“Last time I checked, this was still my house, young lady. That means I can invite anyone I want to dine with us. Besides, I don’t recall inviting old Max here, but you brought him anyway.”
“Fine, Uncle Jack. What time is dinner? I’m starved.”
“We can all sit down now. Come on everyone, let’s eat. The boss is hungry. James, turn that TV off and come sit down.”
Everyone rushed into the dining room to take their seats as the aunties placed the food on the table. Kayla did her best to sit next to PJ, but Andrews slid into the seat to her right. Since Max was on her left, Kayla was forced to sit across the table from them.
Andrews scooted his chair closer to PJ, making her even more uncomfortable than she was. He leaned over and whispered in her ear.
“I need to talk to you. I want you to come back to DC. You and I were good together and we can be again.”
“Fuck off, Andrews. I’m with Max now. I want nothing to do with you.”
She turned to Max and gave him a peck on the lips, which managed to piss off her uncle.
“Oh no, not at my table! I won’t stand for you kissing your little white boy at my dinner table.”
“I apologize for the show of affection at your table, Uncle Jack, but you need to stop with the racial epithets. His name is Max, not white boy.”
Uncle Jack scowled at her and shook his head. He appeared to be fighting an internal battle. PJ was sure he wanted to say something but was debating if he should or not. Apparently, the inner demon won because he blurted out the craziest words PJ had ever heard.
“Sonlita was my baby sister and I loved her with all my heart, but she ruined you. She wouldn’t listen to me. She took you to live up in that fancy mansion with those rich people talking about giving you a better life. Now look at you. You never come around your people and when you do, you bring these white men with you. It’s like that better life got you thinking you’re better than us.”
PJ’s eyes went wide as she listened to her uncle rant. She hated anyone to talk about her mother and was ready to lose her shit if he said another derogatory thing about the woman she idolized. Her aunt Shirley spoke up trying to diffuse the situation.
“Now, Jack, you need to stop before you say something you can’t take back. The child is here now. Let’s just enjoy this dinner.”
“No, Shirley, it’s time she hears the truth. There are too many secrets in this family, and I am getting too old to keep them anymore. I don’t want to take them to my grave. Jillian, I tried to talk you mother out of taking you away from us, but all she could see was money and a mansion and that white man.”
“Uncle Jack, what are you talking about?”
“Your mama and that man were together. You don’t think he paid for your schooling for nothing do you? She got paid by laying on her back and spreading her legs for that white man. It breaks my heart all over again to see you following in her footsteps.”
“What the hell? My mama was no hoe, and neither am I.”
“You come in here with this white boy. Don’t act like he’s not your man. I can tell he loves you by the way he looks at you. It won’t be long before you taint the family by adding him to it.”
“Uncle Jack, this has nothing to do with Max. Are you saying my mama and Mr. Aston were having an affair?”
He looked at PJ with pity in his eyes. She could tell the elder man was hell bent on telling her this tale. Whatever his motivation was a mystery. Uncle Jack did and said things that no one could explain. And no one dared to dispute him. At least not to his face.
“You ever wonder why they all wanted you and that Lattimore to be close friends. They used to joke that you were as close as brother and sister. Well, you need to ask that boy’s daddy about who his real mama was.”
“What are you saying? I don’t understand any of this.”
“Ask Lattimore Sr. why he let you and your mama live with him all those years. Why did he pay for you to go to that private school? Why did he happily pay for your college education? I’ll tell you why. Your mama was laying with that man and got pregnant. She gave that baby to the Astons because that lady couldn’t have children. Your mama stayed there so you and your brother, Lattimore could be raised together. That money old man Aston paid out was for her silence.”
PJ was done! Her uncle had lost his mind. There was no way her mama would have cheated with Mr. Aston. Latti and her were not related. Sure they were close, but not that close. It was time for her to leave. She stood, grabbed Max by the hand and walked out of that house, never to return. Her uncle had crossed the line of no return. She would never forgive him for putting such a black mark on her mother’s memory.