The next morning around 10am; a Thursday; Kenny and Gina's house
Kenny-
"Hey, sis! Sis? Candace?" I call out to my sister, we never had our little chat about her moving out of here. I convinced Gina to let me talk to her myself because I know it'll turn into a catfight. Not that I'm ever one to turn down seein' a catfight, hehe, but not one that includes my own sister.
"Sis, you up, we need to talk and I don't want to wake Naldo." Huh? I go to the room where she and Naldo are staying and she's left a note on the night stand."
'Hey, bro. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you and Gina since I returned to town, you've been nothing but patient with me and my drama. I know you wanted to talk to me about moving out and getting a job. I am a fashion designer after all, so I took Naldo with our new friend, Derrick, to New York to look for work. He's also looking for work. Naldo's never been to the city and I haven't gone anywhere since I returned to the States. I'm also going to be looking at apartments. I think if I live in New York, I'm still close enough for Donny to see Naldo but far away enough to not cause a ruckus. I know you'll both be at work, so I won't call either of you. I'll tell you how it went when I come back.'
The first thought I have after reading this note is did Candace really write this? This has quite a different tone to it than how she's been since coming back. She's actually apologizing? She's finally getting her act together and getting a damn job? Does it have to do with this Derrick? Who's he?
Oh! Was he the black guy that was yelling at Linnie yesterday and kinda ruined the engagement party? I don't know anything about this guy but just based on that incident I don't know if I want my sister or especially my nephew around a guy like that. And before anyone goes crazy on me, no, when I say a guy like that I don't mean it as a race thing. The guy seems unhinged worst or just a hothead at best. Linnie seems to know the guy, I'll ask her.
"Hey, babe, I know you said you wanted to do this alone," I hear Gina saying down the hall, making her way to me, "but this is my house, too!"
Gina-
"Babe?" I ask as I see him alone in Candace's room reading a piece of paper, "Where's your sister? And where's Naldo?"
"Here, read this." Kenny says and hands me the piece of paper. It's a note from Candace. I read it and then I look at Kenny with a look of surprise and confusion.
"That was my reaction, too." Kenny says
"So," I begin to say, I shake my head, trying to make sense of this not, "assuming your sis actually wrote this, it means she's really going to move out. So we don't have to leave town!"
Me and Kenny have been arguing back and forth for the last week or so. He wants to move away because of all the drama. He won't admit it, but I'm sure this has something to do with me (and Janine, too) kissing Donny before his big apology speech last week or whenever it was.
I think Kenny's still feeling uneasy about the whole situation. Not the kiss itself, but he may think that I was lying when I said I felt nothing after kissing him. That was actually completely true at that moment but that didn't last very long because when Donny was making his big speeches, I felt a wave of emotion come over me towards him. I think it hit Janine even harder and that's why she and Chad are having issues. Janine told me this in confidence, not even Kenny. Until I saw Chad yesterday at the engagement party, no one's really seen either one of them since Donny and Linnie got engaged.
Kenny-
"Hold up, girl," I begin to respond, "this has nothing to do with why I want to leave and you know it. It's all this drama around here that ain't goin' away. I thought it would end Don and Linnie finally got back together for real, but now sis' is here, bringin' her own brand of nonsense. I just want to go somewhere to get some peace and quiet."
"And we will," Gin responds all cheery, "when we go our honeymoon after we tie the knot!" I plant a big one on my girl. I love her to bits but I don't think she really gets it. To be honest, I think she doesn't think there's drama because she's part of it; we both are.
"Yeah, that's not for a couple months, babe," I say back, "I wouldn't be sellin' my business, my family's business, if I didn't think so strong about this."
"Okay, baby," she says, takin' a deep breath and waitin' a few, "I'm going to address the elephant in the room right now. I don't still love Donny, okay? I truly see him as a friend, it was truly all that nostalgia with your sister returning and Janine getting in my head. Frankly, I'd be more worried about her-" she cuts herself off and cups her mouth like she said too much. Gina shakes her head and continues, "the point is, I may still have some affection for Donny but I'd choose you over him every time."
"I ain't gon' lie," I say, honestly, "that was a little bit apart of it but I trust you and I trust him and to be honest, I always knew you wanted me over him anyways." I say with a smile. She smiles back. "Not that it really makes a difference, but I don' think Don knows, even 'til this day that while he was chasin' sis every summer, you and me was sneakin' around."
Gina-
"I wouldn't call that sneaking, Ken," I say back, putting my arms around my guy's shoulders, "he was just too distracted to notice, Even if he'd find out now, he'd have no leg to stand on." We both chuckle.
"It mostly is all the drama that we're caught in the middle of," he says, "it's also everyone else. Don't think I didn't notice your little slip of the tongue a second ago. I know you've been speakin' with Janine. I don't know what's really goin' on with them but I think it's gonna get serious and we're gonna get caught in the middle if we're not careful. It's just everything, babe. I want to go to a place we can start fresh and raise a family."
"Okay, I'll humor you for a sec," I say, "where do you have in mind?" He makes some good points.
"Maybe your family down south in Texas?" he asks, sheepishly. Oh, hell no!
"So, you want to trade your crazy family for mine!?" I say. My parents are Mexican American from suburban Austin, TX, where I lived with them until we moved here for a few years for work; that's how I came to meet Donny and Kenny.
Obviously, because of Kenny, I stayed here after my parents moved back a few years ago. It's not just my parents that live down there, it's my whole family tree. Sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents from both sides. We're a very close, functionally dysfunctional Latino/redneck family.
"It would only be for a little bit, hon." Kenny says back.
"Even for a little bit," I protest, "you've seen them! They're Piranhas! They're overbearingly loving and supportive but also nosy and argumentative."
"I kinda like that," he says back, "it's like havin' the life I probably shoulda have, by rights."
Kenny never really minded my big crazy family. He didn't grow up with the typical big crazy Italian-American family. I only ever met his grandmother once (his father's mother) before she passed, but that was way early on. Kenny never talked about his mom, even though I have seen pictures. It was Donny's mom, Lisa, that became a mom to him and Candace. I loved Lisa, too. Even after me and Donny broke up she still treated me like family, especially after my own family moved back to Texas. I heard that Candace had reconnected with their mom, here and there, actually, but I'm getting off topic.
"Babe, I adore you, but it's one thing spending a little bit of time with them," I say, "even a few weeks. But if we're there long enough to have a child; KaBoom!"
"KaBoom?" Kenny repeats with an amused smile.
"That's the best word to describe it; Kaboom." I say, emphatically. "Just wait until our wedding. You'll see. Then, you'll be begging me to stay here. My family creates drama out of literally everything and nothing all at once. The drama here is nothing compared to-" Kenny holds up a finger, cutting me off. Since we've been talking, he's been casually browsing through the recent mail that's been sitting on the kitchen table until once catches h is eye and his expression goes pale. "What is it, babe? You're scaring me all of a sudden. What's that letter you got there? You look like you've seen a ghost.
Kenny-
"Almost," I say quietly, not believing what's in my hands, "I don't believe this. I know Candace reconnected with her some time back but even with our wedding comin' up, I never even considered her."
"Who, Kenny," Gina asks me, sounding concerned, "who's that letter from and what do they want?"
I look up and gaze straight into my beloved fiancé's beautiful eyes and say, "It's my mother...she wants to come to our wedding." I say softly
Gina-
I take the letter and read it. It's written in broken English and Italian but Spanish is close enough to Italian and I've been around Kenny long enough to know what it says. I look back up at Kenny,
"Babe..." I say slowly, "I think I agree with you about wanting to leave."
End of Chapter please vote and comment.