Page 81 of Crazy In Love
“Right! So it’s just skin.” I bring my focus back to the green Watkins. “You’reuncomfortablebecause this particular section of skin is located in and around Alana’s vagina.”
“Woman!” He points toward Franky. And three feet behind him, a sleeping Hazel, tucked into a transportable crib. “He’s a child! Why are you saying that word in front of a child?”
“Vagina? He’s not bothered. It’s just a word, like arm and anus.”
“Oh my God!” He slams his plate to the counter and grabs his hair. “Is this who we are now? Animals in clothes? We can’t even have a respectable dinner without saying words like…”
“Arm?”
He snarls.
I bring my eyes back to Alana. “He must’ve beenfunduring health class in high school, huh? Did he climb under the table and curl into the fetal position?”
“He was mysteriously sick duringseveralof those lessons.” She places cheesecake onto her tongue. “There were the days Chris and Tommy were away because… well… ya know. Life was tough. But then there were the days Chris was away, and those days suspiciously coincided with specific discussion topics in health class.”
“Which would explain why he was running through the drugstore, screaming at people instead of just being a normal, functional human being who wanted to buy… Band-Aids.”
“Which brings us right back around,” Alana twists in her seat, pinning him with a smile. “Who is she?”
Furious and ready to fight, he burns my forehead with his glare.
“So, Alana knows about the party,” Tommy chuckles, saving hisbrother like he always does. “She heard about it from Barbara, who was talking to Glenn and Doris about it.”
“Aww, yeah.” From tormenting to content, Alana comes back around with a sweet smile. “You’re throwing me a party, Fox! That’s so sweet of you.”
“Someone has to do it. You live with three Neanderthals, two of whom are seemingly allergic to social gatherings, and the third,” I hit Tommy with a look, “Iassumethe initiative just hadn’t smacked him in the back of the head yet. Everyone is so busy running a gym and a bookstore and folding Franklin into his new school, and now Hazel is here. Worthy distractions, for sure, but it saddens me no one thought to do this.”
“I heard you’ve been threatening people,” she giggles. “If they don’t come, they’re gonna get hurt.”
“False.” I slide my fork into the cheesecake and slice a little more off. “I said if they don’t come,and bring a guest or ten in addition, then they’re gonna get hurt. I expect the gym to overflow with bodies, and every single one of them better be telling you how wonderful you are.”
“Nothing like the threat of corporal punishment to get folks into the celebratory spirit.” Tommy settles back, draping his arm over Alana’s shoulders. “Cliff said he invited a bunch of people, too. Just FYI.”
“Good. The more, the merrier. So long as he gets me actual numbers a week before the event.”
“You’ll probably live to regret your choices,” Alana taunts. “Cliff knows alotof people. You know how vampires get strength from blood, and introverts suck the fun out of parties they never wanted to go to?”
So, Chris? “Sure. I’m following you.”
“Well, Cliff gets strength from meeting people and making friends. He’s independently…”
“Not, like, rich,” Tommy intercepts. “But the dude is probably selling cocaine on the side or something because there ain’t no way he’s living the life he does on whatever he makes fixing up homes.”
“Oh! Speaking of Cliff.” At Hazel’s first peep, just a single chirp of sound, Alana rises from her chair and wanders around to the crib to sweep her baby girl up. And because they’re so practiced, Alana frees her boob, and Hazel traps it between her gums, all in under a second.
Chris, of course, spins away and slams his hip on the counter, his pained hiss traveling across the kitchen.
“First of all,” she comes back around and settles exactly where she started, eating one-handed while Hazel hungrily guzzles her mom’s milk. “He’s not a drug dealer. I wanted to put that out there, since you’re not from around here, and you might’ve believed that lie.”
“Well shucks, Page.” I set my fork on my plate and sit back with a full belly. “So glad you cleared that up.”
“Second, his parents owned a bit of land out here when we were kids, and then they sold up a couple of years ago to retire somewhere else. They banked their money and gave Cliff his inheritance early, so he’skind ofindependently wealthy. He’d be smart to maintain a day job, if only to keep his skills growing and his reputation within the town. But he can be chill about it all. Unless he blows it all on strippers and gambling, he should be fine for the rest of his life.”
“Uh, well…” A thick crumb pulls my attention, gleaming from the edge of my plate. So I place the pad of my pointer finger over the top and pick it up, placing it on my tongue. “Thanks for the history lesson about a guy I hardly know.”
“No, well, that’s my third point. You should go out with Cliff!”
Chris turns, quiet and dangerous, and narrows his eyes.
