I talked to Seel for a little while longer, and then we eventually hung up. It wasn’t until we hung up that Brooklyn took her airpods out of her ear, and she leaned back in her chair. We talked about a little bit of everything on the drive, and before I knew it, we were pulling up to the restaurant.
This was one of the most popular spots in Miami, so I wasn’t surprised that there were a lot of cars parked in the parking lot. We snagged a spot right in the middle, and I quickly put the car in park, and shut it off. I grabbed my Louis Vuitton speedy, wrapping it around me like a cross body, and once Brooklyn was out, I locked the doors. She walked on the side of me, and like an aunt who overly loved my niece as if she was mine, I wrapped an arm around her, and I repeatedly kissed her on her cheek. She acted like it was the worst thing in the world for me to showher affection, but she was laughing through it, which only let me know that she enjoyed it.
We walked inside, where there was a few people waiting. The host told us that it would be a fifteen-minute wait, and I let her know that that was fine. There was only one empty seat for us to sit down at, so I took it, and like Brooklyn was a baby all over again, she sat down in my lap. While we sat, she showed me inspiration pictures of some prom dresses. We had a while for prom, but the way that time would move so quickly, we both knew that these few months would race to get by, so this was actually perfect timing for Brooklyn to be showing me dresses.
My name was finally called, and the host took us to a booth. Brooklyn and I sat on opposite sides of each other. Because this was a spot that Brooklyn liked to come, she didn’t have to look at the menu because her order would never really change. I, however, wanted to see the menu, just to see if I wanted something a little different this time. Our waitress came over, where I put an order in for a frozen Miami vice, and Brooklyn ordered a sprite, and mozzarella sticks. From there, I pulled my phone out because it kept buzzing in my lap. My group chat with my home girls were jumping, so I was reading it, wanting to see what these crazy ass women in my life were talking about.
“Oh my God. Nooo. Please don’t walk this way. Please don’t walk this way,” I heard Brooklyn say, which made me look up from my phone, so that I could put my eyes on her, and wonder what the hell her problem was, and what she was talking about.
Her caramel skin had quickly turned red, and at any second, she looked as if she was getting ready to pass out.
“Girl, what? Who is it?” I asked her, wanting to know who had her damn near sweating like this.
“Sergio. He’s with his homeboys. Oh my God. Auntie, I look a mess,” her ass was distraught, and I was just sitting here, trying to familiarize myself with who Sergio was.
The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember. I’m a professor, and I deal with over five hundred names a semester, so she was going to have to help auntie out with this one.
“Who is Sergio again?” I wanted to know, and she sucked her teeth.
“Auntie, please! The boy that came to the car after Rhythm’s funeral, and you hounded me about it,” she snapped, as if she was annoyed that I didn’t have a clue who she was talking about.
I immediately knew who Sergio was, and this time, it was turn to roll my eyes at her in annoyance, pissed that she was doing all of this because he had walked inside the restaurant.
“I thought I told you not to deal with him because he was older than you, and his ass is in the streets,” my voice was firm, as I glared at her.
“Auntie, I don’t. I swear. Me and him don’t talk. We do have each other on social media, but he’s not really on there like that. We don’t talk at all,” she voiced, and I could hear it in her voice that she was telling me the truth.
Her ass liked him though. My niece was crushing on this hood ass dude, and the thought of it made me sick to my stomach. Like, the same way that she would gag at me and Steel showing affection towards one another, that’s how I felt, sitting here, watching my niece damn near on the verge of having a meltdown, as the dude that I could tell she was crashing on was walking into the restaurant.
“Ya’ll don’t talk, but your ass definitely likes him,” I let her know.
“I don’t. I just look a mess right now. I just got out of practice,” she whined, trying to smooth down her hair. I knew that this wasn’t a laughing matter right now, but I found myself chuckling at what was happening.
Brooklyn started kicking at my leg, as she was looking at me with pure panic in her eyes, and within seconds, I could smella pound of weed fill my nostrils, and that’s when I looked over, and it was a group of about ten young men that were walking past our table.
In that group, I could see Sergio and not giving a damn that I was sitting here, his eyes landed on Brooklyn, where he paused right in front of our table, looking at her as if he was shocked that she was here. One thing about it, two things for sure, my niece was no fool, and she had good taste as far as the looks go because Sergio was very handsome. His perfect chestnut skin and his curly taper was filled with short, beautiful healthy-looking curls. His swag, all of those were things that I could tell would make Brooklyn attracted to him. As handsome as he was, you could just tell that he was a young man that was up to no good. Him, and his homeboys that just walked in here, screamed trouble.
“Brook, what’s up? I didn’t know that was you. What’s good with you?” he asked, not standing directly up on us, giving a little distance from him, and the booth that we were sitting in.
“Hi,” was all Brooklyn’s ass said back to him, and even when she said it, she wouldn’t look him in his eyes.
I couldn’t wait to clown her when he left because her ass was acting crazy. As if he was unfazed by her acting cold towards him, he smiled and then turned his head to look at me. Really getting the chance to look him in his eyes, and see his face, you could see exactly what Brooklyn saw.
“How you doing? I’m not trying to be rude. Just saw Brooklyn, and decided to speak,” he said to me, reaching his hand out, so that I could shake it. I lifted my hand up, and I shook his, and then placed it back in my lap.
“Can I pay for her food?” he asked me, and Brooklyn was still kicking me up under the table, and I knew that that was her way of trying to get me to wrap this conversation up, so that he could go back over with his friends.
“It’s okay. I have her dinner covered,” I let him know, and he respectfully nodded his head.
“Aight. I’ll let ya’ll enjoy dinner. It was nice seeing you Brook,” his ass said, and Brooklyn wouldn’t even look at him.
He knew that he wouldn’t get a response from her, so he eventually laughed, and he swaggered over to the table where his friends were. Brooklyn put her hoodie over her head, and she slouched down in the booth, looking like she would rather be anywhere in the world right now, other than here.
“Your ass is crazy,” was all that I had for her. She didn’t say anything.
“What happened between you and him? I feel like it’s something deeper,” I said, and she huffed.
“Auntie, nothing. Dang,” she voiced, and I could hear it in her voice that she was lying.
