“So you gone shoot me over this?” he asked calmly.
My dad pointed the gun at him. “I got to.”
“In front of your daughter?”
“It’s because of her,” my dad explained, his hand steady on the gun. “It’s because you disrespected her honor.”
“Daddy, please!” I cried, stepping forward again without thinking. Marlon held his hand out to stop me.
“What would Alice say about this?” he asked.
“Keep her name out your mouth!” my dad snapped. “You don’t deserve to talk about her! You think I don’t know about y’all two?”
My stomach twisted hard at that.
“Yeah,” he continued. “She told me on her deathbed. Said it didn’t mean anything and to forgive you. Said you were lonely. And damaged. But still a good friend.”
He cocked the gun.
The sound made my heart jump into my throat.
“If only she knew what you did to her own child!”
“It ain’t even like that! Marlon didn’t know who I was when we slept together in New York!”
My dad paused and lowered the gun slightly like he was considering something. “New York?”
Oh thank God!
He came to his senses and realized what me and Marlon had wasn’t some casual hook up, at else not any more. We’ve been involved so long, it definitely meant what we had was real and dad saw that now. He had to?—
“Tell me you wasn’t bragging about fucking my daughter to my face.”
I froze.
Marlon did too. “…I didn’t know she was your daughter, man.”
Oh fuck.
Christ Marlon, can’t you just lie?!
The gun was raised again.
“Marlon—”
“Rory,” he said, finally turning his attention to me. His voice softened just a little. “Baby, I need you to step outside right quick.”
“No,” I said immediately, shaking my head. “No! I’m not leaving you.”
“Please, Bunny. Me and your dad gotta talk about a couple things.”
“Marlon no!”
“Remember what I said?” he added, his tone dropping. “Focus. It’s your day. Go see what your guests need. They all waiting on you.”
I shook my head, tears pouring out whether I wanted them to or not. He looked at me then and smiled.
Like everything was okay. And I believed it.
