CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Sierra
“So do I still get bragging rights for knowing you two would end up together?” Destiny called out as she walked up the two steps that connected the bookstore to the café.
“I tried to keep her off me, but she’s persistent,” Zeek informed Destiny. “And definitely not patient.”
“I’m the definition of patience.”
“And she’s always talking about fighting people.”
He was a veritable chatterbox tonight.
“Awww,” Destiny said, wrapping her arms around Zeek, hugging him tightly before pulling back to gaze up at him. “Look at my baby. I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.”
Sierra tilted her head, peering around Destiny to see Zeek’s expression. It was devoid of any observable emotion.
Destiny knew how to read deeper than the story Zeek’s face told. To the casual observer, he looked uninterested in everything around him, but like Destiny, Sierra could feel the satisfaction pulsating off him.
Destiny enveloped Sierra in a hug next. “I know you two had an unusual start with the little fox and all, but I felt you and Zeek could be something special.”
“I thought you were going to push Montel on me.”
“Not on any woman, ever,” Destiny said, kissing Sierra’s temple before linking an arm around her and the other around Zeek’s elbow, walking them down to the bookstore.
Sierra hadn’t gone beyond the café this morning so she hadn’t noticed the black-and-white photos of Black folks on the walls.
An old wooden printing press was displayed along the back wall and on the wall that ran the length of the room, an antiquated push plow was hung from the ceiling between the two large windows.
They passed rows of books before reaching an assembly of bistro tables and chairs that faced a small U-shaped stage backlit with fairy lights, some of the lights hung in strands from the ceiling over the stage. There was a microphone stand center stage and a small DJ booth set up to the right.
Separating the seating area and the stage was a makeshift dance floor.
Sierra felt a fluttering of nerves. Was she really going to do this?
There were already fifteen or so people seated at the tables. The den of animated voices grew louder in the moment one song transitioned to the next. Teddy Pendergrass’s “Turn Off The Lights” filled the room, and a few couples stepped onto the dance floor and began to slow dance.
“Baby brother!” a voice called out from the shadowed corner across the room.
A woman in a thigh length silk wrap dress and gold sandals raced toward them.
Where Zeek was rugged and all warm tones—both skin and hair, his sister had thick dark hair that hung down her back. She had much fairer skin, and her makeup was immaculate. Her joy at seeing Zeek was unquestionable.
Zeek pretended to suffer through his sister’s hug but the light in his eyes said he was as happy to see her as she was to see him.
“And of course my new sister-in-law would be stunning,” his sister said, pulling Sierra into a hug. They were about the same height so Sierra felt slightly less overwhelmed by her energy.
“Hi Sierra, I’m Anna. We’ve been waiting for you for forever.”
“I’m sorry, I thought the event started at seven.”
“Oh no, the family has been waiting for you. When Destiny called and told me Zeek’s other half walked into her shop, it took everything—and my husband—to keep me from coming to the farm.
I spoke with you so many times coordinating the house rental, but I never had an inkling you’d be a good match for my brother.
Destiny’s always been able to understand what Zeek needs more than anybody in our family. ”
Anna linked her arm through Sierra’s. Zeek looked down to where his sister attached herself to her and his expression flattened.
He looked back up and stared at Sierra without blinking.
She could practically feel his frustration, but she was just happy to be accepted by Anna on Destiny’s word alone.
“Come on,” Anna said. “Let’s head to the back patio so I can introduce you to my husband, Jean Pierre. Our brother Edgar lives in Virginia. He wanted to be here tonight but he couldn’t clear his schedule. He’ll be down next weekend.”
Before his sister dragged Sierra away, Zeek maneuvered the djembe off his back, set it against the wall, and pulled Sierra to his lap as he sat down.
“Jean will meet her when he comes to the table or he won’t meet her tonight.”
Anna shook her head and sat back down. “Even as a child he was extra possessive. Toys, books, dishes, anything in his room...”
“The more accurate word would be protective,” he told his sister, then looked at Sierra. “She and Edgar were both older but they didn’t take care of their shit. Why would I let them use mine?”
Reasonable question. One she was sure they had argued about many times before because Anna’s response led to them snipping back and forth for a good five minutes while Sierra and Destiny spoke about the plow and the printing press.
Sierra learned that both items had been made and kept in Destiny’s family for four generations.
Sierra wrapped her arm around Zeek’s shoulder and rested her cheek against his head. He stopped engaging with his sister and nuzzled Sierra’s neck.
She smiled when Anna and Destiny burst out laughing.
“Well look at this. I would’ve come over sooner had I known you all had finally learned how to have a good time.”
Destiny and Anna stopped laughing, sharing a look that clearly said, this bitch.
Sierra lifted her head and looked to her left where Maribelle stood wearing a red dress and a funky attitude.
The streak of red hair at the front of her head was more pronounced the way it was separated from a perfectly sculpted messy bun.
If you didn’t look too deeply, Maribelle might look like a heterosexual male’s dream woman.
Maribelle looked at Zeek, waiting for him to acknowledge her, but his only focus was nuzzling and kissing Sierra’s neck. His naked display of desire, the unconcern over anything that wasn’t her, made Sierra’s nipples tighten.
With the three women there to witness her physical reaction—even if they didn’t notice it—she should have had the grace to be embarrassed. In actuality, all she felt was a heady boldness that came from being adored by this man.
“Um, EZ, I think Maribelle is here for you,” Sierra said, drawing the other woman’s gaze.
Maribelle’s look of jealousy and dislike were barely concealed beneath a veneer of derision. Her anger might have raised fear in a weaker person, but Sierra had never been weak. She could empathize with the loss that came from no longer having Ezekiel Evers in your life.
“She ain’t here for me,” Zeek eventually said. Lifting his head, he gazed at Sierra. “She’s here for you.”
“No, I’m here to shake my ass and have a good time,” Maribelle corrected. “You remember how good that used to be, Zeek? Us having a good time. Maybe I can even tempt you to join me on the dance floor for a dance or two.”
Zeek looked at Maribelle then.
“I’d just as soon forget every memory of us, Mari. The only reason you refuse to is because you love the chaos that comes from stalking a man that no longer wants you more than you could ever love the man.”
“I don’t know Zeek, I really did love our sex.”
“Well go fuck on your memories or make new ones with someone else, I don’t care as long as you walk the fuck away from me.”
Maribelle smiled challengingly, unfazed by his rejection. “What if I’m not ready to walk away?”
“Then feel free to pull up a seat and watch Zeek and I create our own memories,” Sierra intervened. “I mean, it’s sad but I get it. I’d have a hard time letting go of EZ too...and I’ve known him for less than a day.”
“She’s the new tenant I told you was living on Zeek’s land earlier,” Destiny said. “The one you assumed moved into Montel’s place. She’s renting Ms. Cassandra’s house.”
“Um…in the time you and my brother were together, did he even give you a key to his house, or any of the homes he owns, Mari?” Anna asked, head tilted to the side.
“No,” Zeek answered.
Maribelle held Sierra’s gaze, as if that would get her off Zeek’s lap. Sierra would cut off her own eyelids before she’d be the first one of them to blink.
“Once again, I want to give Destiny a shout out for bringing the community together in celebration of our creativity and self-expression,” a man’s voice filled the room. “The mic will be hot in five, so if you haven’t already, come through and put your name on the list.”
Maribelle’s gaze shifted to Zeek. “I guess I’ll go get my brothers and get a drink.
Hope your little lap dog enjoys her time with you before she learns—like the other women who were interested in you learned—I beat bitches away with a very big, very bloody, stick.
” Her gaze flicked to Sierra before she turned and walked away.
“I think that Amazonian heffa just threatened me,” Sierra whispered, eyes wide.
“She definitely did,” Destiny and Anna said in unison, looked at each other, and burst out laughing.
Zeek lifted Sierra off his lap and stood. “I’ll go talk to?—”
“No. This is woman business,” Sierra told him. “She wants to provoke you as much as she wants to provoke me, but this night isn’t about her. It’s about us. Now, let’s go sign up before all the spots are gone. I want a chance to sing to you.”