Page 43 of The Brooklyn Way
A knowing look finally passed over Isaac’s face. He cracked a grin. He looked like a cartoon crocodile to me. Shifty and untrustworthy.
“Come on, twin. Sharing ain’t nothing new between us. Granny used to make us share all the time. You were never this stingy with… others.” His eyes skirted over to Tiara, who at least had the decency to look embarrassed.
Cameron caught the exchange. “Yo, if you and Tiara… spent time together, I don’t know nothing about that. I know about Brooklyn. And her I don’t play about. She’s that one. So find something safe to do. I don’t want Auntie hitting my line about why I beat the shit outta her baby boy.”
I kept my eyes planted firmly on the ground. I couldn’t believe they were going back and forth about me in front of me. I could hear titters and mumbling from Carrington, Nyrah, and I presumed even Tiara. Their utterances meshed with the swish of the butterfly wings that were fluttering inside my stomach.
Promptly at eight o’clock, the rental company arrived at Cameron’s house to collect the tables, chairs, tents, outdoor fans and furniture that belonged to them. Not long after, the caterers broke down both their food and bar setups, followed by the DJ breaking down his. The guests took longer to leave, but they finally did-- agreeing to pick up where they left off at Killer Bee’s.
Cameron and I went into his house. I let myself fall out on the sofa in his great room. I had never stepped foot in the room before. But with the way I was feeling, I didn’t have the stamina or wherewithal to try to figure something else out.
He walked into the kitchen, washed his hands at the sink, then grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. When he realized that I was still sprawled out on the sofa he walked back into the space and peeked down at me. “You cool, lil mama?”
I watched his Adam’s apple bob as water coursed down his throat before replying. “I think I’m suffering from heat exhaustion. I know better than to spend so many hours in the sun.”
He placed the back of his hand on my forehead. “You’re clammy.”
“And sweaty, nauseous, and thirsty. Plus, I have a throbbing headache.”
He left the room without speaking. I lay completely still with my eyes closed-- willing my head and stomach to behave. After a minute or so, I felt the sensation of a cool towel being run over my forehead, then my neck.
I sighed in contentment. The water and the coolness felt good and on my skin.
My eyes were still closed, but I felt him reach under me and untie the back on my bikini top before undoing the hook and eye closures. The next thing I felt was the cool cloth against my chest, then my breasts. My eyes remained closed as I concentrated on the coolness of the rag and trying to bring my body temperature down. After a few more blissful passes of the cool cloth, I felt the warm wetness of Cameron’s mouth envelope my right breast. He suckled hungrily.
“Humh,” I moaned. “It feels so good, boo, but please. I’m so sweaty. I know I smell like outside. Let me take a cool shower and get some of this… grit off me.” It was so tough to make words when he was doing something so pleasurable.
He released my breast and backed off me. “You feeling better?”
“I still have a headache, but the nausea seems like it’s passing.” I paused before heaving out a sigh. “I was trying not to let it get to me. Some years, it doesn’t get to me. This year though… I feel like it is.”
“What’s getting to you?” He set the bowl of tepid water and the washcloth on the cocktail table.
“This Friday is my daddy’s birthday. His ninth birthday in heaven. Every year my grandparents throw a big family get together in his honor. My grandmother and my aunts cook a huge meal. We eat together, share memories of my father, then go down to the creek on my grandparents’ property. My uncle, who’s a pastor, says a prayer. After the prayer we do a balloon release. It’s very emotional, but it helps a lot to have family there—to have my grandparents there who miss their son as much as I miss my daddy. It’s like we exchange strength. When somebody is weak, somebody else is strong. We manage to hold each other up.” I took a breath. “It’s doubly hard for me, though. My parents’ birthdays were exactly one month apart. So right after I’m inundated with grieving my father, my mother’s day comes along.”
“Do you have a big get together with your maternal family, too?”
“No. My mom was an only child like me. She lost both of her parents like me. The only close family she had in this life were my dad and me. My grandmother, Big Red, loved my mom like her own daughter. She always makes it a point to celebrate my mom’s birthday when she celebrates my dad. The rest of my paternal family is only focused on celebrating my dad. I feel like my mom gets the short end of the stick.”
“Damn, I hate that,” he told me. Soon, the cool cloth was back on my forehead. “When are you leaving for…”
I chuckled because I knew he forgot. “Kentucky. Fenwick, Kentucky. I’m leaving Thursday night. I’ll be back Sunday evening, because I have to attend Sunday morning service at my uncle’s church.”
“You gonna be straight? You need me to go with you? Be a shoulder to lean on?”
My eyes flew open and crashed into his. Our eyes locked as we stared at each other silently, until tears started to fall from mine.
His eyebrows furrowed with concern. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“You offered to go home with me to be a shoulder to—”
He cut me off. “The nigga you were living with never offered to go with you? What did he do? Send you off to the airport with a kiss and a pat on the head? Like, ‘There. There.’?”
“No, he would go with me. He was always present and accounted for when it was time to sit at my grandmother’s table and eat. But he always had an excuse as to why he couldn’t attend the balloon release or the church service. He said that death made him uncomfortable.”
“Death makes most people uncomfortable.” His head shook back and forth in disgust. “I don’t spend a lot of time talking shit about people I don’t know, but whoever this nigga is… he’s a bitch.”
“You don’t have to go with me. Thank you for offering, Cameron.”