Against the Wall (18 page)

“
Right,” Tyler says nodding slowly, not buying a word of it.

If I can’t convince other people Matty and I aren’t a couple, how can I convince myself? To be honest, I miss him so much. I haven’t talked to him since he left, and my bed feels so empty. I wish I could snuggle up to him and just sleep for hours. I’m tired and I need him with me.

Fuck it. I take out my phone and text him.

Miss u. Can’t wait till 2mro 2 c u. P.S. Mel is doing my bro. ;
p

I flip my cell shut and follow Mel and Ty inside the house.

We immediately greet the family with hugs and kisses. This is how Mel’s family does it. Even if you don’t know every single one of them. It takes about an hour to say hello when you arrive and about an hour to say goodbye. It’s considered very rude not to follow this tradition. And I sure as hell don’t want to be the white girl to offend them. Although, after twenty two years of being an honorary member of Mel’s family, I don’t think they consider me the white girl anymore.

After hugging every aunt, uncle, cousin, and grandma, we finally meet up with Mel’s mom.

“
Melissa, thank God you’re finally here. I need your help in the kitchen,” Mel’s mom says. She gives her mom a kiss on the cheek and disappears down the hall. So different from my mom. Mel is actually happy to see her. “Hi, Shelly, thanks for coming. It’s so nice to see you as always. And, Tyler, look at you. You’ve grown into such a handsome man. I’m glad you could join us too. Now make sure you grab a plate and get plenty to eat. Okay.” Plenty to eat. Did you hear that? I can eat as much as I want.

Tyler and I both share a hug with Mel’s mom. “Thanks for having us,” I tell her. “I can’t wait to get my hands on some tamales. Did you make some sweet ones this year?”

“
Especially for you,” she tells me, poking her finger on my nose. Oh, I could hug her again. Why can’t my mother love me like this? She just poked me on the nose. Aww. I think Mel’s parents forget we’re grown adults sometimes. But it’s very endearing. At least she didn’t tell me I’m fat and try to stiff me with a salad plate.

Tyler and I take turns opening our tamales and ridding them of the wax paper and corn husks. We both get some rice and beans too. This is a whole different kind of deliciousness. I loved my mom’s cooking yesterday, but it’s Mel’s family cooking I crave every year.

“
There’s a few seats right there.” I gesture to Tyler and he follows me.

“
Is Mel gonna eat with us,” he asks.

“
Not if she wants to live.” I shove a mouthful of rice and beans in my mouth. Oh goodness, I don’t need Matty. I want to fill my bedroom with this stuff and eat it all night, making snow angels in a bed of refried beans. “She’ll be in there for awhile, flipping tortillas and making eggs. I’m not quite sure when all the women eat. I guess they just eat and cook at the same time.”

“
Why do you get to eat?”

“
Because I’m a guest.” I take another bite of my tamale. I’m in love.

Tyler still hasn’t touched his food. He looks in the kitchen. From where we’re sitting we can see Mel hovering over the stove, and chatting with the ladies.

“
Ty, just eat. She’s fine. This is time for all of them to catch up. They actually enjoy it.” I pause, gazing up at the ceiling in thought. Considering the latest events with Nick, this probably isn’t very enjoyable for Mel. “Most of the time anyway. Eat, and I’ll go check on her in a minute.”

Tyler looks like he’s about to consume his last meal. Give me a break. They were together one effing night and he’s already pussy whipped. What a wimp my brother is.

I suck down the rest of my food and walk into the hen’s den, leaving my brother alone to pout like a love sick puppy.

“
Hola, chicas,” I say, as I throw my plate in the trash. “How you all doing?”

Mel looks at me with a plea for help. “My aunties here are grilling me on the details of my wonderful divorce.”

“
Cool. So are we all in agreement the settlement should include Nick getting his balls chopped off?” I chuckle, but the others aren’t laughing. Ha, they would be if this was dinner time. But it’s breakfast and we all haven’t started drinking yet. Unless you count the Bloody Mary’s, but I think the men are the only ones throwing those back.

“
Nice try, Shel, but in this house, apparently it is my fault Nick was screwing a woman at work. I must not have been doing enough to keep my husband satisfied,” Mel sneers as she flips tortillas.

“
Oh.”

“
Yeah, they also think I’m going to go into the poor house because I can’t possibly take care of myself.” Mel is seething mad right now.

“
That’s not true. Mel and I make the same amount and I live on my own just fine. Plus, Nick knows how much of an asshole he is so he left her with plenty of money. She doesn’t even need to work,” I try to explain.

“
That’s what I tried to tell them,” she cries out, tossing the warm tortillas in a dish on the counter.

One of her aunts throws her hands up. “Ay, what will the church say?”

“
I don’t give a rat’s ass what the church says,” Mel yells. “If the church is so concerned about my marriage, why didn’t they pray my husband would keep his dick in his pants?” She throws a towel on the counter and walks away.

“
Ooo, you’re in trouble now,” I say as I follow her out.

Mel sits down next to Tyler and takes a tamale off his plate. “It’s about time you get to eat,” he says.

She chomps off a piece and utters through a mouthful, “That’s what I’m saying. They can handle the rest.” She breaks off a corner of the masa and dips it into Tyler’s beans. “How long have we been here?” she asks.

Tyler looks at his watch. “Almost two hours.” He holds out his plate to her as she finishes chowing down.

“
Long enough. Let’s go,” she announces wiping her hands and face with her apron.

I put my hand on her shoulder. “Melly, calm down. It’s Christmas. You haven’t even opened presents with your family. And your dad hasn’t stopped by yet.” Mel’s dad is a police officer, and he’s on duty. At anytime he could stop in to wish the family a happy holidays and I know she wouldn’t want to miss it.

She leans back in her chair with a sigh. “We’ll stay till my dad gets here, and then we’re gonna go.”

We both nod in agreement.

Tyler asks, “Mel, you want me to fix you something else? You didn’t eat much.”

“
Are you kidding? Do you want them to talk more shit? If anything, I should have fixed your plate,” she complains. “Did you guys get something to drink? I need some wine.”

“
I’ll get the drinks,” I offer.

When I get back from pouring Mel a glass of wine and digging up two beers for Tyler and me, she’s explaining to him the archaic ideals her family has about how women are supposed to serve their men. Mel rarely served Nick. They always just got their own stuff. But it’s not like Nick would have wanted her to anyway. He’s not very traditional in that sense. And Ty won’t be either. He will surely take care of all her needs before he ever tends to his own.

Limiting myself to one beer sucks but Mel needs the booze more than I do. I guess being the designated driver has it’s perks though. I don’t have to worry about peeing every fifteen minutes. Once the seal is broken, it’s like a never ending flood, and Mel has made many trips to the little girl's room to prove it.

“
Daddy’s here,” Mel’s mom tells us as she passes by.

We walk outside and as usual, Mel’s dad is flashing lights and blaring different sirens. He does this for all the little kids. I can remember getting so excited when we were young and he’d put on a show. Actually, it still is a bit thrilling.

Growing up with Mel as a best friend kept us out of a lot of trouble. There were many times when we were about to do something stupid and the thought of getting arrested by one of her dad’s friends, or worse, her dad, was enough to make us do the right thing. We were by no means angels, but we did opt out of some good times in fear of Mel’s dad. But we opted in on some good times to piss off my mother.

“
Hi, honey, Merry Christmas,” Mel’s dad says as he heads our way. He stops in front of her and hugs her with a tear in his eye. Daddy’s little girl. Always.

“
Hi, Daddy,” she says, wrapping her arms around him. “Merry Christmas to you. Wish you could stay and enjoy it.”

“
Sorry honey, you know the drill,” he says. “Hey, Shel, hey, Tyler. Good to see you.” He hugs me and shakes Ty’s hand. “I’m gonna go see your mother. Come for dinner next week, okay.” Mel nods, and he finds Mel’s mom waiting for him on the porch.

We all look at Mel’s parents in awe. After all these years, they still look like they fell in love just yesterday.

“
I want a man to look at me like that,” I say, not even realizing my words are said aloud.

“
You already have one, beeyotch. You’re just being a frickin’ pansy about it,” she scolds me. I don’t have time to respond because she whips off her apron and tosses it at one of her little cousins. “Okay, let’s go before anyone notices.”

“
We can’t. We have to say goodbye to everybody,” I remind her.

“
Forget it. I’ll call my mom in a few and tell her Tyler had diarrhea and we had to leave quickly.”

Tyler gives her a questioning look. “Why do I have to be the one to get the shits? Did you see how much Shel ate? That would be more believable.”

“
Gee thanks big, bro.”

“
Who cares. Shel, go get our bags and meet us at the car. Don’t let anyone stop you to talk. You need to do this shit Mission Impossible style or we’ll never get out of here.”

We’re finally home and it’s only then when I get a text back from Matty. It’s about time.

Miss u 2. I’ll b bk 2nite.

“
Matty’s coming home,” I sing. “Matty’s coming home.” I chant this as I run around the living room. I jump up on my ottoman and do the Cabbage Patch dance as Mel and Tyler stare at me from the sofa. “Matty’s coming home.” Out of breath, I have to stop doing the Running Man. I collapse to the floor and try to calm myself.

“
Maybe we should go to your place,” Tyler says to Mel.

“
No way. I want you to meet him,” I say.

“
Um. I don’t think so. I really don’t want to be a room away from my baby sister doing the nasty.”

Mel chimes in, “They’re not doing it.” He looks at her confused. “I know. It’s this agreement they have. And you gotta remember. They’re not a couple.” She holds up her air quotes for emphasis.

An hour later, Matty arrives bearing gifts. Four pints of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, all in different flavors. Mel and I fight over the Chocolate Fudge Brownie. I win since my
friend
brought the goods. She takes the Cherry Garcia. Matty let’s Tyler choose from the last two, and he goes for some cookie dough brownie concoction. Matty is left with a mint Oreo duo.

“
Damn, sis, tell the guy you love him already.” Tyler says, devouring his ice cream. “I do.”

“
Haha,” Matty chuckles. “She told you, huh.”

“
Mel did,” Tyler responds.

“
So what’s going on with you two anyway?” Matty asks them.

But I answer. “About twenty years of pent up sexual tension, finally released. It was bound to happen eventually, I guess.”

Matty slides the spoon from his mouth, and I want to taste his lips right now. “It’s funny how you talk about it, Shel. It doesn’t bother you that your bestie and your brother are hooking up?” I shake my head. Of course not. “But I doubt Tyler would let his best friend anywhere near his little sister.”

“
No fucking way. I’d kill’em,” Ty says, with a loud chuckle.

“
You guys are funny. You look alike and you have the same choice of words,” Matty tells us. We do look alike. We have the same green eyes, small nose, and brownish hair. Although, his is a little more on the blond side. I have more freckles than he does though, on my nose and under my eyes, if you look really close. Ty has none. He got the height though, taking after my dad. My petite frame came from my mom.