21. Isaac
21
Isaac
I really didn’t wanna show up for this shit.
I love my brother—Victor, to be clear. And I was happy for him and Electra. As happy as I could be for somebody who wasn’t me. But seeing Taurus was last on my list of shit I wanted to be doing on a Saturday night.
I could have been out with Zay again. Or in Zay for the first time. I was still undecided on the timing of that for now.
The other night was torture, but it was necessary for me to exercise my newfound patience. I’d always jumped in the deep end headfirst without a single thought, and it never worked out for me. Something was telling me not to fuck this up, so I was gonna wait. Just a little while longer.
Lord help me.
My mother was in the kitchen stirring a pot of something that smelled amazing.
“Hey, Mama.”
She didn’t turn around. “Hey, baby.”
“You doin’ okay?”
“Fine.”
I stood and watched her for a minute, waiting for some warmth, or affection, or something . But it always took her a little time when I came out. It’s like she blocks me out of her mind.
Maybe that’s what mothers have to do to deal with it.
“Come in here and get some food,” she finally said. “I know you’re hungry.”
There it was.
“Quit fussin’ over me, woman.”
She turned around and smiled.
“Better enjoy it now. I won’t be around forever.”
I frowned at that, but before I could ask her why she said it, Savannah walked into the kitchen holding my nephew.
“There’s Uncle Isaac!”
I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. My sis-in-law was alright with me. It took me a minute to warm up to her, but I’m like that with everybody, and she never took it personal.
Besides, any woman who could tame Taurus had a lifelong fan in me.
I walked over and hugged her, then stared curiously at the round butterball in her arms.
“What the hell are you feeding this baby?”
She burst out laughing. “Just breast milk.”
“Good lord. Lemme hold him.” Carefully, I eased my brother’s mini twin out of her arms and held him out in front of me. “Hey, fat boy.”
Savannah rolled her eyes. “One of these days, you’re gonna call my son by his actual name.”
“Maybe,” I teased, pulling him in against my chest to cuddle him a little bit.
“Hey, Ma. You need some help in here?”
“No ma’am.” They hugged warmly, then settled in at the counter to gossip like they always did. It only took about two minutes for me to get bored with my nephew. No offense to him, but babies don’t do shit that’s interesting.
I handed him off to my mama and exited the kitchen to find Victor, but of course, of course I ran smack into the one nigga I didn’t wanna see tonight.
“Nice to see you all in one piece,” was his greeting.
“Yeah, you too,” was mine as I attempted to ease past him.
“Hold up!”
I stopped and stared him down. Nigga was wearing chinos and a button down, like a bootleg Ralph Lauren model.
“I wanna talk to you real quick,” he said.
“So talk.”
“Outside.”
We moved through the living room, passing several people I didn’t know. Once outside, I squinted into the sun and said, “What you want, man?”
“You ain’t coming back to work?”
“Nah.”
He crossed his arms in front of him. “So…what are you doing for money?”
“I’m good, man. I’m grown. I don’t need your help. My shit is under control.”
“Don’t fail just to spite me.”
“Fuck you, Taurus. And you wonder why I don’t fuck with you.”
“Nigga, I don’t know how to talk to you. The shit I wanna say is in my head, and I try to push it out my mouth in a way that won’t hurt your little fucking feelings, but apparently, that ain’t enough.”
“Why do you have to say anything ? You think my whole life is gon’ fall apart without words of wisdom from yo ass?”
He didn’t answer.
“I know it’s gonna be hard for you to hear this, but nigga…you ain’t my daddy.”
His eyes darkened and narrowed into slits. Same look I used to see before we got to fighting.
“Isaac, I’ma tell you like this—“
“My brothers!”
Our heads turned toward the front door. Victor ambled out with a smile on his face, which quickly froze, then fell into a frown as he got close enough to see and feel the tension.
“What the fuck happened now?”
“Just your brother talkin’ shit again,” I answered.
“ Your brother can’t stand it when I say two words to his ass, so I’m ‘bout five seconds from not giving a fuck at all.”
“Cool,” I said. “That shit works for me.”
Victor shook his head. “Yall so fuckin’ annoying. It’s my engagement party. It’s a celebration, bitches! Can we bury the hatchet? What the fuck are y’all even fighting about?”
He looked back and forth between us.
“Hold up, lemme guess,” he said. “T said come back to work. Isaac said go fuck yourself. T said some slick shit back, and y’all were ‘bout to fight. Did I get that right?”
“Pretty much.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. Just then, Electra poked her head out the door.
“Guys? Are you coming in?”
“One minute, babe. I gotta straighten these two out. Again.”
Just like that, the energy shifted.
Me and Taurus exchanged a look that clearly communicated a momentary truce so that we could embarrass this nigga real quick.
“You know what, sis?” Taurus began, “maybe you could help us sort things out.”
“Yeah. That might help,” I agreed.
Victor’s eyes went wide. “Nah, nah, don’t do that. We’re coming, babe.”
“Nah, you gotta straighten us out. Yall ‘bout to be one. Let her help,” I insisted.
Taurus grinned. “Yeah, come on out here, little sis.”
She smiled as she stepped out. Me and T grinned at each other as we watched Vic die inside.
Electra Montrose strutted toward us looking like a million bucks. One thing I had to give my brothers is that they chose well when it came time to settle down.
“Okay, what happened?”
Taurus made his face go blank. “Okay, it’s like this: Victor keeps getting in the middle of our disagreements.”
“Wait—“
“It’s true,” I lied. “Every time me and T try to patch things up, here he comes making shit worse. We were out here making up and he instigated to get us mad again. I think he needs the attention.”
Electra glared at her fiancé. “Why would you do that? They were finally making up!”
He shook his head in disgust. “Baby, they’re lying. You can’t believe nothin’ these fools say.”
“Why would we lie to her?” I said innocently. “Unlike you , she actually wants to see us make up.”
He put his arm around her waist and pulled her into him. “You see what I’m dealing with?”
Her face relaxed as her eyes swept over us. “Yall are the worst. I can’t believe you have me marrying into this.”
Me and T shared a laugh at Vic’s expense. With the lesson learned, he took his fiancée and walked his ass back toward the house, leaving us alone again with all our feelings.
“How many times are we gon’ do this?” T said.
“We’re not doing it. It’s over.”
Vic looked back at us. “Yall good? You know what, I don’t even care, cuz this shit ain’t about y’all. Bring your asses in the house.”
I nodded upwards, telling T, “I’ma head in.
“So, we’re good, right?”
“Yeah. But fyi, your son is fat as fuck.”
“Man, fuck you. He’s five months old. He’s supposed to be fat.”
Vic looked behind him again and tossed, “You know he’s dating his probation officer,” over his shoulder.
If he wasn’t hand-in-hand with his woman, I would have stole on him.
I looked back at Taurus, amused by the shock on his face.
“Little cutie from my office that time?”
I nodded.
“I mean, I get it, but ain’t that a conflict of interest or some shit?”
“It’s all good. I know what I’m doing.”
“I hope so.”
"Aye, has Mama said anything to you about her health?”
“Nah.” His face went slack. “Why? Something happen?”
I told him about her comment in the kitchen. We stopped at the door, both of us unsettled by it, but unsure what to do.
“She’s getting older,” he reasoned. “Maybe she just meant it literally.”
“I guess. But normally, she hates thinking about her age and feeling old.”
“Yeah. Fuck. I don’t know.”
We silently agreed not to say anything to Vic tonight. All throughout the party, we caught each other watching my mama. She seemed like her normal self. Chatting, laughing, forcing more food on people. So, I brushed my concerns to the back of my mind.
I’d already lost one parent.
The thought of losing her was too much to think about.
Time to set up the next date.
That’s what I assumed, anyway. I was winging this shit, for real.
Thirty-three years old, and never had a girlfriend as an adult. Now that I thought about it, that was lowkey pathetic. Then again, when would I have had one? I was too busy going to jail.
I didn’t have a plan or a strategy. The only things I knew for sure was that I wanted to see her again, and that I wanted to treat her right. What that meant…I was learning as I went.
I dialed her number.
“Hey, beautiful.”
“Hi.”
I knew immediately that something was wrong by the subdued tone of her voice.
“What’s wrong?”
She blew out a sigh. “My dog is sick.”
“Which one?”
“Pinky.”
Like I knew the difference.
“How sick?”
“Sick enough for me to take her to the emergency room.”
“They see dogs in the emergency room?”
She let out a sad chuckle. “The vet has one.”
“Text me the address.”
“You don’t have to—“
“I know. Text me the address.”
I still didn’t like dogs, but I liked Zay, and I knew enough to know you show up for a woman when you like her.
Off to the dog emergency room.