“I’m not by myself, Ma. I’m fine.”
“¡Tonterías! Tengo que usar un coche de verdad para venir a verte, no el regalo de Navidad de Brysheer.”Nonsense. I have to use a real car to come to you and not my Christmas gift from Brysheer.
I laughed at the thought of that golf cart he’d bought her. Aroyal absolutely hated it and was pissed when Bry had given her the keys last Christmas.
“Mama, I come visit you twice a week, it’s not that bad.” I crossed my arms over my chest looking at her.
“Yes, it is. You are my daughter. My baby at that and you are out here living alone and being by your—” Her sentence trailed off because her sight caught something behind me.
I turned around and found the exact figure she had. Reminisce had his back to us and his phone to his ear as he spoke to someone.
“Karim, quién es? Es guapísimo. ¿Acaba de salir de tu habitación?”Karim, who is he? He's beautiful. Did he just come out of your bedroom?
I squirmed, my attention leaving Reminisce’s tattooed back and finding my mother. “He is?—”
“Buenos dias, handsome.” My mother’s words interrupted the sentence I was stumbling through because now she was smiling which meant he was facing us.
I looked up and Rem’s heavy eyes were on me before they found my mother who was smiling too damn hard, and if I wasn’t mistaken, she was blushing. I didn’t like that at all.
“¿Por qué me miras así, mamá? ¡Para ya!”Why are you looking like that mama? Stop it.By the time I finished speaking, he was standing next to me.
“You must be Rim’s sister. Good morning,” his fake charming ass greeted.
My mama giggled like a schoolgirl. “No, no. Preséntanos ahora!”Introduce us now!
Of course, she said the Spanish part to me.
“Reminisce, this is my mother. Mama, this is Reminisce.”
She rounded the corner, eyes tracing his form before they met his. “Reminisce. That is a very pretty name. I don’t shake hands, son, we hug, especially since it’s about eight in the morning and you’re coming out of my daughter’s bedroom.”
She literally made this nigga hug her, then went back to cooking like it was nothing. I knew it would be something in a few hours when it was just me and her. I knew my mama and this was a shock for her. She hadn’t met a man I was dealing with since I was seventeen and sneaking a nigga out of the house. Even then I didn’t get caught, Ariya had snitched.
Just when I thought she was about to allow him to at least get dressed, she started in on the questions. In true Reminisce fashion, he seemed at ease, so I took that as my chance to find a shirt and shorts then take care of my morning hygiene. The entire time I heard her giggling like Reminisce was a comedian in there telling jokes. Though he had his funny moments, the nigga wasn’t a comedian. Long story short, I quickly got myself together and went back to the kitchen.
I could tell she liked him off rip and not some weird ass crush. She was literally picking his head about more than his intentions with me. It was like she was interested in knowing who he was, but also how who he was affected me. Then again, my mama was invested like that, and she knew me and my brother like the back of her hand. For someone to be in my home, that said something without saying it. I never allowed people into my intimate space, neither did Aroyal. That was how she knew Kay was different all those years ago. She saw Aroyal had allowed Kay into his intimate space as well as around his child.
We ended up having breakfast with my mother before Reminisce had to leave. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t the slightest bit happy about him meeting my mother, but slightly bummed he had to leave so early. The mushy bitch in me loved that moment, having him around her, but I also didn’t want to get used to that. Reminisce talked a good game, but the last thing I needed was to get used to this and out of nowhere he decided to go missing again. I needed more than words. I needed actions.
Chapter
Five
Reminisce
Last night happened. One minute I was telling myself I’d back off and give her space and the next I was repeating what I had been telling her the last few months. The difference this time was that I had every intention of following through and I hoped she saw that. She asked me to prove that I wanted her, which meant I was doing just that. It was strange a lil bit because with Pynk, or any girl I fucked with, I’d never had to prove it. As a matter of fact, I didn’t care to, but with her, I cared. I gave more of a fuck about her than any girl I had ever messed with and that baffled me. I had never been some player ass nigga, but after everything I went through with Pynk, I wasn’t with any of that love shit. I kept it moving on anything real or mirroring strings because I couldn’t afford to be played with like a mark. I refused to keep playing the games I watched my mother and every nigga she entertained play when I was a youngin. Regardless of any of that, I had a whole daughter out here, a child I was raising with the opposite childhood of my own.
“So we’re working on getting the fireplace installed this week. That way we’ll be able to keep warm while working in here,” Jason said.
I nodded. “Good shit, I’ve been meaning to come through and work on the cabinets.” I glanced around the open living room before my eyes found his.
He nodded. “That was a nice color you went with. Never seen anybody buy black cabinets.”
That statement earned a chuckle from me. “You tryna call my shit dark, Jason?”
A hearty laugh escaped his lips. “Damn right I am. You know how much it’s gonna take to lighten that kitchen? Not to mention you said you wanted a grey backsplash.”
I joined in on his laughter. He was right. “Looks good to me.”
