Page 16 of F*ckin' With Me
Lanette stood. “Mother, I don’t want them here! You two need to leave.”
One of the waiters came in with a bottle of wine. He must have felt the tension in the room. “I can come back.”
Rissa raised her finger before he could leave. “Sir, can you please find a two top table for me and my sister? We will take our food there. We are no longer with this party. Let’s go, Simonette.”
I took a final bite of my salad before I wiped my mouth and stood. “Well, this was very eventful. Ladies, have a good night.”
“Simonette, you are no longer welcome at my wedding,” Lanette announced. “It’s clear that you’re jealous and will try to ruin my day. I don’t need jealousy and hate at my wedding.”
That hurt and pissed me off at the same time. “I’m jealous of you? Says the woman who wanted my man to pay for this dinner and ride on his chartered jet. What? You maxed out all the credit cards that you had to get because Daddy refused to pay for this monstrosity of a wedding?”Drag your nuts, Simonette.“See, Lanette, you need Justin to take care of you because you don’t really have anything going for you. Just like Mommy dearest, you stayed in college long enough to pledge, then you dropped out.
“We are not the same. I have a man that wants to take care of me, but here’s the beauty. I don’t need him to. You and your wedding can kiss my Mary Janes.” I tucked my clutch under my arm then proceeded to leave the room.
When we walked out of the room, the waitress was outside of the door. “We have you a table over here, Miss Brand and Smith. Please follow me.”
With every step, my heart broke because I just didn’t understand what I’d done to make them hate me. We sat at a table that had a beautiful view of the ocean. I’d rather sit here instead of in a closed room.
“Hey.” Rissa’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “You know that it’s alright to cut off people who don’t treat you right, even family. I haven’t even known you a full week, and I can tell you’re a treasure.” She leaned forward. “As quiet as it’s kept, my brother can tell too.”
My eyes widened while my head moved side to side. “No! He’s just doing me a huge favor.”
“You really think my brother would charter a jet and get that huge ass villa as a favor? Let’s be for real. It’s one thing to be a fake boyfriend at a wedding in Atlanta, Charlotte—hell evenCalifornia. You have my brother in the damn Maldives!” Rissa laughed. “Girl, my brother is not doing all that for any female he doesn’t have some kind of interest in, like I told you before.”
The waitress came with our main course. We sat, ate, talked, and laughed. She was so damn funny. I loved the stories she told me about her brother. Some of them, I knew he would not want me to know.
“Simonette, may I have a word with you?” My mother’s voice startled me because I didn’t see her approach the table. Rissa and I were in the middle of a gut-wrenching laugh. My mother glared at Rissa for a second before she turned her attention back to me. “Privately, please.”
I nodded, grabbed the glass of wine, since I now drank wine, and moved toward the outside patio of the restaurant. I took a sip of my wine before I spoke. “Yes, Mother?”
“I see your man is changing a lot about you. I don’t recall you being a wine drinker,” my mother commented as if she wasn’t a lush. The judgment was a lot.
Drag your nuts.“There’s a lot of things that you don’t know about me, Mother. If you took the time to get to know me, you would know a lot of interesting things about me.” I took another sip of my wine. “Was there something you wanted to talk about?”
“Simonette, baby, I don’t understand why you’re doing this to your sister. You have been intentionally upsetting her since her bridal shower. This time is supposed to be about her. Not you and your ball player boyfriend,” she said with feigned concern.
I double-blinked because there was no way she was serious. “Mother, have you noticed that I never say anything to you or Lanette? It is always the two of you ganging up on me. Now that my man and my best friend are here to take up for me, y’all areso offended. I’m not doing anything but trying to enjoy time with my man and friends.”
“That’s the point. You’re supposed to be here for your sister, doing the things that she needs you to do. Your friends aren’t even supposed to be here!”
My head bucked back at her increase in volume. I placed my hand over my chest. “Simone Brand, where is your decorum?” I questioned, my tone laced with disgust. “First, Lanette does not need me. I overheard her saying that the only reason I’m in the wedding is because she didn’t want to hear Daddy’s mouth. Trust me, he wouldn’t have said anything, because he knew I didn’t want to be in the wedding anyway.”
My tone remained calm and even. It was not an argument. At least, on my end, it wasn’t. I didn’t feel the need to raise my voice, snake my neck, or pop a hip out. “If I recall, y’all were the ones who told me to bring my man, and I did. What? Did you think he was imaginary?”
“None of that matters, Simonette. Your man and his friends are a distraction. They are not allowed at the wedding,” she sternly proclaimed.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Last I checked, neither was I. That works out for us perfectly because it gives us more time to enjoy the island in peace. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m being rude. Have a good night, Mother.”
I set my empty wine glass on the tray that was near the door. I refused to participate in the conversation any longer. That sense of empowerment washed over me as I walked back to the table where Rissa sat.Is this what it feels like to drag your nuts?If it was, then I wanted to do it more often.
A Little Later, Same Night . . .
“Oh my God! She was horrified!” I said through my laughter. “I can’t believe you said that in front of everyone. Well, I can, but still,” I said to Rissa. That night was one of the most eventful nights of my life.
After dinner, Rissa and I went back to the villa, took showers, put on our bathing suits, and had the butler bring us wine and a dessert charcuterie board. We didn’t have a chance to enjoy dessert at the restaurant. The board he brought had an assortment of goodies, and it felt so good to do things like use my fingers to pick up a piece of cake instead of using utensils like a proper young lady.
My mother was right. The first taste of wine that I had was when Rissa came to my house with some. She brought over different varieties so I could find which one I liked. Sweet wine was for me.
“Girl, I have no idea how you put up with them. With family like that, who needs enemies? It’s like your father said; you don’t have to deal with them.” Rissa seconded my father’s advice.
