Page 92 of Forgotten Deeds

Darius

“Lily Grant Angelos,” the announcer calls, and Lily glides on stage, accepting her diploma. She’s the only Angelos to ever have received one—with honors no less—and it makes me proud as hell she’s my wife; too bad she’s embarrassed by my dumb ass. She didn’t want me to come, but good luck shaking me.

We’ve got a ways to go through the alphabet, and Iris is already getting restless. Kat’s with us and brought a busy bag, as she called it. She swore to me when we spoke privately she didn’t know about John Davis. She’d better be telling the truth, or the only bag my cousin will need is a body bag.

Kat hands Iris an activity book, and Iris gets to work peeling the stickers and placing them on the pages. Bored with that, she begins sticking them on my tie. “Looks so much nicer now,” I whisper to her, and she flashes a devious little smile. That’s my kid.

Iris’ grandma and grandpa are seated on the other side of us, and they keep casting judgmental looks in my direction. I flash a smile at them, straightening my tie now adorned with unicorn stickers.

The commencement ends, and we work our way through the hordes of people to find our graduate. “Mama,” Iris runs over and hops into Lily’s arms.

“Congratulations,” I tell Lily, kissing the top of her head.

“Thank you. Nice tie.” She smiles brightly until she remembers she’s mad at me. “Mother. Father,” she says, giving her parents an awkward side hug.

“Let me take a picture of everyone,” Kat suggests.

Lily hands her phone to Kat, and I scoot in close, placing my arm around my wife. She tenses, but doesn’t shrug out of my hold. I’ll take it.

“I need to get back to AC. I’m working this evening,” Kat announces, handing Lily back her phone.

“What is it you do?” Mr. Grant asks Kat.

“I’m a casino dealer,” Kat answers.

“How interesting,” Mrs. Grant says in a rather condescending tone.

“You have no idea,” Kat quips, ignoring the snobbery. She gives Lily a hug. “Congrats again.”

“Thank you, and thanks for coming,” Lily says.

“Of course.” Squatting down and hugging Iris, Kat says, “I’ll come play with you and Lucky here soon.”

“Iris has a new cat,” Lily explains to her parents.

“Oh,” is all Mrs. Grant says.

Kat says her goodbyes, and Lily waves at some classmates. “We’ll meet you at the house,” Lily tells her parents.

I put Iris on my shoulders so we can maneuver easier through the crowd. Lily chats with a few classmates and professors before telling me she’s ready.

We walk to the parking garage, and I drive us to neighboring Princeton. We turn into a neighborhood not as flashy as Antonio Parisi’s, but a distant second. I know from looking into Lily’s background, both her parents are professors at the nearby Ivy League university, as well as coasting along on old family money. It makes me hot under the collar the Grant family is well off, and yet their daughter and granddaughter had to scrape by on their own.

I find a spot on the street to park, as I don’t want to get blocked in the driveway in the event we need a quick getaway. I’m not sure why we’d need a quick getaway, but old habits die hard.

Lily leads us to the backyard where the party’s already started. “Who are these people?” I ask Lily quietly. Around fifty stuffy-looking men and women in country club attire are sipping on bourbon and spouting bullshit.

“My parents friends and work colleagues.”

“I thought this was a party to celebrate your graduation?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Iris, you want something to eat?”

“A cupcake!”

“Lunch first, then a cupcake,” Lily tells her.

“I’ll grab you both a plate,” I volunteer.

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