“Girl, come on.” She hopped off the railing and sauntered ahead of Giselle toward Gem.
Giselle dragged behind her, practically stomping like a little ass kid the whole way.
“Hey, you smoking with us?” Maisie offered her the blunt burning in her hand.
Gem glanced past her at Giselle, still being standoffish as the wind picked up, and she used one arm to hug herself while looking around.
“Thanks.” Gem took the blunt, and Maisie kneeled to sit on the blanket beside her.
She stretched her legs in front of her and set her cup between her thighs, catching the moon sparkling off the lake.
“When we were kids, Uncle Greg would throw Memorial Day picnics out here. It was always one of the best kickoffs to summer,” Maisie leaned in to tell her. “Right, G?” She peered up at her favorite cousin as she came closer.
“We had canoe races right out there.” Giselle nodded toward the water and moved in to sit with Maisie.
“We were forced to learn how to swim, thanks to him.” Maisie fell forward, cracking up.
Solo, Crew, and Heavy all moved in their direction, still chatting amongst themselves and smoking.
“Don’t, Mais.” Giselle cut her eyes and pleaded.
“I can’t help it!” Maisie slapped her thigh, eyes filled with tears as she giggled mercilessly.
“Wait, what happened?”
“The canoe tipped over with me and Giselle, and she didn’t know how to swim. Uncle Greg was so mad but scared at the same time when he had to swim to her rescue. He swam with her all the way to shore, talking shit the whole time!” Maisie cackled and tried to catch her breath.
“Should have been more worried about learning how to swim than looking cute out here in this little ass swimsuit.” Giselle imitated her father’s voice.
Maisie lost it and threw her head back in laughter. Gem joined in, hearing her father’s voice and shaking her head. Heavy slid up behind Giselle, offering her his jacket as he sat behind her so she was between his legs.
“Girl, he was pissed off. You know he was a light bright like y’all asses, so he was red as hell!”
“I miss him,” Giselle whispered, holding Heavy’s jacket tighter around her as she thought about her father’s smile and laugh.
“Me too,” Gem admitted.
Giselle’s heart cracked, and slowly, her head swiveled toward her sister. They knew two versions of the same man, but at the end of the day, he was still their father. For the first time, it was like they both acknowledged that.
“Yeah, Uncle Greg was the coolest, smoothest nigga I ever knew,” Maisie remembered with a smile.
“To Daddy.” Giselle raised her Styrofoam cup.
“To Daddy.” Gem lifted her plastic cup, and Maisie tapped hers against theirs.
SEVENTEEN
UNBREAKABLE
Remi’s 70thBirthday Bash…
Three weeks later…
Parliament’s “Flash Light” blared through the club speakers, and a disco ball twirled from the ceiling. Since Remi was turning seventy, Maisie decided the theme would be ’70s style and made it mandatory for everyone to dress up. In her hologram minidress with her afro wig and bright blue eyeshadow, she was right out of an old school flick. Crew matched her fly in a blue John Travolta suit with a white shirt that he left open, showing off the tattoos on his chest and neck.
Remi and Petal were in the middle of the dance floor, having the time of their lives.
Most of the old heads in town were in attendance, along with their children who Remi had helped raise over the years. She was truly a staple in their community with how much she gave back and volunteered. It was why nobody had a problem ever showing up for her when she was in need. The woman hadn’thad to cut her own grass or repair a damn thing in her house in decades.
