Page 16 of The Brooklyn Way
By the time my sister honked her horn for me, I was in the kitchen nursing the smoothie I’d made for myself. I must not have done as good of a job pulling myself together as I thought I did, because she pulled a face as soon as I slid into her truck.
“Good morning,” I croaked, slowly sipping my smoothie.
“What happened to you?”
“Why? Do I look like shit?” I flipped down the vanity mirror and studied myself.
“You look hungover, boo.” She lowered her voice as she put the truck in gear. “Are you hung over, twin?”
“Hell yeah,” I admitted, leaning my head back against the headrest.
“So, you’re getting drunk by yourself now?”
“Will came through.”
“Tuh.” She sucked her teeth. “I should’ve known… with his bad influence ass. I can’t believe you went out with him or that you tried to hang with him. You’ve been away too long. Everybody on the island knows that Will is a functioning alcoholic. You can’t hang with him when he’s drinking… unless you don’t want your liver to be operable.”
“Will’s going through a thing. He’ll come out on the other side. Right now, this is how he’s handling his grief. He told me last night that he just started counseling. He realizes that his drinking is becoming a problem.”
“Well, that’s good to hear. In the interim you should be encouraging him to find another hobby, not going out drinking with him.”
“Trust, that was a one-time thing. It was my first night back. We kicked it. That’s a wrap. Besides, we won’t have time to do stuff like that again, not with the demand of this basketball camp… and this bridal boot camp stuff that my annoying twin sister has me doing.” I studied myself in the vanity mirror once more. “You think Ma is gonna notice that I’m hungover?”
“Nah, not at all.” Carrington’s voice went up a few octaves in a telltale sign that she was lying.
My mother took one look at me and rolled her eyes long and strong. She didn’t even bother speaking. She just rolled her eyes and walked away. My father laughed out loud.
“Tied one on last night, huh, Cam?”
“Yeah,” I admitted, falling into step right beside him. “Nobody told me that drinking with Will was to be avoided at all costs.”
“Will is going through a tough time right now.”
“I know. That’s why I agreed to kick it with him for the first and last time this summer.”
My father looked me up and down. “Listen, son. If you fall asleep on Bishop Procter’s sermon, try not to snore.”
What my father didn’t realize was that I’d sat through team meetings, film sessions, and all kinds of professional commitments while hungover. Sitting through church wasn’t a problem. Actually, by the time morning service ended, I was starting to feel like myself, which was a good thing. Because instead of there being a line to shake the pastor’s hand, there was a line of island women waiting to speak with me.
As I offered handshakes, smiles, and quick hugs to the women of the congregation, I couldn’t help noticing that the church’s dress code had clearly relaxed since the last time I’d attended service at Sacred Anointing Covenant Church. There were as many tight, short dresses and asses shaking as I’d seen at the club the night before.
“Cameron will be here all summer,” my mother finally told the group.
The group of women waiting to greet me became younger, bolder and more aggressive. I’d had phone numbers pressed into my hand and my dick had already been rubbed at least three times. I was over it.
She must’ve seen it in my eyes because she placed herself between the group and me. “I said,” she repeated, “Cameron will be here all summer. Please go home now.”
Sometimes, celebrity shit got on my nerves.
Once it was just the five of us—my parents, Carrington, Bryce and myself—I spoke. “I’m starving—”
My mother cut me off with a sneer on her face. “I’ll bet you are.” She made a tsk sound with her lips. “Coming to church hungover.”
I let her get hers off with no rebuttals or attempts to defend myself. She could have it. She was right; I had shown up to church hungover. I bent at the waist, placing a lingering kiss on her cheek. When she didn’t swat me away, I placed another one in the same exact spot.
“I’m sorry. I love you,” I told her.
Carrington rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth before grabbing Bryce by the hand and flouncing away.