Page 48 of Gator

Chapter fourteen

Gator

“You don’t have to come,” Julius said for the third time.

“Mon petit, do you not want me to meet your family? If you don’t, I can drop you off and stay outside, but I’m not leaving you unprotected.”

“It’s not that. It’s just that my family can be a lot.”

“I’ve heard you talk to your grandmother on the phone, and she seems really nice, and it sounds like you and your sister are close,” I pointed out.

“My yaya is the best. Well, or maybe she’s tied with your mee-maw. It was so cute hearing you talk to her on the phone last night. Your Cajun accent totally comes out when you talk to her.”

“Yeah, indeed, my mee-maw is a gem, but that wasn’t what we were talking about.”

“It’s my mother, Daddy. She’s… well, she isn’t very nice. I have no idea how she’s my yaya’s daughter. You know that old sayingthe apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? Well, in this case, the apple is in a whole ‘nother state, or country even.”

“Mon petit, I’m not scared of your mother.”

“Yeah, well, tell me that after today.”

I reached over and took his hand. “Look, I was going to meet her eventually, so why not now? We can get it over with, so you don’t have to be dreading the day it happens.”

He shrugged. “I guess I was hoping it wouldn’t happen until I had you totally hooked. That way, I don’t have to worry about her scaring you off.”

“Oh, baby boy, that ship sailed a long time ago. I’ve been hooked since our first dance. Nothing anyone is going to do that’s going to scare me off.”

“I’m gonna hold you to that.”

He didn’t need to know that I’d already run a full background check on his mother and his stepfather. Some might consider that invasive, but these people had the power to hurt him, and that meant I needed to know everything there was to know about them.

When we pulled up, Julius pasted on one of his trademark cheerful smiles. The one I’d seen him use with difficult clients, then he took a deep breath. “Okay, ready?”

“Born ready,mon petit.”

The venue was a small, brightly decorated event hall with colorful tablecloths and a banner that readHappy 80th, Yaya!strung across the back wall. The smell of brisket, beans, and mac and cheese filled the air, and an older woman in a bedazzledBirthday Queensash held court at one of the tables like she owned the place. I had to assume that was Yaya.

He led me straight over to a short, curvy woman with curls like his who seemed to be the one in charge of this whole party.

She pulled him into a hug and then said, “It looks good, right?”

“It looks fabulous. You did a great job.” He turned to me. “Gator, this is my sister, Miranda.”

She looked me up and down, then grinned. “Well, damn.”

“Pleasure,” I said, reaching for a handshake.

She ignored my hand and wrapped her arms around me instead. “We’re huggers,” she said.

I looked at Julius over her shoulder and raised one eyebrow, but before he could respond, a small but regal voice rang out from behind us. “Julius Petros, you better get over here and give your yaya a birthday kiss before I come get it myself.”

Julius turned, grinning. “And that would be my yaya.”

She was tiny and ancient and absolutely radiant in a lavender pantsuit with a floral scarf. She wrapped Julius in a fierce hug. Then she pulled back and gave me a quick once-over. “And this must be the man. Took you long enough to bring him by.”

Julius rolled his eyes playfully and kissed her on the cheek. “Happy Birthday, Yaya.”

We barely had time to settle into the warmth of Yaya’s orbit when the temperature in the room dropped by about twenty degrees. A woman with sharp cheekbones and sharper eyes walked in, dressed in a sleek beige dress and a pearl necklace. She looked expensive and formal, the complete opposite of Yaya and everyone here.