“I mean, who am I to say what you are and aren’t doing under them sheets while we’re on the phone.” I shrugged and that made her giggle more.
She always knew how to get a rise out of me, even if teasing. That laughter though, it was worth it all. Every bruised knuckle, every gunshot, she made it all worth it and I’d do whatever was necessary to keep her happy like this forever.
TWENTY-ONE
Brandy Noel
Present
AFTER A LATE LUNCH and trip to the movies to see the latestMarveladaptation, Chardonnay and I were finally making it back to her ranch. The drive up to the tucked away sanctuary was something special I couldn’t get enough of.
The fresh scent of spring flowers blooming, the trees sprouting and saying hello in that promising green, the horses further away roaming around freely on the land… it was all captivating and peaceful.
“What are you smiling so hard for?” Chardonnay asked as we finally pulled up to the ranch.
“It’s beautiful out here. It’s so peaceful, and honestly, I would’ve left Dallas a long time ago had I visited sooner.”
“I told you to bring your ass on, but you always act so busy like you can’t take a break.”
Chardonnay rolled her eyes and I couldn’t help but roll mine too. She liked pulling my card like she wasn’t equally busy all the time. Our schedules never worked together.
“No, I didn’t want Jeffrey following me and disturbing your peace,” I deadpanned.
She didn’t have much to say after that so I hopped out of her car once we parked and grabbed as many bags as I could from the back seat. I trotted ahead of her and the door to her place opened, stopping me dead in my tracks.
“So, this is the infamous Brandy. My bad if I scared you, shorty,” Arlando said as he stepped onto the patio.
“Shit,” I exhaled. “Don’t do that. Hi.” I giggled it off, but my heart was racing something crazy.
I shifted the bags into one hand to greet him and he followed by taking the bags from me then walking over to take the rest from Chardonnay. He leaned down to kiss her and the smile that followed from each of them stopped me from being upset with my sis.
“Babe, you said you weren’t gonna be back until tomorrow. Seeing Armond and now you, I feel like y’all set us up,” Chardonnay said as they parted.
He snickered then shrugged, didn’t have a reply or even a slick comment. That led me to believe she was about to get hit with another surprise. I’d hold onto my pearls in case there was something shocking to come.
But the only thing we were met with was the sweet smell of fresh baked goods coming from the kitchen. It was all too familiar and my excitement grew as I followed the light hum.
“Mommy!” I said excitedly, followed by the same shrill from Nay.
We rushed our mother and hugged her tightly. I hadn’t seen her since last Christmas and missed her miserably. She recently moved back to her hometown of Philly and hadn’t looked back at all.
“How are my gorgeous baby girls doing?” she replied. She kissed both of our foreheads before we released her, then I stole another hug for good measure.
“Yeah, I missed you too, Brandy girl. Now let go before your sister gets jealous,” she teased.
“And am!” Chardonnay said as she shoved me and took my mother in for another hug.
I giggled then looked at Arlando who stood in the doorway with his arms folded over his chest and a huge smile on his face like he knew he did well. And he had. Chardonnay had just talked about our mother on the way home from the mall and how we needed to book a trip to visit her.
“Alright, alright, you’re going to make me burn my cake. Go on now,” she said.
Our mother, Persephone Walsh, was in the top tier category of mother and nobody could tell me otherwise. She was always there for us whenever we needed, she didn’t judge too much, and tried to keep an open mind about anything we came to her with.
She didn’t shun Chardonnay for wanting to move to another state with her man even though they weren’t married or even talking about it nor did she judge me every time I had to retreat and move to another place to outrun Jeffrey.
She did what she could to protect us and love us and that was all we could ever ask for. I just hoped she wouldn’t bash me too much for this ring I had on my finger that she knew nothing about. Nor had I told her about Armond and now I suddenly felt guilty.
“Mmmhmm, that’s what I was looking for,” Mommy said as she looked my way.
