Chapter 33
Whew. That fight seems to have blown over more easily than I thought possible.
“Okay,” I tell Pearl. ”As we walk, tell me who I”m about to meet at this barbecue.”
She pulls me outside and we begin the walk down to the party. By the time we actually arrive at a part of the resort that I haven”t seen before, I have gotten the history of twenty different family units that I don”t know.
There is a covered area of tables on one side of the park. Amazing smoky, umami odors waft over from the six full-sized barbecues and smokers sitting just beside that. A cluster of older relatives sit in chairs on the far side, clutching cold drinks and umbrellas. The grassy space between is set up with two distinct areas, one for kids to play tag, one for adults to play cornhole. As we pass by the cornhole area, a stray bean bag misses the board and comes tumbling end over end toward my feet.
I grab it and chuck it back to a man who waves his hands and calls for its return.
”That”s my Uncle Buck,” Pearl says. ”And the guys he”s playing with are my nephews from across the Alabama border.”
I nod. Flo waves from the covered patio and I point her out. Pearl takes my hand and makes her way over to her immediate family. Her Aunt Delta and Aunt Glory are sitting at a table with other various aunts and cousins.
“Where’s Malik?” I whisper to Pearl.
“He’s having a sickle cell flare up, so he’s resting today,” Pearl murmurs.
That’s too bad. It would be nice to have another familiar face here
“Y’all come sit with us,” Glory says, waving us over.
”Y”all haven”t met Pearl”s fiancée yet,” Delta says to the women she”s sitting with. ”This is River. He is a lawyer.”
The other women murmur, excited at the announcement that Pearl is getting married. For the next ten minutes, I am paraded around and looked at. Pearl”s family are mostly Black, although there are a couple adopted cousins and spouses who don”t have the same skin tone. For the most part, everyone is polite, but they are a bit distant.
Pearl”s mom puts her arm around me protectively and brings me to sit at her table. ”You stick with me,” she whispers. ”All the interesting people are at this table anyway.”
Pearl is pulled away to socialize with her extended family. So I just sit and make small talk with Flo, Delta, and Glory.
”So, River,” Glory says, jerking her head at Delta. ”My aunt has a little cash flow issue. I figured since you are a real estate attorney, you would be the perfect person to advise us on the matter.”
”Glory! That”s private family business,” Delta growls.
”He”s going to be family. He might as well know the state of your property.”
I smile placidly, trying not to let my excitement about her words show. ”I”m at your disposal, ladies. Any time, not just right now.” I take a look around at all the cousins that are within hearing range. ”But it might be better to talk about this in a more discreet location.”
Flo puts her hand on mine and leans in. ”He is trying to tell you not to put your business on blast, ladies.”
I duck my head. ”Suggesting, nothing more.”
Delta”s brown eyes probe my face. She seems to be weighing my worth as a source of information, which is fair enough, ”We should sit down and talk sometime soon. Not now, though.”
I bow my head again. “Of course.”
Glory frowns and jerks her chin toward the park entrance. ”I was hoping that Bishop and Anitta would sit this one out.”
Pearl appears beside me, gripping my hand. Her eyes are glued on Bishop. I pull her down to perch on my lap and slide my arms around her. ”I”ve got you,” I murmur.
Pearl gives me a grateful smile and kisses my lips lightly. ”Thank you,” she whispers.
I hug her close to my body, feeling a weird need to possess her, to tell everyone that she”s mine. She”s not; I know it better than anybody. But still the feeling remains.
Delta climbs to her feet when Anitta and Bishop sail up to our table. Anitta looks like she just tasted something sour. But Bishop?
His eyes are locked on Pearl. On my girl.
I wish I could put out his eyes so he couldn”t even look at her.
The way she shifts on my lap says that she”s feeling the same.
”Aunt Delta,” Bishop says, his smile smug. ”How are we doing today?”
Delta crosses her arms. ”I didn”t know that Anitta was bringing a guest. I thought we had already talked about the matter and decided that she wasn”t bringing anyone.”
”This is Pearl”s home, after all,” Flo pipes up.
Bishop smirks. ”Anitta and I are a package deal. Her mom asked her to be here, so I”m here too.”
He rubs Anitta”s very pregnant stomach. Anitta gives him an irritated glare and flings his hand off of her stomach. Bishop gives her a hard stare.
”You know, Aunt Delta,” Bishop says. He never breaks eye contact with Anitta. ”We were thinking of naming Baby Jones after you.”
Pearl”s limbs stiffen. But before she can react, Anitta blurts out with a string of curses.
”Son of a bitch! You fucking kiss ass little dick fucking loser!” Anitta yells, looking at Bishop. ”I”ve had it with you! First you begged me to be your fake fiancée. But now you”re trying to get close to Aunt Delta? No fucking way!”
As we all sit watching, she rips off Velcro straps around her waist and flings her pregnancy belly to the ground. Then she yanks her ring off.
”Baby...” Bishop starts.
”Baby nothing. It”s done. We”re finished.” She shows everyone the ring, which she drops to the ground and stomps on repeatedly. I gape until I hear the telltale pop crackle of something shattering beneath her foot. ”It”s a fake ass diamond, by the way. Fake like this fake ass belly you made me wear!”
”Anitta!” Bishop bellows. ”What the fuck?”
I’m left gaping at Anitta. What the fuck, indeed! Bishop turns an angry shade of purple.
Anitta points her finger in his face. ”I”m leaving. You had better do the same unless you want my uncles to whoop your sorry ass.”
I can”t help the tiny laugh that leaves my mouth as Anitta storms off, Bishop following right behind her.
”The trash took itself out,” Glory announces, dusting off her hands. ”I can’t believe my little niece would even give that man the time of day.”
An older woman drifts over, waving a paper fan in front of her face as she sneers. “I agree. But thank the Good Lord, she’s free of him now. I still hold her partially accountable, but Bishop is the one who looks like a jackass right now. That man is insufferable.”
”That”s right,” Flo agrees, nodding. “You tell ‘em, Donna.”
I look at Pearl, who seems shocked. Squeezing her waist, I prompt her. ”You okay?”
Pearl swallows. I see a sheen of tears in her eyes.
She”s about to have a legit breakdown. I give her a gentle shake to get her attention. I slide her off of my lap and look around at the women in Pearl”s immediate family. ”I have to borrow Pearl to... uh... help look for my contact lens. It”s loose in my eye.”
The lie sounds phony, but her Aunt Glory smiles at me. ”Go ahead,” she says, waving a hand to shoo us away.
I lead Pearl to the entrance and we get about fifteen steps beyond it when she hunches over and covers her face. ”Oh god.”
I wrap my arms around her and pull her into a more densely wooded area.
”Are you upset about Bishop?” I ask, confused.
She shakes her head, wiping at her eyes. ”No. We’re doing the same thing Bishop and Anitta were doing, River. I don’t want to be anything like them.”
My head rocks back. ”That”s what you”re worried about?”
”Yes!” she cries. ”My family is going to be so disappointed, River. They”ll know that I tried to deceive them.”
”That”s not true,” I say as gently as possible. Cupping her cheek, I force her to look at me. ”They never have to know.”
A cold laugh bursts from her lips. ”You”re an optimist.”
”Funny, no one has ever accused me of that. I would say I”m a realist.”
She stomps her foot and looks at me with dread in her eyes. ”We”re fooling ourselves if we think that this... this moment in time... can last. We are nothing but a flash in the pan.”
She”s right, of course. But I want so badly to soothe her aching heart. I shush her and pull her against my chest.
“Does this feel flimsy to you?” I ask as I hold her close.
“No…” She sniffles. “But it does feel like a heartache waiting to happen.”
I let her words hang there in the air. A part of me want to refute her statement, to shut her down.
Another part of me thinks that maybe I should just tell her that I have feelings for her. Just come clean with the fact that I think we should be together in a much more permanent way.
My heart thunders in my chest. The words are on the tip of my tongue. But I am too much of a goddamned coward to say them.
For a moment, I genuinely loathe myself.
Pearl eventually quiets against me and we stand for a long moment, soaking each other up. I know that I will have to tell her how I feel before I reveal that I’m taking her land…
But I don’t have to do it at this exact moment. There will be time.