Page 55 of Mimosa

The word kept going through his mind, cancer, cancer, cancer. How would it feel in five years, letting his father go without a word?

Haze was chewing his lip, like he had plenty to say but wouldn’t. “Haze, I’m not going to be mad at you for saying what you have on your mind.”

“Oh, baby, I’m not gonna call him out. I’ve done enough of that. I was just going to tell you, if you go, I’ll go with you.”

Mims had never thought anyone would want to do that. “You would?”

“You know I would!”

Murphy’s phone lit up and he looked at it, huffing, “Someone’s at the side door, knocking.”

“Who is it?” Eazy asked.

“He’s all covered in a hoodie. I’m gonna get the gun and go see who it is.”

Goldie said, “I’ll come with you.”

“Me too,” Haze said.

Eazy continued making dinner while they all left, and Abs and Cosmo stayed behind with them. “Mims, it’s not for any of us to say what you should do, but, we’ll all go along with you, if you need us.”

“Cosmo, that would be harder for you than it would even me.”

“I am settled with my past shit.”

Mims knew that was a lie, but he’d never let on that he knew that. “I love you, Cosmo.”

He blinked a few times, but mumbled, “You all are such simps.”

Abs said, “I can interpret that. It means he loves us too.”

“I know.”

Before they could say another word, Sonny came running into the kitchen, grabbing him off the stool and squeezing the air out of him. “Are you okay?”

His heart took off in a flutter of wings he couldn’t contain. “I’m okay.”

Finally letting him breathe, Sonny took his face into his hands and looked him over, like he didn’t believe it. “They told me about your dad. You’re not okay, but you will be.”

Eazy said, “I’ll set another place at the table.”

Chapter Sixteen

Theplateswerefilledwith chicken and gently sautéed vegetables and they all sat around the island, and each of them cast loving glances over at the two of them. Mims wished they’d stop, but Sonny didn’t seem to notice.

And he, like everyone else, had an opinion on Mims’s father. Only his was different than everyone else. “Go see him, but don’t hide yourself. Go in there and be strong, and say, hey, Dad, I’m good, even though you never asked. I know you’re not and I’m very sorry, but before you go, settle your debts. And you owe a debt to me.”

“I could see that. That would cure him, because he’d have to jump off his deathbed to murder me.”

Cosmo waved his fork back and forth as he disagreed. “I’m with Sonny. Just because you care that he’s dying, it doesn’t mean you grovel. You can go and tell him that you’re happy even if he wasn’t.”

Hippy joined that chorus. “If you see him, and that is an if, go in your best flamboyant clothes and let Abs put a ton of makeup on your face.”

“I’m going to say goodbye, not kill him myself.”

Murphy was the voice of reason. “It’s up to him. It’s what he can live with. Personally, my dad had the same issues.”

Mick cleared his throat and said, “Da ya blame me? It ain’t natural.”

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