36. Chapter 36
Summoner and I spent our last Spanish night alone locked in the bedroom.
Nothing sordid except loads of kissing, cuddling, food in bed, and finally rewatching Water at Dawn.
The movie was filmed in his hometown. Summoner excitedly admitted to skipping grade school to watch filming.
The lights and cameras made him want to do something big with his life. And that, he did.
Moore knocked on the door, coming in to confirm my flight details for early Thursday afternoon.
I was leaving early, but Summoner would stay for another two weeks.
Sadness settled in my heart as I faced the reality of leaving him behind.
I didn’t want to go. But I needed to do what was best for everyone.
Over the course of my life, I had gotten quite good at compromising my feelings for the sake of others.
The next morning, Summoner didn’t wake me up for a swim.
I was thankful for the extra bit of shuteye and the chance to stare at the ceiling and attempt to build up my internal armor.
Eventually, stomach full of fear, I scrambled down the stairs in search of morning coffee.
The manic pattering of my heart wouldn’t be swayed by reasoning.
Summoner reassured me that Kay was barred from the main house, and I had nothing to worry about.
I believed him, but I was still scared as shit.
Women with something to prove were crafty.
I moved carefully towards the kitchen, prepared to run at a moment’s notice. Dee appeared out of nowhere like a feral squirrel and grabbed my wrist. Eyes wide, she yanked me into a room beside the kitchen.
Before I could ask what was going on, shouting filled my ears.
We stood in the dark pantry as Summoner’s and Evan’s voices slammed against the walls.
The spikes of their emotions spilled from the kitchen.
Eavesdropping wasn’t good, but hearing unfiltered honesty was another pain that made things more real.
I swallowed and pressed my back against the wall.
The coolness acted as a grounding agent as my ears filled with the father-son conversation.
“I want you to make me understand! How can you be okay with treating mom like this?! Are you that wrapped up in some fucking groupie that you don’t give a shit about your family?!”
That same old argument, great.
Summoner groaned. “I care about my family. You can’t say that I’ve ever given you any reason to say I don’t care.”
Evan scoffed. “You care more about that groupie than mom! Why else would you ban her from the main house?!”
“Kay and I have been divorced for decades! She’s had lovers and boyfriends. Why am I not allowed that same fucking grace?!”
“That’s not the same thing,” Evan said dully.
“How is it not!? Why am I the only one held to this unspoken holding pattern?”
“Dad, we worry about you.” Evan’s voice was soft with a slight wobble.
That tiny waver revealed more than his words did.
That inflection pulled back the curtain, revealing a son who carried all the fear and uncertainty that came from the weight of his dad’s mental health problems. As a child who also dealt with the same burden, there, I could emphasize.
“I know I’ve given you cause to. But things change. I’ve put in the work to get better, to do better. And…Poppy is my gift for making myself better.”
My hands clenched my shirt right over my somersaulting heart.
My gift.
Dee grinned. She was such a kind soul.
“You can’t really think that.”
Evan’s flat affect dragged me back to earth.
“I do. I really do. I love her.”
“You don’t!” Evan spat.
“I do, Evan. I love Poppy, and she loves me.”
“Dad, that doesn’t make any sense. You can’t love someone younger than your own fucking kids!”
Summoner laughed. “I’m sorry no one informed me that love had an age limit.”
“I’m fucking serious. What happens in 10, 20 years? You think she’ll still be around?! Think reasonably! She’s using you! How much money have you given her? What has she taken?”
“It’s not about money, Evan! She makes me happy! I don’t care about anything else! It’s time for me to care about me!”
“You’re not caring about you. You’re being selfish. You’re hurting your family for some woman younger than your kids. You’re blinded, Dad, blinded.”
Evan had his speaking points and was going to ram them home.
“If I’m blind, does that mean you’re seeing more clearly then, Evan? You’re the only one here with anything fucking insight?”
“Yeah, because you’re acting like an ass. This chick is going to leave you with nothing and no one, and everyone will have seen it coming but you.”
Summoner’s chuckle was low with a dark edge.
“Why does that matter to you? I’d give Poppy everything she fucking wanted, but she doesn’t ask me for a thing.
Not a single fucking thing! You and your mother are too busy worrying about me to realize you’re cutting down an innocent person.
You both refuse to get to know her because you both want to control me and some stupid fucking legacy.
But you both refuse to see that Poppy is just a person who cares about me!
Her age doesn’t fucking matter! It’s about her heart! ”
“Dad, why can’t you listen to reality? Does she not have you taking your medication?”
A banging sound gave Dee and me a jump. I pictured Summoner slamming his fist on the butcher block countertop.
“Don’t you ever insinuate something like that ever again! Poppy knows my struggles better than anyone. I’m done with you all cutting her down. That’s the end of it! I appreciate the concern, but I’m a grown man. I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t know that you can. A man who can take care of himself doesn’t push aside his family, the people who love and care about him,he people trying to keep him safe. While she’s around, you can’t think straight. You push us away.”
Summoner groaned. “I’m not pushing anyone away! You are always welcome here!”
Evan laughed. “We’re not. Lynn and I will be staying with Mom. It’s just like the divorce all over again.”
Dee and I exchanged wide-eyed stares as Evan stomped out of the kitchen.
From my hiding spot in the pantry’s darkness, I got a glimpse of his face, red with tiredness and fury.
My emotions toward him were a storm of confusion, anger, and understanding.
I saw where he was coming from, but I hated standing in the flames of his hate.
“Poppy!” Dee clasped my hand. “I couldn’t let you walk into that. Are you okay?”
“I just wanted some coffee,” I sighed.
Why were these white people always impeding my morning caffeine?!
She squeezed my hand reassuringly. “That ,I can do.”
We walked into the kitchen to Summoner leaning against the counter, arms crossed. His face was hard, a frown on his lips. The static of frustration still spiked around him.
“Morning,” I said quietly while Dee headed to the coffee machine.
Summoner blinked, “… Dee, Poppy, I’m sorry you had to hear that nonsense.”
“Things happen,” Dee hummed. “Would you like some coffee, se?or?”
“Please.”
He unfolded his arms towards me. I stepped against his side, wrapping an arm around his waist. The spooled tension in his torso slowly unraveled as we came together.
But there still seemed to be a wall up, the residual of the confrontation.
I inched up on my tiptoes and whispered “Love you” before pressing my lips to his.
That afternoon, I was writing at the desk in the bedroom when a knock on the door startled the hell out of me. Cautiously, I opened the door, only to be bowled over by Daisy barging into the room and pulling me into a hug.
“BITCHHHHHH!!!!!!!” she shrieked.
Dressed in a white, flowing boho top, gold strap sandals, and ripped shorts, she looked like a vacation influencer.
“When did you get here?” I asked over the ringing in my ears.
“Like, an hour ago! Girl, we have much to discuss! Come on!” She dragged me down the hall to the other wing of the house.
Besides some aimless wandering, I didn’t spend much time in the guest wing.
It was silent beyond the echo of our footsteps.
Daisy’s room had a large canopy bed that took up most of the space.
Beyond that, there was a small dresser and a mounted flatscreen.
She stepped around her open suitcase on the floor and flopped down on the bed.
“You’re back?” Lynn, Evan’s wife, poked her head in from the window and waved.
“Holy shit, there’s a balcony?” I sputtered.
Even the master bedroom didn’t have a balcony.
Lynn laughed as she stepped into the room.
She also sported the requisite black-woman-on-vacation hairstyle.
She tied her box braids back with a colorful scarf.
We complemented each other’s hair and squeezed each other in a brief hug.
I blinked at the contact. She sat beside Daisy on the bed.
This was alien. They should have been shooting venom, not exchanging niceties.
What is going on?!
“You okay, Poppy?” Daisy asked.
I shook my head. “No…not really. Do you two know what’s going on?”
She scoffed. “Of course we do. Mom tried to murder you. Evan argued with Dad. Now, he’s staying with mom in the main guest house. Am I caught up?”
“How?” I asked.
“I’ve been feeding her the play-by-play,” Lynn winked.
“You two haven’t taken a side?”
I imagined kids picked a parent in moments like this. As for Lynn, I couldn’t wrap my mind around her being here for me when her husband was so anti-Poppy.
Daisy rolled her eyes. “I don’t take sides, Poppy. I do what I want. I’m like Sweden.”
“Okay…” My eyes landed on Lynn expectantly.
“As a Black woman, I know when a white man is wrong, and my husband is being loud and wrong.” She grinned.
“God, if that isn’t the truth,” Daisy sighed dramatically.
“She loves Summoner. Why is that a crime? With the way Kay and Evan are carrying on, you’d think she murders and eats puppies. You are good people, Poppy, and you make Summoner happy. That’s what matters.”