The Bryson Blood Wars (13 page)

              “Shit! I’d rather have a mother who abandoned me than the one I got,” Richard said with sarcasm but was serious.

              “Explain,” Calista said.

              “I’ll be frank. My mother treated me like shit.” Richard said nonchalantly.

              “Was she like that with Carter too?” Calista asked.

              “Oh no. She was crazy about Carter.” Richard answered. “She loved Carter, but for some reason she never loved me. Her hatred for me was so bad my parents ended up divorcing, which of course she blamed me for.”

             
I thought my mom was fucked up!
“I’m guessing your mom has a major problem with you being gay and your relationship with Solomon?” Calista asked.

              “Are you kidding? She loves Solomon.” Calista couldn’t believe this shit. How can a mother hate her child but love her child’s significant other. “I know I can’t believe it either,” Richard read Calista’s mind. Richard dropped his head in defeat. “All I ever wanted was for that woman to love me. Why doesn’t she love me Calista?” Richard rhetorically asked.

              Calista couldn’t stand to see her friend in so much pain. She had to do something. “Richard, I asked myself those same questions when my mom dumped me at my daddy’s house and never looked back. If it means anything, you have Carter, his family, Solomon and me.” She assured him.

              “And you have me too.” Calista and Richard looked up and saw Eloise. They figured out she was the owner of the voice.

              “Aunt Eloise!” Richard greeted with a big kid smile and gave Eloise a big hug.

              “Hey, Richard baby,” Eloise greeted back.

              “Grandma Eloise!” Calista greeted and gave Eloise a hug.

              “Calista baby.” Eloise greeted and took a seat next to Calista.

              After settling down Calista realized something and asked Richard and Eloise. “How do you two know each other?”

              “I know both Richard and Carter. Their father, Big Carter and I go way back.” Eloise answered.

              “This woman, right here helped me through some tough times,” Richard added. Eloise was the first person to figure out he was gay before he did. Eloise was there for Richard when his own mother didn’t want to be bothered with him.

              “You’re a sweet special boy, Richard,” Eloise said, “you and Carter, both. Has he left them alone?”

              Richard knew Eloise meant the streets. “No he hasn’t. He’s trying though,” He answered.

              “Tell him I said hi,” Eloise replied. “Again I’m sorry about your father’s passing. He was a wonderful man.”

              “Thanks, Aunt Eloise.”

              “You boys do know if y’all need anything call me. I promised your father on his deathbed I’ll watch over you two.” Eloise said.

              “How did you and Big Carter become friends?” Calista asked Eloise.

              “He’s the one who saved my life that night and brought me to Lola. She was a family friend of theirs.” Eloise explained. She was referring to when her own father started pimping her out. She ended up getting beaten and raped by one of her johns. After the attack, Eloise struggled to make it out of the hotel and passed out in a dark alley. That’s where Big Carter found her. After Eloise settled in with Lola, Big Carter checked on her frequently and put a hit out on her father and rapist in prison. What started out as a feeling of being obligated to protect turned into a beautiful friendship.

              “I’ll let you guys in on a little secret,” Eloise said with a playful devilish grin. “You know those red velvet cupcakes of mine y’all love so much?”

              “Yes,” Calista and Richard said.

              Eloise turned to Richard and confessed, “they’re your grandmother’s recipe.”

              “Say what?” Calista and Richard exclaimed in disbelief.

              “That’s right, she left me her cookbook when she died.” Eloise volunteered.

              “I thought they tasted familiar,” Richard said with a laugh.

              Eloise, Richard and Calista continued to talk about fond memories of Big Carter. On the other side of the restaurant, in a secluded corner was where an unidentified man sat. He intensely stared at Calista while rubbing his rock hard dick through his pants under the table and whispering to himself. “Pretty soon, you’ll be mine! I will have you!”

“Are you sure you want to cancel the policy?” The customer service representative asked Opal for confirmation over the phone.

              Opal was dead silent on the other end of the phone. Wallace has been on a major warpath since Opal stormed out of his house like she did. In order to make it up to him, Opal gave in and decided to go along with the plan. Besides, she didn’t want to go to prison for what she did to Alex and Jacori.

              “Yes, I do,” Opal managed to say.

              “We’re sorry to lose you guys. Are you sure you want to cancel the policy?” The CSR asked again.

              “Yes, I do,” Opal confirmed.

              “Alright,” the CSR said. There was a brief silence between Opal and the CSR. Opal assumed she was in the process of cancelling the policy. It felt like an hour to Opal when actually it was only three minutes before the CSR came back on the phone. “The policy has been cancelled as requested, remember, you have thirty days to change your mind before the cancellation takes effect,” the CSR informed.

              “Of course,” Opal said.

              “Is there anything else I can help you with?” The CSR asked.

              “No, that’ll be all,” Opal replied.

              “Alright, goodbye and hopefully you’ll be back with us.” the CSR said and then hung up.

              After she got off the phone, Opal sat at her desk in deep thought. She couldn’t believe she actually went through with the plan. She took her phone out of her purse and sent Wallace a text to update him:

OPAL: Hello. I did it. I cancelled the policy and it goes into effect in thirty days.

WALLACE: Great! Now onto the next step. Everything is set up for Clover’s new policy on my end. All you have to do is transfer her payments straight to me.

OPAL: Okay. Are we still on for tonight?

WALLACE: Of course, baby, meet me at Bobby’s when you get off work. I love you.

OPAL: I love you too.

             
Finally!
Opal cheered on the inside. Wallace actually showed her love and respect. Opal was on cloud nine when Clover walked in unknowingly interrupting her thoughts. “Opal, do you mind closing up today and tomorrow? Sharp and I have to go to a parent teacher conference for Myk today and Sami tomorrow.” Clover requested.

              “It’s no problem,” Opal agreed. “When is Lil’Sharp’s parent teacher conference?”

              “Next Tuesday,” Clover answered. “You know it also means next Tuesday I’ll need you to......”

              Opal already knew where Clover was going with this. “Don’t worry. I can close next Tuesday too,” Opal agreed again.

              “Thanks sis,” Clover said with a hug. “Love you.”

              “Love you too,” Opal said.

*****

              It didn’t take Opal long to close. She headed straight to Bobby’s after she finished up her closing duties. Opal walked into the restaurant and was greeted by the hostess who led her to a booth and Opal took her seat.

              “Hello, are you ready to order?” The waitress asked Opal when she arrived at her table.

              “Not yet. I’m waiting on my boyfriend,” Opal answered.

              “Alright, let me know when you’re ready.” The waitress said before taking her leave. Opal then pulled out her phone to let Wallace know of her arrival:

OPAL: I just got here.

              Ten minutes went by and no word from Wallace. Opal decided to call him and received no answer. Another ten minutes went by and still no answer. Opal continued to call and text and she still received the same disappointing results.

              “Where the hell are you?” Opal wondered out loud and began to get frustrated.

              Opal called Wallace again and this time the phone rang twice and went straight to voicemail. Opal called five more times and got the same ring twice and straight to voicemail routine.

              “This nigga is ignoring me!” Opal quietly hissed under her breath with anger.

              “Opal,” Colton greeted.

              Opal looked up and saw Colton. “Colton, hey!” Opal greeted with a smile and gave him a hug. “What’s up?” Opal was relieved she didn’t start crying before anybody she knew saw her.

              “You know how it is. Long day at work. Now I’m waiting on my order to get ready.” Colton said and took a seat at Opal’s booth to keep her company while he waited for his takeout order. “What’s going on?”

              “He stood me up, Colton.” Opal answered with shame and humiliation.

              “Are you sure?” Colton asked.

              “Yes, I am,” Opal replied. “Wallace promised to meet me here after I closed the bakery for the night. I’ve been waiting here for over a motherfucking hour. I called and text and I got no answer. That nigga is ignoring me!”

              “How can you be sure?”

              “Colton, that nigga is ignoring me!” Opal angrily concluded. “I text him multiple times and called his ass over and over again and you know what’s happening now? It started ringing twice and going straight to voicemail. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt if it kept ringing and it went straight to voicemail. That means he didn’t hear it or he wasn’t anywhere near his phone. If it went straight to voicemail the first time that means his phone was off, but no, it rang twice, Colton. That means his phone rang, he saw it, knew it was me and pressed ignore.” Opal decided to call Wallace again and this time it went straight to voicemail. “I guess he was tired of me blowing up his phone and decided to turn his phone off all together.”

              Colton wanted to kill Wallace for the pain he’s bringing into his dear friend’s life. He reached for Opal’s hand, looked deep into her eyes and said, “Opal, I’m going to tell you what I’ve always told Calista growing up. Never let a motherfucker ruin you.”

              “Thanks, Colton. You have a great night.” Opal said.

              “You too. Remember what I said okay,” Colton said before he went to check on his order. Before he did, he stepped outside to make an important call.

              “Hey Clover, how are you?” Colton asked.

              “Hey Colton, I’m doing great.” Clover answered. “Sharp and I just walked in the house. We’re back from Myk’s parent teacher conference. What’s up?”

              “I ran into Opal at Bobby’s and she’s a wreck,” Colton said. He knew Opal needed cheering up and he also knew her baby sister was the perfect person for the job.

              “What’s wrong?” Clover asked even though she had a pretty good idea it had something to do with Wallace’s bitch ass.

              “Wallace stood her up,” Colton admitted.

              “That motherfucker!” Clover snapped. “I knew that nigga was still an ain’t shit nigga!”

              “Right, right,” Colton agreed. “Listen. I think you need to come down here and cheer her up.”

              “I’ll be right there,” Clover said and they hung up.

*****

              Clover arrived at Bobby’s and found Colton in the lobby with his takeout bag. “Hey Clover,” Colton greeted and hugged his beloved sister-in-law and kissed her on the cheek.

              “Hey Colton, thank you,” Clover said. “Is she still in there?”

              “Yes, she’s in there,” Colton answered and the two glanced in Opal’s direction. She was in a depressed, hopeless state wallowing in her humiliation. “I didn’t know what else to do, so I called you.”

              “You did the right thing,” Clover assured him. “Thanks Colton.”

              “No problem,” Colton said. “Tell Sharp and the kids I said hello.”

              “Of course,” Clover said before she and Colton went their separate ways.

              Clover walked over to Opal’s booth and made her presence known. “Hi Opal.”