his knees before clasping one hand around the opposite wrist. “You have kids?” she asked.
“Nah, no kids. I got locked up before that could happen for me,” he said.
“I guess this is kind of a welcome home party for you, too. I remember when all that went down,” Sloan said.
“It wasn’t my finest hour,” he admitted.
Sloan was almost afraid to look at him. He was a felon, a drug dealer and convicted murderer.
Being around him made her feel anxious. She didn’t know what to say to a man who could take the life of another human being.
He made her nervous, and the butterflies dancing in her stomach were from fear, not attraction.
“Have you changed?” she asked.
“That’s a big question,” he countered.
“After two decades in prison for murder, it shouldn’t be hard to answer.” She didn’t mean to be so direct. She instantly regretted the words because they felt aggressive. She had no right to be questioning this man, but oddly, she really wanted to know. “I’m sorry. That was out of line.”
“I’m used to it,” he said.
“Used to what?” she asked.
“People judging me. Niggas’ preconceived notions. People being afraid of me,” Cassidy answered.
“I’m not afraid of you,” Sloan lied.
“So, you just make it a habit of looking at the floor and spinning that ring on your finger when everybody talks?” he asked.
Sloan stopped spinning the ring.
“Instead of being afraid of me, just ask me whatever it takes to put your mind at ease,” Cassidy said.
Sloan took a deep breath and turned her body so that she was facing him.
“Is that better?” she asked.
“Much,” he countered. She took him in. Shy was right; prison had built him up damn good.
He was tall, and his body was defined. The prison tattoos told a story of grit that she was sure was terrifying.
His honey hue was a little light for her taste, but his energy was as dark as night.
He was the type of man who carried his hood resume everywhere with him just from his demeanor.
He couldn’t turn it off. Even if he was dressed in the finest suit, his aura repped a set he couldn’t erase.
He was born and bred in the streets, and he had been cemented in the penitentiary.
A man like that was dangerous, and he intimidated Sloan. “So, shoot.”
“I used to come here all the time. You used to be around me all the time, Cassidy. I don’t know how the boy I used to crush on... My best friend’s cool-ass, fine-ass, older brother became what you became.”
“What did I become?” Cassidy asked.
Sloan shook her head in disgust. “You beat that old man to death with a pole. They ran the crime scene photos on the front page of The Flint Journal for a week. We sat in that courtroom, waiting for you to apologize. You didn’t shed one tear, showed no remorse.
How could you do something like that with your bare hands?
That’s barbaric. It’s psychotic. That man didn’t hurt anybody.
You went there for what? To try to rob him?
You could have left that old man with his life. ”
“I guess you know everything then, Sloan,” Cassidy replied sarcastically.
“I know enough to know that you’re capable of snapping out and that people should fear you,” Sloan replied, standing to her feet.
Cassidy didn’t rush to join her. “Ellie and Papa Whitlock seem happy that you’re home, and I’m happy for them because I know what they went through when you got locked up.
Ellie was a wreck. Your mom was heartbroken, but you deserved every year they gave you, Cassidy.
A man that’s capable of losing control like that, for no reason at all besides his own selfish plans to take something he didn’t earn…
” Sloan scoffed. “Yeah, I’m afraid of a man like that. ”
“Is everything okay in here?” Ellie’s voice interrupted them, and Sloan was grateful for the intermission.
“Yeah, E, everything’s good,” Cassidy lied as he stood to his feet. “I’ma head out. I’ve got a big day tomorrow. I’ll see you at the toy drive,” he said. “Mama’s car is in the garage. The keys are in her jewelry box. Good seeing you, Sloan.”
Sloan didn’t respond, and Cassidy brushed by her and off into the night.
Ellie looked at Sloan in exasperation.
“What the hell was that about?” Ellie asked.
Sloan shook her head. “Nothing, girl. I’ma call it too. I’ll see you tomorrow. Welcome back.”