Remy
The block party is finally here, and the preparations are underway. The entire neighborhood has begun putting things together to make today a huge success. The three houses at the end of the cul-de-sac all have different bounce houses set up for the kids to jump in. At the opposite end of the street, there will be cornhole and can jam, set up along with other adult games I’m sure. Our house is in the middle of our long street, and since Mama organizes the party, the majority of the food is set up there, and people come by whenever they’re ready to eat. Tables are being delivered along with a few grills that my father will use to ensure there’s hot food available most of the night, and all the neighbors will be delivering side dishes throughout the day. There won’t be one bit of southern goodness missing from this event. Mr. and Mrs. Henderson live beside us, and the section of their yard that joins ours will have all the desserts out. There will be everything from fruit salad to peach cobbler and pecan pie. A man could really get himself in trouble at that table.
I sigh in frustration. At this point, I couldn’t care less. I haven’t spoken to Kenzie since the morning I left her house worried about her. She hasn’t even been out for our morning run, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t show up today either. I try to shrug it off as maybe she’s just not the girl for me, but I can’t get her out of my head. Even my focus at work has been off.
“Remy, can you go with your father to get some ice please?” Mama asks, bringing me back to the present as my father walks up behind me.
“Yeah, I guess so.” I stand from my seat on the porch and follow my father to his car.
As soon as he shifts the car into drive he says, “Spill it.”
“Spill what?” I try to play dumb, but of course, it won’t work.
“Remy, you’ve been a mess all week, moping around like you lost your puppy.”
“I haven’t been that bad,” I say in my defense.
When he pulls up to the stoplight, he glances over at me with his brows raised. The look screams bullshit.
I sigh. “I went on a few dates with Kenzie and things were going so well, now she won’t talk to me. She keeps telling me she has concerns but won’t tell me what they are.” I sigh again and say, “She hasn’t even been meeting me for our morning run. I just wish she would at least talk to me, tell me what the issue is so I can try to work it out with her. To make matters even worse, her ex-boyfriend is in town trying to win her back.”
“How do you know about her ex?”
“I got to her house to pick her up for a date, and he was there. Tried puffing out his chest to look like a big guy, but dude has nothing on me.” I chuckle. “Anyway, she says she wants nothing to do with the guy, but now I wonder, since she’s not talking to me.”
“I don’t know what to say, son. Maybe you just need to give her a little space to straighten things out in her head.” He slaps my knee. “I’m sure she’ll talk to you when she’s ready.”
All conversation ceases as we pull up to the ice company. We come straight to this company every year for the block party, because we need so much ice and they give us a good deal. My father pulls a bunch of coolers from the car, and I run in to let the guy know we’re here. He comes out with a hand truck loaded with bags and bags of ice for us to fit as much as we can into all the coolers. Once our coolers are all full, he says, “Here, take this too.” He gives us another huge foam cooler filled with ice. We pack it all into the car, pay the man, and get back home to pour the ice over beverages and such.
When we arrive, it’s almost as if the street has been transformed. There’s a huge banner up that says, ‘Welcome Home, Remy!’ I growl as soon as I see it.
“Easy, Remy. Your mama is very proud of you. We all are. She has dedicated this to you, and as much as you hate the attention, I think you can give her one afternoon after all the years of worry you put her through.”
I sigh in defeat. “I know, and I’m sorry you guys had to spend so much time worrying about me, but I have zero regrets when it comes to my career.”
“Good, that’s the way it should be. Now help me unload this ice.”
I shake my head as I climb out of the car to help my father.
Brooke comes running over. “Do you like your sign?”
I close my eyes for just a second, then say, “I love it.” She hugs me and runs off, excited to talk with some neighbors who are all set up. I swear, sometimes my sister is still a teenager. The kids are already jumping in the bounce house, there’s a face painting station set up, and the DJ is setting up some speakers to play music. This event runs well into the night, and eventually the volume is turned down, but the party continues on.
My brothers both come over to say hi with poor Kayla waddling behind them. She’s due any time now, and I can see she’s had enough. “Hey, bro,” I say to Dawson, giving him a quick hug, then I give her one and ask, “Where’s Becky?”
She nods toward the bounce house. “Jumping, of course. She’ll be in there until she’s ready to pass out.” We all set up lawn chairs on my parents’ front lawn, and take a seat watching things go on around us.
A short time later the DJ, a friend of mine named Colby, finally has his stuff set up and ready to go. He comes over the mic and says, “Welcome to the block party, everyone! Y’all ready to have some fun?” Everyone begins to scream and shout. Neighbors from blocks over are starting to make their way to the end-of-summer party. Colby says, “Now, I know someone won’t be happy about this, because we’ve been friends for years and I know the man pretty darn well, but I have to say it, anyway. Welcome home, Remy man, it’s good to have you here.” Everyone again starts cheering, and I give him a nod. He puts the mic down and starts playing some music. The guy is good. He will play a little of everything to keep everyone, young and old, happy.
I’m scanning for Kenzie, when I ask Keaton, “Hey, are you still seeing Lilly?”
“Yeah, aren’t you seeing Kenzie?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, man. She got pissed at me because I went to her house to check on her when she didn’t show up for our run, and we haven’t spoken since.”
“Wow that sucks. Lilly hasn’t said anything to me about it.”
“Nah, I’m sure she’s not going to either. Are they still coming?”
“As far as I know. Lilly told me she’d see me here.” I nod, and as we finish talking, I hear her before I see her. I turn my head toward the sound of her beautiful laugh, and there she is, walking up the street with Lilly. They’re both carrying some bags with a ton of stuff in them. We both jump up and run over to help them out. Keaton takes Lilly’s bags, and she gives him a kiss. It’s an awkward moment as I take the bag from Kenzie, but no longer feel I have the right to kiss her.
“Thanks, Remy.” She continues up to the house with Keaton and Lilly. I close my eyes and stretch my neck as I try to control my frustration. I still don’t fully understand what she’s so upset about. I jog to catch up to them handing the bag of food over to Mama, who is busy putting things out. Kenzie hugs Mama and says hello before walking off to go visit with other people.
Mama gives me a questioning look. I shrug. “I have no idea.”
“You best not hurt that girl, Remington Scott Bennett,” she says angrily.
“I swear, Mama, I have no idea why she’s mad at me. She won’t even talk to me.” Keaton laughs at me, and Mama once again smacks the back of his head.
“I see nothing funny here,” she says.
“Sorry, Mama.” He takes Lilly’s hand and walks off.
“You go figure things out with that girl, now you hear?” She points a serving spoon at me.
I take a deep breath. “Yes, ma’am.” I walk away frustrated because now my mother’s angry too. This is getting ridiculous.
I’ve spent the last few hours mingling with people as I try to find Kenzie. I swear she’s avoiding me, but if she won’t talk to me after tonight, then I’m done. I’m telling Mama I tried, but I give up. This woman is driving me crazy with her silent treatment.
I finish talking to my buddy Vaughn, and when I turn, I see her leaning against a fence observing the events taking place around her. I grin as I go into stealth mode to sneak up on her, not because I want to scare her, but because I don’t want her to take off again. I got close earlier, and as soon as she saw me approaching she walked away to talk with someone.
I step up alongside her. “Why are you avoiding me?” I question, stepping even closer so close my body is practically pinning hers to the fence.
She looks up into my eyes and says, “Because I don’t want to talk.”
“Why not? I thought things were going well between us?”
“Maybe I just don’t like you like that,” Her voice is totally shaken up. Her breathing has changed, and she keeps shifting her weight. This woman forgets observation is my job. Does she really think I won’t catch her lying to me?
“I call bullshit. Our date went fine. We laughed and had a great time, even our chemistry is amazing and now all of a sudden you won’t talk to me.” She looks to the ground. “At least tell me the truth. Don’t feed me some line of shit.” I step back for a second. “Is this about Daniel?” My brows furrow in anger. I saw him walking around this block party as if invited. It pisses me off, but I won’t dare embarrass my mama by approaching him or causing trouble.
Her eyes shoot back up to mine. “What? No, of course not. Come on, Remy, you know it’s bad timing for me with Nana being sick.”
“You’re telling me all this is about your nana? We had a great time and a ton of fun, and now you don’t like me because of your nana?” I ask with my brows raised.
“I have a lot on my plate. School starts Monday, and I still have to find time to help with her, and she’s so up and down. It’s like she’s getting worse every day.” She’s staring down at her feet.
I know she’s lying to me, because she can’t even look at me. She’s been looking down at the ground during her entire explanation. I can’t take it anymore. I grab her chin forcing her to look me in the eye, lick my lips, and say, “I’ll tell you what. You keep lying to yourself. When you can face reality and you’re ready to tell me what’s really bothering you, come see me and I’ll help you through it.” I press a kiss to her forehead and walk away, not waiting for her response.
“Remy,” she calls out on the verge of tears, but I keep walking. I need her to know I’m serious. She can’t keep lying to me about what’s bothering her, and at this point, I’m not sure I can trust her to tell me when things are bothering her in the future, and that’s a huge problem for me. I grab a beer and down half of it, plopping myself into a chair. I glance over to see Daniel trying to talk to Kenzie. It makes my blood boil. I want to go over there and tell the little piece of shit to piss off.
“Dude, who’s that?” Keaton slaps me on the shoulder.
“Her ex, who has decided to make an appearance and become my competition.” I chug more of my beer.
“Is that the issue?” Keaton asks, taking a seat next to me.
“Nah, I don’t think so. She’s definitely keeping something from me, but I have no doubt that it has nothing to do with him. I saw her the day he appeared at her house. She was angry and bitter. She wants nothing to do with him.”
“She does look pissed,” Keaton says as we watch the two of them. Lilly goes over to them, and Kenzie introduces Daniel to Lilly. Lilly starts screaming at the guy. He throws his hands in the air in total frustration, because now there are two women mad at him. Lilly takes Kenzie’s hand and storms off in our direction.
“Keaton, I’m going to call it a night. Kenzie and I are going to go hang at her place and talk, but I’ll call you later this week.”
“Sounds good, sugar,” he says, standing to give her a quick kiss before they walk off. I sat there staring at Kenzie the entire time, but all she did was look at the ground. Taking another swig of my beer, I watch them until I can’t see them any longer.
“Have you eaten yet?” Keaton asks me. I’m not even looking at him. I’m still staring in the direction the two girls stormed off in. What the fuck is wrong with me? I’ve known this girl all of a few weeks, we’ve gone on a few dates, and she’s already under my damn skin.
“Nah, man, I haven’t,” I tell my brother, standing from my chair.
“Come on, let’s go get a bite to eat and another beer.”
When we get to the food table, Mama’s there, asking, “What happened with Kenzie and her friend? I saw them leave upset.”
“I don’t know, Mama. She still won’t talk to me.”
Mama starts to give me an angry look for upsetting her when my brother comes to my rescue.
“It wasn’t him, Mama. Her ex is in town, and I think he upset her. Lilly took her home so they could talk about whatever happened.”
“Oh that poor girl, as if she doesn’t have enough going on with school starting and her nana being sick. Now this boy comes along stirring up some trouble.”
I down the rest of my beer and toss the bottle into the recycling bin at the end of the food table before grabbing another one. Keaton and I make our plates and take the seats we had on the lawn. Music is playing, people are dancing, kids are running around barefoot with their faces painted, and it makes for a great summer night. As a matter of fact, there’s only one thing that would make it better: Kenzie sitting by my side.