22. Delilah
Chapter twenty-two
Delilah
I had gotten back home a few hours ago, and Calvin’s proposal was still fresh on my mind. Did Archer know about any of this? Did he know what his father was planning all along and didn’t even tell me? Or was he in the dark just like I was?
Cutting my questioning short, my baby brother stumbled in, still learning how to walk. Giving him a soft smile, I picked him up and placed him on my lap. He probably escaped Benjamin and Reginald, but the smile on his face told me he’d do it again ten times over. He started getting overly excited and began to say my nickname in his little raspy voice.
“Dee, Dee, Dee.”
I chuckled and stroked his hair. “Yes, baby, Dede’s right here. No need to get too excited.”
I walked out of my room with him on my hip and made my way downstairs to see my father glaring at Uncle Blaine, who looked like he was going to piss himself.
“What are you hiding from me, Blaine?” he asked after a few moments, and Uncle Blaine chuckled nervously as his eyes glanced over to me for help.
“What’s going on?” I asked, and my father looked over at me briefly before glaring back at Uncle Blaine.
“It’s quite coincidental that the moment my anger peaks, Calvin withdraws himself from the very thing that started this all. I don’t know why the hell he did it, but he wants out of the contract.”
I tilted my head in “confusion,” though I knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Isn’t that good news?”
“Of course it is, but this motherfucker hasn’t spoken to me all day, and he usually calls me at least three times to annoy the hell out of me. The only time he doesn’t is when he’s done something wrong—”
Tyler had caught his cursing slip-up. “Da, bad word,” he stated, and my father looked over at him for a split second before feeling a little tug on his pants. He looked down to see Trinity holding a cute plastic piggy bank that was pink and blue.
“No bad word, Daddy,” she whispered, and he groaned heavily before placing money in the jar.
She instantly beamed and hopped to the kitchen, where I could see Benjamin giving her a high five. I rolled my eyes as I let Tyler down to give him one too.
“Brielle really started the swear jar with them… this early?” he asked himself in disbelief before reality settled back in, and he went back to being upset.
“The truth, Blaine. You know it will be better if you tell me before I find out myself—”
“The truth is—” I cut him off.
They both turned to me, my father with a look of his patience withering away and my uncle Blaine, who was still very much afraid.
I sighed as I continued, “I... I went to Uncle Blaine so I could borrow one of his cars and go where I wanted to without supervision,” I muttered, and Uncle Blaine let out a dramatic sigh and stood from his chair.
“WOW! It feels so good to get that off my chest! You don’t know how much that was weighing on me—”
“Leave, Blaine,” my father said with his eyes still on me, and Uncle Blaine nodded.
“I’ll be in the living room if you need me... Please don’t need me,” he pleaded before he practically sprinted to the other room.
My father and I stood in silence for a few moments before he sighed.
“Why do you continue to find ways to defy me? First, you don’t want to tell me where you are going, and now you’re trying to find ways around—”
I cut him off again angrily. “Daddy, I wasn’t even doing anything wrong. You don’t want me to have any freedom because you and Calvin are fighting. Keep me out of it, please. I want to spend time with Kimi and live my own life on my own terms, without your problems influencing it. If that means I have to ignore you, then so be it,” I said.
“Delilah... I am going to say this once and only once. You know I don’t like repeating myself.”
Biting my lip, I nodded, already expecting the worst.
“…When you are out exploring with your classmates, you better not leave Nathan’s side for even just a mere sec—”
I squealed excitedly as I instantly ran over to him. I gave him the biggest hug I think I ever could, and he caught me in his arms as I jumped on him.
“I love you! Thank you for letting me go!” I said happily, and he sighed, holding me on his hip, annoyed as I continued squeezing the life out of him.
“You haven’t even heard the terms and conditions—”
I hopped off of him and shook my head. “Don’t need to; email them to me, and I’ll take a look when I get a chance. Also, Mr. Nathan can be my bodyguard when we are out, not when I’m indoors.”
He rolled his eyes. “Fine. Now go away before I change my mind.”
“I love you with all my heart,” I said, walking out of the dining room with a smile, and he chuckled.
“If you weren’t so spoiled, you’d be thinking the opposite.”
I paused and turned to glare at him. “I am not spoiled!” I retorted.
A new voice entered the room. “I hate to break it to you, kiddo, but you and your siblings are spoiled rotten by your parents.”
I crossed my arms and turned to the voice dramatically.
“Uncle Eugene… Always coming in unexpectedly and, at this moment, unwanted.” I rolled my eyes playfully, and he chuckled as he kissed my forehead.
“Yeah, I love you too,” he responded, and I heard my mother dramatically gasp from the kitchen.
“EUGENE!! IS THAT YOU!!” she squealed happily, entering the room, and my father rolled his eyes.
“Here we go,” he muttered as he watched her with her smile from ear to ear.
She wrapped her arms around Eugene, and he chuckled as he hugged her back.
“It’s been ages since I’ve properly seen you. I know you’ve been avoiding me! Juliet even told me. You don’t want me to see Melanie! You don’t want to spend time with me. I invited you to our lunch the other day only for you to just cancel on me!” she said, progressively getting angrier and even pulling away to punch at his chest.
He gave her a sad smile as he held her hands in his and rubbed them softly.
Mom typically acted this way around Uncle Eugene. She would always be happy when she saw him, but she always seemed to get a bit physical with him, though he wouldn’t mind it and never told her to stop. He simply held her hands and calmed her down as he listened to her rant about him always being busy or never having time for her.
“I know I’m a terrible brother—” he started, and she stopped him.
“You are a terrible brother! You made me prepare your favorite dish last weekend, and you didn’t even show up!”
“I will the next time—”
“Oh, I know you will, because if you don’t, I will tear you apart,” she seethed, whispering the last part menacingly.
My father decided it was time for him to intervene. “All right, sweetheart, why don’t we go get you something to drink and get you ready for dinner, hmm?” he suggested, pulling her away from Eugene, and she pouted childishly; I even had to control my laugh that was trying to escape.
“He didn’t come to my lunch, Killy. I even made his favorite.”
“I know, darling, I know...” he reassured her as he walked her into the kitchen.
Uncle Eugene let out a small chuckle. He muttered something about “regular hormones” making her act that way, whatever that meant, but I couldn’t make out everything he said.
“You literally never cease to amaze me for how fast you can get her upset,” I said, and he chuckled again.
“Well, for as long as I remember, she’s always wanted to beat me to a pulp.”
“And you always let her,” I responded, and he shrugged.
“That’s because I deserve it.”
I looked up at him and saw him holding a blank look on his face.
I tilted my head in thought. “I don’t think you always deserve it. Sure, you’ve done some things, but haven’t we all?” I asked, even though I only knew the basics of their past, and he sighed.
“We all have, but I’ve done much worse—and eventually... I’m going to get exactly what I deserve. And I need to accept that,” he muttered.
I stayed quiet, not quite knowing what to say. I loved Uncle Eugene, but he went a little too deep at times, and I didn’t always know how to respond.
“But enough about me,” he quickly said and looked over to me. “How have you been lately?”
“I’ve been stressed a bit with school and work, but all in all, I’ve been all right.” I smiled, even though the thoughts of Calvin, Archer, and Luca rested at the front of my mind.
“That’s good.” He nodded, but I could tell something was off from the look in his eyes—almost like he knew something I didn’t. But that was always the case with him.
“Ugh, what are you doing here? Reginald and Benjamin didn’t cook extras, FYI,” I heard Uncle Blaine say, and Uncle Eugene sent him a look.
“Don’t you have a wife and children at home waiting for you to come home so you can all eat your own dinner?”
“I am well aware of that, but tonight is the night we eat from the hands of Benny and Regi. So I was instructed to take home a plate of food, meaning, once again, no extras!”
Uncle Eugene rolled his eyes and looked back over to me. He gave me a quick hug, and he sighed.
He muttered something else—was that the word “sorry?” I heard—and I looked up at him to ask him about what, but he quickly said, “I gotta run. I’ll see you later, kiddo.”
I bid him goodbye, and he walked out of the room as Uncle Blaine mocked him.
I looked at him, unimpressed. “Uncle Blaine, Uncle Eugene is a person, you know? He’s also technically your family.”
“Delilah, I think Eugene is a ninja.”
I sighed and walked away. “He is not a ninja.”
“Okay, maybe not entirely, but I can tell he’s hiding something!” he urged, following me, and I giggled.
“What, that he’s a ninja?”
“Okay, fine. Don’t believe me. Just like your parents, and guess what? Eventually, precious Uncle Eugene ended up having connections to Calvin, and after fifteen years, I think I’m the only one who still remembers this!” he exclaimed.
I sighed as I looked up at him. “Uncle Blaine. Let it go; it’s in the past.”
He nodded his head. “Fine... FINE!” He lifted his hands in surrender. “I’ll let it go for now... and since you don’t want to believe me, I’ll just have to get help from Shin.”
“Really?” I deadpanned, and he smiled before going towards the kitchen.
“You’ll thank me later when I tell you I told you so!”