Sweet Nothings

Chapter 27: Family Reunion

 My mom sat next to me at a white table. Aunt Genesis and Uncle Zeke were sitting with us, drinking iced tea. The cold air gave me goosebumps. So, I put my gray sweater on.

 Aunt Genesis was touching her blonde hair to attract Uncle Zeke's attention. It didn't work, because Uncle Zeke was too busy checking out the white, dark haired waitress to notice her. I felt second hand embarrassment.

 My mom pretended not to see all that. She watched Grandma and Grandpa have fun on the dance floor. I tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to face me. 

 "What?" 

 "You didn't see that?" I whispered.

 "No. And neither did you." 

 "If I didn't see it, why do I feel second hand embarrassment?"

 She gave me a stern look, and took a sip of her iced tea. Uncle Zeke smiled at Aunt Genesis like his eyes didn't wander to that waitress' ass. It left a bad taste in my mouth. Aunt Genesis looked at me with a fake smile on her face. 

 I sipped my own iced tea. My mom left the table. Aunt Genesis' fake smile bothered me. 

 "Is something wrong?" I asked. 

 She folded her hands. "No. I just want to know something." 

 "Oh. Okay." 

 "Why did you break up with Nathan?" 

 "I don't want to talk about it."

 I left the table and walked into the bathroom. Why did she have to bring up Nate? I never wanted to talk about him again. Tonight was supposed to be fun. 

 I stared at the mirror. The silence gave me an overwhelming relief. Until my mom came out of a stall. She washed her hands and glanced at me. 

 "What happened?!" she yelled over the dryer.

 I crossed my arms. "Aunt Genesis asked about Nate." 

 "Damn. I'll talk to her."

 "Thanks."

 She walked out of the bathroom. I was alone in here. For real. My phone vibrated in the pocket of my sweater. 

 I took it out. A message from an unknown number appeared on the screen. I furrowed my brow as I read it. 

 Talk to me. Please.

Nope. Not tonight. I blocked the number and walked out of the bathroom. When I returned to the table, Nate was sitting there between Uncle Zeke and Aunt Genesis. 

 My stomach dropped. What the fuck was he doing here? This was a family reunion. He stopped talking when he saw me. Aunt Genesis smiled and clapped her hands. 

 "Yes! Now that Nathan is here, you two can kiss and makeup."

 "Yeah. You're absolutely right, Genesis. I missed Eden so much," Nate said, smiling obnoxiously. 

 "Us light skins got to stick together." 

 I rolled my eyes. That was so corny. Aunt Genesis helped him ruin a potentially fun night. She should've focused on her crumbling marriage instead of my dead fake relationship.

 "No. I'm better off without him," I said curtly. 

 Nate's smile faded. Good. He wasn't welcome around my family anymore. 

 He approached me, and reached for my hands. I backed away from him. When he tried to get close to me again, I slapped him in the face. He and Aunt Genesis looked at me with wide eyes.

 "Girl, what the hell is your problem?" Aunt Genesis demanded.

I frowned. "Nate is my problem."

"You could've rejected him nicely."

"Did your husband reject you nicely?"

"That's so disrespec-"

"Nate's presence is disrespectful. I don't want anything to do with him, and that's final."

Aunt Genesis stormed away from the table. Uncle Zeke followed her. Nate turned to my mom, with open arms. She didn't give him a hug. Thank God.

He didn't deserve one anyway.

Then, Nate kneeled right in front of her. I rolled my eyes. This guy had a lot of damn nerve.

"Eve, can you help me?"

"Hell no," my mom said.

"Why not? Your daughter hurt me."

"Good. Now you two are even. Get the fuck out."

Nate stood and slowly left the room. His eyes were filled with tears. Oh well. I sat down and hugged my mom.

She finally defended me.

Five minutes later, we went to the dance floor. 'Wobble' played on the stereo. We danced and laughed. Tonight was finally fun for once.