Cherry’s Jubilee (Lunchtime Chronicles: Season 7)

Chapter 4

Cherry

If I didn’t love my sister, I’d be leaving here right now. I also don’t have my car with me and that bitch Solange is holding my phone hostage. So, I continue my job and pour drinks as more people come to the bar.

I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life, and I’m kicking myself for unloading all this bullshit on a total stranger. My mom puts up with way more bullshit from her half-brother than necessary, but I get why. I don’t agree with it, but I get it.

Mom was an affair baby, and the legitimate family has never let her live it down. She’s spent her entire life looking for acceptance, and she’ll never find it. Not with them. She forced us on her family as kids, and when we complained to her about slights and insults, she looked the other way.

I was twenty when I stood up to her and told her I wasn’t going around these people anymore. Solange backed me up, and even though Mom was upset about our decision, we wouldn’t budge. She eventually let it go, despite maintaining a relationship with her brother.

She’s the only one who ever reaches out to him. Despite that, he’s the nicest out of her half-siblings, even though his wife is a bitch. Everything was status quo with the family until last year when my maternal grandfather died .

Grandfather owned the apartment building that I live in as a rental property, and when he died, he left it to me and Solange. Maybe it was his way of making things up to us. We weren’t allowed to visit the house he lived in with his wife. He’d had to come to us if he wanted to see us, and it didn’t happen often. My mom wasn’t welcome there either when she was a kid because his wife would not permit it. Even when she died, Mom wasn’t allowed.

Uncle Whit didn’t react when the will was read, but his wife did. She threw a fit and said the building should have gone to her kids, not the bastard grandkids. She went so far as to hire a lawyer to contest the will, but Grandfather must have anticipated that because the will was ironclad, and she eventually dropped it. He also left us a substantial amount of money. It was enough for Solange and Kirby to quit their jobs and start a business.

Karen tried to appeal to my doormat of a mother. She told her she needed to get us to do the right thing by returning the building to her daughters. Mom suggested gifting Ashley and Amira the apartment would be the right thing to do.

“How?” I ask, and when all I get is a blank stare, I repeat the question. “How?”

Solange opens her mouth to speak, probably to tell me how she sees it from Mom’s viewpoint, but I hold my hand up, and she shuts her mouth.

“Why?” I ask again, louder this time. Mom flinches, but I don’t back down. “I want to hear why you would come here and suggest we give your brother's kids an apartment building worth five million dollars when it was willed to us.” I point at Solange, who now has her arms crossed. “Fair and square. You heard what the lawyer said. It was grandfather’s wish to give this building to Solange and Cherette.”

“For family relations, Cherry,” Mom says, raising her voice, which she hardly ever does.

“And what? You think they are going to accept and love you if we do this? Do you think Karen will stop being a bitch to you and stop treating you and your children like second-class citizens? You want us to be doormats like you? Always begging for love and recognition?” With each word, my voice rises, but I’ve finally had enough. “You want to sacrifice your own children for people who will never see you as anything but less than.” She doesn’t speak, but tears slide down her cheeks. “Does Dad know you’re asking us to do this?” When she doesn’t answer, I say, “Of course, he doesn’t. That’s why you’re here while he’s out of town.”

“You don’t understand—”

“I do. You’re the one who doesn’t understand. The love and acceptance that you’re constantly begging for? You’ve always had it with me, Solange, and Dad. We love you. I love you, even though you’re standing here ready and willing to sacrifice me and Solange.”

“Cherry’s right, Mom,” Solange says. “And the answer is no.”

“You need help,” I say. “And I only speak for myself, but I need space from you.” Her mouth opens and she gasps. “This is it for me. I’ve had a lifetime of your family treating us like we’re crap because your father chose to be unfaithful to his wife. It's funny how no one ever blamed him; they blamed you when you had no part in how you came into the world. You not only let them treat you like crap but us too. And now you want us to give something that’s rightfully ours to them. Do you think they would do the same for us?” When all she does is cry, I toss my hands up in the air. “I’m done, Solange.”

And I walked out. That was the last time I talked with our mother.

Now that bitch is doing her best to push Amira on that Jubilee guy. I’d feel sorry for him, but what business do I have feeling sorry for a filthy rich man? He’s gorgeous too, with dark hair and light brown eyes. He has a strong jawline and the perfect five o’clock shadow.

Besides that, he also showed signs of a personality, but just as I was about to accept his dinner invitation, I learn he’s contaminated. He’s not only associated with my cousins, but now he’s had Amira’s titties shoved in his face too, and as a flat-chested girl, I can’t compete. Not that I’d want to. I love my body.

“Hey. Pssst,” Ginger says. She finishes mixing a drink in the shaker. After she pours it, she runs to my side of the bar. “Do you know who you were just talking to?” she whispers. “That was Daniel fucking Jubilee, and he was flirting with you.” She puts a hand to her heart and takes two exaggerated steps back.

“Why so shocked? Am I that ugly?” I ask with a laugh.

“Stop fishing for compliments. You know you’re fine.”

“I had no idea until those assholes came here and took him away. Did you see how Amira had her tits all up on him? Disgusting. He asked me to dinner, not that I’d touch him with a ten-foot pole now.”

“I swear if you don’t go, I will disown you, set your car on fire, and trash your apartment.”

“Well, get ready to spend some time in jail because I ain’t going. He’s fine, but he’s too much for me. Besides, he lied and told me his name was Lee.” I roll my eyes and wave my hand around in dismissal. I pour a glass of wine and down half of it in one gulp. Ginger takes the glass from me and finishes it. “Look.” I point across the room, and Karen shoves Amira in his face again. He takes a step back, and Karen pushes Amira forward.

Ashley has a pinched look, and Amira looks mortified by her mother’s actions.

“You know that bitch Ashley would die, right?” Ginger says. “Hell, she’d die if Amira got him. It would be icing on the cake if you did. And you fucked him so good and hard that he fires her and your sorry ass uncle.”

Ginger pours us each another glass of wine and looks at me smugly. While my petty side agrees that it sounds nice, the rational side does not want to live a life of one-upmanship. After today, I’ll be happy never to have to see or interact with this branch of my family again.

“That’s not how I roll, Ginge,” I say. “I’m going to continue living my best life and not get entangled with a complicated man from a complicated family. Not to mention Amira’s tits.” I take a big gulp of wine.

“First of all, Amira would suffocate the poor guy with those giant udders. Second, think about how much fun it will be to visit him at Jubilee. Maybe you can take a walk through whatever department Ashley works in. Make her fetch you some water,” she says. “And don’t forget about the most important part. Think of all the rich boys you can introduce me to because I’m all about the soft life. This getting up to go to work every day is bullshit, and I’m not going to do it for much longer. Only you can save me now from this drudgery.” She puts the back of her hand to her forehead.

“Ashley is his personal assistant,” I say, outraged.

“Even better. It will kill that bitch and her mama.”

The party continues, and we serve drinks. Daniel doesn’t return but stands on the opposite side of the room, interacting with different guests. Now, I see it, and I’m smacking myself for not noticing it before. He’s the center of attention without even trying. He’s like a magnetic force, and everyone is pulled in his direction. Whether it’s a handshake or a quick conversation, everyone ends up in his orbit.

Each time I look in his direction, he’s looking at me. Each time he smiles, but I look away. Several times, Amira is dragged over to him by her mother, and she looks more horrified each time.

We get a break when dinner is served. Daniel sits at the table with the family, and Amira is pushed into the chair next to him. From his seat, he can look directly at the bar and me. At one point, Ashley follows his gaze, and when she notices it’s at me, she purses her flat lips shut so tight that I’m afraid she’ll need the jaws of life to reopen them.

I finally give her and the party my back when Solange brings dinner for Ginger and me. It’s delicious teriyaki-glazed chicken on a bed of jasmine rice.

“Your sister and Kirby can cook their asses off,” Ginger says once we’re done eating. After dinner, some lame speeches are given, but I tune them out. At least, I do until I hear his voice.

I finally turn, and he’s in the middle of the tent with a mic. He looks my way, and our eyes lock briefly before I look away.