The Boudreaux Sisters
Chapter 11: You

Chapter 11: You.

It’s Michael’s birthday weekend. Lady and Della were in both of their rooms, packing. Michael had texted Della, letting her know that he was leaving from his uncle’s house in Decatur and would be there soon. As Lady packed her clothes, she reflected back to homecoming night when Della came back home from her date. Lady was half asleep, laying on their purple sectional and watching TV in the living room when Della walked in.

“Oooh, it smells good in here, sister. You must’ve gotten bored and decided to clean up,” said Della, as she stood at the door, taking her heels off.

Lady popped up from the sectional and replied back, “Yeah, I got bored. Plus, I remember you talking about how you were going to clean the fridge out whenever you got around to it, so I figured I’d give you a head start.”

Della laughed in response to this and said, “Well, thank you, little sister. I appreciate that.” Lady smiled back. Della walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She noticed the Onzancaire was missing and she quickly asked Lady about it.

“What happened to the Onzancaire that was in here? Did you toss it out?”

Lady responded back by lying.

“Yeah, I tossed it out. Isn’t that what you were saying to Kim the other day? On the phone? How you didn’t even need it?”

Della smiled in response and said, “Yeah, I did say that. And that wasn’t Kim, on the phone, either. Little nosy.”

Lady shrugged her shoulders and said, “Kim, Chi, Tee… it was one of them you were on the phone with. You know your friends better than I do.”

Della chuckled at Lady’s little quip and said, “Yeah, I do. Just like you have your little friendship with Desi. But yeah, I definitely didn’t need it anymore. Good looking out, little sister.” Lady smiled at Della again.

“Well, I’m going to bed. I’m full and tired. See you in the morning, babygirl.” stated Della, as she walked over to where Lady lay. She leaned in and kissed Lady on the cheek. Lady watched Della walk upstairs to her room and then, she laid back down on the sectional.

After the homecoming dance, Desi and Darren officially became a couple. This made Lady even more jealous and full of rage. Every time she and Desi would link up, whether if that was at school, the mall or even each other’s houses… All she could talk about was Darren. Desi told Lady how Darren was such a great kisser and if they made it all the way to prom, she would let him be the one to take her virginity. Lady became sick at the thought of them having sex. She wanted to have sex with Darren, too.

That Friday, while Lady was in school, Della had texted her and told her to come straight home so she could start packing. Della had told Lady to find something nice to wear for the night, as they may be going out to eat for dinner. Della was right. When Michael arrived, they didn’t go to his house at all. Instead, Michael took the both of them out to a nice seafood restaurant. Michael loved seafood and so did Della. Meanwhile, Lady was not a fan and decided to order some chicken wings while there.

After leaving the restaurant, Michael decided to head home, with Della and Lady in tow. As they entered the circular driveway, Lady’s mouth dropped wide open. She had never seen a big and beautiful house like this before. Della noticed Lady’s face in the rearview mirror and turned around and said, “I said the same thing, sis. His house is gorgeous, right?” Lady nodded her head in agreement, while Michael chuckled to himself and parked his Mercedes Benz truck in the garage. As Lady exited Michael’s vehicle, she noticed there were two other parking spots and one was filled with a jet black Tesla.

Michael noticed Lady was looking and said, “The other empty parking space is for Darren. I assume he may be out with Desi, probably.”

Lady agreed and replied, “Yeah. She told me they were going to the movies tonight.” Lady was also secretly happy that Darren wasn’t home when she, Michael and Della got home. This meant that she could possibly do a little snooping before he came back. As they entered the house, Michael showed Lady around, as well as, where the guest bedroom was.

Only a couple of steps from Darren’s room, Lady thought to herself, as Michael showed her exactly where Darren’s room was and then, walked her to the guest bedroom. Michael also showed Lady where the bathroom was on that hallway and made sure she was situated.

“Mi casa es su casa,” said Michael to Lady before he left her to herself. Lady laughed at Michael and responded with, “Thanks.” Then, Michael closed the door behind him. Lady threw her blue duffle bag onto the bed and waited to hear if Michael had left from the hallway. She opened up her room door and saw Della and Michael walking to his room. Of course, they didn’t see her, which was good for her. Once she saw Michael close his bedroom door, Lady thought to herself, The coast is clear. She slipped out of the guest bedroom and into the hallway.

Lady tiptoed down to Darren’s room, which was diagonally across from hers and pushed open his bedroom door. When she first walked past his room, she had already noticed that his door was slightly cracked. She walked into his room and turned on the light. Lady was instantly surprised as she stared at his room. Darren’s room was clean, with his bed somewhat made and it smelled like the cologne he always wears. As Lady walked in and looked around, she noticed a picture that was sitting on top of one of Darren’s dressers.

Lady picked up the picture and noticed it was Desi and Darren’s homecoming dance picture. She picked it up to look at it and began to admire it. Lady could clearly see how happy Desi was in the picture as her smile was so big and bright, she could see both of her dimples in her cheeks. Her curls in her face had fallen, which Lady automatically assumed was from all the dancing they had done. But she still looked pretty. Darren, on the other hand, looked good enough to eat. He was holding Desi’s waist with one hand and the other, he had in the pocket of his white slacks. He was smiling and Lady noticed then how beautiful and white his smile was. Lady felt the jealousy come back and she tossed the picture onto his dresser, instead of sitting it back up the way that it was.

Suddenly, Lady could hear the garage door opening. She sneakily peeped out of one of the windows in Darren’s room and could see the navy blue Chevy Malibu he drove pulling into the garage. Shit!, thought Lady as she quickly turned off the light in Darren’s room, pulled his door back up the way it was and walked back to the guest bedroom. A couple of minutes passed by and she could hear Darren’s footsteps in the hallway, approaching his bedroom. Lady instantly walked out of the guest bedroom at the same time Darren was about to push open the door to his room.

Darren jumped back a little bit as he was spooked from seeing Lady out of his peripheral vision. When he recognized who Lady was, he smiled and said, “Wassup, Lady? I forgot you and your sister were going to be here for the weekend.”

Darren walked over to Lady and gave her a hug. Lady almost swooned as she smelled him and hugged him back. Lady thought to herself, Damn. Why he gotta look and smell good at the same damn time?

Lady replied back, “Yeah, we’re here just for the weekend.”

Darren released her from the hug and said, “That’s what’s up, that’s what’s up. I just got back from the movies with Desi. We went to see Fly on the Wall. Shit was crazy. You gotta see it soon.”

“Oh yeah? Was it really that good or you just capping?” asked Lady, while slightly flirting and smiling.

Darren burst into laughter. “Nah, it was good. Barely watched it, though, if you feel where I’m coming from.” joked Darren, as he elbowed Lady, in her side.

Yuck. thought Lady to herself, but she laughed along with Darren. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Darren laughed and said, “Well, let me go in here and call your friend. Let her know I made it to the crib safe.”

Lady nodded her head. “As you should. Wouldn’t want her to worry. I was just about to hop in the shower myself.”

Darren replied back, “I’m next. I mean, I took a shower before I left for my date with Desi but I like for my ass to be clean before I go to sleep. You feel me?” joked Darren again, as he elbowed Lady.

He’s such a jokester. I never knew he was so silly, thought Lady to herself. She laughed in response to Darren and said, “Yeah, I feel you.”

Darren pushed open the door to his room. “Goodnight, Lady. See you in the AM.” Lady threw up the peace sign and said, “See you in the morning.” Then, she walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

As Darren walked into his room, he turned on the light. He took his letterman jacket off and put it back on the hanger in his closet. Darren took his phone out of his pocket and went directly to his call list and tapped on Desi’s contact. While he waited for Desi to pick up, he noticed the picture of him and Desi at the homecoming dance had been knocked over.

“That’s… weird.” Darren said to himself, as he sat the picture back up. He smiled at it and at the same time, Desi picked up his Facetime call.

“Hey baby. Made it home safe?”

It’s Saturday; the birthday barbecue for Michael. Michael’s entire family was in attendance, along with some of his friends and colleagues. Lady sat in the backyard, at one of the many foldable tables for guests with Darren, Desi and Bri. Of course, Darren and Desi have been all over each other from the moment her and Bri arrived and Lady was sick of it. Lady was trying her best to keep it together, though. She knew she had to, considering the fact that Desi can read the emotional thoughts of people. So, Lady sat and continued to be fake. Desi had already asked her twice since she arrived, if she was ok. Each time, Lady smiled and shrugged it off, saying she was fine. Eventually, Lady decided that she’d had enough of sitting and watching Darren and Desi flirt and kiss all over each other.

“I’m going to the bathroom real quick,” says Lady. She raised up from the table and dismissed herself.

Once Lady was back in the house, instead of going to the bathroom, she took a detour and entered the kitchen. Lady walked up to the fridge and opened it. She recognized Darren’s plate of food from earlier that he didn’t finish. Lady looked around to make sure the coast was clear, as the kitchen really didn’t have an entry point. Lady didn’t see anybody, so she grabbed Darren’s plate and sat it on the island. Lady reached into her purse and grabbed the Onzancaire mixture. Since she wasn’t able to keep it refrigerated for the past week, the Onzancaire turned from a thick liquid to a flimsy powder.

To be honest, this is perfect because I can mix this into his food like some seasoning and he won’t even know or notice, Lady evilly thought to herself.

Lady shook up the Onzancaire, opened the bottle and began to pour some into Darren’s potato salad and baked beans onto his plate. She grabbed the plastic spoon that Darren had left on his plate and stirred the Onzancaire into his food so that Darren wouldn’t notice. Suddenly, Lady started to hear some voices approaching the kitchen. Lady quickly placed Darren’s plate back into the fridge and exited the kitchen. As Lady walked back outside, she noticed Darren and Desi were missing and that Bri was still sitting at the table, scrolling away on her phone.

“Where’s Desi and Darren?” Lady asked Bri, as she pulled the same chair out that she was sitting in before, to sit down.

Bri looks up at Lady from her phone and responds back, “The party ran out of ice. Della came and gave Desi a couple of dollars and told them both to go and get some more.”

“Oh. Ok.” Lady said flatly.

“To be honest, they’ll probably take forever to come back. They’re definitely doing more than just picking up some ice,” joked Bri, as she laughed and grabbed Lady’s arm jokingly. Lady laughed along with her but, it was one of the most fakest laughs Lady had ever done before.

“I don’t mind, though. You know, I’m graduating next year. I just want Desi to be surrounded by good friends and family. Especially with her ability. She needs good friends, for sure.” said Bri, as she gently smiled at Lady.

Lady smiled back at Bri, while instantly regretting what she had done.

It’s 2 AM, the next morning. All of Michael’s guests have gone home for the night. It was definitely safe to say that Michael enjoyed his birthday festivities. He had gotten extremely wasted and ended up falling over into the pool, while dancing with Della to Make It Last Forever. Darren noticed his dad had fallen over into the pool and immediately hopped in to save Michael. Once they exited the pool, Michael took a deep breath and regurgitated some of the liquor and food he had consumed earlier that day. Della and Darren proceeded to walk Michael up to his room and get him settled in for the night. The party was promptly done after that.

Della eventually took over for Darren and he came back downstairs to help Lady, Desi and Bri in telling everybody goodbye and to start cleaning up. Once all of the guests left, Bri ordered her and Desi an Uber and got ready to leave. When their car arrived, Darren walked Desi and Bri out. Lady watched all of them from the inside of the house and their exchange. She saw Bri say something to Darren before entering the car and then, Desi and Darren kissed each other before she entered the car. Lady rolled her eyes when she saw the two of them kiss. Almost instantly, as soon as Lady rolled her eyes, she and Desi made eye contact. Desi frowned up but waved goodbye to Lady. Lady smiled and waved back.

Darren watched the Uber ride down the circular driveway before he turned around and walked back into the house. As he and Lady cleaned up, they began to talk and slowly but surely got to know more about one another. Darren told Lady how Michael used to have a really bad drinking problem and how he had recently celebrated 2 years of being sober.

“I guess he was just happy to be celebrating his birthday and said, ‘Fuck it. Might as well drink until I can’t drink no more’. I’m used to it, though. He’s been doing good up until tonight. Trust me, he will regret it in the morning,” Darren laughed, as he picked up a paper cup that was on the island and threw it away.

“If you don’t mind me asking… What happened to your mom?” questioned Lady.

“Ahhh. That’s always a hard one for me to talk about…” Darren’s voice trailed off.

“I’m sorry. If you don’t wanna talk about it, I understand.” said Lady, as she grabbed the broom in the kitchen and started to sweep. Darren grabbed the dustpan for her and laid it down on the floor by where she was standing.

“No, it’s cool. It’s just hard because I don’t know where she is.” stated Darren. Lady stopped sweeping for a beat and looked at him, confused.

“When I was 8, my mother met this dude. White guy. Looked as if he was the same age as her, maybe older. I don’t even remember her telling me his name. Anyways, one weekend she dropped me off to spend time with my dad. She never came back to get me. She stayed in contact with my dad the day she was supposed to come and get me. Then, he realized that she wasn’t ever coming to get me. That’s when my dad started drinking heavily. He wasn’t used to taking care of me 24/7, you know? Him and my mom would split time up. She had me through the week and he would get me on the weekends.

I was with my dad for about 2 weeks, I think. He had gotten me enrolled in school and everything but, he still had no idea where my mother was. He put out a missing person’s report and we would always drive by the house to see if her car was there. Nothing. Finally, she ended up sending my dad a postcard. It didn’t have a return address. She said she had moved to L.A. with this dude and that she was a believer in Scientology. She said she had no plans of coming back to Atlanta and that I was my dad’s responsibility now.”

Darren hung his head low and Lady could see a couple of tears fall from his eyes.

“That was when I was 8. I’m 17 now. Haven’t heard from her since.”

Damn. thought Lady to herself. This is some heavy shit.

“Well, don’t feel bad. Both of my folks are dead. My mom shot my dad and then, she killed herself. I don’t wanna say we’re in the same boat but, I know what it’s like to go damn near your whole life without your mom.” said Lady.

Darren wiped his eyes and looked at Lady.

“Damn, that’s deep.” said Darren, as his voice cracked.

They both talked more as Lady continued to tell Darren her and Della’s story and how they ended up back in Atlanta. Before you knew it, the entire downstairs area was clean and Darren had exclaimed that he had gotten hungry.

“I forgot about my plate in here from earlier,” stated Darren, as he walked over to the fridge and opened it. Lady stood nearby and watched intensely. Darren also took out the aluminum pan that had leftover pieces of chicken wings and hot dogs. He grabbed 2 chicken wings and a hot dog to put on his plate and placed it in the microwave to warm up.

Darren turned around and asked Lady, “You hungry?” Lady shook her head no and said, “I’m still full from earlier.” Darren shrugged his shoulders and placed the aluminum pan back in the fridge. A couple of minutes pass by and then…

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Darren opened the microwave to remove his food and began to eat. They continued to talk, as Lady kept staring at him intensely. By now, they had gotten on the subject of school, their social lives and social media. Darren finally finished his food and walked over to the garbage can to throw his plate away.

As Darren walked over to the garbage can to throw away his plate, he made eye contact with Lady and instantly felt an attraction to her. Lady continued to stare at him. Finally, she asked, “What are you staring at?”

Darren responded back, while still staring at Lady.

“You.”

Lady smiled and thought to herself, Damn, did that shit really work?

Darren slowly walked over to Lady, placed his hand over hers and stared into her eyes. Then, he caressed her left cheek, the one with the permanent scar and her chin.

“You’re really pretty. Now, that I’m getting a good look at you. You’re also cool as hell. I mean, I knew that already but…” Darren’s voice trailed off as he continued to stare into Lady’s eyes.

Lady began to blush. She thought to herself, I think that shit worked.

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