When your mother said she was 'cooking,' she conveniently failed to disclose that it meant she was having a small 'gathering' with several of your aunts and a couple uncles. There are kids darting around playing with Zeus and oldies rocking the foundation of the entire house from the basement entertainment system. Usually when she told you this it meant she had too much food, come get some, and maybe you'd see a couple relatives drive through while you sat there for a couple hours.
Keyword: couple.
You pull into the driveway, suddenly feeling like your chest is constricting. Those aunts and those uncles of yours sure know how to kill your spirit and that's when you're by yourself. But now you aren't by yourself. It's you, Sydney, Kayla and N'Jadaka, all stuffed into your Cruze. Your friends were already coming, that's a given, but N'Jadaka only agreed to get dragged along for the food and with the promise you wouldn't be there longer than an hour and a half.
You like his damn nerve, but you didn't plan on staying long anyway; the Museum downtown is having a special exhibit on Monet and you're dying to see those iconic paintings in person before they move cities.
The tickets are in your purse, and he is taking you.
Meanwhile, he's staring you dead in the side of your head and you nervously glance over at him, smushed in your passenger's seat. Your friends are snickering behind you and your stomach is growling and you feel like a bus driver of rowdy, bad-ass kids.
"Okay look," you start, pointing at all of them. "I want this to be quick. Pretend to be on y'alls phones and don't make direct eye contact with my auntie J or uncle David and this will be an incident-free scenario."
Finally, you look to your rowdy puppy sitting on Kayla's lap. He nips at your finger and you give him that same look you used to give Zeus whenever he misbehaved. And just like with Zeus, he returns the expression with a lick.
"That's right," you say, giving another pointed glare to your passengers. N'Jadaka only starts laughing at you in that way that means he's definitely making fun of you in his head. But that's alright; you have a plan and you're sticking to it.
The front door is open so you peek inside, one hand on the handle and the other on N'Jadaka's arm. Calling out a, "Hey," you just stand there and wait.
Sure enough you hear that barking and those claws on the kitchen floor as Zeus shoots in from the backyard and toward the front hall. It's like he can always sense when you're here, but he still thinks he's a damn puppy and nearly takes you clean to God when he finally reaches you. You stumble into N'Jadaka, who steadies you with two hands on your hips. Somewhere behind you King is yapping and trying to get to Zeus, tangling his leash between everybody's legs as he struggles and isn't this just a perfect metaphor for your life right now?
"Zeus," you say, struggling. "Sit!"
And he does, tail wagging hard as he looks up at you. Truthfully, this meeting has been giving you anxiety. Just because a dog is nice and sweet to you doesn't mean he'll react that way to another dog. Zeus getting aggressive with King and hurting him might actually kill you and you watch with your heart in your chest as the two finally start sniffing each other.
Every time Zeus moves, King gets spooked and barks, which only makes Zeus get more busy. If they don't get back outside this whole house is going to be a mess so you lead everyone through to the kitchen, where your mother is smoking a cigarette at the table. It's so loud you can't even stand it but you greet her all the same. She flicks ash in the tray before returning your hug and giving your 'Guest' a welcome smile. You look back to see if N'Jadaka has the courtesy to return it, but he's smirking, and you suppose it's good enough.
