“If you’re going to say you’re married, I’m going to pop you in the head.” She set the plate of eggs in front of me, then went back to the stove to make her own plate. “I know it, but there is this magical thing called divorce that would make that problem go away.”
“I wasn’t going to say that,” I laughed. Mama Diamond turned around and leaned against the counter with her plate in her hand.
“What were you going to say?”
“That I’m in love with your son,” I answered, and she smiled. “And before you start, because I’ve seen that look a million times in all the years I’ve known you. Yes, I am going to file for divorce.”
I’d decided last night, after Amethyst left, that I was done living in fear because of my decisions. I was going to tell him the entire truth about my deal with Quincy and let him handle it. Nothing was holding me to my marriage to Grant, and he deserved to be with someone who loved him.
“Thank goodness,” she said, then started eating her food. “I was getting tired of seeing y’all dance around each other, and the way that boy had you moaning yesterday should be studied.”
“You heard us?” I asked, embarrassed as hell. Amethyst swore that their rooms were soundproof. I dropped my face into my hands and shook my head. “He said you wouldn’t be able to.” I lifted my head. “Mama Diamond, I am so sorry. We won’t do it again. I swear.”
“Girl, I didn’t hear shit. I was guessing,” she laughed and waved me off. “Amethyst came back downstairs in different clothes, so I just assumed y’all either fucked or dry humped theshit out of each other.” She shrugged, then took another bite of her food. “I’m glad to see I was right.”
“Do you live to torture us?” I questioned her with a laugh. “You really gotta stop.”
“Nah,” she denied, shaking her head. “I’m just getting started. I have years of torture to make up for since it took you and my son so long to get it together.”
“Shit was complicated,” I said as I sat back and playfully pouted.
“Girl, talk to someone who never saw y’all together,” Mama Diamond replied. “From the first time he brought you home, I knew he was in love with you. My boys don’t bring women home, ever. And Amethyst brought you home. I remember how he doted on you and barely let you out of his sight.”
“That doesn’t mean it wasn’t complicated,” I replied.
“There is nothing about love that isn’t complicated,” she said. “Hell, life is complicated, but that doesn’t take away from the love you two share.”
“You’re okay with us being together?” Even though I didn’t need her approval, I wanted it because I knew how Amethyst felt about his mother.
“You’re the only person I could ever see with my son.” She smiled. “Amethyst is a better man because of how you love him, and I would even dare to say you are a better woman because of it.”
“I am,” I agreed.
The side door leading to the garage opened, and in walked Pop and Amethyst. Pop greeted me, then went right to his wife, took her plate from her hand, and pulled her out of the kitchen. Amethyst approached me, pulled me to him, and kissed me.
“Hi,” I said as I wiped my lip gloss from his lips. “You handle whatever you need to handle?”
“Yeah,” he answered with a nod. “Sorry it took me so long.”
“It’s okay,” I said, then picked up my plate and started feeding him. “What’s on your agenda for today?”
“I gotta get ready to go into the hospital,” he answered, and I nodded.
“We need to talk about something when you get off,” I replied, and he took the plate from my hands and set it on the counter.
“Nah, talk to me now,” he said, shaking his head. “You already know I hate that ‘we gotta talk later’ shit. It’s going to be heavy on my mind until later. Just spit it out.”
“I want to talk about my deal with Quincy,” I said, nodding. Amethyst’s face twisted, and his body stiffened. “I didn’t tell you everything.”
“What else is there?”
“The other reason I agreed to marry Grant. The main reason, really,” I said, then took a deep breath.
“For him to cover up the fact that there was a body in the car,” he said, nodding. “ I know.”
“And the fact that Grant lied about the race.”
“What do you mean?”
