The Billionaire Throuple

Nehemiah Jones

"Ight, here we go." I open the door and hold it for Sammy and Andreas to step through.

Like always, Ma's cooking is the first thing that hits my nose. She made her famous pot roast. She wanted to go for something more elegant, but I told her not to. You don't go to China and bring your best Chinese dish. I wanna put Sammy on to some home cooking, not have him compare her filet mignon against ones from world renown chefs.

Pot roast is also perfect 'cause it can keep cooking until you're ready to eat and I didn't know how long Sammy's thing for Andreas was gonna take.

I felt awkward as hell when I first saw what he did to dude's headstone. I don't condone desecrating graves or messing with anything having to do with the dead 'cause all kinds of hell could break loose. Except, with Andreas's uncle, I can't deny he deserved it. I wonder what's gonna happen when someone finds out.

I love my uncle to death, but I know I ain't gonna drop two thousand dollars to replace his headstone if somebody does that when he kicks it. If someone goes through all the trouble, I'd probably think he deserved it.

Ma heard us come in, so she's jogging out to the front room to meet us. She hugs Andreas right away. "So glad to meet you!" she cheers, "I was wondering when Nemo was finally gonna bring you around. You're too handsome to be kept hidden away."

Andreas waves her off bashfully, but they're already laughing together. He's always loved being complimented, specifically on his looks. Ma moves over to Sammy and sticks out her hand to shake, but I'm not gonna read into it. She probably didn't wanna make him more uncomfortable than he already looks.

"We've brought condiments," Sammy says, pointing at the box he set on the dining room table, "Cookies, I mean. Yes, cookies."

His face turns bright red. I'm already feeling bad for him. Scooter is laughing at the table. He's 'bout to start in on Sammy any minute, seeing how nervous he is. He's like a shark smelling blood in the water right now.

Sammy rubs his hands together, like he's seen me do. "Dinner smells absolutely wonderful!"

He sniffs, but it's a little too much. I poke his side, our little warning for him to take it down a notch. He tightens his lips as I pull a chair out for him.

"Dang! See how he does you?" Ma asks, turning to Andreas, "Save the charm for the man on your arm."

"Yeah, Nemo! At least take my coat," he says, letting it fall out of his hands, onto the floor.

He's loving this a little too much. So is Ma. At least he didn't let the cat outta the bag though. I gotta keep him toned down, otherwise something's gonna slip out before it's supposed to. He's terrible with secrets. Can't tell him anything. I take everyone's coats and throw them in the closet real quick while they're taking their seats.

The dining room table is usually butt up against the wall with three chairs around it, but we pulled it out and added the last one from the set. The fifth chair is a metal one from the balcony.  The table is longer on the sides, so we put that one on the side away from the wall. Space is a little tight, but we'll get through it.

Scooter is up against the wall where his ornery ass belongs, Ma will be sitting on the end facing the kitchen, Andreas is next to her, I'll be in the lawn chair next to him and Sammy is on the other end next to me. Scooter is whispering to him and I don't wanna know what he's saying.

Mom fixes a plates and passes it to Andreas to pass on down the line until we got five plates in front of us. Sammy has his frozen smile on, so I squeeze his knee under the table. It's not code for anything, but I learned that his smile gets all extra whenever he's nervous, and he likes to be touched. It could be any touch, poked, prodded, whatever. He likes contact. I feel him.