“It’s okay,” he said, kissing my hair. “You should take all the time you need. Everyone grieves in different ways.”
“He’s right, Lacey.” Derrick leaned against the ledge of the windowsill. “And don’t let Mama fool you. It took her months before she could visit Aunt Naya. No judgment here.”
I gave him a small smile, slipping my arms around Drake’s waist when he squeezed me tight. I was glad they understood.
*
When Derrick, Drake, and I got downstairs, we were intercepted before we even left the porch by the local pastor of the neighborhood. I used to sing in church all the time so I was happy to see Pastor Knapp. I received a warm hug and smile from the older gentleman, then he asked if he could borrow my cousin. Pastor Knapp lived across the street and wondered if Derrick could help him bring over some yard games for the younger kids that were down in his cellar. Derrick asked Drake if he wanted to help out.
“Do you mind, Lace?” he asked me.
I didn’t so I waved him off. I made it to the backyard and that’s where I found my bestie. The top of her rainbow-colored hair could be seen from her lawn chair. I snuck up on her, squeezing her from behind.
Margot squeaked from surprise, then giggled, pulling me around from behind to take a seat on her lap. I did, sitting gingerly.
“I was beginning to think my best friend didn’t show up to my welcome home party.” I eyed her.
She waved off my comment. “Girl, whatever. I just didn’t want to fight my way through your admirers. I figured you’d find me once you had a moment. Speaking of…” She leaned over the arm of her chair and retrieved a pen from her purse. She held it out to me. “Can I have your autograph, Ms. Douglas?” She fanned her eyelashes at me.
I smacked her arm, taking the seat beside her. “Smart aleck.”
“Oh, Lacey. You don’t have to hide your relationship with your lesbian lover on our account.”
I rolled my eyes at the voice of Cheyenne. She appeared in front of us, taking her seat with her partner in crime, Shania. They were also known as Hood Rat Number One and Hood Rat Number Two—mostly by Margot. I couldn’t deny her label for them with the way they were both dressed today. Leather shorts and a crop top for Cheyenne and a shorts jumper with a bra underneath for Shania. Yes, the hood rat category would be very acceptable for them today. Somewhere between middle school and high school they’d ridden most of the neighborhood, but I wasn’t one for judging how people wanted to spend their time.
Margot cocked her head at the pair. “You wish you had all this, ladies,” she said, rubbing her hand sensually on her thigh.
I snickered. Margot was a trip.
Cheyenne and Shania sneered, clucking their tongues, and Margot burst out in laugher. She must have gotten the response she wanted.
She finally came out of it and crossed her legs. “Lacey’s actually got herself a man, ladies, and believe me, he keeps her plenty busy.”
She nudged me and my cheeks hit fire.
Cheyenne dug into her purse, taking out her lip gloss, and applying. “Yeah, I heard about him.”
I turned at the waist, tilting my head. “What’s that supposed to mean, Cheyenne?”
I definitely wasn’t going to let her get away with that snide comment. If she had something to say I wanted to hear it.
Shania looked at Cheyenne just as curiously as Margot and I were. Apparently her friend wasn’t in the loop either. Cheyenne smacked her lips then cupped her mouth.
“I heard he’s Asian, girl,” she said, whispering loudly to her behind her hand. It was obviously deliberate so I’d hear. She looked at me, smirking. “We all know Asian men look like little boys. Puny and pathetic. Somebody must have been desperate for something between her legs.”
I only saw red as I braced my chair to stand. I was going to let her know about herself, but Margot touched my arm.
“We don’t engage haters. Right, Lacey?” she said, eyeing the ladies up and down.
Cheyenne put her lip gloss away. “It ain’t hatin’ if it’s true, sweetheart—”
Derrick and Drake came into the backyard just then with the games, and when they did, the haters stopped. I had a feeling it had nothing to do with the wooden beanbag toss and the other backyard games they carried in.
Derrick had his basketball jersey off and tucked in his back pocket, the t-shirt he wore underneath remaining on. Drake had taken his shirt off as well, the button down tossed over his shoulder. The difference was his undershirt, a tight, white beater.
He and Derrick set down the wooden beanbag toss with the games stacked on top of it, and my man never looked sexier while doing it. The golden skin covering his large biceps contoured in muscular definition, his large arms covered in a thin layer of glistening sweat.
I couldn’t be happier for the Midwestern humidity.
He stood, pushing his hand through his hair, and the girls and I got a front view of the way his ribbed shirt outlined his broad chest. With the shirt being so thin, a clear set of washboard abs peeked their way through the material. The shirt was covered in dust, and he brushed his hand down his front, eventually gliding it over his flat stomach.
A breath hitched to the side of me, and I turned. I had to bite back a snicker. I didn’t know if the intake was from Cheyenne or Shania, but that didn’t matter. By the way they were staring at Drake with their mouths practically hanging open, I knew they both now understood one thing.
That was all man in front of them.
Derrick brushed off his shirt as well then slid his jersey back on. The two of them came toward us when he was done. Drake waved at me, his handsome grin on his face. When he made it over, he bent, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
“Hey, babe,” he said kissing my cheek.
Normally, I wouldn’t have cared about showing off in front of a bunch of haters. But…
I’d make an exception in this case.
I turned my cheek, giving him a full kiss instead. It wasn’t open mouthed or anything. I didn’t need to do all that. I just wanted to show he was mine.
Cheyenne and Shania definitely understood that. They were pursing their lips at me when I pulled back from him. Margot snickered lightly beside me, and I knew she got what I was trying to do. She was right. You don’t engage haters. You just showed them who’s boss.
I noticed a large mark of dust on the neck of Drake’s beater after our subtle greeting, and the little devil on my shoulder gave me another idea.
“Oh, baby, you’re all dusty,” I said innocently to him, like I wasn’t up to something.
He dipped his chin. “Sorry. I thought I got it all off when I brushed my shirt before. It was pretty dusty down in the cellar.”
I lifted my hand to make a show of wiping the dust off for him, but he stepped back before I could. What he did instead I couldn’t have planned better. He whipped his beater off, and what seemed like a never-ending sea of muscles filled my eyes. They glowed in the afternoon sun, and if I could have the look of shock on Cheyenne and Shania’s faces freeze-framed, I would have. Too bad I didn’t have a video camera on hand.
Drake gave the ladies and myself a show for only a moment. He replaced the beater with the button down over his shoulder. The shirt was dark so he didn’t need anything underneath anyway. After buttoning it up, he let the beater hang from his back pocket. He slipped his hand in mine. “Your aunt has our plates ready if you’re hungry. We passed her on the way back here with the games. She told me to come get you.”
Taking his hand, I stood with a wide smile. My mission here was done.
Chapter Sixteen
Drake
My sister’s text that she was almost to the barbeque came later that evening. I was actually about to text her myself. It was so late into the thing I wondered if she was still coming.
Hey, I’m on the block. Sorry I’m coming in so late. It was harder to get out than I thought. Anyway, just trying to find the house.
I told Lacey what
she said, and she responded with a laugh. “Just tell her it’s the one with all the black people out front.”
Lacey suggested we head to the front of the house so we could greet her. On the short walk, I found myself kind of excited. I hadn’t seen my sister in almost a year and we were always close. Though I’d kept the lines of communication open with her, I still felt really guilty about how I’d abandoned her with our parents. I would have been in college anyway, even if I hadn’t left for Paris, but the guilt didn’t lessen. I hoped she didn’t resent me. I didn’t think she did by the tone of our email and phone conversations but reading someone was definitely easier in person. The nerves didn’t leave when I saw her pull up, but only because I noticed she’d stepped out of the driver’s side of a black Range Rover.
My now sixteen-year-old sister was driving.
I didn’t know how else I thought she’d get here, but it still took me by surprise.
She spotted us immediately. I guess it helped that I was the only Asian person here.
“Drake! Lacey!” She waved. “Holy shit!”
I had no time to reflect on my sibling’s newly developed potty-mouth as I clenched my teeth.
What. The. Hell. Was she wearing?
That wasn’t a skirt. It bordered on underwear. And that shirt—
I had to physically control my anger as she clacked in way-too-high heels towards us. My sister… I swallowed hard to keep down the bile. Had breasts. How did I know? Because every guy on the lawn within a half a block radius noticed, too. Appraising her like she was legal to appraise!
Lacey didn’t notice. She just bounced around as Adele’s arms locked around her. “Ah! You’re so beautiful. Look at you,” she said, holding her at arm’s length. “So gorgeous and grown up.”
I grunted. Not grown up enough for that get up.
My sister beamed her ruby lips. Oh God, not lipstick, too. “Look at you, ‘Miss Celebrity.’ Shit, you’re stunning.”
I shuddered. There was that word again. I was officially on a cursing hiatus while in her presence.
Adele finally took notice of me, and the anger left as I stared into her bright-green eyes, surrounded by features so flawless they were reminiscent of a china doll. In that moment, I saw the innocence. I saw my little sister again.
I brought her into my arms.
“Drake,” she whispered, squeezing me tight. “I missed you so much, you dork.”
I couldn’t help it. I rubbed her hair like she was five. She quickly pulled away, shock written across her face as she reconstructed the lengthy brown strands. Her hair had gotten longer, too. It was nearly to her waist. God, had it only been eight months?
“So not okay, Drake,” she bit out, composing herself. “Jeez, we’re in public.”
I lodged my lip in between my teeth to keep from laughing at her. I’d mess her hair up if I damn well pleased. She was my little sister.
I took her under my arm. “What can I say? I’m making up for lost time. Your big brother doesn’t get a pass?”
She no longer frowned after that and hugged me back. “I guess. And you’re staying this time right? You’re not leaving me again?”
I gazed over at Lacey, who had already looked away. I squeezed my sister. “I’m here for now, which means we have a lot of catching up to do. Starting with that sweet ride you pulled up in.”
This changed the direction of the conversation like I hoped it would. Adele bounced on her heels, grinning as she grabbed Lacey’s hand and then mine.
“Mom was worried. She said it would be too much car for me,” she said, leading the two of us over. “But I begged Dad and he said I could get it. Isn’t it awesome!”
This didn’t surprise me on both accounts. If Mom had it her way, Adele wouldn’t be driving at all, but in the end, Father had the final word, and my sister had always been a daddy’s girl.
I was kind of listening to the specs my sister listed, but I was watching Lacey more. She was lost in my sister’s excitement for her car, and I was happy to see she’d forgotten about Adele’s earlier comment about me being here. Me being here meant I wouldn’t be with her in Paris, and I didn’t want her thoughts lingering in that place until it was time for her to go back. And if I was being honest with myself, I didn’t want my own thoughts in that place, either.
“Whose is this?” Derrick asked, smacking me on the shoulder. He wasn’t the only one who noticed my sister’s car. It seemed most of the block came over. This reminded me more and more that my sister was half dressed. The wandering eyes of the group were on her just as much as her ride.
I literally made myself ignore the fact as I spoke to Derrick. “My sister’s. Pretty sweet, huh?”
“I’ll say.”
Lacey came around the car with my sister and I introduced the two. “Adele, this is Derrick, Lacey’s cousin. Derrick, my little sister Adele.”
Adele rolled her eyes when she waved at him. “Must you include the ‘little,’ Drake?”
Yes. Yes, I must. And her eye rolling only emphasized her age. She may have thought dressing older made her more mature but all it did was fool the eyes. She was still just a kid.
Derrick chuckled then said, “Nice to meet you.” He tipped his head at Lacey. “I’m told by Mama we’re out of ice cream. I’m supposed to take you to get some since it’s your party.”
“Oh, we don’t need to get any more on my account,” Lacey said.
Derrick cocked his head. “Need I remind you that you have a bunch of hungry black folks on your lawn? Come on. We’ll go to your favorite place, Alexander’s. Get you a custom job.” The reference was clearly lost on Adele and me, so Derrick elaborated. “They’ve got like a million flavors and you can mix in all kinds of stuff. They make it right in front of you. It’s her favorite.”
Sighing, Lacey dropped her shoulders. “It is, but I’m feeling jet lagged. Can’t you just go and get some? I really don’t mind what flavor.”
“Come on, Lacey. You know you gotta hit this place up before you leave. Who knows when you’ll have it again? And are you really going to turn down free ice cream?”
“I’m sorry, D. But really, I’m tired. Margot already left for the evening and a bunch of others did too so we probably won’t need any more ice cream anyway.”
She was right about Margot. She apparently got an “order” called in and had to leave right away. She promised to see Lacey again at least once before she left. I had to hand it to Margot. She was an entrepreneur at a pretty young age—even if it was weed she sold.
“Besides,” she continued, wrapping her arm around my sister’s waist. “Adele just got here. I want to catch up with her.”
Derrick’s jaw worked a bit after she denied the offer once again, and he opened his mouth like he was going to try to convince Lacey otherwise. I was about to tell him just to let it go, but stopped when he gazed over her shoulder at Lacey’s Aunt Gladys. She gave him a very concentrated look from the porch. What was even weirder was the fact that she was in conversation with others but ignored them to give Derrick the look.
Derrick glanced away from her, and a small smile came to his face. “Lacey—”
“Lacey, I’ll be right back,” I said, placing my hand on Derrick’s shoulder. “I just want to ask Derrick something real quick.”
She barely noticed us as I pulled him off to the side since she and my sister were going on about something. Girly things no doubt. I wasn’t concerned about that. I just wanted to know what was up with Derrick and her aunt.
I stopped Derrick by the shoulder when we got far enough away from the girls. “What’s up? Why do I get the feeling you’re trying to get Lacey out of here?”
Derrick’s focus remained on Lacey a moment before I got his full attention. He brought his voice down. “Let’s just say someone from her past unfortunately caught wind she’d be here. He just arrived, and I don’t think she’ll want to see him. In fact, I know she won’t.”
It was like a haze of red blinded me
in that instant. The awareness that my fists were clenched came when my nails bit into my skin so hard the pain made me loosen them.
“Who? An ex-boyfriend?” I asked, my gaze darting around like I knew who I was looking for. The dude better pray to God I didn’t spot him. “Maybe he needs to be told she’s with someone.”
The short half-a-second I had to wait for Derrick’s response proved to be too much for me. I stepped off to find the asswipe myself, but Derrick grabbed my arm.
“Just don’t. You’ll only create shit that doesn’t need to be worked up.”
I moved out of his hands. “Hell yeah, I’m about to work up some shit. Whoever this guy is… it’s not okay that he’s here, and I’m about to let him know it.”
I hated that I was going all protective caveman in the moment, but I was going to do what I had to. I had firsthand experience dealing with fuckers thinking they could throw their weight around when it came to my girl, and I wouldn’t stand for it.
Derrick clasped my shoulders. “Look. We all want Lacey to have a good time while she’s here, and a confrontation will only upset her. If you want to do something, then help me get her out of here. That’s what you can do.”
My heart still raced with the urge to beat the shit out of something, but his Mama’s pleading eyes on us only confirmed that Derrick was right. Without words, I left his side. My mission was new so a smile christened my face like nothing just occurred.
Separating the girls, I put my arms around them both. “I’ve been thinking, Lace, I really want to try that ice cream place. I know you’re tired, but Derrick’s right. You should get the full experience while you’re here.”
She pouted a bit. “You really want to go?”
I made eye contact with Derrick when I responded. “Yeah, I do.”
“And I can drive.” My sister shook her keys.
I swallowed hard. My sister. Driving. My stomach churned while I said, “Even better.”
Adele squealed as she made a show of unlocking the car doors for us. I shook my head as I opened the passenger side for Lacey to get in. Placing my hand on the small of her back, I guided her in.
The Dividing Line Page 10