Re: Dinner: Cris/Lou/Sam
Sam didn't think about how stupid it was to send Cris for rum after giving him endless shit about needing to take a few days off work because of his knee. Sam didn't think a lot, and that was a good example, yeah? They needed something to drink, and Sam was used to asking Cris for shit she needed. Full stop, yeah? And she didn't think about the fact that she was a dumbass until he fought his way through the door, limping and carrying a million fucking things. And, ok, guilty as fucking charged, because even THEN she didn't notice right away. Because he was singing, yeah? Dark glasses low and camiseta, barrio through and fucking through, and it made butterflies flap their fucking wings relentless in Sam's belly.
She watched as Cris picked up the baby, and she didn't harp, yeah? Tho it was hella obvious he shouldn't be bending over. But she let him, because she was staring and listening. And, yeah, she just wasn't focused on him being injured bad or anything.
Sam took a few more heady drags from the clove, and she put it out on the sill as he neared with the baby. She might not win moms of the year, but she tried not to smoke where Joey could inhale the stuff. Most times she did good, but Joey was being raised real unconventional, yeah? Laundry basket for a bed, scarf-sling for a carrier, and it was safe to say this kid wasn't going to have the kind of childhood detailed in any of those thick books about being the parental BOMB.
He came close, leaned, and Sam sighed like some fucking virgin let out of school early and macking on the hottie cop in the undershirt. It was young, yeah? With that cherry gloss, and her body swayed toward his like a magnet. Face tipped up before he even leaned in for that kiss, and she was eager as beavers when he kissed her. Her toes, bare save for those mustard tights, curled. And she shoved at his shoulder lighter than she woulda if he wasn't holding the baby, yeah? When he complimented her. "You're taking those days off, yeah?" she knew the answer was yeah, because he had files with him, and her grin was sweetness gone smug and tainted filthy. She stretched up on tiptoes to kiss him again, and then she heard the rap at the door.
She knew it was Lou, yeah? Remembered or whatever, but fuck it. She kissed Cris hard, and she had the decency of flushing bright as poppies when she moved away to go greet her brother.
Now, Lou was fucked up, yeah? There was no arguing that he was fucked up. Shit was bad, whatever, but Sam wasn't scared of him or anything. Even with the KO incident in New York, Sam wasn't worried. She knew how that fucking deity operated, yeah? It wanted Lou to be docile or whatever, like saints riding their santeros, and that shit was easy when the mount was willing. So, yeah, she got that it was gonna be a bitch to get this resolved, but she wasn't scared, and he was STILL her brother. Nah, man, she was more worried that he would kill someone and get fried in the chair for it, yeah? That was her worry.
So, when Lou walked in, admonishing about cigarettes and calling them a table or something, Sam crossed the room and pounced.
Ok, so Lou was SO fucking thin, but Sam figured he could manage to not get bowled the fuck over. See, Sam didn't know a fucking thing about politeness or behaving good with family. Lou was invited, and that meant he as good as lived there. Family didn't get treated like guests, yeah? It was simple as that, and Lou could expect to roll his sleeves up and change shitty diapers as needed. So, she hugged him tight, glomp and on her tiptoes, and then she rocked back onto her heels and looked her brother over close.
"You still look tired," she told him, fingers pressing divots into his cheeks, and what the fuck was personal space? Sam had no concept of it, and the finger-press bruises that circled her wrist were mauve stark against old scars and paper-thin pale.
And when it came to helping, Sam grinned gappy wide. "Cris is sitting his fucking ass DOWN, since he's not supposed to be on his feet. And I SLAVED over the stove, so you get to serve everything." Bossy and bright, and with a kiss to Lou's cheek before going to plop herself down at the tall dining table at the kitchen.