by Tiya Rayne
My mother waves me off. “Zora, she’s seven years old, almost eight and she is very responsible for her age. Plus, with you working all the time and leaving her with random people, she needs a way to communicate with you.”
I scoff. “You don’t know enough about my life to go making assumptions about what Peyton needs.”
“I know that you have her calling some strange people her aunt and uncle. She’s spending time with this Korean man, and who is this woman you got her calling Grandma? Listening to Peyton it sounds like you’re never around the poor child.”
“Her aunt and uncle, are two people that have been in her life since she was an infant. They have earned the right to be called aunt and uncle more than anyone here has. And if you had asked Peyton where I am while she’s spending time with all these people, she would have told you. Instead you like to assume the worse of me. The Korean man is blind and he lives next door. A few times a week I go over after work and help him in any way I can, which is when he teaches Peyton, Korean. Mrs. Vasquez, is my best friend’s mother. She meets Peyton at the bus stop Monday through Friday—rain or shine— just to walk her to my job. And if rarely there is a place I have to be that my child can’t go, then my best friend, who also lives across the hall from me, watches her. Despite what you and everyone else have always thought of me, I’m not a fuck up. I may not be able to buy my daughter $100 jeans or walk out the mall with 10 bags of clothes on a whim, but I bust my ass for that little girl. And if you had just asked me, just one simple call to me before you bought that phone, I would have told you that I was saving up money to buy Peyton a phone for her birthday. That was the gift I wanted to get her. Thanks for ruining it.” I turn and walk out of the kitchen leaving my mother calling my name.
I head to the back yard, refusing to let the tears that threaten my eyes to fall. I find my daughter sitting among my mother’s rose bushes. She’s playing with the phone in her hand. She looks up and her sad eyes find me. I sit down on the ground beside her.
“Do I have to give the phone back?”
When I first came out here, my intentions were to tell her those exact words. I wanted to tell her that her Grandma had no right to buy such an expensive gift without asking me. However, knowing just how much she’s wanted a smart phone, I couldn’t take it away from her. Even with the money I was saving to buy her a smartphone, it wouldn’t have been one as nice as this. So, instead of telling her to send the phone back, I say instead.
“You can keep the phone.”
Peyton’s smile lights up her face and she quickly wraps her hands around my neck. I hug my daughter tight to me. Enjoying the happiness she is feeling. For once Peyton was able to get something she wanted without waiting forever or having to take the cheaper version of it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the one to buy it. But it doesn’t take away from the fact that she’s excited about it.
I release her, and she leans away.
“I already have everyone’s number in my phone. And this phone has FaceTime. So now when we go back home, I can call Grandma Vanessa and show her everything I do at home. She can meet Mr. Jung, and Tia Maria and Tio José. She can see what it’s like to be Peyton.” My daughter’s enthusiasm is contagious.
“She would love that.”
Peyton’s smile slips from her face. “I hope I didn’t make things worse for you and Grandma Vanessa. I really do want you to work things out with your family.”
I wrap my arm around my daughter’s shoulder and pull her to me. “You don’t worry about us. Let the grown folks work out their problems. You just enjoy being a kid. OK?”
Peyton nods her head and I plant a kiss on the tip of her nose.
“You know what, how about you and I go out today and have some fun? You’ve been spending so much time with everyone else, it feels like I don’t get to see you.”
“I can’t today, I’m heading to Uncle Langston’s house. He promised I could spend the night with the boys and we could order pizza and play video games after Keaton and Kendric fall asleep. But, can we do it tomorrow?” she asks excitedly.
“I have to make a date just to see my own daughter. You are very much in high demand.” I tease.
“What can I say, I’m a cute kid.”
I throw my head back and laugh.
“Tomorrow it is, Miss. Cutie! Now go in the house and put all that stuff away. And make sure you thank Grandma Vanessa again for your gifts.”
“I will. Love you, Mommy!”
“I love you too, Munchkin.”
I watch my daughter disappear into the house. I pull my phone out of my pocket and stare down at Luke’s last message again. Without further thought I reply.
Me: What time do you want to meet?
I was shocked when he replied back so quickly.
Luke: Anytime.
Me: An hour. At the Fairgrounds.
Luke: Bring some comfortable shoes.
Me: What are you planning?
He never replied back.
Chapter Thirteen
“L
uke, oh my goodness! How did you find this?” I stare out the window of his truck, admiring the bright lights of the Ferris wheel and the open air stalls of the venders. The whimsical sound of Fair music along with the smell of popcorn and funnel cakes has me super excited.
“Seems we lucked up, today is the last day of this apple festival.”
Luke is standing at my open door waiting for me to climb out of the truck. He’s wearing blue jeans that make me want to climb in his lap and purr at how good they look on him. I never thought flannel could be sexy, but the fitted short sleeve flannel shirt Luke has on is mouthwatering. It fits snug on his chest, but not to the point of looking small, and the sleeves stop just at his biceps showcasing how nice and muscled his arms are. The light brown pattern sets his eyes off, and that damn baseball cap adds to his sexiness.
“I wanted to find something to do outside of town. Away from prying eyes. Just in case it got back to your…..man.”
I don’t acknowledge the way his jaw tightened and ticked when he mentioned my fake boyfriend.
“Aren’t you worried about someone seeing you?”
A sneaky smile appears on his face. “Nope. I’ll be in disguise.” He reaches in his back pocket and pull out a pair of black square framed glasses.
“When did you start wearing glasses?”
“I don’t. I picked these up a few years ago. They’re fake, but they work when I want to look like someone else.”
I laugh as he places the glasses on his face.
“How many times have you heard someone say, “you look different without your glasses on?” well, I find the same can be said with glasses on.”
I don’t know about different, but he does look damn sexy. I don’t know what they call this look, hipster I think, but Luke is rocking it.
“Now come on, Darlin’! I want to show you a great time. Maybe even win you another teddy bear.” He jokes.
I immediately think of Mr. Button. The brown teddy bear Luke won me the last time we went to the fair. To this day, it is one of Peyton’s favorite stuffed animals and it is usually stuffed down in that book bag of hers.
I place my hand in Luke’s outstretched hand. He helps me down from his truck. I’m glad I dressed down tonight in blue jean cuff capris, a white tank top and simple canvas flats. Once I was out of the truck I waited for Luke to let go of my hand, but I wasn’t disappointed when he didn’t. With our fingers interlocked, he guided me through the parking lot to the entrance of the festival.
“So where did you tell him you went tonight?”
Although he’s talking to me, he doesn’t look over at me. His eyes stay trained on our surroundings. I can tell this is on purpose.
“Hanging with friends.”
He looks down at me and there is a smirk on his face. “You didn’t lie. So what time do I need to have you back?”
“No curfew tonight. He’s…… spending time with his uncle.”
He turns away from me again, that strained look is back on his face. We stop at the line of people waiting to get into the festival.
“So, he’s from Richland?”
“No, just has family here.”
This conversation is making me uncomfortable. It’s hitting too close to the truth and I don’t want to talk about it. I hate lying to Luke.
“The first thing I want when I get in here, is a funnel cake, and then a shaved ice.”
Luke’s eyes cut down to me with a smile. “Whatever the lady wants she shall get.”
***
It was almost like no time had passed between Luke and me. We laughed and joked so much my sides had started to hurt. Although we got lots of stares and disapproving looks, no one was out right rude. I wish this world was more accepting of everyone, and something as simple as two people of different races being in love, wasn’t so disturbing for others. However, I refuse to let those people ruin our time together.
“Are you seriously not going to share that with me?” Luke asks bringing me back to the moment.
“Nope! All this sticky caramel goodness is all mine.” I say taking a bite out of my caramel apple.
Luke leans forward trying to take a bite from my apple and I snatch it away from him.
“I told you to get your own.” I giggle again when he looks at me with a puppy dog face.
Like always I cave at the sight of that face. I lean the apple toward him and he smiles as he takes a bite out of it. The juice from the apple drips from his lip and I have to look away or I may likely lick it off his lip.
I clear my throat before I speak again. “I have no idea how I’m going to put that big ass dog in my car.” I nod to the huge Snoopy look alike stuff animal he won me at one of the games. Luke hefts the huge stuff dog up over his shoulder in a fireman hold.
“Hey, I asked you which one you wanted, you chose this.”
I laugh. I picked it out because I knew that Peyton would enjoy it.
“Whatever, I’ll figure out a way to get it in my car.” I joke.
We walk a little while longer, enjoying more of the attractions of the fair. When we get to the side of the park grounds where the restrooms are, Luke stops us.
“Can we stop for a second? I have to take a piss.”
“I see the Mega Mountain Dew is coming back for a reappearance.”
“Ha Ha! Joke it up, just keep that sexy ass here until I get back.” He drops the dog at my feet and heads to one of the porta potties.
I have to take a deep breath, and once again remind myself that Luke isn’t mine. At times we fall back into our old ways a bit too much. Just like him calling me sexy, or sharing my apple with me. Two adults that aren’t related or in a relationship should not be sharing food. I just can’t help it with Luke. He finds reasons to touch me or just stand so close to me his scent surrounds me and cause goosebumps to pimple my skin. And more than once he’s bumped into my ass and I’ve felt that thick erection through his jeans. Like I said before, it’s a dangerous game Luke and I were playing, but I was determined to prove that he and I can be friends without crossing the line.
I finish my caramel apple and drop the stick into the trash can right beside me when a voice gets my attention.
“Hello, Beautiful. Now you are too fine to be standing here alone.”
I turn to my side to see a tall, handsome, dark skinned man. He has nice eyes and a sweet smile. And judging by his three friends that are standing a little ways behind him staring at us like they were waiting for a practical joke to occur, I knew he was too young. Late teens, maybe.
I gently let him down. “Thank you, but I’m here with someone.”
The guy looks a little disappointed, but he nods his head and walks back over to his friends who begin to rib him. I shake my head at the antics as they walk off to the basketball game.
“Alright, I’m all done.” Luke comes out rubbing his hands together and I can smell the alcohol from the hand sanitizer he used after washing his hands.
Luke grabs the dog and lifts him back over his shoulder. “Where to now?”
“I’ve been dying to get on the Tilt –a – whirl.”
“Seriously?” He smiles over at me. “Even after what happened the last time I put you on that ride.”
I laugh at the memory as Luke takes my hand in his. I don’t even fight the action.
“In my defense, that food truck burrito aided in that episode. And I remember telling you that it didn’t taste right.”
“Oh Hell No!” A harsh voice says from behind us, cutting into our joking.
I turn to find the same young man and his friends. The guy that tried to talk to me earlier is standing behind us with a scowl on his face.
“Can I help you?” Luke asks.
I clutched Luke’s hand. “Let’s just go.” I say the words but they are drowned out by the guy.
“I know you didn’t diss me for this dude?”
“Look Kid,”
“And who the fuck are you supposed to be?” Luke says stepping in front of me.
I can tell by the teens face that he hadn’t expected Luke to react so strongly. He almost looks ready to back down, until his friends encourage him.
“Hell No, Chris. Don’t let this white dude punk you down.”
“Fuck that dude up, Chris.”
The weariness is wiped off Chris’s face and he’s newly inspired. I know from experience a lot of guys underestimated Luke. For the most part, Luke was a quiet country boy. People assumed he couldn’t and wouldn’t stand up for himself. He proved them all wrong.
“Look, Chris.” I step from behind Luke in an attempt to try and save the kid. “Don’t let your friends hype you up. You don’t have to prove anything to them.”
“Shut the fuck up, Bitch.” One of the friend’s shout.
Luke drops the large dog on his shoulder to the ground and takes a step to the guy that just called me a bitch. I place a hand on Luke’s chest.
“Luke, they’re just kids.”
Luke’s hazel eyes look down at me, I can see the anger and rage staring back at me. He’s so pissed his body is vibrating. Yet when he looks at me I see it slowly fade. I won’t say his anger disappears. It’s still there, but I can tell Luke now has a grasp on it. He clutches his hand in mine and places our joined hands over his heart. He turns us away from the teens, ready to walk away from the fight.
Apparently these guys can’t let well enough alone.
“Hey white boy, if you need some tips on how to fuck your bitch, I’ll be happy to give you some pointers. I know how you white boys be coming up short.” The punk kid says making his group of friends laugh. By now we’d already started to draw a crowd. The moment the words were out of the kid’s mouth. Luke drops my hand and the stuffed dog. He marches over to Chris and lands a punch straight to the kid’s jaw. Chris stumbles back into one of his friend’s arms and he’s out cold.
“What?!?! You want to try me next?” Luke threatens another one of the friends.
They all look as if they want to approach Luke, but aren’t sure if they will have the same fate as Chris.
I grab Luke’s arm from behind.
“We need to go.”
“No, Zora, I want to see if these assholes has anything else degrading and disgusting to say about you.” He turns back to the teens. “Anybody else want to call my girl a bitch?”
Again I grab Luke’s arm yanking him around to face me.
“Look around you, Luke.” Luke’s head turn to look around us and notices everyone has a cell phone up. No one thought to jump in or intervene, but they definitely thought to record this.
Luke finally understands what I’m trying to tell him. He grabs my hand and starts to walk off. He grabs the huge dog and hurries us towards the exit.
I can tell he’s still pissed because he nearly drags me back to his truck. When we get to the truck Luke let’s my hand go before opening the door for me and lifting me up into the seat. He slams
my door, but instead of walking around the front of the truck to get in, he leans his back on the front of the truck. His hat comes off his head and his hands fist in his hair. He throws his head back and shouts up at the stars. I watch him battle his anger for only a second before I open my door and climb out the truck.
“Get back in the truck, Zora.” He demands without turning to look at me.
I ignore him and walk around to stand in front of him. He finally lowers his head to look at me. The anger has his eyes so dark I can barely make out the beautiful swirls of green in his hazel eyes. I wrap my arms around his waist and lay my head on his chest right over his heart. The sound of its rapid beats lulling me into comfort. Slowly, Luke’s hands come down to wrap around my back. He holds me so tight it’s almost painful. I don’t complain. There is no place better than in Luke’s arms.
“All I want to do is go back in there, and make those punks pay.” His voice is low, almost a whisper as if he wasn’t sure he should be admitting it out loud.
“They were just kids, Luke.”
“Yeah, and you and I both know how cruel kids can be. I forgot how much I hate dealing with this type of shit.”
My body stiffens at his last comment. I pull away from him and his hands reluctantly let me go.
“Good thing I’m not your girl then, right? What a relief it must be.” I walk away from him and head back to the truck. I don’t take two steps before Luke’s hand is wrapped around my wrist turning me back to see him.
His face is a mix of anger and pain. “Don’t do that. You know that’s not what I meant.”
“No I get it, you have your perfect mate now. You two have matching skin tones. When you go out people smile at you and encourage your love. It must be wonderful.”
I felt myself getting all worked up and I knew I didn’t have the right to be so angry. However it was something about what he said. Our love was hard, I agree, but it was worth it. No matter what happened or who tried to hurt us, I would never change loving this man. To know that he is happy that he isn’t dealing with this type of stuff anymore, it really hurt me.
“Don’t forget I’m with her because you left me. Don’t act like I wanted the easy life with her over you.”