Synergy

by Georgia Payne

  Dee arrived to the party with her family, Jason and Tip, and while she knew she’d invited Jason, she worried how she was going to balance the night; still being able to spend time with her family but not leaving him out. It was always awkward bringing two different sets of people together, but she knew it was something that had to be done. Monique wasted no time in heading straight to the bar before she greeted her sister and niece, while Kiki and J made their way to find a table for the group. Tip had already seen someone he knew from the area and was heading their way to talk, which left Dee and Jason alone. Dee looked at her surroundings, taking note of who she could see.

  “So, that’s my cousin Rhea, who’s engagement it is” Dee told Jason, gesturing across the room.

  “That’s her fiancé Shawn, and my aunt Neesee and my other cousin Nahla, that’s her daughter too. Oh, there’s Daya.” Dee said, sounding surprised. Jason nodded at her descriptions, and waited on one for the latest name.

  “Sorry, that’s Jarell’s girl.”

  As Jason turned to look at the girl Dee was talking about, he saw a caramel coloured woman, with long brown hair. She was very pretty, and Jason wondered why she had decided to come on her own, considering Jarell was still inside.

  “She’s brought Shontelle!” Dee exclaimed, as a little girl with a pale blue dress and braided hair made her way to Daya, and sat on her lap.

  “Let’s go say Hi.”

  Dee made her way over to the table which Daya and Shontelle sat at, with Jason following close behind. As the little girl turned her head, she saw her aunty walking their way, and excited by the encounter, she jumped down off her mother’s lap to run over to Dee. She ran at full force speed and given her height, Dee could see she was going to run straight into her stomach. Guarding herself, she held out her arms extended and stopped her in her tracks before she got too close.

  “Aunty Dee” Shontelle squealed, beaming up at her.

  “Hey girl, I didn’t know you were coming tonight.”

  “Mama say we have to party for daddy too.”

  “Did she?”

  “Mmhmm” Shontelle agreed, looking at Jason who was stood next to Dee.

  Following her gaze, Dee spoke up. “Shonny, this is my friend Jason.”

  “Hi” Shontelle said shyly, looking away immediately.

  “Shall we go see your mommy?”

  Daya had already stood up from her seat at the table after she saw her daughter talking to Dee. She smiled as they headed over toward her, and held out her arms for Dee to embrace her.

  “Dee, it’s so good to see you.”

  “You too. I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “Yeah well, we gotta represent the empty space for Jarell, right?”

  “I guess so. You heard from him?”

  “He called me today; he’s doing okay, keeping his head down.”

  “I hope it stay down”

  “Me too, girl, me too.”

  Daya noticed from the moment Dee came over there was a man with her, and she couldn’t help but look over at him as she spoke.

  “You bring a date?” Daya asked Dee, pointing her eyes toward Jason.

  Dee felt weird introducing him as her date, so she thought about what to say for a second, but before she could muster anything coherent, Jason spoke up.

  “Jason, nice to meet you” he said, holding out his hand for a handshake.

  Daya eyed him up as their hands met. “Jason Taylor” she said, as a look spread across her face, one that showed the penny had just dropped.

  “You know, your mom said you was pregnant by some famous guy, but I thought she was shitting me”

  Dee and Jason shared a look between them.

  “I thought he was shitting me too” Dee joked, and Jason laughed awkwardly.

  “Well, this is his.” Dee said, rubbing her hand over her small baby bump that poked out from her dress, and Daya squealed excitedly.

  It was an awkward situation having to follow Dee around to all different friends and family, telling people it was nice to meet them and having to stand around having small talk with people. He knew it was just part and parcel but it didn’t mean it was any easier. Some were more welcoming than others. Daya had certainly been welcoming; maybe because she knew how it felt not to be immediate family, after all, she was only in the family because she was a baby mother, and maybe an on-off girlfriend. Dee’s best friend Shaneeka had also been really welcoming, but she’d also warned him off hurting her ‘girl’ and threatened to chop his manhood off if he did, so that was definitely not a welcoming sentence. He had now met cousins, aunties and friends and it was exhausting. Kiki and J had managed to get the family a table, so while many of them moved around to different tables and to the bar, they also had a place to sit in down time. After a few hours, Dee and Jason made their way to the table and sat with Monique, Neesee, and Tip.

  As Jason took a few glugs of his beer, he savoured the break from small talk. It was nice to finally sit down with people he knew. Luckily, he’d sat down next to Tip, someone who had welcomed him earlier at the house, so he had found it easy to get along with him. He couldn’t help but notice the family was more female orientated so it was nice to have a conversation with a fellow male around the same age as him.

  “You wanna get some fresh air?” Tip asked, picking up a packet of cigarettes from the table and grabbing his beer in the other hand. Jason agreed. He knew the code for ‘fresh air’ was a smoke, and though he didn’t smoke regularly, he liked one when he was drinking.

  The air outside was a refreshing change from the humid air indoors. The body heat radiating from everybody in such close quarters had made the area almost sweaty and though it was a nice night outside, the air had a breeze to it, which felt amazing on his skin. There was a small outside seating area with benches and an outside heater, though the heater wasn’t needed. The men sat opposite each other on the bench, and Tip handed Jason a cigarette, lighting him up before lighting his own. They sat there for a minute, not speaking, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. Jason didn’t think men always had to talk with each other, unlike women. It was nice to listen to the silence outside for a minute.

  “Is it getting a little much in there?” Tip asked, flicking the ash from his cigarette onto the floor.

  “No, it’s fine. It’s nice to have a break though.”

  “Must be crazy meeting all this family and shit at once man.”

  “It is a little crazy, but, we’re on borrowed time I guess.”

  “Try’na do everything before the baby gets here?”

  “Yeah. We just wanna do it properly, you know?”

  “I heard that man. Sometime I wish I did shit properly.”

  “You got kids?” Jason asked, puffing on his cigarette.

  “Yeah man, I got four.” Tip laughed.

  “Shit.” Jason said, laughing at his surprise.

  “You’re only Dee’s age though, right? How’s that work?”

  “Had my first at fourteen man. It wasn’t cool but, I was just a kid, you know.”

  Jason nodded in understanding. He couldn’t judge people that had kids as teenagers, it may not be ideal but he had seen it happen time and time again.

  “You got girls or boys?”

  “Both. I got two sons and twin girls.”

  “That’s nice.”

  “Yeah man, I try to see ‘em as much as I can.”

  Jason appreciated Tip bringing him outside to talk to him. It was nice to know that somebody Dee considered as a best friend had taken the time to make him feel welcome and involved. He could see why she liked this guy; he was really down to earth.

  “Anyway man, I’m going the bar, you coming?” Tip asked, as he stubbed out his cigarette.

  “I’ll catch up with you” Jason said, as he took the last drags of his cigarette. He decided he would just take a minute to himself before he went back inside to the madness. Tip seemed to understand as he went straight back into the party, the music soun
ding louder as he opened the door inside. Jason sat quietly for a moment, drinking his beer in peace. It was pretty quiet outside which he was surprised at, as there was a crowd of people out here earlier. He thought maybe it was getting to the time of the speeches or cutting of the cake, which would explain why everyone was inside. He thought he’d better get himself back inside just in case, but as he stood up from the bench, he heard shouting coming from nearby. As he looked around, he couldn’t see anyone in the same space as him, but the voices sounded near nonetheless.

  Though Jason wasn’t listening particularly to what was being said, the tone of the shouting didn’t sound too friendly, and he wondered where he had heard the girls voice before. That’s when he realised, it was Kiki’s. As he searched outside for Dee’s sister, he noticed an alleyway round the side of the seating area, and there he found the source of the noise. As he stepped into the alley, he saw Kiki with a man, who he then realised, was her boyfriend J, who he’d met at the house. J had seemed quiet and down to earth at the house, and he had joked around with him and Tip, but this guy was not joking. He saw the rage pouring out of both of them, and before he had chance to react, J had grabbed Kiki by the throat and pushed her against the alley wall.

  “Hey!” Jason shouted, his body reacting quickly as he ran in their direction. “Get off her!”

  J instantly released his grip and jumped away from Kiki as if he tried to pretend it didn’t happen. As he saw Jason running toward him, he started to run in the opposite direction, and by the time Jason was next to Kiki, J had gone.

  “Are you okay?” Jason asked, putting his arm around Kiki who was now crying, tears falling down her cheeks.

  “I’m ok” She answered through sobs.

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing, we just had an argument.”

  “He had his hands around your neck.”

  Kiki suddenly sobbed, as if the words had made her realise what had actually happened.

  “Come on, let’s sit down” Jason said, as he led her out of the alleyway. Kiki wiped her eyes incessantly as they moved away from the alley, as if she was embarrassed. Once they were back in the seating area, Jason motioned for her to sit down and sat opposite her, waiting for her to speak. He didn’t want to pressure her to say anything, but he knew that what happened in that alleyway was not normal behaviour. He never thought it was acceptable for a man to put his hands on a woman, and he couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed, especially as the pair were only sixteen years old.

  “He’s not usually like that.” Kiki said, once her tears were wiped away from her face. “He’s just, not himself lately.”

  “Has he hurt you before?”

  “No!” Kiki exclaimed quickly. “He’s not like that, he’d never hurt me. He’s just messed up on God knows what, he doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

  “Drugs?”

  “Yeah. Please don’t say anything, my mom would kill him. He’s been like a second son to her. Dee would kill him too, and I know you don’t want a pregnant woman on a rampage.”

  “I don’t want that, but I can’t accept a 16 year old grabbing a girl like that.”

  “I know, neither can I. He’s never done that before. That wasn’t even him; he had like, this distant look. He was off his head.”

  “How long’s he been taking drugs?”

  “I don’t know. It’s a new thing. I never thought he would.”

  There was a short silence while the two of them let the information sink in.

  “Where are you staying tonight?”

  “At home”

  “So you’re not seeing him tonight?”

  “Not now”

  “Good.”

  There wasn’t much time to process what he had just been told because after a few minutes Dee had rushed outside to find them.

  “Come on, they’re doing speeches and cake.”

  Jason and Kiki stood up from the bench and followed Dee inside, where everybody sat around with a glass of champagne, ready to toast the couple. As they were rushed to their seats by Dee, she handed Jason two glasses of champagne, telling him he could have hers too, since she couldn’t. Kiki and Jason took one last look at each other from across the table, both knowing something no-one else did. It was a tough decision he had to make, whether to tell anybody or not. She’d promised him it hadn’t happened before but could he really believe her? He didn’t know that boy from Adam, so as far as he was concerned, he could be capable of anything, and not saying anything could lead to something far worse. Whether he decided to or not, he knew he couldn’t say anything during the party, so he raised his glass along with everybody else and toasted the happy couple.

  Chapter 19 – Falling in Love with You

  Once the party was over, it was pretty late, and as everyone headed to walk home or jump in someone’s ride, Dee and Jason followed her family back to her mother’s house. As the group of them walked, Jason slowly took Dee’s hand in his, entwining their fingers. It took her by surprise, as it had been a while since she’d walked hand in hand with somebody like that, and though she looked at him with surprise, he didn’t seem to notice, so she continued the walk without mentioning it. Monique had drank her fair share of drinks both before and during the party, so Tip had been roped into staying at Monique’s as he needed to practically carry her home. As she stumbled along the street, Tip kept an arm around her, propping her up. It was always handy to have somebody so huge as a friend.

  Kiki didn’t say much on the walk home, she walked quietly, every now and then taking her phone out of her pocket and checking it before putting it back, looking more disappointed each time. Dee noticed there was something up with her sister, and Jason could tell. He watched Dee watching her sister’s every move, almost as if she was deciding whether to say something, or what to say if she did. Around halfway through the walk, Dee finally piped up.

  “What’s up Keeks?”

  “Nothing” she replied, not even looking her way.

  “Why you got a face on you?”

  “I don’t”

  “So why you not looking at me when I’m talking to you?”

  “For Fuck’s sake!” Kiki spat, stopping mid-walk and turning around to look at her sister.

  “What?” she asked, looking at Dee, her lips pursed angrily, almost as if she was waiting for a confrontation.

  “Tell me what’s up”

  “There ain’t nothing up”

  “Where’s J at?”

  “How should I know”

  “There we go,” Dee said matter-of-factly. “Trouble in paradise.”

  “Dee, just shut up, you don’t know anything.”

  Dee mocked her sister behind her back jokingly, looking at Jason to join in the joke, but though he smiled back, he didn’t seem to share the same jest.

  It wasn’t too long a walk back to Monique’s, and while Monique, Tip and Kiki went inside, Dee held back outside the house and hugged everybody good night. Sometimes, she would stay at Monique’s for ease and sometimes, just so it wasn’t so lonely. Tonight however, she had Jason with her, and since he’d never seen the inside of her house, she figured it was probably about time. Plus, she didn’t want Jason spending any more time with her embarrassing family than he had to. Once they’d said their goodbyes, they headed in the direction of the end of the street, walking a few streets away to her own home. Jason had picked her up from outside her home before, so he knew where it was, but he’d never actually been inside.

  As they entered the house, he took a look at his surroundings. There was a small living area to his left with a sofa and TV, a staircase in front of him, and what he assumed was a kitchen just behind the staircase. Dee could tell the house was being examined, but she tried to ignore it. She knew it wasn’t the best house, but it was hers, despite its faults. She’d done her best to hide the faults, to make the rest of the house look better. For example, the patch of damp that covered some of the living room wall, she’d placed the sofa i
n front of it. There were still some faults that she couldn’t hide too well, like the crack in the ceiling in her bedroom, and the leaking faucet in the kitchen. She’d reported the leaking faucet to her landlord plenty of times, but nothing ever got done. Unfortunately, it meant water was being wasted every day that it dripped, and as a result, she paid more in water rates.

  “You want a drink? Don’t think I’ve got much in...” Dee said, moving to the kitchen, as Jason followed closely behind. He watched as she opened the fridge and stuck her head in, listing what she could see.

  “I’ve got milk, and that’s pretty much it in there” she said, as she shut the fridge door behind her. “Or there’s tap water, or cocoa and marshmallows. I make that for Tushaun on a night.”

  Jason smiled. He liked to hear her talk about her son.

  “When’s he back from his dads?” he asked.

  “Tomorrow dinner time” she smiled. “I’m missing him already.”

  Remembering why she’d come into the kitchen in the first place, she asked Jason again if he wanted a drink, and he told her water would be fine. If anything, he hoped it would stop a hangover greeting him tomorrow morning. While he’d sobered up on the journey home, he had drank a lot during the night, even before they’d arrived at the party.

  Following Dee back into the living area with his glass of water, which he was chugging mid-walk, he watched as she flung herself down onto the sofa sighing dramatically. “My feet!” she announced, before she slipped off her heels, throwing them onto the floor.