Kiss of Noir (25 page)

I rolled into a ball, trembling.

“You’re shitting on Cleo, man. This,” Drew swept his arm around the room, “ain’t showing your love. This is breaking Cleo’s heart, and he loved you too. Hell, we all do. And Cleo would kick your raggedy ass if he could. Maybe I will.”

“Go ahead. I won’t hit back.”

“Nora, get yourself together. This ain’t right and you know it. Get your constitution laid out. Stand up and be strong. You know what Cleo would want you to do. Doesn’t that matter at all?” Drew rose and picked up my various gin bottles and poured the liquor down the bathroom sink.

“Shouldn’t be telling you this…” Drew shook his head. He placed the bottles in a neat row by the door. “I shouldn’t but I’m gonna.” Drew crossed his arms and leaned against the dresser. “You know Cleo was Ellis’s daddy, right?”

I was unresponsive.

“Well, Ellis knew too. Ellis knew and didn’t want to let on because he figured Cleo wanted it that way and you gotta respect your daddy.”

Barely breathing, I watched him with one eye.

“What you don’t know is how good care Ellis took of Cleo. I know only because Cleo told me. If we were brothers we couldn’t’ve been closer.”

I waved the handkerchief in the air like a surrender flag and Drew grabbed it and honked into its center.

I pulled a stale pillow over my face.

“See, Ellis
set him up
. Cleo died rich ’cause Ellis didn’t want him to lack nothin’. ’Course, it all goes back to Ellis now, but Cleo could’ve bought anything.” Drew took a shuddery breath. “Ellis did all that ’cause being the dirt sniffer he was, he knew Cleo would have a hard time on his own.” Drew shifted. “I guess it can all come out now…Cleo was in prison…in the pen at Angola…a long time ago and for a long time.”

I grunted.

“He killed somebody and did his time. And you know what he told me? That his family made all the difference. That they stayed together and backed him all the way. He would’ve died in the pen if they hadn’t.”

“Cute story,” I said.

“Every word is true.”

I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

“My man!” Drew smiled. He waved his hand by his nose. “You’re funky, you’re ashy, you’re crusty, your hair, you’ve grown some nasty hair. I’ll wait while you shower.”

“I don’t know.”

Drew grabbed my neck again and thrust me in the shower. “You can do this easy or you can do this hard. But make no mistake, you’re cleaning up and coming with me.”

“Take your hands off me, you old fool. Let me get my clothes off. And these are dirty, but they’re all I got. You sit out there on the bed.”

Drew looked at me a moment. Our eyes were soft as we stared at each other. “Now you’re not gonna turn on the shower and then climb out the window, are you? Because if you do, just keep running. I can guarantee you,
no one will come after you this time
.” He closed the bathroom door.

*

“Look what washed up in the Quarter!” Drew guided me into the kitchen. Ellis stood, looking lost. Sayan, hugely pregnant, jumped up, ran to me, and folded me into her arms.

“Oh, baby,” she said.

Finally, I cried.

Sayan had me by the collar and was jerking me. We were in the kitchen and Ellis was smothering his laughter and shaking his head.

“Now all my sisters are coming over here and I don’t want you embarrassing yourself or us. Don’t be acting a fool. Behave and act like somebody.
And you know exactly what I mean.
” Sayan’s eyes were blazing.

I hid a grin, my eyes rolling with the vigorous shaking. “Yes, ma’am. No, ma’am. Yes, ma’am.”

Sayan gave me a stink eye and released my shirt.

“I won’t sleep with more than half of them,” I added.

Sayan slammed down the wooden spoon she had picked up. “Ellis!” she barked. He sat up straight but shrugged. Sayan turned her back to us. She raised a finger and said, “I am too big with this baby to be worrying over the two Delaney children. Y’all bad.”

“Oh, sweet pea, c’mon now,” Ellis said. Then he and I saw her fist closing around the wooden spoon. “Git!”

We both scrambled to escape, but when Sayan whirled around, she was like Shiva with multiple arms and all of them strong and angry, wielding the spoon like a paddle.

“Ow, ouch, ow, quit baby, ow, now quit.” Ellis tried to edge away.

“We were just playing. Ow, ow, Sayan, stop it.” I contorted myself and dodged.

“Get out of my kitchen and stay out!” Sayan said through gritted teeth. She whacked us once more, Ellis on the behind and me on the back of the head.

“Whew!” I was panting and rubbing my skull as we hid in the family room.

“We better go to town.” Ellis wiped his brow.

“And get her a big bunch of flowers?”

“My thoughts exactly, cuz. Let’s roll.” Ellis returned to the kitchen door. “Sayan, honey, we’re going out for a while.”

“Don’t let the door slap your sorry fannies,” she said.

“I love you too, sweet pea.”

After filling his car with lavish bouquets, Ellis and I drove home. We had discussed the idea of going somewhere for a beer and a smoke, but since Cleo’s murder, neither of us really had a taste for that. We both wanted to stick close to home and never go far and never leave for long. We told each other that we felt protective toward Sayan, but in truth, it was her presence that protected us. We needed to be near. She was so earthy and powerful and real, we felt calm and safe.

“You remember we’re having this family reunion thing, right?”

I nodded. Sayan’s talk had been of little else since Cleo’s funeral. I knew it was just Ellis’s way of opening the conversation.

“Well, ever since…” Ellis glanced at me and the silent sound of Cleo’s death pulsed between us. We were pretty normal when Cleo wasn’t the subject. But when his name or the space where his name should’ve been arose, it uncovered our grief.

“Uh-huh,” I said, looking away.

“Well, Sayan has got this bee in her bonnet—”

I snorted. “‘Bee in her bonnet’?”

“Bug up her ass? To start this reunion thing. To keep family close, she says. So it’s going to be a monthly affair. What I’m saying is, the house is going to be full of brothers. And…”

“I’m gonna lay low and be cool, how’s that?”

Ellis let out a shuddery sigh. “Naw, naw, I don’t give a shit. You’re fine. That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then say what you’re saying, Ham.”

“Coach me some before?” Ellis’s voice was high and small. “It’s been a long time since I’ve played real hoops, and I know some of these guys can jam. They really get they ball on, you know?”

I grinned and nodded, watching the scenery pass. “Sure, Ham, we’ll start tonight.”

“You know Drew is moving in with us?”

I reached around roses to punch Ellis’s shoulder. “That’s wise, man, that’s good.”

Ellis smiled. “His girlfriend and son will probably come too, eventually, but for now, Sayan thinks he’ll be great with the baby and helping to cook and clean and all, but I don’t know.”

“My man!” I boomed. We laughed together.

When we reached home, the driveway was already full of cars.

“Her sisters,” Ellis said with an ominous tone.

“How many are there?” I asked, balancing bouquets of tulips and mums.

“Six. Seven daughters total. Agrafina, Wynetta, Tanitta, Taheerah, Ajaunia, Ubiqua, and Sayana.”

I whistled. I looked Ellis up and down. “How you’ve survived all this time is a mystery to me.”

“’Cause I am Hambone Delaney,” Ellis replied, strutting up to the house. As we approached the kitchen, we heard the happy din of women. There was the clatter of plates, the music of spoons, the stomp of knives on cutting boards, the sizzle of onions and garlic, the rush of water and laughter. When we stepped inside everything stopped in a thunderclap of silence.

“Hey, y’all,” Ellis said, his voice small but trying to be hearty.

“Ellis!” everyone yelled back and swarmed him. Sisters took the flowers Ellis was holding and set them in the sink and along the countertops and took turns embracing him, kissing his face, looking him over for signs of fatherhood, and patting his head. I cowered in a corner, hiding behind the bouquets in my arms, peering out between the blossoms.

“And this here,” Sayan threaded through the crush and brought me forward, putting my flowers on the floor, “is the freak laying up in my house I been telling y’all about. She is Ellis’s cousin Nora, so we love her and treat her right.”

There was a collective gasp and six pairs of black, penetrating eyes picked me over, from my gleaming bald head to my face so like Ellis’s, to my large graceful hands hanging limply, to my long giraffe legs and back to my goofball ingratiating smile. I felt at once exhilarated to be submerged in such a powerful tribe of beautiful females and scared witless that there would be some secret signal and they would grab me, gut me, and fry me up. I giggled involuntarily.

“See?” Sayan said. “I told you she was a fool. Nora, here are my sisters: Agrafina, Tanitta, Taheerah, Ajaunia, Wynetta, and Ubiqua.”

I nodded to each, staring hard at Ubiqua, wondering where we had met before. Ubiqua flushed and looked at the floor. Sayan switched away, checking something in the oven.

Hurt by Sayan’s assessment, I dropped my eyes. The women began a gentle murmuring of “Glad to meet you, Nora. How you doing? What you know good? Heard a lot of nice things about you.” I shook hands with everyone. They returned to their tasks, chattering about greens and meringue, Ellis and me forgotten. A couple of them found vases and containers for the flowers and were clucking with admiration over their arrangements.

Ellis motioned for me to follow him outside where we might take a nip, but I was hypnotized and awestruck. I wanted to watch their strong, succulent bodies move in those amazing woman ways; I wanted to eavesdrop on their sacred speech; I wanted to be wrapped in their warmth; I wanted to be petted.

“Ladies,” I said. “Can I help?”

Sonic boom of silence. Cheese sauce dropped from a suspended wooden spoon. Sayan bustled up. She pushed me outside with Ellis. “Women only. Go on, go on, don’t be getting underfoot and making a nuisance of yourself.” She looked me in the face as if speaking to a toddler. “Why don’t you have a smoke?” Then she glared at Ellis as if he should know better and for him to handle this immediately. Then she blew him a kiss. “Thanks for the flowers, baby.”

The back door closed and I heard the lock turn.

“Did she just put us out?” I jerked my thumb at the kitchen.

Ellis was laughing. “No, I walked out on my own. She put
you
out, T-Bone.”

“No, no, she didn’t,” I said. “She put me out! Damn if she didn’t put me out!”

“We might as well have a swallow and play some hoops.” Ellis withdrew a flask from his car.

“What you got in there, Ham?” I grinned.

“Just some smooth sipping whiskey.”

“Pass the Jack and get the ball,” I said.

Ellis handed me the flask and went into the garage, emerging with a soft basketball that he proceeded to inflate. Even with all the sisters’ vehicles, the driveway was generous enough to accommodate a ball game.

I drank two large swallows and coughed hard and long in appreciation as the liquid Kentucky heat spread through my body, relaxing everything as it went. As the coughing subsided, I withdrew my tobacco pouch and deftly rolled a cigarette. I held it out to Ellis in question. He glanced around and nodded, opening his mouth. I placed it between his lips and struck a match with my thumbnail and held it to the end. Then I rolled a second one and lit it.

“How do you do that?” Ellis smiled.

“Cleo taught me.” His name sounded rough on my tongue. I looked at Ellis, checking for pain and we puffed smoke in unison.

“Ready to lose?” Ellis was an ungainly Sasquatch, flailing and eventually hitting himself in the face with the ball.

“Lord, Lord, Lord, man, you expect me to help you? I got nothing to work with. Are you sure we’re related?” I couldn’t help laughing. We ground out our smokes on the driveway and I threw the butts in the garage trash.

“C’mon now.” Ellis rubbed his nose. “Everyone will be here tomorrow; I need to
shine
.” He waved at a passing car.

“Okay, well first of all, you need to control the ball.” I jogged after the ball that was bouncing through the lawn. “Let’s just practice that.” I was astonished that I didn’t miss coaching as I dreaded I would. I heaved a sigh of relief as I chased the ball. Any area of life that could be grief-free, I welcomed. As I prepared to help Ellis, I was proud of my sports and coaching abilities and my knowledge that were second nature. My acceptance of my career loss was a bright surprise made more so by the contrast of my having expected deep misery.

“Naw, I want to do some three-pointers, lay-ups, jump shots, all of that.” Ellis dodged and weaved.

“I can’t work miracles. My advice, make sure I’m on your team. I’ll make you look good, okay?”