Chapter Eighteen #2
Because it was time to thaw the iced-over ramparts.
“So, Liam tells me you two designed Darius’s house. It’s
gorgeous,” I said to his sisters who were sitting opposite us in armchairs.
“It’s not like he gave us free reign. He picked everything.
We just gave him choices. He’s got good taste. A real eye,” Danni replied.
“Well, of course. Obviously, he’d have the final decision,”
I muttered. I drew in a breath and glanced at the doilies before saying to
Dorothea. “You know, all through the years, every time I saw a pretty doily, I
thought of you.”
“Too bad her thinking of Mom didn’t get her ass with her kid
over to Mom’s house,” Danni said to Gabby in a loud whisper just as Liam came
in with a bottle of Gatorade in his hand.
Gabby pulled an oh shit face.
Dorothea’s head jerked Danni’s way.
Liam’s brows shot together, so I knew he heard.
But I had other things to worry about.
Principal of which being the burning wall of fury that moved
through the room from my left.
Everyone felt it, including Danni and Gabby, who looked
right to their brother.
Gabby had the good sense to quail.
Danni lifted her chin.
Darius’s voice was deceptively quiet when he asked, “Is my
woman’s business your business?”
“He’s our nephew and Mom’s grandchild,” Danni
snapped. “And we didn’t meet him until he was eight, and even then,
barely saw him at all.”
“I’ll repeat,” Darius said slowly. “Is my woman’s business
your business?”
“It’s family business,” Danni retorted. “And I’m sorry. I’m
not down with this whole pretending everything is okay crap. We can’t sit on
this. We need to have it out.”
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talkin’
about,” Darius clipped.
“I know she took your money and kept her son from his
family,” Danni returned then looked at me and commented snidely, “Nice dress,
Malia.”
“Eyes to me,” Darius ordered.
Danni sneered at me.
“Eyes to me!” Darius roared.
Danni jumped.
Oh boy!
I stood and turned into him, putting a hand light on his
stomach. “Darius, let’s talk outside, baby. Okay?”
He didn’t take his attention from his sister.
And so, when he spoke, it was right to her. “You have the
fuckin’ balls to sit there wearin’ the dress that the
money I made off my back and sellin’ my
soul got you the education and set you up in the business you can buy it, and
you talk shit to my woman about the money I gave her to keep her in a good
house and nice clothes while she’s raising my son?”
“Darius—” she tried.
“No, girl,” he bit. “You started this, answer me. You got
those big a’ balls?”
Danni squared her shoulders but said nothing.
“I’d like to hear the answer to that question too,” Dorothea
chimed in. It was quiet, but it was firm.
Danni looked to her and there was a slight whine in her,
“Mom.”
“You disrespect the mother of my grandchild, the love of my
son’s life to her face in my house?” she asked. “Who raised a child to
do that?” She shook her head. “Not me.”
“Darius was lying in a hospital bed,” she slashed a finger
at me, “and she gutted him like he was the bad guy in this scenario.”
“Drop your hand, girl,” Darius warned on a terrifying purr
that gave even me a shiver, and it wasn’t directed at me. “Do not ever
point at Malia like that.”
She was smart enough to drop her hand, but she threw both
up. “I’m just saying, Gabs and I don’t think we should all pretend like
everything is happy and awesome, when for sixteen years, it was not.”
“And who do you think felt that the most? You?” Dorothea
asked.
“I’m just saying—” Danni repeated.
“I heard what you were saying,” Dorothea cut her off. “And I
cannot believe in all the heartache we’ve all endured you’d want to keep that
going for another second.” Her hair shook on her last word. “Not
another second.” More hair shaking. “I did not cook for the last three
hours to have my family all around me for the first time and have my girls act
like harridans.”
Gabby threw Danni right under the bus with her, “It wasn’t
me!”
Then again, Danni had already tossed herself there.
Still, Danni shot angry eyes to her sister.
“Maybe we should all just take a breath,” I suggested.
“Naw,” Liam said, putting down his drink. “I think we should
go home. This is bullshit.”
Dorothea’s face froze.
As did Gabby’s and Danni’s.
“Honey—” I started.
“When they apologize, we’ll come back. But not before, Mom.”
He’d come to me, and he swung an arm to the door. “Get in the truck.”
I looked up at his father.
“You heard your son,” he said. “In the truck.”
Totally ganging up on me.
“Darius, your mom has cooked for hours.”
He looked down on her, his face blank, eyes cold. “Sorry,
Ma. But you know the statement has to be made.”
God!
I whirled.
“I’m not leaving. I’m eating your food.” I said to Dorothea.
Then to Gabby and Danni. “Be mad at me. I don’t care. Darius is right. You
don’t know what you’re talking about, and our business isn’t yours. I
appreciate your loyalty to your brother, but really, you should have thought
this through. If you had something to say to me, you should have found some
other time to say it. I would have listened. I might not agree with you, but I
love your brother enough to listen. But you didn’t do it like that. You did it
like this. That’s not on me. It’s on you.”
I switched the wineglass from hand to hand as I took my
jacket off. I swung it on the arm of the couch, then I sat back down, took a
sip, thanking the good Lord it wasn’t sweet, because sweet wine was from Satan,
and I went on.
“I’ve got a great job. But yes, this dress is not Walmart
and it’s highly likely some of Darius’s money bought it for me, and I’m proud
of that. My man takes care of the ones he loves that are under his protection.
As you both know very well.”
Gabby had the good grace to look ashamed.
Danni couldn’t meet my eyes, so I figured she felt the same.
I turned to Dorothea and finished with, “What’s for dinner?”
“Chicken and dressing, pureed carrots and turnips, sauteed
green beans, mashed potatoes and rolls. Carrot cake for dessert.”
Damn.
I shouldn’t have eaten lunch.
“That sounds great,” I replied.
She stood. “I think it’s time to sauté the beans and finish
sorting the table. I was going to ask my girls to help me, but would you do it,
Malia?”
I stood too. “My pleasure.”
She started to the kitchen with me following, and she didn’t
look at anybody when she ordered, “Sort it out before your behinds sit at my
table.”
I turned and gave Darius a work it out! look then
transferred it to my son before I lost sight of them when I turned the corner
into the kitchen.
That said, before I lost sight, I didn’t miss their
identical stances (feet planted, arms crossed on chests) nor their identical
scowls.
Both of them aimed at me.
Eek!
My family and I trooped through the back door and
laundry room into the kitchen.
The ride home had been silent.
The night had been great…for Dorothea and me.
We caught up and her food was just as I remembered it, stick
to your ribs, soul food delicious.
Danni and Gabby tried to make up for blowing it, but Darius
and Liam were having none of it. They were warm and respectful to Miss Dorothea
and me, but it was like their sisters/aunts weren’t in the room.
And I knew I was in trouble for defying the men in my life
on the ride home. They made that perfectly clear the entire silent ride in the
heavy atmosphere of the cab of Darius’s truck.
The instant Darius switched on the light, he turned to Liam.
“Downstairs, son,” he ordered.
“With respect, Dad, I got things to say too.”
A muscle in Darius’s jaw jumped.
Then he jerked up his chin.
I put my purse and the tin of cookies Dorothea sent home
with us on the island and rounded on them.
“You two can’t be mad at me,” I stated.
Two sets of beautiful brown eyes turned to me.
Beautiful angry brown eyes.
Yes.
They were mad at me.
“Before we got there, we were talking about respect. That
was not respect. And you took it then ate dinner with it,” Darius bit off.
“I didn’t take it,” I slapped back. “But I wasn’t going to
walk out of a house where your mom had spent hours cooking and totally ruin the
night for her.”
“Someone disrespects you, you make it so they don’t do it
again,” Darius retorted.
“Your sisters didn’t buy that food and cook it,” I returned.
“Right, then, you made me and Liam take it and eat dinner
with it,” Darius shot back.
Well, hmm.
I did do that.
“It was the right thing to do,” I stated.
“So, Aunt Lena talked trash about Dad, you’d sit down to
dinner with her after?” Liam asked me.
Uh-oh.
I caught my lip between my teeth.
Because…no. I would not.
“Yeah,” Liam grunted.
“Ma would have got it,” Darius declared.
She probably would have.
Aw, hell.
I lifted my hands and pressed down. “Okay, okay. I get it.
You’re right. And I’m sorry I put you through that. Though, I was really happy
to have some time to catch up with Miss Dorothea. But yes, I’ll have other
opportunities and we should have come home.”
The doorbell rang.
“Fuck,” Darius clipped, then prowled out of the
kitchen.
“It’s gonna be Aunt Danni or Aunt Gabby,” Liam said, staring
at the wall between kitchen and living room like he could burn holes through it
with his laser beam eyes.
“Fuck,” I snapped and followed in Darius’s
footsteps, noting he’d switched on a lamp by the couch on his way to the door.
I was getting close to the front door when I heard him say,
“You need to back off and let me cool down.”
“I’m here to apologize,” Danni said.
“I hear you. You still need to back off and let me cool
down.”
I stopped in the archway to the entry and Danni, who Darius
was barring at the door so she was still outside, looked to me.
“Malia, get him to let me in,” she demanded.
I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Danni. I intervened for your
mom, but you have to work this out with your brother.”
I turned to move out of eyesight and nearly ran into Liam.
“Liam, honey, I’m so sorry,” Danni said pleadingly.
“Not me you should apologize to,” Liam replied.
“Malia, seriously. I’m sorry,” she called, and I stopped and
turned back. “You were right. I should have connected with you so we could talk
things out. That was fucked up.”
“It’s not me you should apologize to either,” I told her.
Her eyes went up to her brother.
“Darius—”
“What would Dad say to that shit?” he asked.
Ouch.
Low blow but deserved.
She suffered it, her face crumbling.
“Yeah, that’s what he’d say,” Darius whispered.
“We lost her when he died,” she cried.
I froze.
Darius froze.
Liam froze.
She looked to me. “I was mad at you then. Even before we
knew about Liam. He needed you. I needed you.”
“Oh, Danni,” I said softly.
Yes, Darius’s sisters had liked me.
She dashed the back of her hand under her eye and pulled
breath into her nose. “You were dealing with a lot. I know you called. I talked
to you. I know you were trying to get to him. But all I was feeling got twisted
up in all that happened, and I acted like a bitch. I’m sorry.” She looked again
to her brother. “I am really sorry, Darius. It just all came back when
you got hurt, and suddenly Malia was back, and everything was out with Liam,
and I got wound up in being pissed instead of being scared because you got shot
and smashed in the head. And I was scared.”
Her face crumbled again, and Darius swore, “For fuck’s
sake,” hooked her behind the head and pulled it into his chest.
“Get her in out of the cold, honey,” I urged.
Darius pulled her inside, shut the door and led her to the
couch where he sat her down, going down with her, his sister still held close
in his arms.
I switched on another couple of lamps before I asked, “You
want wine? Or something stiffer?”
“How can you be nice to me?” she wailed into Darius’s shirt,
“I’m such a bitch!”
“Danni,” Darius said to the top of her head. “This is why
you do what Malia said and talk shit through instead of being a bitch. Yeah?”
“I think I learned that real good,” she snuffled into his
shirt.
“Kleenex, son,” Darius murmured to Liam.
Liam took off toward the bathroom.
“Now Gabs is pissed at me,” she mumbled.
“Can’t help you with that. She was tryin’
to contain it and you swung her ass right out there. You gotta work that out
with her,” Darius told her.
“Huh,” she told his shirt. She blubbered some more, then
muttered, “Work is gonna be interesting tomorrow.”
“Bed you gotta lie in,” Darius muttered in return, but did
it rubbing her back.
“Babe, wine, or something else? I make a mean martini,” I
pushed.
She sniffled and then Liam was there shoving a wad of about
fifty tissues (the same amount he’d stuffed into my purse before we went to
Carmine’s) in her face. She took them and about ten of them drifted to her lap
because she couldn’t handle them all, but she pulled away from Darius and blew
her nose with some, dabbed her face and under her eyes with others.
She glanced at Darius.
He nodded.
She looked to me.
“I’d murder a martini.”
I smiled at her then turned to Darius because I hadn’t yet
discovered the full lay of the land at his house.
“Vodka, freezer. Vermouth and olives, Liam’s gonna have to
get those from the cellar,” he answered my unspoken question.
Liam took off.
So did I.
“Grab the shaker too, boy!” Darius called.
“Got it!” he shouted back.
I wasn’t real big on them shouting at each other all the
time.
But whatever.
We’d just surmounted another obstacle, and we were still
standing, and together, and we understood each other better, which meant we’d
come out of it stronger.
So I could deal with a little shouting.