Friday night.

Our house.

The night started out odd.

Not everyone was there, just the family. Remmey wanted it that way, but he didn't tell us why.

Claire was there, pregnant as ever, with the girls trying to pull her in every direction. I could tell that she was exhausted and tried to keep them off her as much as I could, but it was like there were four little toddlers running around instead of two.

My poor sister.

Christian and Remmey were outside, mostly, talking about things that no one else needed to hear. Rico seemed agitated and kept pacing around the house, stopping every so often to watch the front door.

Lola had pushed two tables together, covered them with a single tablecloth, and was now setting the table for what looked like more seats than people. Chris and Rah were sitting in the living room cleaning guns and lining them up along the coffee table and walls as they put each one back together and reloaded.

I tried to keep the girls as far away from that side of the room as possible.

Lola finished setting the table and walked out to where Claire and I were trying to keep up with the babies.

Rah reloaded the last gun and Chris picked up a rifle to move to the next room.

Suddenly the front door opened and everything...stopped.

Rico stopped pacing.

The girls stopped running circles around me, Claire, and Lola.

Rah and Chris put the guns down and stood up.

Christian's father walked through the door like he was walking into his own son's house. He nodded at Chris and Rah, who respectfully nodded back. Neither of them moved from where they stood. Mr. Duvalle then looked over at Rico and nodded. I could tell that Rico was grinding his teeth when he nodded back.

Rico only grinded his teeth when he was nervous.

I didn't see him do it very often.

Christian's father stepped to the side and opened the door wider for his wife, who paused and looked directly at Rico before stepping inside and opening her arms wide to the girls.

Sammy and Charity ran straight to her and almost knocked her down, they were hugging her so hard.

Mrs. Duvalle looked over at Rico again, then over at me and smiled. Charity walked over to her and moved the girls out of the way.

"Mama," Charity said quietly, giving her a tight hug, "What are you doing here?"

"Rico invited us." Mrs. Duvalle locked eyes with Rico again.

Rico nodded silently to her and then walked into the other room.

Mrs. Duvalle stepped further into the house and Remmey came in behind her.

He didn't say anything, but nodded his head for Chris and Rah to follow him out the door. Chris picked up his rifle and Rah put a pistol in his pocket and another in the small of his back before following Remmey out.

Neither of them came back inside.

When Remmey walked back in, Rico was standing with Mr. Duvalle speaking quietly, cordially, to him. Remmey looked over at the girls, then at the guns, and nodded for Rico to help him take the rest of the guns to the back room.

Mr. Duvalle walked over to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into a warm, fatherly hug.

It felt good.

I hadn't had one of those in a really long time.

Rico paused and stared at me, then at Mr. Duvalle's arm around me, until I became uncomfortable enough to reflexively step away from him and out of his embrace.

I felt bad as soon as I did it.

Mr. Duvalle, who had his back to Rico, looked questioningly over at his wife.

Mrs. Duvalle had been staring at Rico the whole time, just as hard as he was staring at me. Her husband followed her eyes and then looked back at me.

"How's life treating you, daughter?" he asked in his bold, rich, deep voice. A voice that could soothe and startle at the same time.

Rico and I both snapped out of it.

Rico went back to collecting handguns off the table, while Remmey picked up the last rifle, and they both disappeared down the hall.

I smiled uneasily at Mr. Duvalle. "Fine." I avoided Mrs. Duvalle's gaze altogether. I already knew what she was thinking and didn't want to see that knowing look in her eyes right then.

Lola watched us and waited for the air to clear before walking over to Mrs. Duvalle and hugging her tightly.

"Mama."

"It's been too long." Mrs. Duvalle pulled back and looked into her eyes. "You stay away too long."

Lola nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."

Mrs. Duvalle embraced her once more, then finally let her go.

Mr. Duvalle walked over and gave her the same warm embrace that he had just given me, and Rico and Remmey walked back into the room.

Mrs. Duvalle waited until Mr. Duvalle released Lola, then started ushering the babies toward the two tables that Lola had pushed together and set. She helped Charity into one chair, while Claire helped Sammy up into another next to her.

"Smells good," Mr. Duvalle said, following his wife's lead and clapped his hand on Rico's shoulder. He looked directly into Rico's eyes. "The wife and I always appreciate a good meal, son. Happy to hear from you."

Rico nodded, but didn't answer.

Claire sat down in a chair next to Sammie and I started to sit next to Charity.

Lola reached out her hand to stop me.

"This your table, girl." She shifted her eyes to the head, opposite of where Rico had just positioned himself.

I looked over at Mrs. Duvalle, who nodded, and in an effort to keep from making the meal even more awkward than it already was, I decided to just sit down where Lola told me to. But I knew Mr. and Mrs. Duvalle, being the elders, should have been at the head of the table.

Rico knew it, too.

I avoided Rico's eyes and looked down at my hands.

Mr. Duvalle held the chair out for his wife to sit down next to Charity, who immediately grabbed her grandmother's arm and squeezed it tight. Then he helped me sit down in the chair next to her. Remmey held the chair out for Lola, and then sat next to her. Christian sat next to Rico, across from Claire, and Mr. Duvalle sat next to me, across from his wife.

When I asked Mr. Duvalle if he would like to bless the food, the gracelessness of him not sitting at the head of the table was even more amplified.

Again, I avoided Rico's eyes.

Mr. Duvalle stood up, gracious as always, and asked everyone to bow their heads.

I could feel Rico's eyes burning a hole into me from all the way across the table.

"Gracious and merciful Lord, thank you for allowing us one more day to break bread with our family, who we love so much."

"Yes, Lord," Mrs. Duvalle whispered.

"We are ever so grateful for your blessings and for this bountiful meal. We are grateful for each and every one of our children and for the olive branch extended to us, reminding us that we are not only family, but that our sons will always be brothers, on yet another anniversary of our precious son, Jeremiah's, passing. So many years have come and gone, Lord, and still we miss him every day." He paused. "We all do, Lord. Miss him so very much..."

"Yes, we do, Lord," Christian and his mother both said in unison.

I could hear Lola sniffing back tears.

I opened my eyes and peaked over at Rico.

His eyes were closed, and his head was bowed, but he was nodding solemnly in agreement.

Lola wiped away giant teardrops that were falling from her eyes faster than she could catch them. Remmey put his arm around her and pressed his cheek somberly against hers. Then he moved his hand down to her hand and held it tightly.

I closed my eyes again.

"...and as we continue to mourn such a tragic and painful blow to our family, even to this day, let us rejoice in the new life that You have blessed us with. We are so very grateful for the precious and innocent souls that You have charged us with protecting, nurturing, and rearing the best way that we know how. Sammy, Charity, and our new baby boy, who grows stronger and stronger within the love of my son's life every day."

I opened my eyes again and looked over at Rico.

His grin was wider than his face.

That was our first time hearing that the new baby was a boy.

Mrs. Duvalle felt me sit forward in my seat and also opened her eyes to see what happened. She looked from Rico, to Claire, and back to me. After I quickly closed my eyes, so did she.

"To replace one son with another is more of a blessing than any of us could have hoped for, and even though we will miss our Jeramiah every single day, the joyfulness of this new life is not lost on any of us. In Jesus name, let us protect these little ones from all harm, and let any ill-will that may come against them show itself immediately and be dealt with swiftly, for it is in Your will that we follow, it is in Your word that we clothe and protect ourselves, and it is in Your precious and Holy name that we continue to shield our children from all harm. Amen..."

The rest of us lifted our heads slowly and said "Amen."

My eyes went immediately back to Rico.

Mrs. Duvalle's eyes went immediately back to me.

Everyone else started talking and passing dishes around, but I could tell that Remmey and Lola were watching how Mrs. Duvalle was watching me.

Rico grinned happily over at me, then at Claire.

There was no malice whatsoever in his face or in his voice when he leaned over to my sister and said "Congratulations."

For some reason Claire paused anyway, fork mid-air, and looked at Christian, first, before looking back at Rico and saying, "Thank you."

Christian who, like me, could sense that there was something in Rico's...words...maybe his voice...maybe even his eyes, that made my sister suddenly uneasy, immediately put his fork down and shifted his war-hardened gaze over to Rico.

Mr. Duvalle looked over at Christian, then Claire, then Rico, and finally at Remmey. I could tell that whatever Claire wasn't feeling about what Rico had just said, or the way he had said it, Mr. Duvalle wasn't feeling it either.

Remmey and Lola simultaneously looked back at Mr. Duvalle.

Mrs. Duvalle broke the tension by putting her hand over mine.

"Jazz, this is simply delicious. What a wonderful treat. Thank you so much."

I smiled at her and then looked down at my plate. Then I looked over at Lola. I wasn't sure what to say, since I hadn't been the one to put any part of that meal together, and hadn't even known that the Duvalles were coming until they walked through the door.

"Thank you, Lola." It was the only way that I could think of to say all of that without sounding like I didn't want Christian's parents there...which couldn't have been further from the truth.

Lola smiled and nodded, then followed my eyes back to Rico.

I could almost see the food cooking in his mouth, he was so excited about the baby.

Claire's baby.

I wished that he would settle down, but it was like he had just found out that he, himself, was having a son. Not Christian.

Again, Christian eyed Rico as Rico smiled adoringly over at Claire.

Now Remmey was watching Rico, too.

"Be easy, son." It was hard to tell who Mr. Duvalle was talking to, since he was looking at all three of them.

"Any names yet?"

Claire stared hard at Rico, and then glanced over at Christian again before answering "No."

Rico nodded and looked down at his plate, then back over at Claire. "I knew you would have a son."

Now I put my fork down, too.

"Rico..." I said quietly, hoping to stop him before he blurted out everything that he needed to keep to himself.

Rico, ignoring me, grinned wider and reached out to touch Claire's belly.

Before Rico's hand could get anywhere near Claire, Christian jumped out of his chair so fast that he knocked the chair into Lola. Remmey quickly stood up and moved her out of the way.

Mr. and Mrs. Duvalle also jumped up at the same time.

Christian pulled on the tablecloth and knocked everything in his way onto the floor as he blindly lunged at Rico. He didn't see the babies crying when their long-awaited meal fell off the table, some of it onto them. He didn't see his pregnant wife directly in the path of everything that he was about to do.

All he saw was black.

I know that's what he was seeing because that's all I saw right before I stabbed Papa.

Mrs. Duvalle quickly grabbed Charity and Sammy, moving them back behind her when they started to cry.

I ran around to the other side of the table and tried to stand in between Rico, Claire and Christian. Lola moved the girls further out of the way, and Mrs. Duvalle immediately pulled me aside before putting both arms around Claire to block her pregnant belly. She knew her post-war son well enough to know that anyone who got in his way right then would be perceived as...a threat. 

"Let's go, Claire." She quickly rushed my frozen sister, who was clutching her belly and gawking at Christian, out of the house.

Lola followed them with the girls.

Charity automatically followed behind her grandmother when Mrs. Duvalle took Claire outside, but Sammy, in rare form, struggled against Lola with every thing her little body had trying to get back to the table and to her daddy.

It almost looked like she was trying to fight with him.

I watched them all.

My feet were glued to the floor.

Christian, in the midst of all that, had still somehow gotten across the table and knocked Rico out of his chair.

Just that quick, Rico's whole face was bloody.

Christian was swinging in a calculated rhythm that seemed to disorient Rico and made it impossible for him to get up.

Rico started laughing as Christian swung harder and harder.

Rico's nose was definitely broken.

Christian was all over Rico. It was hard to figure out how to get in and stop him.

Remmey and Mr. Duvalle just...stood there.

Remmey, probably just remembering that I was still in the room, said quietly, "Jazzy. Go outside."

His voice and his tone caused my focus to instantly shift to him.

Our eyes locked.

"Go outside, Jazzy Baby. Go check on the girls."

I looked over at Rico one more time and saw him raise up his hands in surrender.

"Aight nigga. Aight. Aight. Damn ma' fugga. Aight."

Christian swung again.

"Don't you." Swack! The sound of Rico's already broken nose caving into Christian's relentless fist was sickening. "Ever." Swack! "Fucking touch." Swack! Swack! "What's mine." Swack! Swack! Swack! "Ma'." Swack! "Fucka."

Swack! Swack! Swack!

"Jazzy. Leave." I looked over at Remmey again. "Now."

I left.

Christian was beating Rico so bad that my heart was actually hurting for him.

When I turned to look at Remmey one last time, it was all over his face that he knew what I was feeling, and he was not too happy about it.

Mr. Duvalle and Remmey started moving toward Rico and Christian as soon as I turned to leave.

Not two minutes after I went outside to sit with Mrs. Duvalle, Claire, Lola and the girls, Christian stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind him so hard that the screen broke and fell off the hinges into the grass.

The babies started screaming at the sudden noise.

Claire looked over at Mrs. Duvalle and burst into tears.

Lola just shook her head and pulled out a cigarette.