Chapter Twenty
Lennon
I can see her hesitation, but she grabs the cushion from the back of the couch, shoves it behind her head, and begins sharing.
“My dad took off when I was two. Decided that family life just wasn’t for him. My mother was a drunk, who blamed me for running him off,” she explains.
How the hell could a father just leave his baby girl?
“Why did she blame you?”
She shrugs.
“She said I was the only reason he split without her. If it wasn’t for my crying and my constant need for her attention, he’d have taken her with him.”
“But you were a toddler,” I state in disbelief.
“Apparently a whiny one. I don’t remember a lot from that time, but she’d go on benders and disappear for days.”
“Disappear? She’d leave you alone?” I ask her to clarify.
“Yeah, she’d lock me in our apartment and tell me to watch the television until she came home.”
What the fuck?
“For days,” I snap.
“Yes. The longest was six days. That’s when the neighbors heard me crying through the walls and called the cops.”
“How old were you?”
“Five,” she replies, softly. “God, I’ve never told anyone that before. Not even Avie.”
I imagine a little blonde girl with big blue eyes, alone and scared, and probably starving, and my blood boils.
“Don’t look at me like that, Sailor. I’m not some damaged bird who never got over not being loved by her parents. I had plenty of love,” she says.
“From whom?”
“My grandmother. She was able to get an emergency custody order after that, with Mom eventually signing over full custody, and she smothered me with love. Mom would breeze in and out of our lives, but Grandma was a constant in mine.”
“Where’s your mother now?” I ask.
“Dead. She had COPD, and her body was so run down from years of alcohol abuse that when COVID-19 hit, she didn’t stand a chance.”
“And your grandmother?”
“She’s in a very nice, very expensive memory care facility. She suffers from advanced dementia and it isn’t safe for her to live independently. I would have her at home with me, but she insisted that when the time came, she wanted to go into a facility. She even hand-picked it herself. It’s one of the reasons I’ve never left Atlanta. She might not know who I am anymore, but she enjoys the visits from the nice girl who comes to share a chunky peanut butter and honey sandwich with her on Sunday afternoons.”
“Ahh, the infamous peanut butter and honey sandwiches,” I mutter.
She smiles. “Yeah, that was our thing. When I was little, whenever I got upset over anything, she’d bake a loaf of homemade sourdough bread and then make us a couple of peanut butter and honey sandwiches. We’d sit and talk about whatever it was. There wasn’t anything a glass of cold milk and that sandwich couldn’t fix. So, now, I make them for her. Sometimes, when she takes a bite, she even remembers who I am … for a fleeting moment.”
“What about your dad? Ever hear from him?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “No. To be honest, I’m not sure if he’s even alive.”
“Hopefully not,” I quip.
Her eyes snap to me. “I forgive him,” she says.
“Just like that?” I ask.
She nods. “Yes. Just like that.”
“How?”
My mind can’t wrap around how this woman could forgive a man who walked away and left her and her mother. I couldn’t imagine my father leaving us or Sebby leaving Nana. It’s not what a man does.
“Because he didn’t know me. He didn’t know how fabulous I was going to grow up to be. He didn’t know. So, I forgive him, just like I forgave Mom,” she says.
There’s sincerity to her words.
“You’re something else—you know that?” I ask, in awe of her.
She grins. “Yes, I do know. That’s why I would never leave me. Besides, I’m not a victim just because my dad didn’t want me.”
“Of course not. You’re amazing,” I declare.
She continues without even hearing me, “I’m a survivor. I learned a long time ago that the people you want to support you aren’t always going to, and that taught me that I don’t need anyone’s support but my own in order to thrive. I’ve got me.”
“And you have Avie and, by extension, the rest of our crazy family,” I say.
The corners of her mouth tip up, her eyes welling with unshed tears.
“Yeah.” She sniffles.
And my heart cracks a little for this incredible woman.
“Uncle Lennon, can I come and have a sleepover with you and Auntie Miya?” Leia’s sweet voice asks over my phone’s speaker.
I glance at Amiya, who nods.
“A sleepover, huh? I’m not going to end up with peach fingernails again, am I?”
Her giggles sound like tiny bells coming across the line.
“No. We will just watch movies,” she says.
“Hm, I’m not sure I trust you and Auntie Miya. You two are trouble.”
“Please. I promise,” she pleads.
“Okay, let me speak to Nana,” I say.
My grandmother’s voice comes back. “Lennon?”
“Hi, Nana. I’ll call Sebastian and make sure it’s okay, and then we’ll swing by and pick her up.”
“Okay. I’ll pack her an overnight bag.”
I click off the call, and Amiya is already standing.
I call my brother while she changes into a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt. Then, I toss on a T-shirt, and she hands me the keys to her car.
The rain hasn’t let up, and the roads are still slick, so I drive carefully across the island. We stop by the market on the way to pick up some supplies. The cashier, a teenage boy, smirks at me as I slide my card into the reader to pay.
“Looks like you’re in for a fun night,” he notes.
My eyes scan the pile of cookies, cupcakes, gummy worms, colorful coated chocolate candies, pink and purple face masks, hot pink nail polish, strawberry-scented bubble bath, and two large pepperoni pizzas.
I start to tell him that only the pizzas are for me when Amiya comes racing up to the checkout counter with an armful of animal crackers and cans of spray cheese.
“Wait,” she bellows.
She places the items on the belt and the cashier scans them before I continue with the payment.
“Geezus, I’m going to go back to Virginia with a dad bod,” I mumble.
Amiya bears up on her tiptoes and whispers into my ear. “Don’t worry, Sailor. I’ll help you work those calories off.”
The boy’s eyes go wide as he takes her in. Her golden hair, drenched by the rain, hangs in heavy waves around her face and neck. Droplets roll off her flushed cheeks, highlighting her soft natural beauty. Her shirt is wet and clinging to her curvaceous form. She’s literally a teenager’s wet dream. Then his gaze slides to me and he grins as he hands me the receipt.
“Looks like I am in for a fun night,” I say as I wink at him.
Leia and Nana are waiting on the deck when we arrive.
“Hey, munchkin,” I say as I lift her into my arms. “You ready?”
Nana stands from her spot in the rocker. “I’ll grab her bag. The car seat is in the back of my car,” she says.
“I’ll get it,” Amiya offers and heads back down the steps.
I follow Nana into the house and find Leia’s tiny dance bag resting on the kitchen counter beside a Styrofoam cooler.
“I packed you guys some juice boxes, a pecan pie, and a pint of vanilla ice cream,” Nana says.
Pecan pie. My favorite.
“Thank you, Nana,” I say as I kiss her cheek.
Amiya returns, and I pass Leia to her as Nana gives her heating instructions for the pie. Then Nana grabs an umbrella large enough to cover the three of them.
I grab the cooler and bag and follow them out the door and around to the driveway.
Nana smothers Leia with goodbye kisses as I load the car. Then, she hops up into her seat, and I buckle her in.
Amiya waves and gets in as I turn back to Nana.
Thunder rumbles in the distance, and her eyes go to the darkened sky.
“You be careful and take care of our girls,” she says as she hugs me goodbye.
“I will.”
She steps back and waves as we drive away.
Amiya turns to look at Leia. “Are you hungry, LeLe?”
“Yes! Can we get ice cream?”
I laugh.
“You can have the pie and ice cream Nana sent after dinner. First, we’re going to make Amiya’s special pizzas.”
“I can help,” Leia says.
“You betcha,” Amiya quips. “And then we’ll make Uncle Lennon watch Frozen with us while we have pie and ice cream.”
Leia cheers, and I groan.
“Welcome to being a girl uncle,” Amiya says.
By the time we make it to the cabana, the bottom has fallen out of the sky again, and I have to grab Leia while Amiya sprints to get the back door open.
When we make it inside, the three of us are soaked. Amiya takes Leia to the bathroom to fetch towels while I brave the torrential storm to get her bag, the groceries from the market, and Nana’s cooler.
The girls change into dry clothes and start dinner while my soggy ass heads to the shower.
I can hear them singing as I hurry from the bathroom to my room to pull on a dry pair of sweats.
When I join them, Leia is seated on the island with a juice box in hand as Amiya tops a pepperoni pizza with basil leaves and cheese. For the plain cheese pizza, she only sprinkles on more cheese. Then, she pops them both in the oven.
“Did I hear someone singing?” I ask as I slide onto one of the barstools.
“You have to sing on pizza-and- Frozen date nights. It’s the law,” Amiya informs me.
“Is that right?”
Leia nods.
“I don’t know any Frozen songs,” I tell her.
“It’s okay. We’ll teach you.”
By the end of the night, I’m belting every word of “Let It Go” off-key to their great amusement.