Devoted (6 page)

“Maybe I could postpone
my run,”
I
told her.

She grinned again and
said, “Sorry, babe, the basketball team is waiting. Have a good run and tell
Callie I said hi.”

Pouting,
I
said, “Okay, enjoy taking pictures of the Goliaths and
remember where your ‘collection’ is being kept. I’ll see you tonight if I don’t
catch you before.”
I
watched her walk down the hall
and to the bathroom. It was a beautiful view. She turned around in the doorway
of the bathroom and blew
me
a kiss.

I
sighed and went to get a bottle of water from the fridge.
I
would have to run twice as long now to get rid of the pent-up frustration. When
I
got back from my run,
Emmi
was already gone. She had left
me
a note with a smiley
face on it taped to my bedroom door. It simply said, “I love you.”

I
showered and after I got dressed I put
Emmi’s
note in
my pocket. Things like that let
me
know for sure that
I loved her.
I
couldn’t imagine ever carrying a note
someone else had written in my pocket and just being happy, knowing it was
there.
I
grabbed my keys and headed over to pick up
Callie.

She was waiting outside
when
I
got there because she knew how much I hated
having to go inside. The old man was likely still asleep this early, but there
was always the off chance he would open the door and ruin
my
whole day.

When she climbed up
into the truck the first thing she said was, “Where’s
Emmi
?”

“Good
morning to you too, dear sister.”

“Oh, good morning,” she
said with a grin. “Where’s
Emmi
?”

“She had some pictures
to take…of the basketball team.”

“
Ohhh
,
lucky girl,” Callie said.

“Why is that lucky?
They’re seven feet tall and about one-seventy soaking wet. What is attractive
about that?”
I
wasn’t being facetious, I really
couldn’t see it.

Callie opened her mouth
and closed it twice. Finally, she said, “You wouldn’t understand because you’re
too much of a man. Where are we going?”

“IHOP?”

“Yum,
yes.
I didn’t think you could eat pancakes and stuff
like that before a fight.”

“I can’t, I’ll be
having boiled eggs and meat.
I
need my protein. I just
know you like your pancakes.”

“Thanks,” she said,
sincerely.

We were both quiet for
a minute, thinking about why pancakes were Callie’s favorite things. When we
were small, if we got sick, our mom would make us pancakes and serve them with
hot chocolate to us in bed in the morning.

When we got to IHOP we
were shown
right to our table and we ordered our drinks.
Callie had hot chocolate and even though the weather was still
really warm
, I didn’t say a word.
I
ordered juice and water.

“I asked you to come
this morning for a couple reasons. First, there’s something I want to tell you.”

“Okay, I have something
to tell you too,” she said, sounding excited about it.

“Is it exciting?”
I
asked her.

She
smiled,
a genuine smile that I rarely saw on my sister anymore. “It is good news.”

“Okay, well, you go
first then,”
I
told her.

“If you insist, Dad
hasn’t had a beer in over a week. He’s been going on job interviews too and he
cleaned the house while I was at school yesterday…like really cleaned it.”

I
tried to control my facial expression. I could tell she was
really
happy
about her “news” and I didn’t want to make her feel bad.

I
made myself wait a beat and I controlled my voice as well when I said, “That’s
good, Callie. He’s done this before though—”

“I know, Braxton!” she
cut
me
off. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap, but I
know, okay? I’ve been there all along, longer than
you
by the way.
I
know how he has made and broken
promises, and broken our hearts along the way. But he didn’t make any show of
it this time, he just did it. He’s gone to a meeting every night this week. His
sponsor has been by the house a couple of times so that’s the only way
I
knew.
I
thought he was just going
to the bar like usual. He got his unemployment check and stocked the house with
groceries. He asked
me
if I needed anything for
school. I think he’s finally worked through his grief.”

“You think that’s what
this was, all this time, Callie?
Grief?”

“I think that’s what
started it.
I
’m not saying he didn’t become an alcoholic,
but he wasn’t one before, right? He was a good dad when we were little, when Mom
was alive. I just want that guy back.” Her eyes were tearing up and
I
couldn’t stand to see her cry.
I
would agree with almost anything to stop that.

So
I
said, “Sure, Cal.
I
want him back too and maybe you’re
right. I hope you are.”

“Thank you. I know
things are harder between you and Dad than they are me and him.”

“It’s been hard on all
of us, Callie. I’m going to try and keep an open mind for you, Cal.”

“Thanks,” she said
again. “So tell me your news.”

The waitress brought
our food and set it on the table in front of us. Callie dug into her pancakes
with gusto.
I
took a bite of my eggs and said, “I’m
going to ask
Emmi
to marry me.”

Callie squealed like a
little pig and jumped across the booth to hug
me
. We
were attracting a bit of attention, but she didn’t seem to care. “I’m so happy!
I love her; I was so afraid that you would end up with one of those brainless
Barbie dolls you used to date and Christmas and all the other family holidays
would be excruciating.”

I
laughed and said, “More so than they are now?”

“You know what I mean.
I
like
Emmi
a lot. Thank goodness!
I’m so happy!”

“Well, I haven’t asked
her yet. There’s always the possibility that she will say no.”

“She won’t say no, she
loves you.”

“What do you know about
it?”
I
asked her with another laugh.

“Girls know these
things.
I
can see it in her eyes. She loves you. You
better be good to her though.”

“I plan to, but just
out of curiosity, what would you do if I wasn’t?”

She made a face that
I
guessed was her ‘tough’ face, flexed her muscle and did a
fist to hand punch.

“Scary,”
I
told her.

“I know,” she said. “My
big brother is a champion fighter.”

“Not yet, almost.
That’s the other thing. I have a ticket for you.”

“Aw,
Braxton.
I love you, I do, and I wish you all
the luck in the world tonight, but I really cannot stand watching that.”

“I know,”
I
told her. “And I wouldn’t ask you
to
normally. But
I
’m proposing to
Emmi
tonight right after the fight, win or lose. I’d like you to be there for that.”

She sighed and rolled
her eyes. “Okay, but this is no way an endorsement of your lifestyle.” She smirked.

CHAPTER
NINE

EMMI

Zoe and
I
were sitting in my room. Tonight was Braxton’s big fight
and he left a while before.
I
gave him what I thought
was my best kiss and wished him luck before he left.
I
really, really wished that the fight would only go one round.
I
knew I should have been more excited since it was his last
one, but my stomach was sick thinking about him getting pummeled again.

“So what was it you
wanted to tell me?” she asked, bringing
me
out of my
reverie.

“Oh! Guess what?”

“What?” she said,
sarcastically.

“Well, never mind if
you’re going to be like that,”
I
said.
I
was kidding and she knew it. She waited
me
out and at last I said, “I’m going to be the lead photography editor at the
paper, head of the whole department.”

“Shut up!”

“I will not!” We both
giggled,
it was a silly routine we used to do in high school
.

“When did this happen?”

“The
day before yesterday.
Sarah’s graduating and she’s
recommending me as her replacement.”

“Wow,
Emmi
, that’s amazing.
So proud of you,
sista
.”

“Thanks,”
I
said, gushing. “I’m proud of me too.”

“The
day before yesterday?
Why am I just hearing about it
now?”

“I’m sorry. I hadn’t had
a chance to tell Braxton yet.”

“Oh, I see,” she said.
“Here we go, you’re in love and all of a sudden the best friend is old news,
pushed right out of the fold.”

“Shut up!”
I
told her.

“I will not!” she said
with a giggle.

We finished getting
ready for the fight.
I
was a little reluctant and Zoe
could sense it. She kept telling me to keep in mind that after tonight it would
all
be
over and I’d never have to watch him fight
again…even if we were married for a hundred years.

“Yeah
right, married.
He still hasn’t said a word about the
ring. I’m pretty sure it was his mom’s or something and I was just letting my
silly imagination get away with me.”

“You never know,” Zoe
said. “Let’s get going or we’re going to be late.”

I
unenthusiastically grabbed my camera bag and said, “I’m ready, let’s go.”

We were a little late,
so when we got there, the place was already packed. Since Braxton was the hot
ticket he had gotten a whole row reserved for his guests and as Zoe and
I
made our way toward it I was surprised to see the back of
two heads already seated who looked very familiar.

“Mom?
Dad?
What are you guys doing here?”

My
mother, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, looking much younger than her forty-two
years said, “Braxton invited us, and we thought it would be fun.”

I
looked at my dad who I knew might enjoy this and raised an eyebrow. “Braxton
invited you guys?
When?”

“He called me last
week,”
my
dad said. He called him? Braxton called
my
father? That was just…weird. What was weirder was
my
passive mother who was dead set against any kind of
violence, sitting in the audience, two rows away from the cages with a smile on
her face.

“You don’t mind that
we’re here, dear, do you?”
My
face must have been
showing my concern.
I
didn’t mind they were here at all,
it was just…strange.

“No, Mom.
Of course not.
I
was just
surprised. Braxton didn’t tell me he called you.”

“Well, not
me
dear, he called your father.”

I
smiled.
My
mother was one of those concrete thinkers.
“Okay, well, he didn’t tell me that either.” They both just shrugged. My dad
got up and gave me a kiss on the cheek, which wasn’t weird, but then he grabbed
me in a big hug, and whispered, “I love you, baby girl,” which wouldn’t have
been weird if I hadn’t seen him for a long time, or was leaving on a long trip,
but we just had dinner last week. It made
me
more
curious.

CHAPTER
TEN

BRAXTON

“You ready, kid?”

Sam and
I
were sitting in the back room, waiting for them to call my
name.
I
was staring at his cauliflower ear, but not
really looking at it.
I
was wondering what
Emmi
was going to say when I asked her to marry me.
My
stomach was in knots. Her parents were there, Zoe too and
I
even invited Callie.
I
wasn’t sure if she would come or not, she hated watching me fight, but I told
her about proposing and she’s a nosy little shit, so she might show.