Chapter 6
MEMPHIS
The second I walked through the door, I was greeted by a shrill whistle and maniacal laughter.
When I looked around, I couldn’t find my ‘siblings,’ so I called out, “The stars at night are big and bright!”
I heard both of Mom’s birds imitating a clapping noise.
While they finished the lyrics, I spotted them side-by-side in the rafters and motioned for them to come down.
Mojo ignored my invitation, but Lola swooped down and landed on my arm.
Before I had a chance to greet her, she scurried up to my shoulder and nuzzled her head against my ear.
“Hello, pretty girl! How’s my favorite lady?” I raised my hand, and Lola hopped on. Once I had her against my chest, I began to run my hand from her head down to her tail, and she started purring like a cat. “Where’s Mama?”
“No more wire hangers!” Lola said in a conversational tone.
“If she catches you guys in the rafters again, you’re gonna be in deep shit,” I reminded her. She didn’t respond, but she shivered dramatically, so I knew she understood.
Years ago, Lola and Mojo had taken to a life of petty crime–getting more than a few of us kids in trouble in the process. It took a long time for Mom to figure out that it was the birds taking shiny things, but it took her even longer to find their stash.
One day, while we were standing around a vehicle Mom had hauled from the junkyard to piece out for parts, the windshield suddenly shattered.
We were all completely confused until Dad realized there was a bolt in the center of the spider crack.
He looked up and saw Mojo and Lola perched right above us.
That answered Mom’s question about where they'd been taking their shiny treasures.
Since we had a scissor lift for larger builds and maintenance, Mom and Dad went up to check things out.
They found a treasure trove. Mojo and Lola had lined up everything from pacifiers to popsicle sticks on the highest rafters.
They were pissed when Mom and Dad started collecting the loot so we didn’t have any more accidents.
Since then, the birds hadn’t been allowed to roost in the rafters, but when Mom wasn’t looking, that was their favorite place to be.
I knew the second Mom opened the door because Mojo swooped down and landed on the perch Bear had made them years ago out of a dead tree from his canyon.
“He was up there again, wasn’t he?” Mom asked in lieu of a greeting.
“Both of them were,” I told her with a grimace.
“Fucking kids, I swear they’re gonna be the death of me!” Mom exclaimed as she stomped over to the mesquite perch where Mojo was preening for her.
“She’s such a softie,” I murmured to Lola before I kissed her on the head. Once I was standing beside Mom, I let Lola climb off to sit beside Mojo, then turned to look around at the garage as I tried to figure out how to start the conversation I needed to have.
“Should we have you checked out?” Mom asked. When I looked at her in question, she said, “I can hear the gears turning from here, son. You’ve obviously got something tumbling around inside that pretty head of yours. Don’t make me get out the truth serum.”
Mom had always threatened us with truth serum when she thought we were lying, but as far as I knew, no one had ever called her bluff and made her produce any. I wondered what she’d use if that ever happened but knew that now wasn’t the time to have that discussion.
“I need to talk to you and Dad about something important.”
Mom slowly turned her head and studied my face before she sighed and lifted her hand to bring her watch closer to her mouth.
She gave the verbal command for her phone to text Dad.
Once it was ready to transcribe a message, she said, “Your son is here and needs to talk to both of us. You know what that means.”
Once she let her arm drop back to her side, I asked, “What exactly does that mean?”
“Well, over the years, it’s meant a lot of things. Most of those conversations ended with either your dad or me ready to cover you in honey and drop you off at the mouth of a bear cave. Lucky for all of you, your dad is diabetic and we don’t keep honey in the house.”
“Or know how to find hibernating bears,” I pointed out sarcastically.
“Actually, when you and Chevy stole my truck to go joyriding with those . . . floozies . . . I suggested the honey and a fire ant mound, but your dad told me that was a little too extreme.”
“And feeding us to a bear isn’t?”
“That was the summer we had the fire ant problem in the back pasture. Finding a mound wouldn’t have been a problem at all.”
“What is going on now? I swear to God, Memphis, this better be good news,” Dad said grumpily as he stomped into the garage.
“Heads up, son. Your dad hasn’t been sleeping very well, so I’ve been gradually replacing the regular grounds with decaf. I upped the ratio this morning, so he’s a bit on edge.”
“Are you kidding me right now?” I hissed.
“Good luck,” Mom said with a dismissive shrug.
She turned toward the car she’d been working on and sighed.
I knew it was because Harley had been helping her with it before he was arrested.
I wondered if she should move onto another one for a while, but I shelved that for later.
I already had something important to tell them today.
Mom seemed to have forgotten I had news because she said, “Mem, will you help me with the wiring today?”
“Sure, Mom,” I said as I watched Dad stomp over to the kitchenette. He opened the can of coffee grounds and sniffed. He glared into the tin, then turned his gaze on Mom. I felt the need to warn her, so I whispered, “Oh, shit! Red alert!”
“Why does this smell different than the one at home?” Dad asked.
“Because the one at home isn’t as fresh as that one,” Mom said dismissively.
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Listen, Firecracker, I know you’re up to something. It would be better for you if you just fess up now before I have to drag it out of you.” Mom raised an eyebrow and stared at him with a blank expression. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Don’t test me, woman.”
“Memphis needs to talk to us about something important.”
Dad’s expression softened slightly. “Is everything okay, son?”
“It’s good in a shocking, ‘oh shit’ sort of way.”
“Well, fuck,” Dad grumbled, turning to start a pot of coffee.
“Oh, no. Dammit to hell,” Mom whispered as she watched Dad measure out the grounds.
“What?”
“He usually drinks water when he’s in the garage, so I haven’t swapped that can yet!”
“What does that mean?”
“Am I late?” Chevy asked as he walked around the corner.
“For what?” Mom asked warily.
“I got a message from Mem that said we were having a family meeting.”
Mom slowly turned to face me. “Why are we having a family meeting, Memphis?”
I didn’t have time to answer before cars drove up outside and a couple of motorcycles rumbled in the distance. Mom was studying my face, probably trying to read my mind. I wasn’t completely convinced she couldn’t do it. She usually knew I was in trouble before I did.
Adam, Heath, and Josh walked in together from their office. As they greeted our parents, Loyal and Scarlet pulled up on their bikes, followed by Dahlia in her latest project car.
“The gang’s all . . .” Dad sighed before he turned back to the coffee pot. My heart broke at the look on Mom’s face. Harley was the only one missing, and we all felt his absence deeply.
“What’s going on, Mem?” Adam asked. As the oldest brother, he took his job a little too seriously at times. “Is everything okay?”
“I’ve got some news, and I only wanted to tell the story once. I called everyone here so you can pepper me with questions and get everything out in the open at the same time.”
Scarlet walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed one of the energy drinks she was so fond of, popped it open, and took a long sip.
I knew it had been killing her to hold in the information, but she’d promised not just me, but Gamma and Papa, that she’d give it time.
She’d wait until things were settled between me and Cassia.
“I have a kid.”
Scarlet spewed her energy drink in an arc and started coughing. I knew it was because that was not the way we’d planned for me to break the news to our parents.
The entire room broke out in chaos, with almost everyone asking questions at once. This is why I wanted to get it out in the open in front of everyone at once–so I didn’t have to go through the same song and dance of explanations over and over.
I ignored their reactions and kept my eyes on Mom as I explained, “I just found out about her two weeks ago. I verified it through a rapid DNA test and went to meet her last week.”
“Details, please,” Mom said in a deceptively calm voice.
“About her, or how she came to be?”
“I would prefer to never think about how she was created, Memphis. I’d like to know her details.”
“Her name is Ivy Cassandra Belushi. She’s two years and three months. She looks just like we did when we were kids, and she’ll be here on Monday.”
Mom leaned against the car and swallowed hard. “You just found out about her? Where has she been all this time?”
“Well, her mom was married when we hooked up, so she never told me. Her aunt came to town . . .”
“And now she’s divorced, so she’s decided to share?” Mom interrupted angrily.
Dad brought his mug of coffee when he walked over to stand next to Mom. As always, they were a united front.
“She’s not divorced, she . . .” Dad’s eyes got wide as he sipped his coffee, probably so he didn’t start spewing profanities.
I hurried to explain, “Her biological mother died when she was just a few months old. She’s been raised by her aunt, who has full legal custody.
She didn’t know until very recently that I was the father, and believe me, she was not receptive to the idea at all. ”
“Why not?” Dahlia asked warily.