Chapter 10 New Friends and Family #2
“Are y’all just going to keep yourselves sequestered?
” Nev sashayed over with the rest of the bridal party and I wondered where Midas had gone since he’d finally let her come up for air.
I knew she and the bride were cousins by marriage now and I wondered if I was going to have to fight for time with my best friend.
“Sorry just making friends and taking a second. It’s a lot going on.”
“I can understand how you feel. I was the person thinking I wouldn’t be involved with any of this at Francesca’s wedding last year and now I’m here about to get married to this man who overwhelms me.”
“You make him sound like a tidal wave.”
“Or a sandstorm.”
“Neither. Xerxes is more like being slipped a sleeping pill as it softly takes you over and before you realize what’s going on you’re already under control.” Vanya’s big brown eyes looked so dreamy as she spoke of her husband. I knew she didn’t understand just how crazy she sounded.
Jemma Marie’s face now looked mildly appalled as she looked Vanya over to ensure she wasn’t being coerced into this.
A girl’s girl indeed.
“You make it sound like he roofied you, darlin’.”
“No illegal drugs were consumed but I do feel like I’m in another world around him. You understand don’t you?”
Vanya looked at me with that doe-eyed expectancy and I didn’t want to be a downer on her wedding weekend. As the silence stretched I could see her fighting a smile and Jemma Marie didn’t even bother.
“Is this a test?”
Vanya shook her head disappointed with my answer. “I wanted to see where your head was at. You don’t really seem to know what you feel, which I guess is normal.”
“Normal for whom?”
“For all of us being in the situation you are in.”
“You married Yacouba with a big production. Eyes wide open as I remember.”
Jasmine grinned at Nev the type of smile that screamed she’d marry her husband again tomorrow if she could. “That I did. And if it wasn’t already for the family history I have I probably would’ve been overwhelmed by the shit that had gone on.”
“Family history?” I didn’t want to pry but damn was everyone here part of a crime syndicate?
Jasmine nodded as she tucked one of her loose, dark auburn sisterlocs behind her ear. Her little boy had inherited the same hair color and it made him even more adorable.
“Not really a secret but our entire town was founded by bootleggers. Beacon Grove was the place for the less than savory element to find peace for a while. My family has been domesticated for a while so I guess all that madness finally found its way into our generation. Jada is out handling stuff for tomorrow but yeah, between her and my sister and brother I’m not sure how we haven’t ended up in jail yet. ”
Francesca scoffed as if the idea of jail was beneath any of them. “As if your husband would allow that.”
“True. Jada’s been able to get away with damn near murder though. After all she’s had—”
“19 arrests, no convictions.” They all spoke in unison like it were a refrain they’d often heard. Jemma Marie and I exchanged a look as the rest of them continued on as if it were no big deal.
“Is she a good criminal or a bad one, because 19 arrests doesn’t seem like much to brag on.”
Jasmine took my question about her sister in stride, like she was used to being asked about Jada’s criminal behavior.
“Oh, she’s probably been arrested more than that.
I think she just likes to say nineteen for plausible deniability of a few others.
And since she’s never spent a full ten hours in jail and that was even after publicly beating the shit out of our cousin and tipping her over in a full porta-potty I would think she is among the elite of criminals. ”
Jasmine’s smile was one of sisterly pride and I guess that feeling would always be universal no matter what it was your sibling was good at.
“And that doesn’t even take into account the dude she drove to madness.”
Jemma Marie’s head shot up as everyone else laughed. “I’m sorry, what?”
“Yeah it was her and her boyfriend’s Valentine’s Day gifts to one another.” Francesca said it so smoothly, forgetting that it was actually crazy.
“To drive some man mad?” I was looking at them so confused and now worried about the person who was going to be working with me to plan this wedding.
Nev was looking at me like she’d never seen me before. “And to think you say you’re a misandrist. You can’t possibly be feeling sympathy for a man.”
Okay, well, now I was offended.
“Not at all concerned for him but interested in her desire to drive him crazy and why her boyfriend would be so keen on joining in. There had to be a personal motive.”
“I’ll let you ask her. The story is actually very funny.” Jasmine was smiling again unfazed but if her sister had been dodging arrests maybe it was.
“Probably more ironic than ha-ha funny.”
She paused briefly before she nodded, “That’s fair.”
“Y’all are going to scare her away from Ori. Don’t have her thinking that we’re a bunch of weirdos.” Vanya looked worried about my potential to run out of here like my head was on fire.
I patted her hand reassuringly. My departure wasn’t going to happen over a little madness. I was a murderer and so was Nev so I didn’t have any moral position to take.
“My dear, if this is the extent of the madness with all of you I assure you that I’m the one who is soon to be ostracized.”
There was a beat of silence before Francesca’s face broke into a stunning smile.
“Good, then you’ll fit right in. No need to get you warmed up to the madness like we had to do with Nyima.”
“There was a warm-up? I thought I had been thrown straight into the rip.” Another stunning woman who had been relatively quiet for all our banter.
My head tilted trying to parse out what in the world she was trying to say, which made me feel like a xenophobic asshole. Instead, they all laughed and Francesca gave her a side hug.
“The fray, Nyima. It’s thrown into the fray.”
We all tried not to laugh but it was honestly too funny not to. Thankfully Nyima laughed too or else I would’ve felt so bad. “I’ve said it before, English is a stupid language and I do not understand it or the rules.”
“You’re doing bloody well for someone who doesn’t even like the language.”
Her face brightened when I spoke up and I didn’t believe such a simple compliment made her shine that brightly. “Despite your accent, I know you’re from the other side of the continent. Eritrean? Tigre or Tigrinya?”
“Tigrinya. People normally have problems pinpointing the country. They normally think I’m Ethiopian or Somali.”
“When you’re not beholden to western beauty standards the subtle differences shine through.
Same people set apart and divided by an imaginary line but based on your age and your accent the idea of your immigrating to England coincides with the unrest in Eritrea.
You were more likely to be Ethiopian if you had come directly to the States. ”
“Nyima was a mail-order bride so she’d have a better grasp of unrest. The majority of us were beholden to the western slant on what was going on in the world.”
I was shocked because these men seemed stand-up. Ori didn’t seem the type to allow his friend to do something so vile. “Surely you jest.”
“Not entirely.”
The rest of the night was spent with them regaling me about the complexities of their individual love stories and I wasn’t sure if they were attempting to fortify Vanya’s decision or help me believe I was making the right one.
I tried not to allow my thoughts to stray to Ori so often but they still went that way.
It wasn’t awful being surrounded by women who didn’t seem afraid of the violence of the men that they were attached to.
For many, I could tell that the same ability lay within each of them.
It was wild to say that I felt more at home among them than I did in my regular life but I did.
No one outside of Nev, Tee and my twin made me feel as though I didn’t have to wear a mask.
I’d walked in with one but somewhere along the way it had vanished.
“So, I have some ideas already for your wedding.” Jada’s excitement was something I was never going to mimic because, frankly, I didn’t have it in me.
Nothing about me was ever excited about the idea of a wedding for myself.
Even as a kid I thought the traditions from Eritrea were beautiful but never saw myself in the role as the bride.
Although the position was being thrust on me, nothing had changed.
I gave her the nicest smile I could muster and followed it with a weak, “That’s nice.”
She gave me that blank stare that I was realizing was her way of keeping her temper in check. A handy way for her to give herself a minute to reach for the proper response instead of her natural one.
A good way to cope if I had to say so myself. “Okay wait. Is this going to be one of those wedding where you all actually give me input or am I going to be doing this one solo dolo as well?” Despite her obvious love for her husband, I knew Frankie had been the reluctant and disinterested bride.
“You seem fairly calm with that realization. I’m glad to hear that you have experience with it so I won’t be putting too much stress on you. I’m glad you seem so calm.”
Her head tilted that masking smile deepening. “What do you mean?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Between the 19 arrests and the driving the man mad I knew she had to have a clinical diagnosis somewhere.
Teegan would love to talk with Jada.
“Again, what do you mean?”
I knew my question was impertinent but I knew she wasn’t sensitive enough to be bothered by it. “You’re answering my question with a question instead of simply answering it.”
“But if the response is a question aren’t you still getting an answer?” I could see the joy that she was deriving from my irritation so I let the matter drop completely.
“You’re going to drive me up a bloody wall, aren’t you?”