The resemblance was there, if you looked closely enough. Same-colored eyes, same curly dark hair. Georgie was stouter with a beer belly, patchy beard, and stained clothes that had definitely seen better days. He glared at Mack as if my boyfriend was evil incarnate and something vile he’d just peeled off his boot. I more or less hated him instantly.
“I can eat at my mother’s house!” Georgie snapped, sounding like a smoker with raw vocal chords.
“You can’t eat at her house when she’s barely managing to feed herself!” Mack fired back, putting himself directly in Georgie’s face. It made my hands twitch, as I didn’t like him being that close. “You can’t keep stealing from her when she’s already become skin and bones trying to support you and her. You’re the eldest son, Georgie. Fucking act like it!”
“Oh, so now you’ve become a federal agent and all y’all think you’re better than me?” Georgie sneered. “I ain’t the one begging for it. What’d you have to do to get him, get on your hands and knees and—”
I wasn’t about to let him finish that sentence. No brother should ever speak to another sibling that way. I darted from the doorway and grabbed him by the throat. I had to restrict his airway before he said something truly unforgiveable and I was forced to really hurt him. I slammed Georgie back and up onto the wall. Not hard enough to dent the sheetrock, but close enough. He gasped on impact, true fear in his eyes, his hands scrambling at my wrist, feet for the floor. It was like a child trying to pry me off. He had no strength. Did this piece of shit just mouth off and drink all day?
Actually, that was probably the case.
“You apologize and behave, Georgie, and I’ll let you go.”
Meanness flashed in his eyes. “I’m not going to apologize to that—guh.”
It’d been a mistake to let off his airway. “Georgie, let me explain this a different way. I handle the living. Mack handles the dead. Which would you rather be, living or dead?”
Now he got it. I could see it in the way the white of his eyes shone. Easing my grip so he could breathe, and speak, I asked again. “Are you going to behave and all that entails, or do I throw your ass out?”
“I’ll leave,” Georgie gasped out, the words barely audible.
“Probably the smartest choice. Give me your keys. You’re not driving this drunk.”
“Ain’t got any,” he responded sullenly as I let his toes touch the ground again. “Truck’s totaled.”
“Oh Georgie, not again.” Mack sounded more fed up than disappointed.
Georgie cast one more hateful glance at Mack before slinking out the door. It was a near thing, but I didn’t put a boot in the ass to aid his departure.
Two arms wrapped around my waist and squeezed. I patted Mack’s hands before gripping them softly. “I wasn’t going to kill him.”
“This is a thank you hug for shutting him down,” Mack corrected me.
“Oh. Then you’re welcome.” I understood now his concern about Georgie. If the man had the balls to literally show up at his mother’s house while she was at work, and take whatever he wanted out of it, then he was too far gone. Adelle wouldn’t stop him, clearly. But that enabling method of hers wasn’t making her son grow up, either.
Nothing could get messier than family. I didn’t know the solution here but something had to be done.
“Come on, cher, we’ve got a lot to do and not much time to do it in. Leave Georgie be for now.”
Blowing out a breath, I shrugged. “Yeah. I’ll do the water heater first.”
It really didn’t take me long to switch out the water heater. It was definitely a workout, as those things aren’t exactly light, but it was simple enough to accomplish. Once I had it installed, I tackled the kitchen sink next. There was more than a little water damage under the sink, and a plastic tub full of water that caught the drips. The makeshift fix protected the cabinet but certainly didn’t address the problem. The seal around the kitchen faucet on top was nothing more than dust in the wind. Caulking honestly would have fixed most of the problem but I wanted this done right.
Mack got music playing on his phone, the music this area of the world was famous for: Zydeco. It was good work music as it had an infectious, up-swing beat. The cheerful music flowed through the house as he painted the bathroom, priming the walls.
I’d seen that bathroom. Even primer on the walls would be a vast improvement over the water-stained sheetrock.
It was fun doing this, both of us working on the house together. It reminded me of my childhood, really, working alongside my parents and siblings.
I put the final sealant around the base of the faucet, then gave it a good test and let it flow for several minutes. I didn’t see any further leaks, although I tightened and re-siliconed a joint that looked iffy to me. I tested the hot water while I was at it, pleased that the tank had heated up enough to give me some warmth already. Good.
That done, I moved to the next project. As I passed through the very wide main hallway, I stuck my head into the bathroom to see how Mack was doing. He’d thrown a rag of a shirt on, but there wasn’t a spot of paint anywhere to be found on him. He was bent over to reach a section near the baseboard, his jeans nicely shaping his ass, and I stopped for a moment to admire the view. To my surprise, he had most of the primer up already. Granted, it wasn’t that big of a bathroom, but still.
He twisted and looked over his shoulder, paintbrush hovering along the wall. “Something wrong, cher?”
“No, just got done with the kitchen faucet. Thought I’d stick my head in and see how you’re doing before going for the fan.” I looked around and whistled low. “It’s looking better already. Damn, you paint fast.”
Mack shrugged. “Worked as a painter from the time I was fifteen. Good money to be had, although the work wasn’t steady.”
“I learn something new about you every day. No wonder you’re fast. Do you like it?”
“What, painting? Yeah, it’s soothing.” His light-brown eyes looked around the room and he nodded. “Think I’ll prime the kitchen next. Whatever I get done is something less for Mama to do.”
One of the reasons why I found Mack so attractive was his dedication to his family. He really did all he could to look out for them. I think it was part of the reason why I wanted to be family to him, too. The more time I spent with him, the more that idea took hold.
But now wasn’t the moment for that. So I smiled and said, “Yell if you need me.”
“I might for those top corners,” he informed me, pointing to the top of the wall. “Even with the stepladder, not sure if I can reach that.”
“Yeah, sure. Just reach what you can, I’ll cover the rest.” I retreated to give him room to work and went across the hall to the master bedroom.
Mama Lafayette was much like her son. What she had was kept very carefully and her room was tidy. In contrast to that, the bedroom walls looked faded and the light fixture hanging from the wires made it look shabby. I could not wait to yank that thing down. It was an offense to the eyes.
I opened up the new fan and started assembling the pieces, getting the wires prepped first. I belatedly remembered that I hadn’t turned off the breaker, so went back out and found the panel on the back screened-in porch. Yelling inside, I warned, “Turning off the breaker!”