Emerging

Chapter 21: Jesse Marlon

     

    It was a Friday afternoon, and I was writing out my schedule for next week. I was excited for the weekend though, I was taking Vincent out, not on a date. But I was grateful for any chance to spend more time with him.

I was taking him to a cookout on Saturday for family and friends hosted by my grandma. I figured since I was his only friend in DC he might as well make some more. It took a lot convincing but he agreed to go with me, and it'll be great. He'll get to know my crackhead cousins, my -for lack of a better word- sassy grandma, and he can solidify his relationship with my dad.

To make the event even more exciting my dad told me he was going to bring his mysterious boyfriend. The day was going to be full of surprises.

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I could hardly sleep last night and I still had to pick up Vincent in 30 minutes, yet here I was freaking out over every small detail. All of my worries just rushed into my head at once like a steady stream of what could go wrong. What if my family didn't like Vincent? What if someone made a slightly offensive joke to him? Was my dad even out to the rest of the family? Would he come out there? How will they react to him having a boyfriend? How would I mess this up? The questions seemed to get worse as they progressed.

I glanced at my phone which just vibrated with the notification that Vincent texted.

"Are you on your way?"

I glanced at the the clock, cursing under my breath I rushed to get myself together. I was leaving with just enough time to pick him up promptly at the time we agreed on. I studied myself in the mirror in the entryway to my condo, I looked normal but I suddenly felt like crap and I didn't want to go anymore.

Forcing myself to grab my keys and wallet, I left in a quick haste.

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        I cleared my mind while I drove and I felt a little better as I waited for Vincent to come out of the sliding doors of the hotel entrance. After a minute of waiting, I saw him and I immediately felt a weight lifted from my shoulders. He was wearing nice jeans that clung to him in the right places accompanied by a simple navy blue v-neck crew sweater and shell topped white adidas. As always he was gorgeous.

     I stepped out of the car and walked around to open the door for him. "You know you don't always have to open doors for me, I'm not a girl." I heard him chuckle before he slid in. That caused me to smirk, and I shut the door behind him as he buckled up.

   As I situated myself getting back into the driver's side I answered him in a cool tone. "It's not about your gender, it's about taking a load off of someone who works hard enough as it is, even if it's as simple as opening a door." That had him blushing while I started the car and drove off.

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    My grandmother lived in Waldorf, Maryland and it took a while for us to get there. And it was nice just to sit and joke with little to no distraction besides the chaotic driving in the DMV.

      Pulling up to the relatively small house with the distinctive collection of wind chimes hanging above the porch. I had to prep Vincent for anything he may encounter here, my family was big and often with big families they're loud as well, and I had to encourage the quiet male to speak up for himself.

I finished my warning with assuring him we would leave if things went south. "Tell me if anything so much as the way someone looks at you makes you uncomfortable." He snorted, he actually snorted at me before clasping his hand in mine, "I'll be fine, I want to meet your family, and if they're all like you there should be no problems."

We left the car to join the party.
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It's been almost an hour and nothing scandalous has happened as of yet. I met my dad's boyfriend , Jamie, and by the way he and my dad look at each other I can tell they're in love. I haven't seen my dad smile that much since mom was alive.

Everyone seemed supportive of their relationship and I liked seeing him happy for the first time in years. Though it was weird seeing him give Jamie the 'I'm gonna fuck you later' look across the yard. I wanted to erase that from my head.

I was giving Vincent space to mingle on his own, I didn't want to smother him. And so far everyone loves him, my grandmother being as blunt as she is certainly warmed up to him.

    As of now she spoke to me, her voice rung in your ears like church bells, yet it rasped as well indicating her years as a smoker. "That boy is so polite and sweet, I just want to eat him up, and he's a handsome lil thing." She was gushing about her encounter with Vincent to me as he was losing at Uno to my twenty year old cousin, Dahlia.

     "I think Dahlia has a crush on him, it's a shame he's dating you then." She said with a cackle, sure enough Dahlia stared intently at Vincent's lips as he chewed on them as he contemplated his next move in the game he sucked at. It annoyed me a little, but I knew she had no chance with him.

   But I realized what the aging woman said, whipping around to face her I responded. "I'm not dating Vincent, I'm not gay and as far as I know he isn't either." I lied through my teeth, but my grandmother was having none of it. I wasn't ready for everyone to know about me, and I knew Vincent really wasn't ready.

   But she hated being told she was wrong and started to throw a small fit as I continued to deny, deny, and deny some more. "Boy, don't you lie to me I see the way y'all look at each other; your granddaddy and I looked at each other the same way!" This caught the attention of my dad and my uncle, Darnell. They rushed over, grandma wasn't supposed to get too worked up she had blood sugar problems.

    "What's wrong, Ma," they asked. I quickly looked at Vincent who was paying no attention to the scene displaying before me. They would find out.
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    Sorry for the delay,  but I've had like three tests in the last two weeks. I didn't realize how long the chapter was going to be, but as always I'm excited to write the next chapter.

These are crazy times, stay safe.

Au revoir 💕