A Heart Not Easily Broken (The Butterfly Memoirs) (27 page)

Brad gained weight since I’d seen him. We were thick as thieves as kids. He was two years older than me and had dark hair and blue eyes, yet girls often thought we were brothers. He’d gotten a good job offer and moved to Florida two years ago. The man was a graphic designer wiz.

“Aunt Laura told me you would be home this week. I came out to visit my mom. Imagine my surprise when I found out you’d been traveling doing concerts. That’s awesome, man.” It was my turn to take a punch.

“Thanks. It looks as though life’s been good for you.” I reached over and poked his midsection.

“It definitely has.” His chest poked out in pride.

“We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

“Tell me about it. Let me start by introducing you to my wife.” Brad held out his hand and a dark colored hand connected with his.

I followed the arm to a green-eyed beauty with long curly hair. Brad married a black woman. It was hard to keep my mouth from dropping open. We always had similar taste in women.

“Brian, this is Tierra.”

I shut my mouth and grinned. “It’s nice to meet you.” I gestured Ebony over. “Baby, this is my crazy cousin, Brad, and his wife, Tierra. Guys, this is my girlfriend, Ebony.”

We stared at one other before sharing a laugh.

“It’s nice to finally meet you.” Tierra gave me a hug. “Brad has told me so many stories.” She repeated the gesture to Ebony. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“You have to share those stories,” Ebony said, her smile wide. Obvious surprise was all over her face.

“Let’s exchange numbers,” Tierra suggested.

Brad and I stood side-by-side and watched our ladies walk off. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know what they had in common or what they’d want to talk about, interracial dating and marriage. I had plenty of questions for Brad.

Before the night ended, we were definitely making plans to double date while they were in town.

Chapter 31

“Yasmine is going to hate us.”

“Yeah, but we’ve been out with them before. Your cousin is only in town for a few more days,” Ebony murmured against my mouth and slipped her lips over mine. Her fingers caressed the nape of my neck.

Instead of replying, I kissed her back. We were standing in the doorway of my house. Our scheduled dinner date with Brad and Tierra was only minutes away from where I lived.

My hands were on her hips, my fingers slowly inched up the hem of her dress. “They’d understand if we were a few minutes late.”

The logistics of making love against the wall in the foyer wouldn’t be hard. I had a condom in my pocket, and Ebony’s clothing left easy access…

“No, we should go.”

I didn’t miss the change of inflection in her voice. I pulled back and watched her regard the hallway behind me. “You’d rather wait until later? Even better, then I can get you completely naked.” I shut the door behind me and followed her down the driveway.

Her laugh sounded forced.

“Why don’t you drive?” She handed me the keys to her car.

“Is there something wrong with my truck?” I cocked an eyebrow.

“No, we always drive your truck. We can look a little classier this time.” She joked, but her heart wasn’t in it.

I palmed her keys, walked to the Nissan Maxima, and opened the door for her. We had all night to discuss whatever issues bothered her at my place after dinner.

Brad and Tierra were waiting when we arrived at the Mexican restaurant. The women exchanged hugs while Brad and I shook hands. We sat at the bar, ordered a round of drinks, and waited until a table became available. Ebony and Tierra sat on the only available stools at a small round table while we stood behind them in the crowded space. I contemplated sitting on the stool with Ebony in my lap after repeatedly being bumped into by the servers that rushed by.

Appraising our surroundings, it did not take long to notice the amount of attention we were getting from the restaurant patrons. People always watched us. I usually paid it no attention, not giving a damn about anyone’s opinions. But after Javan’s remarks, it was hard not to notice the narrow-minded people around us. What they thought wasn’t my concern. I only cared about Ebony’s well-being. She fidgeted in front of me. Apparently the sight of two white men with two beautiful black women was more than most people could handle.

It impressed me that Brad and Tierra were snuggled together ignoring the stares.

That’s how I wanted our relationship to be. No matter where we were, it would be about us. My gaze fell upon a table of black men, their eyes riveted on Brad and me. I stepped closer to Ebony, put my arm around her waist, and held her possessively, daring anyone to come over and say something about it.

“How do you guys do it?” Ebony asked.

Tierra responded first. “How do we ignore the stares?”

Ebony nodded.

“By entertaining them.” She signaled Brad with a finger. He laughed and leaned down for a kiss.

The kiss wasn’t graphic or X-rated, just not rushed. A glance at the men who’d been watching, revealed brazen disgust plastered on their faces as they went back to their drinks.

Brad smiled down at his wife. I could feel the love radiating from them as he ran a finger over her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you more,” Tierra replied, gazing back at him. It was as if no one, including, Ebony and I, existed. “Do you guys kiss in public?” Her attention turned back to us.

Ebony laughed nervously. “Well, our first kiss was in public. We hold hands all the time but don’t kiss very often…in places like this.”

“If I kiss her, we’re liable to be arrested for indecent exposure.”

“Brian.” Ebony swatted my arm.

“I’m serious. Every time I kiss you, I want to get you naked, not arrested.”

Brad chuckled. “How long have you been together?”

“Five months,” Ebony answered. “How about you guys?”

“A year and a half. We’ve been married for two months,” Tierra replied.

Realization dawned on me. “No wonder I didn’t get an invite to the wedding. I was out of town.”

Brad shook his head. “We didn’t do the big wedding thing. We kept it simple.”

“What he means is, we got married in Vegas,” Tierra corrected.

“It wasn’t what we planned.” Brad sipped his beer. “It wasn’t spontaneous either. We were already engaged.”

“Then, why Vegas?” Ebony sat in rapt attention.

Tierra sighed. “Because of my family.” She shot Ebony a knowing glance. “When my parents heard about Brad, about his job and how well he treated me, they couldn’t wait to meet him. But then they found out he wasn’t black…,” her voice faltered.

Brad rubbed her shoulders. “I could not win them over. They cut her off from family gatherings…” he shook his head in disgust.

“They call us if it’s an emergency or to find out if I’m still with the ‘white boy’.” She huffed. “It pisses me off that my family is so narrow mined.”

“It hurt to watch her deal with that kind of rejection; she comes from such a close knit family. I tried to break things off, but she wouldn’t let me. Instead, she asked me to marry her.”

Tierra laughed and wiped the corner of her eyes. “I surprised the hell out of him.”

“You can say that again. Here I am breaking up with her and she says, ‘marry me’. I realized it should have been me asking the question instead of trying to let her go.”

“That’s amazing.” Ebony’s eyes were wide with awe. “How did you guys end up in Vegas?”

“My company sent me on a business trip. A few days later, Tierra showed up to surprise me. We decided to avoid the wedding planning family drama and got married there.”

“We were marrying each other, not our families. No one needed to be there except us,” Tierra added.

Brad turned his gaze on me. “Is her family giving you any problems?”

“My brother and sister are the only ones who know. I haven’t told my parents,” Ebony spoke up.

“Why not?” Tierra spoke directly to her.

“Timing. Right now they’re trying to hook me up with sons of their friends. Their minds are set on who they think I should be with. I don’t want to just blurt out I’m dating Brian right after they tell me about yet another eligible black bachelor.”

Tierra reached across the table and patted Ebony’s hand. “Look, sweetie, I hate to tell you this, but their opinion of Brian isn’t going to change based on when you tell them. It’s not going to change how they feel. What you need to be is prepared to deal with it.”

“I know, it’s just”

“Do you love him?”

“With all my heart,” Ebony replied.

Hearing her say it aloud to someone else touched me to the depth of my soul.

“Then don’t waste time telling your family. Either they’ll accept who you love or they won’t. In the end, it’s about who you want to be with. Brad and Brian come from a very supportive family. You’ll never have to worry about being alone. And you’ll have me, too.” She smiled.

Ebony nodded, her hand rested on top of mine as I held her. Everyone sat silent for a moment.

“What does your family say now?” Ebony broke the silence.

Tierra and Brad gazed at each other and shared a secret smile. His hand slid down to her belly. “They’re taking it in stride. They have to if they want to get to know their first grandchild.” Tierra glowed.

“Hold up, you guys are having a baby?” My eyes widened in surprise.

“Yeah, can you believe it?” Brad followed his grin with a healthy swig of beer. I watched his cheeks redden; he appeared nervous about fatherhood. “Don’t tell anyone yet. We wanted to make an announcement last night, but my mom couldn’t make it. We’re going to tell her tomorrow when we meet for lunch.”

I walked around and gave Brad a one-armed man hug and patted him on the back. “Congratulations, both of you.”

“Congratulations,” Ebony echoed and leaned across the table to hug Tierra, her eyes glistening.

Believing her tears were just a girl thing was out of the question. Her tears solidified my desire to get to the bottom of things tonight.

“Young, party of four,” the hostess called.

We got up to follow her to our table. I reached for Ebony’s hand and stopped her.

Listening to their story opened my eyes. We were not the first interracial couple in the history of the world, but we were the only couple I knew of until now.

The time spent with Trina had been brief, but my feelings were not as deep as they were for Ebony. I’d thought long and hard about interracial dating after the run in with her brothers. I was aware there would be obstacles in our path. Tonight confirmed it. I’d never fully considered what Ebony’s life could be like without the support and love of her family. Tierra’s tale of hurt was the last thing I wanted my love to deal with.

In the middle of the restaurant, I placed my hands on either side of her face and kissed her long and slow.

Ebony laughed her surprise at the few claps from patrons.

“Wow, I’m still dressed.”

“Tonight, it’s about us, okay?”

She reached up to wipe lip-gloss from my mouth. “Okay.”

We headed for our table.

Chapter 32

Brian closed the passenger side door, then walked around and climbed into the driver’s seat. We’d been driving for a few minutes when I glanced over. He was unusually quiet. An overhead street light illuminated the car, showing him deep in thought. His eyebrows furrowed, his deep blue eyes focused on the road, and both hands clenched the wheel. Whatever was on his mind must have been serious. He didn’t even acknowledge the radio when his favorite song came on.

Maybe we mused about the same thing.

Thank God my family wasn’t giving me the same kind of grief Tierra’s family gave her. Then again, everyone in my family didn’t know about Brian. My parents’ thoughts on the situation worried me more than Lashana or Trevon’s.

I had imagined what my parents would say once they found out. My father, a man of few words, would probably give me the same stern look he gave me as a child. The look that said I should rethink my decision and find another option.

My mother would ignore what I said and tell me about eligible bachelors number thirty-five and thirty-six…tall, dark, and blah, blah, blah. She would pretend to listen and then insist a relationship with a black man would be way easier than an interracial one.

That wasn’t true.  Relationships, no matter what race, were difficult. It took work on both people’s parts to make it work. Happiness and satisfaction had nothing to do with the color of someone’s skin.

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the complete truth.

The difference in skin color could make it harder to relate to each other on a certain level. In the end, it all came down to how much emphasis we put on the differences.

But those differences, no matter how small or great, could make you become an open-minded person. Those differences could keep your relationship alive and interesting as time went on.

The time spent with Patrick taught me only one thing: being goal oriented, hard workers, and the same race were the only things we had in common. Our relationship lacked the most important things, such as support, genuine love, and understanding. He never approved of my job but wanted me to support him.

Brian was different; he wanted me to succeed. He loved and supported me, even when I turned away his help. His feelings for me were genuine, not forced, not faked.

The only difference was the color of our skin. It didn’t change what lay beneath, in our hearts. I embraced our differences. The texture of his hair, the color of his eyes, the firmness of his narrow lips…

Being with someone else would never be an option, black, white, or any other race.

I loved the man, the person, the human being.

I had to admit, Tierra made some very valid points. Telling my parents now or months from now would not change how they felt. In the end, what mattered most was what I wanted.

I wanted Brian.

The illuminated lights on the dashboard read nine o’clock, which meant it would be midnight in Charlotte. It was too late to call, but first thing in the morning, I would.