Page 70 of The Significance of Moving On

“I go by Ben now. This is my wife, April.” He points to the pretty women off to his side I’m just now noticing. “And this precious angel is Sammy Sue. Aren’t you, Sweetie? You’re Daddy’s precious angel.”

“Wow, you certainly aren’t the Benjie I remember. Gone are the days of fast cars and faster women, eh?”

His wife laughs and smiles a brilliant smile.

He pulls her close, wrapping an arm. “Yeah well, that was before April. Our two boys are out front playing. You just wait, Case. I heard there’s a pretty great woman shaping you into a better man, too.” Then he glances at my girl.

“Oh,crap. Yeah, everyone this is Chantal Bradley. But she goes by—”

“Tally,” they all practically sing her name causing her to blush. If Demetrius is here, he better be prepared for a generous ass-whooping because the way they talk about her like they already know her has to be D’s doing.

And as if Mary can sense my growing impatience, she places her hand on my arm. “D is around here somewhere. Don’t you go giving him a hard time, now. He only did what you should’ve already done. Move a pretty thing like her in to live with you and we have to hear it about it second hand. And yes,that’sguilt.” She winks at me.

Her wink sends Tally into a fit of uncontrollable giggles which spreads to the rest of them. Let me say, watching big, bad Benjie giggle is a sight I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget.

“Mama Mary, can we eat now?” This little boy probably about eight yells from behind the sliding glass door.

“Now that your brother finally showed,” she calls back. Funny, I’ve stayed away because it’s hard to feel like I really belong here given the short time I actually lived with them. D stayed until he graduated. They tried to help me through Luke’s death, although lord knows I pushed them away. With these two for parents, it’s no wonder D never gave up on me, despite all the years I tried to push him away as well.

I have to thank Tally for opening up my eyes enough to see what has been clearly in plain sight for the rest of the world. We all move inside to where Steve’s sisters and nieces have laid out a buffet of dishes.

He sits at the foot of the table, someone dims the lights and Mary comes out carrying a white frosted cake, smoke billowing up from the fifty lit candles. We all fall in around him singing “Happy Birthday” wildly off key. Everyone vies to sing louder and more off key than the person next to them. This tradition has been around at least since I was a kid. Tal looks a little startled at first but shakes it off, joining us just as fast. It’s nice to see some things haven’t changed.

At the end of the song every kid under the age of sixteen gathers around to help him blow out the candles and we all cheer. I cheer. How long has it been since I’ve cheered like this?Toolong. Just when I’m thinking of how much Luke would’ve enjoyed himself today, that’s when I catch a flicker from the shelf above Steve’s head. They’d placed a picture of my brother with a little tea light candle burning next to it.

Seeing it doesn’t exactly make me sad either because they included him. The picture and candle mean like me, they miss Luke. And I think he might just be here with us.

Demetrius had moved into the dining room from another part of the house right as we started singing. When I caught sight of him, he lifted his hands as if to say he surrendered and although part of me still wanted to kick his ass for making my Tally uncomfortable, the other part is grateful because she came into this party already accepted.

Only when Mary removes the cake are we allowed to start filling plates with food. Tal and I get in line behind some foster cousins who hug her like she’s an old friend, compliment her hair and dress, and generally pump her for information about herself and what life is like living with me as if I’m some sort of an enigma. I’m baffled why all these people from my past seem so interested in my present.

By the time we’re standing in the doorway to leave for the evening, half the household has come to see us off. The very last being Steve and Mary.

Mary throws her arms around me squeezing tightly. “I’m still your mama, Case. Don’t forget that ever. I don’t know why they took you from our home, but theynevertook you from my heart, you hear me?” And then she turns to gather up Tally in her arms. “You two are always welcome. Make sure this one comes to visit more often.” Mama Mary has tears in her eyes.

While she refuses to let Tally go, Steve pats my back as a sneaky move to draw me into a hug, too.

“Happy birthday,” I tell him. “This was a really nice turnout.”

“I’m proud of you, son,” he says back, still hugging. “You’ve grown into the man I always knew you could be. Family doesn’t have to be biological. We’re your family, okay. Let us be your family again.”

On the ride home, Tally stays pretty low-key. We listen to the radio as she stares out the window, but she stares out the window holding my hand on her lap. There’s too much going on inside my head to start a conversation. I want to say I never knew Steve and Mary or Benjie, or any of the others felt this strongly for me, but I think I’d be lying to myself.

The truth is that I was never willing to accept it, and I isolated myself from the people who only wanted me close.

I kick off my shoes and walk into the kitchen to pour me and Tal glasses of iced tea, there’s some movie she wants to watch tonight. When I carry the drinks back into the living room, Tally stands by the bedroom wearing those little pink boy shorts and that tank top with the spaghetti straps that drives me crazy. She plops down on the sofa while rubbing lotion up and down her arms.

Her lotion smells deliciously of peaches. I promised her and myself that I’d never lose control with her but I’m riding this high from Steve’s birthday party and this girl takes my breath away. That’s what happens. Her bottom barely hits the cushion before I’m on her wrapping this beauty in my arms.

Our mouths crush together, and in a frenzy of hands she pulls my T-shirt up over my head. Then her hands are all over my bare chest.

Dammit, I want her more than I’ve ever wanted anybody. I move my kisses to her chin following a path up her jaw to behind her ear where my lips trail the pulsating line down her neck. With the sexiest moan I’ve ever heard, she throws her head to the side exposing more of her neck to me. And with this increased intensity I nip and suck and bite.

She controls my hands, pushing them up under the hem of her tank but I regain the control driven by some carnal need, moving them up until they palm two plump breasts. Without thinking our mouths crush together again, my tongue slipping in to taste the mint on hers from her toothpaste while my thumbs brush delicately over her sensitive skin.

She gasps, crying out my name, “Casey.”

Fuck! What am I doing?“I’m sorry.” And I leap off the couch covering my mouth. My breathing comes ragged and the smell of her peaches on my hands doesn’t do a thing to help the situation.

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