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Lio and Allen looked at each other, and I could practically hear their gears turning.
“Doubtful you have vanilla, cinnamon, and syrup here, and I didn’t think to buy them,” Lio said.
I looked through the cabinets and found a bottle of vanilla extract. There was no telling how long it had been there, but a quick whiff of its contents ended the debate. I tossed the bottle into the trash and plopped four pieces of bread into the toaster. I buttered those when they popped, put four more pieces in, and pushed the lever down.
Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall, signaling Jeremy was still there and zombie-shuffling toward the smell of food. I couldn’t help but tense a little, but I plastered a smile on my face when I turned to greet him. Jeremy wore a tank top and a pair of sweats, emphasizing his lean physique.
“Damn, dude,” Allen said. “You are ripped.”
Jeremy scratched his fingers over his chest and smiled over at Allen. “Thanks. It feels good to be physically healthy again.”
“Time to eat,” Lio announced.
The toaster ejected the last four slices of bread as if on cue. I buttered them quickly and carried the pile over to the table, passing out toast on the plates like I was dealing cards. None of us had much to say, not even Allen, which made me think he’d consumed way too much alcohol.
“When can we expect your miscreant family to arrive?” Allen asked once we’d finished breakfast.
“I told them to arrive at noon,” I said, “so they’ll probably be here around two just to spite me.”
My dad, uncle, and cousins didn’t show up until around two thirty. Most of them were already smashed, and the others were well on their way to inebriated. I hadn’t talked to any of them in over five years and noted that rough living had not been kind to them.
My father, Amstel, looked around the room with a disapproving scowl. He turned to his brother, Vernon, and said, “I thought you said queers were good at decorating. This place looks the same as it did ten years ago.”
Vernon threw his head back and laughed. Then he slapped Amstel on the chest and said, “I guess not this queer.”
Lio emitted a low growl and stepped forward, but I hooked my finger in his belt loop to keep him beside me. “A fight is what they want. Don’t give it to them.”
“You should heed his advice,” Amstel said. “You don’t want to get hurt.”
“I’d gladly take my chances,” Lio snarled.
“And if you take him on, you’ll take us on too,” Jeremy said as he and Allen joined the fray.
Vernon narrowed his eyes and studied the four of us. He wasn’t as drunk as Amstel, so he wisely assessed the outcome of a fight with four men who were much younger and in better shape, and he made the right decision. Red, my oldest cousin, whose real name was Darrell, staggered over and bumped into his father.
“Isa problem here?” he slurred.
Vernon waved a hand in front of his face. “Yeah, your breath. Go sit down and let the men do the talking.”
Red hiccupped loudly and bumped into his middle brother, Merrill. “Daddy wants us to go sit down.” He attempted to whistle for my youngest cousin, Bobby, but spewed spittle onto Merrill instead.
“Fucking three stooges,” Amstel snarled as he watched them walk over to the sofa. Once they sat down, he turned his ire on me. “I’m not going to stand for you taking my inheritance. I’ve found a lawyer who will help me attest the will.”
“Contest,” I corrected. “Attest means to verify.”
Eyes as blue as mine narrowed to mere slits. “Don’t you get smart with me, you arrogant little asshole. I’ll have the last word when I prove you manipulated my parents and turned them against me.”
I took a few steps forward, showing Amstel that nothing about him intimidated me. “Moving in with Earl and Lucinda wasn’t my choice. Billie Jo abandoned me, and you went to jail,” I reminded him.
I’d been bitter and resentful after the social worker had left me with my grandparents. They had rules and expectations about me going to school, doing my homework, minding my manners, and doing chores. It had felt like an oppressive snare around my neck until I started thriving under their structure and relentless love. Maybe they were stricter than they needed to be sometimes, but considering how their sons had turned out and the path I’d been on, I understood and appreciated their effort.
“And where the hell were you when your elderly parents needed help?” I asked, my gaze volleying back and forth between my pathetic excuse for a father and his loser brother. “You weren’t the ones taking care of things at the cabin or shuttling them to their doctor visits. You weren’t around to help Earl through his grief when Lucinda passed away, and I sure didn’t see you opening your wallet when it came time to pay for his nursing home care.” I patted my chest angrily and said, “I took care of them—physically, emotionally, and financially—because that’s what family does. You don’t know the meaning of family. You ran my mother off and turned your back on your parents and only son. Yet here you are with your hands out, expecting to reap the benefits of Earl’s and Lucinda’s hard work. I invited you here today, hoping you’d find an ounce of decency to honor your father, but surprise, surprise. You let me down again.”
Amstel crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you finished now? You sound like a sniveling little brat.” He pressed his fists to the corners of his eyes and rocked them; a mocking pout puckered his lips. “Poor little Abraham. Nobody loved him.”
Lio snarled and stepped forward again, but I held my hand out to stop him. He was getting enough bad press from the Eads incident and didn’t need to add a brawl with roughnecks to the mix. Amstel and Vernon would have a heyday with the media.
“Still getting everyone to fight your battles for you, I see,” Amstel said, disgust turning his eyes a darker shade of blue. “You would’ve benefited from living in my household, especially as a teenager. I tried to get you back when I got out of jail.” The revelation was news to me, but it was probably a lie and didn’t matter, even if he was telling the truth. “I showed up at one of your high school football games to support my son, the big star quarterback everyone was talking about, but I guess you don’t remember snubbing me when I tried to talk to you before the game.”
