Chapter 26
Cherry
We’re all silent until Kirby returns. He looks around as if waiting for us to tell him what is happening. Dad takes an ice pack from the freezer and puts it on my mom’s hand.
“Can someone tell me what the hell happened today?” my dad asks.
We all enter the house, and Dad ensures the doors are locked. When he’s done, I tell them everything that happened in Daniel’s office earlier. I tell them what Mr. Jubilee told me about Uncle Whit’s paternity, and everyone gasps in shock.
“You kicked both their asses?” Dad asked, and I nod. “My girl,” he says and gives me a high-five.
“God, I wish I could have seen it,” Solange says. “But you know the best part? Uncle Whit is not Mom’s brother, which means we’re not related to Ashley and Amira.
We high-five at that.
“Well, I still consider Whit to be my brother,” Mom insists. “None of this is his fault.”
“His paternity isn’t, but he’s still an asshole who let his wife treat you like dirt for almost thirty years. Consider him whatever you want, but he’s nothing to me,” I insist. I wait for her to argue and tell me all the reasons I shouldn’t feel that way, but she doesn’t.
My dad puts his hand on her shoulder and rubs it .
“I understand how you feel,” is all she says. “I can’t argue with anything you said.”
“I do feel kinda bad for Amira, though,” Solange says.
“That ho shouldn’t have put her dusty ass lips on my man,” I say. I stand, ready to find her and beat her ass again, but Daniel takes my wrist and pulls me back down into the chair.
“What if Karen makes trouble?” Kirby asks.
“Let her try,” Daniel says. “I can make bigger trouble.”
“Now, that’s sexy,” I say.
He winks at me, and I wiggle my brows.
“Daniel, can you somehow get Ashley blackballed from the job market?” Solange asks, shocking me. “She went too far this time, and Karen has some nerve saying those hateful things to Mom.”
“Forget about them,” Mom says. “Kirby and Dad will get the food. Solange, mix some more drinks and keep Daniel company. Cherry, I want to speak with you alone, please.”
Mom sounds authoritative. She sounds like she did when I was a kid and she needed to talk to me about something serious. I haven’t heard that tone in years and I’m not in the mood for it. Our relationship might be better, but it’s nowhere near what it was.
“Mom, no,” is all I say.
“Now,” she insists. She gestures for me to follow her and goes so far as to whistle.
“Go talk to your mom, Cherry Berry,” Dad says.
“Go on, baby.” Daniel kisses the back of my hand.
I finally stand and follow her up the stairs and into her bedroom. She sits on the bed and gestures for me to do the same. I sit as far away from her as possible.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “For being a doormat when it comes to my father’s side of the family, and for making you girls uncomfortable. I’m especially sorry for what happened last year. I’ve worked many things out in therapy. I won’t trouble you with that because they are my issues to fix, but I want you to know that I was so wrong to come to you like that. I should have told Karen to drop dead, but all my life, I’ve chased acceptance. You were right last year. I’ve had it all along with your dad and you girls.” She moves closer and takes my hands. “I’m not going to put pressure on you to forgive me. I hope you will do that on your own time, but I will ask you for a chance to earn your forgiveness.”
I blink hard to stop the tears, but when I intertwine our fingers together, she lets out a sob, and a tear falls from my eyes. Mom puts her head on my shoulder, and I rest my chin on top of it.
“I can do that,” I say.
“Thank you. That’s all I ask.” She pulls away, looks into my eyes, and wipes my tears like she did when I was a little girl.
“And I’m sorry Karen said those awful things to you. I’m so happy you were born, Mom.”
She lets out another sob and wraps me in her arms.
It’s after midnight when we return to Daniel’s. When Mom and I returned downstairs, everyone talked and laughed. It was one of the best times I’ve had with my family in a long time. A few hours after being there, Uncle Whit showed up, and I was ready for another fight, but he apologized on his wife and daughters’ behalf.
I lost it on him and pointed out that his wife has been doing this my entire life, and he looked the other way. He couldn’t refute my words. He apologized again and left.
“Cherry Bomb, do you think you can put that pussy on me tonight?” Daniel asks. He pulls my shirt over my head and tosses it to the corner. He lifts me and throws me on the bed and dives on top of me. After kissing me senseless, he says, “For as long as I live, I don’t want to kiss anyone else. ”
“That’s because you’re scared I’ll kick your ass if you do. You should be scared, Jubilee,” I whisper into his mouth. “Cherry Cross will beat your ass.”
“Cherry Jubilee,” he says, and I snort.
“Um, no. People will think that’s a fake name.” I throw my head back and laugh like it’s the funniest thing on earth.
“It won’t be fake if you marry me,” he says, and I laugh more. “Why are you laughing at me.” He rolls over to his side, and I do the same.
“Because you’re teasing me,” I say. “Cherry Jubilee. Can you imagine?”
“Yeah,” is all he says while looking at me directly. “I can.”
“Are you asking me to—”
He puts his hand to my lips. “Not yet, but I want to.” He pulls me close and our legs intertwine. “Think about it. We can build a house and plant cherry trees all over the property. Nothing but cherry trees and cherry blossoms.”
“And you’ll have to take my last name because there’s no way I’m going to be Cherry Jubilee.”
He grins at that. “Well, you’ll have some time to get used to the idea.”