“Ay, I’m respecting you as Asante’s pops but don’t say something wild to me about the life we deserve to have and will have whether you’re there or not, alright? Our kids adopted or made in a science lab ain’t gon’ want for nothing and damn sure won’t be looking for us at their school functions, recitals,graduations or weddings. Know and believe that.” I looked at my phone when it vibrated and saw it was a message from Knight. I took a deep breath and did my best to center myself.
“Look, I’d love if you were there for your son and those future grandchildren,” I said softly. “Family means a lot to me. It’s one of the core values me and Asante share heavily and he may act like shit is cool but I know it’s going to kill him to not have you there.” I waited a moment for a response that I didn’t get. He just picked up a different tool and looked back beneath his hood. I nodded to myself. “Thanks for your time though, man.”
I looked both ways before jogging back to my car where I grabbed my phone immediately.
Knight: Baby 1 is coming via Nova. No need to head to the hospital yet. I’ll keep y’all updated when shit becomes active.
A huge grin took over my face and I looked back at Asante’s dad briefly before backing out of his yard.
I’d just wanted to give it one last try and even though he had said he wouldn’t attend I would have been surprised if he genuinely didn’t.
My own life had shown me that traditional men could be swayed by familial love and I wanted that shit for Asante.
Bad.
I headed back home with thoughts of holding Asante’s dad at gunpoint running rampant. I knew for a fact my brothers could help me get that shit done if I committed to it but ultimately decided not to. He looked like a cop caller and crier.
The original three hour drive out to him was a four hour drive back because of traffic.
I’d told Asante I had work to do for the family so he hadn’t been looking for me but when I got back in town I picked up some dinner for us to share and headed to the club.
Asante was standing at the bar talking to a small group of women and I gave him a lil wave so that he saw that I was around and headed straight back to his office. I started to clear his desk to set the food up for him since I was sure he hadn’t eaten just yet but did a double take when I saw that he had a past due note among his paperwork.
I resisted the burning desire I had to look through all of his paperwork and ask him what was up. Instead I stuck to the original plan, stacked the papers and set them in his top drawer to unpack the food. I collapsed in the chair on the opposite side of his desk and messed around on my phone, reading the many messages that were flying in the family’s group message with the announcement of Novalie going into active labor.
I was as close to my sister-in-laws as I was to my brothers so while I was excited about meeting my niece or nephew soon I was also nervous for Novalie and hoping she was good and labor wasn’t too bad.
I was still catching up on messages when Asante walked into his office. He exhaled deeply then walked over to me and kissed my cheek.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” I smiled at him as he circled his desk.
“You brought me dinner?”
“Yeah. I have to make sure you’re well fed.”
“Is this fiancé treatment?”
“You got jokes?” I grinned. “Nigga, I’ve been making sure you’re good.”
“Yeah. You have.” He collapsed in his seat. “I just like pointing out that we’re engaged.”
My smile spread even further over my face.
“I’m down with that then.”
“Good.” Asante looked down at the different items I’d purchased then back at me. “This shit looks good,” he said as he grabbed one of the containers and pulled it closer to him.
He ripped the top off and immediately took a bite and nodded, letting me know that it was as good as he’d thought it would be.
“Everything good out there?”
“Yeah. The card machine was giving us some trouble but it’s all good now.”
“A’ight. Cool.” I reached over, grabbed a fry and popped it into my mouth. “How’s the rest of your shift been going?”
“So far, so good.” Asante exhaled. “I’m thinking about giving Layla a promotion.”
