Page 13 of Eclipsed Legacy

“Why would she still be in bed?” I ask. I’m a little frustrated that I have to spell it out for him.

“Ohhh…I thought ya’ knew…”

I huff, impatient at his lack of forthcoming. “About…?” Other than Grandma, Mel is the person I talk to most often outside of my immediate family. What the hell don’t I know? My heart pounds, hurting my chest. If anything’s happened to her— I’d kill for Mel any day of the week. If one of those sons of bitches from that pack harmed her, today would be that day.

Ricky continues, interrupting my thoughts, “Her boyfriend broke up with her the other night; she’s told me she’s fine, but after the bar last night, I know she’s takin’ it hard.”

Mel had a boyfriend? I’m trying not to let my mind go there and make it about me. Mel’s the one upset, but why didn’t she tell me?

“After six months, he gave no reason. Pretty shitty thing to do, if ya’ ask me. I wanted to whoop ‘im, but Mel tol’ me not to.”

I feel like a pretty shitty friend. How the hell could I not know she had been seeing someone for the last six months? Suddenly, her “carefree” behavior at the bar makes more sense. I should’ve realized it sooner. Maybe we’re not as close as I thought. I suppose I see her most often at the diner…where she works. Damn…I really do need to get out more. Maybe Mom was right. Being a wolf has isolated me. “Well,” I say. “If you decide that you need to take a few swings at him, let me know. I could give you back up.” I smile.

“I’ll hold ya’ to it!” Ricky says.

We pull up to Uncle Carl’s a few minutes later. He lives in a large, two-story brick house. The area is pretty secluded as his nearest neighbors live over a mile away. A forest of oak and sassafras envelopes the main part of the property, which consists of the main house and two-car garage, an in-ground swimming pool, the pool house, and the “workshop.” The driveway is long, and unlike the road leading up to it, paved. The driveway splits off just before the house. Going left in the fork leads to a circular loop where visitors may park in front of the main house, whereas going right leads to the workshop, which now has a small parking lot. For now, we go left and stop in front of the house.

Alone, I get out of the car, while Ricky and Michael continue on to the workshop. There are five brick steps leading up to the massive glass door that blocks the main maroon one. I ring the doorbell and hear Lady, my Aunt Angela’s miniature poodle, start barking. A few seconds later, Aunt Angie opens the door, Lady in hand.

“Hey, baby,” she says greeting me with a smile. Aunt Angie keeps her hair natural most of the time, so today it is in a small afro. “What are you doin’ here?”

I smile sheepishly.

“Oh no,” she says. “I’ll let your uncle know that you’ll need the workshop.” She waves me into the house and continues to talk as we enter. “I’m actually about to leave. I’ve got a meeting at the bank. I’m thinking of adding to my beauty line, but I want to see what kind of account I could upgrade to.” Aunt Angie sets down Lady, who, now satisfied that there is no intruder, scurries off upstairs. Aunt Angie grabs her purse, keys, and one of her famous silk scarves.

“How long is your meeting supposed to last?”

She stops and looks at me, her brows knitted together. “Not too long. I imagine I’ll be done by four or four-thirty. The bank closes at five, so I have to be done by then. Why do you ask?”

“Tonight’s meeting isn’t just for the wolves,” I say. “It’s an emergency meeting for the family, as well.”

“Hmm.” Aunt Angie has her cheeks sucked in as she continues to grab the rest of her things, sunglasses and binder, which I can only assume contains every detail of her new business plan. “I’ll keep that in mind and won’t be long then. You make sure that boy of mine doesn’t get into any trouble while I’m gone, a’right?”

I chuckle. “If I see him, I will, but he’s a grown man. I’m sure he can handle himself.”

Aunt Angie purses her lips. “If you say so. Bye, baby.” She gives me a quick peck on the cheek and hands me a set of keys before heading out the front door.

I turn and walk through the house until I get to the back door. I make my way across the backyard, past the pool and pool house. It takes me about five minutes to get to the workshop. Ricky and Michael are already in, as Ricky knows where to find the main key. The two of them are unfolding chairs and tables. I unlock the gray metal door in the back before flipping the switch to turn on the electricity in the building. Immediately, I hear the hum of the heaters turning on. Michael turns on the overhead industrial lights.

Once the tables and chairs are set up and the heater on, there’s not much left to do. I head over to the kitchen, which Uncle Carl added in last year, and rinse out the two five-gallon drink dispensers. I get the pack of tea bags and sugar from the cabinets and put the water on to boil. Usually, making tea doesn’t take me long, but making ten gallons is time consuming, especially when one only have two pots, even if they are quite large. An hour later, I finish mixing the sugar in before having Ricky help bring the tea to the main area. With index cards and a sharpie I found in the kitchen, I label one dispenser “sweetened” and the other “unsweetened.” Michael brings out the plastic cups, and I say, “We’re done!”

“Still got the keys?” Ricky asks.

“Yeah? Did we miss something?”

Ricky smiles. “Just gimme the keys.” He holds his hand out, and I shrug, tossing them to him.

Ricky jogs to the closet, quickly unlocking it and walking in. When he emerges, he’s holding a bright green kick ball and wiggles his eyebrows. “Oh, it’s on!”

I can’t help but shake my head. There is too much going on for us to playing kick ball, but Michael beams. “Hell yeah!” he whoops, so I smile.

Ricky tosses me the ball, and I kick it back toward him and he passes to Michael, who passes it back, and on it goes. It’s all very friendly, until Ricky feigns before kicking it hard toward me. The ball goes flying and bounces off the leg of the table supporting the tea. I shoot Ricky a death glare before pointing to the door. “Outside.”

Ricky and Michael eagerly make their way outside, and I manage to hold a smile until the door closes behind them. I sink into a nearby chair, allowing myself a brief respite from my emotional façade. Under these circumstances, someone would likely say everything would be okay. Everything does not feel okay. Leaning my head into my hands, I take a breath. Abruptly, I stand and take out the disinfectant from the kitchen. I mindlessly begin wiping down the chairs. Cleaning is a welcomed distraction, one that has always made me feel useful in situations where I feel helpless. So, I clean, until Ricky and Michael reenter, breathless.

“Ready to go?” I ask.

They both nod, still catching their breath. Michael leans down and grips his knees, as Ricky returns the ball and I put away the cleaning supplies. I check my near-dead phone. It’s a little early, but with all the tension between me and Grandma, maybe it’s best I show up early for her briefing. I nod to Ricky, letting him know it’s time, and the three of us get back into the rust bucket.