Kickstart My Heart (Burgers and Brew Crue #1) - Lacey Black Page 0,9
owning a Jeep. Instead, I throw on a hoodie I keep in the back seat just for these kinds of nights and hop behind the wheel. The only problem is, even with the music turned up and the wind chilling my face, my thoughts still return to Mallory.
I don’t even know her, yet I can’t stop thinking about her.
That definitely won’t do.
***
Tuesdays are my catch-up day. Laundry, yard work, and grocery shopping are completed on Tuesday, since I’m invited to my great aunt’s house every Sunday for lunch. She stopped bitching about not seeing me in church years ago, but I don’t push it when it comes to Sunday lunches. Aunt Edna will tan my hide in the front yard and then make me sit on it at the table while she tries to stuff me full of food. She’s a feisty woman, but I wouldn’t have her any other way.
She’s also black.
But blood alone doesn’t make family.
My mom was adopted as a young child by my grandparents, Alma and Herschel Washington. My mom, Marie, was one of seven children of all different races and origins taken in and raised by the Washingtons. They didn’t care what the color of your skin was. They gave you food, clothes, and enough love to fill the holes left by your past.
When my mom was in high school, she found herself pregnant her senior year. My sperm donor wasn’t man enough to step up and take care of a child he helped create, begging my mom to get rid of me. When Mom refused, then so did he. He’s never provided for me financial or emotionally, and you know what? Fine. Fuck off. We got by just fine. Of course, we had my grandparents, and even my aunt, Edna.
Edna never had kids of her own, so she’s very close to all seven of her nieces and nephews. Most of them have moved away over the years, including my grandparents who relocated to Florida, but there are still a few who stayed in Ohio. Every Sunday, we gather at Aunt Edna’s for an incredible home-cooked meal. It’ll be my mom, Uncle Donald, and just a single cousin, Jamal. Occasionally, a few cousins from Cleveland will come down and join us.
So today is the day I try to catch up on all the housework and maintenance, because I never know what my Sunday will entail, usually a little of the same at Edna’s place. After throwing a load of darks in the washer, I spend a bit of time picking up around the house. I bought a decent-sized three-bedroom ranch home on two acres on the outskirts of town. My nearest neighbor is a half mile away, which is good, considering I like my music loud, especially when messing around the house.
Like now.
Def Leppard is loud as I clean the kitchen and bathroom, the worst jobs ever. I’d rather weed eat the yard with a fucking pair of scissors than scrub bathroom floors, but here I am, on my hands and knees like my mom taught me, scrubbing around the base of the toilet with a Clorox wipe. Apparently, boys can be messy.
When both bathrooms and the kitchen are done and I’ve run through the shower to clean up, I shut off the music, grab my keys, and head for the door. Usually I like to hit the grocery store before I start yard work, especially on hot days. Backing the CJ out of the driveway, I head for the smaller of the two grocery stores in town.
It’s fairly busy for a Tuesday, but that’s nothing new. The family-owned business offers a senior discount on Tuesdays, and most of the blue hairs in town take advantage of that five percent discount. When I pull in, I head for the back of the lot, preferring to leave the closer spots open for the older shoppers.
As I walk through the automatic door, Bernice, the greeter, is there with a wide smile on her face. “Hey, Walker.”
“Well, good morning, Bernice. How are you today?”
“Oh, I’m well,” she replies from her perch on top of a stool. “Your Aunt Edna was here earlier today. I think she got chicken for Sunday.”
“Mmm,” I say, grabbing the closest cart. “Aunt Edna’s fried chicken is what dreams are made of, Bernice.”
She nods. “You know, you should find a nice, respectable young woman to take with you Sunday. I think it would really brighten her day.”