Page 43 of Beacon Grove Chronicles 1: Hassan & Sylvia

“Now come on let’s get this food.”

“Food?”

“Yeah. I made some food for the family so y’all didn’t have to cook tonight. Casanova is going to pick his up later.”

Cass’s ass was spoiled by everyone in the family and I wasn’t sure why cause he wasn’t the youngest. It was even worse with his mama and I wasn’t sure how his siblings dealt with his ass.

“Stop cooking for his grown ass, Granny. He gotta figure it out.”

“I do what I want, Hassan Michael Beacon. Talking to me like you can boss me around. You save it for the lil Montrose girl you can’t get up off of. And don’t get her no lil token ring either. The last thing I want is them old biddies at Bingo trying to make it seem like my great grand wasn’t a welcome addition. It’s bad enough Geraldine’s nosy ass lives next door to her. You put a diamond on her hand that has everybody around here talking for all the right reasons, you hear me boy.” She was pointing that finger at me like she did when she would yell at us to stop running in her house. Or when she wanted us to go outside and get a switch ‘cause we’d fucked up.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. I expect to see all y’all over here real soon playing with me. Now come so you can finish eating, pack up your stuff and I can put you out.”

“It’s like that granny?”

“Sannie I love you but I raised my kids and y’all are too damn loud and plentiful for me. Come get this food so I can go watch this lil magical cretin being born.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Beacon Grove Day

HASSAN

“MR. EARL, I know you got some of that ‘shine somewhere around here.”

“Look at this pretty lil city boy coming back asking for some ‘shine. That shit will put hair on ya chest and make ya balls drop, youngen.”

Mr. Earl had been a lawyer and then judge in Beacon Grove for decades. He’d finally retired because he got too bored to sit in the courthouse all day. He’d been offered to work the circuit court and work his way up but he was more focused on staying within our county to ensure that someone else wasn’t put in a seat that was corrupt. It wasn’t until his son expressed interest in taking over the bench that he retired. Looking at him now, he seemed younger than he had the last time I saw him so it was clear life had been treating him well.

Hundreds of people were crowded in the park and downtown Beacon Grove for the annual Beacon Grove Day. It celebrated the official day that the town was founded by my ancestor David Beacon.

Sylvie and the kids had been stopped by some of their friends and I saw her folks and came by to pay my respect. We’d already done the rounds of speaking to everyone and I was ready to sit my ass down. This heat wasn’t playing today and I wasn’t about to be talking to all these folks when half of them just wanted to be nosy. My people had circled Sisi and the kids but my granny started telling stories about me when I was a kid, like Sisi’s ass wasn’t right there for half of it, I knew it was my time to move on to another family tent. When her grandfather and father waved me over I knew this was the time for them to have the talk that Sisi had been attempting to shield me from.

“I think I’m a few decades past that, sir.” I shook hands with both Mr. Montroses before taking the seat they’d pointed to. I eased down into the chair allowing the older Mr. Montrose to look me over so he could make his decision.

“Gone give him some, Tut.”

Mr. Earl bumped Sylvie’s daddy on the shoulder to give his approval. Everyone in the Grove knew that Mr. Earl had the best moonshine out of all the bootleggers in Beacon Grove. They were legendary for how easily their liquor could go down and then sneak up on you. I’d been put on my ass plenty of times because of their ‘shine even though some of my family thought I was being disloyal to the family legacy. But shit, good ‘shine was good ‘shine.

Sisi’s daddy went by Tut ‘cause nobody was about to call him Earl the third and the name stuck. Nobody knew where it came from but apparently it was something Mr. Earl’s daddy had called him and no one bothered to change it. When he got elected to the bench his nameplate even said Judge Tut Montrose because nobody called him by his first name. Hell, I wondered how many people actually knew it.

“What you back here doing with, Sylvie?”

I almost choked on the sip of moonshine that I’d brought to my lips because my mind went to the deviant things I wanted to do with her. When her father and grandfather’s eyes narrowed I had to swallow the sip because I be damned if they thought I couldn’t handle my liquor.

“Building.”

“That was a good save. The way she walking around happier than she’s been in at least the last ten years I would say building ain’t all you doing. Don’t play with my baby, Hassan. I don’t give a damn if you’re a Beacon we can have the firm pull all kinds of red tape to fuck up that hotel that people travel for miles to visit.” Her daddy was glaring at me like he knew how I’d been taking his daughter down and I almost felt bad. But I ain’t have guns drawn on me so I’m assuming because she had two kids already he wasn’t that pressed. Hell, she might be carrying a third if granny was right.

I admired the fact that he was threatening me to my face over his baby. He didn’t know the goon he was dealing with but it was good to see them moving this way behind her.

“Understood. I’ve seen the remnants of the pain she has already endured and would never be the man to add to that. Not because I’m running game but a man doesn’t damage his good thing when he finds it. Part of the building I’m doing is working on us but also restoring the parts of her he should’ve felt blessed to have access to. He was a fool not to, but that slip up is my come up. I crushed on the girl Sisi was all those years ago and I admire the woman she is now. I’m not a man to make stupid decisions and hurting her would be one of those.”

Mr. Earl slapped Sisi’s daddy on the arm as he nodded. “Told you he wasn’t on no bullshit, Tut. Don’t no man take a girl and her babies out unless he’s serious.” Mr. Earl was fully gray and Mr. Tut was still held on to some of his dark strands. They favored, with Mr. Tut retaining the muscle of his youth whereas Mr. Earl had slimmed down some.

“Speaking of, you have kids, Hassan?” I knew Mr. Tut was trying to find some kinda issue with me. Not because he desired me to be a piece of shit but he wanted to take my measure to ensure his daughter was good.