Page 92 of Lau Ahi
Sasha’s wine was almost violently ejected from her mouth, WJ’s glass hit the table and my mother had to grab a napkin to prevent her wine from staining her dress when her jaw dropped open.
“Excuse me?” She sputtered her outrage as though I were supposed to uphold her image while she tarnished mine.
Ridiculous.
“I don’t believe I stuttered, Mother. My diction is near-perfect thanks to you.” I smiled as Ori sat down, keeping me between him and his grandfather. I thought it was sweet how they both wanted to keep me surrounded by their positivity. I placed my napkin in my lap before taking a sip of the water goblet that had been placed at my setting. I was sure nothing had been done to it because Ori’s grandfather was here and they hadn’t expected me to sit here.
Despite how he was behaving, Ori would never change my stance on men. He might have been proving to be a decent man, but the rest of them sucked on principle. Well, Pappy raised him so he might be included in that as well. The other four billion could kiss my ass.
“Ori, I’m sure you can tell that is my sister Sasha and my older brother William Jr. This is Maluhia Nakoa, Ori’s grandfather.”
“The introductions have already made, my love, but thank you for joining us tonight.”
My dad was sitting at the opposite end of the table and I knew he was pissed I wasn’t closer to him. He had my mother on one side, my brother on the other and Sasha almost directly across from me. Ori was sitting across from WJ, then me, then his grandfather at the other end of the table. I appreciated that my mother hadn’t tried to confiscate this seat for herself but of course we’d just arrived so there was no telling what had been done before we got here.
“I’m happy to see you all. I know it’s rare we all get to gather but I’m happy our schedules could come together before the wedding.” It wasn’t a lie because I was happy to see some of them. I just wish we’d been able to leave the dead weight behind.
“You two are absolutely stunning together, Sissy. You failed to mention that the man could wear a suit as if it were created forhis form. You two look like a couple that needs to be on the cover of a magazine.”
I blushed at Sasha’s words because I knew she didn’t say things she didn’t mean. I thought it was sweet that she’d broken out of her role as mediator.
“You’re being silly.”
“No, your sister is right. I can say that Ori is passingly attractive but you my dear are stunning. He’s all polished up tonight and I’m sure that’s some of your influence.” Pappy’s smile was genuine and when I glanced at my father he wore a similar look on his face.
“Thank you, Pappy.”
My brother cleared his throat and then glanced around the table, tensing, thinking of what it was he was going to say. In the last few years, he’d gotten distracted and I knew it was because my mother had gotten in his ear. He didn’t look the way he had even a few years ago allowing his vices to take hold when he wasn’t given the position that he felt entitled to.
“Glad y’all are finally here, can we order now?”
ORI
I wonder if Asha will be upset if I kill her brother.
My fingers curled around my knife at the thought of wanting to plunge it directly into his carotid and watch the arterial blood spray like a faucet all over his mother’s face. The only issue was that it might hit her twin, but it would’ve been a small price to pay.
And I would have an easy way to bury the body since this is one of the family restaurants.
Pappy had done a lot of interjecting in attempts to keep my temper in check and although I appreciated him, I was going to eventually need to blow off some steam when it came to myfiancée’s family. Preferably with my fist hitting someone’s face repeatedly until they were no longer recognizable.
Her sister was cool, if not slightly overbearing, her mother was a bitch, her father seemed too keen on observing and her brother… that fucker was his mother reincarnated. I could tell something had shifted in their relationship because even Asha was surprised at some things he was saying to her or how he wasn’t stepping in for her when his mother started her bullshit. The idea that siblings wouldn’t band together was foreign to me because although they weren’t my blood, I was going to bat for my brothers every time. Their situation was unusual for me to witness but it gave me insight to how she reacted in specific situations and why.
We’d ordered steaks for the table and despite being a model her sister ate a normal portion of food and wasn’t trying to subsist on air and crunchy water. It increased my positive opinion of her.
Conversation had been formal and didn’t touch on much that was personal and I was sure that was by design. Pappy and Mr. Avery carried much of the conversation and her mother focused more on her drinks than what was going on. The twins had been joking about a few of their mutual friends and Sasha was regaling us with some of her fashion week escapades.
“So, I’m sure I’m part of the bridal party so we’ll need to get fitted for everything soon, right? Do you all have a date?” William Jr.’s question threw me off guard because I hadn’t expected him to care about being involved with the ceremony let alone thinking he was going to have a special role.
“We do.”
William Jr. waited expectantly as though I was supposed to give him the information as eagerly as he seemed to want it. He would need to understand, and very quickly, I didn’t give a fuck about him beyond the fact that he was Asha’s brother. That wasa tenuous association as it was and if I found out she didn’t really fuck with him, I wouldn’t either.
He was dressed in a full suit more suitable for a business meeting than an upscale family dinner. The cut was stern giving off an air of rigidity that wasn’t necessary for our gathering.
Loser.
He gave off vibes that he would be sneaky or do his mother’s bidding, which meant I needed to keep a closer eye on him than originally planned.
