Chapter 21

 

 

 

Bellamy

 

I was able to get a two-day reprieve from reality until we had to lay Granny to rest. Granny was unconventional in many things in life, especially when it came to her sex life. The more, the better. You want to know how I know…because if you turn your head from where I’m sitting on the front pew with my family and scan the other side of the church, you’ll find the many men in my Granny’s life who gave her the D she always talked about. Men who I knew would miss my Granny’s eccentric company not just in the bedroom.

 

She’d, also, be swooning her ass off over the sea of leather that fills the pews behind me. Not only are the Pinks in attendance, but the Devils and the Chaotic’s are here to send her off to the heavenly palace in the sky.

 

The preacher’s eulogy is coming to a conclusion as we all have our heads bowed when a loud screech reverberates through the PA and then I’ll be damned if the fiddles don’t start playing The Devil went down to Georgia. Shaking my head and raising my eyes to the ceiling grinning and saying ‘good one, Granny.’

 

My family’s tears have morphed into glints of trouble at Granny’s need to get the last word at her own damn funeral. Not only are we laughing, but swaying in our seats as that damn Devil challenges the fiddling man. The grief has slightly lifted and is replaced with acceptance. Granny wouldn’t want us to mourn her, but celebrate the wonderful woman that she was.

 

The preacher signals for the pallbearers to rise and carry Granny to her plot. Banshee, Mitchell, Travis, Poison, Brute, and Taz stand and situate themselves around Granny’s coffin. Taking the handles on each side, lifting and strolling slowing down the aisle, we rise and follow slowly behind them.

 

Since the cemetery isn’t that far from the church, we follow to Granny’s finally resting spot under an oak tree. As they set her down, the preacher taps me on my shoulder and leads me behind her coffin. For some reason, Granny thought it would be funny to have me say the final words over her coffin before it was lowered. She’s still sneaky in death.

 

“My Granny Bea was a force to be reckoned with. She loved her family and friends fiercely. She believed in the live and learned way of life. She would tell us,” I gesture to my brothers, “that she could scream at us until she was blue in the face about how we were doing something wrong, but that we’d never do it right by her telling us and that it was a part of life to screw up, accept the mistake and move on knowing that if the same situation presented itself later in life we’d know how to approach it. She lived life to the fullest. She never let anything keep her down, and to me that was important. Life is short, and our deaths aren’t on a schedule. We could wake up tomorrow and be gone by dinner time. So, if you knew Granny, you know that even though she was taken before her time, she definitely has no regrets and she’s probably raising hell at the pearly gates.” I place my hand on top of her coffin and lower my head. Whispering, “You were a stubborn old bat, but I hope one day I grow up to be just like you. I love you, and I will miss you, but I will not weep over you anymore. I will retell our memories together, and I will laugh at all the mischief you bestowed on me. I will pass down your superstitious ways to my children and Travis’ too since he didn’t really listen to you.” Smiling wide at the sound of thunder echoing through the sky, I step back and take my position beside Banshee.

 

He hugs me tight to his chest. “What’s so funny?”

 

I look up into his sparkling emerald eyes. “Granny told us when it thunders at a funeral it means that an angel has been accepted into heaven.”

 

“That woman will never just be a memory, Sweets.” He growls in my hair. “She gave too much of herself to you and your family that she’ll live on through each and every one of y’all.”

 

“Damn straight she will,” I say with conviction.

 

My dad draws near and snags me from Banshee. “Let’s go party, so the old hag doesn’t send down death bolts for not honoring her wishes.”

 

I giggle as he leads me to my car and we part ways for the trip back to the farm.

 

***

 

The backyard of my parent’s house has been transformed into party central per Granny’s wishes. She wanted a DJ; she got it. She wanted an open bar; she got it. She wanted a damn strobe light; she got it. And if the turned up noses of the old biddies from the church weren’t screwed up enough, then they definitely were when Granny’s first song on her request list played. Crazy Bitch by Buckcherry blares through the backyard.

 

I feel Banshee’s body tense beside me when he realizes what’s playing and then he guffaws and walks me to the makeshift dance floor where the Pinks are showing everyone how they shake their moneymakers. Swaying and grinding on Banshee, and sending the old biddies the evil eye while they huff and puff over Bea’s audacity to like this type of music is the icing on the cake. The cherry on top is when Maggie dances her way towards me with wink promising to give these women something to talk about, and she doesn’t disappoint.

 

I bend at my hips, ass still planted against the crotch of Banshee’s jeans and lower, placing my hands on Maggie’s gyrating hips. Burying my head putting on the impression I’m eating her out while still grinding on Banshee who has my hips grasped tightly in his big hands must send them into a tizzy because when I straighten up, they’re gone. Not just from the vicinity, but from the entire yard. I kiss the tips of my index and middle finger and raise it to the sky while saying in my head ‘that one was for you, Granny.’ She hated their judgment, and she was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

 

I turn and sink into Banshee as Jason Mraz’s I’m Yours begins to play. We slowly sway and swing with my ear to his chest, and his head braced on my head with his arms encasing me tightly. My mom drags my dad out on the dance floor beside us with a happy smile on her face as they begin to move back and forth to the beat. Finding the similarities of the way they gaze at each other adoringly reminds me of how I feel I look at Banshee and him in return. He’s my one, and as if lighting just struck me I roll back on my heels so fast his head drops.

 

I grab the back of his neck and bring his forehead to mine. “I love you. I’ve always loved you in some capacity, but I truly love you. I love the way you let me be. You don’t want to change me you just want to be a part of me. You accepted my crazy Granny in life and death.” I choke up. “Her last words to me were to cherish you. I want to cherish you, Banshee.”

 

He presses his lips to mine too quickly for my liking, so I yank his lips back to mine deepening the kiss as we continue to sway. Releasing his lips, he straightens. “I’m glad you finally fucking caught up.” He huffs with a cocky smirk. “I’ve loved you since boot camp and all the times we met in the middle, but I wasn’t ready for all of you. I wasn’t ready to be swept up in your brand of crazy. We both needed to grow as our battles tested us. Now, we need to grow together as we face those battles together. I love you, Sweets. It grows stronger and more consuming every damn day, but I won’t run from it anymore. I’m here to stay.”

 

I nod because there are no more words to be spoken. We’ve had the Runaway Bride relationship for over ten years, and now it’s time we stick instead of coming unglued.