“On second thought, let’s get something to drink before we sit down.”
“Good idea,” I said, thinking we were going for water or something fizzy to bring back with us, but it turned out Thandie was on the hunt for something stronger.
The fridge was stocked with all sorts of delicious foods, and even though it was technically too early for brunch, I was hungryagain. Rocco’s pace in the bedroom kept me perpetually starved, though he was always feeding me too, and I was always slipping in apisolinowhenever I could.
I looked over my shoulder while I put together a seafood charcuterie board for us, and she made the drinks. “I’m not a big fan of Bloody Mary cocktails,” I said, scrunching up my nose. “I prefer red gravy over my pasta, not in drink form.”
“This from a woman who doesn’t mind eating red beans and rice with crickets from the Audubon Insectarium in the dish.” She made a gagging noise. “I think you’ll survive a drink with tomato juice in it. Besides, don’t knock my Bloody Mary until you’ve tried it.”
“That’s fair.” I shrugged.
“Mmm hmmm,” she said, continuing to do her thing.
Once her two concoctions were done and I had everything (raw oysters on the half shell, boiled shrimp, snow crab legs, blue crab meat, lobster tails, and four different types of dipping sauces—cocktail, tartar, remoulade, and mignonette) arranged over a layer of ice on the metal serving platter, lemon wedges as garnishes, we took our offerings and headed back toward the iron table in the garden.
Two soldiers met us and offered to take the tray and the two drinks. We handed them over and locked arms as we entered the garden. It was a truly beautiful oasis in the middle of a hustling and bustling city. It was filled with all sorts of fragrant and vibrant tropical plants that thrived in this climate. Canna, bird-of-paradise, a few different species of gingers, hibiscus, plumeria, tibouchina, angel trumpet, duranta, ixora, elephant ear, mandevilla, and my personal favorite, bougainvillea.
I knew the plants by sight, because Nonna had wanted to plant the same flowers in our backyard after working for the Poésy family. The garden area of their backyard was a twin to this one. The backyard to our shotgun was tiny, but we hada small oak, and we planted all the fragrant plants around it, and then we hung fairy lights in the branches and a hammock underneath.
It was the most peaceful place to be in the city—except when the flies and mosquitoes would come at me. Nonna used to say I was so sweet, even the irritants couldn’t resist me. Made me think of Remy, but I dismissed him with a swat of my mind.
Gabriel’s music seemed to float around us from across the street, carried by the slight breeze. He was singing his favorite Aaron Neville tune.
“Ain’t that the truth,” Thandie said, sighing as she took a seat. “Might as well get what you want, none of us are promised the next second.” She was echoing the lyrics of the song.
“Amen,” I said, sitting across from her.
Both seats had already been pulled out. I looked up, my corneas hitting a beam of direct sunlight, before I set my sunglasses over my eyes, giving the brightness a chance to fade. My husband looked out over the balcony, and when our eyes met, he nodded at me.
Oh, he had pulled them out for us. I blew him a kiss. He acted like he caught it and set it over his heart.
“That man’s got it bad.” Thandie had followed my line of sight. Then she turned toward me. “As bad as you do.”
I laughed, digging into our brunch, going straight for a raw oyster. “It’s the truth.”
Thandie looked over the tray. “What, no cricket king cakes today?”
“Not today,” I said. “I was plum out of crickets.”
She laughed, grabbing a crab leg. “Try the drink, Sci Fi.”
She called me that sometimes because of what I preferred to call my bravery with foods on roads less traveled. Sounded better than nasty shit no one truly wanted. (Nonna had a talk with me about nuclear war, and what would be left after, andit had had a profound effect on me. I was just preparing for doomsday, okay? I wouldn’t be the one starving.)
Thandie said one day I’d grow a bug inside of me because of all the nasty stuff I didn’t mind trying. And the world wouldn’t be prepared because I was so unsuspecting, they’d never see it coming. She said I’d be like that guy at the beginning ofSpace Ballswhen the monster ripped out of his stomach and started dancing on the counter of the diner. She said she kept bug spray under the counter at The Port just for me.
I cracked up thinking about it, trying the Bloody Mary she’d made for me. “Okay,” I said, letting the flavors settle on the palette. “This isn’t bad.”
She flung a crab leg at me, and it hit my forehead. Pisolino seemed to appear out of nowhere and snatched it, running off with it like he’d just stolen some loot.
We laughed, digging back in, drinking our tomato juice spiked with vodka, talking about everything and nothing. Then after the tray was empty and our glasses drained, she sighed, looking me in the eyes.
“I heard some shit about Remy, Ari. He was rushed to the ER, missing his hand.”
I kept my face intentionally blank, but…his entire hand?! All I saw was a finger! Why did Rocco take…oh.Oh!Because he had tried to hold my hand? I’d told him that, didn’t I? Remy’s hand had touched mine, and I had pulled it away, not comfortable with the contact.
“What happened?” I breathed out, the lie flowing easily from my tongue.
She stared into my eyes. “He’s claiming he was working on his car and it fell on him, his hand getting caught. When they asked him where his hand went, he said he wasn’t sure. He was too panicked to look. Maybe arattook it.”
