Quarantine

The Cookout: Part 1

The cookout. It was more than that. It was an initiation. Life or death. You're either in with the gang or you're thrown to streets of the suburbs. Just don't let your white side show and you'll be fine. Simple as that. If you say something, one thing...you'll be hearing it for the rest of your life until you're on your death bed.

Hey remember that time you were so mad at me, you actually said 'you're on thin ice buddy'. Humiliation. No black person says that and my cousin learned that the hard way.

Jackson hummed, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel nervously, but disguising it as him playing along with the beat of the radio. "What if I, what if I fall? Then am I the monster?" He quietly sang along. I chuckle under my breath, drawing his focused attention to me. "What's so funny?"

"You must really be nervous."

"No way! I'm excited! What you talkin about?!"

I clamp a hand over my mouth to keep myself from bursting out laughing. Looking through the rear view mirror, my mom talked on the phone, watching our argument in amusement. "You've never sung in front of me before. You hate it; you think it's the most embarrassing thing ever, but here you are..." I raise a brow in question.

He glances at me with a pout. "Maybe I just feel like it today." He notices the unimpressed look on my face, but continues to keep his facade up. "I'm not nervous."

"Ooooookay." I mumble with a smirk. He supposedly wasn't nervous now, but I could guarantee the minute we got there, he would be a nervous wreck.

"How is she?" Jackson removes one of hands from the steering wheel to reach over and caress my growing belly.

I roll my eyes. I still couldn't believe he was keeping that up. "They're fine." I said annoyed, but I still placed my hand over his. "Do you think I'll be a good mom?" I asked quietly.

Jackson furrowed his brows, looking at me then back at the road. "What makes you ask that, princess? Of course you're going to be a great mom. You'll be the BEST mom." He sends me a comforting smile. "I'm not even going to ask you about me, because I already know that I'm going to be an awesome dad."

Shaking my head with a snort, I lay my head back and close my eyes. The sound of the radio, my mom's voice, and the honks of cars fading into the back of my mind.

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"What the hell, Gabi?" Jackson stood rooted in his spot as my mom and I stepped out of the car.

I snickered under my breath, taking in all of my dad's side of the family. I may or may not have forgotten to tell him that my dad's side was pretty big. That was an understatement; I probably had over twenty cousins that I couldn't even keep track of, let alone remember the names of.

"What's wrong?" I taunted, stepping up beside him with my mac and cheese in hand.

Sadly, but also not surprising, no one seemed impressed with my mac and cheese at the last horrific family dinner, so I decided to try round two with my dad's side. If anyone could appreciate a well made mac and cheese, it was black folks.

"Why didn't you warn me there would be this many people here?" He hissed.

I bite my lip innocently. "Does it make a difference? I thought you weren't nervous." He glares at me from the corner of his eye.

"Alright, come on kiddos!" My mom cheered.

That's another thing you don't say around the cookout, but it's different with my mom. Ever since the night of the Thanksgiving dinner, she's been walking around with a pep in her step and this cookout, being around those who actually cared deeply for her, made her smile even wider. Dad's family was more of her family then her own and that's why I didn't hesitate to accept the invitation from my cousin...and because I wanted to test Jackson.