Page 5 of Keeping Busy
My mother started her career as a video dancer when girls still actually danced in videos. She was the “featured” girl in a lot of music videos in the 1990s and was invited to tour the world as a dancer with several different artists. As the industry started to change, she was able to parlay her accomplishments into a successful career as a choreographer. Later, she opened the dance academy, so she could stay home with us, while my dad continued to travel the world.
So, even though all of the Watson children had spent their fair share of time with Auntie Bo, when Cairo, British and I outgrew the novelty of constantly touring the world with our parents and were ready to stay in one place, we practically lived with her.
“She wants you to stop by her house today. Said she needs to talk to you.” My mother told me.
“Okay. I’ll stop by right after I drop these receipts off at Trevor’s office.
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Auntie Bo wore a smile on her pretty face when she greeted me at her front door later that morning.
“Get on in here, Pudding.” She said, calling me by her own personal nickname for me and pulling me into a warm embrace.
I hugged her back with vehemence. She always gave the best hugs, the kind that left you feeling loved and cherished. “Hey Auntie. I heard you needed to talk to me.”
“I do.” She assured me. “Come on into the kitchen. We can have some of these tea cakes I made.”
What she would call a “tea cake,” I would call a cookie. So, I asked, “are they shortbread?” She knew I loved shortbread.
“Aren’t those your favorite?” She replied, and instantaneously I understood that she was trying to butter me up for the ask. Whatever she wanted to talk to me about was going to require sacrifice on my part. She obviously didn’t automatically expect me to accede to doing it.
“They sure are.” I agreed following her into the kitchen.
I sat down at her island and waited. My great aunt wasn’t the type of person that you could rush into anything, so I didn’t even bother, even though I was dying to know why she called me to her home. I waited patiently while she placed three shortbread tea cakes on a saucer for me, then filled a mug with what I knew was homemade hot chocolate.
Finally, she sat down next to me. “Pudding, I need a favor.”
“Okay.” I said, slowly nodding my head. I hoped I could do whatever she was going to ask of me, because she was Auntie Bo. I loved her to pieces, and appreciated everything she had done for my siblings and me when we were children.
“Well, actually, Busy needs a favor, but he won’t ask you and even if he did, you would probably say no. So, I’m asking you, because it needs to get done, and you need to be the one to do it.”
First of all, what?I was lost.
“When you say ‘Busy’, are you talking about Busy, Busy? Maddox Mayhew, Busy? Busy from across the street?”
“How many children called Busy do you know?”
“You ain’t gotta get sassy, Auntie Bo.” I said with a smirk. “You were talking so fast, that I really didn’t even know what you said.”
“Busy needs you, Pudding.”
I twisted up my face. “Needs me how? Because from as far back as I can remember, Busy has rarely said more than three words at a time to me.”
“Doesn’t matter.” She shook her head. “He needs you now. And you need to be there for him.”
“Be there for him how, Auntie? You’re not answering any of my questions. And how can I be there for somebody who has known me since toddlerhood, and hasn’t said more than 50 words total since then?”
Again, Auntie Bo wasn’t one to be made to do anything. I knew that I could ask her 100 ways to Sunday what she was talking about, and she wasn’t going to spill all of the tea until she was good and ready.
“Do you watch the news, Pudding?”
Okay, so now we were going to segue into talking about the news. Whatever. “Sometimes.” I took a bite of my tea cake and hummed happily. It was delicious.
“Have you seen the stuff that’s been going on with Busy in his...personal life?”
Oooookkkkaaaaayyy. Now, I could admit that I didn’t really watch the news. I got all of my news from the Yahoo home page, and Busy’s dumb ass had been a thumbnail there for well over a week. I finally understood where she was coming from.
“Yeah, I have.” I said, drinking hot chocolate and eating tea cakes with voracity, now. Whatever she wanted me to do for Busy, I was almost certain that it wasn’t going to happen. Which was too bad, because I hated to disappoint my aunt.
