“Hey, Tooka butt.” I reached my arms out to take her from Dreaux, but the two of them looked at me as if I were crazy.
“Well, fine then.” A part of me felt a little dejected, but it was more than likely all in my head.
“I brought you some food from Lucy’s. Baby girl said she wanted pizza, so we’re gonna pick up her food before I drop her off with my sisters.” I remembered them from the baby shower. In all the time I had been working for Dreaux, he never brought up the fact that we had met before. A part of me wondered if he even recognized me, but it was almost impossible for anyone to forget something so embarrassing.
“Oh, okay. Well, thank you.” I retrieved the bag from him and then headed back over to my desk. The energy in the room was awkward, and it made me uncomfortable. Dreaux took a seat in the chair in front of my desk as he and Promise engaged in a full-blown conversation as if I weren’t in the room.
It amazed me how comfortable she seemed with him because she usually took a while to get comfortable with people. She must have sensed he was a safe person, and I prayed the two of us weren’t wrong.
“Did you hear me?”
My head shot up when I realized Dreaux had been talking to me.
“No. Sorry, I zoned out for a minute.”
“I asked if there was something wrong with the food. You haven’t opened it yet. I wasn’t sure what you would like, so I got a little bit of everything. The food there is good as hell.”
“No, no. There’s nothing wrong at all. I’ve got a lot on my mind.” I opened one of the plates, and my stomach growled. I prayed I was the only one who heard it, but when I heard Promise and Dreaux laughing, I realized I had failed the mission. The aroma alone made my mouth water. On the first plate, there were baked turkey wings over yellow rice, mac and cheese, and collard greens with smoked turkey.
“Wow. This looks incredible. Although I’m not sure this is the kind of meal I should be eating on my lunch break. You might walk back in here and find me passed out in the next hour.” I joked, trying to decide what I wanted to eat first.
“You ain’t lying. I’ve been caught slipping a few times after eating one of their plates. They aren’t as good as Granny Lula, but they are a close second.”
“Is that another restaurant? I’ve never heard of it before.” I questioned while I scooped some mac and greens on my fork, mixed with a little piece of the turkey wing.
“Naw, she’s my best friend’s grandmother. She might as well be mine, too, because I’m always over there. She cooks every Sunday, and she always puts a plate up for my sisters and me on the days I can’t be there.”
I could tell he truly loved her from the adoration in his eyes. I grew up as an only child, and I didn’t have much family either. Whenever I asked about my father’s side of the family, my mother would change the subject or pick an argument with me. I met my father a few times growing up, but then one day he stopped coming around. By the time I was old enough to understand things fully, he had become a distant memory. The only thing I knew was that he lived in Jonah Hills and his last name matched mine.
“She sounds like a sweet lady. My mother barely knew how to cook, so I had to teach myself. I always wondered what life would be like if I had grown up in a big family that ate dinner together. It sounds like a good time,” I expressed. Dreaux’s eyes scanned over me as if he were looking for something, and I squirmed under his gaze.
“I can’t say I had that experience either. Outside of Justice’s family, I didn’t have the typical family dynamic. When my pops was alive, he ran the streets, so he wasn’t home much. My sisters were always involved in sports and after-school activities, so we never ate dinner together. We try to do it now, but our schedules don’t always align.”
“I wanted to do things completely different with Promise, but it’s kind of hard without a family.”
“You mentioned before that you grew up here. What made you move back if you don’t have family here?”
I appreciated the fact that he seemed genuinely interested in my story. Although I didn’t like talking about my past, it was nice to have someone who wanted to listen.
“My mother and I moved when I was a little girl. She never told me why we were leaving or for how long. One day, I was going to school like normal, and the next, I was woken from my sleep and told we were moving. I cried for weeks because I loved it here. I may not have had family, but I had a lot of friends. Well, as much as a six-year-old could have.”
“After my mother passed away, I thought about coming back here to see if I could find my father’s family. I went through her diaries to find clues, but it was almost as if she knew I would read them one day. The only thing I know about him is that his last name was Graham, and the only reason I know that is that it’s the only thing I have of his.”
Dreaux started to choke, and I immediately sprang into action to help him. I tried to grab Promise from his arms, but they both shooed me away. I couldn’t believe my child had turned against me for a stranger she had just met. I handed Dreaux a water bottle and waited for him to catch his bearings.
“Are you okay?”
“Umm, yeah. I didn’t know that was your last name. I guess I wouldn’t have, since Maliah handled all of your paperwork. Damn.”
I stared at him as I waited for him to explain what he was talking about.
“I don’t understand.”
“You said your mother never told you what your father’s name was?”
“No. I saw him a couple of times when I was younger, but she called him by some nickname. Stone maybe? I don’t know.” When I glanced up, Dreaux looked as if he had seen a ghost.
“What the hell is going on? You’re staring at me as if you know something I don’t. What is it?” My tone rose, and anger swept over me. I hated when people kept me in the dark, andafter everything I had been through, I couldn’t take any more secrets.
