but I’m not sure there were any. He just looks like he came from some other family. He’s got suede grey eyes framed with thick lashes. When he was born, Daddy took one look at him and accused Ma of fucking around.
“Scabby Tabby.” Jackie punches my arm.
“Black Jack.”
He does up a couple of buttons on his flannel shirt before he picks me up off the ground in a bear hug. “It’s some good to see you, girl. I thought you were history.” He turns and yells up to the deck, “Everybody, this here’s my big sister, Tabby. I don’t want to see her without a beer in her hand for the rest of the night.”
A petite brunette greets me at the top of the stairs with a cold one, but Jackie grabs her arm. “Not that piss,” he says. He fishes in the cooler and tosses me an Oland’s instead.
“I’m Jackie’s girlfriend, Jewell,” she says. “It’s so nice to meet you.” She’s tiny everywhere except for the baby bulge under her tight ivory dress.
“You are not my girlfriend,” he says, pinching her ass.
She glares at him. “You want a wife, keep it up. I’ll make you put a ring on this finger so fast it’ll make your dick spin.”
In the same breath she starts chirping away to me about the weather and Jackie excuses himself to get barbecue sauce. I notice the woman who did Janis’s nails is standing on the other side of the deck. She sees me at the same time and waves.
“You met Tabby the other day, right, Kim?” Jewell says to her.
“That’s right.” The woman finishes chewing a mouthful of potato chips. “How’s your little niece doing?” she asks me. “I didn’t clue in that the two of you are Jackie’s people until you mentioned Poppy.”
“Thanks for that tip on Lyle.” I pull the paper out of my purse. “He gave me this.”
She walks over and takes a look. “Don’t know it. But you should bring Jackie with you if you go. I wouldn’t trust Lyle.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s Lyle.” She picks up a lock of my hair and rubs the ends between her fingers. “Is the humidity fucking with your hair? When I first moved to Jubilant, I swear, I almost shaved my head.”
Before I can ask anything else about Lyle, she walks down off the deck. I watch her rummage in the trunk of a car and pull out awhole salon. She tucks her Calypso Berry Breezer in her cleavage to free up both hands and comes hauling everything up the stairs.
“I take it all home with me at night because the shop gets broken into at least once a month,” she says breathlessly. She plucks the cooler from her boobs. “Nobody comes to me for hair anymore. They all go to this skank Gina for extensions. I don’t do them because everyone wants them out as soon as they’re in, and you end up working twice and getting paid once. But Gina wears sweatpants with her own name written on the ass, so she’s not about to do the math.”
She pushes me inside to Jackie’s kitchen table, sweeps Jewell’s dog-eared novels and knitting needles to the side, and the next thing I know I’m sitting on a stool with a garbage bag pinned around my neck. While she’s snipping away, Jackie hoists himself up on the counter and starts asking me every question he can think of.
“You got a house?”
“Sort of.”
“Kids?”
“No, but I see you’re about to have one.”
Kim cuts in and says, “Jackie’s fathered just about the whole elementary school.”
He grins. “I got to work seventy hours a week to pay for all their fancy sneakers.”
“You must love being a daddy.”
“I love making love. But not every woman tells you she’s setting a trap. Most of them kids I didn’t know I was making till their mothers’ bellies swelled up and they showed up on mydoorstep with their palms out.” He clams up as Jewell comes in and slides coasters under our drinks.
“Jackie,” I say when she goes back outside. “Do you have shit for brains? It’s called a condom.”
“Oh my God!” He falls off the counter,
“Scabby Tabby.” Jackie punches my arm.
“Black Jack.”
He does up a couple of buttons on his flannel shirt before he picks me up off the ground in a bear hug. “It’s some good to see you, girl. I thought you were history.” He turns and yells up to the deck, “Everybody, this here’s my big sister, Tabby. I don’t want to see her without a beer in her hand for the rest of the night.”
A petite brunette greets me at the top of the stairs with a cold one, but Jackie grabs her arm. “Not that piss,” he says. He fishes in the cooler and tosses me an Oland’s instead.
“I’m Jackie’s girlfriend, Jewell,” she says. “It’s so nice to meet you.” She’s tiny everywhere except for the baby bulge under her tight ivory dress.
“You are not my girlfriend,” he says, pinching her ass.
She glares at him. “You want a wife, keep it up. I’ll make you put a ring on this finger so fast it’ll make your dick spin.”
In the same breath she starts chirping away to me about the weather and Jackie excuses himself to get barbecue sauce. I notice the woman who did Janis’s nails is standing on the other side of the deck. She sees me at the same time and waves.
“You met Tabby the other day, right, Kim?” Jewell says to her.
“That’s right.” The woman finishes chewing a mouthful of potato chips. “How’s your little niece doing?” she asks me. “I didn’t clue in that the two of you are Jackie’s people until you mentioned Poppy.”
“Thanks for that tip on Lyle.” I pull the paper out of my purse. “He gave me this.”
She walks over and takes a look. “Don’t know it. But you should bring Jackie with you if you go. I wouldn’t trust Lyle.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s Lyle.” She picks up a lock of my hair and rubs the ends between her fingers. “Is the humidity fucking with your hair? When I first moved to Jubilant, I swear, I almost shaved my head.”
Before I can ask anything else about Lyle, she walks down off the deck. I watch her rummage in the trunk of a car and pull out awhole salon. She tucks her Calypso Berry Breezer in her cleavage to free up both hands and comes hauling everything up the stairs.
“I take it all home with me at night because the shop gets broken into at least once a month,” she says breathlessly. She plucks the cooler from her boobs. “Nobody comes to me for hair anymore. They all go to this skank Gina for extensions. I don’t do them because everyone wants them out as soon as they’re in, and you end up working twice and getting paid once. But Gina wears sweatpants with her own name written on the ass, so she’s not about to do the math.”
She pushes me inside to Jackie’s kitchen table, sweeps Jewell’s dog-eared novels and knitting needles to the side, and the next thing I know I’m sitting on a stool with a garbage bag pinned around my neck. While she’s snipping away, Jackie hoists himself up on the counter and starts asking me every question he can think of.
“You got a house?”
“Sort of.”
“Kids?”
“No, but I see you’re about to have one.”
Kim cuts in and says, “Jackie’s fathered just about the whole elementary school.”
He grins. “I got to work seventy hours a week to pay for all their fancy sneakers.”
“You must love being a daddy.”
“I love making love. But not every woman tells you she’s setting a trap. Most of them kids I didn’t know I was making till their mothers’ bellies swelled up and they showed up on mydoorstep with their palms out.” He clams up as Jewell comes in and slides coasters under our drinks.
“Jackie,” I say when she goes back outside. “Do you have shit for brains? It’s called a condom.”
“Oh my God!” He falls off the counter,
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