Ivy's Twisted Vine Redux by Latrivia Nelson (books to read for beginners .TXT) 📕

Just as Nicola was settling in to watch the kitty call with his brother, out the corner of his eye, he saw Grey stand up and fall down knocking down bottles of beer on the grown. Nicola stood stunned, watching a few waitresses run over to aid him. He wanted to turn around at ignore him, but something would not let him.

“I’ll be back,” Nicola said to Santo excusing himself quietly.

As Nicola walked up to Grey, their eyes met and a shock of discomfort struck through both of them causing them to hesitate in their steps. But Nicola continued. Taking a deep breath he stopped in front of Grey and smiled.

“How you doing tonight, Grey,” he asked observing Grey up close now and absolutely sure that he didn’t need to drive home.

“I’m doing pretty good.” Grey’s words were slurred and lightly coated with a hint of venom. “I’m having a great pre-bachelor party.” He stumbled a little as he began to walk.

“Well, are you headed home?”

“Yeah. It’s getting late, and it’s nothing that we haven’t seen here, right?” He hit Nicola’s arm.

“You’re going home to Ivy like this?” Grey’s state concerned Nicola more now.

“No. I’m going home to an empty house like this. Ivy is out having a grand ole time without me.” Grey mumbled untranslatable words under his breath. “What happened to her, to the woman that she used to be? Huh? Do you know, because I don’t know what the hell we’ve created?” He looked confused at Nicola begging for some understanding.

“I don’t know who she used to be,” Nicola said seeing sadness in Grey that made it hard for him to hate him.

“I knew her. She used to need me,” Grey said wiping his mouth, sulking in his drunken pity. “She used to hang on to my every word. But not anymore.” He shook his head furiously and smacked his lips. “You took everything from me, Agooostooo.”

“You have her back now, Grey. You won.” Nicola said sitting beside him.

“No, Nicola. You won. Don’t you see? You have the children. So, you’ll always have ties to the mother. And she’ll always have ties to you.” Grey sat up disoriented, vision blurred, words slurred. “Nope. I don’t have my Ivy anymore. I’ve got your Ivy, and I’m not sure that I even want her anymore…one week from the wedding.”

“You’re just drunk. Tomorrow, you’ll feel better and,” Nicola sighed. “It’ll all be better.”

“Where are my keys?” Grey asked hitting his pants pockets as he stood up, wobbling from side to side. “I’m going to go on and get out of here.”

“You don’t look like you need to be driving.” Nicola instantly recognized the inebriated state that Grey was in from his own many late nights at the Black Tie.

“Look, damn it. I’m fine,” Grey said spinning around and falling to the ground in a drunken haze. Hitting his head on the table, he touched his head and leaned against the booth.

“Is he alright?” an on looker asked curiously.

“He’s fine,” Nicola said picking him up. “He’s just had a little too much to drink.”

This was a moment of truth for Nicola. If he wanted Ivy and his children all to himself without the competition, he could allow this man to stumble to his car and in the morning put his black suit in the cleaners for what was promising to be a very emotional social event. But if he wanted to truly see Ivy happy, he would either call a cab or take Grey home himself, insuring his safety for another day.

Putting Grey’s arm around his shoulder, Nicola helped Grey up and decided that selfishness had its paybacks and selflessness had its rewards. It was time to give her up. It was time to let the bitterness go and move on for real this time. Setting Grey at a booth closer to the door, he left for a moment and went back to his brother.

“Hey Santo,” he said pulling out his keys.

“Yeah,” Santo said barely taking his eyes off of the catwalk. “You gotta love these girls.”

“Look, I’ve got to cut out of here for a moment. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“A guy I know needs some help getting home.”

“Sure.” Santo hesitated. “Are you sure, you aren’t leaving with a woman?” A sly smile crossed his face. “Getting a little kitty before the kitty call?”

“Positive.” Nicola laughed. “Do you remember how to get home?”

“Yeah. It’s basically a straight shot, right? I got Mt. Moriah to I-240 and that will lead me downtown.”

“Yeah. Just call me on my cell, if you get lost or too drunk.”

“Oh, you know I’ve never been a heavy drinker. Besides, I don’t want to miss one minute of this.”

“Alright,” Nicola said feeling a little better leaving his brother alone his first night in Memphis.

Returning to Grey, Nicola got their jackets from the coat check and headed out to Grey’s car. It wasn’t until Nicola started the car that he realized that he might have been too drunk as well to make it home. Turning on a little music and letting down the windows, he looked in Grey’s wallet one more time to memorize his address and headed out into the streets.

Grey was unconscious the entire time, occasionally moving around in the passenger seat. Driving quietly, Nicola had time to think, but not about Grey or Ivy. It was himself he was dwelling on. When he looked at Grey, he saw himself. He saw the drunk he used to be and sometimes still was. He asked himself now, why did he do it? What was it every time that made him go too far? He didn’t want his boys to grow up thinking that it was okay to drink their problems away, because the truth was they