My heart was full to the rim as we sat at the kitchen table with my mom and feasted on her signature white chili and cornbread. Kannon doused his with hot sauce, and she didn’t even bat an eye. If it was me, she would have popped my hand and fussed at me about not bothering to taste it before adding stuff to it. I missed my mom so much. It felt so good to be here with her. We had been at my mom’s for less than an hour, and I could alreadyfeel myself resetting. I was literally in heaven. Kannon’s hand landed on my thigh and squeezed a little.
“Kannon, baby, I love you already. Anybody that can get this busy body way up here in the sticks to see me is all right in my book,” my mom raved.
“She was overdue for a break.” Kannon agreed.
“Just talk about me like I’m not sitting here.”
Kannon’s eyes dropped to mine. “You know I love you.”
“Oh my goodness, this is beautiful. I’m so glad you’re not dealing with that rapper anymore, baby. I saw on TV that somebody was shooting at him earlier today. It wasn’t long ago when his car had blown up. There’s no telling what he’s involved in. Sounds like drugs to me.”
I cleared my throat. Until my mom mentioned it, I literally forgot about Kannon saying he’d blown up Cy’s car. I’d done good to avoid the news and blogs since my return to the label. It was good to be out of the loop. It would be hard to ignore how crazy my nigga was if I wasn’t.
“Yeah, thankfully, I got away from him,” I said.
“I know y’all are tired from being on the road. I’m not gonna try to drag you out to my community resource meeting.”
“Ma, don’t let anyone know I’m here. I want as much privacy as I can get.”
“I get it, baby. I hate to even go, but it’s my night to bring chili. We’re doing a different soup every week.”
“I’m glad you’ve found a community here.”
“Me too.” My mom agreed. “I’ll be gone about an hour and a half, two at the most. I want to enjoy my baby while I can.”
“I’m not going anywhere for a couple of days at least,” I said, glancing over at Kannon.
“We’ll be here until she tells me she’s ready to leave,” Kannon noted.
“Really, baby?” I quizzed.
“We’re on your schedule, Carrie. You know I have something to handle, but other than that, I’m wide open.”
“OK.” I nodded and watched as Kannon strolled out of the room and down the hall to the bedroom my mom set up for me here.
“I’ll see y’all when I get back. I can’t wait to cook up a storm in the morning.”
“Ma, can I have your hash and eggs?” I requested.
“Anything for my baby.”
“And some of those cat head biscuits with cane syrup and fried fish.”
“Since when do you like cane syrup?” my mom asked.
“I don’t know. I guess being at home makes me miss the old days.”
“I’ll see what I can whip up. I might have to grab some,” my mom mentioned.
“Don’t go out of your way. If you don’t have any, we can get some before I go. I’m not even sure I’ll like it.”
“OK, but when I get back, we’re gon’ have to talk about all this business I been seeing on TV about that Cyrus. I hope you’re done with him for good. I like Kannon.”
I smiled softly at her approval. “Me too, Mama.”
When I made it to my room, I heard the shower running and knew that Kannon was taking a shower. That duffel bag he kept in his truck seemed to come in handy at times like now. He had everything he needed.
It was always weird finding my old things laying around here. My mom made me promise to keep clothes at her house. I never saw the need but did it just to make her feel better. Today, I was grateful for her advice. I swear I wasn’t trying to be nosy, but what I saw in Kannon’s unzipped bag sent butterflies to my stomach.
