“Momma said you showed up. What’s going on?” Washington asked, and he stopped walking. A button chirped, probably to that Bentley he bought after his divorce.
“What’s up with y’all not telling me about Sweet Cheeks?” I cut in.
Ten laughed. “You met Journey?”
“Calm down, young’un, I saw her first.” Texas elbowed him.
“Don’t matter,” his twin snapped. “Your sketchy, unemployed ass would need to fight her little man for the remote.”
“Big Country, your ego might not survive if she don’t fall for you,” Washington said, sliding into the driver’s seat. “But hey … women make surprising choices every day.”
I lifted a brow. “You interested?”
“No.”
Forgive me for asking. “Drinks?”
“Your treat,” Texas said, not asking. “You didn’t come home for Thanksgiving. You’ve been hiding in that mansion, sulking since the Dodgers dropped you.”
“Funny. It’s a suspension.”For who knows how long.Guggenheim Management still hadn’t decided because of the holidays. “If my bank couldn’t eat you alive, I’d let you pay. T&T, scrub y’all asses. Can’t be caught on the media. Y’all look like you can’t spellsoap.”
“Ha!” Tennessee shoulder-checked his mirror image. “That’s Tex. He can’t spelljobeither.”
“I got mon?—”
I clicked the Off button, cutting into Texas’s retort. I bet Washington also hung up. As a judge, he recused himself from Texas’s foolishness by the time he ended up in juvey. I roughed a hand over my beard, wondering who helped my younger brother stay on track these days.
On the phone, the video remained paused.
Momma entered, closing the door behind her. “Boy, give that video no mind, you hear me?” Before I could speak, she transitioned to Kouri-Vini—literally repeating everything she just said in Louisiana Creole—cadence much deeper than the “proper talk” she reserved for the restaurant.
“Yes, ma’am, I hear you,” I mumbled, as she sat in the other pink fur chair beside me. “I came home to take my momma out to dinner.”
She waved a hand. “I eat here for free,cher.”
“Or we can go by private jet wherever you like.”
Fiddling with the fluffy armrest hairs, she asked, “Y’know who’d love that scenario?”
“Any woman alive. How I’ma get rid of ‘em?” My entire body, muscles and all, trembled at that idea.
“Hush! You too big to fear love. So, I suppose I gotta say, leave the girl alone. She’s special.”
“You right,” I agreed, rubbing my jaw. “Journey’s beautiful. Check her though, she almost undressed me in front of women and children.”
Momma chuckled, swatting my arm. “You a lie! Just leave Journey alone. She meantnonharm. She stays stuck in her head.”
“True.” I pawed my jaw, deliberating. “There’s intelligence behind those eyes.”
“She got that sweetness, make you wanna … butO wi, she got somesalétoo.”
Salt? What was this? Women talk?
“Oh? You not feeling me the way I need,non. So, leave her be.”
“Momma …”Myeyes warmed over, puppy-dog soft. But BigCountry, the gremlin living in my chest, kicked my ribcage and yelled,She can have her peace once WE get a piece.
Yeah. I was willing. Him? Reckless.
