A/N: *Freddie Jackson voice* How could something so right go so wrong? This chapter could've been called Messy, anyway I slipped in as many M words as I could. I like to write parallels between parent and child - it always interests me when people lecture their kids like they're not a direct reflection of them. Anyhoo, "paralytic" is British slang for "off-your-face drunk", credit to Pink and Steven Tyler for the title (Missundaztood was my preteen self's Jam).

As always, enjoy x

Chapter 8: Misery

Saturday 3rd September 2016, 10.35am, Vertex Hotel & Spa, Columbia, South Carolina

A packet of King-Size condoms, some late-night movies and a mini-fridge raid later, CeCe woke up in need of an ice-pack and maybe a cigarette. Big Reggie was already in the shower and she was contemplating joining him. The TV was still on, showing infomercials. She fished for her underwear with her feet, catching a bra strap between her toes. This was the blissful moment they always shared, that feeling of being suspended in space like nothing could touch them. Until she came crashing down to terra firma and landed squarely on her ass without padding.

He'd paid her the courtesy of turning off his phone, a Blackberry, early in the evening so she was surprised to hear another phone buzzing somewhere in the room. She found it in his gym bag; just like his son he hit the gym five times a week. The iPhone with the cracked screen read; LaDonna. And LaDonna had left 6 missed calls and as many voicemail messages. That familiar feeling of crashing down to Earth on her hind parts washed over her and on the 7th call, CeCe dared to answer.

"Reggie, where the hell are you? Oh so now you can't talk. Let me find out you're with another bitch-" Cece didn't hear the rest of her rant because that unmissable sound of a crying toddler in the background punched her in the gut. She became a woman possessed and got dressed in record speed (sans her underwear which she couldn't find) and slipped on her strappy heels ready to do the Walk of Shame. And then to add insult to injury, Big Reggie came out of the shower in a towel and she couldn't believe she fell for this broad shoulder, baby oil, pipe dream, Big Reggie combo again. "Where you going?" He asked, on the verge of slinging her another hit of what lay beneath that towel. CeCe felt the heat rise up again but instead of raging passion it was the burning flame that rose up inside when the five fingers said to the face – smack.

11.02am, Medallion Terrace Apartments, Columbia, South Carolina

"Reggie's cousin. Reggie's cousin. Pizza guy." Taylor felt himself being shoved awake. Aleesha was in charge of getting everyone out before their nosy neighbour reported them to the landlord again.

"It's Taylor." He said, blinking enough times for Alijah and Ebony's clean-up operation to come into clear view.

"It's over; get your cousin and get out." Aleesha said tactlessly.

Taylor couldn't be mad at her, after all there was a stain on the carpet from Reggie's 8th shot coming back with a vengeance. And she'd been nice enough to let them stay when Reggie passed out on the floor next to her bed. "I got it. And if it means anything, I'm sorry…about the carpet."

"You're not from round here, are you?" Aleesha asked, making her girlfriends laugh.

Reggie was in a state, still pretty wasted, and his breath stank. Even though Taylor knew his licence was in his Kia at home, he knew he'd have to risk driving them both home despite all the hashtags, news stories, and his dad's warnings about driving in the South. Supporting the football player by propping him up with one arm, somehow Taylor got him out of the apartment. And it was right on time too, because even though the best part of his night was getting pizza with Alijah and Ebony; other girls just made him miss Bella and the fact he couldn't stop missing her made him sick to his stomach. Reggie didn't have much to say that was coherent, except that 4-syllable, 12-letter M word he uttered again when Taylor put his seatbelt on.

Summerville's not that far, they said. An hour and a half, the GPS said. So why, Taylor asked the Lord, were blue and red lights flashing in his rear view mirror when they'd barely made it up Elmwood Avenue?

11.40am, The Waffle Iron, Columbia, South Carolina

When CeCe stormed out of the hotel room she'd forgotten she didn't have a ride back home and her son was driving her car, so instead of making some dramatic empowering exit she drown her sorrows in maple syrup and stacks of waffles. Joss came in on her third plate and the only greeting she got was, "I don't want to hear I told you so."

"I won't say it." Joss promised, even though it was inferred. They both know the truth so it wasn't worth saying out loud; the old, old Reggie is the old Reggie is the new Reggie is the born-again Reggie is the Reggie from this morning. And no amount of hope was gonna change that. "Hey, I'm embarrassed too." CeCe nodded, John went through all the frozen vegetables in the freezer. "I don't know what John was thinking. Hell, I don't know what I was thinking."

"I guess he was trying too hard because he wanted everyone to like him, but they were never gonna like him, Josie, 'cause he's not Paul and he's not black and he's not a Christian and he doesn't have a corporate job and he doesn't drive a Mercedes and he doesn't fit into their shallow little box." Joss thought it was pretty amazing that CeCe could be so insightful and humiliated at the same time. "But I like him and I don't even like white meat."

"White meat, C?"

CeCe didn't apologise because she meant it. "And even though you went all Waiting to Exhale on him, I know you love that man and he loves you back. You ever thought of getting back with Paul, you know, before?" She wanted to say before she took a dive in the swirl-pool but she didn't.

"Absolutely not." Joss confirmed, for once and for all.

"Not even for a weekend? I always thought he was cute." CeCe pried because she wanted to take the light and heat off her own situation. And because she was nosy, but that couldn't be helped.

"CeCe," CeCe held her breath for an exclusive. "You're next door; you already know. Now let's eat."

11.54am, Elmwood Avenue, Columbia, South Carolina

"Whatever you do, don't panic."

Paul's words rang in his head as he wondered what was taking Officers Barrowman and Reyes so long. Sure, he didn't have a licence on him but how hard was it to prove he had one? And yes, he was driving a car that wasn't his – or even Reggie's – but that didn't make him a car thief. If only Reggie wasn't half-asleep with his face leaned against the window, drooling. Officer Barrowman came back to the window. "SC State?" He asked, referring to Reggie's paralytic state.

"USC." Taylor replied.

"If I wasn't a Gamecocks fan, you'd be looking at a ticket. Get out of here." Taylor didn't need to be told twice, as soon as the police officer was in his car he pulled off.

1.14pm, Aunt Tullie's house, Summerville, South Carolina

Evelyn was finally ready to talk to John without raising her hands or her voice, or hurling a slipper at his head. Since she'd had some time in seclusion, she'd come to terms with the idea that she might have been hasty with her plans and should have covered all bases. So she was checking with her numero uno, that his head was still in the game.

"John, are you going to marry my daughter on Monday?"

He smiled because the question that led him here was posed by Taylor in a more casual fashion.

"John, when are you gonna marry my mom?" Taylor asked, before shoving a hand-full of popcorn in his mouth. It was one of those rare nights when he was home for the weekend and he and John had the pleasure of waiting up for Joss' return with an old Richard Pryor movie on TV.

John called his bluff. "You want me to?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Why not?

"Hmmm. Why not?"

"There's nothing I'd like more, I'd also like her to look at me and talk to me first. But…baby steps."

Evelyn shook her head. Why was he more likeable when he was in trouble? Why couldn't he have left well enough alone and let Uncle Sterling (not) make his shot? And why oh why couldn't they just get it together already?

Gregory was used to teenage high-jinks since he taught them in the city and he had 9 and a half grandkids of his own across three continents. What he didn't understand was why they tried to hide things that were so obvious to the world around them. Though Reggie smelt like hell, he was sympathetic to his situation and advised him to take two aspirin, shower and sleep it off. With Taylor, it was another story. "You know, unless there's a new style I don't know about; you smell like flowers."

Taylor didn't think the girl's apartment would have him smelling like pot pourri, but it did. "Oh…that."

"I suppose that means you got up to mischief last night." It wasn't an accusation or a question, it just was.

"I…uhh…wellllllllll…we….uhh…"

"Enough said. You know there's a better way to deal with your problems."

Taylor ran off some poster slogans from college. "I know; say what you feel, don't hold it in, don't drink and drive…"

"I don't mean Reggie; he's under some stress right now. I was talking about you."

"But I didn't even-"

Gregory stopped him with his hand. "Don't you think it's time you stopped being stubborn and called her?"

Taylor played dumb, because he didn't want to talk about her. "Called who? Why do I have to be the bigger person?"

"It's your lot. It's also called, being a man." And with that, he was trumped by Mr Gregory, again. "It's on you, youngblood."

"It's always on me." Taylor thought aloud.

"Come now, don't be dramatic."

"It is."

"Do you ever think that maybe more is required of you because you were given so much?"

"In other words, make Reggie sober and tell Bella I'm happy for her when I'm not."

"Well, when you put it like that…on one hand, you have Reggie whose father just pushed the reset button on him…and his mother. On the other hand, you have a bright young lady with a huge weight on her shoulders who could probably use a friend. If you were ever friends."

"We were never just friends."

"Well, if you loved her then." Taylor wanted the ground to open and swallow him whole again. "Love doesn't mean throwing away opportunities just to please the other person."

"I never asked her to give that up for me." Taylor protested.

Along came Gregory with the right jab. "You didn't support her either. And now you're two miserable young people with ill feelings towards each other. And then there's the meddling." Taylor wasn't ready for this SAT read, at least not without some armour on. "Don't you see that your…eagerness to put them together, to avoid what you've been feeling, has led to…mayhem?"

That guilty feeling put a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn't believe his mom was capable of slapping John, but then he didn't think John's presence would divide Great Aunt Tullie's house like it did. And not once did he ever question that his Grams could steamroll and bulldoze everyone into doing what she wanted like she usually did. Since he was the one who got the snowball rolling, he was responsible for the 10-feet-tall-and-growing health hazard it had grown into and it was on him to fix it.