Chapter 14 Raya
Raya
It’s time.
I’m going into the lion’s den.
Well, if I’m keeping up with my metaphor, I guess I’m going deep into the ocean to spend time with the orcas.
Ace is nervous. He’s trying to play it off, but I know him too well.
He keeps tapping his fingers against the steering wheel trying to release his nervous energy.
I wish I could say something to reassure him, but the truth is, I don’t know how today is gonna go.
If his family acts right, I’ll act right. If not…I can’t promise I won’t act up.
I’ve prepared for this. My intention is to make an effort, because my man deserves that. But as I said, if they take me there, I’ll gladly go.
We pull into the large driveway and park behind Kamryn’s new car—a silver Lexus truck. I guess she Mr. Taylor finally talked her into replacing the car I set on fire with a car from his dealership. Probably got a big discount, too. Spoiled ass.
I bought my first car with my own fucking money, which I raised working at Dairy Queen by day and Pizza Hut by night. I drove that beater for fourteen years before Ace bought me my Mercedes, and I’m still proud of that ugly little Corolla. Because I earned it.
Kamryn wouldn’t know shit about that.
“You ready?”
Ace pulls me out of my thought. I look over and flash him a smile. “I’m doing this for you, babe. I hope you know that.”
“I do.” He tucks my hair behind my ear on the right side, beating me to it. “And I got you. I promise.”
Vanessa chooses that moment to fling the door open, immediately jumping into her brother’s arms like he just came back from war.
I let my eyes slide over her, trying not to judge, because that’s not why I’m here. But I can observe. Nothing wrong with that.
Unlike her mother and sister, Vanessa is plain. She’s not unattractive; just the opposite, in fact. That’s the annoying part about this evil fucking family. They’re all fine as hell. But Vanessa is the kind of attractive that doesn’t know what to do with itself. Pretty for no reason at all.
She has box braids that are a couple of weeks past needing a retouch.
Her face is plain other than clear lip gloss.
Even her outfit screams I don’t give a fuck—plain black hoodie, non-descript blue jeans, and black leather flats.
I stare at each item thinking I’ll spot that quiet luxury the girlies rave about on TikTok, but this ain’t that.
And I lowkey respect that, I think. Vanessa clearly doesn’t need external validation, and there’s something very bad bitch about that. I can freely admit I need it. I’ll probably always want it. But not my sister-in-law.
She lets Ace go after he kisses her cheek, turning her affection to me. She’s unsure, but I close the distance between us before she can talk herself out of it. Ace looks so proud of our hug, but I hope he doesn’t get too excited. Vanessa is the only one I’ve never had an issue with.
“How are you guys? You look good,” she says. “Marriage agrees with you.”
“We’re good,” we say in unison, our eyes meeting over shared smiles.
“I’m glad to see you,” Ace tells her. “I missed you, bighead.”
“Yeah, yeah. Y'all come on in here. We’re in the family room.”
We hang up our coats, then follow Vanessa through the foyer toward the family room. Which Mrs. Taylor probably calls the den or the great room, with her pretentious ass.
The house is nice, I’ll admit, but I don’t look around. I don’t wanna like it. So I keep my eyes on Vanessa’s back.
“We always do games before dinner,” Ace explains. “Then we draw names for the gift exchange.”
I smile politely, but all I can think is how stupid it is to draw names a week before Christmas given that most people shop online nowadays.
Whatever.
And now, we’re at our destination. A hush falls over the room, and suddenly, all eyes are on us.
Well, Jackson won’t make eye contact with me. Angela looks like she’s trying to hide her disdain. Kamryn is openly glaring at me, and Rico and Carlton are smiling tightly like they’re waiting for a bomb to go off.
Then Angela stands.
I feel Ace tense as she approaches us, and I want to tell him it’ll be okay, that I don’t hate his mother, even though I do. But I just watch as she embraces him, and I’ll be honest, I’m a little surprised by how genuine it looks. She’s holding that boy tight, and she looks like she wants to cry.
I didn’t think she had it in her.
Slowly, gingerly, he lifts his arms to hug her back, and it feels like the whole room exhales.
While I wait, I check her out. Unlike Vanessa, this bitch cares a lot about how she looks, and fuck her for being so beautiful and glamorous. She could give Diahann Carroll a run for her money, quite honestly. Too bad the inside is so rotten.
But my man melts into his mother’s cashmere-covered arms, and I realize how hard the last few months must have been for him.
When she finally pulls away, she looks at me with wet eyes and thinly veiled disgust.
“Raya,” she greets. “Good to see you.”
“You, too,” I lie.
Ace then makes his rounds, hugging his father awkwardly, dapping up Rico and Carlton after they speak to me, hugging, then mushing Kamryn.
I clear my throat, ready to say my piece.
“Hi, everybody. Good to see you all. Happy to be here.”
“Me, too,” Ace says as he leads me to one of the unoccupied couches. “And, listen, I wanna go ahead and discuss the elephant in the room.”
But before he can start, Angela holds up her hand. “No need. We’re just happy you’re back in the fold. We all just wanna move forward.”
Ace shifts in his seat, leaning toward his parents. “Okay, but do y’all understand that this is a package deal? Raya is y’all’s family, now. Do we all understand that? As a concept?”
“Yes, we received your emails,” Angela says quietly.
Rico snickers.
“And to that end,” she continues, “you’re welcome here, Raya.” She plasters on a tight smile. “You’re family now.”
Oh, I bet that tasted bitter in her mouth. I wanna laugh so bad, but I look at my husband and gather the strength to speak instead.
“I appreciate that,” I say. Jackson still won’t make eye contact. “And honestly, I can understand why you might have had reservations about me. I didn’t make the best first impression.”
Kamryn finally looks at me.
“I did lie,” I admit as I prepare to do it again. “But only because I was so impressed by your family. Where I come from is…very different from where you are. I mean, look at this house.”
Angela smiles for real this time. Stupid bitch.
“I liked Ace so much, and I was scared I wouldn’t be accepted.”
The Taylor women, sans Vanessa, are eating this shit up.
I knew they would, though. They get off on feeling superior. I leveled the playing field when I stole Ace from them, but I had a feeling they’d get comfortable real quick if I deferred to them in some way.
That validation thing again.
I just wanna know that I’m pretty. That’s the extent of it for me. I don’t need other people to be uglier than me. But these two bitches need to be on top. So, okay. Have it your way.
“I appreciate your honesty,” Angela says. “And I suggest we all move past it. All of us,” she says directly to Kamryn.
With all eyes on her, she rolls hers. “I don’t know why everybody’s looking at me.”
And then, finally, she addresses me. “As long as my brother is cool, it’s whatever.”
A nod is my only response. I just know she better keep it cute with me before I set something else of hers on fire.
With all that out of the way, we divide into teams for the games.
Ace's parents and Rico and Kamryn on one side, and me and Ace plus Vanessa and Carlton on the other.
This is clearly a Taylor family tradition, because everybody else immediately gets into their positions and roles without a single hiccup.
“Taboo first!” Vanessa announces.
“My favorite,” he says to me. “You ever played?”
“Of course,” I lie.
I don’t know why I didn’t tell him the truth. Maybe I’m embarrassed, I don’t know. There were no board games in my home growing up. No games of any kind, really, unless you count mind games. Mostly it was just misery. But I always wanted this kind of family. I thought it was just a tv thing.
“Who’s keeping score?” Rico asks, beer in hand.
“Me,” Kamryn says, like it should have been obvious.
I watch her grab the little notebook out of the box and flip to a new page. I don’t know if I trust her not to cheat, but I can’t say that, so I just watch and listen closely as my mother and father-in-law take the first turn.
By the time they finish, I have a good grasp on it. Good enough not to make a fool of myself, anyway.
This could be fun.
The parents’ team got six points. We can beat that.
Vanessa and Carlton go next, and we manage to get seven points. But it’s hard for me to focus. There’s something that’s bothering me about the fact that Kamryn’s taking score for both teams.
It’s so distracting, I can’t even focus when she and Rico take their turn and she passes the notebook to her raggedy mama.
I elbow Ace in his side, whispering, “Shouldn’t one of us take the score when their team goes?”
He shrugs. “It ain’t that deep.”
“It is to me. It’s only fair.”
His gaze pierces me, and just for a moment, I feel like I’ve let my mask slip. Because there are still parts of me I hide from Ace. It’s fear, I know, but I can’t help it.
But then he nods, turning to his mother to say, “Let us get that scorecard real quick.”
“Why?” she demands.
“Because you ain’t supposed to be taking your own team’s score, Mama.”
She rolls her eyes playfully and hands it over, and just like that, I feel better. More in control. Now, I can focus.
On Rico and Kamryn. They do a great job.
Eight points. Ace records the first six, then there’s a spirited argument about whether or not Kamryn mimed when she was trying to get Rico to guess the word ‘penguin.’ Ace turned the hourglass on its side to argue with everybody, and while they were busy doing that, I was busy adding three points to our side of the page.
I do it again just before I hand the notebook back to Angela, and what do you know, in the end, our team won.
There’s no prize unless you can’t the utter satisfaction I feel from besting Kamryn the cunt. Ace is happy, too.
Mission accomplished.
They break out Monopoly next, and I wonder if we’re ever gonna eat.
“Thimble,” I say to Ace as they lay out the board and hand out the money, then I pick up my phone to text him.
Later on, if it’s not too late when we get home, I’m gonna suck your dick from the back
His phone vibrates loudly. He’s arranging his money with one hand and reaching into his back pocket with the other, but as soon as his eyes hit his screen, he goes still.
I smile as he shakes his head, knowing he loves it, and knowing I just ensured we won’t be in this motherfucker for the rest of the night.