“I’m saying.”
We share a laugh, both of us taking a puff of our cigars. “What else is going on? How’s Tiff?”
Last I checked, things were running smoothly with his ex-wife, but things can change at the drop of a hat with her.
Jalen runs his hand down his face, sighing deeply. “She’s working the few nerves I have, bruh.”
“What’s up now? Everything was fine two weeks ago.”
“And then she found out I was coming to this wedding, and she started bugging. I almost didn’t make it because she kept saying if she couldn’t come to the wedding, she didn’t understand why she couldn’t keep Kam for the week. Alone.”
Tiffany and Jalen’s custody agreement is that Jalen has Kam full-time while Tiffany is allowed supervised visitation. She has yet to prove she can handle keeping him by herself, so I understand why he freaked out.
“I know Mom wasn’t having that, though.”
“Sure wasn’t. She told Tiff if she tried to pull up to their house to get Kam, she was gonna get introduced to Claudette.”
Claudette is the taser our mom keeps in the house. She replaces it every two years, but she always names it Claudette for some reason. I met Claudette once in high school when I was sneaking back into the house late and our mom thought I had broken in. She’s not to be fucked with; the taser nor my mom.
“Damn, I know she ran scared after that.”
“Haven’t heard from her since.”
A different waitress comes in with the drinks we ordered. She looks a bit too young to be working here but she looks a little stunned to see Jalen. To her credit, she tries her best to keep her composure when asking if we need anything else, but she can’t stop staring at him. Finally, she caves and asks him for a picture, which he happily obliges.
We pass the time with cigars and drinks. He tells me that Kam is interested in playing basketball at school next year and I fill him in on my latest work deal.
“So, what’s up with you and Miss Janelle? Things didn’t look great at dinner last night, you in trouble?”
“Why you assume I’m the problem?”
“Why not?”
“Damn. It be your own people.”
“What you do?”
I tell him about the past week with Janelle and how it’s supposed to be a vacation fling but that I want more once we leave.
“Right, because she’s sis-in-law.”
“Bruh, stop saying that. No one is getting married besides Arnold and Amerie.”
“Yet.”
“Man. Enough outta you.”
“Okay, bet. But this little conversation is going in my best man toast at your wedding.”
“Can we focus on the now?”
“Have you told her that you’re tryna date her once we get home?”
“Of course not. I just got her to stop running from me for the rest of the vacation. Can’t do too much too soon.”
“I mean, if you pussy just say that.”
I chuckle around my cigar. “That’s nuts.”
