Page 78 of Widow Mayker

A woman, who heavily favored Navé, appeared in the foyer. She popped Lewis upside the head.

“Watch yo’ mouth inside my house,” she chided. She pushed him aside and embraced me. “You must be Shyah. Navé has been talking about you all day. I’m Jenny.”

Smiling, I spoke back to her, “Your house is lovely.”

“Oh, okay!” She grinned. “I like you already.”

“Auntie… Why you cookin’ funky chittlins? You know I can’t stand ‘em.”

“When you pay one of these bills, then you can tell me what to cook in my house. Now, gon’ and take Shyah to meet everyone else.”

Lewis followed instructions, and I hid a smile behind his large back. It was clear that his comedic personality stemmed from the very people he called his family. I met everyone…all one hundred of them it seemed like. From the youngest to the oldest, I met all of Lewis’s family.

By the time I made it to one of the tables set out in the backyard, dusk had settled in. Jenny brought us our plates, and immediately, Lewis liked to have passed out.

He frowned at his plate. “Who put these chittlins on my plate, Auntie?”

“I did, and you better eat them,” she commanded.

“Nah, Auntie. My stomach gon’ need a pump after consuming this shit.”

I died laughing, but he was dead-ass serious.

“That’s for you talking about how bad they smell.”

“And they’re still funky as hell. My nose and eyes been watering since I got through the door.” He stood from the table and walked over to one of the trash cans next to the tables where the food was set up.

Jenny cracked a smile and slapped Lewis’s arm. “Boy, shut up.”

He scraped the chitterlings off his plate, causing me and a few other people to burst out laughing. Lewis was a mess! He must’ve thought better of it, then sat the plate to the side before fixing himself a new serving of food. I laughed until he was seated next to me.

“My stomach hurts,” he mumbled.

Deciding that Lewis was the craziest, funniest man I’d ever met, I was sure that I could never walk away from him.

Later that evening, Lewis and I cuddled up on one of the patio chairs and watched the rest of his family enjoy themselves. Navé and Jenny were the funniest sisters I’d ever met. They reminded me a lot of Maddie and Minnie.

“Enlighten me,” I said to Lewis. “What was Navé like before Hollywood?”

Lewis’s deep chuckle sounded grand to my ears. “My mama was a G. She had niggas terrified of her.”

“You’re lying!”

“I swear, baby. I was young as hell, but I remember how them niggas used to tremble in front of my mama.”

“No… Not sweet Navé.” I couldn’t believe it.

“When I was ten, my father was robbed and killed by a nigga he trusted. A nigga he would’ve died for.”

“Is he the reason you became a detective?”

“Yep. My father was big on loyalty and honor. I swore I would make him proud.”

I kissed Lewis and smiled softly. “I know you’re making him proud.”

He grinned, and we fell silent as we continued to observe his family.

VONSHAE