I can’t believe how much like my kids these two are and I wonder how much worse it gets when Tyler and Heather are around as well. “I swear you two are just as bad as my kids! Grow up and be the adults you should be. I swear that my kids, mind you who are all under the age of ten, are more mature than you two in front of other people. Joshua Scott, you are 38, and Samantha Marilyn-“ I begin scolding them.
“You told her my middle name?!” Jazz shouts at her brother.
“My middle name’s Marie, so now we’re even. Back to the matter at hand. Samantha Marilyn, you’re 30 years old, and need to grow up. You’re both horrible. You make my kids seem like perfect angels! What in the fuck is wrong with you? I understand that you’re siblings, but this is bullshit! I swear, I just, I don’t, aaaaahhhhhh!” I shout, turning on my heel and head for the yard to find most of the people have already started heading home. “James!”
“What’s up, Sam?” he inquires, cautiously approaching me looking like a scolded child.
“Round up the kids and please take us to my house,” I demand.
“Why? What happened?”
I close my eyes, taking a deep breath and curling my hands into fists at my sides. “Just now, please.”
“Mik, Liyah, Demi, we have to go. Mommy is mad and needs space from Josh.”
“What did he do?” Mikal asks.
I watch my youngest walk into the house with his sister, hearing her laugh keys me in to what may have happened and they storm back out with his favorite pair of Converses. Aaliyah hucks them into the pool and looks like she’s on a mission. “We can go home when you’re ready, mom,” my daughter tells me.
“Sam.” I flip him off and walk away from him, mad as hell. “Come talk to me.”
“No, I’m going home cuz I’m mad and it’s better and safer if I do.”
I walk through the gate and load my kids into James’ car, going home to prevent the imminent fight we would have if I stayed. We ride in silence and get out, Mikal letting the younger ones into the car. James follows me up to make sure we’re okay. “What happened?”
I launch into the whole scene. “-and then I got so upset that I stuttered and stumbled over my own words, quickly storming out and leaving. Now, we’re home and I just need some time and space to calm down.”
“Wow. I always knew they kind of get childish when they fight, but this is a whole new level of it, even for them. I can’t believe they got that bad.”
“I know I love him, but, I’m not sure about how he feels.”
I begin sobbing and James rubs my back, attempting to soothe my clearly frayed nerves. “Trust me, you’re on the same page with each other,” he hints, not giving me a straight answer.
“I don’t get why he gets like this around his sister when I can get along just fine with her.”
“I don’t know, but they’ve always kind of gotten on each other’s last nerves from day one.”
"It just doesn't explain it; he's not this bad with anyone else."
"She's been able to get under his skin, setting him off because she always irritates that one final nerve."
I shake my head, unable to grasp the concept of how he reacts the way he does to Jazz and Jazz alone. "My little cousins, niece, nephew, and my own kids have gotten on my last fucking nerve more often than I care enough to admit!"
"I understand that because Justin more often than not had been on my last nerve, Chris sometimes was dancing on the same nerve right beside him," he confesses to me. My phone rings and once the caller's name pops onto the screen I hand it to James, silently allowing him the chance to answer. "Jace, she's downright pissed off at you. For being childish toward your baby sister. Don't expect her to answer you right off the bat, though." He balls up his hand and opens it in a mimic of a speaker. I take it and put it on speaker, leading him outside as I hand it back to him and sit on the porch because the kids had just gone to bed. "Go for it, man."
"Sam?" I knock on the table. He sighs in complete defeat. "Please, forgive me. I was childish and I know that egging my sister on didn't help matters, but I know that we both know that we need each other in our lives. I'm admitting it. I don't blame you for being upset with me and I take full blame. I miss you. Please, talk to me. I need you more than I've ever needed anyone before. You're my best friend. You're my lover. You mean so much to me that I can't begin to tolerate losing you. I'm hurting because you won't talk to me. I have never once in my life been so desperate to keep anybody around that didn't want to stay. Every single time that we're apart from each other, it hurts like a broken heart. This is my first time fighting this hard to ask, no, beg for anyone to stay, to be with me, to not walk away. You understand me and only see the man my parents raised, the same guy who's been through all the shit he has to be where and who he is now. I need you. I want you in my life. Please." He's sobbing. His voice is cracking. This is coming from his heart. He actually means it. Lance nods to confirm it. I point to the phone and then the table, snapping my fingers again before pointing down again.
"She wants you to come to her place now."
"Give me about half an hour and I will be there. If you want Lance there, I'll agree to anything you want."
"Whoa, Jace! That's making you seem desperate to keep her!"
"Did you not hear me pleading and begging? I am desperate to keep her! I need and want her in every way imaginable other than for sex! Man, she gets to me in ways I thought couldn't happen. She has me in ways that even Eva can't even fathom getting to me. You damn well know exactly how I feel about her. I don't want to lose her. She went home three or four hours ago and I keep singing You Ruined Me, Lose Myself, Dear Goodbye and Build My World the entire time, driving myself up a wall and when I was singing Tearin' Up My Heart and I Want You Back and It's Gonna Be Me and This I Promise You and Good For You made me realize that we belong together. I don't think I could forgive myself if I just let her go without a fight."
"That's a first. I guess you feel the way you do because..."
"That's what I mean, Lance."
