Page 4 of Beacon Grove Chronicles 1: Hassan & Sylvia

“Because fuck nigga ain’t a way to describe me. Real nigga is more like it. You can be rude all you want to, that shit ain’t about to faze me at all.” Her slick ass mouth kept the grin on my face and it irritated her further.

“Is this your good deed for the day? A way to get some ass from a woman whose life has been torn apart on Valentine’s day?” Her arms folded defensively across her chest highlighting the handful of breasts she had in this sparkly crop top. A long matching a-line skirt that was probably silk completed the look. She must’ve been mad as hell leaving the house and her anger kept her warm because this was not an outfit for this time of year.

I sat down ignoring the daggers she was shooting my way and tried not to laugh at her annoyance. The lighting in the bar and restaurant was dim giving it an intimate and warm look. The bar had the same Art Deco style as the rest of the hotel but was covered in floral arrangements because of the holiday. I was sure my cousin was responsible for the floral sculptures that greeted guests when they entered the hotel.

“Nah. Because if we take it there it’s to take your mind off bullshit. You’re too smart of a woman to let a nigga run game on you so I’m not worried about that. Besides, you know me and you know I’m not on bullshit.”

“That’s a whole lie. I’ve been with the same man for decades and it’s clear I didn’t know him at all.”

“I gotta call you on that one, Sylvie. You knew that nigga wasn’t about shit when we were younger. Everybody did. But you thought that he was a good person just misunderstood. Now you just see what everyone else saw and you decided to ignore. Tell me, did your grandaddy ever stop calling that nigga Radio?”

When she busted out laughing something in my chest loosened up. I felt warm and it wasn’t like when I got a fever. It felt like the type of warmth you felt when you ate homemade soup.

“Nah he didn’t. He still can’t stand him. How do you even know that?” Her smile had faded softly, the laughter now replaced with suspicion since she couldn’t place my face.

“You really don’t recognize me, Sisi?” I was still smiling knowing that she might feel some kind way when realization hit.

Her eyes tracked my features again and I knew that she was trying to parse out who the hell I was.

“You’re not the type of man that would escape my memory so, no, I don’t know you. And now I find it suspicious that you’re sitting here knowing so much about me.”

“I was born and raised here. You sitting in my hotel but you don’t know who I am?”

Recognition dawned then and she shook her head. This time it was more light-hearted than before and I hope that meant she was gonna relax around me. “The eyes. I should’ve known. Of course you’re a Beacon. But which one? I know all of them.”

“You sure? Your memory seems to have gotten worse over the years, Sy. But with the day you had with Radio I can understand it.”

“Wait, San? There’s no way this is you.” Her eyes had narrowed like she couldn’t believe it was really me.

“In the flesh.”

And there was way more flesh on me than the last time I saw her. Back then my ass was like fifteen and scrawny as fuck. Sylvie was a fucking brick house even in high school but niggas back then were tripping because she was tall and strong as fuck. She’d mostly kept to herself and since I hadn’t hit a growth spurt yet, I felt like we would’ve looked funny together. I didn’t want to shoot my shot and be turned down so I stayed quiet about her. She somehow fell in love with Dave’s stupid ass. I moved away not too long after they got together but I never thought he was good enough for her. He’d been a fuckboy since he was kid. The kind that thought he’d make it out of his small town based on his talent but he lacked the work ethic. My folks had moved to Atlanta to run another of the family’s hotels when we expanded but news of what was going on in the Grove still reached us. With social media and everything I’d been able to keep up with most of my friends. I’d admittedly ignored what was going on with Sylvie after she got with Dave because I’d always hated his ass. He tried to tease me one good time because I was smaller than him and I put him on his ass. Part of me wondered if he’d gone after Sylvia because he knew I liked her. It was a childish thought but the way he treated her the last twenty years had it resurfacing as a possibility.

“Damn, I can’t call you a fuck nigga. I haven’t seen you in like twenty years. Why the hell are you back now? Did you come home for something?” The tension that had filled her limbs as she sat by herself eased away the longer we spoke. Her eyes were brighter and her smile was less guarded than when I sat down.

“Business. I’m in and out of town every now and then, but yeah. The Grove is always home.” I kept my response light because the truth was a lot for anyone to handle

“This is crazy with you being here. I guess I should’ve listened to your advice to stay away from Dave, huh?” She was smiling but the sadness couldn’t be missed.

“This ain’t the time for me to be hollerin’ ‘I told you so’, Sy.” I had and apparently a lot of people had. I knew that Dave was a ho way back then. He would play girls from the surrounding towns just so his name was still clean in the Grove. I played sports with the nigga so I had seen his bullshit first hand.

“Well you did. Everybody did. My damn grandaddy had to be muzzled to keep from objecting when we got married. If that wasn’t enough of a hint, nothing would’ve stuck.” Her eyes went to her empty glass and I knew the sadness was going to creep back up if she stayed wallowing in her thoughts. I waved over the bartender so I could get her something else to drink.

“Another for the lady?” The man behind the bar nodded at me before speaking to Sylvia. He recognized me because I’d sat in on the staffing meeting and helped prep for the rush that was expected tonight.

“I’ll have—”

“She needs a cola, fountain not can, and a splash of cherry syrup.”

He nodded before walking off to fix her drink and she was staring at me in disbelief.

“How do you remember that?” Her voice was a mix of appreciation and awe which was again doing something to me.

“I don’t know. I guess because I’ve ordered it for you so many times at this very bar that it was almost like muscle memory.” A lot of my cousins and I would swing through the hotel after school with our friends. Since most of the adults weren’t around because the bar wasn’t open between 2 and 5, we’d pretend to be grown and have full run of this place.

The bartender slid the drink over to her and I let him know to add her bill to my tab. Before he left I ordered some food for us to eat so that she could sober up. With the day she’d had the last thing I wanted was for her to get in a wreck or some shit. I knew she had kids and they didn’t need to lose the only good parent they had because the stupid one had fucked up.

“You just taking control of my evening, Hassan?” She looked bashful like she couldn’t believe that I was really here. Or that I was taking care of her needs before she asked. Dave was clearly still a fuck nigga.