True to her word, my grandma sat a big plate in front of me that was filled with two pieces of fried tilapia, and the creamiest, thickest grits that I’ve ever seen in my life. She sat a piece of butter, and a slice of cheese on top of the grits for me, and I couldn’t wait to dig in.
I rolled up the sleeves to the sweater that I was wearing, and when I did that, I heard my uncle Keon whistle. He was standing up, not too far away from me. I turned to look at him, following the direction of his eyes, and they were on my wrist, specifically my left wrist.
When I rolled the sleeves up on my sweater, it exposed my jewelry. This morning, when I got dressed, I opted on my bust down Cartier watch. The watch was completely flooded indiamonds, so every movement that I made with my arm, the diamonds were bouncing off the walls. Because I liked to wear my watch with a nice, luxury stack, I went with a Cartier love bracelet, a diamond tennis bracelet, and just to give the stack a little color, there was a VVS diamond baguette bracelet on there as well. My man purchased this stack for me. It was a pretty penny, but I pointed at it, and told him that I wanted it, so he made it happen for me, just like he always did.
“God damn niece. That gotta be bout a hundred on your wrist. Shit!” my uncle Keon said, coming closer to me, and since I wasn’t eating yet, he picked my hand up, examining my wrist. Casually, I pulled it away from him, so that I could dig into my food.
“I heard you fuckin with that nigga that owns a few of those smoke shops. Dionte met him yet?” he asked me, as I took a bite into the grits, and they were good, just like I knew it would be.
“I’m not fuckin with him. We’re in a relationship. And no, my dad hasn’t met him yet, but he knows about him,” I corrected him.
“Cool. How your mama doing? I ain’t see Nette in years,” he asked.
“She’s good,” I let him know.
It wasn’t the truth, but it was the answer that I was going to give him. My mom hasn’t been the same ever since I dropped that bomb on her. Her spirit was different. Her mood was different. She wasn’t the same. There’s this part of me that somewhat regrets telling her, but then again, I don’t because I feel free. I feel lighter ever since I got it off my chest.
“And tell her don’t be trying to fuck with my brother when he come home, either. I got some hoes already lined up for him,” he went on to say, and I rolled my eyes at his statement.
“You obviously haven’t spoken to your brother in a while because getting back with my mama is on his agenda. MoveUncle Keon for real because I can already tell that you’re about to annoy me, and I wanna enjoy my food in peace,” I snapped.
Like it was funny, he cracked up, and he moved away from me.
I stuck around for as long as I could with them. Looking at the time, I knew that it was time for me to start wrapping it up, giving out hugs, so that I could make it to my appointment on time. I could tell that my grandma was sad when it was time for me to leave. She really did stick around and sucked up every second with me that she possibly could.
I didn’t eat all the food that she’d fixed for me because it was a lot, but her ass made me pack it up, telling me that I could finish it when I got home.
After going around the room, giving out hugs, my grandma chose to come outside with me, so that she could walk me to my car.
“We’re your family too, Dionne. We may not have the glitz and the glam like your mama’s side, but we’re blood too, and I would like it if you came around more often,” she voiced, and I sighed when she said that.
I sighed because I hated that my dad’s side of the family felt like I didn’t come around because of an aesthetic or a look that they didn’t have.
“Ma, I really hate when you say that. I hate when all of ya’ll say that. I don’t care anything about you living in the projects. I’m not the kind of person that forgot where I came from. I was born and raised in the projects. I may not live there myself, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll toot my nose up to people that do. I don’t come around because every time I do, I’m reminded that I no longer stay in the projects. Your kids, and my cousins have a way of making me feel like I’m better than them, when I don’t feel that way at all. I just want to be treated equally when I comeover, and not like an outsider. That’s all,” I let her know, and she nodded her head, respecting what I said.
“I hear you, and I understand. We all have to do our part to better our relationship. Can you answer my question though, girl? Are you pregnant? You’re not showing or anything, but I just have a way of seeing it, and my girl, I see it,” she said, and that made me smile. I didn’t want to lie to her.
My mom knew, my grandma, my sisters, my best friend, my man, and his mom. I didn’t mind telling her.
“I am. It’s still early though. Don’t bring it up to daddy though. I don’t want him to find out that he’s going to be a pop- pop until he’s free,” I voiced.
No lie, the sound of my dad being a granddaddy, and possibly getting called pop- pop made me a little emotional. Hell, everything made me a little emotional. I was surprised that I didn’t break down and start crying when my grandma cooed, and she pulled me into a hug.
“Awww. I’m going to be a great grandma again. I’m so happy about this news, Dionne. You’re going to be an amazing mommy. You love hard. You don’t play about the ones that you love. Your ass has never played when it came to your daddy, so I can only imagine how you’ll be with a child that you’re going to carry for nine months and bring into this world. I want to meet your boo. I can cook for ya’ll, or we can go to a restaurant. Whatever you want to do,” she offered.
I could hear the excitement in her voice, so with that, I really was going to make a promise to myself to come around more.
I talked with her for a little while longer, and we hugged again, and then I jumped in my car, so that I could leave. The birthing center that I was headed to was about thirty minutes away. I was going to be about three minutes late, but it was fine because I knew that Tank with his fast-driving ass would beat me there.
During the car ride, I couldn’t stop the off, and on smiling that I was doing. For the first time in a while, I was happy. I had peace in knowing that my father’s parole hearing was going to work in our favor. Not only was I happy about him coming home, but the baby that I was carrying, that I couldn’t wait to meet is something else that’s been keeping me happy these days.
I was headed to meet the woman that would be responsible for delivering my baby, and with that, I had happiness. I was so happy that during the drive, I was singing along to the music that I had on shuffle, and before I knew it, I was pulling up to the center.
Just like I predicted, Tank was already here, and he backed his car into the lot, and was standing in front of it, posted up. His head had been down in his phone, but the second he saw my car, he looked up. He looked up, and pointed with his finger, telling me to park next to him. I wouldn’t be surprised if his ass had chosen to stand outside of his car so that he could save the spot for me, so that no one else could park there.
Instead of backing in like he did, I pulled in, quickly put the car in park, and I shut it off. This man wouldn’t allow me to open doors, even from the inside, so he walked over, opened the door for me, and he looked down.
“You fuckin up already. You trying to convince me that a water birth is the better option, yet you pulling up late. That’s strike one already,” he said, reaching his hand out, so that he could assist me in getting out.
