READ CH. 45 IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY
Chapter Forty Six
"You're not serious, are you?" was the first thing anyone said, and it came out of her dad's mouth.
"Yes?" Robin squeaked timidly.
Robin looked around the room and was met with a variety of expressions she never thought could be conveyed all at once. Her mother- a slightly shocked and blank stare in River's direction; River, a small, awkward and shy grin; Ariella, a half open mouth and eyes that darted between Robin and River and Jesus; Jesus, a confused and somewhat hurt expression, his bottom lip in his teeth; Ariella's mother, a forced smile. But Robin's dad was steaming mad. As dark skinned as he was, his face was a deep reddish purple color and his eyes were bug-like, the veins at his neck standing out.
"Robin Indera Skye!" her dad shouted, using her full name which was always, always, a bad sign in the black community.
"Hugh, calm down," her mother coaxed him, gently holding onto his arm.
He ripped free of her grasp and began to march towards Robin, who was glued in her spot. He was muttering and spitting and Robin's eyes were wide. Her mother's pleads: "Hugh, enough!" weren't enough. Robin knew he wasn't going to hurt her or anything, but what he was about to say might hurt just as much as an ass whooping. But before her dad even got to her, Jesus stepped protectively in front of Robin, holding his arms out at each side of him.
"Hey, hey. Just, everyone calm down," Jesus tried to reason, and Robin thanked him in her head- the fact that he would even defend Robin in any way of the sort even after what she had said was astonishing to her. How could she ever forget him, she wondered now.
"Boy, get your ass on out the way," her dad rolled his eyes and Jesus stepped aside immediately, his voice now barely even a croak,
"Yes sir."
Robin felt her dad's eyes look at her with, not disgust, but disbelief and disappointment. Not able to stand the feeling of his eyes burning deep into her and the sound of his breathing coming angrily from his nostrils, she looked down to the floor.
"Really, Robin? After everything you've been through?" her dad questioned, but she didn't give him an answer. Still he prodded. "Huh? After what we agreed to? You, me, and your mother? You're just gonna let us down like that?"
"Hugh," Robin's mom said fruitlessly. His head whipped around to face her. She shook her head slowly. "Let's talk about this some other time."
"Some other time?" Robin's father scoffed. "How long has he been your boyfriend?"
He folded his arms and leaned back, watching Robin as she mustered up the courage to speak. It came out a low utter, a plea for help,
"Two months."
"What?" her dad barked.
And now the tears were coming. Looking up hesitantly, she quickly wiped them from her face,
"Two months."
"Birdy, don't cry," Ariella chimed distantly, but the tears continued to stream down her face.
Both Jesus and River crowded around Robin to comfort her out of instinct, but it was clear to Jesus that it wasn't his place when he saw River try to hold her hand. Robin's father looked over at River, then to Robin, and scoffed,
"I just don't get it. After everything we've done for you."
That did it. Robin sniffled loudly, sucking up all the snot and tears, raising her voice,
"You'd want to date who you want, wouldn't you?"
"Excuse me?" Robin's father retorted, cocking his head in confusion, like he didn't believe she was speaking.
"I said you'd want to be able to be with who you want. No matter what happened in the past, wouldn't you?" Robin asked louder, looking her dad in the eye.
"You listen to me. Unless you want to put yourself on the market to get hurt again, go ahead. But I, as your father, will not-"
"Oh shut up," Robin said, nearly shouting at that point. Her hand broke free from River's and now everyone was just watching in fear and anticipation. "You think you're cute dad, but you're full of shit."
"Watch your mouth, Robin," her father scolded, although Robin was getting threateningly close to him.
"You always said I should be who I want to be, and never let anyone stop me from doing what I want to do as long as I'm not hurting anybody or myself. You've told me that almost everyday since it happened. And frankly, I don't see how me dating a white boy is hurting anyone. We like each other, so what? He would never do-"
But Robin's father still wasn't hearing it. He folded his arms and glared at her,
"He would never do anything to hurt you?"
"No, he wouldn't."
He nodded, as if taking her words into thought. Meanwhile, everyone else watched as bystanders, trying to scope out what would happen next. Like if they were in a movie, they were just getting to the juicy part full of suspense and climatic drama.
"What about the people you hurt, Robin. Did you ever stop to think about that? Of course I want you to be happy, and if he makes you happy, there's nothing I can do about that. But I just don't want you to make the same mistake. It hurt me almost twice as much as it hurt you when it happened." It- what a general, vague and yet specific word all at once. It made Robin's heart wince. "And knowing that you disobeyed me... that you went behind our backs. That's not my Birdy, and I don't want you with a boy who makes you sneak around. And what about Jesus? Did he even know about all this?"
Now Robin had to try not to feel guilty. She had gone behind their backs and she had done exactly what they didn't want her to do. She had snuck around, and that wasn't like her. But she couldn't have been making a mistake, could she? Tons of people disobeyed their parents and came out to be successful, even when everyone else around them thought what they were doing was a bad decision. But of course it all rebounded back to Jesus, whom she'd left in the dark, along with many other people. It was rather hard to find her voice when her father's seemed to be much more significant and worthy.
She faltered,
"I-"
"No, Mr. Skye. And that's okay. We weren't talking for a while and maybe that was what was best for us. Would I have liked to know about it instead of be kept wondering? Yes. But am I happy for Robin? Yes. But like I said, maybe it was best. And you know, when you think about it, long distance relationships don't always work out and that's okay. But I don't want to be dragged into this. It's Christmas Eve," Jesus said softly, even granting a smile, although it was fake.
Nonetheless, Robin appreciated every word. Maybe she and Jesus would have a talk about what had gone wrong. She knew that their falling off was her fault for not ever reaching out to Jesus, but in the end, neither of them really put in the effort. It just wasn't meant to be. Robin's dad folded his arms,
"That's fair. But Robin, you must know how... how this affects all of us."
But Robin turned her nose up,
"I trust River."
"You trusted him too."
Only four words but they burned like molten lava. Robin was taken aback and the pride in her tone and lack of empathy disappeared, filled now with a foreign hatred and putrid sense of shock. Everyone seemed to react to that, silently and slight but noticeably. Robin had to refrain from saying something she would regret. She grasped River's hand tightly from beside her.
"You can't make me feel bad for choosing to be with who I want to be with. He's staying," she barked, gritting her teeth and locking eyes with her dad.
He seemed to think she was kidding because he sucked his teeth,
"And for what?"
"Because you... all of you- need to get to know who River is. How can you fight so hard for progression and claim to be for everyone but you can't even accept this simple unconventional thing about the two of us? And maybe this whole concept didn't work out before but that was a long time ago. I'm smarter now, and I know better. And trust me, I'd be sneaking around a lot more if I didn't think River was a good idea. You would have never even known about him," Robin sneered those last two sentences, hoping they stung as hard as her father's words had.
But deep down she thought River staying and having a conversation with her family was best, because it was time for a change around these parts. Robin was pretty much grown and knew enough to make decisions for herself. To assume that she would stay away from one demographic her entire life was silly, whether it involved romance or not. And if she sheltered herself, she would never get over what happened, and would always walk around with a chip on her shoulder. And to Robin, that wasn't originality, and it wasn't strength, or never letting anyone stop her from what she wanted to do, which should be what her parents were really against.
Apparently her words did sting because her dad's voice got an amplitude louder and he grit his teeth, directing his focus towards River,
"Get out."
"No. He's staying," Robin had to keep a smirk from coming onto her lips.
"Get out of my house before I get your ass in deep shit," Robin's dad threatened, and again Robin spoke up, squawking,
"No! He's-"
But she was caught off guard by the sound of River's voice, which was incredibly soft and lush in comparison with everyone else's. She turned her head to face him.
"Actually," he pushed up his circle frames. "I... I should go. Family stuff, you know. It's Christmas Eve."
Robin frowned,
"You sure?"
"Yeah," River smiled. He lowered his voice but since everyone was listening intently, he was still heard. "I don't think I'm quite welcome here."
Robin smiled apologetically, but her sympathetic eyes said it all, as did River's, who felt like he had just started a war. Being a pacifist and all, that didn't quite sit right with him,
"Okay. That's fine. So... I'll see you."
"Not if I see you first," he couldn't help it.
While Ariella seemed enthralled, everyone else was either confused, disgusted, or annoyed by their cheesy couple-like interaction.
As he turned towards the door, Robin's dad muttered,
"Damn right you ain't welcome here."
Robin rolled her eyes at her father, River finally gone. Silence engulfed them for a few moments until Robin's mother spoke up, clearing her throat.
"We'll talk about this later, yes? Robin, go help Ariella unpack in your room," her mother instructed, calmer than anyone.
In fact, Robin was unable to tell exactly how her mother felt about this whole situation, but she was sure she didn't want to find out. Funny thing about it was, Robin felt relieved after having exposed her situation to everyone, even if it did end up to result in a hot mess. It was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, almost as big as Atlas, holding up the sky.
welp this chapter was brief but a lot sorta happened in that one convo eh?