She thought she heard Alonzo groan. With a wink, she walked past him and into her kitchen. So this is female empowerment. She liked it.
Darius rang his parents’ doorbell Friday evening.
“Don’t you have a key to your parents’ house?” June sounded baffled.
“No, I don’t.” Darius met her gaze over his shoulder.
Noah exchanged a look with his mother. “That’s cray.”
Yeah, cray. Darius smiled at his half brother’s use of the popular slang for “weird.” Maybe not having a key to one’s family home was odd for a normal family. But Darius couldn’t think of anyone who considered Simon and Ethel Knight normal parents.
The front door opened, framing Ethel in the threshold. She scowled at him. “You didn’t tell me you were coming for dinner.”
“We’re not staying.”
His mother noticed June and Noah on the steps behind him. Her scowl deepened. “You brought company? Who are . . .” Ethel’s dark brown eyes sharpened on Noah. She swayed. “Oh, my Lord.”
Darius stepped forward to catch his mother. His hands banded her forearms. “Steady.”
Her eyes pleaded with him. Her whisper rushed on a breath of air. “Is he your son?”
“You know he’s not,” Darius whispered back. He caught June and Noah’s concerned gazes. “Come in.”
Darius led them into his parents’ great room. Ethel leaned heavily on his arm. June and Noah wandered past him. What did they think as they studied the white walls dotted with framed dried flowers, Ethel’s collection of ornamental birds, and the heavy red curtains that guarded against the natural light?
Darius led his mother to her stiff red sofa. “Sit down, Mom.”
Ethel ignored him. She stared fixedly at the younger version of her husband of thirty-three years. “How old are you?”
Noah faced her. “I’m seventeen, ma’am.”
Ethel swayed on her feet.
Darius’s heart leaped. “Mom, sit before you fall.”
“Who was at the door?” Simon’s voice accompanied his footfalls on the staircase.
With a surprising burst of energy, Ethel tore free of Darius’ support. She marched across the room, meeting Simon at the threshold. “Your whore and her bas—”
“Watch your mouth!” A sudden flash of white-hot rage burned through Darius. He’d never spoken to his parents like that before. He hoped they’d never give him reason to speak like that to them ever again.
Ethel spun to face him, shock stamped on her face. Simon stared across the room as though he’d been confronted by ghosts. Darius didn’t have a lot of moments with his parents for which he could look back and be proud. This evening wouldn’t change that.
“Dad, you’ve met June Cale.” Darius stood between her and Noah. His younger brother hadn’t taken his eyes off Simon since the older man had entered the room. “But it’s about time you met her son, Noah. Your sperm helped make this moment possible.”
“June.” Simon’s voice was hollow.
Ethel grabbed a fistful of her husband’s red shirt and shook him. “Did you know you had a son by her? Did you?”
Simon looked down at his wife. His arms hung limply at his sides. “I . . . Yes.”
“Aiiyee!” Ethel pounded Simon’s chest.
Darius stepped forward to stop his mother, but June caught his arm. She shook her head, cautioning him to let his parents work this out. Darius stepped back.
Ethel’s tirade was painful to hear, painful to watch. “Everyone was talking, whispering about you sleeping with other women. But you told me you weren’t having affairs. You’re a liar!”
Her tears were the sobs of a woman betrayed. Darius’s heart broke for her. She’d married his father because she was pregnant with Darius. And now she was left to wonder how many other children Simon had fathered.