When her eyes landed on me first, her mouth pressed into a line. “Look what the devil dragged in.”
I exhaled through my nose, stepped inside. “What’s up, Ma?”
“Don’t bring no darkness in here, Nyles,” she said without missing a beat. “I been up since dawn. Prayed for peace. I don’t want your sins hovering over me while I sip my cocoa.”
I gave her a dry smile, leaning down anyway to kiss her cheek. She turned her face slightly, letting me do it, but didn’t lean in. Same as always. “I’m not here to start trouble.”
“Mmhmm. You bring it just by breathing sometimes,” she muttered, reaching for her mug. Before I could respond, her eyes shifted past me, landing on Princess. “And who is this young lady?” she asked, sitting up straighter.
“Princess,” I said.
She stepped forward, unbothered by the tension in the room. “Hi. It’s really nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Diana,” Ma corrected, looking her over from head to toe. “You got a name like that, you must be something special.”
Princess smiled softly. “I like to think so.”
“Not a single woman done walked in here with my grandson ‘cause I know he usually likes ‘em with no sense,” Ma said bluntly. “Most of ‘em loud and half-naked, smelling like bad decisions.”
I lifted a brow. “What the fuck, Ma?”
“Watch your mouth.”
Princess laughed quietly. “Well, I promise I’m fully clothed and unscented.”
That made Ma flash a half-smile. She nodded toward the chair. “Sit down, baby. You, too, Nyles. Don’t just stand there like you waiting on judgment day. It’ll come.”
I pulled a chair up, and Princess sat beside me. Ma kept her eyes on her more than me, like she was trying to read between the lines.
“You look like a good girl,” she said to Princess. “I hope you ain’t tangled up in the mess he’s into.”
Princess looked at me, then back at her. “I’ve seen some of the darkness, but I’m not a part of it. And, if I have anything to do with it, he’ll soon see the light and do better.”
Ma let out a long breath. “Lord, I see what you did,” she mumbled, flipping a page in her Bible. “You gave him a smart-mouth girl with a spine. That’s how you gon’ teach him, huh?”
“You know I’m sitting right here, Ma,” I said. “Come on with all that.”
“You think that changes the facts?”
I leaned back. “You know I take care of you, right?”
“I’m aware of what you do for me,Mr. Nyce.This fancy place, groceries,bloodmoney. All that. But don’t act like you don’t also bring demons to my doorstep ever since you were seventeen.”
Princess stiffened beside me, but I didn’t move.
“People whisper when they see my name connected to yours,” Ma said, voice quiet now. “You think I don’t hear it? You think I’m proud every time another boy ends up dead and they say, ‘he worked for Nyce’?”
My jaw clenched, but I didn’t defend myself. “I didn’t ask for this life,” I said.
“But you sure as hell claimed it,” she snapped. “And you walk in it like you invincible.”
“I’m not.”
She looked at me, eyes suddenly soft. “I know that,” she whispered. “And that’s what keeps me up some nights. Afraid the next phone call will be the one that breaks me.”
The room went quiet as Princess reached for my hand under the chair and held it tightly. I cleared my throat. “Ma, I didn’t come here for the lecture and all that. I just wanted her to meet someone who actually means something to me.”
Ma’s eyes went back to Princess. “Just don’t get so close that you can’t run if things catch fire.”
