In every town, every community, there are rumors about people. Most of them, I ignored, but there’d been some interesting ones about the Bells. Then again, I’d have to muster quite a few fucks to find out the answer, and I just didn’t have them in me to muster.
“I’m not going to feel ashamed because I don’t like liars. You can make it about her color, but it’s because the family’s been trying to dig their way out of a hole of debauchery for the last twenty-three years. So, you can take your knowledge and shove it up your ass,” Shonelle hissed and turned to walk away.
Calling out her name before she could get far, Grams held up her middle finger, a move that was totally at odds with her normal beauty and class. “You can sit on this and rotate. Then I’d like you to go and sit on a cactus covered in razor wire and do the same.”
Blowing out a breath, Bonnie looked sadly back at all of us. “Well, that was embarrassing.”
Scowling at her, her mom asked, “Why? Because someone finally told her to shut the hell up?”
Before she could reply, Grams added, “To not understand something is one thing, Bonnie. But to hate someone because you don’t want to listen and understand something—that’s ignorance. How you act on that willful ignorance is what defines you as a person, and she’s done enough damage to your family. We’ve all said our piece to her and her mom over the years—and I don’t even live here—and they’ve ignored every word of it. Never doubt your beauty, sweetheart, because you’ve been blessed with so much of it.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Sadie agreed, rolling her eyes at the shocked look she got from Bonnie. “Love, I do not lie. You are, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve got a feeling once I get to know you, that beauty’s just going to grow.”
The respect Sadie had from my family had just increased hugely from the look on Gram’s face. We might be the only ones who heard her say it, but I knew the rest of the family would hear it soon. I also knew that Bonnie had another person in her corner now, something she could never have too many of.
“Thank you,” Bonnie replied, smiling shyly. “Mom was telling me she heard her saying something to you in the store the other day. I’m sorry she’s directing her bitch at you, too.”
“Nothing I’m not going to hear more of. I’m saying things the wrong way, using the wrong words, my ‘version of English’ is wrong, blah, blah, blah. I really don’t see what the issue is if I’m honest, but it seems to mean something to her.”
Leaning over the bar, Bonnie whispered, “I don’t think it’s something—I think it’s someone.”
Here’s a tip for all of the male and female population of the world—no matter how hard you try, if you know who the person’s talking about and they’re in the same area as you, you’ll always turn your head and look at them. Sometimes you’ll get away with it, but if it’s a group of you doing it, you won’t. Fortunately, Elijah was made of titanium because he just rolled his eyes at us and wiggled his finger at Sadie.
“Anyway,” Grams clapped her hands together. “I think my grandson has something to say to you,” she pointed to Sadie “Oh, and you only have one earring in, so you better put the other one back in before you lose it.”
And that was the end of a tense situation. Given how dedicated Shonelle was to her task of making Bonnie’s life a misery, it went without saying there’d be more soon, though. She could try, Bonnie had an army at her back who wouldn’t let her get away with it. It was niggling at me that Sadie hadn’t told us about the problems she was having with her, I’d get that information out of her. Maybe I’d even get Elijah to do it.Later that night…
I was just about to get into the shower when my phone pinged with a message. Obviously—like almost everyone else in the world—I brought my phone into the bathroom with me, so I didn’t have to go far to pick it up and see who it was from.
Parker: Company? x
Not understanding what he meant, I replied:
Me: As in a business, or as in do I want any? x
His response was almost immediate.
Parker: As in, I’d love to spend some time with you. x
I didn’t believe in miracles, I was too much of a realist for that. You had to work hard for what you got, no matter what it was you were working for. However, for the last couple of weeks, what was growing between us felt almost like a miracle. We talked about things, watched movies, hung out, we laughed a lot, and I felt comfortable and relaxed around him. I hadn’t let my guard down completely, but it was almost there. We were both guarded people, but we’d found a level of trust in each other we didn’t think was possible.