Chapter 1 #2
“I have a feeling we’re gonna need something to sip on while we listen to this,” Papa Smokey mumbled before he got up and walked over to the bar.
He pulled some bottled waters out of the ice trough and then lifted a bottle of whiskey off the shelf behind the bar before he carried everything back over, setting the tray of drinks in the middle.
He opened the whiskey and took a big swig before he slid it across the table toward me and said, “If now isn’t the time for a dose of liquid courage, I’m not sure when is. ”
Before I could grab it, Gamma tipped it up and took a deep gulp. She hissed at the burn it caused, and her eyes watered before she said, “Courage, my ass. I need something to calm my nerves!”
“I think I should stay sober for this,” I said as Gamma slid the bottle my way.
Watching my brother spiral into alcohol and whatever else he was using had killed my urge to drink.
It wasn’t like me, but now, a beer or two is my limit.
Just the taste brings back the image of him lying in that hospital bed - covered in bruises caused by the airbag, a constant reminder that he almost killed four people including two members of our own family.
I shook off my thoughts of Harley as I saw Scarlet eyeing the bottle warily. I smiled when she gave a quick shake of her head and said, “I’m gonna stay dry too.”’
“What is it you think we should know?”
I listened intently as the girl explained how her college course on genetics led her to question the parentage of her niece.
I had to admit that she’d really thought this through.
I knew eye color could be a throwback to an ancestor, but I hadn’t realized the dimples my siblings and I were known for came directly from my father.
I abruptly asked, “Papa, do you have dimples?”
Papa shrugged and said, “You know, son, I don’t rightly know.”
When I looked at Gamma, she grinned and said, “In all these years, I have never seen his face without whiskers!”
“Mom doesn’t have them. Does Dad?” Scarlet asked.
“He did when he was a child, but . . .”
“I’ve never seen Dad without a beard either!” Scarlet exclaimed.
I cleared my throat before I suggested, “Let’s get back to the subject at hand.”
◆◆◆
CASSIA
“Look at that, Ivy-Bug,” I said as I set her plate on the table in front of her booster seat. “Dinner is served, and it’s not even dark outside. Mark that in the parenting win column because I need one of those this week.”
Ivy didn’t care when she got fed as long as she got fed.
That was a good thing, considering how I sometimes forgot to feed us both when I got into the zone.
It didn’t matter how many times I set an alarm to remind myself to get my ass in the kitchen to cook dinner.
We inevitably ended up eating later than normal .
. . or the time I assumed normal people would eat dinner.
I thought about how ashamed my mom would be if she found out that’s how I was raising her grandchild and could imagine my dad shaking his head sadly.
He would lecture me on the importance of a healthy diet for a growing child - something he was very knowledgeable about, considering his profession.
But they weren’t here, and according to her pediatrician, pulmonologist, and cardiologist, Ivy was a healthy girl.
That made me happy. And since she was growing and learning faster than I was ready to accept, I had to assume I was doing something right.
“Yum!” Ivy cheered with her mouth full of food.
“Are you ever going to learn any other words, or will we have to communicate exclusively using the different emphasis and emotions you express with that one word alone?” I asked rhetorically.
“Sorry I’m late!”
Even though I knew Ivy wouldn’t answer, I leaned closer to her and whispered, “Should we share our dinner with her?”
“I heard that!”
I leaned back so I could see around the corner and watched my sister kick her sandals off by the front door and start walking toward us as she stared down at her phone. I couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out when she almost walked into the wall.
“Stop laughing at me, and give me food before I die,” Erisa ordered dramatically as she flopped down in the chair beside Ivy. “I’m starving, Ivy!”
Ivy was helpful enough to offer her fork of pasta, and Erisa gobbled it up, moaning and groaning before she said, “Yum yum yum!”
“How was work today, honey?” I asked.
“I’m going to end up going on a spree, and you’re going to have to bake a file into my birthday cake.”
“Who did what and why?” I leaned back against the counter, knowing she was going to answer all of those questions in depth, just like she did every evening when she got home.
I made her a plate as Erisa updated me on all the office drama and reiterated just how much she hated her job. As I set it on the table in front of her I asked, “Have you talked to Iliana today?”
“Oh, no! Is it my day to track her?” When I frowned at Erisa, she said, “She’s a college freshman, Cassia. Neither of us really wants details about what she does in her spare time, do we?”
“Probably not, but I feel like we should at least talk to her once a day to make sure she doesn’t end up the subject of a true crime podcast whose listeners blame us for neglecting her.”
“Slow workday?”
“Not so much as a loud one. Ivy screamed as if she were being murdered every time I turned the television off. It was very distracting trying to work with all of that noise.”
“I told you that too much screen time would become a problem. She’s going to end up being one of those children who can’t sit still unless they’re watching a screen with bright colors and gibberish.”
“I’d believe you if that were her fascination, but she wouldn’t sit still to watch a cartoon if her life depended on it.”
“She’s still on that mechanic kick?” Erisa asked.
“I don’t get it. I couldn’t tell you how to check the oil in my car, and she falls asleep to strange men welding shit together while they talk about some guy named Cam Shaft.”
“There’s a guy named Cam Shaft? That sounds like a pornstar name. Did his parents hate him?”
“They said his name at least fifty times during the episode she was so enthralled with this morning . I got so tired of hearing about him that I had to put in my earbuds to tune it out.”
“I don’t get this kid at all,” Erisa said before she leaned over and kissed Ivy on the cheek. “You’re an unknown entity, my love.”
“Yum!” Ivy said cheerfully. Then she practiced one of the newest tricks in her arsenal and made the sound of an engine revving, which made her spew half-chewed pasta across the table.
Erisa started hooting with laughter when I reached up and flicked a piece of pasta off my cheek with a growl. “Do you see what I deal with all day?”
“That’s one I haven’t heard before.”
“It’s new.”
“I like it. It sounds like one of those old cars that are all shiny and sexy.”
Ivy made a different noise, and I explained, “That one is supposed to sound like the neighbor’s motorcycle. She’s obsessed. Every time he drives past, she trips over her own feet trying to get to the window for a glimpse of him.”
“I get that,” Erisa said knowingly as she scooped up her next bite. “I’d trip over myself trying to get to him too.”
“I can’t take it anymore. I’m going to call Iliana since she won’t answer my texts.”
“You’re a worrywart, Cassia. Let the girl have some room to breathe.”
“Fine. I won’t call her, but I’ve gotta get out of this house for a while. Will you get Ivy down for the night while I’m out?”
“Of course.”
“Good. I need some fresh air and a big dose of silence.”
“Have fun with that.”