Dario

 

 

“So, Rai, are you comfortable with me and your mom’s relationship?”

“Yeah, I think it’s cool.” His answers were short, and he seemed to approve, but I needed him to really approve. He’d shown me at our first meeting that he was completely invested in the protection of his mother; not that that was a bad thing, but you kinda needed the approval of your woman’s kid if you were going to pursue a permanent spot someday.

I turned into the community that we’d made the drive to visit. “Okay, because I just really wanna make sure that—”

“Daaang, this is where Freddie lives?!” Rai blurted out sharply. “This is a nice neighborhood,” he announced, as we drove down the immaculately paved streets of the County View Estates, in San Jose. “This is legit! Does everybody in your family have nice houses?”

I issued a light guffaw at his excitement. I was sure that when he unleashed his outburst a few seconds earlier that it was about me and my quest for information on the relationship between me and his mother. Thought wrong! But it seemed now wasn’t the time because he was on a whole other page.

“I guess you could say that. But they’ve worked hard for them.”

“You didn’t buy their houses for them?” he asked curiously. “Because when I get rich, I’m buying my mom something sweet! I like our house now, but I want to get her something like one of these houses.”

“I think that’s cool. And no, I didn’t have to buy any houses; they already had them by the time I was able to. But I did get a few enhancements here and there just to keep them smiling.”

Rai started to laugh, and then turned toward me with a cheesy grin. “What kind of enhancements?”

“What you laughin’ at, young one?” While my left hand was still on the steering wheel I held up my right hand to begin the countdown. “Okay, so I had an infinity pool equipped with a hot tub installed for the parents. I had a full gym added in its own section of my aunt’s oversized garage. They also managed to get a gazebo out of me. I . . . uhh . . . let me see. Ohhh! I had a basketball court built in the backyard for Freddie.”

“A basketball court?! Like, a whole court?!” He gave me a slight side eye, his lip turned up at the corner. “Not the ones that move around with the sand in the base that sits in the driveway?”

“Like a real court, dude. Now what?” I challenged.

“Now, I can’t wait to see it!”

“You act like you can play or something,” I goaded.

“I balls, man! Ask my mom when we get back later! She’ll tell you!”

“Yeah, okay, we’ll see.”

Moments later we pulled into my designated spot inside of my aunt’s garage. I could tell that Rai was bursting at the seams. Oh, to be a kid again, I thought. 

“You ready, bud?”

“Yep,” he said, already coming out of his seatbelt.

“Hey you!” my Aunt Veronika greeted excitedly, before we even made it up to the door.

“Hey there, Zie,” I greeted, pulling her into a hug.

“And who do we have here?” she asked.

“This is Rai. He’s my girlfriend’s son.”

“Ohhh,” my aunt said, looking at me with knowing eyes and a smile. “Well, Rai, my name is Veronika and it’s very nice to meet you.”

“Thank you, Miss Veronika, it’s very nice to meet you too.”

“Freddie!” my aunt called out. “Your cousin is here!”

“It’s okay. We’ll go and find him. Seems Rai here thinks he’s got game and wants to see the basketball court, so maybe they can hang out a bit before we take off.”

“Okay, well, when you get them all settled, come find me in the kitchen. I’ve kicked Isabel out for the day so that I can make a Prague cake.”

My eyes bulged. “Nooo, you’re making—”

“Absolutely, my wonderful nephew. And do feel free to take some with you when you bring Freddie back home. I’ll try my best to rescue you a portion from your uncle and his friends, who will be here later.”

“Please do, you haven’t made that in a long time.”

 

A short time later when I got Freddie and Rai all squared away and watched them dunk on each other a few times, I headed back inside to chat with my zie for a bit.

“So, sit down and tell me all about your new girlfriend.” My aunt smiled. “You do realize that you haven’t ever used that word around me, right?”

It was weird how much she and my mother looked alike and they were a year apart. From their dark brown hair, with no signs of grey, to their green eyes, and even down to their height, they were spitting images of one another. Not to mention neither of them looked a day over thirty-five  . . . at forty-nine and fifty years old.

“You realize that, right?” she repeated in case I hadn’t heard her.

“I do realize it.”

“Now, your cousin, God rest his beautiful soul, always had some girlfriend that he was trying to introduce us to.” She chuckled lightly. “Forever the lover boy.”

“Yeah, he was that,” I said, reminiscing on Lucas and his many girlfriends. “He swore that he was gonna have a love like yours and Zii Christoph. Maybe if you guys didn’t make it look so easy, he wouldn’t have been claiming all those girls the way he did.”

My aunt and I fell into hearty laughter thinking back to Lucas. He was a super jock but never took that “celebrity” too seriously. He had many girlfriends, but always one at a time and never the player type which he very well could have been.

“Easy, huh? Yeah, that took years and years and years.”

“You’d never know.”

“So, enough about me. Tell me about this lucky girl that I’ll hopefully get to meet soon. Freddie seems to really like her and her son.”

“Yeah. She’s a good girl. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. There’s a lot of promise there and I think it’s on its way to being something great.”

“And if I may ask . . . how are things between you and her son’s father? He’s a beautiful boy. Is he mixed race?”

Taken aback, I shot my aunt a baffled look, brows furrowed. Instead of responding to that part of her question, I decided that I’d just entertain the rest.

“Rai’s father isn’t in the picture. He left Chanel when she was pregnant, so she’s done this on her own. There’s some guy that she dated for a few years that was kind of assuming responsibility and acted as Rai’s father figure, but he’s not in the picture.”

“Hmm,” she stated, presumably entering thought-processing mode. “Okay. As long as you’re okay with the situation, I’m okay. How does my sister feel about this?”

“She knows about Chanel. She’s excited to meet her. We’re planning a meet-and-greet when her schedule opens up, which should be this week.”

“Okay. I’d like to meet her as well.”

“Of course! Now is that all, drill sergeant?”

“Oh no!” she giggled. “Is that how I came off?”

“Yep!” I exclaimed, rising from my seat and pushing it back against the table. “But I’d expect nothing less.”

Shortly after my time in the hot seat, the boys charged into the kitchen’s large nook area where my aunt and I were closing out our conversation. They were both smiling and hyperactive, signaling their desire to leave. I was glad to see that they had formed a bond.

“Freddie, grab your jacket,” my aunt fussed.

“Mom, it’s not even cold out—”

“Grab the jacket or stay here. And I’m sure Rai is ready for you to hang out, so it might be a good idea to not argue the point.”

“We’ll see you in the car, buddy.”

“Okay, D! I’ll be right there!” Freddie declared as he rushed from the kitchen.

I put my arm around Rai’s shoulder to usher him toward the front. “Come on, Rai, let’s get to the car.”

“It was very nice meeting you, young man,” my aunt said. “Is it okay to get a hug?”

“Sure,” Rai said, falling into her embrace.

“You’re such a handsome boy. I’m sure this won’t be the last time that I see you.” She looked up at me and smiled. “And I can’t wait to meet your mom.”

“See ya later, mom!” Freddie yelled, as he sprinted past my aunt and out the door.

“Okay,” I said, leaning down to hug her. “We’ll see you later. Have fun and don’t forget to—”

“I won’t,” she interjected. “You’ll have your very own thick slice.”

“Thanks Zie Veronika. I love you.”

“I love you too, nephew.”