Page 25 of Clint & Ivy
“Baby, you’ve got to give his little avocados room to breathe or they’ll fester and fall off.”
“My brothers never had any issues with their balls. You gave our son a weird medical problem.”
Ford had beat on his chest like King Kong and announced, “No, I gave him big manly balls. Your brothers have tiny girl balls.”
My uncles—Donnie and Devin—were teenagers by the time I came along. Despite growing up in a house with an outlaw biker as their male role model, they decided to go the straight-and-narrow route by joining the military. These days, Donnie was married to a club member’s daughter and worked for the state patrol. His younger brother Devin was a Little Rock detective.
The end of the ball argument between Ford and Shay led to them discussing matters alone in their bedroom. I heard what I thought was a struggle and nearly went inside. Before I saw something that might have scarred me, my older cousin Lula grabbed my hand and shook her head.
“You’ll never unsee it,” she warned.
After that day, Shay let me pick my own clothes. I was also more careful about opening my parents’ bedroom door.
Ivy didn’t experience those milestones. When she spoke about her mother, I got the sense Ivy was a doll for Geraldine Humphreys to play with rather than a human being with their own tastes. Ivy’s days of dancing for someone else were over. I wanted a partner, not a puppet.
With Hanzee dancing around the door, I took Ivy’s hand and headed into the hallway. We took the elevator down to the main floor and out a side door to the building’s gated courtyard. Sitting on a bench near the grassy center were my cousins Vanessa and her younger brother, Roy.
The siblings looked half-asleep as they hid under their long hair. Roy—referred to as Rowdy by most people—lived at the condos. I assumed Vanessa stayed over like she was prone to do whenever they stayed up late playing games and smoking pot.
Rowdy and Vanessa inherited their fair blue eyes and height from their dad. Vanessa was also blonde like Pax. Rowdy had his mom Bebe’s brown hair. Otherwise, my only male cousin was the spitting image of his father.
Vanessa and Rowdy’s Chihuahuas—Porche and Goblin—welcomed Hanzee. They followed him around as he did his business.
Ivy couldn’t figure out if she’d rather focus on the new people or watch the dogs.
Rowdy drew her attention by exhaling smoke and announcing, “So this is the mythical figure capable of thawing Clint’s icy heart.”
Vanessa shoved her little brother and muttered, “You’re making her uncomfortable, man. Whisper that shit.”
Smiling at their sibling taunts, I introduced them. My cousins gave Ivy half-hearted hellos. I sensed their lack of enthusiasm was more from fatigue than indifference.
“Will you be at dinner tonight?” I asked my cousins.
“Of course,” Vanessa replied, wearing a smirk. “Sabrina’s planning to put your girl through her paces.”
I glanced down at Ivy to see if she was nervous, but she only smiled at me.
“Elle told me about your cousin Sabrina.”
Chuckling, I smirked at the siblings. “Ivy’s ready for whatever your sister throws at us.”
Rowdy snorted. “We’ll see.”
“So, Clint met you at a gas station?” Vanessa asked as her brother finished his cigarette.
Ivy nodded. “Yes.”
“Were you working there?”
“No,” I answered.
Vanessa looked at Rowdy. They shared a silent conversation before she nudged him away.
“You have to understand,” Vanessa told Ivy. “Clint isn’t known to be an emotional guy. Like, um, he isn’t a bleeding heart. He’ll help people, but letting someone in his home involves trust he doesn’t usually exhibit. The gossip is you two aren’t really strangers.”
“We met yesterday,” I insisted while squeezing Ivy’s hand. “Why would I lie about that?”
Vanessa glanced at Rowdy who shrugged and said, “Maybe Clint’s a sloppy bitch in the matters of the heart.”
