Epilogue
Don’t call me a liar.
I deserve at least a little bit of leeway here.
Look, I can’t reason that anyone would make the same decisions as me because… well, logic is a bit of a toss up in this game of life. I’ve played it too many times and somehow I still have more chances at it.
Maybe it was destiny that lead me here, since the two of us have been somewhat in agreement recently.
But I’m sitting in the passenger seat of a man who had spent months trying to get me offed by my own family to now have him doting on me like the fragile little bomb I am.
C’mon, I think I hit double sevens!
At least, I think that’s the lucky roll.
Point is, I belong to someone. This someone is no longer trying to have me offed by my own family but instead has made a way for me to continue saving girls from perverted men at a scale I won’t fully comprehend until I get my bearings in Louisiana again.
Small town, three-restaurant having, Clayton Terrace, Louisiana.
Vert’s hand finds mine in my lap, before I look up to meet his eyes.
I’m nervous to meet her because I know how important she is to Vert. Though I've never been in a position to where I've ever thought that I would be meeting someone who is important to someone—that it would ever be important to me, I'm hoping that it goes well.
I tried to dress as appropriately as I could manage with my own wardrobe, but honestly I don't really know what that means anymore.
There's no point in me being someone other than who I am.
Regardless, it hasn't been very long that I've been talking to a therapist, but even still I know that much is true.
The pink jumpsuit and matching furry boots are a staple in my wardrobe.
When Vert opens the door to his old house, there's a blur of something that crashes directly into him.
I know he's told her that I'm coming because he had to talk it over with his ex.
Stepping on his ex's toes are not my goal so I waited for her approval.
Marissa was only concerned about how his daughter would feel with a new woman in his life.
I honestly understand, but I'm still nervous about how Graciella will feel about me. I've never had a dad, so don't really know what that's like to meet one’s girlfriend.
So many firsts.
He whispers something in her ear, and as soon as she steps away from her dad, she looks at me.
"Oh my gosh, she's just like Heena, Papi,” she says with a lot of enthusiasm.
I tilt my head to the side. "Is Heena—"
Vert chuckles for a little bit. "I guess so,” he says to his daughter who is still beaming at me. Her gappy little teeth all on display. She look so much like him that it’s hard to not soften to the small person in front of me.
"Well, do you help out young kids too?" Gracie asks.
And at that, I perk up because I might do a lot of things wrong, but something I have always done is try to protect young girls.
"I do. I try my best," I tell her, and I can see the stars growing in her eyes.
She grabs my hand immediately, taking me into the house on some journey. Who knows where we're going, but Vert follows behind with a smile on his face. Something I've seen more often recently. It's nice.
I'm surprised to see that Redd is sitting under a tree in the backyard with his fiancé, Stephanie, and they have already been donned in costumed clothes.
We meet then there and Gracie hands me a princess crown and some sort of sash that I put on and take the seat next to Steph, who gives me a sheepish grin. "Apparently, we're at a very important meeting about the galaxies."
"Oh," I say, nodding and waiting for Vert to join me. He's apparently been tasked with getting treats for the meeting. Damn, I wish he'd bring snacks to our meetings. That would make me a whole lot happier about going to them.
"Okay, now that we're all here," Gracie says, going into a diatribe about everything that has been going on with the aliens and humans and alliances and all that sort of thing.
Her imagination is either vast, or she has just been reading loads. She places one of the books onto the table to point at a diagram that shows a ship of some sort.
I guess I shouldn't be as shocked as I am that Redd is fully immersed in this playtime, and I try my best not to get sad about not having something like this when I was younger.
Vert places his hand on my shoulder and asks his daughter, "Well, where can we put the princess at?"
"I'm glad you asked that, Papi. I was just thinking that she would be best...” As she continues on, Vert seems pleased with himself for bringing me back into the conversation.
Once she's done with her debrief, she has all of us go to separate areas in the yard that are to be our own stations. She's put me and her together in the tree house, where we're on the lookout for any stray ships coming in, which should be Redd.
It's honestly a lot of fun to see how much joy she has from all of Vert's closest being around her.
One of which is me.
We only get a few more minutes before some kids her age decide to come over to the house and play with her, where we're formally relieved from our duties.
“Think she likes you," Vert says, putting an arm around my shoulders while he watches the kids playing.
"You think so?" I ask. "I'm not sure if it was the princess crown or the sash that really gave it away."
"Oh yea, you're everyone's prized asset." He says the words casually, but he doesn't actually know how much weight they hold, or maybe he does, and that's why he said them.
He kisses my forehead, and I look off into the distance, where I could see his daughter is now, directing more space ship travel with her friends and Redd who is dutifully now wearing a box with a hole cut out of one side over his head.
"Oh, come on, Grape,” he complains jokingly. “You've got to give me more than this,” he gestures to the the box on his head. “How come Nina got to get the sash today?"
Gracie maintains her position, crossing her little arms. “That's because she defends all the young aliens and friends."
"What the heck?” Redd says and the kids all gasp. “You didn't even let me pick that role."
"That's because it's not a role for you. Only Heena can do it."
Steph tries to calm down Redd's exaggerated objections to Gracie's immediate liking of me.
“Yea, I’d say she likes you,” Vert confirms.
I finally exhale, feeling like I passed a test that only I was taking. I hope that continues to be true.
“What about her Papi?” I tease, having never heard him referred to in this way until today.
“I’m well past like,” he says, kissing the third finger on my left hand. “Good luck gettin’ away from me now, doll.”
THE END
Thank you for reading About the Green!