Page 32 of Without Me (Men of Inked 5)
“I may make no sense, but I still like them round and juicy.”
“There are other important things on a woman, Earl,” Bob interrupted.
“Like what?” Earl said as he flicked the can to the ground.
“Tits,” Bob answered with a smile.
“Jesus,” Denzel muttered.
Just as I felt comfortable, I heard, “Dinner!”
As I climbed from my chair, I saw Max standing near the back door with her hand above her eyes to block the sun. She looked stunning as her skirt blew in the warm breeze.
With each step, butterflies filled my stomach. If they were anything like the Gallo family, the real questions wouldn’t begin until we were at the dinner table.
“Everything go okay?” Max asked as I walked up to her.
“It went fine, love.” I brushed my fingers along her cheek and gave her a small kiss.
“Earl behave?” she asked on my lips.
“He’s a funny man.”
“Earl may seem like he’s crazy, but he’s sharp as a tack.”
“Noted.” I held her hand as I gave her one more kiss.
“Enough of that now. Food’s going to get cold,” Bob said as he walked by us.
“Ever have chitlins?” Denzel asked as he bumped my shoulder.
I looked at Max with panic in my eyes. I knew exactly what chitlins were and I couldn’t stomach them. If I had to eat them, I’d vomit right at the dinner table.
“I can’t eat those, Max.” I could already feel my stomach turning over in my body.
“Don’t listen to him, baby. Mama didn’t make chitlins.”
“Phew.” I placed my forehead on hers. “I thought we were going to have a problem.”
“Come on. You think your ma is bad when you take too long, you haven’t seen that side of Ruth.” She pulled on my hand to get my ass in gear.
We made our way through the family room to a dining room that had a card table set up at the end of the long wooden table. The table was covered with food. Unlike Ma, who would make a couple of dishes each week but in mass quantities, Ruth had prepared a feast. Ham, sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, collard greens, cornbread, and more were waiting to be devoured.
When Ruth walked in, everyone grew silent. I thought we were about to dig in, but then Max bowed her head.
“Heavenly Father, thank you for this amazing feast,” she began.
My family never said a prayer. It was eat or be hungry. No one waited for a prayer to dig in.
“Thank you for bringing Anthony to be with us today. Lord, look over each of us and bless this family.”
“Amen,” Earl called out.
The rest of the family echoed his statement. I thought the prayer would have been longer, but I was happy it wasn’t. My stomach was about to start speaking.
My plate was overflowing by the time I took a scoop of each food that had been prepared. I ate slowly, savoring the flavors. Just like the Gallos, the Washington family busted each other’s balls, but they left me alone. No one asked me questions or put me on the spot. Maybe it was the way I was enjoying my food that told them to leave me alone.
“You enjoyin’ what you’re eating, Anthony?” Ruth asked as I polished off the mac and cheese first.
The cheese was gooey and warm. It was the best mac and cheese I’d ever had in my life. I wanted more, but I didn’t want to seem like a pig.
“It’s amazing, Ruth. Best ever, in fact.”
“You know what to say to tug at a girl’s heartstrings,” she said as she smiled. “Now I know why my Max loves you.”
“Mama,” Max said, and held up her hand.
“Actually, she thinks I’m a jerk most of the time.” I wiped my mouth, hiding the amusement.
“I second that.” Malia laughed as she slopped a heaping spoonful of macaroni and cheese on her plate.
“Max isn’t happy unless she’s complaining,” Denzel teased before he was smacked in the head. “What the hell was that for?”
Ruth glared at him. “Be nice, Denzel.”
“Denzel Washington. Seriously? Are you named after the actor?”
“That man is sin,” Ruth said as she took a deep breath. “I loved him on St. Elsewhere, and I knew when I had a boy I’d name him after him.”
“Thanks, Ma. I get a lot of shit for it too.”
“Watch your mouth, Denzel. You know you love it.”
“I do get good reservations when I call a restaurant and give them my name. I’m better looking than he is too.” He tipped his beer toward me and smiled.
Denzel reminded me of myself. The way he mouthed off during dinner and was met with a hand to the back of the head—I’d been there more times than I cared to remember.
By the time we finished eating, I thought I’d need to be rolled out of the Washington house. I wanted to sprawl out on the couch and fall into a food coma.
“Thank you for dinner, Ruth,” I said as I rubbed my stomach. “It was the best meal I’ve had in a long time. Just don’t tell my mother I said that.”
“My mama always told me the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach,” Ruth replied.
“Your daughter hasn’t learned that yet.” I winked at Max.
“My girl is so beautiful she doesn’t need to use food.”
“I agree,” I said as I pulled Max’s hand to my mouth and kissed her soft skin. She smelled like cornbread and butter.
Denzel pushed back from the table and stretched. “I’m ready for a nap,” he announced. “Anthony, want to come outside?”
I glimpsed at Max and received a brief nod of approval. “Just yell for me if you want help with the dishes, Max.” I swept my hand behind her neck and kissed her.
“You go talk with Denzel.” She smiled on my lips. “You two need to make friends.”
“Okay.” I placed my napkin on the table and followed Denzel outside.
He tossed me a beer as I approached the picnic table in the backyard. “I wanted to explain what I meant earlier.”
“Good. I was a little confused,” I admitted as I cracked the top open and sat down.
“Ataxia is complicated.” He took a giant gulp of beer before he set the can on the table. “There are only a couple of forms that are actually testable. If you have a possibility of having one of those forms, then your test results will be accurate. The problem lies in the types that do not fall in that spectrum. My results were negative, but maybe my dad had one of the untestable types. If that’s the case, I can still develop it later in life even with the negative test.”
“I get that.” I moved the can between my palms, rubbing it back and forth. “What were you saying about Max?”
“If she tests positive, then that means my dad had a type that could be tested. It means she is positive and that I’ll always be negative because it’s a testable type and I didn’t have it. Shit, does that make sense?”
“It does. I’m praying to God it’s negative, Denzel.” I took a sip, welcoming the ice-cold feeling of the beer sliding down my throat.
“Remember, even if she’s negative, she could develop it later in life.” He gave me a weak smile.
“But it’s better than a positive result right away.”
“True.”
“Hey,” I said. “I wanted to apologize for the night I met you.”
He waved his hands. “It’s forgotten.”
“No,” I said as I shook my head. “I want to apologize. I wasn’t trying to be an asshole. I really liked your sister from the moment I saw her, man.”
“I know that now. I thought she needed rescuing that night, but I think she had the situation under control. You have a sister, right?” He placed his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together.
“I do.”
“So you understand. I’d protect my sister with my life.”
“I do.”
“We’re cool, then.”
I blew out a breath, feeling better about the whole situation.
The last thing I needed was a pissed-off brother to deal with for years.
“As long as you keep my sister happy, we’ll have no problems.”
“I’m trying, Denzel. I’m trying.”
We drank our beer as the sun began to set. For the first time that day, I felt calm. I liked her family, even Earl. When dinner was over and the kitchen was cleaned, we sat in the backyard and talked.
By the end of the night, I felt like I’d known them forever. It doesn’t matter what color people are, family is family, and I could feel the love they had for each other. The Washingtons were good people. They’d welcomed me into their home and made me feel comfortable. Well, maybe not Earl right away.
As we walked down the driveway, I stopped and pulled Max to me. “I love your family,” I whispered against her lips.
She smiled and smashed her lips to my mouth. She still tasted of sweet potato pie as her tongue mingled with mine.
“Take me home,” she murmured into my mouth. “Make love to me.”
My heart was full along with my stomach. Even if I hadn’t liked her family, I’d still have loved her. Knowing that they were good people and much like my family made me happier than I already was. No matter what the test said, I wanted Max to be mine. I wanted to spend my life loving her and making her happy. Soon, we’d have the results and better know what we faced. Either way, as long as we had each other, I’d do my best to make her life happy.
