Page 79 of Honey Sugar
Ivy did an amazing job talking to the cops and detectives. She played the role of the heartbroken daughter so well I wanted to send her name in for an Oscar nomination. She had the entire Sugar Bayou police department consoling her. Crocodile tears fell freely from her eyes while I sat off to the side only answering questions when they were asked of me.
We spent hours combing over details before we left the station and went home. It felt strange walking into the plantation house on Bayou Drive without hearing Uncle Beau’s drunk and high slurs or smelling Aunt Liv’s crawfish Alfredo. Ivy and I were alone.
The feeling settled into me. It was heavy but it wasn’t a bad weight to hold. It was a good one. I felt at peace.
“How you holding up, baby girl?” I asked. She fell over on the couch and kicked her feet up on the arm with a sigh. I couldn’t remember the last time she didn’t head straight to her room and shut the door. She never hung out in the living room.
“I’m fine, actually. I miss Mama something awful and I wish Daddy died before her but the finality of everything is starting to work its way into my mind.” She rested a hand on her forehead while I stood behind her, running my fingers through her soft hair.
“Yeah, me too. I still can’t stand the thought of Mario walking around…breathing and shit. I’m going to fix that soon though.” I rubbed Ivy’s temples and started getting myself ready to do what I said I’d never do again. I had to brace myself to end someone’s life. Mario’s wasn’t exactly a life I cared to save though. Honestly, I couldn’t wait to put him out of his snake ass misery.
…
I woke up earlier than Ivy because I had so much shit on my mind that it refused to let me lie there comfortably. I checked in on my plants in the humid guest room and took notes on how they were budding. Once I was done, I sent Don pictures of the plants.
Don: Those gonna be one-pounders?
Me: Probably. Get your money ready.
Don: You’re breaking me, Shadow. You ever think about getting your own dispensary?
Me: Not really. Too much work.
Don: You need to. Don’t be scared.
I set the phone down and stared at a singular spot on the ceiling. Was I being scared? I went to the kitchen and grabbed a cookie then started making breakfast. It was strange being in the kitchen without Aunt Liv. It was strange being in any kitchen without Mama popping up behind me telling me I was going to burn the house down. A brick of sadness sank into my chest while I pushed around scrambled eggs in the skillet.
The sadness soon transformed into anger and I felt my joints stiffen at the thought of Mario killing my mother. He was a spineless pussy for that shit. I would have never done anything remotely close to that just to fit in.
My thoughts wandered to what Mama’s last moments were like. I thought about that all the time. It was masochistic but I couldn’t help myself.
I kept replaying the way I thought everything went down. Mario had to have caught her while she was coming into the house. The police and detectives had their theories but they were just that. I refused to tell them I knew who killed my mother. They weren’t going to do a motherfucking thing about it. I knew that.
I would though.
Once I finished making eggs and toast for Ivy and me, I took them upstairs to her room. I paused to look at her while I held onto the wooden breakfast tray. She was breathtaking. I sat everything at the foot of her bed and pulled back the pink comforter cocooned around her body.
Since I fucked her to sleep last night, she was naked and her spiral curls were fanned out on the pillow because she never got a chance to put her sleep bonnet on. She was going to complain about her hair when I woke her up but the food would shut her up. Not that Ivy needed shutting up. I liked watching her mouth no matter if she was cursing me out or moaning my name.
“Wake up, baby girl.” I sat beside her on the bed and watched her naked body turn and twist until she was awake and peering at me with olive-green eyes. She raised her arms above her head and my eyes went straight to her perfect tits. She shoved my head to the side and smacked her lips together.
“Pervert,” she smiled.
“Can you blame me?” I tilted my head to the side and put my mouth on her nipple, letting my tongue slide across until she shuddered.
“Is that how you kiss me now? You just pop a titty in your mouth?” She ran her hands through my hair and the corners of my mouth lifted.
“I actually like that. We’ll have to make that a thing.”
“No. Well…maybe in private.” She reached past me and grabbed the plate of food. “You cooked? How long have you been up, Titan?”
“For a while. I’ve been thinking about this shit with Mario and how everything is going to go down.”
“You’re anxious?” She asked, eating a forkful of eggs.
“Yes and no. I’m looking forward to killing him and I want to get this shit over with before Bear realizes that I’ve been telling half-truths.”
“Bear seems to trust you,” Ivy shrugged. She wasn’t wrong but the tension was too thick for my liking. If he found out that I was only halfway telling him the truth, he could have me killed at a moment’s notice.
