by Tigris Eden
Give and Take: Chapter 12
“So, man, you ready to be a daddy?” Jackson asked Treat.
“Hell no, but I’m going to be when my little man gets here. My father was not happy about us asking Anna to be Godmother. Didn’t understand him back when he didn’t like her, and don’t get it now. It’s like he’s pissed at the world, his cousin knocked up Pearl.
“Yeah, well, if you don’t mind me saying. Your pops a douche.”
They both laughed.
Treat’s father was a recluse. That he’d come down off his high horse to attend the shower was something.
Jackson slapped his friend on the shoulder with one hand while taking a swig of beer with the other. His mother knew how to throw a baby shower, that was for sure. Half the women in town were present. Whether they were invited or not. He didn’t want to admit why they’d shown up. He was still holding out that it was all to welcome the Cavanaugh’s newest member. Deep down, he knew they were waiting to see if Anna showed up.
Anna.
He’d missed the hell out of her, had even thought about going up to New York to bring her back. Talia had been all but sure she’d been sleeping with another guy. Jackson didn’t want to believe it. Still didn’t.
What did you really know about Anna?
He thought he’d known enough. They’d been together for almost a year, and yet, their time together felt as if it built on a rocky foundation. They got along just fine, most days. They spent more time fighting and fucking then they did trying to get to know each other. He knew her favorite color was white, but she was bat-shit crazy about pink. He also knew she loved chicken wings and fried rice from Candlelight in Harlem. She had a soft spot for puppies, and she wanted to own her own studio one day. Relevant pieces of information to know when it came to being with someone.
There were also things he didn’t know. Like whether she wanted kids. Especially now that Ava was going to be a huge part of his life. Vivian already proved she wasn’t fit to be a mother, but Margo picked up the slack when Vivian couldn’t deal. Something he was going to stop. Margo would have to go. The only person that was going to be raising his daughter was him, and her mother. Jackson inwardly flinched. He’d wanted Anna’s help with that. Now that wasn’t a possibility. She was coming to the party with the guy she was fucking, and Jackson prayed he could keep it together. Talia showed plenty of interest, especially while she was staying in his guestroom. But he quickly shut that down. He wasn’t going to sleep with any of Anna’s friends. It was unforgivable on all levels with any female.
Lola pulled up in her SUV with her other two cousins, Chantelle, and India. The twins. Those two girls had been all but ready to fall on his dick back in the day. He was glad he’d never tested the waters when it came to them. They were Anna’s family. He’d never thought about why Anna was the reason why he didn’t indulge. The twins were beautiful, smart, and sexy. But something in his gut told him if he’d crossed that line, it would be a line he could never step back from. Not that they would have held his heart, but that he would have broken Anna’s. She was young then. A starry-eyed little girl with dreams of the two of them being together. Jackson knew that if she’d gotten wind of him messing around with either one of her cousins, she would have been crushed, and before he even knew why he didn’t want that to happen, he went to great lengths to make sure it never did.
“Shit, who invited the heathens?”
“Joey did. You know that, man. She wanted to make sure she had Anna covered on all fronts. The whole town is coming for the smack down. You know that right, man?”
Yeah, he knew, he just didn’t want to deal with that shit. “I know. But here’s to hoping shit don’t pop off. I have Eric and Ben covering the office today, and I don’t want them to have to come out and take women to jail. That wouldn’t be good.”
“Nope. It wouldn’t.” Treat looked out into the mass of women congregated at the park. Jackson knew he was searching for his wife.
“She’s over by the picnic tables, looking at the presents stacked a mile high.”
“I see her. I’ll see you in a bit. Going to have a conversation with the mother of my son, and then maybe sneak off for some afternoon delight.” Treat dodged the hand he saw coming his way and laughed, walking towards the picnic tables.
Jackson walked over to where Ava was playing with some of the younger kids from town. He watched her for a moment before smiling. She was his daughter, all right. Every bit of her was all the good in him. She was smart and had a great personality. She was also nosy. The few months it had taken to get to know her, had cemented the father-daughter bond. He leaned against one of the trees in the park and just watched as she ran and giggled. His little girl ran up to another girl, whispered something in her ear, and then the two of them took off at a dead run. Vivian, and Margo both yelled at them to stop running so hard.
“It’s okay, Mother. My dad said it’s good for a girl to run. I’m in the country. That’s what I’m supposed to do.”
He smiled. Yup, she was his.
“Ava, you’re going to tear your dress.”
“I don’t care. I don’t like it, anyway.” Ava turned and kept running toward the other little girl that was waiting for her.
“Well, well, well. If ain’t Sheriff Storme.”
He turned at the sound of Lola’s voice. She was cousin enemy number one. She didn’t care how loud she talked. Lola made it a point to shout her comments, so everyone would hear her. Lola was still upset about the remark his mother had made about him and Vivian getting married. It had been a huge misunderstanding. Lola let everyone know how wrong she thought he was, and would tell the tale to whoever would listen.
“Lo. Girls.” Jackson nodded to the twins, who had their hands on their hips, eyeing him with the same disdain that dripped from Lola’s voice.
“You just stay away from Anna when she gets here. It’s bad enough she had to deal with your whoring days, now she has to deal with your two new whores. You just keep your distance and keep those skanks away from my cousin. You hear?”
He’d had about as much mouth from her as he was going to take for the day. Lola was taking it a little too far.
So much for avoiding a scene.
“Lo, you need to watch your mouth. I’m the one who decides who’s talking to who. If I want to talk to Anna, I will. You let me worry about Vivian.”
“You need to be worried about Talia too. You know the one you been giving it to on the regular.”
Giving it to on the regular? He wasn’t giving Talia anything.
“Now, just hold on a minute. Don’t got spreading that shit around.”
“Why? You don’t want Anna to know? Too late. She heard it straight from the skank’s mouth.”
“Heard what?”
“That you two were bumping uglies. Doing the nasty. Getting dirty. Who fucks their exes’ friend? That’s just ratchet.”
The twins were starting to get in on the action, repeating Lola’s last word.
“So ratchet,” Lola said again.
“Ratchet,” The twins repeated.
“Would the three of you shut the hell up? I didn’t sleep with Talia, or Vivian.”
“But you slept with somebody. Didn’t you Jackson? Couldn’t keep your snake in your pants. Could you?”
He wasn’t going to answer that. It was none of their business.
“Ladies, I think you need to move along.”
“Yeah, well, Sheriff, you just better stay away from our cousin. I plan on introducing her to Rion.”
Rion? Who the hell was Rion?
He was just about to ask who the fool was, when a Camry pulled up into the parking lot. He didn’t know whose car it was. Because the windows were tinted, he couldn’t see inside. When the door opened, long legs wearing stiletto pink heels peeked out of the car. Jackson lost his breath. He would know those legs whether they were stepping out of a car or wrapped around his waist.
Anna.
Sh
e stepped out of the Camry and it was like the sun came out from behind the clouds just for her. Her hair was in a riot of curls, and she was wearing the dress. The dress. The one that he’d first fucked her in last summer at the Fourth of July Picnic. She was a vision. His eyes soaked her up. His hands itched to run along her smooth buttery skin. She placed a hand on top of a pink hat she put on to hold it in place as she turned and ducked back inside the car. She was grabbing her camera and talking to whoever had driven her. Was it some asshole from New York?
She’d lost a little weight. It didn’t look bad on her, but he could tell it wasn’t weight she wanted to lose. She hadn’t been eating. He knew he had no business going over to her, and was about to do just that, when Lola opened her mouth again.
“Oh no you don’t. You stay your ass right here under this here tree. We got Anna. You handle yours, we’ll handle ours.”
The three women turned, not giving him a chance to say anything as they headed towards the Camry. Maybe they were right. He didn’t need to bother her. She hadn’t called him once since she’d left. He had to remind himself he and Anna together were damaged goods. He needed to work on his own shit.
He’d been mistaken to think that they could work toward a future and leave their past behind. Still, everything had felt right with Anna, even more so with her than it had ever felt with Vivian. They spent time together, watched movies in bed together. We did many things in bed. More activity in bed than inactivity.
That was true, but it didn’t mean that was the only reason he’d loved Anna. He loved her goofiness. He made her laugh at least once a day, and vice versa. With Anna, he could be himself. He needed to see if that was still there. That feeling he got when she walked into a room. His entire body would draw tight with the anticipation just to hold her, touch her. He could have had a shit day at work, and if he hugged Anna, it would go away. He didn’t need to be near her to know she was in the room. Her warmth and energy sustained him in a way that kept him high for days.
Jackson was going to find out exactly what they still had, if anything at all. Her cousins had descended on her and were taking her toward Joey. She hadn’t even seen him yet. But he’d seen her. Someone grabbed him around the waist and squeezed.
“Hey there, Sheriff Storme.”
Jackson looked to his waist, and then up to where he knew Anna was. She wasn’t there. Thank God. Talia Wilson was making it a point to appear to be his woman. He wasn’t a bastard by nature, but he could be. Especially when something or someone was getting in the way of what he wanted. Somehow, he knew deep down Talia was playing him, but instead of listening to his gut, he’d listened to her, trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. Epic fail on his part.
“Talia. What are you doing?” He asked, untangling her arms from around his waist.
“Hugging you, silly, what does it look like? Daddy’s so happy you’re considering the security job.”
“It’s a good opportunity. But let’s get one thing straight–. You and I aren’t going to happen.”
Jackson turned to face her. She was pouting. Her red hair was up in a bun, and her lips packed with too much lipstick.
“Jackson, I already told you. My father won’t mind us being together. He’d like that from what Liam tells me.”
“Well, you and your brother can just stop trying to plan my private life. You were supposed to be Anna’s friend. What kind of woman wants to sleep with another woman’s man? Especially so close to home. You’re not acquaintances, you two were friends.”
Talia’s face scrunched up, bringing out a side of her Jackson found highly undesirable.
“You shouldn’t do your face like that. It makes you look ugly. And I know that you don’t want anyone to see your inside on the outside. Now do ya, darlin’?”
“You’re a bastard, Jackson.”
He smiled then. “I may be a bastard, but you’re a bitch. I should have never listened to you. Anna wouldn’t move on.”
“No, you probably shouldn’t have,” she sneered. “But you did, and now Anna thinks you fucked me.”
That would be a problem easily fixed. He’d just tell her the truth. He’d make her listen.
“Yeah, well, good thing I didn’t. Wouldn’t want to soil my dick in your dirty ass snatch.”
Talia threw her head back and laughed.
“Oh, you’re one to talk. How many women here have you already slept with, Sheriff? Better yet, how many have you slept with since Anna left you a few months ago? You and I both know you weren’t at all faithful.”
On that one thing, she had him.
He’d slept with someone else while Anna was in New York, but he’d done it thinking the two of them were over. It was foolish and stupid, and all he could do was try to explain things to her and hope she’d understand.
“Anna! Honeybee! You made it!” Joey squeals, walking towards me. She has a huge smile on her face and arms outstretched to pull me in to a hug. It’s good seeing her again.
“I told you I was coming, didn’t I?”
“You did, but I thought you would come up with some excuse of why you couldn’t make it at the last minute.”
Joey squeezes me one last time before stepping back. Treat slides in for a hug as well, and even though he doesn’t know he’s my brother it’s still awkward.
“Hey there, little lady. Or should I call you Mike Tyson?”
“Shut up, Treat.”
He shrugs before dipping his head to kiss me on the cheek. “Well, you nearly beat the shit out of Vivian. It was the highlight of my night.”
Lola and the twins are standing not too far from me and decide they’ll bring their brand of craziness into the conversation.
“That’s because Anna is hood. She may be prim and proper in her cute little dress and church hat, but underneath all that glamour is a straight up gangsta,” Lola declares, dusting her hands off on her legs. The twins of course co-sign with a head nod.
“My girl Anna Macon, gangsta huh?” Treat says, smiling from ear to ear. “Who would have thought?”
“Y’all stop trying to cause drama. Everyone here is to be on his or her best behavior. This is my baby shower.”
“Don’t worry the twins and Lo are going to behave.” I look at my cousins who are all wearing various states of nonchalant looks. Lola has her hair up in a ponytail. She’s wearing jeans and a tank top, and flip-flops. Sunday best my ass. Chantelle is in shorts and a halter-top. She and her sister both have their hair braided. India is wearing a sundress like me, only hers has a flower print. She’s also wearing a necklace that reads ‘SWAG’.
“We got you, Joey, we promise not to cut loose at your party. But if any of those ratchet bitches so much as look at our cousin in the wrong way… it’s going down.”
“Chantelle!” I burst out.
“No, for real. I’m tired of these bitches around this shitty town running their mouths and not knowing what the deal is, yo. They weren’t there. They weren’t holding the light as you knocked that bitch around. Fuck that. Straight up! I will go to town on either one of them.”
Chantelle is animated. Her hands are swinging back and forth, and there is even a point in her speech when she clicks her tongue, just to make sure everyone is paying attention.
“Don’t worry. No one is going to bother Anna. You have my word on that.” Treat assures everyone, placing an arm around my shoulder and steering me toward the table with the food on it. I let him lead me away because my cousins can be a handful. Worse, I act out with them. How can I not? They’re family. It’s like there is a magical button inside my brain that switches from nice Anna to beat-a-bitch-down Anna. It’s inappropriate, but necessary at times. Otherwise, people tend to walk all over me.
“How you been?”
“Fine.”
“Just fine?” Treat asks, letting out a breath.
“Yeah, Treat. I’m good. I’m working, keeping busy. What more is there for me to do?”
He stops walking and t
urns to face me. “Talk to him, Anna.”
“To who?” I know he’s talking about Jackson, but I don’t want to have this conversation with him. When my mother dropped me off at the park, Jackson was the first person I zeroed in on. He’d been over by one of the trees, watching his little girl play. I tried to stop the ache blooming in my chest. All the good that did. Being a father looked good on him. He was in a pair of formfitting jeans, his badge and gun on his belt, and a white button up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. He was still sporting his scruff. He looked the same as he always did. The only difference between now and then was that he was no longer mine. Talia had walked up to him and thrown her arms around his waist. It looked so natural, and in all honesty, I guess it was better her than me. If you say that a hundred times, you still won’t believe it.
Jackson Storme isn’t capable of love. Can’t be. He’d asked me to trust him, and I had tried really hard. I’d trusted him with my heart and my body, and all I’d received in return were empty promises. My heart isn’t capable of dealing with heartbreak. It is a lesson I never wanted to experience again. Jackson isn’t going to change, and I need to come to grips with that.
“Why are you being so stubborn?”
“Why are you all up in my business? It’s over. Leave it at that and don’t bring it up again.”
Treat glares at me in frustration. He shakes his head in dismay, kicking a rock in the process. I know he’s upset and means well, but this is something that I need to deal with on my own.
“You two are a pair of stubborn old mules.”
“More reasons things are the way they are. Leave it be, Treat. Okay?”
I watch as his eyes close for a moment before opening them again. Resignation stares at me. He knows I’m serious. “Alright. I’ll leave it alone, but you’re both making a mistake.”
“Life’s only true lesson,” I say before changing the subject. “I’m going to go set up my camera so I can start getting shots. Make my girl happy today, Treat. Make her smile, touch her often.”
