The Boudreaux Sisters

Chapter 17: Trouble In Paradise

Today is the day. The BIG day, to be exact. It’s Della’s 31st birthday party today. Although Della only sent the invite to Toni, she invited all of the sisters to come, including Desi. For the past couple of days, Desi had been questioning the invite. She was excited at the first thought of it. Especially when her and her sisters began making plans and discussing what their costumes were going to be. But then, she thought about it. She and Lady hadn’t spoken to nor seen each other, outside of school. It was inevitable that they couldn’t escape each other at school but, to be around each other? In a public setting? Desi had been having anxiety off and on, for the past week, just thinking about it. Then, she would think about Darren and how she missed him so much. She had to get her man back. So, she decided to go. For the millionth time.

All of the sisters decided to dress up as witches. Even though Della said it wasn’t a Halloween costume party, it was still very much a costume party. The girls had decided to wear different colored wigs with their witch costumes. Rez wore a bright, red wig that was cut into a bob, Toni wore an orange wig that looked similar to Daphne’s hair from Scooby Doo, Bri wore a green wig that she had braided into two pigtails and Desi wore a middle-part, purple wig that went all the way down to her behind. Even though they had scary makeup on and Rez even wore some fake, vampire teeth, they still looked really cute. Before they left, Eva Marie took a group picture of the girls and Desi posted it on her daily story. As the girls all piled into Rez’s car, they went over the plan one more time.

“When we get to the party, we’re going to of course speak to Della and give her her birthday gift.” stated Rez. “I’m sure she’ll show us around or direct us to wherever everybody is or whatever. After that’s over, Bri is going to go off to find Darren and Lady. Once she finds them, she’s going to walk up to them and make small talk.” said Rez.

Then, Bri interrupted her.

“You know, Darren and I are cool. Or… was cool. So, I know he’ll talk to me before he talks to anyone of y’all.” Bri quickly looked over at Desi and said, “No offense, sis.”

Desi rolled her eyes and looked back at Bri. She responded back, coolly. “It’s cool, sis.”

Rez continued on.

“Bri is and should be the only one with the vial of Le Blanc Serpent à Sonnette.

Right, Bri?” asked Rez, as she made eye contact with Bri. Bri pulled the small, glass vial out of her purse and replied back, “Yes mam.”

Rez nodded her head and said, “Good, okay. Now, because Darren lives there and has been there longer than we have, hopefully he’ll already have a cup that he’s already sipping on. Which if that’s the case, Bri, this is going to be your time to shine, baby.”

Bri smiled quietly as Rez resumed.

“After Bri has done the deed, she’s going to text us in our group chat and let us know. From that point on, we just have to watch how everything plays out.” Rez turned around in the driver’s seat and began to turn on the ignition.

Suddenly, Desi became doubtful.

“I don’t know, y’all. What if the plan doesn’t work?” Desi asked.

Bri, who was sitting right next to Desi grabbed her shoulder and said, “It will work, baby sister. Believe me. It will.” Bri smiled confidently at her sister. Desi smiled back. The girls left for the party.

The girls arrive at Michael and Darren’s house. Desi’s heart immediately began to beat at a quick pace. Bri quickly grabbed her hand before they exited the car and gave it a comforting squeeze. They both shared a look with each other and began walking behind Rez and Toni towards the front door. You could hear the bass of the music, thumping through the ground and there were so many cars. Parked up and down the street, as well as, coming into the driveway. Desi noticed this immediately and thought that was good. The girls would have an audience but she secretly wished it wouldn’t get that far. Hopefully.

As soon as the girls got to the door, Rez prepared to ring the doorbell but she didn’t even have to. Della opened the door, dressed as Pebbles from off of the popular show, The Flintstones. It was clear she had already had a couple of drinks and she also was holding a cup in her hand.

“Hey ya’ll!” Della exclaimed, as she welcomed them in and hugged everybody. The girls greeted Della back and Toni handed her their gift.

“Happy birthday!” exclaimed Toni.

Della grabbed the gift and smiled hard.

“Thanks girls! I appreciate this.”

Della walked over to the gift table, where there were gift bags big and small, as well as birthday cards spreaded all over. She sat the gift bag down and began walking through the living room to the backyard.

“Everybody’s out here in the back. This is where the party is at, girls,” laughed Della, as she pulled back the sliding glass door and stood to the side to let the girls walk through.

Della was the last one to walk out, as she closed the door back. She showed the girls where the refreshments were and told them that the food wasn’t done yet but they could help themselves to some punch and relax for a minute. The girls found an empty picnic table that was just a couple of feet away from one of the barbecue pits and sat down.

Meanwhile, Bri had already spotted out Lady and Darren, sitting down at another picnic table right across from the girls. Desi pretended as if she didn’t see Lady and Darren but she did feel a tad bit jealous. Lady and Darren were dressed up as Sonny and Cher. That’s one of the cutest couple costumes ever, Desi thought to herself, as she turned her head and pouted. As Bri approached the couple, she could quickly tell that there was some animosity between the two. They were dressed like a famous couple but they sure weren’t acting like it.

Bri noticed that both of them sat across from each other and they both had an attitude. It seemed as if Darren was trying to ignore Lady by just scrolling away through his phone. While Lady just sat there, staring invisible laser beams into his head.

“So… How’s the happy couple?” asked Bri jokingly, as she got closer to them.

Lady instantly snapped her head in Bri’s direction. When she realized it was Bri, she scoffed, stood up out her chair and looked Bri up and down.

Bri, who was never scared, looked back at Lady in the same way but, with a slight smirk on her face. Lady rolled her eyes at Bri and said flatly, “I’m going to go get me another drink.”

As Lady walked off, Bri yelled behind her, “Yeah, go do that. You did look thirsty, sis!” Then, Bri sat down in the same chair that Lady was just sitting in, facing Darren. Darren finally looked up from his phone, looked at Bri and stood up to give her a hug.

“What’s up, Bri?” asked Darren, as he released her from the hug.

“Oh, same ol’, same ol’. What’s up with ya girl, though?” questioned Bri, as she motioned with her thumb. Darren shook his head, which made his Sonny wig shake a little.

“Man, I don’t know what’s wrong with her. Don’t worry about her, though. It seems like every day it’s always something with her. She always has an issue or problem with something.” said Darren, as he smacked his teeth.

Bri laughed lightly and said, “Oh? Trouble in paradise?”

Darren sat back in his chair and thought for a moment.

“No, not really. But I do think she’s a little bipolar or something. I don’t know,” joked Darren, as he made the crazy signal with his finger around his temple. Bri laughed along with him. Darren leaned in a little bit closer, as if he wanted to tell Bri a secret.

“But on the real, though? I kind of miss Desi. Sometimes I just feel like Lady has some type of hold on me. And man, I don’t know… I just wanna be free, at this point.” stated Darren.

Bri nodded her head, in agreement. “I know what you mean, bro.”

Suddenly, Michael called out Darren’s name and asked him to come and take some pictures of him, Della and some of her friends. Darren looked at Bri, held up his index finger and said, “Un momento, por favor, señorita.”

Bri laughed at this and said, “Somebody’s been studying their Spanish.”

Darren walked backwards and replied back, “Hey man! I’m taking AP Spanish! What more do you want from me?!”

Bri laughed even harder at this and continued to watch Darren until she saw his back was turned. She quickly scoped her surroundings and took the vial of Le Blanc Serpent à Sonnette out of her purse. She popped the wooden stick out of the vial and poured all of it into Darren’s cup that he left behind. Bri took the straw that was already inside of Darren’s cup and mixed it around. Thank God, the punch he was drinking was already a red color. It mixed in perfectly.

After Bri finished, she sent a text in her sister’s group chat saying, “Got him.” Bri looked up and saw that Darren was still taking pictures but this time, he was standing with his father. One of Della’s friends had grabbed the camera and became a photographer. She raised up from the table and began to walk around the party and the house, looking for Lady.