Page 11 of Keeping Busy
“Damn, I thought Clarke was the one that didn’t pull punches.”
“Family trait.”
“Okay, let’s do this. When we moved in with my grandmother full-time, I was ten years old. Yeah, we knew each other before then, but just in passing. We would see each other if we happened to visit my grandmother at the same time you all were visiting your aunt.”
“I’m not talking about when we were babies. I’m talking about when we were old enough for it to matter. I wouldn’t hold something that you did when you were six against you, Busy. But see, if you knew me...you would know that.”
“You’re big mad about this, huh?” I asked, realizing for the first time how much my behavior had affected the girl from across the street.
She didn’t respond. Truthfully, I didn’t really need her to, I could tell where she stood.
“By the time I moved in with my grandmother, I had discovered girls. And you and your cousins...let’s just say that I had a lot of impure thoughts about y’all. One day, my grandmother caught me trying to get...fresh, for lack of a better term, with Kyndall, and she pulled me to the side. She told me in no uncertain terms that if I wanted to ‘dilly-dally’ with some young girl’s emotions, to leave the Watson family out of it.”
“Uhm.”
“As I got older, if she caught me looking at one of you all - and full disclosure Mecca, I did look, and think about, and dream about you all. Anyway, if she caught me looking, she would give me the same speech. After awhile, I got tired of hearing the speech, so I put you, with your pretty face, Indigo with them big breasts, Joya with that fat ass, Kyndall with that beautiful smile, and Clarke with her kissable ass lips into a little box that said “do not touch” and I stayed away from y’all. Clearly you took it as a personal offense, but it wasn’t. It was self-survival. I was running through women, and I knew my grandmother would’ve killed me, if I had treated a Watson girl the way I was treating other girls.”
“I don’t get what that has to do with you ignoring us for all of these years. We’re grown now, Maddox. I have seen you numerous times. Numerous. And so have my cousins. You still barely say three words to us.”
She had a point.
“I think it’s just become a habit, honestly. A bad habit, Mecca. A rude habit. And I apologize.”
“You owe everybody an apology.”
“You’re right.” I agreed, because she was right. “I’m an asshole. Believe me, that has been made clear to me, as of late.”
Neither of us spoke for a bit.
“Anyway, Joya is having an anniversary party.”
“How long has she been married?” Joya was one of her first cousins.
“I think this is their 5th anniversary.”
“When is it?”
“Saturday. If you want to come, I’ll bring you. We can take some pictures together, post them on social media. We can have Indigo post them on her Instagram.”
“Indigo’s like famous now, right?” Indigo was another first cousin, who was currently making noise on social media.
“She’s a popular beauty guru on social media.”
“She’s dating Northern McKinley, the music producer, too? I see them on my Instagram feeds all the time.”
“She is.”
“Cool. I’ll go to Joya’s thing with you on Saturday, and on Friday, there’s something I need you to do for me.”
“What’s that, Busy?”
“Friday there’s this charity event that I need to attend, it’s part of my image overhaul. Sydnie wants me to take you as my date. It’s an industry thing, so she wants me out there, front and center. Sorry, it’s last minute.”
“This whole thing is last minute. I’m not tripping. It’s formal, huh?”
“Total black tie. Again, sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I love dressing up.”
