Page 139 of Tainted

“Yeah, only for me, though.”

Mom groaned, shaking her head. “I often wonder where the hell I went wrong with you.”

“She gets shy sometimes. That’s all,” I explained.

“You and a shy woman?” Mom’s face morphed into confusion before shaking it off and focusing on cooking.

“Be nice. Please.”

“Why is it so important for me to be nice to her?” Mom had a way of asking loaded questions to make you think. Since she claimed I never did, I got it the worst, so I knew it well.

“She’s my girlfriend, Ma, that’s why.”

“Girlfriend,” she mocked with a broad smile, “I’ll be fair. That’s all I can promise you, but she’s a cute ‘lil thing. Did you tell her yet?”

“No.”

Kross walked into the kitchen, putting a pin in the conversation. Not because it was anything he wasn’t aware of. Mom was good at keeping side conversations where they started. I used to hate it as a child when I wanted to know what she and Kross were talking about, but I could respect it now.

“Sorry I’m late,” Kross explained, kissing her cheek.

“What was more important than coming to see your mother, Stuttering Stanley?” I instigated.

Kross waited until Mom turned to put the pan in the oven to flip his middle finger.

“Kenyon, stop it!” Mom yelled, not even turning around.

I stepped out of the kitchen to check on Zara. Not even my footsteps made her head turn, so I eased onto the sofa next to her.

“One thing I learned today. Kenyon is aMama’s Boy,” she teased.

“I love and respect my mother, so that makes me a Mama’s Boy?”

“It’s the way you are with her. You’re not like that with anyone else,” Zara observed, but I had to disagree. The pool was small, for sure, but there were a few other people in there with Mom, her being one of them.

“Not even you?”

“You waste your time and try to put up a fight with me. With her, you don’t even try.”

“Come on, let’s go eat before Mom thinks we’re upstairs fuckin’.”

We sat around the table, enveloped in the warmth of my mother's home-cooked meal. She was so happy to have her fancy dining room filled with bodies that I don’t think she thought much about Pops. As the conversation continued, I noticed a subtle shift in Zara's demeanor. Once bright and carefree, her laughter now seemed tinged with a hint of sadness.

Zara was trying to earn cool points, helping Mom clear the table for dessert while Uncle Leonne had called Kross to Pop’s office.

“What was that about?” I asked, noticing the stress on Kross’s face when he returned.

“Nothing. We’ll talk later,” Kross patted my shoulder and reclaimed his seat around the table for Mom’s famous Banana Pudding.

My mom was in rare form tonight, all smiles and soft jokes as she served up dessert. Kross was more relaxed than I’d seen him in a minute, though that could’ve been the bourbon he was nursing while Uncle Leonne remained quiet.

“Oh, and then there was the time Kenyon had a crush on a girl in his class. He decided to write her a love letter, complete with drawings and everything, but little Romeo put it in the wrong locker.”

Kross snorted, shaking his head while Zara leaned forward, “So how did you get yourself out of that one?”

“He didn’t.” Mom grinned, recalling the memory, “She was so happy thatKenyon Keyeswrote her a letter that she had to tell everybody, including her friend. The girls got to fighting. It was a whole mess.”

“So you’ve always been a flirt. Noted,” Zara replied.

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