16
The text message alert on my phone tore my attention away from my laptop. I was supposed to be editing another “Outfit of the Day” or “OOTD” video I’d recorded in my backyard, adding music to it, but my eyes were tired, and my mind was on the kiss Ryan laid on me at the end of our marathon date on Sunday.
The message was from him, and I couldn’t help but smile as I read it.
Him: Hey, what u up to?
Me: Working. What u up to?
Him: Lying in this bed over here thinking about u.
Me: Ur still in bed? It’s 1pm. Shouldn’t u be at work?
Him: I took off today because u wore me out yesterday.
Me: All we did was talk.
Him: U talk a lot.
Me: Whatever!
Him: It’s true. Hey, I want to see u.
Me: When?
Him: Now. Let’s go grab something to eat.
Me: I’m tired of texting. Come on over.
Him: OMW
Me: Brush ur teeth and wash ur ass first. U just got up. Don’t come over here funky.
Him: I ain’t been funky a day in my life!
Me: Negro, please. Wash ur ass, Mr. Boyé!
Thirty minutes later, he stepped through my front door smelling so good, it kind of knocked me off balance.
He lowered his head and brushed a soft kiss across my lips after I closed my door. “What was that about me being funky?”
“I see you took my advice and handled that problem.”
“I don’t get funky, Angela.”
“Mm-hmm.”
He followed me to my studio/bedroom, and said, “You still working?”
I nodded. “Almost done, though.”
“Damn, I thought we could go grab a bite to eat. I’m hungry as a hostage.”
I giggled.
“What?”
“I haven’t heard that expression in a long time. Years.”
He shrugged. “That’s how hungry I am.”
I saved my progress on the laptop and turned to face him. “Okay, look, I need to check on my mom, so if you don’t mind, I need to go by to see her while we’re out.”
“Not a problem. We can grab something for her, too, if you want. What’s up? She sick or something?”
I sighed, figured I may as well tell him the truth. “No, but she kicked my dad out in front of me and my sisters at their fortieth anniversary party last Friday night.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah…”
“Man, I’m sorry to hear that. But, yeah, we can check on her. Wish I still had a mom to check on…”
“She passed when you were young?”
“Yeah, I was eight. She’d been sick my whole life. I’m glad she’s not suffering anymore, but I still miss her, always will.”
“I’m sorry, Ryan.”
“It’s all right. Hey, you wearing that?”
I looked down at my t-shirt and jeans. “Why? Is something wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“Nah, just asking.”
Okay, so maybe I was a little wrinkled. And with him looking the way he was looking in his jeans and plaid, button-down shirt, I figured I’d better step my game up. “Let me go change.”
As I left the room, he said to my back, “I mean, you don’t have to…”
“Shut up, Ryan,” I called back.
*****
“This is a nice house,” Ryan said, as we stepped out of his SUV in my mother’s driveway. “I mean, really nice.”
“Courtesy of Strickland Motors,” I said, as I unlocked the front door. “Your Tennessee car center.”
“I’ve heard those commercials on the radio. Your folks own that car lot?”
“Car lots. Ten locations across the state.”
“Damn! Why didn’t you tell me you were rich?”
“I’m not. My dad is.”
We stepped into the foyer, and I called for my mother. First met with silence, I told Ryan to stay downstairs while I headed upstairs to see if Mama was up there. I called her name again, still receiving no answer, and then a panic hit me. Her car was in the driveway. What if something had happened to her? What if she’d done something to herself?
I knocked on her closed bedroom door, waited for a second, and then opened it. Mama sprung up in bed, and so did he, whoever he was.
“Angela! What are you doing here?!” Mama shrieked.
I backed away from the door. “Uh-um-ch-ch-checking on you. But I see you’re okay so…oh, Lord…I’ma just go,” I rambled, adding “Shit,” under my breath.
“Wait!” the man said, as he climbed out of bed, covering his private parts with a sheet but leaving his chocolaty sculpted abs exposed. He was tall, fine, and much younger than my mother. Where the hell did she find this man?!
“Huh?” I managed to say.
“Don’t go,” he said to me. “Give us a second to get dressed. I’d like to meet you properly.”
I nodded as my eyes shifted to my mother, who was clutching the comforter under her chin with her eyes downcast. Her medium brown skin was reddening more and more by the second. “Uh, okay,” I said. “I’ll be waiting downstairs.”
Ryan was still in the foyer when I returned, and all I could do was stare at him wide-eyed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Your mom okay?”
In a hushed voice, I said, “I just caught her screwing a man who looks like he might be younger than me.”
“Shit, really?”
I nodded.
“Damn, you wanna leave? What you wanna do?”
“Uh, he wants me to hang around so we can have a proper introduction.”
“Huh?”
“I know.”
Just then, the mystery guy and Mama descended the stairs and joined us in the foyer. Mama stared at Ryan, and it took me a moment to realize she had no idea who he was, so I said, “Mama, this is Ryan Boyé, my, well…we just started dating. Ryan, this is my mother, Lisa Strickland.”
Ryan took her hand and kissed it. “Mother? I don’t believe it. Nevertheless, it’s great to meet you.”
“Oh, I’m definitely her mother. You from Louisiana?”
Ryan grinned. “The accent, huh? Can’t get away from it.”
“You shouldn’t want to,” Mama said. “It’s nice. Hmm, you’re Creole?”
Ryan nodded. “Yes, ma’am. On my father’s side.”
Was my mother flirting with Ryan? Seriously? When did she get so hot in the ass?
“Well,” she began, resting a hand on the mystery guy’s arm. “This is Lamar Anderson. Lamar, this is my daughter, Angela.”
He reached for my hand and gripped it in his. “You’re the middle daughter, right? Heard a lot about you. Nice to finally meet you.”
“Yeah, same here,” I said, and then turned to my mother with raised eyebrows.
“Um, would you gentleman excuse me and Angela? We’re going to step into the kitchen for a moment,” she said.
I sat at the table across from her and waited for an explanation. She offered none. So I said, “Mama, how long’ve you been seeing him?”
She shrugged. “Five or six months.”
“What?! Does Nicky know about him?”
“No. She’s barely ever home, out running her wild behind around with any and every man she meets. I fault your father for her being the way she is. She’s so much like him…”
I leaned forward. “Okay…okay, Daddy’s wrong for the way he treated you. But, um…you’re still married to him. How is what you’re doing any better than what he’s doing?”
“It’s not.”
“And how old is Lamar? I mean, you’re beautiful, Mama, but you need to be careful.”
“He’s twenty-seven, younger than you and your sisters, and I’m not tryna marry the man. I just needed…something, Angela. I don’t expect you to understand, but I’ve sat up in this house for years, alone and lonely. I had dreams and goals, but I gave them all up for your father. Please don’t ever, ever do that to yourself. Don’t sacrifice your life for a man.”
“I don’t plan on it. Not anymore.”
She nodded. “Good. Ryan seems nice. He’s definitely handsome. Gorgeous.”
“Yeah…I like him.”
“And that accent? Mmm…”
“Mama, I’m worried about you.”
She reached across the table and covered my hand with hers. “Don’t be. I’m fine. I’m not going to do anything stupid.”
“But doesn’t Daddy still have a key? Should you be doing…you know, up in here?”
“Your father knows not to pop up here or come back at all. I’ve made it clear I will ruin his life if he does.”
“What do you have on him?”
“Hmm, let’s just say he got the money to start his business through less than legal channels. The other stuff? I just can’t tell you. I wouldn’t want to ruin your image of him.”
“He already ruined it by mistreating you.”
“I know, but…”
“You still love him. You’re still protecting him.”
“Yes, I do still love him.”
I shook my head. “I don’t see how you can.”
“Hmm, well…The thing is, love can’t be turned off like a water faucet. If it’s there and it’s really real, it doesn’t disappear and it doesn’t go away. Real love is forever.”
I let her words soak in. “Are you going to take him back?”
“I don’t know, Angie. I just don’t know.”
Once we were in Ryan’s vehicle on the way home, he asked, “You all right over there?”
With my gaze still fixed on the scenery outside the passenger window, I said, “I don’t know. Everything…it’s all just fucked up.” I sighed. “Sorry to have pulled you into my family mess.”
“It’s okay. And if it makes you feel any better, Lamar is a cool dude and he really seems to care about your mom.”
“I don’t know what’s going on with her, though. Screwing another man in my father’s house? And I swear she was flirting with you.”
“I kind of noticed that, but come on, Angela. Look at me. Who wouldn’t flirt with me?”
I tried not to look at him, but when I finally broke weak and glanced in his direction, he was wearing this silly grin, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Everything’s gonna be okay,” he said.
“I hope so.”
He reached over and rested a hand on my cheek, his eyes still on the road as he said, “I know so.”