Page 142 of Heart Of A Goon II

My grandmother kissed her teeth. “I’ll make sumting. Maxine, grab one.”

Zoya looked concerned. “Grab what?”

“The chicken,” Maxine laughed.

“Like out the fridge… not one of these chickens here.”

Zoya was dead serious with her question. “Hell yeah… one of them getting jerked or stewed tonight.”

Maxine quickly snatched up a chicken and followed my grandmother to the back of the house. Boobie was holding onto me like she was scared to let go. “We’re not staying here, right?”

“Just for the night, then we’ll go to the resort.”

She looked around the yard, and I could tell she wished she would have gotten into the van with slick mouth Inez. “Be a good gyal an’ mi ago suck dat pussy good.” I kissed her lips a few times, as I brought her inside.

The house was fully open aside from a small room that had been added on last year. My grandparent’s bed was right when you walked in. Grandpops chair sat right in the corner next to his newspapers. His cell phone that I had gotten him last year sat on the small wicker table.

“Where are we gonna sleep?”

“In the room. Maxine sleeps on the fold bed right there.”

Zoya was about to hyperventilate with the way she stared around in horror. This was horror to her. No matter how many times her life changed after her parents passed, she always lived in comfort. Menace made sure she never had to worry about struggling, because he took on the burden.

“I’m not trying to be difficult, Pumpkin… but we cannot stay here. I’m hot as hell just standing here. Where am I supposed to shower? I don’t have my night cu⁠—”

“I took your cup out the suitcase and put it in my duffle bag. We shower outback and it will get cooler once the sun sets all the way.”

I had never seen her so worked up about staying somewhere. This was normal for me and had always been. When I was younger, me and Khaos would sleep in our grandparents’ bed with them, while moms slept on the pull out with Maxine and Inez. We always made it work and somehow, I always felt so damn comfortable.

My grandfather had come home as soon as we finished eating. My grandmother had cooked us stew chicken. When he saw me, he came over and tossed his arms around me. He wasn’t a man of many words, but whenever he had something to say, they were impactful.

When he saw Zoya, he couldn’t peel his eyes away from her. The look he gave me was all that I needed to proceed with my plan to make this woman my wife. My grandfather was a shit talker like Boobie, so the two of them being around each other was either a great idea, or a wrong one.

If Zoya asked him to slow down talking so she could understand one more time, one of us was going to ball her lips up. I went into the house and saw my aunt and grandmother sitting at the metal kitchen table with mismatched chairs.

“Yuh love har?” Grandma asked soon as I snatched one of the stools near the backdoor.

“Nuff.”

She sat there with her legs crossed and a glass jar in her lap filled with her water. The glass was sweating as she held it close to her to keep her cool. The family album was sitting on the kitchen table. Anytime we visited, she always pulled that tattered album out. I hated looking through it because the last time I did, it was a picture of my great-uncle dead in a casket.

Now why in the hell would I want to see that?

“I can see that. You watch her like a hawk and there ain’t but so much room in here.” Maxine smiled, nudging me.

“She’s pregnant.”

“So, yuh plan fi marry har?”

I nodded my head yes. “Not the reason I’m marrying her though. Baby or no baby, I want her to be my wife.”

“Respeck.”

“Can you do me a favor, Grandma.”

“Eh?”

“I need you to come somewhere tomorrow. I know you hate resorts but do this for me.”