Page 45 of Meegan
“Where’d you meet him?” her little cousin Mia asked.
“Her friend Xeni introduced them,” her mom announced as she joined the circle of inquiry. She heard Don make a grunt of approval behind her, like he’d been wanting answers too. Meegan glared back at him, shaking her head. Don was supposed to be her friend.
“Your mom answered, so that doesn’t count as a question,” her little cousin Caleb said. The kid was thirteen. Why was he even in this? Candy clearly agreed with that part of things.
“Go inside.” She gently mushed his head and nodded for him to take his sister with him. When it was just adults—and two babies—several eager faces turned back in her direction. Meegan knew it was best to get this line of questioning over with.
“His name is Olin. He’s friends with Archie.”No one in their family called him Duke. She went on, nodding in her mom’s direction. “The town cryer over there is right. My friend Xeni introduced us. He’s thirty-seven. He’s from outside of Philly. He founded that website Depot. I feel like you guys should know this stuff already. He’s literally Arch’s bestie.”
“Never met the guy,” Trevor said with a shrug.
“I don’t care about Archie’s little friends,” Candy said.
“But you care about my boyfriends? Make that make sense to me and Co Jo.” She blew a raspberry on the baby’s cheek and was rewarded with the best giggle in the world.
“It’s ’cause you never have a boyfriend,” Sofie said, her tone teasing, but it felt like a punch to the chest.
Her family was always nosy. She felt for Daisy because she knew most of the day and night would be spent with everyone asking her about the current status of the dreaded ex, Jimmy. Her cousin Derek would probably even say something really foolish like how much he missed the guy. Someone would ask Reyna why she wasn’t working and Sofie herself would get an earful about her parenting skills. Little Caleb was kind of an asshole. Everyone would “get theirs” before the night was over, but with Olin in the picture, Meegan didn’t think “hers” would sting so bad.
Her family didn’t know about The Club. Her mom just told her aunts she had “friends”, which they took to mean Meegan was a whore. Her mom didn’t judge her, mostly because she’d spent her own teens and twenties ass up in green rooms and tour buses and one time, in a story Meegan really wished she had kept to herself, an alley behind the Wiltern. Her aunts loved the idea of boyfriends and husbands and baby daddies who did their part. Meegan had let them down by her alternative lifestyle choices, until now.
She thought about telling Sofie to shove it when the most high-pitched scream came from inside the house. Cynthia grabbed her baby back as they followed the crush through the patio doors to see what was going on. Meegan loved being tall, especially at times like this. Over her the heads of her family members pushing into the kitchen, she saw her Aunt Alma weeping, her arms wrapped tight around Duke.
It was like seeing a very sparkly ghost. He was wearing a black tracksuit and enough jewelry to cover the purchase of a small island. It was weird seeing him in this normal environment, but it was exactly where he belonged.
“You’re home. My baby came home,” Alma whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I missed you guys too much,” Duke replied. His dad, Felix, aunt Alma’s first husband, nudged his way through the chaos and hugged him tight, giving him a few of those hard man pats on the back to convey all the emotion he wasn’t comfortable expressing verbally. When his dad finally released him, Duke took his time hugging everyone. He greeted Coco Jr. and baby Kaya, who he hadn’t properly been introduced to yet. By the time he got to Meegan, Aunt Alma announced round one of dinner was ready. Duke found her near the end of the line that wrapped into the hallway.
“You saved me from an Olin-related inquest,” Meegan joked.
“Oh, I got some questions of my own.”
Meegan hushed him. “Later, when we’re alone. I’m not cut out for group emotional abuse.”
“Just have a baby,” Duke said with a wink. “That’s all these people want. Babies to hold up to the auntie gods.”
“How’d you get out of it?”
“Record deal.”
Meegan’s eyes rolled so hard she was shocked she didn’t give herself a migraine.
* * *
It was hard to stay annoyed with her family when they fed her so well. Alma’s first and second husbands both liked “traditional” Thanksgiving cuisine so they had a turkey with all the sides. But her second husband couldn’t step outside without grilling some kind of meat, so meat was also grilled. There were fried plantains, peas and rice, and some flan, lumpia, and banana pudding. Jasmin, the current six year old of the bunch, demanded an apple pie and apple crumble so she could tell her classmates she’d had both. Her dad, cousin Eddie, helped her make both and she made her presentation to much applause. Meegan tried both, and a bit of banana pudding. Plus a spoonful of flan she stole off her mom’s plate.
She was happy and full and only missing Olin a little when she and Daisy agreed to step out front so they could finally talk. Daisy was trapped by two of the aunts, so Meegan made a run for it before they brought up Olin again. She headed out to the sidewalk and leaned against the cinder block wall in front of the house. She went to text Olin and saw she missed a message from Xeni.
Look who came barging through my mama’s door.
She’d sent along a picture of herself standing in front of Mason. He had one massive arm wrapped around her shoulders and his other hand held a beer raised to his lips like he didn’t know she was taking a picture. Seemed like Xeni barely knew either, because the top half of Mason’s face wasn’t in the frame. Meegan felt herself grinning ear to ear.
You got your man back!
She heard the front door open and turned to see Duke coming down the driveway.
“Oh hey! I was waiting for Daisy.”