Simon Jackson had better be glad he was a loved man. That was the only reason Rachel was going through all of this—she really and truly wanted her father to be happy. And if she was being honest with herself, a part of her hoped Jasmine could reconcile whatever feelings she had and maybe, just maybe, they could have a real sister relationship. Rachel didn’t know why she was suddenly longing for that. Of course, she still felt some kind of way about her father’s fascination with Jasmine, but her desire to have a real sister was perhaps overtaking that.
It took Rachel all of three minutes to get to her aunt Ruby’s house, where the family was gathering for the Friday fish fry. Ruby lived in a wood-frame home that had withstood decades of wear and tear. According to Simon, he and his eight siblings had all been born right there in that house, which his father had built from the ground up.
Rachel smiled as she pulled into the dirt driveway. Several of her cousins were sitting on the front porch, laughing and joking around. The mosquito zapper hummed and the music blasted.
There was something about being here that gave her peace. She’d spent summers here, running up and down the dirt road, playing kickball, dodgeball, and hide-and-seek on the two acres of land. Rachel didn’t make it back often, but when she was here, she relished her time. She didn’t feel the need to be fabulous, and despite the craziness, there was no shortage of love.
“What’s up, cuz?” her cousin Wanda said, greeting her first. She was sitting in her usual spot on the front porch, in a metal chair that looked like it would collapse at any minute. She always sat in that metal chair, watching the comings and goings of Smackover. Wanda was three years older than Rachel, but country living had worn her down and she looked about twenty years older.
Some guy Rachel had never seen stood in front of Wanda, his oversize CD case spread out on the ground.
“Hey, pretty lady, I got that new Tyler Perry movie,” he said, pointing toward the case.
“Aww, naw, she ain’t the Tyler Perry type,” Wanda said. “She’s more Meryl Streep.” They all busted out laughing like something was really funny.
“No, I’m more ‘I don’t do bootleg,’ ” Rachel replied.
“You got to excuse my cousin: she’s siddity.” Wanda chuckled.
“I got three movies for ten bucks. You can’t beat that,” the guy said.
“I. Don’t. Do. Bootleg,” Rachel replied. “And I report people who do.” She rolled her eyes and turned to go inside to find her father when she bumped right into her cousin Sky.
“See, Rach, you need some of this right here. It’ll help you relax,” Sky said, lifting a small joint up in her direction. Sky was in a perpetual state of highness (hence the name Sky). Ever since he was thirteen years old, he began and ended each day with marijuana.
“Boy, you can’t be offering the first lady no dope,” her other cousin, Big Junior, said. “So, let me hit it.”
Wanda shot them both chastising looks. “Put that out before Mama come out here and kill us all,” she said, referring to her mother, Ruby.
They both took one last quick pull and mashed the joint out.
Rachel simply shook her head as she stepped over them to head inside. But Wanda stopped her. “So, unc said we got some new fam we’re going to meet. Where she at?” Wanda asked.
“She’s in the hotel resting.” Rachel hadn’t considered it before, but seeing her cousins scattered all over the front porch reminded her of something: “Look, I need to lay some ground rules.”
“You know I don’t do too well with rules,” Big Junior said, chuckling.
Rachel ignored him and continued talking. “This visit means a lot to my dad and I just want to make sure y’all get it together. This is hard on Jasmine as it is, so can we keep the jokes and wisecracks to a minimum?”
“Why should we change who we are?” Wanda asked, leaning in so Big Junior could high-five her. “She needs to love us or leave us.”
“That’s just it. She’ll definitely leave,” Rachel replied, matter-of-factly. Jasmine was only here by the grace of God. One wrong move and she’d be heading back to the Big Apple. “This is really difficult and giving her a hard time will only exacerbate the problem.”
“Exact what?” Big Junior said.
“You know she siddity. She know all them big words,” Wanda replied to him before turning to Rachel. “Yo, cuz, I get what you trying to do, but this is us. You run from us, you move to the big city, trying to forget your country roots, but we all got the same blood running through our veins. At the end of the day, we’re all family. And that includes your new sister.”
Wanda was right, but there was no way Rachel would be able to convince Jasmine of that.
“Baby girl!” Simon said, swinging the screen door open. “I didn’t know you were back.” He stepped out on the front porch and looked around. “Where’s Jasmine?”
“She’s at her hotel. Dad, we have to give her a minute. She brought her whole family with her and I told you, you’re going to have to take this slow.”
Aunt Minnie appeared in the doorway right after her brother. “Well, she got three hours,” Minnie announced. “The fish fry starts at five and all family needs to be here.”
“Well, I don’t know if that’s going to happen, Aunt Minnie,” Rachel replied. “They’ve been traveling and they’re tired. So I doubt if they’ll come down to the fish fry tonight.”
“So, the way Simon been in here going on and on about this girl, and she don’t even want to see him?” Minnie’s nose was turned up as she crossed her arms in disgust.
Rachel debated trying to explain Jasmine’s point of view to her aunt, but she knew that would be useless. She focused her attention on her father.
“Daddy, we talked about this,” Rachel said.
“I know,” Simon finally said. “David and Jonathan will be here in an hour or so, and I want her to get to know us all. I just want to meet her and my grandkids.”
“You will.”
“She got kids?” Minnie said.
“I told you that,” Simon replied. “But you don’t listen.”
“Hmph. You don’t listen. I told you to stay away from that Doris girl all them years ago. If you had listened, you wouldn’t be here ’bout to meet some secret daughter.” Aunt Minnie turned back to Rachel. “Well, since she won’t come, go get her kids. Teeny ’bout to take the kids fishing down at Calhoun Creek.”
The thought of Jasmine allowing Jacquie or Zaya to fish brought a smile to Rachel’s face. She’d pay good money to see that.
“You think she’d like that?” Simon said.
“Uh, yeah, I know she wouldn’t. Y’all call me bougie. She’s on a whole ’nother level,” Rachel replied.
“Lord, one siddity child in the family is enough.” Minnie stepped her hefty frame closer to Rachel. “So, y’all ’bout to give her my daddy’s building for her charity, and she can’t see fit to come see my brother?”
“Minnie, Ruby owns the building. She bought you out twenty years ago. So it’s hers to do with as she sees fit,” Simon reminded her.
“It was my daddy’s building. That’s the bottom line. And Ruby don’t see fit to give it to some ungrateful, uppity illegitimate child. She’s only doing that because all she ever wants to do is make her big brother Simon happy.” Minnie growled her words. That was obviously a source of contention between them. Rachel hated that Jasmine was giving her cantankerous aunt any ammunition.
“Anyway, Minnie. This doesn’t even concern you.” He turned back to Rachel. “I understand.”
“No, you don’t. You been talking about that child since you set foot on this red dirt,” Minnie snapped, pointing to the front yard. “Now I get she got some issues, but shoot, we all do. So she needs to put on her big-girl panties and come face her family.” Aunt Minnie turned to her sister, who had followed her siblings outside. “Ruby, where are the keys to that building?”
Ruby looked over at Simon, then back at Minnie. “Right here, in my pocket,” she said, patting the pocket on her housecoat.
“Hand ’em here,” Minnie demanded.
Before anyone could protest, Ruby had the keys in her outstretched palm. Minnie took them and dropped them in her double-E bra. She glared at Rachel. “Now, you tell my niece that we got her some TV and newspaper coverage and everybody is looking forward to her opening her little charity. But if she wants those doors to open tomorrow, she’s gonna have to come get the keys from me, after she talks to my brother.” Aunt Minnie clapped her hands to let everyone know she was done talking. She turned to Wanda. “Wanda, go run out to the deep freezer and get me another pack of those ham hocks, then come on back in here and help me finish cleaning these mustard greens.”
Oh, God, Rachel thought. Ham hocks, mustard greens, crazy cousins, an overanxious father, and now Aunt Minnie was holding the keys hostage. No, Jasmine wasn’t ready. Shoot, Rachel wasn’t even sure if she was ready.